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Fact Sheet

The Digital Divide in Education

By Darriya Starr, Joseph Hayes, Niu Gao

The pandemic spurred efforts to close longstanding gaps in digital access that affect African American, Latino, and lower-income students.

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California’s Brain Gain

By Hans Johnson

California is unique: It is gaining large numbers of college graduates from other states and losing large numbers of less educated adults.

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Poverty and Well-being in California

By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn

California is one of 12 states in which poverty declined last year, according to newly released US Census statistics.

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Homeless Populations Are Rising around California

By Jennifer Paluch, Joseph Herrera

Between 2020 and 2022, California’s homeless population increased by 6%. While this growth was largely concentrated in urban areas, the number of people experiencing homelessness declined in San Francisco and Orange County.

Report

What to Expect from California’s New Motor Voter Law

By Eric McGhee, Mindy Romero

In 2015, California passed major legislation to increase the state’s voter rolls by simplifying the voter registration process. Under the New Motor Voter Act, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will electronically transmit information about DMV customers who are eligible to vote to the California Secretary of State, which will add eligible customers to the voter rolls unless they opt out.

We find that this law has the potential to significantly alter the demographic composition of the California electorate, making the population of registered voters more representative of the state as a whole. Our estimates also suggest that the new system may rapidly expand the voter rolls, adding more than 2 million new registrants in the first year.

Key implementation issues will decide the impact of the New Motor Voter Act. To ensure the law’s success, the state should require DMV customers to attest to their eligibility to vote as a precondition for completing their transaction. It will also be necessary to mobilize new registrants aggressively if they are to become new voters.

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Signs of Increased New Business Growth since the Pandemic

By Jane Sawerengera, Shannon McConville, Sarah Bohn

New businesses are critical to the economy, partly due to their role in spurring job creation. We look at how California has fared in business creation over the course of the pandemic and the economic recovery.

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