Luke Johnson and his neighbors thought they had found the perfect solution to avoid being displaced from their Silver Lake, Los Angeles fourplex: A state program was offering $500 million to help tenants, community land trusts, and other affordable housing developers buy buildings at risk of foreclosure. With their longtime...
Carbon Capture Projects Pay Billions to Polluters but Aren’t Worth Much to Californians
Perhaps no other state in the nation has done more to fight climate change than California. We stood up to the powerful auto industry and passed the first U.S. ban on new gasoline-powered car sales. The state is suing the world's largest oil producers for decades of climate deception. Soon...
Read This Before Voting on Prop. 35, Which Promises Billions for Health Care
Among the blitz of election ads flooding TV, social media and street corners, you won't see any opposition to a ballot measure proposing to lock in billions of dollars to pay doctors more for treating low-income patients. But opponents of Proposition 35 have a warning even if they don't have...
She Lost Job After Talking to State Auditors. She Just Won $8.7M in Whistleblower Case.
Tamara Evans found something fishy in the expenses filed by a San Diego contractor for the state's police certification commission. Classes were reported as full to her employer, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, even if they weren't. Meeting room space was billed, but no rooms were actually...
What You Need to Know About California’s Ballot Propositions
California voters only decided one proposition on the March primary ballot — Gov. Gavin Newsom's mental health measure that barely passed — but will get their say on 10 in November. With your choices, you'll help steer state policy on crime, health care, rent control and more. You can change...
Some California Stem Cell Clinics Use Unproven Therapies. A New Court Ruling Cracks Down.
Stem cell clinics have popped up throughout California, promising cures and relief for arthritis, Alzheimer's and other conditions through cutting-edge technologies. Some, however, are offering services that have not been approved by federal health regulators. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week gained a significant court win against stem...
How Meta Brings in Millions Off Political Violence
After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in July, the merchandise started showing up on Facebook. Trump, fist in the air, face bloodied from a bullet, appeared on everything. Coffee mugs. Hawaiian shirts. Trading cards. Commemorative coins. Heart ornaments. Ads for these products used images captured at the scene by...
California Has Enough Debt. It Doesn’t Need $10 Billion More for a Climate Bond.
Imagine using your credit card to buy something, knowing that by the time you finish paying off the debt, you'll have spent nearly double the original price due to interest. It's a poor financial decision most of us would avoid. Yet this is precisely what Democrats in the state legislature...
Why Is California Getting an Avalanche of Unexpected Tax Revenue?
No sooner had Gov. Gavin Newsom cut billions of dollars in spending to close a budget deficit in June than California received an unexpected tax windfall, one that has people in the Capitol speculating about where the avalanche of money came from. More corporate taxes than expected poured into state...
A Minimum Wage Increase for California Health Care Workers Is Finally Kicking In
California health workers this month will finally get a long-promised minimum wage increase. It'll kick in this month, according to a letter state health officials sent to the Legislature Tuesday, describing a process that should trigger the pay boost. "The health care minimum wage increases shall be effective 15 days...