Santa Clara County Business, Economy & Jobs Digest

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced consumer tools to help tenants and landlords understand how much rent can rise under a state law.

The term “unsubsidized 100% affordable project” was once an oxymoron. Under Mayor Karen Bass, Los Angeles is now approving them by the hundreds.

California’s utility regulators are exploring energy bill reforms that would structure charges based on household income. If done correctly, the change shift the cost for maintaining the grid to higher earners who can afford it.

California voters this spring are considering a $6.4 billion bond to house people with serious mental health conditions. A similar 2018 ballot measure offers lessons about the obstacles that stand in the way of construction.

If educator candidates are paid a living wage and receive plenty of support, they are more likely to remain in the profession.

Silicon Valley creates a powerful “gravitational pull” for skilled workers, but for many foreign workers and the companies that wish to employ them, bad luck in the H-1B draw mean the potentially valuable employees, often highly educated, take their talents elsewhere.

Two San Jose cannabis dispensaries, MedMen and Herbs, have temporarily closed—and the city stands to lose millions in revenue if they go out of business.

Downtown Sacramento faces many challenges, but the growing number of small businesses, hotels, homes and other major developments signal its transformation, says the city’s mayor.

States are plowing billions of dollars into a high-stakes health care experiment that’s exploding around the country: using scarce public health insurance money to provide housing for the poorest and sickest Americans.

The financial aid expansion is aimed at making good on a pledge last fall when trustees approve a tuition hike.

About 20,000 student assistants at all 23 California State University campuses are coming together for a vote that would create the largest undergraduate student worker union in U.S. history.

San Francisco is coping with a “doom loop” of declining employment and business activity in its downtown core, but a new study suggests Sacramento may be in worse shape.

Five former California superintendents shared potential solutions for reducing the increasing turnover rate in their profession.

California is removing degree requirements from jobs, but state leaders differ about the right approach.

Milpitas is hoping to hold on to a revenue stream dedicated toward city services and keep its budget from falling into the red.

State Sen. Scott Wiener wants to allow California cities and counties to designate “entertainment zones” where bars and restaurants could serve alcoholic drinks that people can consume on public streets and sidewalks.

A first-in-the-nation council will set work rules in the state’s fast food industry, but can labor and business agree?

Disneyland’s plan to reimagine the theme park into a more “immersive” experience may require up to $2.5 billion and a plan to privatize some Anaheim streets.

In a packed room of Apple enthusiasts, the original makers of the Macintosh celebrated the 40-year history of the desktop computer that launched a new way of interacting with the digital world.

Two of the city’s employee unions—Pro-Tech and the Milpitas Employees Association—are preparing for a potential strike after months of failed contract negotiations with the city.

A combination of tax credits, revenue sharing and coupons could bring stability, writes Steven Waldman, president of Rebuild Local News.

A Los Altos shopping center on El Camino Real that was engulfed by a fire on Christmas Day just entered its first phase of demolition.

Families have a lot of questions right now about how much help they’ll get paying for college—questions that financial aid offices can’t yet answer.

For months, the California Department of Food and Agriculture has been waging war on the oriental fruit fly, a voracious pest that can attack hundreds of types of fruits and vegetables.

On Jan. 31, dozens of cities and counties are expected to convert thousands of suburban-style tracts into apartment-ready parcels. Will the state hold them to it?

A yearslong debate over whether the 49ers should be allowed a multimillion-dollar property tax break for Levi’s Stadium has come to a close.

Fast food lives in a consumer sweet spot: demand, convenience and relative affordability. And this pay hike—equal to minimum wage increases during the past five years—will create grand economic unknowns.

A Cal State systemwide strike secured what more than half a year of negotiations and partial strikes couldn’t: a deal.

As the FAIR Plan writes more fire-insurance policies, homeowners complain about poor service, rising costs and threats of getting kicked off.

Locking up a California state prisoner for one year costs nearly twice as much as tuition at the state’s top private universities—due to inmate medical costs and pay boosts for prison guards and other workers.

The swing from a $100 billion surplus to a deficit somewhere between $38 and $68 billion in just two years illustrates the volatility of California’s tax system.

The nonprofit group Mothers Against Murder is offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest of the man who robbed at gunpoint a Taco Bell in south Palo Alto.