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San Joaquin County Government Articles



Image caption: In a recent survey, less than half of California's likely voters approved of how the state legislature did its job.
Is Your Elected Representative Actually Representing You?

With few strict rules on what California lawmakers must do, politics, policy priorities and personal preferences determine how much they follow the wishes of voters who put them into office.

Image caption: Adventist Health recently backed out of an agreement to take over the closed Madera Community Hospital.
Bankrupt Hospital Still Closed Despite State Bailout Vote

Earlier this year, the state created a loan program meant to help struggling hospitals stay afloat and to help reopen Madera County’s only hospital. Almost a year after its closure, Madera continues its search for a buyer or partner.

Image caption: Tens of thousands of Californians depended on state help to pay rent through the pandemic. Now the state is letting them down.
COVID Rent Relief Delays: 70,000 Households at Risk of Eviction

More than 70,000 households who needed and applied for state aid to pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic by the March 2022 deadline still have their applications listed as "pending." Now they could be evicted from their homes.

Image caption: University presidents across the Cal State system have seen their pay rise substantially as compared to faculty members.
Cal State Presidents Enjoyed 43% Pay Raise From 2007 to 2022

Mildred García, the new Cal State chancellor, is earning a total compensation of nearly $1 million. Meanwhile, university president pay has increased at a greater rate than that of faculty, who are preparing to strike in early December, and the …

Image caption: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (L) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faced each other in person at last in an acrimonious Fox News debate Nov. 30.
Newsom, DeSantis Finally Square Off in Wild Fox News Debate

Governors Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) faced each other on a debate stage and traded blows, barbs, and zingers over the relative merits of their states in a Fox News debate that was nothing if not entertaining.

Image caption: Cal State Sacramento is one of four universities where members of the faculty union plan to walk out.
Cal State Profs Plan Walkout in Fight for 12 Percent Pay Hike

Cal State officials offered a 5 percent increase for each of the next 3 years, though the raises are not guaranteed. The union plans strikes at four campuses.

Image caption: Ocean waves may be good for more than surfing. They may play a role in reducing California's greenhouse gas emissions.
California Looks to Ocean Waves For New Clean Energy Source

Only a few small demonstration projects off the West Coast have harnessed the power of waves and tides. Costs are high and hurdles are challenging.

Image caption: California's school buildings aren't what they used to be, after years or neglect and disrepair that the legislature now struggles to reverse.
California's Crumbling Schools: Legislature Crafting Huge Construction Bond

Small, rural districts often struggle to pass local bond measures to pay for school construction and repairs. In some cases, leaking roofs, dry rot and broken air conditioners haven’t been fixed in years.

Image caption: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (left) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right) will face off in a Fox News debate on Nov. 30.
Newsom vs. DeSantis Fox News Debate Set for Nov. 30

Governors Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) are set to face off in a debate Nov. 30 with unexpectedly high stakes, as polls now show both underwater in voter approval ratings.

Image caption: Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (right) waited until just before Thanksgiving to hit legislative leadership with a drastic overhaul.
Rivas Shakes up Legislative Leadership: Winners and Losers

Assembly Speaker Rivas puts key allies into leadership posts and shuffles the top posts on committees heading into the 2024 session of the Legislature. One big winner: pro-housing advocates.

Image caption: Despite rising homelessness, the state lifted its COVID-era eviction ban. Now renters are feeling the consequences.
End of Pandemic Ban Sends Renter Evictions Soaring

The number of Californians facing eviction was relatively low for years during a lengthy statewide moratorium. In the year after it ended, cases soared and still remain high in large counties.

Image caption: Almost half of all low-income Black adults in California experience food insecurity.
Hunger and Food Insecurity in California: What It Is, What to Do About It

Hunger and food insecurity have become persistent problems in California. With the world’s fifth-largest economy, what steps can we take to make sure that everyone has enough to eat?

Image caption: Even as the state has set ambitious clean energy goals, California is once again slashing incentives for rooftop solar power.
California Slashes Rooftop Solar Incentives—Again

The utilities commission reduced payments to apartments, schools and businesses selling solar power to the grid despite a barrage of criticism. Commissioners say it reverses unfair subsidies.

Image caption: It's becoming more difficult to have a healthy childbirth in California as maternity wards close at an alarming rate.
California Hospitals Closed 46 Maternity Wards Since 2012

Hospitals all over California are closing their maternity wards, including in dense cities like Los Angeles and in more remote communities in the Sierra Nevada.

Image caption: A definitive federal report says California’s economy suffers more than almost all states from the effects of climate change.
California Among Top 5 Worst Climate Change States, Report Says

California ranks among the top states suffering economic damage from climate-related disasters. The report describes food shortages, floods, droughts, wildfires, pollution, disease—all linked to climate change.

Image caption: Under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, California students must now be educated in media literacy and critical thinking skills.
How to Spot Fake News Now Part of California School Curriculum

A new law requires K-12 schools to add media literacy to curriculum for English language arts, science, math and history-social studies. Among the lessons will be recognizing fake news.

Image caption: Translated from the Greek, “Democracy” means “people power.” How much power do the people have in California?
People Power! What Is Democracy, and How Does It Work in California?

