California Divide

If your paycheck isn’t right, the state or federal government could help, but it may take some research, records and patience on your part.

The state said the case against Playa Vista would be the largest wage theft payout by a California car wash. Years later Antonio Dominguez and dozens of other car washers have yet to see any of their unpaid wages.

Picture this: You go to work every day at a car wash. You don’t get paid for all your work. The state of California investigates your employer and announces a fine of more than $2.3 million for wage theft violations and penalties. Three years pass. You still have yet to receive a dime of the […]

A UC Berkeley inequality study finds that, although efforts to reduce inequality are popular, many of the rich or people in “advantaged groups” resist equity policies, believing they’ll be harmed.

Anti-poverty organizations are calling for the state to target some of its projected surplus to families making up to $30,000 a year. 

Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, a leading environmental lawmaker, has a bill to create a state fund to support and retrain oil industry workers as California strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and end fossil fuel production in the state. But the debate over ‘just transition’ is pitting unions against unions.

Michael Tubbs, who now serves as an economic advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom, announces a new nonprofit called End Poverty In California (EPIC) to advocate for statewide policies to reduce the wealth gap.

Nonprofit clinics, tribal organizations and other community groups return to Sacramento for a second year to press for a $100 million health equity and racial justice fund. Gov. Gavin Newsom had left it out of last year’s budget.

As policy experts grapple with how best to address racial inequalities that have worsened in California during the pandemic, a new, more involved policy approach offers promise even as it remains untested.

Essential workers say they are bearing the brunt of the pandemic again but this time, there is less government support. Economists say jobs in California’s low-wage sectors could take longer to recover.