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California’s Legislature is getting crazy busy as key bill deadlines get closer — and we’re keeping track. Tuesday, some bills didn’t survive crucial committee hearings, while others were watered down to stay alive. CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall watched the Senate Public Safety Committee kill a bill for a statewide ban on homeless encampments near […]

It was a somber, and at times tearful, gathering Monday as legislators and advocates promoted a bill to hold behavioral treatment centers for teens more accountable. Most of the attention was focused on one (some might say, unexpected) speaker: The hotel heiress, socialite and media personality Paris Hilton. Hilton is the latest celebrity to utilize […]

California is struggling to provide maternal health for its residents. But as one proposal aims to prevent birth defects, another has received hateful pushback that’s been condemned by both political parties. As CalMatters health reporter Ana B. Ibarra writes, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula has introduced a bill that would require corn masa flour makers to add […]

Thousands of children and youth are enslaved in labor trafficking in California and other states, experts say. Here's one LA-area lawsuit.

Three months after the California Legislative Black Caucus unveiled a series of priority bills to address reparations, some advocates say the measures don’t go far enough to compensate eligible Black Californians for the lasting damage of slavery.  And some lawmakers are pushing legislation outside the bill package to extend the reach of reparations even further, […]

From CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn: As the public continues to question higher education’s value, it’s not surprising that two of California’s — and the country’s — top universities will soon be led by deans of business schools. Wednesday, the University of California board of regents revealed that UC Berkeley’s 12th chancellor will be […]

From CalMatters investigative reporter Lauren Hepler: Widespread allegations of sexual assault. Legal battles over wrongful deaths. Complaints of repeated strip searches. Welcome to California’s homeless private security boom. A new CalMatters investigation finds that governments, nonprofits and businesses are increasingly hiring private guards to patrol homeless shelters and areas around street encampments. It’s a new […]

For those in the Legislature’s Democratic supermajority, voting “yes” on a colleague’s bill may come easily. Voting “no,” however, isn’t as straightforward — and that may be why so few Democrats actually do so. In an analysis of more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators since 2017, CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow […]

Update: The state Senate approved the bill on May 24. In two more years, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Known as the Semiquincentennial, the federal government in 2016 and 40 other states have set up commissions to help commemorate the event. So far, […]

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m CalMatters reporter Wendy Fry.  This week we have two essential stories from our California Divide team that you won’t want to miss.  Reporter Justo Robles reported that the state is considering zeroing out funds for the CalWORKS family stabilization and job subsidy programs to help balance the budget.  He […]