Economic Inequality

The bill increases leave payments to 90% of paychecks for lower-income workers in 2025, so more of them can afford time off for maternity leave or to care for ill family members.

Two days before deadline, after vetoing a similar bill last year and resisting months of marches, vigils and posturing, including a note from President Biden, Newsom changed his mind on a farmworker labor bill.

Black Californians could be due hundreds of thousands of dollars for housing discrimination, incarceration, and health disparities alone, consultants said at reparations task force hearings.

My family has worked relentlessly to maintain its roots in East Palo Alto, because the city is our home. But we can no longer live there because there are no affordable homes. The lack of city plans and policies to keep residents from losing their homes is alarming.

Five years after workers win wage theft claims, state records show only 1 in 7 were paid their judgments in full. Some companies appealed or ignored court judgments.

A one-time state program worth $500 million has opened up from its pilot program to support displaced workers who want to acquire new job skills. Unlike other student aid, this grant can support programs shorter than three months. Recipients cannot have been enrolled in a training program when they lost their jobs.

If new parents want to take bonding leave, or adult children want to apply for Paid Family Leave to care for an ill parent, they need to be able to afford a 40% pay cut. Senate Bill 951 would provide enough income for workers who contribute to the fund with each paycheck to access the benefit.

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.

Senate Bill 1162 — the Pay Transparency for Pay Equity Act — is a critical step to ensure that companies, policymakers and the public have the data they need to ensure contract workers are no longer a hidden part of California’s workforce.

Under state law, every Californian has the right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water — but a blistering audit released Tuesday shows just how far the state is from turning that promise into reality. As CalMatters water reporter Rachel Becker and I write, Acting State Auditor Michael Tilden slammed regulators at the State Water […]