California Divide

In a state that has long struggled to get federal food assistance to those who qualify, one senator is hoping that the third time’s a charm for his bill to ease application hurdles for CalFresh.

In 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom more than doubled how much money the state spends on its tax credit for low income workers. But since its establishment in 2015, the credit has been unavailable for undocumented workers who pay taxes, until now. Depending on a household’s size and income, the California Earned Income Tax credit can […]

The coastal community was called out in a state audit as one of many troubling flaws contributing to California’s affordable housing crisis. Researchers say a statewide planning process has allowed wealthier cities to lobby for fewer housing units than inland and less-wealthy cities. A new system is underway to bring more equity, but will it be strong enough to resist NIMBYism?

The battle has begun over billions of dollars allegedly stolen during the pandemic, pitting state officials against a web of scammers and their own private contractors. With another stimulus bill poised to inject more cash into a leaky system, taxpayers could be left holding the bag.

Despite a heavy toll of COVID-19 among California’s farmworkers, who often live in crowded homes, Newsom’s Housing for the Harvest program has made just 81 hotel reservations for isolation or quarantine as of Dec. 16. Given pervasive fear among farmworkers of using governmental programs, are Newsom’s hotel rooms the wrong answer to a persisting problem?

New research finds the pandemic has likely stripped away most of the wage gains made after the Great Recession by California’s lowest earners. State Democrats and Republicans are proposing various solutions, but experts warn jobs alone will not bridge growing inequality.

California’s attorney general sued to get Amazon to comply with investigative subpoenas into the e-commerce giant’s coronavirus prevention efforts.

Nine months into the pandemic, the public remains in the dark about most workplace outbreaks. Fresno County public health officials blame incomplete data and staffing shortages. One lawmaker may reintroduce legislation to make workplace outbreak data public statewide.

After 16 weeks, the mortality rates in states that lifted moratoriums was an estimated 5.4 times higher.

Lea este artículo en español.  State Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) wants the state to acquire a stockpile of N-95 masks and set up a strike team to distribute them to farmworkers when they continue to work under dangerous conditions during wildfires in order to keep the country fed. Although Assembly Bill 73 has no funding attached, […]