A debate over whether to create harsher penalties for soliciting and buying sex from older teenagers exploded in the California Legislature this week

California Democrats rejected a Republican-backed effort Thursday to advance a policy to increase penalties for soliciting and buying sex from 16- and 17-year-olds, an issue that's caused friction among Democrats and prompted Gov.

The fight over whether the consumers of the child sex trafficking industry should face tougher consequences when they buy 16- and 17-year-olds for sex continued at the California State Capitol Thursday.

California grew in population for the second year in a row as the pandemic-fueled California exodus faded away.

California's population has increased for the second year in a row. The rise comes after a string of declines in the nation's most populous state during the coronavirus pandemic.

New data from the California Department of Finance shows the state's population grew in 2024, the second year in a row.

Both the Senate parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office have concluded that Congress lacks authority to block California’s climate policy.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House voted Thursday to block California from enforcing first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. The move comes a day after the chamber voted to halt California standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles,

Republicans, joined by a handful of Democrats, voted to eliminate California’s electric vehicle policy, which had been adopted by 11 other states.