California Budget

California lawmakers faced a difficult budget year, but they still managed to put hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks in the state budget to benefit their districts — and help them get re-elected.

Potentially volatile cellmates are a fact of life in California prisons. That may change as the state's incarcerated population declines, freeing up space for single-person quarters.

Technology companies and Hollywood corporations are laying off thousands. The only job growth is in government and healthcare.

Gov. Gavin Newsom may run out of reserves and other ways to paper over his last state budget deficit before he eventually runs for president.

Stanford Chatfield worked for decades as a prisoner, making 28 cents an hour. Now he's out and supports himself with tours at Alcatraz. He says people value his lived experience.

California's legal weed industry is still overshadowed by the larger black market. A new state law gives businesses a break by delaying a tax increase.

California unions are at odds and spending heavily in an election at CalPERS, the pension fund that provides retirement benefits to 2 million people.

CalPERS is putting more money in private equity as it seeks higher returns. That's a contested issue in an election for two seats on its board.

When Gov. Gavin Newsom approved $750 million in tax credits for Hollywood, he added to $100 billion in annual tax breaks or kickbacks California companies already enjoy.

Whether federal cuts are legal is still undecided. But local health departments have closed clinics, stopped programs, cut immunization appointments, and laid off workers anyway.