California State University’s Financial Aid Students Learn Chaos 101
Mark Kreidler
April 11, 2025
With the Department of Education in turmoil, who will distribute Pell grants and other assistance?
With the Department of Education in turmoil, who will distribute Pell grants and other assistance?
When the 911 call comes from inside the nursing home, health care workers are sometimes the victims.
Trump’s penny pinching and immigrant hunting reach rural classrooms.
Will Black women have to wait another century for wage equality?
California could face a cascade of troubles if federal funding for health care is slashed.
Will a controversial Trump order pull the welcome mat from under immigrants’ feet?
Researchers refute fast food industry’s apocalyptic predictions about raising the minimum wage.
The state, home to nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants, could be hit hard by the president’s deportation policies.
Will Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara bow to the industry giant or protect disaster-stricken Angelenos?
Many of the state’s largest school districts have contracts that expire June 30. The California Teachers Association is coordinating strategies across 32 districts.
The union and health care provider are split over pension and prep time issues.
Head of the California Immigrant Policy Center said the state’s leaders and people are ready to stand against deportations and nativism.
Preventing price gouging on rents and predatory evictions are looming challenges for public officials.
Chamber of Commerce, Restaurant Association claim the law, which labor unions say is meant to prevent coercion, violates free speech.
Federal funds cover more than 60% of California’s low-income health insurance plan. Losing even part of that money could result in cutbacks on care for kids or state tax hikes.
A new law is meant to help local governments speed up the building and placement of small, portable houses.
A letter signed by a majority of both houses calls on the health care giant to accept proposals from 2,400 striking mental health care workers.
Seventy percent of the state’s residents think kids in the state will be financially worse off than their parents.
Concentration in low-paying industries and lack of education and career training mean Latinas earn 44% of what white men are paid.
A union complaint filed with California regulators says a leaked internal memo shows Kaiser intended to break its own rules and state law, leaving patients without care during the ongoing strike.
A measure seemingly targeting the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has put forth three rent control ballot measures, is on its way to narrowly passing.
The UC system says it is offering healthy raises for nearly 40,000 staffers, but workers say the system is playing a shell game by also raising their health care premiums.
Mythology aside, nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants are the backbone of some industries, and pay billions in taxes for services they will never receive.
The health care provider canceled patient appointments during a 2022 strike. State regulators say they are making sure the company does not break the law during the current strike in Southern California.
Ahead of a ballot measure to add $2 to the hourly minimum wage, studies show fast food jobs increased after the state bumped hourly pay to $20 in that sector.
Prop. 36 creates stiffer penalties for some theft and drug crimes and has overwhelming support, but big retailers do not cite theft as a leading threat, and property crime is the lowest in 50 years.
Following the money reveals the gaming of the state’s initiative process.
Faculty, students, labor groups and the American Civil Liberties Union say the harder line on demonstrations may be discriminatory.
A national nonprofit uses financial and life coaching to teach low-income parents how to move up to living wages and beyond.
Researchers say new data shows need to pull back tax breaks for the wealthy to spend on aid.
Kaiser and regulators are two months away from their deadline for a required action plan to overhaul mental health treatment at the state’s largest health care provider.
Six in 10 in the region said they skipped or stalled medical care due to cost, and it is not much better statewide.
Amendments weaken a bill to give the state attorney general more power to stop takeovers that raise costs and cut care.
Low-wage industries are forecast to lead job growth, and the share of workers 55 and older has doubled.
Small, less-expensive readymade homes could buy time as the state continues to struggle with homelessness and high building costs.
A new study finds 1.6 million undocumented workers created 1.25 million jobs and produced 5% of the state’s GDP.
Multiple efforts to boost housing construction are meant to bring home ownership back within reach. Meanwhile, workers can’t keep up.
A Senate bill would immediately send urgent cases denied services to an independent review.
With the end of direct cash payments, poverty levels are moving up.
Some key state programs will be maintained, but those without legal status remain ineligible for other anti-poverty programs.
Rent-controlled Barrington Plaza tenants, many of whom moved to more expensive apartments, are weighing a lawsuit.
Executive total compensation surged nearly 13% in 2023, outpacing both inflation and worker pay increases.
The union says that following a string of wins by campus unions nationwide, the university may fear losing at the table in the current fight over use of police and sanctions to quell protests.
A California plan to extend food aid to undocumented immigrants is shelved in the state’s latest budget revision.
Leaders need to create ways for workers to get the skills needed for higher-paying jobs.
A bipartisan group including six former American Medical Association presidents say access to health coverage will fall while prices rise, and Americans need to pay attention.
While 40,000 Dreamers are likely to gain coverage, nearly half a million undocumented immigrants still cannot afford health insurance.
Most Californians say they want single-payer care, but in the Legislature the health care industry has been unstoppable.
