This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. A law that allowed the sharing of limitless amounts of personal data across the state to find people eligible for CalFresh was rescinded this week. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 593 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks,...
‘They Delayed, They Denied’: How Insurance Errors Endanger California Patients
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Mary Kuhn went to the emergency room at John Muir Medical Center because it felt like she was having a heart attack. Her chest and jaw hurt. Her tongue was numb. Instead of confirming a heart attack, testing...
Newsom Unveils $11 State Insulin for Californians: ‘We Took Matters Into Our Own Hands
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Starting next year, Californians with diabetes will be able to purchase state-branded insulin at steeply reduced prices, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today. Long-acting insulin pens will be available at pharmacies for $11 per pen — or $55 for...
Newsom Signs Controversial Bill Letting Relatives Care for Kids if Parents Are Deported
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed a bill allowing a broad range of relatives to step in as children’s caregivers if their parents are deported, a measure that had provoked a firestorm of conservative criticism. Assembly Bill 495...
For the First Time, a California County Removed Its Sheriff Over Misconduct Allegations
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. For the first time in California history, a county sheriff has been removed from office. The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus from office today, nearly a year after a damning...
Newsom Vetoes Car Dealers’ Bill to Hike Fees on Buyers
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed California’s car dealers to tack on another $175 in fees to the cost of buying a vehicle. On Monday, Newsom announced he wasn’t going to sign Senate Bill...
Protecting Jewish Students or Chilling Speech? Inside California’s ‘Hardest’ Fight Over Antisemitism
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Tears welling in her eyes, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan paused mid-sentence to calm herself on the Assembly floor. Almost a century ago, the Nazis forced her grandmother to flee Austria, leaving behind her great-great-grandmother who died in the Holocaust,...
Judge Shuts Down California Tribes’ Latest Bid to Crush Local Cardrooms
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Over the years, casino-owning tribes have spent millions in court, in the Legislature and at the ballot box trying unsuccessfully to force their only competitors out of California’s casino business. A judge on Friday, Oct. 10, blocked their...
Does Prop. 50 Divide California Communities? Depends How You Measure It
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. There’s no question that the proponents of Proposition 50 have a partisan goal. By seeking to adopt a map to put more Democrats in power in areas currently represented by Republicans, they are asking voters to temporarily bypass...
California’s Two-Tier Economy Mirrors Great Britain’s ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ Past
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Forty years ago this month, I began a 9,000-mile tour of California, gathering data, conversations and observations about megatrends propelling the state into the next century. The result was a 14-part series in the Sacramento Bee, later published...