Economy

A new California law will ban over two dozen chemicals from fragrances and cosmetics. It’s another first-in-the-nation law — and another instance of California following European Union regulators.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara unveils a plan to shore up the California insurance market for homeowners. Insurers would return to wildfire zones, but would have an easier path to rate increases.

Unions won major victories this session on pay for fast food and health care workers, benefits for strikers and bargaining rights. Business groups say that labor has too much power at the Capitol.

Climate activists and some lawmakers want two of California’s pension funds to shed about $15 billion of fossil fuel holdings. They say the move would reduce oil and gas companies’ political power, but opponents say it would be a bad move financially.

After California’s largest home insurance provider said it wouldn’t issue new policies, consumer and insurance industry groups have ideas for what they’d like to see California do. Here’s the debate over four of those ideas.

As Congressional factions volley responsibility for pandemic breakdowns, Silicon Valley’s home state leads off a new book about “why government is failing in the digital age.”

Consumer groups say some new “earned wage access” services are similar to payday loans, but they’ve been operating in a legal gray area. A California department has proposed rules that would be the first in the country to systematically regulate the industry.

Workers denied pandemic-era jobless benefits are still struggling with debt and stress — collateral damage as they fight a state employment agency on edge about fraud and an appeals system facing a 'historic' backlog. What happens next with these and other legal battles will help decide who pays for a multi-billion-dollar debacle three years in the making.

A report from California’s department devoted to business oversight says state and federal regulators saw reasons for concern over Silicon Valley Bank’s financial practices, but didn’t force changes soon enough.

After the demise of two regional banks, experts had some ideas for what the state could do differently. A clearer picture will emerge once the state’s regulator publishes a report, and lawmakers discuss options.