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On June 26, 2026, the Governor and Legislature reached an agreement on the 2026–27 state budget. The agreement comes at a critical time as California works to protect safety net programs and underserved Californians from federal impacts, while also lowering the state deficit in the Governor’s final budget before the end of his term.    […]

Recent federal changes under H.R. 1 have expanded work requirements for Medi-Cal and CalFresh recipients, affecting an estimated 3.5 million Californians. To maintain eligibility, many adults will now need to verify at least 20 hours of work per week for CalFresh and, beginning in 2027, 80 hours per month for Medi-Cal.   California currently faces

  June has been a busy month at the Capitol, with policy and budget committee hearings in full swing. Many of California EDGE Coalition’s priority bills have continued to advance through the Legislature, including our co-sponsored bill, SB 1054 by Senator Cabaldon, which focuses on workforce data infrastructure.   The deadline for bills to pass

On May 14, Governor Newsom released the 2026–27 May Revision, a $321.9 billion spending plan that reflects stronger-than-expected revenues alongside continued economic uncertainty. General Fund revenues came in $16.5 billion above January projections, driven largely by a spike in 2025 capital gains income. The proposal maintains nearly $29.9 billion in total reserves, including $15.1 billion

Sacramento, CA — Today, Zima Creason, Executive Director of the California EDGE Coalition, issued the following statement in response to Governor Newsom’s 2026-27 May Revision: “This May Revision arrives with something we were not expecting early in the year – a genuine opportunity! With unexpected additional dollars on the table, California has a real chance

EDGE is proud to share an initial list of bill priorities for the second year of the 2025–2026 legislative session. This year’s priorities reflect our continued commitment to expanding access to education and workforce pathways for underserved Californians. Our supported bills span key themes, including strengthening financial aid and reducing barriers to college access, expanding

The Legislature hit its bill introduction deadline on Friday, February 20. Thus far, hundreds of bills have been introduced on various topics, including education, workforce development, and safety net issues, many of which aim to support Californians as federal actions create new risks to support services, especially in underserved communities. As the second year of

Under the 2025 reconciliation bill, known as H.R. 1, access to Pell Grants was expanded to allow students in programs as short as eight weeks to receive funding under the new Workforce Pell program. The federal expansion of Pell Grants to support short-term workforce training represents a major opportunity to strengthen California’s talent pipeline, particularly

  Making College Work Negotiated rulemaking for Workforce Pell is now underway. The AHEAD Committee met last week and reached consensus on initial Workforce Pell regulations, with all members voting in favor except for one abstention. Following the convening, the Department of Education will move forward with drafting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. While consensus

Thank you to everyone who registered for our recent EDGE Coalition webinar highlighting The Missing Piece: Flexible Financial Aid Recommendations for Workforce Learners. The discussion focused on key findings from EDGE’s new report and examined how flexible financial aid policies can better support working learners, offering practical short- and long-term solutions to make these systems