Santa Cruz County Government Digest

Democrats in the state legislature are leaving the X social media platform, citing the increase in hate speech and discomfort in relying on the private service to communicate with constituents.

Read on to learn more about the how the Santa Cruz County Cilvil Grand Jury holds local government to account, and consider applying!

California’s state budget is mired in what fiscal authorities call a “structural deficit,” meaning its revenues cannot keep up with spending mandated by current law.

In the past few months, some Democratic state legislators have joined the reported exodus of users on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

A new program dubbed “Engaged California” aiming to give the public a greater voice in government is launching soon, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced. Described as an exercise in “deliberative democracy,” the program is designed to help the public influence and inform government actions such as the ongoing Los Angeles firestorm rebuilding and recovery, the governor’s office said.

The audit by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission followed CalMatters’ revelations that a law requiring trip organizers to annually disclose their major donors had been used only twice in seven years — even as interest groups continued paying millions for lawmakers’ travel.

Read on to learn more about the $15 billion loan guarantee to PG&E granted in the final hours of the Biden Administration.

Residents with complaints about local government are invited to get in touch with the Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury.

In advance of the opening of the new Santa Cruz County government center on Westridge Drive in a few weeks, the Human Services Department announced it was moved in and ready to provide services.

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.

Not filling open positions in state government, cutting a school facilities program and several climate initiatives, delaying funding for public transit — these are some of the first steps that California officials plan to take to deal with a looming multibillion-dollar budget deficit.

Tenants in many new privately owned, low-income units will be protected from double-digit increases. So will some in existing units, after a state committee on affordable housing imposed a rent cap.

According to emails obtained by CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang in response to a public records request, a range of employers have been trying to figure out if they must pay $20 ever since the law was signed late last September.

Evictions have exacerbated homelessness nationwide, increasing the rate of homeless infants and toddlers. Most of those children are not enrolled in early education programs.

Disputes between insurers and providers can lead to entire hospital systems suddenly leaving the plans.

California will miss its goals unless it can increase emission reductions threefold, according to a new study.

The Capitola City Council agreed to extend a ban on remote public comment after anonymous racist, misogynistic and antisemitic outbursts at a meeting in 2023.

“Street releases” have resumed after the nonprofit that operated a migrant welcome center announced its “finite resources have been stretched to the limit.”

State officials determined that Rancho Palos Verdes can utilize an already-established state of emergency to expedite landslide stabilization efforts as the crisis escalates.

The state’s environmental tool skews which communities are designated as disadvantaged, researchers say. Some immigrant neighborhoods could be left out, while other groups are overrepresented.

Ten conservation groups filed an intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its failure to list western wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

A study in the latest issue of Nature Communications helps explain why there is more unconscious, or implicit, racial bias in some cities than others.

The latest round of federal homelessness response grant funds—at more than $6 million—is set to be distributed across Santa Cruz County to a handful of service providers this year.

A comprehensive restructuring effort is preparing for roll out within Santa Cruz County's network of more than 40 boards, commissions and advisory bodies thanks to a recent nod of approval from the Board of Supervisors.

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

Among growing concern over copper wire thefts, L.A. City Councilmembers Kevin de León and Traci Park proposed a task force anchored by the LAPD.

For the first time, local officials have taken a hard look under the hood of Santa Cruz County's network of more than 40 boards, commissions and advisory bodies and have proposed a series of changes.

The numbers and letters on your car can reveal more than you think.

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.

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.

A California judge says a nearly 65-year-old law does not give the state permission to borrow the billions of dollars it would need to build a large water project.

Proposed California legislation that would ban tackle football for kids under 12 had gained momentum until Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear he’d veto the bill.