August 2023

Many local governments have more than half their voters approve a bond measure… but fewer than the two-thirds supermajority required. An effort to change that would drastically alter the ability of local governments to fund housing and infrastructure projects.

Medi-Cal and other programs are testing food prescriptions that advocates say could improve chronic conditions, lower health care costs and reduce hunger.

From CalMatters’ state Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal:  California has taken a number of steps over the past decade to make voting easier: Mailing ballots to all registered voters, plus allowing early voting and same-day registration.  Yet, the electorate hasn’t shifted to match the state’s growing diversity: Frequent voters are far from representative of the majority […]

As California's war over land use authority rages on, critics of the state's housing quotas are turning to voters and lower population projections to undercut them.

Read this story in English. En Los Ángeles es raro ver a actores de Hollywood y amas de casa de pie y hombro con hombro en los lugares de protesta, o a escritores de televisión detrás de los conductores de UPS luchando por mejores salarios.  Sin embargo, estos signos de solidaridad entre las clases sociales […]

How bad is California hunger? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but is being reduced.

Read this story in English. Renee Espinoza pensó que su primer registro sin ropa a manos de una oficial de la guardia correccional de California sería el último. Ocurrió durante una visita a la prisión estatal de Centinela para ver a su esposo encarcelado.  Unos meses después volvió a suceder. Y luego otra vez.  “Era […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to make prisons a friendlier place for inmate families. An updated strip-search policy has some worried that families will face intrusive encounters during their visits.

Despite a court ruling that says local utility laws don't cover streaming services, several California cities are considering taxing the companies similar to cable. As TV broadcast groups lobby federal regulators for additional rule changes, tech advocates are concerned about the impact on consumers.

Showing solidarity with other social classes is a prominent union strategy in the so-called “hot labor summer” sweeping California. It’s too soon to say if the inter-union activity will get employers to bargain.