By Lynn La Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox. The floor of the state Senate chambers at the state Capitol in Sacramento on April 29, 2024. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters In 2022, California lawmakers tried to stop […]
Posted inCalifornia, State
California passed a law to stop ‘pay to play’ in local politics. After two years, legislators want to gut it
By Yue Stella Yu Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox. Described by its author as the “most significant political reform” in decades, a 2022 law designed to limit businesses’ and contractors’ attempts to sway local elected officials with campaign […]
Posted inCalifornia, Economy
Californians are protecting themselves from wildfire. Why is there still an insurance crisis?
By Levi Sumagaysay Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox. Spend any time thinking or talking about insurance in California these days and you’re bound to hear the word “mitigation.” Fire officials, lawmakers, insurance agents and others are asking homeowners […]
Posted inCalifornia, Education
California colleges got billions in pandemic relief funds. What will happen once it’s gone?
By Adam Echelman Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox. In March 2020, colleges were on the verge of a crisis. Students were dropping out en masse, and California’s public colleges and universities predicted they might lose billions of dollars […]
Posted inCalifornia, Environment, State
California protects its Joshua trees. A new bill could allow more to be cut down for development
By Ryan Sabalow Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox. Democratic Assemblymember Juan Carrillo has mixed feelings about the Joshua trees that are scattered across his sprawling Southern California desert district. “The Joshua tree is an iconic symbol of the […]
Posted inCalifornia, Housing, Opinion
New battlegrounds emerge in California’s endless housing conflict
By Dan Walters Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox. At least once a month a new front opens in California’s political guerrilla war between state and local officials over housing. The Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom have issued a steady […]
Posted inCalifornia
‘AUS’-ome Austin Speaks on Autism
By Richard Montenegro Brown KIMBER DIAL VIDEO BRAWLEY — As Autism Awareness Month came to a close, several children on the spectrum, including 12-year-old Austin Morales of Brawley, gathered for a special appreciation moment, courtesy of the Brawley Police Department, the U.S. Border Patrol and city officials on Thursday, April 25. Austin was not one […]
Posted inEducation, Youth
Minnesota Lawmakers Consider New Ways to Address No-Shows at School, Diverting Families Away From CPS
By Alex Perez Minnesota lawmakers are pressing for alternatives to reporting parents for “educational neglect” in response to chronic student absence. When Minnesota students fail to show up to school for seven days, the absences trigger a call to child protective services — and potentially, an unexpected visit by an investigating social worker, a search […]
Posted inBay Area
BREAKING: Evan Low leads Silicon Valley congressional recount
By Brandon Pho A contentious and highly-politicized recount in Silicon Valley’s open congressional race has finished in Santa Clara County with Assemblymember Evan Low leading Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian by four votes. Low gained 11 additional votes in the recount for a total of 25,093 in Santa Clara County — which covers 80% […]
Posted inBay Area, Health
Kaiser doctors in Silicon Valley move to unionize
By Brandon Pho Frontline physicians at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara County plan to unionize, and are the last Northern California group within the giant private hospital system to make the move. More than 400 resident and fellow physicians across the Northern California Kaiser network want to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local […]
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