The Brief

In September, California passed a law that allows people to apply early for paid family leave. More than half a year later, the change hasn't been implemented yet, nor is there a specific timeline.

The shift sounds simple enough: Currently, people have to wait until their first day of leave to apply for it. The legislation lets Californians do the paperwork up to a month ahead of the expected leave, to reduce stress when a baby is imminent.

But it's bundled into a major overhaul of California's Employment Development Department, which administers unemployment, paid family leave and disability benefits. That project launched in 2022 and is slated to cost more than $1.2 billion.

In an email, an EDD spokesperson said that the changes in the new law will be incorporated "in system upgrades as part of the EDDNext modernization effort," but did not provide a date. Spokespeople for Senator María Elena Durazo, who sponsored the legislation, and Gov. Gavin Newsom's office both referred LAist to EDD for answers.

For now, expecting parents and others who need to take family leave will still need to wait to apply. In practice, this means people can go weeks before getting state payments while on family leave.

What's the EDDNext modernization effort?

The effort to remake EDD and upgrade its technological systems is a years-long process that was launched in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the project's deputy director Ron Hughes, who spoke on a podcast about the program last year.

" We're introducing lots of changes in technology in a very short period of time," he said.

It's the "biggest-ever attempt" to change the department, according to CalMatters.

According to a recent report from California's Legislative Analyst's Office on the state's 2025-2026 budget, in the next fiscal year it's expected that a new project will replace EDD's current systems for disability insurance, paid family leave and unemployment insurance.

Is it normal for changes to family leave to take time?

The delay in implementing a change to family leave is typical, according to Katherine Wutchiett, a senior staff attorney with Legal Aid at Work and expert on paid leave. She cited a 2022 law that increased leave payments for workers who take time off to care for a new child or sick family member. Those changes just took effect this January.

Another example: a 2022 law requires EDD to collect demographic data for recipients of disability benefits. Those changes might not begin before a July 2026 deadline.

"It's my understanding that with the technological systems the EDD has, sometimes it takes some time to implement changes to the system," Wutchiett said. "It's not unusual for bills that impact paid family leave and state disability insurance to take a few years to go into effect."

Why was this law passed in the first place?

The law allowing Californians to apply early for paid family leave is meant to help working class women and people who can't afford to take a few weeks off unpaid while waiting for their benefits to kick in.

"Workers who do not have the savings to cover several weeks of expenses without their regular income while waiting for…benefits are less likely to take leave from work," according to a fact sheet from Durazo.

The new legislation will let people apply 30 days ahead of when they expect to take leave. It requires that the state pay benefits within 14 days of receiving a claim, or as soon as leave begins.

Lower income workers take leave at lower rates than higher income workers, according to a 2022 report from the California Budget & Policy Center. "This is especially the case for workers with low wages who are disproportionately women, Black, and Latinx Californians," that report states.

In a report on maternal health equity in California released this month, 47% of Black and Latina women reported difficulty accessing or not being able to access paid family leave for their child's birth.

According to Shakari Byerly, who directed the research, that number is even higher — 51% — for survey respondents on Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance for low-income people.

 "It really underscores the importance of economic supports for the ability of women to have healthy birthing experiences," she said.

Talk with us, color with us, or spin our wheel!

Share what’s important to you — we’ll spot your coffee!

These are some examples of what you might hear at an LAist Listens tabling event, where we talk with community members in person about what is top of mind in their community.

LAist is popping up in neighborhoods across SoCal to meet community members in person. We’re listening to your stories and insights and bringing them back to our newsroom to help improve and shape our news coverage. We may show up at a coffee shop, burger spot, flea market, or wherever people create community.

Why are we doing this? Connecting with communities is part of our mission. We always want to be sure our coverage reflects our communities’ perspectives, priorities and lived experiences. It makes our work better and more useful to you.

How it works

In December and January we went to Altadena several times to check in with residents on the recovery process after the Eaton Fire. We had long conversations with dozens of residents, shared resources like our guide to SoCal Edison’s payout plan, and made connections to bring more community-centered stories to our newsroom. One of those conversations shaped our coverage around the one-year anniversary of the fires.

