Report
Analysis: 2021-22 State Budget
This report highlights selected elements of the budget framework that represent significant advancements to improve the lives of Californians with low and middle incomes — including women, immigrants, and American Indian, Asian, Black, Latinx, and Pacific Islander Californians and other Californians of color. We also highlight areas where the budget framework falls short of this goal and the work still to be done by policymakers to ensure that all Californians are able to not only survive but thrive in their communities.
Report
Racial Disparities in California’s State Prisons Remain Large Despite Justice System Reforms
California adopted a series of justice system reforms in the 2010s that substantially reduced mass incarceration. Did these reforms also help to reduce long standing racial disparities in state prisons — disparities that reflect the disproportionate incarceration of Black and Latinx residents as well as other Californians of color? This report answers this question by examining changes in state-level incarceration during the 2010s for both men and women through the lens of race and ethnicity. While incarceration declined nearly across the board, by the end of the 2010s men and women of color generally continued to be incarcerated at higher rates than white men and women, and racial disparities generally widened.
Report
State Policymakers Can Provide Food Support to Undocumented and Mixed-Status California Families Blocked by Federal Policies
All California children, parents, workers, and community members should have the support they need to meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and other necessities. Yet Californians who are undocumented immigrants, or who have undocumented family members, are blocked from full access to the supports that other Californians can turn to when struggling to meet basic needs. State and federal policies uphold exclusionary practices against undocumented Californians despite them being deeply embedded in our communities and economy.
Report
First Look: Revised Budget Proposal Lays Foundation for a More Equitable California, Further Action Needed to Create Sustainable Investments
This report outlines key pieces of the 2021-22 budget proposal, with consideration for how the plan supports — or does not meet the needs of — Californians with low incomes, as well as women, Black Californians, Latinx Californians, American Indians, Pacific Islander Californians, Asian Californians, and other Californians of color.
Report
Q&A: Why Hitting Gann Limit Now Threatens Ongoing Investments in Californians
Spending cap. Constitutional spending limit. Gann Limit. Known by many names, state leaders and Californians are taking a hard look at the constraints imposed by the 1979 measure this year, and asking if the archaic spending limit meets the ongoing needs of Californians and the state’s budget and policy priorities now.