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California voters passed Proposition 22 four years ago. The ballot initiative, backed by Uber, Lyft and other gig companies, promised the state’s more than 1 million gig workers new benefits, such as guaranteed minimum earnings, health care stipends, occupational accident insurance and accidental death insurance. Gig workers have long turned to the state labor commissioner […]

It’s going to take a minute to sift through the avalanche of lawmaking in the long, final days of the Legislature.  And it isn’t over quite yet: Gov. Gavin Newsom called lawmakers back for a special session focused on gas prices, even though the state Senate isn’t playing along. As CalMatters Capitol reporters Sameea Kamal […]

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m Felicia Mello. Evelyn and Israel Avalos have shared the same studio apartment in San Rafael’s crowded Canal neighborhood for 18 years. Over their time living in one of California’s wealthiest counties, they’ve become familiar with the picturesque, mansion-studded enclaves surrounding them – places like Tiburon, Sausalito and San Anselmo. […]

Scheduling note: WhatMatters will be resting for Labor Day weekend and will return to your inboxes on Tuesday. Update: The Assembly bill to provide rebates to utility customers was pulled from consideration today and appears dead. In early August, there were rumblings that Gov. Gavin Newsom was working with legislators on a proposal to reduce […]

With Saturday’s deadline looming to pass the last flurry of bills before adjourning, legislators can see the finish line. But they might have more work ahead: Gov. Gavin Newsom is considering calling a special session to push legislation on gas prices and oil regulations. The idea, which Newsom discussed with legislative leaders in private meetings […]

California legislators are slammed trying to get through hundreds of bills before the clock strikes midnight on Saturday. They still have more than 700 bills to consider after Tuesday’s sessions, according to lobbyist and legislative observer Chris Micheli.  But they’re not too busy to fete departing colleagues — and they’re quite a few of them. […]

The California Legislature is in its (sometimes) frantic final week, racing to pass bills by the Saturday deadline.  Monday, lawmakers pulled some last-minute maneuvering to extend the time allowed for floor amendments (the deadline was last Friday) to five bills, including ones on paid family leave, mental competency of defendants and environmental reviews of hydrogen […]

The March closure of California’s first licensed and accredited birth center underscores not only the state’s “de facto ban” on licensing birth centers (as one lobbyist put it), but also the uphill battle expectant mothers in California face when seeking the health care they need. In the past decade, nearly 50 maternity wards have closed […]

Dear Inequality Insights readers, San Diego port officials hired a contractor to clear out a waterfront homeless encampment last week where about a dozen asylum seekers were living. For months, asylum seekers had been camping in the César Chávez Park in Barrio Logan, but the port’s Harbor Police told them they had to leave or […]

In the biggest speech of her political career so far, Vice President Kamala Harris told Americans Thursday night that she will bring the country together, build the middle class and govern with common sense.  “With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the […]