California

The chairman of the U.S. House's government oversight committee Tuesday directed U.S. Department of Agriculture officials to explain how they will prevent food-stamp merchants banned for fraud from staying in the program.

Analysts say a combination of strained relations with Iran, refinery shutdowns and fears of a shortage are driving gasoline prices up.

Lawmakers tackle the perplexing problem of how to handle school funding when no one will know how much money is available until after the next school year has begun.

Legislation that would mandate new oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties passed the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen is worried that an election nightmare could occur with mail-in ballots this year unless the Postal Service delays its planned closure of 18 mail processing centers.

Assemblyman Cameron Smyth of Santa Clarita has decided not to run in the new 27th Senate District.

Hundreds of Ventura County children may lose out on child care and preschool next year because of deep cuts proposed in the state budget, local officials said today.

Democrats are deeply divided over President Barack Obama's new rule that religious schools and hospitals must provide insurance for free birth control to their employees amid fresh signs that the administration was scrambling for a way out.

California Democrats arrived at their election-year convention on Friday to prepare for a role to which they have been unaccustomed for two decades: political soldiers in a national battleground state.

The mortgage settlement that government officials announced Thursday is intended to help victims of foreclosure abuses that followed the housing bust.

A landmark $25 billion settlement with the nation's top mortgage lenders was hailed by government officials Thursday as long-overdue relief for victims of foreclosure abuses. But consumer advocates countered that far too few people will benefit.

State and national Democratic Party officials will be taking a keen interest in Ventura County at this weekend's state party convention in San Diego.

While politicians were trumpeting the $25 billion foreclosure deal reached Thursday with the nation’s big mortgage lenders, locals questioned whether Ventura County would see genuine assistance.

New York and California have agreed to sign the proposed settlement between U.S. states and the nation's biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Assembly Speaker John Pérez on Wednesday proposed a plan that would dramatically reduce university fees for students from middle-class families.