Supporters say pushing yearly in Sacramento, even if unsuccessful, is vital to keep leaders from ducking the issue.
Despite transparency concerns, the state auditor’s report says two programs focusing on housing and preventing homelessness are cost-effective.
Contrary to common beliefs, many Californians in low-wage jobs are in the later stages of their work lives. They also play a crucial role in taking care of the state’s aging population.
Studies have repeatedly shown wage increases bring few job cuts and boost local economies.
New contracts will expire six months before the Games, giving workers an opening to pit public attention against employers.
The California Department of Public Health says the agency is enforcing state requirements, despite deep budget cuts.
A ballot measure to raise pay to $23 an hour could help workers in labor negotiations and boost the local economy.
It is one of the state’s greatest health needs, companies fail to live up to their policies, and the state does not invest what is needed for enforcement.
Rejecting years of unequal treatment, 20,000 low-paid California State University student assistants and workers vote to organize.
Weak laws embolden combative employers, so even with big wins and all-time high support, union membership is not keeping up with workforce growth.
Thousands of low-income patients cannot survive without MLK Hospital. The South L.A. hospital cannot survive on what it is paid by public insurance.
For many, premiums and deductibles now take three times more out of one’s budget than 20 years ago, UC Berkeley study shows.
A pay system that does not guarantee raise agreements is a key reason.
Despite a 10% raise, professors, lecturers, coaches, counselors and others will return to contract negotiations within months.
Nine Lynwood St. Francis Medical Center staffers say they were fired as retaliation for leading union protests against staff cuts.
In coverage for key areas including immunizations, mental health and well-child visits, insurers fail to deliver for those 26 and younger.
A $33 a month average rate hike took effect Jan. 1. Now PG&E wants up to $20 a month more. Reformers say it is time to cap annual increases.
In the face of weak labor laws, hospitality workers brought their fight for better wages and working conditions to the court of public opinion.
Minimum wages to rise statewide, with larger gains for fast food and health workers. More paid sick leave, workplace violence prevention rules and other worker protections are also to begin Jan. 1.
A rare mix of big strike wins, broad public support and a labor-friendly economy could drive union membership growth.
California Faculty Association members seeking a pay raise walked out at four of the 23 campuses this week.
With no cap on price increases for California’s utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric will hike rates 13%, which it says is needed for upgrades.
The laws that helped pull unionization down to near 10% remain on the books — but six out of 10 U.S. adults now say declining unionization is bad for the country.
More than 7 out of 10 think children will be worse off than their parents and favor spending on tax credits, child care and job training.
Despite the long delay to raise resort workers’ wages close to $20 an hour, their 2018 victory inspired labor collaboration driving current strikes.
The lowest income Californians are more likely to have lingering symptoms, and more likely to lose jobs.
All sides must bargain in “good faith,” but U.S. labor laws do not say what that means, and penalties are weak.
The end of pandemic relief programs is returning millions of children to poverty.
Cuts and turnover, even more than pay, make their jobs impossible, they say.
The bill passed by the California Legislature would have limited benefits to keep state payments manageable.
California requires a minimum of three sick days, the least among 15 states. A bill to raise it to five days is opposed by the business lobby as it awaits Gov. Newsom’s signature.
Governor could leap past politics and sign unemployment bill just to keep striking workers in an uneven game.
Likely all Los Angeles workers, says a new study of pay and expenses. But the political will is not yet there.
As insurers reject coverage amid soaring anxiety and depression, a bill to help children and teens is quietly killed.
When one conference declined to cancel, a union walkout helped drive other concessions.
Unionizing is not against the law; but the law is against unionizing.
Low-income working families and people of color continue to be hit hardest.
Outdated 1935 federal labor act makes violations hard to prove, penalties easy to pay.
Health insurance CEOs pocket millions while citizens can’t pay the out-of-pocket.
With consolidation and industry diversification, corporate studio and hotel owners have more money to wait out strikes.
The renters’ caucus is pushing to win both protections and political clout for the state’s 17 million renters.
Even the safest hospitals still display wide gaps in health outcomes based on patients’ skin color.
Puzzling denials and delays still plague some who seemed to qualify for help.
Two California cases probe who is pocketing those extra fees tacked onto your restaurant tab.
From Cocaine Bear to Panda Express, the fight for a living wage is the same.
How to help health care workers live where they are employed.
While it ponders ambitious new laws to improve mental health, California could strengthen what’s already on the books.
Millions in the Golden State are failing to keep on the right side of the growing wealth divide.
The district’s massive cash reserve could cover the demands of striking workers. There is a way, but is there the will?
With parents forced to quit work to replace workers they can’t afford, the child care system is in full disarray.
The economic future of millions of Californians hangs in the balance.
Organizing franchises is swell, but the attacks on unionization drives must stop.