Maximina Molina Sanchez is worried about going hungry this winter. She depends on a food bank in Huron to feed her husband and two kids. But with most agricultural workers out of jobs during the winter, demand is bound to increase, so she worries there won’t be enough food to...
Newsom’s First Rodeo: In Year One, Governor Bucks Both Trump and Brown
Californians will soon be allowed to eat roadkill but be prohibited from buying fur coats. Abortion pills will become available on college campuses, but tiny bottles of shampoo will be banned from hotel rooms. High school and middle school kids will get a later first bell, but schools won’t be...
Conservatives Clap Back Against California in Court — Twice
It was a busy Tuesday for GOP-affiliated courtroom battles against the state of California. In the morning, conservatives sued the state claiming it was failing to “ensure that non-citizens are never placed on the voter rolls.” In the afternoon, they scored an early, anticipated victory to block a new state law that...
California’s Pension Debt Cannot Be Ignored
A decade ago, at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s request, I supervised a graduate student team that performed a comprehensive analysis of public pensions in California. The goal was to calculate California’s pension debt, the difference between assets and liabilities. The team’s conclusions: the unfunded liability was over $500 billion—seven times the number officially...
The Deciders: Meet the Lawmaker Behind New Gig Economy Law
By Byrhonda Lyons and Laurel Rosenhall, CalMatters Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego, is among California’s more powerful state lawmakers and an ally of labor unions. This year, she led the fight to win new protections for gig workers, and won passage of a landmark workplace bill, AB 5....
For California to Thrive, Latinos Must Be Included, and Right Now They’re Too Far Behind
The good news is that the last decade has been better economically for Latinos living in California. But challenges persist. While Latino poverty rates are shrinking, Latinos still make up the largest ethnic group in the state who live in poverty. While Latino household income is up, $56,000 per household,...
Newsom Wanted to Go Bold on Housing. Have He and Lawmakers Delivered so Far?
On the campaign trail and after taking office, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised bold action to confront the issue he called California’s greatest challenge: making housing affordable again. Or at least returning us to a world where this house doesn’t sell for $900 grand. The rhetoric was lofty: A “Marshall Plan” for...
Why Gov. Newsom Should Veto SB 24, the Chemical Abortion Bill
Senate Bill 24 would require California’s public universities to provide the chemical method of abortion to college women. It would be a needless expansion of the practice of abortion, and Gov. Gavin Newsom should veto it. This measure would not be a wise investment. The Department of Finance points this out in its...
Behind Newsom's Break with Democrats on Environmental ‘Trump Insurance’ Bill
In a break with the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom sided with farmers and water agencies Saturday by rejecting legislation aimed at blocking the Trump administration from rolling back endangered species protections. Over Newsom’s objections, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins pushed forward with votes on what is the most...
CA College Students Shell Out $2K a Month for Housing, Books, Food Alone
The price of college has become a hot-button issue at both the state and national level, but data has been scarce about how much, beyond tuition, California students actually spend on the housing, food, textbooks and other non-tuition items that they also need to earn a degree. On Thursday, a state survey offered some...