What are the big takeaways from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s updated 2023-24 budget proposal, the so-called May revise? The impact of climate change. Fiscal restraint with a looming recession. And almost certainly, no tax increases to cover the growing budget deficit. The spending plan Newsom unveiled Friday anticipates a $31.5 billion...
California Should Keep Its $60 Million Budget Commitment to Foster Care Children
Although it received little public fanfare, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature last year made a life-changing investment in the lives of tens of thousands of California’s most vulnerable children. In the scheme of a nearly $300 billion state budget, it wasn’t much – $20 million per year over three...
Under Fire, Newsom Puts $40 Million for Valley Floodplains Back in Budget
Four months ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom yanked $40 million in funding to restore San Joaquin Valley floodplains from his proposed budget, angering legislators from both parties and conservationists. Thursday, he gave all of the money back as part of a $290-million package to increase flood protection funding statewide. The funding comes...
Madera Hospital Closure Creates Big Barriers for Farmworkers, Sikhs
A new community survey shows that Punjabi Sikh residents and farmworkers from indigenous backgrounds are particularly affected by the closure of the Madera Community Hospital, advocates say. After years of financial struggles, the 106-bed hospital and its three clinics shut down completely in early January, stunning a primarily Latino and...
Mangoes and Agave in the Central Valley? California Farmers Try New Crops to Cope With Climate Change
In a world of worsening heatwaves, flooding, drought, glacial melting, megafires and other calamities of a changing climate, Gary Gragg is an optimist. As California warms, Gragg — a nurseryman, micro-scale farmer and tropical fruit enthusiast — looks forward to the day that he can grow and sell mangoes in...
California Labor Unions Flex Their Muscles at State Capitol
If you need any more proof of labor’s power in Democratic politics, look no further than the joint conference of the California Labor Federation and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom told the gathering — “Unionize California” emblazoned everywhere — that worker rights are under threat in...
How Free Trips for California Lawmakers Lead to Legislation
After touring Portland and Seattle in 2020 to research waste disposal, state Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat, successfully carried a measure to restrict which plastics can bear the triangular arrow recycling symbol. Because of a study trip to Japan in November, Assemblymember Devon Mathis, a Visalia Republican, introduced a bill this...
Facing California Deadlines, Automakers Race to Make EVs
Amid the clank and clatter of the factory floor in Dearborn, Michigan, self-moving robotic vehicles transport the 1,600-pound batteries that power Ford’s flagship electric pickup truck to workers in various stations, who rush to bolt them to other parts. After workers inspect each battery, the robot moves it along a...
California’s Next Housing Crackdown Could Force Cities to Plan More Homeless Shelters
All over California, cities are falling far short when it comes to providing enough shelter for their homeless communities. More than 69,000 homeless residents live in Los Angeles County, for instance, but that county has just over 21,000 beds in shelters and temporary housing programs. It’s a similar story in...
Future of California at Risk if CEQA Environmental Law Remains Unchanged
Like our changing climate and its many impacts on our communities, economy and environment; like the collapse of critical infrastructure; like the humanitarian homelessness crisis on our streets and the housing shortage driving it; like so many other slow-motion disasters that have befallen us, the warning signs have been unmistakably...