A statewide ballot measure in the upcoming Nov. 3 election could impact voting rights in Santa Clara County. California Proposition 39 — the Voter Identification, Citizenship Verification, and Registered Voter List Administration Initiative — would require additional identification to vote in future elections. This could have a significant effect on Santa Clara County, where Hispanic...
Bay Area lawmakers’ bills to combat ICE head to Newsom’s desk
Several state bills spurred by Silicon Valley lawmakers to keep federal immigration agents accountable and uphold rights for detainees are headed to the governor’s desk. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities have been rife with alleged human rights violations, with reports of inhumane living conditions, sexual abuse, unsanitary food and inadequate medical care. In...
AI transparency rule from Bay Area lawmakers kicks in Saturday
After several years of delays, legislation from two Bay Area lawmakers that is being called a landmark artificial intelligence transparency law by academics and advocates is set to go into effect Aug. 1. First passed in 2024, the law will require AI-generated content like images and videos to contain easily accessible embedded details about its...
State commits millions of dollars to fight food insecurity
Santa Clara County is set to see a surge of investment in helping its hungriest residents obtain food thanks to millions of dollars from the state. California lawmakers passed a budget that provides $108 million for the CalFood program to allow food banks to purchase, transport and store produce. The budget also commits $20 million...
State budget revisions save Santa Clara County from deeper cuts
Santa Clara County officials are exhaling as the state spending plan for fiscal year 2026-27 pares back steep cuts initially proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The state budget signed Monday includes $900 million for homeless services, nearly double what Newsom had initially suggested. The budget also keeps funding intact for in-home care and mobile mental health crisis...
San José Spotlight wins 5 state journalism awards
San José Spotlight is taking home five wins in a statewide journalism contest. The five awards are from the 2025 California Journalism Awards, an annual competition held by the California News Publishers Association. The contest highlights the best print and digital reporting and photography statewide. Print and digital news organizations compete in divisions based on...
Santa Clara County leaders demand state funds for healthcare
Santa Clara County leaders and advocates are calling on state lawmakers to protect the healthcare system from devastating federal cuts as it finalizes its budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Latinas Contra Cancer, All Things Disability Equity, Fund Healthcare Not Billionaires, Regional Nurses Professional Association and others held a Friday rally at Valley Medical Center...
California streamlines affordable housing funding
California is creating its first standalone housing agency to help streamline funding for affordable housing development — except it has no new money due to proposed state budget cuts. Starting July 1, the state will create the California Housing and Homelessness Agency to house various departments overseeing state and federal housing funding programs under one...
San Jose mayor concedes race for California governor
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has officially bowed out of the race for California governor. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Mahan was still in sixth place with 4.1% or 205,590 votes, trailing conservative pundit Steve Hilton in first place with 27.8% or 1,387,459 votes, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra in...
Santa Clara County faces $200M losses in new state budget
Outrageous. Catastrophic. A massive leadership failure. These are the words Santa Clara County leaders used this week to describe Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decisions in response to his May 14 state budget revision. Instead of helping California’s second largest public hospital system withstand billions of dollars in funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s H.R. 1 spending...