Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.
Jeanne Kuang / CalMatters
Posted inLatest News
Fast food workers to get wage hikes in last-minute deal on bill that featured prominently in Santa Cruz County
A deal announced Monday by labor groups and the fast food industry would give workers a $20 minimum wage and pull a measure off the 2024 ballot. The Legislature has until Thursday to approve it. The agreement is detailed in changes to Assembly Bill 1228, a proposed law that the fast food industry had lobbied heavily against in Santa Cruz County
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Down to our last dimes’: State workers say California paychecks no longer cover the bills
California state workers say salaries lower than what they could make in the private sector were historically offset by pensions, better benefits and job security. But now, some say the tradeoff is no longer worth it.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
A small world: How caste discrimination came to California
A bill to ban caste discrimination in California brings a global conflict to the Legislature. While many South Asian groups support the measure, some say it could backfire.
Posted inLatest News
Gavin Newsom wants Ron DeSantis charged with ‘kidnapping’ migrants. Is that possible?
“You small, pathetic man,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in a Twitter post suggesting he’d pursue criminal charges against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over recent migrant flights to Sacramento.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
$24 billion projected budget deficit could test California’s resolve to grow safety net amid recession
Advocates warn now is not the time to cut programs that help the poor. The Golden State has reserves to weather a tough year, but a recession could deepen the deficit.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California’s fast food bill could link chains to wage theft and other workplace violations
Proponents say AB 257 could curb wage theft, but restaurateurs say it could raise costs and prices and fundamentally change relationships with fast food chains.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Could this COVID program help reduce the California housing crisis?
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.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Advocates say California should send $2,000 per child to poorest families
Anti-poverty organizations are calling for the state to target some of its projected surplus to families making up to $30,000 a year.
Posted inK-12 Education
California senator proposes checks for low-income, homeless high school seniors
A state senator wants to send no-strings-attached checks to homeless high school seniors in California, where basic income programs are beginning to “feel a lot more like a movement.”