Democracy is a 2,500-year-old system of government still looked on today as the best system, because under a democratic system, the people govern themselves. But is that all there is to it? What is democracy? And how does it work …

Image caption: Farm workers had argued that reforms now in place in California would reduce employer retaliation for unionization efforts.
Farmworkers in Stanislaus County Win Union Vote Under New Law

The United Farm Workers, which represents nearly 7,000 workers, won a unionization vote in Stanislaus County. It’s the first such win in six years and first under a law that went into effect in May.

Image caption: Lobbyists have been big spenders in 2023, with oil companies alone spreading around more than $15 million.
Led by Oil Companies, Lobbyists Flood State Govt With Cash

By the end of September 2023, more than $358 million had been spent this year on lobbying California’s Legislature, agencies, and Public Utilities Commission.

Image caption: Like last year, three different respiratory viruses threaten to infect Californians this season. How bad will it be?
COVID, Flu and RSV: California’s Outlook for the ’23/24 ‘Tripledemic’

New vaccines for RSV and an updated booster for COVID-19 give Californians more tools to protect themselves from respiratory viruses this fall.

Featured

California's sprawling public education system encompasses approximately 10,500 schools.
California’s Education System: How the Bureaucracy Works
How California's extensive public school system is organized and managed, explained.
States have expansive powers to protect the health of the general public.
The State’s Broad Power to Protect Public Health, Explained
Since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, states have possessed broad authority to protect public health.
RCDs look after the land, whether it’s used for grazing, growing, or getting out into nature.
California Dirt
RCDs were created to avoid a repeat of the Dust Bowl. Now they work with landowners to preserve the air, water and natural habitats that sustain us all.
Mosquitos kill about 725,000 people every year, worldwide.
Taking a Bite Out of the Mosquito Population
How local government tries to control the world’s deadliest wild animal—the mosquito.
There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained
Areas that the county overlooks can form their own local governments.
California continues to work on legislation that would make voting easier.
Voting Rites
And more bills are on the way to help you make your mark on Election Day.
Over two weekends last October, residents of Santa Cruz and Watsonville  participated in demonstration rides aboard an electric streetcar on rails.
The ‘Rail Trail’ Movement, Explained
The heated controversy over what to do with abandoned railroad tracks
California transportation history runs from railroads to today’s car culture.
California’s History of Transportation: From Railroads to Highways
The history of transportation in California has shaped the state, from the earliest stagecoach to today’s car culture.
The California mental health crisis is tied to both homelessness and rising crime.
UPDATE: California’s Mental Health Crisis: How We Got Here
The making of Gov. Newsom's plan to help get mentally ill Californians into treatment.
Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals
How the sun is helping push the state toward 100 percent renewable energy.
Owning homes is the primary way the middle class builds wealth, and an option no longer available to most Californians.
Is California’s Housing Crisis Making Inequality Worse?
California has some of the worst economic inequality in the United States. Is housing a cause? Could it be a cure?
The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails
From its beginnings in the Gold Rush, the state Supreme Court continues to define the state today.
Zoning laws tell you what you can and can't build on the property you own. How does government get away with that?
How Zoning Laws Shape California and Society
Zoning is everywhere, but is it a way to regulate development or a tool for social engineering?
How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland
From its earliest days as a state, California has been trying to turn marshes into productive land.
Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment
The hidden price tag of “reclaiming” swamps and marshes as usable land.
The Pajaro River levee broke during the 2023 atmospheric river storms, flooding the town of Pajaro.
Is California Ready for More Extreme Weather Driven by Climate Change?
Increasingly extreme weather events are already testing California’s preparedness.
Since 1972, the California Coastal Commission has ruled over the state’s shoreline.
California Coastal Commission: Where It Comes From, What It Does
How a nuclear plant, a real estate development and an oil spill led to a landmark law.
Translated from the Greek, “Democracy” means “people power.” How much power do the people have in California?
People Power! What Is Democracy, and How Does It Work in California?
The Goddess of Democracy is alive and well in California, but that hasn’t always been true.
Long-duration energy storage, such as this thermal energy storage facility, allows renewable energy sources to operate at full capacity without overloading the power grid.
How California Leads the Race For Long Duration Energy Storage
For renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to be viable, ways to store the power they create are essential.
The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land
Starting in 1976, the legislature began creating agencies to buy up open land, and keep it open.
California has a goal of 6 million heat pumps cooling and heating buildings by 2030.
6 Million New Heat Pumps: Essential to California's Climate Future
Installing 6 million heat pumps by 2030 is essential if California is to reach its goal of net zero carbon emissions.
Does California’s signature environmental law protect the state’s scenic beauty, or cause more problems than it solves?
CEQA: The Surprising Story of CA’s Key Environmental Law
54-year-old environmental law is often blamed for causing the state’s housing crisis. Is it getting a bad rap?
The 1965 law known as the Williamson Act has been responsible for keeping about half of California's farmland out of the hands of developers.
The Williamson Act: How the Law That Protects California’s Farmland Works
More than half of California farmland is under contracts that prevent its development.
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