CalMatters

A 2020 California law compels businesses to offer employment benefits to more workers rather than treating them like independent contractors. Uber lost an effort to overturn the law.

Courts recently have tossed lawsuits challenging expired COVID-19 rules. A panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals restored a case against the Los Angeles Unified School District, allowing employees to sue to prevent future vaccine mandates.

Student loan borrowers can become eligible for lower payments or faster debt forgiveness by applying for federal loan consolidation by June 30.

Lawmakers and the governor use a fund reserved for labor enforcement to plug budget holes, and leave tens of millions unspent. Business and labor agree more of the money could be spent to hire more staff to speed investigations of wage theft claims.

Since Gov. Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment one year ago, there has been far more progress on online petitions than in other state legislatures. His team says the effort will pick up speed in 2025.

Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital is losing money, but it’s committed to keeping open its labor ward. Its decision runs counter to nearby hospitals that are walking away from maternity services.

A bill that would increase penalties for those who assault hospital emergency department workers is facing the same pushback that other recent tough-on-crime legislation has from progressive Democrats leery of increasing incarceration rates.

Doctors on the front lines of California’s homelessness and mental health crises are using monthly injections to treat psychosis in their most vulnerable patients.

California cities funnel $1 billion in online sales taxes back to wealthy corporations, but the state Senate killed a bill that would change the rules for those arrangements. The vote came down to whether senators represent a city with a major retailer in a tax-sharing agreement in their districts.

The latest bid to break up California is the brainchild of a real estate developer in San Bernardino County. It taps into growing resistance to the state’s liberal governance by more conservative residents.

California schools are using more chatbots, and teachers are using them to grade papers and give students feedback.

The state is directly investing money for low-income students and all newborns to attend college. After two years, the program is still not widely known by the students who need the most financial assistance.