Of the dozens of education bills that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this year, few will have a more practical impact on everyday lives than the new, later start times for California’s high schools and middle schools. The signing of Senate Bill 328 by Democratic Sen. Anthony Portantino marked a milestone...
What California Can Learn From Seattle About Police Shootings
By Laurel Rosenhall, CalMatters As California debated a new law limiting when police can use deadly force, advocates pointed to Seattle as an example of a place that’s benefited from a similar policy. The Seattle Police Department has made a lot of changes in recent years, and its use of...
Is Your City Ready for California’s Next Recession?
By Judy Lin and Elizabeth Castillo CalMatters California might be enjoying a historic economic expansion, but pockets of the state could be devastated in the next recession and at least 18 cities are even now at high risk of fiscal distress, according to a first-in-the-nation dashboard released Thursday by State Auditor Elaine...
How Bad Teeth and Lack of Dental Care Can Lead to Poverty, Discrimination
Gina Diaz-Nino considers herself an extrovert. But since her mouth began deteriorating after years of methamphetamine use and two fights, she receded into the shadows. Her teeth are yellow, crooked and browning around the corners. Most of her top teeth are either chipped, missing or decaying. When they fell out,...
California Families Are Hungry While a Third of Crops Rot in Fields
Maximina Molina Sanchez is worried about going hungry this winter. She depends on a food bank in Huron to feed her husband and two kids. But with most agricultural workers out of jobs during the winter, demand is bound to increase, so she worries there won’t be enough food to...
Newsom’s First Rodeo: In Year One, Governor Bucks Both Trump and Brown
Californians will soon be allowed to eat roadkill but be prohibited from buying fur coats. Abortion pills will become available on college campuses, but tiny bottles of shampoo will be banned from hotel rooms. High school and middle school kids will get a later first bell, but schools won’t be...
Conservatives Clap Back Against California in Court — Twice
It was a busy Tuesday for GOP-affiliated courtroom battles against the state of California. In the morning, conservatives sued the state claiming it was failing to “ensure that non-citizens are never placed on the voter rolls.” In the afternoon, they scored an early, anticipated victory to block a new state law that...
California’s Pension Debt Cannot Be Ignored
A decade ago, at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s request, I supervised a graduate student team that performed a comprehensive analysis of public pensions in California. The goal was to calculate California’s pension debt, the difference between assets and liabilities. The team’s conclusions: the unfunded liability was over $500 billion—seven times the number officially...
The Deciders: Meet the Lawmaker Behind New Gig Economy Law
By Byrhonda Lyons and Laurel Rosenhall, CalMatters Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat from San Diego, is among California’s more powerful state lawmakers and an ally of labor unions. This year, she led the fight to win new protections for gig workers, and won passage of a landmark workplace bill, AB 5....
For California to Thrive, Latinos Must Be Included, and Right Now They’re Too Far Behind
The good news is that the last decade has been better economically for Latinos living in California. But challenges persist. While Latino poverty rates are shrinking, Latinos still make up the largest ethnic group in the state who live in poverty. While Latino household income is up, $56,000 per household,...