In the News

At any given time, about 2,500 Santa Clara County students are homeless. In hopes of pulling some out of poverty, the county plans to give 50 unhoused high schoolers a $1,200 monthly stipend to help them secure lasting homes and cover other essential needs as they enroll in college or start their careers.




Faith-based organization People Acting in Community Together (PACT) held a meeting Sunday in San Jose with state lawmakers and demanded that the legislators pass bills that help address housing affordability in Santa Clara County. 




SACRAMENTO – A bill created in the wake of the "Rust" film set shooting tragedy was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday to establish worker safety standards on motion picture productions.

Senate Bill 132 incorporated legislation put forth by Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) and is the result of two years' worth of negotiations between studios and labor representatives, he said.




A California senator is calling for the state's secretary of labor to investigate Deel, a buzzy San Francisco human-resources startup valued at $12 billion, alleging "brazen employment misclassification."

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So much blood was strewn across the Santa Clara Valley light rail work yard in San Jose that state Sen. Dave Cortese placed booties over his work shoes to inspect the scene.




Sen. Dave Cortese of San Jose said the proposed deal restoring the $2 billion potential cut from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capitol Program helps the state tap into the federal Infrastructure Law funding for the long-planned BART extension to downtown San Jose.




The state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow judges to review the cases of people sentenced to life without parole if the person has been incarcerated for at least 25 years. Click here to read the whole story. 




State Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, introduced legislation in Melanie Ramos’ honor that would require schools to offer a drug education program, which is recommended but not required by current law and seldom taught. Teachers and schools also need additional training programs if they are to do their part to reduce fentanyl overdoes.