This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. California voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s measure that allowed the state to redraw its congressional map in favor of Democrats, pushing back against President Donald Trump’s effort to hold onto a Republican-controlled Congress by urging redistricting in Texas. Tuesday capped off a whirlwind, […]
Jeanne Kuang/CalMatters
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Supporters Are Way Ahead in Fundraising for Newsom’s Prop. 50, but the Race Remains Close
California, listen up: Former President Barack Obama wants you to know that the whole nation is counting on you this November. “Democracy is on the ballot,” the 44th president says straight to camera in the latest advertisement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign for Proposition 50, the ballot question that asks voters to temporarily gerrymander California’s […]
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Social Security Conflict: California Child Welfare Agencies Under Fire for Pocketing Foster Kids’ Benefits
In December 2019, a month after her son’s death, Patricia Baca contacted the federal government to provide for her surviving grandchildren. The twins, just 3 at the time, had lived a difficult first few years of life. San Diego County had removed them from their parents’ custody that year due to allegations of drug and […]
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More than 12,000 Californians are Getting Cash from Guaranteed Income Experiments
Four years after Stockton conducted a nationally-watched experiment, giving 125 households $500 a month with no strings attached, dozens of programs throughout California are testing the idea of a guaranteed income. CalMatters identified more than 40 similar pilot programs that have run, are operating or are planning to launch around the state. They are sending […]
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California’s Fast Food Bill Could Link Chains to Wage Theft and Other Workplace Violations
California lawmakers this month are considering a fast food bill that would significantly shift the relationship between restaurant workers and the corporate chains whose products they sell. If Assembly Bill 257 passes, California would be the first state to assign labor liability to fast food corporations and not just their individual franchise owners. The bill’s […]
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California Counties Siphon Social Security Benefits from Some Foster Kids
When she was 15 and had been a ward of the courts for half her life, Kristina Tanner learned the cost of her stays in group homes and with foster families was coming out of her own pocket. She had qualified for monthly survivor benefits checks, a Social Security program for children whose parents had died. […]