California Divide

Push to pass a labor-sponsored bill is a key ‘Fight for $15’ priority and a potential organizing foothold in an industry where unionization has long been elusive.

California’s first-in-the-nation task force to identify reparations said business loans, housing grants, tuition, wage and job protections could provide redress for African Americans.

California lawmakers and activists are pressing Gov. Gavin Newsom to spend more to help the state’s poorest residents.

A UC Berkeley inequality study finds that, although efforts to reduce inequality are popular, many of the rich or people in “advantaged groups” resist equity policies, believing they’ll be harmed.

A racial equity organization launched a new $500,000 fund to help Indigenous Californians record the state's history of colonial violence. Leaders are partnering with the state’s Truth & Healing Council, which will produce a report.

A $300 penalty that California courts tack onto traffic and minor citations can cause the cost of a ticket to balloon. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to reduce it by half but lawmakers want it gone.

California is trying to make its cash assistance program more flexible for low-income parents. Advocates say a federal rule is hindering that.

A proposed bill would pay farmworkers who lost work due to dry or low-water conditions $1,000 a month for three years.

A workplace tech accountability bill would force employers to tell workers they’re being spied on and would ban surveillance outside of work.

Anti-poverty organizations are calling for the state to target some of its projected surplus to families making up to $30,000 a year.