Gives noncitizens who are the parents, legal guardians or legally recognized caregivers of a child attending an Oakland public school the right to vote for candidates for Oakland Unified School District Board of Education.
Authorizes the City of Oakland to issue $850 million in general obligation bonds to fund various affordable housing, transportation and infrastructure projects.
Establishes public financing for city official and Board of Education elections, promotes transparency in campaign contributions and strengthens lobbying restrictions for former city officials and directors.
Amends the City Charter to create term limits for city councilmembers, closes the mayoral tie-breaker loophole, adds to the duties of the city auditor and creates City Council meeting requirements before measures are placed on the ballot.
Legalizes the operations of specific games as well as in-person sports betting at American Indian gaming casinos and at privately owned, licensed horse-racing tracks in certain counties in California. Imposes a 10% tax on sports bets made at licensed horse-racing tracks, with tax revenue to be deposited in the California Sports Wagering Fund.
Legalizes online sports betting in California and directs tax revenue earned to the California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Account and the Tribal Economic Development Account.
Requires dialysis clinics to enact extra procedures and restrictions that increase patient oversight, including on-site medical practitioners, data reporting and financial transparency.
Levies a tax increase of 1.75% on personal income over $2 million to invest $100 billion in zero-emission transportation and in preventing and fighting catastrophic wildfires.
In partnership with San José State University and with funding from the Knight Foundation, we put forth a series of questions to city residents and SJSU students, faculty and staff. The survey results showed that San José residents are less satisfied with their city compared to residents of other cities across the country. Results like this are a reminder of why ϴexists, and why our work to advance solutions for a better San José — including affordable housing, high-quality transit and improved access to economic opportunities for all residents — are so important.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment and food insecurity greatly increased in California, and enrollment in CalFresh — the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — went up significantly. As need has significantly increased, especially for Black and brown Californians, too many of the state’s residents still don’t have enough to eat. This article looks at ideas to help eliminate hunger in California, including automatic enrollment, targeted outreach, state administration of CalFresh, permanently streamlining enrollment and expanding pilot programs that help low-income Californians afford more fresh foods.
On November 8, Oakland residents will vote on a proposal for city government charter reforms. Measure X will create term limits for City Council members, clarify campaigning protocols for current elected officials and strengthen the role of the city auditor to increase accountability across the city. The measure was authored by Councilmember Dan Kalb, who has said that Measure X is a direct outcome of SPUR’s report Making Government Work, which proposed 10 ways to improve Oakland city governance. While Measure X does not include all of SPUR’s recommendations, it moves the needle on improving governance in the City of Oakland.
Last month Governor Newsom signed AB 2594, a bill sponsored by Assemblymember Phil Ting that reforms the way California agencies handle bridge and road tolls. Inspired by SPUR’s report Bridging the Gap, AB 2594 helps modernize the toll system and reduce the harms caused by fines and fees for missing a toll payment. AB 2594 is an important first step in reforming inequitable tolling practices across California, but there’s still more work to be done.
California has some of the most expensive traffic citations in the country, with California drivers paying billions of dollars in fines and fees every year. The high cost of these citations puts a significant burden on lower income people, as they are less able to pay the hundreds or thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses that can arise from a traffic stop. In order to understand the impact of traffic stops and citations on people in California, ϴanalyzed traffic stop data in seven locations across the state.
One of the critical steps in addressing California’s housing crisis is making sure that cities build enough housing to meet the needs of everyone in the community. That’s why the state requires every California city to update the housing element section of its general plan every eight years. The latest cycle is underway, and ϴhas been tracking the housing elements in San Francisco, San José and Oakland. Here’s how much housing the cities will be expected to build in the next cycle and three ideas for how they can get there.
