Why did the homelessness crisis become more dire in 2023, even as the Legislature passed more affordable housing laws? Home prices and rents are still increasing.

California is modernizing how it pays health care providers through Medi-Cal. Some mental health providers say the changes endanger their services.

Despite a few improvements, the data shows K-12 students are still struggling on several fronts.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Hollister Democrat, says that when it became clear that tax revenues would be substantially below estimates, the Legislature should commit to a budget that protects classroom funding.

In his recent debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that the state’s economy is “booming,” but a new report shows that it is actually slowing down.

Speaker Robert Rivas seems to be laying the institutional groundwork for an aggressively pro-housing legislature next year.

The number of Californians facing eviction was relatively low for years during a lengthy statewide moratorium. In the year after it ended in June 2022, cases soared and still remain high in large counties.

More than half a million California health care workers are expected to see a pay increase in January thanks to a law raising the minimum wage for their industry.

San Jose was known as the lowrider capital of California until 1986, when the city banned those cars and created “no cruising zones.” The city overturned its ban on lowriders in 2022, and on Sept. 1 of this year San Jose city officials joined car enthusiasts in celebrating the first Annual Lowrider Day.

Housing developments will now be more streamlined with less red tape, density laws can be overruled in the interest of housing, and institutions like colleges or religious organizations can now use portions of their property to build housing.

Juror pay, cannabis cafes and psychedelics got the axe. Water rights, workers’ rights and renters’ rights were signed.

Proponents originally sought seven days of sick leave. The bill also extends protections against retaliation to workers who are in a union.

More than half a million fast-food workers, mostly minorities and women, will earn higher minimum wage, but some say that’s not a living wage.

Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed a tax on firearms and ammunition, among other new gun control laws. California’s remaining gun manufacturers wonder if they have a future.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara unveiled a plan to shore up the California insurance market for homeowners, in which insurers would return to wildfire zones, but would have an easier path to rate increases.

A patchwork of bills is giving housing developers and local governments more options to reduce red tape for housing projects.