We set up a table at Altadena’s Fair Oaks Burger and offered participants fries, coffee, or swag to thank them for speaking with us.

Where to find LAist next

We’re planning our next stops in Santa Ana and Inglewood, and we’re open to other cities or neighborhoods in the future. If you’re a local business or organization who is interested in having us meet and listen to your community, please send an email with your request to engagement@laist.com.

You can find upcoming dates of where we’ll be next and learn more about the community engagement team’s work at LAist.com/community.

Thousands of Southern California students have walked out of school to protest the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants since January after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Some students have told LAist their teachers and principals supported their participation in the walkouts, for example, by allowing them to make protest signs in class. Others said their administrators shared confusing messages about potential discipline for leaving campus.

Broadly speaking, California law requires minors to attend school, but it also protects students’ rights to speak out.

 ”The fact that some students may have a controversial point of view that might make others upset, that's not a basis to restrict the speech under the education code,” said Peter Eliasberg, chief council with ACLU of Southern California.

LAist cannot offer legal counsel but created this guide to help students, families and educators better understand these rights. It’s based on:

• Information from Eliasberg and the ACLU of Southern California. 
• A February webinar hosted by Compton nonprofit Community Lawyers Inc., with the Law Offices of Hirji, Chau and Rodriguez. 

Tl;dr of best practices for students at protests

When preparing to walk out, you might consider the following:

• Have a clear civic and political purpose. 
• Walk out peacefully. Do not create additional disruptions for other students, vandalize school property or physically harm others.  
• Document the purpose of the walkout in writing but be cautious about recording video of participants who may not want to be identified. 
• Ask your principal for school and district policies related to student walkouts and free speech and compare them to district policy and state laws. 
• Request an excused absence for civic and political event (more on how to do this below).  

An overview of the (many) rules

The rules at your school are likely shaped by a larger organization, such as a school district or a charter network. Beyond that is California’s education code, a part of state law that is dedicated to schools.

Apart from that, you have federal policy, like the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Ideally, all of these sets of rules should agree with one another, but that’s not always the case, said Rosa Hirji, an educational, civil and disability rights attorney. Hirji said the information shared by school administrators also may not align with the policy of their school, district or California’s education law.

“You need to do your research and identify all of those things that you can do to protect yourself after the fact,” Hirji said. “Make sure that you disseminate that information amongst your peers and friends.”

California’s education code states students have the right to exercise freedom of speech and press, including by:

• Distributing printed materials
• Wearing buttons, badges or other symbols
• Expressing themselves in school publications

Hirji said schools cannot legally prevent students from expressing themselves, but they can make rules for when, how and where that free expression can occur. For example, a school may designate time at lunch for students to march and hold up signs with political messages.

But there are no protections for speech that incites students to create a “clear and present danger” of:

• Committing unlawful acts on campus
• Violating lawful school regulations 
• Disrupting the operation of the school

Does calling for a walkout constitute inciting students to break rules? Not necessarily, Hirji said.

“ The question is — is that advocacy or calling for the walkout so inflammatory that it provokes some kind of disturbance in the school environment?” Hirji said. What qualifies as a “disturbance” is must be defined in policy and is not simply the opinion of the administrator, she added.

Speech that is obscene, libelous or slanderous is not protected.

How can I get an excused absence for walking out?

There are limited circumstances when schools will grant a student an excused absence to participate in a walkout, even when parents are supportive of the action.

California allows middle and high school students one excused absence per school year for a civic or political event. Students must notify the school in advance of the absence. School administrators may grant more than one excused absence related to protests, but they are not required to do so.

Community Lawyers Inc. created a template for this notice that students can print and fill out.

Can I get suspended or expelled for walking out?

Students can't be suspended or expelled solely for walking out, but students can be marked tardy, truant or absent. Multiple incidents may lead to more severe discipline.

Let’s define these terms:

• Tardy means a student has arrived late to class. 
• Absent means a student is not present in class. 
• Truant means a student has missed more than 30 minutes of instruction without an excuse three or more times during the school year. 

Eliasberg said that missing class to attend a protest can’t be punished differently than any other kind of absence.

