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The new program would provide more poor adult Oregonians with stable, publicly funded healthcare, but it comes at the cost of some middle-class families paying more for private health insurance each month.

Medi-Cal is a statewide program, but it is administered by the counties, which have separate government bureaucracies and different approaches to care.

Climate change disproportionately affects communities of color, the elderly, people with disabilities and low-income households.

As pandemic relief dollars dwindle, low income families still need help recovering, advocates say. Two bills would expand California’s earned income and young child tax credits for families making as much as $30,000.

CalFresh issued its last round of pandemic-era extra payments in March. The state has launched a new program aimed at making fresh fruit and vegetables more accessible and affordable to those receiving assistance.

Studies say 1 in 4 Californians lacks full access to banks and many pay big fees. A state commission is weighing how to provide public banking options, such as no-fee checking accounts.

In April, the state will resume its annual eligibility reviews for Medi-Cal. With some enrollees no longer qualifying or unaware they need to renew their coverage, officials estimate 2 million to 3 million people could lose their insurance.

A new bill proposed in the California legislature would allow in-home care workers to bargain with the state for better working conditions, instead of on a county-by-county basis.

State and local governments, and some private funders, are launching dozens of pilot projects making direct, monthly payments to low-income residents to help meet basic needs. Researchers will study what happens next. Key question: will this money add to, reform, or supplant current welfare programs?

States are preparing to remove millions of people from Medicaid as protections put in place early in the covid-19 pandemic expire.

Advocates warn now is not the time to cut programs that help the poor. The state has reserves to weather a tough year but a recession, which many economists say is likely, could deepen the deficit.

Assembly members and disgruntled Californians urged the California Public Utilities Commission to keep low-income subsidies as is.