Via ShutterstockAB 280 sets clear limits on the use of solitary confinement and provides alternatives to isolation that ensure safety and dignity for incarcerated individuals. The bill sets clear limits on the use of solitary confinement and ends the practices entirely for pregnant people, as well as those in certain age groups and with certain disabilities.
People with developmental disabilities are among the most vulnerable in our society. The state budget must prioritize increased and sustained funding for these individuals, regardless of a budget deficit, to ensure these individuals and families have the opportunity to progress.
Crime scene photoCAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: In the wake of the horrific January 21 shooting that killed 11 people in Monterey Park, Gov. Newsom visited hospitalized survivors. His conversation with one patient revealed an added stress for survivors of gun violence and other violent crime: the inability to cover expenses incurred or wages lost due to the incident.
Image via Istock. used with permissonCalifornia prison spending for 2023-24 in the proposed $297 billion state budget is up to $14.5 billion – even as the prisoner population drops.
A guard tower near the perimeter of a California prison. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)Under a 2022-23 state budget, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is launching a process to close prisons and deactivate facilities within others. One on the chopping block is Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, a city of 18,000, in eastern Riverside County, that is closing in March 2025.
Directions to the local polling site in San Francisco. (Photo: Kevin McGovern, via Shutterstock)Much of the coverage of the recent midterm election has been about the surprise outcome – one in which the Republicans have taken a small majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Democrats retained control of the U.S. Senate. However, this was the story that polling was telling us — if we were willing to listen.
A worker makes repairs to an electric rotor turbine unit at a geothermal plant. (Photo: VG Photo, via Shutterstock)One month does not equal a trend, but can be a cause for concern. For instance, employers in California added 19,900 nonfarm payroll jobs in August after registering 84,800 new hires in July. Meanwhile, the Golden State’s unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in August from July’s 3.9%, according to the state Employment Development Department.
Dolores Huerta spoke Tuesday at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. (Photo: Julia Kikhinson, AP)At age 92, civil rights icon Dolores Huerta maintains a busy schedule supporting the causes she has worked for her whole life. She speaks regularly all over the state, recently participated in a re-creation of the famed 1966 farm workers march from Delano to Sacramento, and is campaigning for Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke.
The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: PPIC)The midterm campaign season enters its final stretch after Labor Day — in the context of rising consumer prices and higher interest rates that have created financial turbulence and uncertainty about job growth. Meanwhile, Californians are feeling the impact of climate change: severe drought, heat waves, and wildfires. Recently passed federal and state legislation aims to address these issues ahead of the highly consequential Nov. 8 election.
Lobbyists crowd around video screen to watch the floor votes on the last night of the Legislature's session. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP)The final curtain fell early Thursday on a legislative session that coursed through a pandemic, bolstered reproductive rights, saw a speaker nearly dispatched by his own caucus and drew the national spotlight to a governor who had survived an effort to recall him from office.