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.

The death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein means that Gov. Newsom has to decide who will fill her seat. He has said he would appoint a caretaker, not one of the three Democrats who are already running.

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.

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.

Agreements between labor groups and the fast food industry would give workers a $20 minimum wage and pull a measure off the 2024 ballot. The Legislature has until Thursday to approve it.

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

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Jose mayor’s office sued the city for extending deadlines for responding to records requests, while Mendocino County repealed an ordinance that charged as much as $150 per hour to locate, review and redact documents.

Frustration runs deep among medical cannabis patients and advocates who say the commercial market created by Proposition 64 in 2016 isn’t meeting their needs.

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

After a prolonged transition, the Hollister Democrat was sworn in as Assembly speaker today, taking over from Anthony Rendon of Southern California. It’s been a meteoric ascent for the 43-year-old who grew up in farmworker housing, and worked as a high school counselor and community college teacher while serving as a San Benito County supervisor.

After weeks of negotiations, state legislators will start voting today on a budget deal that sets spending and policy across a wide range of issues affecting Californians.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed US constitutional amendment includes four popular gun control policies.

A bill to tax Airbnb and other short-term rentals to fund affordable housing projects could be voted on by the Senate as soon as today. The proposal has revived the debate over Airbnb and its role in the housing crisis.

A 2015 law to bring more transparency to paid trips for California legislators has led to only two disclosure forms being filed by the sponsoring groups.

Monthly tax revenues came in billions of dollars below forecasts this spring, threatening budget cuts amid fears of a recession.

Accelerated by the COVID pandemic, a shift by state officials toward emails and written statements is making it more difficult for journalists to be watchdogs for Californians.