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San Joaquin County Government Articles



Image caption: Low transfers are also the fault of the UC and Cal State systems which rejected 30,000 applicants in 2020.
Community College Transfer Numbers Remain Far Below State’s Goal

Transfer to a four-year institution is a benchmark for success among community colleges, but the numbers are low and disparities across the system persist, especially between colleges in rural areas and those in wealthy suburbs.

Image caption: Gov. Gavin Newsom promised "universal" health coverage, but new Med-Cal purge takes California in the other direction.
More Than 220K Californians Lose Health Coverage in Medi-Cal Purge

Many of the people who lost Medi-Cal are likely still eligible for health care coverage if they can get their paperwork to county offices in the next 90 days. Otherwise, the program that provides health insurance to low-income Californians just …

Image caption: In Denmark, bi-directional charging reduces the cost of owning an EV by about 40 percent.
How Electric Cars Can Boost California's Power Grid

Through bidirectional charging, owners of electric cars can sell energy to the grid or use it to power their homes. But will the technology, which is costly, become widespread?

Image caption: Californians experiencing mental health issues are making frequent use of a new 988 crisis hotline.
California's 988 Mental Health Crisis Hotline Gets Surge in Calls

One California mental health crisis center grew its staff by almost 50 percent to handle that number of calls from people in need of counseling that it’s received since the state launched its 988 hotline a year ago.

Image caption: If policymakers accelerate efforts to slow climate change, California could get some relief from wildfires.
Rise in California Wildfires Caused by Human-Driven Climate Change, Study Finds

Climate change caused by human use of fossil fuels is the major reason California wildfires have burned 172 percent more land than they would have over the last five decades, according to new research.

Image caption: California smokers are kicking the habit, but that means lower tax revenues for child services under Prop 10.
Child Services Takes Hit as Tobacco Tax Revenue Drops Due to Quitting

A new ban on flavored tobacco products is accelerating a decline in nicotine tax revenue that funds California’s early childhood services. Some programs are already making cuts.

Image caption: A legislative analyst’s report is sharply critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shifting priorities in mental health funding.
Newsom’s Mental Health Plan May Shift $720 Million to Housing

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to rethink how California spends its millionaires tax by directing more money toward housing. Some county-run mental health programs could lose out.

Image caption: Should California adopt the Texas approach to handling the homeless problem?
4 Reasons Texas Beats California on Homelessness Reduction

The homeless population fell by a third in Texas over the past decade as it surged in California. The cost of living is a big reason Texas is doing a better job at alleviating homelessness.

Image caption: Under the Inside Safe program homeless camps have been cleared, but where do the people go?
'Inside Safe' Homeless Plan Struggles to Get People into Housing

Los Angeles’ new homelessness solution is meant to quickly get people out of encampments and into housing—as the city grapples with the state’s largest population of unhoused residents. But the program is struggling to house people and connect them with …

Image caption: There won't be big changes to the way Californians vote, but expect some tinkering around the edges.
California Lawmakers Kill Bills to Make Big Election Reforms

The most sweeping bills to change California elections got shelved in the Legislature. Instead, lawmakers are focusing on ballot measure language, local redistricting, voting integrity and campaign finance tweaks before the 2024 election.

Image caption: "Housing First" prioritizes getting the homeless into housing before anything else.
Why Hasn't Housing First Policy Worked in California?

Housing First policy works to reduce homelessness, evidence shows. But in California the policy has proven ineffective. What is the state doing wrong?

Image caption: COVID pandemic measures requiring more sick leave and family days expired, but legislators want to make them permanent.
New Legislation Looks to Improve Work-Life Balance for Employees

Supporters say a series of bills before the Legislature would improve work-life balance by expanding sick days and family leave. But opponents say the proposals would hurt struggling small businesses.

Image caption: Why can't the state say whether a $100 million per year prisoner rehabilitation program is working?
California Spent Millions to Rehab Prisoners But Did it Work?

A yearlong investigation shows that a $100 million-a-year rehabilitation program for former California prisoners grew with little oversight from the state corrections agency. It's unclear how many parolees wind up back in prison.

Image caption: The California Constitution was written, in English and Spanish, at Colton Hall, at the time the largest municipal building west of the Rockies.
Hidden History in the Birthplace of California

Pam Marino of Monterey County Weekly reports that the city government there is grappling with a unique problem: How to provide access to the places that make Monterey “the most historic city in California.”

Image caption: Pres. Joe Biden decried the "hypocrisy" behind the Supreme Court's student loan forgiveness cancellation.
What Next For Student Loans After SCOTUS Ends Biden Debt Relief

The Supreme Court has terminated Pres. Biden's student debt relief program. Here's the reasoning the justices used to do it, how their decision affects Californians, and what's next for borrowers who must start paying again in October.

Image caption: Under a new bill, California's coastline could see an increase in housing development.
California YIMBY Housing Bill Threatens Coastal Commission Powers

The California Coastal Commission has broad authority to protect the state's shoreline. Now, some want to curtail its power over affordable housing proposals.

Image caption: After several failed tries, could 2023 be the year California passes single-payer healthcare legislation?
Health Care Advocates Split Over New Single-Payer Bills

Two proposals that would usher in single-payer health care have divided former allies in the fight for reform.

Image caption: Grass Valley, in Nevada County, was making headway against the homeless problem until its grant money dried up.
Why Efforts to Help the Homeless Stalled in Grass Valley

Gov. Gavin Newsom poured ‘unprecedented’ money into homelessness, but providers say his use of one-time grants does not allow for long-term solutions to the state’s biggest crisis. That's what happened in Grass Valley.

Image caption: Six of the nine Supreme Court justices, all appointed by Republican presidents, have voted to end affirmative action.
Supreme Court Bans Affirmative Action: What it Means for California

The Supreme Court has now overturned decades of precedent in a new ruling that bans affirmative action, the consideration of race in college admissions as a way to create campus diversity.

Image caption: California's Reparations Task Force meets for the final time to deliver its comprehensive report.
Reparations Panel Delivers Hundreds of Recommendations

The first-in-the-nation state-appointed task force report contains hundreds of recommendations for reparation, including a proposal that the state apologize and make financial amends for slavery and decades of racist policies.

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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