“The government can't say, 'Well, we think it's worse for you to go out and protest than it is for you to skip class,'” he said.

Truancy, tardiness or absence from school is not a basis for school suspension under California’s education code.

“So if a school district wants to engage in a disciplinary action against a student that walks out, they need to find another reason, another behavior that has occurred,” Hirji said.

For example:

• Causing, attempting or threatening physical injury or violence 
• Possessing weapons or drugs
• Stealing or damaging school property 
• Bullying, intimidating or sexual harassment 

California passed a law in 2023 that prohibits schools from suspending middle and high school students for “willful defiance,” which includes disrupting school activities or defying school personnel.

But there can be consequences for walking out

Once a student is considered truant, the school district is required to notify the student’s family, provide information about alternative educational programs, available mental health support and the right to meet with school staff to discuss the student's absences from school.

The penalties for truancy can escalate the more often a student is absent and may include:

• Attending makeup classes
• Referral to an attendance review board, a group of people whose goal it is to help get students back in school 
• Community service 

What should I do if I get in trouble for walking out?

Before a student can be suspended, they must be informed of the reason for the suspension and whether other means of correction were attempted, Hirji said. Examples of those other forms of correction include additional school, community service or communicating with a parent.

 ”School is not supposed to suspend you on your first offense,” Hirji said.

Hirji said the school should provide evidence of the offense allegedly committed and allow students to provide their version of events. This is due process.

Students may be able to appeal a suspension, which means asking the school to reconsider the punishment.

Where can I find my school district or charter network’s policy?

Here are examples of documents a school or district may have related to students' free speech and protest rights.

School board policies and administrative regulations

• What they are: rules approved by a school district’s elected board
• Where to find them: your local school board’s website

School safety plan

• What it is: a plan for each school and required by California law that addresses potential risks and emergencies.
• Where to find them: You may find it on a school’s website or request it directly from an administrator. 

However, schools and districts may have outdated policies that do not comply with existing law.

Hirji suggests comparing what a teacher, principal or other administrator says with the school, district and state’s rules.

Can the police get involved? 

In mid-February, the Los Angeles Police Department warned that protesting students may face legal consequences for violating a city law that bars minors from public places during school hours.

The city of L.A.’s daytime curfew law states it is unlawful for minors under 18 to be in public places when they would normally attend school. There are several exceptions, including for emergencies and minors accompanied by a parent or guardian.

At one point, LAPD was issuing thousands of tickets a year during curfew sweeps, but the agency agreed in 2011 to ease enforcement after pushback from civil rights attorneys, parents and community activists.

Hirji said students who have excused absences for civil and political reasons should not be subject to the daytime curfew law and suggests protesting students carry proof of their excused absence with them — for example, a copy of the letter or email provided to the school to excuse the absence.

The 99 Cents Only chain may be gone, but a new art exhibit at its former store at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue is keeping its legacy alive in the most eccentric way possible.

From shopping carts suspended upside down to video art at the checkout counters to paintings and graffiti in every nook and cranny, this is not the same 99 Cents Only store where you used to buy your cleaning supplies.

The curators behind 99CENT, which is on display through the end of this weekend, have filled the space with artwork and L.A. artifacts for a free exhibition. So I had to check it out:

99CENT's art

Many of the involved artists used practically every square inch of parts of the store.

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The artists on display at 99CENT work across mediums.

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Art and graffiti were both on full display at 99CENT.

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Many of the works of art look like regular street signs ... until you look a little closer.

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Presumably, this fruit wasn't bought at the 99 Cents Only store, which closed last year.

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Many different art styles were on display at 99CENT.

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The exhibit makes creative use of space, including hanging things from the ceiling.

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Despite this sign, the inside of the store was covered in graffiti, though some staff members could be seen cleaning up graffiti on the outside.

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Many of the items on display were carefully crafted. The $9.99 sticker may not be accurate pricing.

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What you can see

As soon as you walk in, you’re treated to a complete reimagining of the 99 Cents Only store. This former site of the modern big-box discount chain has been infused with a healthy dose of the West Coast art styles that sprung up from places like the Mission District, Haight-Ashbury and Venice.

