Last week, as federal stimulus talks crumbled and California’s unemployment system faltered again, Tracy Greer packed her car with recyclables and hoped the cash would pay for groceries. Greer, 48, is an accountant by training who was furloughed from her job as a restaurant server in the high desert town of...
Lawmakers Want to Amend This Prop? It’ll Take a “Super, Super, Super-Duper Majority”
By Ben Christopher, CalMatters A reader has asked us a question about a lesser-known provision buried in one of the year’s most controversial ballot measures: Hey @FromBenC & @CalMatters - was hoping you could answer a #prop22 Q. Is there precedent for rqring 7/8th vote from legis for “consistent” changes...
‘Totally Inadequate’: Most Californians in Wildfire-Prone Counties Aren’t Signed up for Emergency Alerts
Tracey Aldrich had never heard of CodeRED, Butte County’s opt-in emergency notification system, until she came upon a roadblock leading up to her mother’s house in August. At the roadblock, police told her a firestorm was bearing down on her mother’s neighborhood in Berry Creek. Neither she nor her mother...
It’s Complicated: School Reopenings, Hybrid Learning Look Different Across California
The night before the first day of in-person instruction for elementary students in San Diego County’s Poway Unified School District, principals sent families detailed instructions on how to drop off their children. The following Thursday morning, “welcome back” balloons adorned campuses’ front gates and school employees took students’ temperatures as...
Freeze First, Verify Second: Unemployed Californians Get a Fright From EDD
Joseph Wood went to buy gas in Ventura in anticipation of driving up the coast to visit his children this week. The 39-year-old gig driver knew he had money on a debit card connected to his unemployment payments when his purchase was declined. Unable to fill up his tank, he...
How the Pandemic Reshaped California Politics in 2020
It’s not easy to get work done during a pandemic. Even for the fortunate who kept their pre-pandemic jobs, productivity has taken it on the chin in 2020. The same goes for those in the lawmaking business. In March, just days after the governor instructed all Californians to shelter in...
This Is Not the Time to Propose More Tax Increases
This is a year most Californians would like to forget. Plans have been scrapped, the new “normal” is anything but normal, and we all know a coffee shop, deli, bar or restaurant that has closed permanently or may not survive the next six months. With 2.5 million Californians unemployed, many...
If Voters Raise Taxes on Corporate Landlords, Will Small Biz Foot the Bill?
When supporters of a November property tax ballot measure talk about soaking the state’s faceless corporate giants and its wealthiest landlords, they are not talking about people like John Kevranian. The co-owner of Nuts for Candy & Toys in Burlingame, Kevranian and his wife have operated this mainstay of the...
Bill to Reduce Probation Time Could Help Offenders Successfully Re-Enter Society
As states continue to grapple with fixing aspects of our criminal justice system from the top, they should keep an eye on California and a bill sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk that looks to modify how courts handle probation in the state. Nearly a quarter of a million people...
California Exodus: An Online Industry Seizes COVID-19 to Sell the Red State Dream
At first, Stephanie Morris was nervous about leaving Modesto. She’d lived in the Central Valley her whole life, but her family couldn’t keep paying $850-a-month for her sons to share a living room while she, her husband and the baby slept in their apartment’s only bedroom. The anxiety faded by...