CalMatters

Folic acid reduces the risk of birth defects and the FDA requires that bakers include it in enriched bread. California could extend the mandate to tortillas and foods made with corn masa flour.

A California Republican’s bill would exempt low and middle income wildfire victims from solar panels requirements on rebuilt homes that didn’t have them when they burned down.

Though California’s Legislative Black Caucus filed a slate of 14 bills linked to reparations, a few lawmakers are floating their own proposals.

The nationwide cost to treat or replace contaminated drinking water is estimated at $1.5 billion a year. The ubiquitous chemicals, linked to cancer and other diseases, build up in people and the environment.

Public agencies are funding private security guards in homeless shelters and on the street, opening a new front in the state’s housing crisis — one ripe for violence and civil rights issues, but thin on oversight.

There’s so little data available, it’s impossible to even tell if several of California’s largest homelessness programs are working, according to a statewide audit released Tuesday.

Reporters and the public rely on Cal-Access to track campaign fundraising, as well as how much is being spent by lobbyists.

Gov. Newsom and Democratic leaders in the Legislature announce a deal on early action to shrink the state’s budget shortfall by $17 billion. Votes are expected next week, ahead of action on the 2024-25 budget in May and June.

The U.S. Labor Department investigated a company it says employed underaged workers as deboners then shipped its product. The company’s lawyer denies it.

State lawmakers have returned from spring recess, and the next few months will be when representation really matters. But how well are they doing? A series of CalMatters stories explores that big question.

An L.A. partnership that is supposed to place 200 Black trainees in city jobs is falling short. One worker whose desk job offer was revoked was told to try sanitation.

California’s community colleges are reporting a rise in financial aid fraud. In January, suspected bots represented 1 in 4 college applicants. Schools have given away millions to these scams, and college officials say fraudsters are getting smarter with the help of AI.