California Legislature

Hurry up, and wait / So close, but so far away. The opening lines from Jordin Sparks’ motivational song “One Step At A Time” also describe the buildup heading into the final stretch of the legislative session, which ends one week from today: Although state lawmakers are holding daily floor votes as they work their […]

By supercharging our climate efforts in tandem with the federal climate legislation and California’s climate budget, we can put clean energy to work fighting inflation, lowering household energy costs and creating good jobs.

Permitted street vending is an integral part of California culture, but it must be managed properly to ensure health and safety of vendors, business owners and visitors.

Some of the most powerful groups in the state are at an impasse regarding key housing legislation. Politicians will likely have to choose between alienating a powerful union and streamlining affordable housing development.

The end of the legislative year is upon us and that can only mean one thing in California: We’re about to have another loud debate about a controversial housing bill. It’s a Sacramento tradition years in the making. Legislators like to wait until the last minute (sometimes literally) to consider the year’s most contentious pieces […]

California lawmakers have less than two weeks to wrap up their work before the end of the legislative session on Aug. 31. And so begins the final legislative traffic jam, as bills line up for final votes. A piece of legislation’s particular place in that line is the complex product of political horse-trading, the competing […]

This is CalMatters political reporter Ben Christopher, filling in for Emily who is out sick. Feel better, Emily! Fast food workers and labor advocates wrapped up two days of marching, chanting and mariachi playing around the state Capitol on Wednesday, part of a years-long campaign for a legislative proposal that could transform California’s fast food […]

Proponents say AB 257 could curb wage theft, but restaurateurs say it could raise costs and prices and fundamentally change relationships with fast food chains.

In some ways, the suspense file that state lawmakers churned through on Thursday — a lengthy list of hundreds of bills that they either silently sent to their death or let survive another day — didn’t live up to its reputation. That’s because the secretive, twice-annual process — which allows legislators to shelve bills they […]

On suspense file day, state legislators killed dozens of bills, including some controversial proposals on health care costs, social media regulation, pay transparency, climate change and much, more more.