Government Image

Santa Clara County Government Overview



California Local Pin Marker Local Government Digest

This Map Reveals Where Supersized ‘Builder’s Remedy’ Projects Could Be Coming

04/14/2024

Last year, dozens of cities around the Bay Area missed the deadline to come up with a state-approved "housing element" — a plan the state requires cities to submit every eight years showing how they will accommodate their share of the 2.5 million homes that California must build by 2031.

California Fails to Track Its Homelessness Spending or Results, a New Audit Says

04/09/2024

There’s so little data available, it’s impossible to even tell if several of California’s largest homelessness programs are working, according to a statewide audit released Tuesday.

California Local Pin Marker Recent News

San Jose Spotlight logo LOCAL NEWS
Santa Clara County Looks for Missing Medi-Cal Members

Low-income residents in Santa Clara County are losing their state-sponsored health care at a time when the public hospital system is experiencing unprecedented demand for services.
Medi-Cal members dropped from 458,000 to 425,000 in the county between June 2023 to …

San Jose Spotlight logo LOCAL NEWS
Santa Clara County deputy overtime contributes to ballooning deficit

This year, a multimillion-dollar deficit won't just threaten Santa Clara County's essential public services — it will force county leaders to reckon with a decade-long overspending crisis in the Sheriff's Office.
Since 2013, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office has …

California Local Pin Marker Recent Articles

Image caption: 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

Heat pumps, an energy-efficient way to both heat and cool homes, are a necessary element of California's climate goal of net zero carbon emissions. Here's what they are, how they work, and how to get one.

Image caption: 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

The Williamson Act, passed in 1965, now keeps more than 16 million acres of farmland out of the hands of developers. Here's how the law puts the brakes on the development of California agricultural properties.

Image caption: Mark Oden was among the thousands of chronically homeless people helped by Sacramento Self-Help Housing prior to the organization’s failure.
The Collapse of Sacramento Self-Help Housing

A once-groundbreaking nonprofit working with chronically homeless people in California’s capital closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

Image caption: 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

The California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, is both the state’s signature environmental legislation, and is also often named as the villain in the state’s housing shortage. But the story may not be that simple.

Image caption: Inadvertently, the beloved Muppet Elmo called attention to the mental health dangers of being too heavily online.
Lawmakers Now Calling for Regulation of Social Media

Lawmakers in California and other states are now making attempts to prevent the reported harms to children caused by social media platforms. The U.S. Senate got into the act as well, at a dramatic Jan. 31 hearing.

Image caption: A new law seeks to prevent cars from speeding, which causes about one of every three traffic fatalities.
If Drivers Won’t Slow Down, Proposed Law Requires Cars Do It for Them

“Intelligent” speed-limiting technology will be required in all new California cars starting in 2027, if a new law authored by San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener passes.

Image caption: Under a new law, homeless people in San Mateo County can be criminally charged for refusing to move to a shelter.
Should Homelessness be a Crime? New San Mateo County Law Allows Charges

In San Mateo County, a new law allows police to charge homeless people with criminal offenses if they don’t accept shelter. SCOTUS will soon weigh in with a potential landmark decision in an Oregon case.

Image caption: As residents continue to exit California, the state’s political power at the national level is at risk.
California Exodus, Housing and the State's Political Future

The California housing crisis is not only weakening the state politically at the national level, it could shift the political balance in Washington, D.C., as Republican-led states add population while California’s exodus continues.

Image caption: Former baseball star Steve Garvey, a Republican, will take a political debate stage for the first time Monday night, squaring off against three seasoned Democrats.
Schiff, Garvey Lead Senate Race Ahead of Monday's Big Debate

Former Major League Baseball star Steve Garvey, a political rookie, faces off against veteran U.S. House members Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee in the first 2024 California Senate race debate Monday evening in Los Angeles.

Image caption: 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

How California’s 10 state conservancies buy up open land and shield it from developers to preserve the natural environment for public use.

Join Us Today!