Gerardo Zavala

California declared a state of emergency preemptively on Monday in response to forecasts that this could be the strongest El Niño year in recorded history.

PG&E says wildfire liability costs are putting pressure on its finances while consumer advocates accuse the utility of using that pressure to push lawmakers to change the law.

Advocates rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday to urge Governor Gavin Newsom to sign two bills targeting businesses that profit from immigration detention and enforcement.

California voters will decide this November whether to impose a one-time tax on the state’s billionaires. But they’ll also see two other propositions that could prevent that tax from taking effect.

The definition comes after two years of public debate, mainly between organic growers and conventional farmers over a strict ban on synthetic pesticides.

The measure comes two years after another bill took effect banning the sale of gas-powered landscaping equipment.

Climate advocates gathered at the State Capitol last week to protest changes to California’s program that charges major polluters for their greenhouse gas emissions.

A bill inspired by last year’s deadly fireworks warehouse explosion in Esparto cleared another legislative hurdle yesterday. The proposal would require more oversight of fireworks storage facilities and improve information sharing between state and local officials.

California voters could soon decide whether to approve more than 11 billion dollars in new funding for affordable housing and veteran homeownership programs. Legislative leaders and Governor Gavin Newsom announced an agreement this week to place the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act on the November 2026 ballot.

California lawmakers included one year of funding in the state budget to keep alive a federal program many small farmers and food banks rely on.