California's homeless population remains the biggest in the nation, but the crisis is growing more slowly here than in most of the rest of the country, according to new federal data. The number of homeless Californians increased just over 3% last year compared to the year before, with more than...
California Businesses Sue State Over New Workplace Law
California businesses are suing to halt a new state law that bars them from requiring employees to attend anti-union meetings at work. The state's Chamber of Commerce and California Restaurant Association filed the suit in federal court on New Year's Eve, a day before the new law was to go...
If CA Wants to Lead on AI, It Can’t Let 3 Companies Hog the Infrastructure
When California state Sen. Scott Wiener introduced the nation's most ambitious AI safety bill last year, it became a flashpoint in the debate over how to govern artificial intelligence. Senate Bill 1047 caught the attention of tech billionaires, large corporations, Hollywood, researchers and the media for good reason — it...
‘People Are Still Mad’: Will California Pass Reparations Bills?
After two reparations bills stalled in the final day of session last year, reparation advocates are campaigning today at the state Capitol to drum up support for the same measures. In partnership with the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, the advocates are calling the rally “the first reparations advocacy...
Five Things to Watch as CA Legislature Returns to Capitol
With the election and the holidays behind them, the California Legislature returns to Sacramento today to kick off a new session in earnest. It will be several more months before the political wrangling over the state budget and thousands of proposed bills truly ramps up. Still, priorities are emerging as...
Why 2025 Will Be a Pivotal Year for Mayor Karen Bass and LA
Here comes the hard part. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has plenty to be proud of in her first two years as the chief executive of the largest city in the largest state in America. Violent crime is down. Public transit ridership has fought its way back up. She's replaced...
Can California Keep ICE Away from Schools? Lawmakers Want to Try as Crackdowns Loom
California lawmakers are proposing steps to protect K-12 students and families from mass deportations — although the real value of those proposals may be symbolic. A pair of bills in the Legislature — AB 49 and SB 48 — aim to keep federal agents from detaining undocumented students or their...
California Toughened Penalties for Theft and More Changes Are Coming
Californians accused of certain drug and retail theft crimes may already be facing stiffer penalties under an initiative voters passed this year, alongside related bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law. Voters this November overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, which both modifies and adds key changes to California law. That includes...
Emergency Room Workers Face More Assaults. New CA Law Stiffens Penalties.
Those who physically attack doctors, nurses and other emergency department workers in California face harsher penalties in 2025 thanks to a new law. In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 977, which increased penalties from six months to a year in jail for those convicted of assaulting California’s hospital emergency...
CA Leaders Could Go to Prison Over Sanctuary Cities, Trump Allies Warn
California’s southern border, long "ground zero" in the fight between federal and local officials over immigration policy, is now at the center of renewed controversy over how far local leaders can go to protect people from deportation. After San Diego County took steps earlier this month to strengthen safeguards for...