California’s state government has so much money it could be constitutionally required to give taxpayers a rebate, so it’s somewhat surprising that a group of lawmakers continues to push for a multibillion-dollar tax hike on employers. Assembly Bill 71 would impose a $2.4 billion-a-year tax increase on businesses, including a corporate income...
Effort to Censure Valadao Over Trump Vote Turned Back by California GOP
There were no boozy late-night cocktail parties at this weekend’s California Republican Party convention. Missing too were the bullhorn and placard-toting protest marches, the cameo appearance of rightwing Internet celebrities, the raucus parliamentary brawls between college Republicans. There were no rooms to work, parties to crash, or crowds to whip up. There...
Kaiser Fined $499K by State for COVID Worker Safety Violations
California officials gave a nod to Kaiser Permanente’s reputation for efficiency when they recently selected it to help speed vaccine rollout. But a review of worker safety citations shows Kaiser has had its own pandemic troubles, failing to adequately protect its employees early on. Kaiser Permanente has on multiple occasions failed to...
What Biden’s Presidency Means for California’s Environment
Like a defeated and retreating army, Trump administration officials left Washington, D.C., burning and shredding environmental laws and policies even as they walked out the door. The scorched earth policy of unraveling Obama-era initiatives in favor of widespread deregulation began four years ago, and entailed many dozens of rules and...
Victims Behind Bars: Trafficking Survivors Still Struggle Despite State Laws
Sara Kruzan was in her cell when she received a fax that changed her life. After spending some of her teenage years, all of her 20s and much of her 30s in prison for killing her trafficker, Kruzan learned that California’s attorney general had acknowledged that she was a victim of domestic...
California Lifts Suspensions of Half a Million Driver’s Licenses
More than 400,000 Californians had their driver’s licenses reinstated last month after an appeals court ruled that the state was illegally penalizing people who failed to appear in court on costly traffic tickets. The lawsuit was part of a broader, ongoing effort by legal advocacy organizations to roll back California’s...
Recalling a California Governor, Explained
“Recall Gavin Newsom” signs are popping up around California. At shopping centers and street protests, people fed up with the Democratic governor are asking voters to sign petitions. What began as a far-fetched effort by Republican activists has turned into a credible campaign attempting to throw Newsom out of office....
California Public Schools Suffer Record Enrollment Drop
California’s K-12 public-school enrollment has precipitously declined during the pandemic, dropping by a record 155,000 students, according to new state projections. That drop-off is about five times greater than California’s annual rate of enrollment decline in recent years. The state, which boasts the largest student enrollment in the country, has...
‘Too Little, Too Late’: California Small Businesses Chase COVID-19 Relief
Since the coronavirus swept into Silicon Valley last spring, Denise Russell’s race to save her San Jose salon has stretched into a marathon. It started with a $103,020 Paycheck Protection Program loan. Then came a federal small business Economic Injury Disaster Loan for $159,000. Now, she’s applying for a $15,000...
‘Tedious, Stressful’: Why Older Californians Are Still Struggling to Get Vaccine
For eight days in a row, David Griffin, 67, woke up at 3 or 4 a.m. to search for a rare, coveted COVID-19 vaccine appointment for himself and his wife, 70, who has multiple sclerosis. Two slots he found, at a Ralph’s supermarket, were abruptly cancelled. Finally, Griffin secured two...