The bills require 5,300 companies that do business in California and have revenues exceeding $1 billion to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and financial risks from climate change

Unions won major victories in this year’s legislative session on pay for fast food and health care workers, benefits for strikers and bargaining rights. Business groups say labor has too much power at the Capitol. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas says unions are counting on lawmakers to deliver results.

After years of failed efforts, the Legislature sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a measure to tax firearms and ammunition to fund gun violence prevention in California.

Lawmakers shelved until 2014 a bipartisan bill to prohibit Tik Tok on state phones. It’s the latest attempt at social media regulation to get stalled in California.

Legislative analysts raised red flags about the tentative deal for prison guards, the lack of time to review the contracts negotiated by the Newsom administration, flaws in computing salary comparisons and vacancy rates and the bottom-line cost of $5 billion over three years.

Hazel Hawkins in Hollister and Watsonville Community Hospitals will get millions in the state's bailout.

Under a system that has long prioritized local control for school districts. state officials now are fighting some recent board decisions regarding LGBTQ students.

Southern California school boards have been battling with Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta over book bans and other culture wars in the classroom. 

Instead of the two-thirds supermajority required for local bond measures, legislators are considering a proposed threshold of  55%. Had that standard been in place in 2018, San Jose, Santa Cruz County, Berkeley, San Diego and Santa Rosa would have been granted the power to borrow a total of $2.26 billion.

Three of the biggest housing bonds in state history are bound for the 2024 ballot. But with no shortage of crises facing the state, California can only borrow so much and voters may succumb to bond fatigue.

In the past few months, a former employee of the San Jose mayor’s office sued the city for extending deadlines for responding to records requests, while Mendocino County repealed an ordinance that charged as much as $150 per hour to locate, review and redact documents.

California has spent billions of dollars in recent years to reduce homelessness, but the problem is only getting worse. Lawmakers should consider involving the private sector and repeal laws that make it too expensive to build housing.

California’s electric rates are among the highest in the country, but the three biggest power companies say low-income customers will save money under their proposed plan. Critics doubt it will work.

California lawmakers tried nine times to stiffen penalties for trafficking of a minor. The latest effort appeared to die — until a social media campaign forced Democrats to reconsider.

In an interview, Rivas offered few specifics about what might be a priority as the Legislature enters its final month of session.

Mildred García confronts a budget shortfall, declining enrollment and complaints about how Cal State officials have handled sexual misconduct allegations.