Cities have been ground zero in California’s coronavirus response — with many initiating shelter-in-place orders, organizing emergency housing for homeless people and supporting health and essential workers. But even before restrictions get lifted, mayors, managers and city councils are being tested in a new way: pandemic-induced budget deficits. Already, unemployment is projected to be higher than […]
Ben Christopher, CALmatters
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Reopen California? That’s the Toughest Phase Yet, Newsom Says
When will Californians emerge from house confinement? What will life look like? In a roadmap unveiled Tuesday with top public health officials, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will not lift his shelter-in-place order until adequate suppression and mitigation measures are in place to prevent future flare-ups. That means tracking down the sick and isolating clusters […]
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With COVID-19, California’s Economy is in Uncharted Territory
Social distancing may be good for public health these days, but it isn’t good for the California economy. As the coronavirus pandemic forces millions of residents to cancel dates and travel plans, retreat from social life to shelter in place, key cogs of the state’s economic engine are grinding to a halt. That’s an unprecedented […]
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Why California’s top court just struck down the state’s Trump tax return law
Many constitutional law experts, former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Republican Party are now all officially entitled to say, “I told you so.” This morning the California Supreme Court unanimously struck down a new state law that would have required presidential candidates to publicly disclose their tax returns before appearing on the primary […]
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Poll: Despite Surging Economy, Californians Anxious About Future and Want Change
Californians may have just voted overwhelmingly for more of the same — boosting Democratic majorities in both chambers of the Legislature and replacing one Democratic governor with another for the first time since the 1880’s — but many are still eager for major changes to state policy. And a majority are downright pessimistic about California’s […]