One of many sections of the repurposed store that showcases objects, graffiti and artworks.

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Artists whose work was on display used all kinds of mediums. In this case, mirrors and wheelchairs.

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All the original shelving is there, but nearly every nook and cranny has been filled with art.

Inside the old freezer

Even the store's freezers were fair game to show off art at 99CENT.

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The inside of the store's freezer, which was repurposed as a gallery space.

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But look close and you’ll see cheeky nods to the 99 Cents Only store of yore. Much of the old shelving and signage is still there, even if slightly rearranged. On some shelves, hygiene supplies sit side by side with artworks and found objects.

99CENT displays

Some parts of 99CENT even loosely resemble the former store.

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Though this is an artists' flea market, these works of art presumably would cost more than 99 cents to buy.

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Many books on display this week, like this one, probably never went for sale at the original 99 Cents Only stores.

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These curated vintage shirts presumably were also not for sale at the original 99 Cents Only store.

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Some old shopping carts have been converted into suspended sculptures. In between songs, the loudspeakers play what I’m pretty sure are authentic 99 Cents Only in-store announcements in English and Spanish.

One major auditory difference — and I can confirm this as a former 99 Cents store shopper — the music on the store’s PA system is much more lo-fi and homespun than the radio pop the old store used to have on.

Inside the "tent"

In the background, behind the hanging shopping cart, you can see the entrance to an improvised structure in aisle 11.

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Inside the improvised structure in Aisle 11.

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Since this is a self-described “artist flea market of sorts,” many of the artists have also scrawled their phone numbers and Venmo usernames near their works, and walking through different stations at the store really does feel like walking through different stations of a carefully curated swap meet or flea market.

Many works of art coexisted with produce and groceries, like this work held down by two Grey Poupon bottles.

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Even for works that aren’t on sale, most paintings and sculptures I saw identify the artist, though it’s admittedly a little more haphazard than most galleries I’ve been to.

About the curators

Representatives for the gallery The Hole, which curated this exhibit, said that the works in the store pull from its “West Coast network of artists and outsiders.”

These paintings share wall space with this sculpture made of repurposed blue jean fabric.

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One artist in particular takes the spotlight: The walls are covered by paintings by the San Francisco-based street artist Barry McGee and works from his personal collection — people who parked in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s garages in the early 2000s may remember his now-lost murals. All told, the curators say over 100 artists were represented.

With so many artists on display, very little space in the former store goes unused.

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How to visit

You can see “99CENT” for yourself at the former 99 Cents Only store at 6121 Wilshire Blvd., a stone’s throw away from LACMA.

The exhibition is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sunday.

In her State of the City address this month, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass boasted that her administration had fast-tracked the construction of more than 30,000 affordable housing units.

A Crosstown analysis of the data indicates the pace of actual building may be considerably slower. Bass’s Executive Directive 1 was supposed to slash red tape and accelerate approval times for housing projects that consist entirely of affordable, or below market rate, units. She said builders already had broken ground on 6,000 of them.

Of the 32,838 units plan-approved under ED1 through the end of last year and listed on the case summary dashboard, 4,993 have been issued building permits for new construction, a Crosstown analysis found.

Just 26% of affordable units entitled during ED1’s first year, 2023, have been granted building permits, all of which have been approved for two years or more.

“Mayor Bass was correct in her statement that 6,000 units are currently under construction,” the mayor’s press office said in a statement to Crosstown. The mayor’s office did not provide a clear explanation as to how that total was calculated.

The slower-than-advertised pace of affordable units is just one part of a broader stagnation afflicting the city’s home-building sector. Last year, a total of 7,892 apartment units were permitted, according to data from the Department of Building and Safety. That includes everything from affordable units to luxury apartments. It represents a 1% increase from the year prior but a 34% decrease from 2019.

Los Angeles faces an acute housing shortage, a problem that has exacerbated a longstanding homelessness crisis and has contributed to rising unaffordability that burdens many of the city’s residents. According to the Southern California Association of Governments, the city of Los Angeles must produce 456,643 housing units during the decade, a pace it now appears certain to miss by a wide margin.

