blog post Spending on Corrections and Higher Education By Sonya Tafoya, Sarah Bohn Aug 4, 2016 California spends more on corrections and less on higher education today, in relative terms, than at nearly any point in the past thirty years.
blog post What Are Baseflow Droughts—and Why Should We Care? By Sarah Bardeen Apr 23, 2024 For the six months when California receives no rain, how do its rivers keep flowing? The answer is groundwater. But increasingly frequent and intense droughts are having unexpected effects on this vital resource. We speak with two experts to learn more.
blog post Californians Are Worried about Wildfires By Lynette Ubois, Mark Baldassare Aug 16, 2023 An overwhelming majority of Californians say the threat of wildfires is a problem in their part of the state. Around one in three residents have a great deal of confidence in government readiness to respond to wildfires.
blog post What’s the Plan to End Groundwater Overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley? By Jelena Jezdimirovic, Ellen Hanak, Alvar Escriva-Bou Apr 6, 2020 The COVID-19 hasn’t stopped state-mandated work on managing groundwater for long-term sustainability. This post examines how new groundwater plans propose to end overdraft.
blog post Gas Prices Stretch Family Budgets By Sarah Bohn, Daniel Payares-Montoya Mar 16, 2022 California has recently seen its highest average gas price on record. Combined with higher prices in other key budget areas, rising gas prices pose a challenge for households around the state, especially those with lower incomes.
blog post Will This Recession Deepen California’s Economic Divide? By Sarah Bohn, Dean Bonner, Vicki Hsieh, Julien Lafortune Dec 7, 2020 The current downturn is having a disproportionate impact on low-income Californians and communities of color. Deliberate policy action can help create an equitable recovery and broaden long-term economic opportunity.
blog post California’s Hispanic Community By Eric McGhee Oct 5, 2022 In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we look at our state’s large and dynamic Hispanic population, which accounts for nearly four in ten Californians—more than any other racial or ethnic group.
blog post The Weird Weather of 2023: Better Get Used to It By Jeffrey Mount, Gokce Sencan, Michael Dettinger Sep 27, 2023 Water Year 2023 comes to an end on September 30. For most weather-watchers, this was an unusual year, with very wet conditions following several very dry years—but are the frequency and intensity of these variations increasing as the planet’s temperature rises? And if so, what might be the implications for water management? We take a look.
blog post Measuring Groundwater Overdraft in the Sacramento Valley By Spencer Cole, Kyle Greenspan, Andrew Ayres Nov 7, 2023 As the Sacramento Valley works to bring its groundwater basins into balance, we review the valley’s groundwater sustainability plans to understand how they’re estimating overdraft in their basins—and to see just how much overpumping they found.
blog post Hate Crime Trends in California By Andrew Skelton, Joseph Hayes, Magnus Lofstrom May 28, 2024 Hate crimes in our state have been on the rise for almost a decade, and they spiked between 2020 and 2022—the last year for which data are currently available. In an effort to address this concerning trend, California is investing in improved hate crime reporting as well as support for affected communities.
