Unions

WhatMatters

Gavin Newsom gets out his veto pen

While the Legislature is on summer break until Aug. 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom is signing bills into law — or, in the case of one unfortunate proposal, vetoing them.  He said “no” to Senate Bill 275, which would require state Senate confirmation of California’s oil and gas supervisor. In his veto message, the governor said […]

By Lynn La • July 17, 2023

WhatMatters

How Toni Atkins made California history

From CalMatters politics reporter Alexei Koseff: It wasn’t Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins’ first turn standing in for the governor of California while he was out of the state. (That came in 2014, when she was Assembly speaker and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel tried to get her to invade Oregon during her 10 hours […]

By Lynn La • July 7, 2023

WhatMatters

Slow roll to finish California budget

A new CalMatters newsletter: The CalMatters California Divide team is devoted to providing in-depth, innovative and independent coverage of the politics and policy of inequality. Now, the team is bringing you a free weekly newsletter. Just as WhatMatters brings you the best of CalMatters and stories by other media, Inequality Insights will do the same […]

By Lynn La • July 5, 2023

California Divide

What’s behind the hotel workers’ strike days before national holiday

A union says hotel workers making $20 to $25 an hour aren’t earning enough to live near where they work.

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde • July 2, 2023

California Divide

California child care providers demand raises from Gov. Newsom as budget deadline looms

Providers say home daycare businesses may need to close if the state continues paying too little in child care subsidies.

By Jeanne Kuang • June 22, 2023

WhatMatters

How many ways does homelessness impact California? Here’s another

Most of what Californians experience with homelessness occurs along public spaces and city streets. With more than 170,000 unhoused people in the state, residents often see the crisis reflected in encampment tents along a roadside or panhandling on street corners. But one aspect of homelessness has surprisingly presented itself in Ojai, a small mountain valley […]

By Lynn La • June 22, 2023

California Divide

‘Down to our last dimes’: State workers say California paychecks no longer cover the bills

State workers say their lower than private sector salaries were offset by pensions, better benefits, job security. Is the tradeoff still worth it?

By Jeanne Kuang • June 14, 2023

WhatMatters

Case isn’t closed on California’s police killings law

From CalMatters politics intern Rya Jetha:  In the aftermath of the police killings of Stephon Clark in Sacramento and George Floyd in Minneapolis, California passed a law requiring the Attorney General’s office to investigate every fatal use of force by police officers against unarmed people. The 2021 law was meant to take power away from […]

By Lynn La • June 14, 2023

WhatMatters

Why is California caste discrimination bill causing such a ruckus?

Other than a contentious debate in one of the largest public hearing turnouts for any bill before the Legislature this session, the proposal by Sen. Aisha Wahab to ban caste discrimination sailed through the Senate with relative ease (and a 34-1 vote).  But the first-term Democrat from Fremont and her bill will still face a […]

By Lynn La • June 8, 2023

WhatMatters

What the public doesn’t know about California legislative travel

Japan, Portugal, Switzerland — this is just a small sample of the many far-flung locations where California legislators travel, paid for by interest groups and nonprofit organizations. For the sake of transparency, lawmakers must submit trip reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission every year. The groups that pay for the travel, on the other […]

By Lynn La • May 18, 2023