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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 […]

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff: Not filling open positions in state government, cutting a school facilities program and several climate initiatives, delaying funding for public transit — these are some of the first steps that California officials plan to take to deal with a looming multibillion-dollar budget deficit. Facing a shortfall estimated at somewhere […]

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal: When will Cal-Access — the antiquated web portal to track California’s campaign money and lobbying — finally be replaced?  The short answer: Probably not before December 2026. That’s after the next statewide election, when reporters and the public most need the data.  Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office is […]

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu: To counter recent legislation that would step up penalties on petty crimes, a group of progressive state lawmakers on Tuesday offered a rival approach, focusing instead on more services for offenders and survivors of crimes. They are backing a new legislative package — dubbed #SmartSolutions — to address […]

As California legislators got back to work Monday, some are pushing ambitious bills on contentious topics.  Some interesting ones that will be debated in the next few weeks: Fast food wage hike: Attention also focused on a law the Legislature passed last year that took effect Monday — a $20 an hour minimum wage for […]

California’s Legislature returns today from a weeklong break with lots to do and not a ton of time.  As lawmakers decide the fate of hundreds of bills and how to spend billions in taxpayer money, their ability to prioritize the needs and desires of voters will matter greatly in the next few months. CalMatters Capitol […]

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m CalMatters reporter Wendy Fry. You may remember it as a hot labor summer. Los Angeles-area hotel workers might remember it as history in the making.  After repeated strikes since summer, workers at nearly three dozen Los Angeles-area hotels have secured $1 billion in wage increases in a recently ratified […]