Despite the chronic need for more housing, builders say they are up against an array of obstacles in Los Angeles. Production costs are more than double the average costs in Texas, according to a RAND study. The controversial Measure ULA, informally known as the ”mansion tax,” has also been blamed for construction slowdowns. The levy, which went into effect in April 2023, adds a 4% tax on residential and commercial properties sold for $5.3 million or more, and a 5.5% tax on properties sold for over $10.6 million, including apartment blocks. The revenues are intended to be put toward affordable housing. But the extra tax makes building an apartment project and then selling it particularly burdensome.

Ari Kahan, principal of California Landmark Group, said his development firm has significantly scaled back their Los Angeles projects.

“We still explore unique opportunities, but we cannot afford the risk of both ULA and the inevitable other shoe dropping on another related issue in the city of L.A.,” Kahan said.

The city’s housing crisis has been at the forefront of Bass’s first term agenda. ED 1, which went into effect in 2023, was intended to fast-track construction by reducing approval times for affordable housing projects and shelters to 60 days. The directive prompted a flurry of new proposals. But moving those proposals from the drawing board to actual construction has been slow.

Building struggles

ED1 and programs that encouraged affordable housing, such as bonus diversity programs and the Transit Oriented Communities Incentive Program — which incentivizes low-income housing near bus and train stations — have been big enticements for new development. However, Kahan said Measure ULA has made it difficult for developers to turn a profit on those projects, and he predicts that most of them will never be built.

The measure has generated over $1 billion through January 2026. Critics assail the nickname “mansion tax” because the levy equally applies to multifamily apartment buildings and commercial properties, not just expensive single-family homes. Fifty-nine percent of transactions are single-family residences, 25% are commercial properties and 13% are multi-family residences, according to the ULA Revenue Dashboard.

Joe Donlin, director of United to House LA, the coalition of housing, labor and renters groups behind the measure, defended the tax and said it’s important to let the policy “breathe and take effect” to understand its full impact. He called the measure an economic engine for the city, adding that $400 million in ULA revenue went out to affordable housing developers last fall.

“We’re talking about hundreds of new homes being built, thousands of new construction jobs, investment in neighborhoods that haven’t seen investment like this in a long time,” Donlin said.

Donlin said Los Angeles’ housing struggles are likely due to stubbornly high interest rates, insurance costs and construction material costs around the time Measure ULA went into effect.

Stephanie Klasky-Gamer, president of LA Family Housing, said she has been able to sidestep Measure ULA because she manages the properties she builds instead of selling them. For her, one of the biggest affordable housing hurdles is a lack of federal assistance to help low-income tenants pay rent.

“[Los Angeles’s] largest housing gap is for our extremely and very low-income households. In order to make housing affordable to that target income group, it would require a larger allocation of rental subsidies,” Klasky-Gamer said.

President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget proposal aimed to cut over $26 billion from federal rental assistance programs, but the House Appropriations Committee rejected the cuts and increased funding for housing assistance programs. Tenant-based vouchers received $2.4 billion more than they did in the 2025 fiscal year, and the project-based rental assistance program received an extra $1.65 billion.

Westchester grows, downtown dwindles

In a rocky year for issued apartment permits, some Los Angeles neighborhoods showed marked increases, while others saw steep declines.

Westchester had 787 apartment units permitted last year, the most of any neighborhood. North Hollywood had the second most at 502, and Mid-City had the third most with 449.

Downtown saw a substantial dip in permits issued. Last year, 207 units were approved, nearly half as many as the year before and an 87% decrease from 2022.

The regression comes as downtown contends with a massive homelessness population. Downtown had the most non-emergency calls for homeless encampments, 8,417, of any neighborhood in 2025, according to MyLA311 service data.

How we did it: We examined all ED1-related projects on the city’s case summary dashboard and compared those with the Department of Building and Safety’s permits issued for new apartments. In addition, we compiled the number of apartment new units permitted for construction in the city over the past decade. In a previous article, Crosstown used a slightly different methodology to determine the number of permitted apartments in the city. The slight changes in methodology account for the difference in numbers in that article.

Have questions about our data? Write to us at askus@xtown.la