(The Center Square) – California is eyeing an operating budget surplus that has swelled to nearly $100 billion, increasing the state’s budget to over $300 billion for the coming fiscal year, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday.

Yes on the California Living Wage Act, the campaign behind an initiative to increase the state’s minimum wage to $18, announced Thursday they had collected over 1 million signatures. The initiative would enact a law to increase the minimum wage at different intervals depending on whether an employer has 26 or more workers or 25 or fewer workers. For employers with 26 or more workers, the minimum wage would reach $18 on Jan. 1, 2025. For employers with 25 or fewer workers, the minimum wage would reach $18 on Jan. 1, 2026. After reaching $18 an hour, the minimum wage would be tied to the CPI-W. Currently, the state’s minimum wage is $15 for large employers and $14 for smaller employers.

(The Center Square) – California’s law banning the sale of semiautomatic centerfire rifles to individuals under 21 was declared unconstitutional by a panel of federal appeals judges on Wednesday.

(The Center Square) – Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans Wednesday to increase funding for access to reproductive health services, which includes millions in grant funding to offset the cost of services for low and moderate income individuals without health insurance.

(The Center Square) – In an effort to make homeownership a possibility for more California residents amid rising prices, a new proposal by a leading Senate legislator would spend $10 billion over the next decade to help families purchase homes.