Some bills before California’s Legislature don’t come from passionate policy advocates, or from powerful interest groups. Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a family car ride. 

While campaigning two years ago, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo’s daughter, then nine, jokingly asked her to make a law banning homework. Since then, however, the Democrat from Santa Clarita Valley has taken the issue rather seriously.

Assembly Bill 2999 — which the Assembly education committee is expected to hear this afternoon — is far from a ban on homework (sorry, students). But it would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop guidelines for K-12 students and would urge schools to be more intentional about “good,” or meaningful homework. 

Among other things, the guidelines should consider students’ physical health, how long assignments take and how effective they are. But the bill’s main concern is mental health and when homework adds stress to students’ daily lives.

Homework’s impact on happiness is partly why Schiavo brought up the proposal during the first meeting last month at the Legislature’s select committee on happiness.

• Schiavo, to CalMatters: “This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected. It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.” 

The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.

• Denise Pope, co-founder of Challenge Success: “Kids have three ‘shifts.’ They have school, homework and then all the other stuff they do after school: family, chores, work, basketball, music, theater. Some of this is great, but how do you add up the whole day? It’s almost impossible.”

Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. The 2024 California Teacher of the Year at Valencia High School, Cuny says language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.

Read more about the bill and Schiavo’s motivation.

In other legislative action Tuesday:

Latino caucus: The Legislature’s Latino Caucus laid out its priorities, including bills seeking to protect farmworkers, expand access to education and address healthcare disparities. But — as with most bills this session — the projected budget deficit could mean an uphill battle, CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal explains. 

Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Corona Democrat who is caucus chairperson, said at a press conference that the 35 caucus members would focus on preserving existing programs.

• Cervantes: “Health care has been historically at the top of the ticket for us as a Latino Caucus…. We need to ensure that all of our community members have access for the care that they deserve regardless of immigration status.”

After three Newsom vetoes, the package also includes the fourth attempt at a bill seeking more transparency in the governor’s appointments to boards and commissions by requiring the office to annually publish demographic information. Sen. Monique Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, said efforts around the U.S. that seek to remove diversity programs from government and schools create a different backdrop this year. 

Concert tickets: The Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection passed a bill to increase ticket sale competition and combat Ticketmaster’s industry dominance. Drama has been swirling around the proposal, as supporters denounce some of its proposed amendments, including one to give artists more control over their ticket sales, reports Politico. Because Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, also represents artists and owns venues, backers of the original measure argue that the company’s monopoly could grow.

Airport screenings: The Senate Transportation Committee approved a weakened version of a bill targeting third-party companies that allow passengers to cut in the security line. The bill now restricts companies such as CLEAR from expanding to new airports until they get their own dedicated security lanes. Major airlines opposed the original bill, saying it would cost them money. The California Chamber of Commerce joined the opposition Tuesday.

Psychedelic drugs: After Newsom vetoed a bill to decriminalize some plant-based hallucinogens and called for a narrower bill, a rare bipartisan effort produced SB 1012. It would allow Californians ages 21 and older to use certain substances while supervised by a licensed practitioner, and it passed the Senate’s public safety committee. 

Health care: And the Assembly's health committee advanced a proposal to create a universal, single-payer health care program called CalCare. In addition to strong opposition from the California Chamber, the measure still faces an uphill battle, as past attempts have failed.

Crime is a huge issue at the Legislature, and much of the debate these days focuses on Proposition 47 — and whether it’s to blame because it raised the bar for charging petty theft as a felony.

But on the streets of San Francisco and Oakland, business owners and residents talk about concerns and possible solutions far beyond Prop. 47, explains CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu.

Manny Yekutiel, the owner of a San Francisco event space, said his business was burglarized within a few years of its opening in 2018. He argues that more foot patrols and the risk of incarceration should make “people think twice about committing these crimes.” 

His argument for more police echoes that of Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce. In 2021, Chan was randomly attacked by a man who was arrested again in 2023 for attacking an elderly Asian woman. Chan is currently leading the charge to recall Alameda County’s district attorney.

Anthony Bernardo, who works at San Francisco’s Magic Flower Cannabis Dispensary and whose car was broken into, is skeptical that any new laws could meaningfully reduce the city’s crime rate without proper enforcement. He says more rehabilitation centers can curb petty crime: “Because after you get out of jail downtown, you walk right back up the street, you are in the mix of everything again.”

But for Julia Arroyo, a former foster care child who was in and out of jail until she turned 18, it was the help of an advocacy group that put her life on the right track, not incarceration. At the Young Women’s Freedom Center in San Francisco, Arroyo now has a job helping others in similar situations. With prison, “every time you get out, you have to start from square one,” she said. 

Read more about what shop owners and residents are saying in Stella’s story.

As California continues to reduce its prison population, making sure former prisoners reenter society becomes not only more crucial, but also saves taxpayer money.

CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay looks at how well state efforts are working: 

California has 12 re-entry centers, serving 975 participants — half of whom are women. In one program, they can serve out the rest of their sentence in halfway houses, which allow them to go to school, work or church after completing certain requirements.

• Michaela Twyman, who completed vocational training at a halfway house: “Prison was not what I expected. There are so many opportunities in prison. They don’t want people to sit around and do nothing.”

In 2023-24, California spent almost $140 million on its re-entry programs. But that’s far less per person than incarceration. This fiscal year, the budget for the women’s program will increase to almost $35 million. The state’s Corrections Department also plans to add six more re-entry centers for men.

Levi also looks into the anti-recidivism nonprofit Defy Ventures. A total of 936 people participated in Defy’s prison programs last year, more than half in California. 

California is one of only two states that partly funds its Defy programs with state grants. Defy’s remaining funds come from corporations and foundations.

Read more about these state and nonprofit programs in Levi’s stories.

Health care is a huge business with competing players that all say they’re looking out for patients. On Tuesday, the California Hospital Association sued Anthem Blue Cross, the state’s second largest health insurer. What’s at issue? Find out from CalMatters health reporter Kristen Hwang.

CalMatters Commentary

A bill seeks to restore competition in ticket sales for live events, but faces opposition from the state’s pro sports franchises, writes Robert Herrell, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California.

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: California has a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, but with key deadlines quickly approaching, we still don’t know what should be done to close the shortfall.