Timing is everything. Since the early months of the pandemic, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been scrambling to reduce crowding in the state’s COVID-racked prison system by making it easier for certain inmates to get out early. In February, the agency announced yet another raft of...
Police Groups Pour Cash Into Schubert’s Challenge of AG Bonta
Amid rising concerns about crime and recent criminal justice reforms, California’s law enforcement groups are spending big this year in several high-profile races. So far in the 2022 election cycle, these groups have contributed more than $1 million to campaigns for the state Legislature and several statewide offices, slightly less than...
GOP Wants Gas Tax Suspended in CA, Dems Eye New Tax on Gas Suppliers
After twice refusing to consider GOP Assemblymember Kevin Kiley of Rocklin’s bill to suspend California’s excise gas tax for six months, a key Assembly committee passed it on Monday — after gutting the contents and inserting an entirely new measure from Democratic Assemblymember Alex Lee of San Jose. Lee’s amendments would, among...
Solving California’s Housing Crisis Starts With Building More Homes
California’s housing crisis can seem insurmountable. The median home price is more than $800,000, the state needs millions of additional homes to give everyone a place to live and homelessness is on the rise. Progress is abysmal. The state called for the construction of 180,000 new units annually between 2015 and...
Are Newest CA Vaccine Bills About Safety or Legislative Overreach?
Lea este artículo en español. Gov. Gavin Newsom is easing mask restrictions and declaring that the pandemic is moving into a less critical phase. Yet an aggressive slate of COVID-19-related bills — to mandate vaccines for children and workers, to allow 12 to 17 year-olds to get the vaccine without...
Progressives: There’s No Democracy in California Democratic Party
The message was clear and, more importantly, it was loud: Progressive activists would work to block the California Democratic Party’s endorsement for any lawmaker who did not support a single-payer health care bill facing a crucial legislative deadline at the end of January. Their threat did not persuade wavering legislators to...
Parents Lose Patience Over California School Mask Mandate
Lea este artículo en español. Since California health officials decreed the end of the mask mandate for restaurants and grocery stores last week, frustrated parents have been asking: When can their kids take their masks off at school? They didn’t get any answers during a much-anticipated press conference Monday hosted by California...
Arambula’s Bill Eliminates All Premiums for Medi-Cal Recipients
Medi-Cal, the state’s safety net health program, isn’t free for everyone. More than half a million of California’s lowest-income children, pregnant individuals, and working disabled adults are required to pay health insurance premiums, ranging from $13 a month to as much as $350. That may change this year under...
Shocker: Less Than Half of Funds for CA College Volunteer Reward Program Goes to Students
Lea este artículo en español. A new California program to financially reward college students for volunteering has drawn national attention — but less than half of its budgeted money is going to actual student aid. The California Volunteers College Corps program, backed by $159 million in mostly state money, promises to award up to $10,000 to...
Does Fresno’s New Law Make It Harder to Help Homeless People?
A new coalition of homeless advocates plans to take legal action against the city of Fresno and a new ordinance members say places unnecessary restrictions on advocates working to help the homeless living in encampments. The new ordinance, which was approved on Jan. 27 and authored by Fresno City Councilmembers...