legislator card

Students hold signs while listening to UCLA faculty members share their stories of unfair wages on Oct. 13, 2021. Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters

Higher Education

Pressure mounts on UC as lecturer workforce strikes and class cancellations loom

The UC workforce has a churn problem as about a quarter of the system’s 6,000 lecturers don’t return annually. The lecturer union and UC have made some progress in their multi-year impasse over a new contract, but many issues remain unsolved as the threat of strikes loom.

By

Mikhail Zinshteyn

• October 21, 2021

Health

State health department blasted over nursing home oversight

The California Department of Public Health blames staffing shortages, turnover, training and pandemic pressures at Tuesday’s hearing at the Capitol.

By

Jocelyn Wiener

• October 6, 2021

Coronavirus

Shlomo Rechnitz nursing home suit over COVID deaths reflects ‘broken state licensing’

A lawsuit describes nursing home magnate Shlomo Rechnitz and his companies as the “unlicensed owner-operator” of a troubled Redding facility.

By

Jocelyn Wiener

• October 4, 2021

A play area at WestCoast Children’s Clinic in Oakland on Sept. 22, 2021. The clinic serves nearly 1500 children annually, many of whom are low-income. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Health

Stranded in the ER: Can California change its treatment of kids in crisis?

A controversial bill before Gov. Gavin Newsom would fund crisis residential treatment facilities for children on Medi-Cal, steering more kids away from hospital emergency rooms.

By

Jocelyn Wiener

• September 27, 2021

Martha Garrido, a domestic worker who lives in San Francisco, was unable to work for several weeks after breaking her hand but did not have access to paid sick leave. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Economy

California’s extra sick leave for COVID-19 ended, but is it time to restore it?

A state law gave California workers as much as two weeks additional paid sick leave during COVID-19, but it ended Sept. 30 as a federal tax credit that offsets the cost for employers also expires. Labor groups say the extra leave should be restored. And Gov. Gavin Newsom now says the Legislature should do so.

By

Sameea Kamal

• September 23, 2021

Housing

Victorious in recall, Newsom refocuses on California housing crisis

Fresh from beating back a recall, the governor signed a package of bills to address the California housing crisis. But what do these new laws mean for housing affordability in a state where median home prices have already shot past $800,000?

By

Manuela Tobias

• September 20, 2021

Arien Pauls, who for years was a victim of human trafficking, looks out her window of her home in Fresno on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Pauls now helps other victims of human trafficking. Photo by Craig Kohlruss, Fresno Bee

California Divide

Trafficking victims struggle to find jobs. Will this bill help?

Survivors of sex and human trafficking join local law enforcement officials in urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would erase victims' nonviolent criminal records faster.

By

Melissa Montalvo

• September 17, 2021