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Many Californians who lost jobs during the pandemic have been facing ongoing battles to receive unemployment benefits. During the first few months of the COVID shutdown, the state Employment Development Department became inundated with 29 million jobless claims. Since then, it has paid out $188 billion in unemployment benefits. But as CalMatters’ investigative reporter Lauren […]

What are the big takeaways from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s updated 2023-24 budget proposal, the so-called May revise? The impact of climate change. Fiscal restraint with a looming recession. And almost certainly, no tax increases to cover the growing budget deficit. The spending plan Newsom unveiled Friday anticipates a $31.5 billion deficit, up from $22.5 billion […]

Because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Thursday, California’s Proposition 12 can stand — which means the pigs can, too. In 2018, California voters approved the ballot measure to ban the sale of meat and egg products from farms that did not raise their “veal calves, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens” in spaces that […]

From Wendy Fry of CalMatters’ California Divide team: A pandemic-era public health policy known as Title 42, used to turn away asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border, is coming to an end just before 9 p.m. tonight, prompting concerns about unprecedented migration flows. Meanwhile, hundreds of migrants have been waiting outside between border walls in […]

If you’re the author or supporter of a bill before the California Legislature, this is one list you dread: While getting sent to the “suspense file” doesn’t seal a measure’s fate, it does put it at some risk of being killed for the year.  Leading up to the big suspense file decision day next week, […]

If you need any more proof of labor’s power in Democratic politics, look no further than the joint conference of the California Labor Federation and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom told the gathering — “Unionize California” emblazoned everywhere — that worker rights are under threat in other states and […]

After 15 public hearings and testimony from more than 100 expert witnesses and the public, the California Reparations Task Force approved calculations on Saturday that estimate as much as hundreds of millions of dollars owed to eligible Black residents. Describing the emotional meeting as “one of the more rowdy hearings by the task force,” Wendy […]

As California’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Rob Bonta has plenty of leeway for his to-do list. This week, he’s using his powers widely on some hot-button issues. NFL sexual harassment: Saying that no company is too big or powerful to be “above the law” Bonta announced a joint investigation on Thursday with New […]

If you want to try to influence California legislators, there are lots of ways: Nice dinners, fundraisers, campaign contributions, one-on-one conversations. You can also take them on trips to exotic places around the globe. That’s how the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy likes to roll.  As CalMatters’ politics reporter Alexei Koseff and […]

From Jeanne Kuang of CalMatters’ California Divide team: Low wages and unpredictable hours make fast food the industry with the highest percentage of homeless workers in the state, according to a new union-sponsored report that is sure to stoke debate this year amid the latest contentious legislation over the industry’s labor practices.  The report released […]