Despite paying direct and indirect taxes on fuel three times the national average, California’s motorists continue to drive on roadways that are subpar compared to those in other states.
State Senator Wanted to Kill Fresno’s Online Sales Tax Advantage. Did He Win or Lose?
Some of the most liberal and conservative members of the state Senate agreed recently that if you buy an iPhone in Los Angeles it shouldn’t help pay for police in Cupertino. But the bipartisanship wasn’t enough to pass a bill that would change the rules allowing corporations wide discretion to...
Newsom Unveils Plan That Would Hasten Insurance-Rate Reviews — and Increases
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed legislation to speed up insurance premium rate reviews as he and the Insurance Department try to fix the state’s battered insurance market. Last fall, Newsom issued an executive order tasking Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara with fixing home and fire insurance availability and affordability as insurers...
Will EV Mandate Be a Roadblock to Safe Commutes for Central Valley Farmworkers?
The CalVans program in the Central Valley transports thousands of laborers to the fields. It is now trying to meet a mandate to electrify its fleet — a key test of how to make the state’s climate policies work in rural and disadvantaged areas. It took years for CalVans to...
California Sides With Big Utilities, Trim Incentives for Community Solar Projects
California’s utilities regulator has adopted new rules for community solar projects, despite warnings from clean energy advocates that the move will undercut efforts to expand solar power options for low-income customers. The state’s biggest utility companies advocated for the new rules. Community solar projects are generally small-scale, local solar arrays...
Your Guide to California’s Minimum Wage: Surviving in an Expensive State
It’s really expensive to live in California. That fact, more than anything, inspired a decade of policy changes in the Capitol to raise the minimum wage for California workers. Today, California’s $16 minimum wage is among the highest in the nation, but there is ongoing debate about whether it is...
California Needs Bold New Strategies to Save What’s Left of Its Freshwater Species
Californians are blessed with a dazzling array of freshwater species. I should know: I’ve experienced much of this diversity firsthand while exploring the state’s mountains, rivers, lakes, valleys, bays and coastline. As a child I spent so much time in the water that my family joked that I should be...
The Cost to Inform California Voters? $118,000 a Page for Official Guide
What’s the cost of democracy in California? If we calculate that based just on the pages informing the state’s 22 million voters about Proposition 1 in the official March voter guide, about $8 million. Each page of the primary voter guide cost $117,880 for printing, translations, audio, mailing, and postage,...
Newsom Promised 1,200 Tiny Homes for Homeless Californians. How Many Are Being Used?
In March 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom stood before a crowd in Sacramento’s Cal Expo event center and made a promise: He’d send 1,200 tiny homes to shelter homeless residents in the capital city and three other places throughout the state. The move was part of Newsom’s push to improve the...
What Drives California’s Budget Decisions? A Lot of Politics, Not as Much Data
Frustration came through loud and clear as legislators hurled question after question at the head of the state’s homelessness interagency council: Why, after years of planning and billions of dollars invested, is there so little to show for the effort? “You come into a budget committee and there’s no numbers,”...