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California’s three U.S. Senate debates before the March primary were mostly staid affairs. Not Tuesday’s often spicy face-off between Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank and Republican Steve Garvey — their first and only one-on-one debate scheduled before the Nov. 5 election. As CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu explains, they clashed over abortion, guns, […]

On Aug. 31, when Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special session on gas prices, California motorists were paying $4.61 per gallon on average, $1.27 more than the national average. On Monday, when the state Senate finally convened, prices were $4.68 in California, or $1.51 above the national average.  In between, there has been plenty of […]

From CalMatters community college reporter Adam Echelman: If colleges worked the way they should, Joe Villa would have thousands of dollars of federal financial aid by now. But he’s never received a penny.  I’ve been talking to Villa for over a year now, trying to figure out why.  He’s one of roughly four million Californians […]

Dear California Reader, Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m environmental equity reporter Alejandra Reyes-Velarde. California is facing another fall heat wave this week, and schoolchildren across the state are sweltering in hot classrooms as districts struggle to keep up with air conditioning system repairs.  In coastal areas like Long Beach and Oakland, some classrooms don’t […]

Ever since Laphonza Butler took herself out of the running for U.S. Senate a year ago — just two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom picked her to replace the late Dianne Feinstein — she has faded into the background quite a bit.  Thursday, to mark one year since the Democrat took the oath of office, […]

Though California leaders like to tout the state as the world’s fifth largest economy, it can appear that California has two economies: One where some workers still aren’t paid what they’re owed, and another where some California corporations are raking in big bucks. In one major case, the state’s Labor Commissioner’s Office is having a […]

The high in the Bay Area city where I live was 95 degrees Tuesday, which caught me so off guard that I thought my phone’s location setting was stuck in Sacramento. But it wasn’t. And it was hot. This week’s unusual and brutal heat wave in California is expected to cool off starting today, but […]

While Gov. Gavin Newsom is in Mexico to attend the inauguration of its first female president, legislators’ work isn’t done — and some who also planned to go aren’t thrilled to be stuck in Sacramento.  Today, Assemblymembers will meet in a special session called by Newsom to consider legislation that seeks to ease gas price […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom has until midnight tonight to act on the fewer than 40 bills remaining on his desk. As of Sunday, the proportion of bills that Newsom has vetoed since the Legislature adjourned Aug. 31 is about 19% (or 181 of nearly 960 measures).  Some notable bills the governor spiked over the weekend: Gov. […]

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m Wendy Fry. A Sonoma County wine grape and vegetable grower will have to pay $31,102 in back wages and $18,154 in civil penalties for violating several requirements of the federal H-2A visa program, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The H-2A program allows U.S. employers to hire temporary […]