Santa Clara County Government Digest

Political wonks in California, Florida and maybe a few states in between, will be glued to their screens Thursday night to watch Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron Desantis square off in a highly-anticipated Blue vs. Red State debate that’s been brewing since the summer.

Parents say flavored medication can help ensure their kids finish a prescription. Far fewer California pharmacies are offering that service as they await new rules from a state regulator.

Seven times as many patients have been admitted to the trauma unit at UC San Diego Health since the Trump administration raised the height of the border wall to 30 feet in California. The hospital also notes that 23 people have died in falls from the wall since 2019.

A 2021 state law has radically changed the housing equation in San Diego. Advocates, developers, and policymakers are split on whether it should be exported to other jurisdictions.

California and Florida took starkly different approaches to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Data shows that more Floridians died per capita of COVID than did Californians.

The Southern California city of Cudahy passed a resolution on Nov. 7 demanding a cease-fire in Gaza and declaring that the Israeli government was taking retributive action for a Hamas attack. With its action, Cudahy became the first city in Southern California to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Alva Johnson, director of the California State Lottery has given his two weeks’ notice. Johnson had arrived in 2019, a year after a whistleblower complaint helped spur a reckoning for the agency.

Residents of Planada and Pajaro want state aid to help alleviate debt incurred from rebuilding after January floods. Local officials want some money to go elsewhere.

More than 4,000 state scientists have worked under an expired contract for three years. Average wages in 2020 were $83,586, 27% less than state engineers’ pay. The state filed an unfair labor practice charge to stop the strike.

Lacking power at the state level, conservatives are leaning into local governance to protest California’s progressive politics. The fight in Huntington Beach could be a harbinger of what’s to come.

Millions of people across the state struggle to pay electric bills as California regulators decide on proposed rate increases. PG&E wants a rate hike to bolster the safety and reliability of its services.

Workers are in the final stages of a long, $217 million project: Install a protective barrier at the Golden Gate Bridge. Roughly 2,000 people have died by suicide jumping from the bridge since it opened in 1937.

California’s community colleges are seeing enrollment gains for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Older students—those over 50—are some of the first to return.

More than half a million California health care workers are expected to see a pay increase in January thanks to a law raising the minimum wage for their industry. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law without a clear estimate about how much it would cost the state.

Berkeley public works staff and police officers began closing the longstanding encampment along Seventh and Eighth streets in an “imminent health hazard and emergency abatement,” which was ordered to tackle safety concerns.

Young people are stuck earning low wages, working long hours—often while going to school—and often without benefits or work protections. Their hardships may hamper the state’s economy for years to come, researchers say.

California’s population of homeless veterans has plateaued despite billions of dollars in state spending to create housing for former service members. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to shift resources to focus on veterans with serious mental health conditions.

State law requires community colleges to spend at least half their general fund on instructors. But administrators say they want more flexibility to pay for the growing need for student services.

Some advocates believe the state should expand the Cal Grant program for low-income students next year, even if that means pulling money from a financial aid program that benefits middle class students.

After years of isolation and virtual classes, young professionals in California’s workforce are reportedly struggling with greater mental health challenges and burnout. If colleges and companies don’t pay more attention, there could be economic consequences.

Wet weather and planned cuts by California, Arizona and Nevada averted declines that could have threatened water deliveries and power production—but long-term threats to the Colorado River remain.

Signed by the governor in September 2022, AB 2881 aims to help student parents in California by offering them priority registration. Advocates are optimistic the law will formalize data collection, allowing them to better serve this student population that represents 1 in 5 students nationally.

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

After years of planning a broadband system to bridge California’s digital divide, officials deprioritized some low-income areas due to unexpected costs. Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’s committed to funding the entire network, but advocates are skeptical.

Despite an influx of money to counter learning loss during the pandemic, English language arts and math test scores remain low.

California cities can ban synthetic turf under a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed. He rejected a bill to ban PFAS in fake lawns.

Unions at Kaiser Permanente put pressure on the health care giant to raise pay and address what they called understaffing during two strikes over the past year. The results reflected labor’s power in California.

Massive ocean wind farms off Morro Bay and Santa Barbara County—which could transform these quiet coastal towns and affect marine life—face a turbulent path.

Gov. Newsom vetoed bills to outlaw caste discrimination and to consider gender affirmation in child custody cases. Advocates wonder if he’s thinking about his national political profile.

Hundreds of wells in Tulare Lake aquifer are at risk of going dry. Today's recommendation is the first time that state officials have moved to crack down on local plans that fail to stop excessive groundwater pumping.

Kaiser patients waited 19 days for follow-up mental health appointments in 2019, nine days longer than state law permits. The settlement includes the largest-ever penalty issued by California’s behavioral health regulator.

The governor signed two other bills that strengthen protections for grocery workers during grocery store mergers and acquisitions.