Traffic on the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Photo: Jose Luis Stephens, via Shutterstock)Keeping roads pothole free has been a challenge in California for decades. But an unusual solution has emerged — a per-mile-driven fee on motorists, called a Road Use Charge, with the money going to build and maintain infrastructure, including roads and highways.
Workers at the Caliornia College of the Arts walking a picket line. (Photo: SEIU Local 1021)California College of the Arts employees with the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 went on strike today (Feb. 8) at the private college’s Oakland and San Francisco campuses. The CCA strike is the first such labor action at a private college in California since a brief a one-day work stoppage at Pepperdine 46 years ago.
Stacked shipping containers awaiting distribution at the Port of Los Angeles. (Photo: Angel DiBilio, via Shutterstock)The pandemic economy has catalyzed changes for California businesses and consumers. Take the impacts of the state’s system of ports that connect with the movement of goods to 40 million residents.
Each year, the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards recognize Californians whose innovative projects contribute to making a better California. We invited Charles Fields, Irvine’s VP of Program Implementation, to speak with us about this year’s award recipients, about the program and about the history of the Irvine Foundation.
Roof top solar panels on rooftops in a Southern California neighborhood. (Photo: Simone Hogan, via Shutterstock)Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger championed an effort to install a million solar energy systems throughout the state. Fifteen years later, lured by incentives, there are more than 1.3 million solar rooftops that produce enough electricity for millions of homes across California. But a sharp debate is brewing among energy experts, the utilities, consumers and labor interests about fairness of the original program, called “net metering.”
Stanford University, where major stem cell research is being conducted.(Photo: yhelfman, via Shutterstock)The California stem cell agency says it has received $15.6 million in royalties from Stanford University, the largest such payment by far in the 17-year history of the state research agency. Until the announcement, the agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), had received only $557,292 in royalties.
This episode we welcome California Assemblymember Ash Kalra to talk about the biggest bill of 2022 so far: AB 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act. The bill (and a companion Constitutional amendment, ACA 11) would create a single-payer healthcare system administrated by the state. Kalra spoke with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster about his hopes for the bill, how it differs from its predecessor SB 562, and why he believes that California needs a single-payer system.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has proposed state health care for undocumented immigrants, at a press conference in Paramount on Jan. 22. (Photo: Ringo Chiu, via Shutterstock)California could soon be seeing an unprecedented overhaul of its state health care system — but only if the politics and money come together. Two proposals are making the rounds at the Capitol which, if approved, would greatly expand eligibility for publicly funded health insurance.
The USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, a major California hospital. (Photo: TonelsonProductions, via Shutterstock)Last year during the winter’s peak, hospitals in the state had an estimated 54,000 patients, with roughly 22,000 of them testing Covid positive. Today, similar numbers reflect the hospitals’ overcrowding. But now, there is an overall 20 percent reduction in health care workers, and the combination of the two has seriously stressed hospitals.
Hollywood Boulevard at dusk in Los Angeles. (Sean Pavone, via Shutterstock)Americans disagree about California. And at least part of the argument hinges on politics. Republicans don’t think much of California; Democrats like the place. According to a recent YouGov study, Republicans list California as the worst state. Only Washington D. C., which is not a state, ranks below California in Republicans’ estimation.