CalMatters

On suspense file day, state legislators killed dozens of bills, including some controversial proposals on health care costs, social media regulation, pay transparency, climate change and much, more more.

Governor Newsom has nominated Justice Patricia Guerrero to be the next Chief Justice, a first in the state's Supreme Court history. In California, bench representation is worse for Latinos than any other racial group.

Monkeypox tests and vaccines are in short supply as public health officials grapple with red tape and short supplies. Yet some of the processes put in place in response to COVID-19 have helped.

The state agency that handles unemployment benefits pursued lowering costs and hindering fraud over making it easy for workers to access benefits, a new report found.

A program intended to provide hearing aids and services to thousands of children without health insurance has delivered devices to only a tiny fraction of those who need them.

An emergency housing voucher program offers improvements to the decades-old federal solution to the housing affordability crisis, but landlord reluctance remains a crucial hurdle.

The state can expedite approval of renewable energy projects but rural counties say they already do their part with solar and wind farms. “We’re in the crosshairs, but we don’t think we are the right target here,” one rural advocate says.

Govern For California is using a network of local chapters to amplify the influence of its donors on legislative races. Among the biggest beneficiaries so far is Assemblymember Robert Rivas, who wants to become the next Assembly speaker.

The problems jeopardize California’s climate and air pollution goals as electric car prices keep rising.

In California elections, it only takes a handful of signatures and votes for legislative write-in candidates to get on the November ballot. Eleven made it this year, though some won very little support.

New state laws on police accountability are testing the limits of several agencies, including the Department of Justice, which say they need more resources for these new duties.

Most often the victims of wage theft are women, immigrants and people of color, researchers say; many work in restaurants, construction, hotels, car washes, garment businesses, farms, warehouses, and nail salons.