• “….Dominance: That’s the way to describe in one word the State of California. We simply have no peers. We are the temple of the American economy….”

Those are the comments of Governor Gavin Newsom on May 14, 2026, as he opened the two-hour press conference [available via You Tube] introducing the release of…

In 2023, the hottest legislative news out of Sacramento for California’s charitable sector was the ambitious California Nonprofit Equity Initiative.
Spearheaded by the California Association of Nonprofits, it was a seven-bill package of much-needed reforms of the state’s grantmaking system. Launched with fanfare, high hopes, and strong bipartisan support in the Legislature. After three…

Since Day One of the second Trump administration, there have been continual threats to the nation’s charitable nonprofits, including: cutting off funding, unilaterally reversing decades of settled “public policy,” and actively meddling in plans and programs to an unprecedented degree. See, e.g., The Charitable-Sector Pushback Against the Administration: One Year Post-Election (November 12, 2025) FPLG…

This is the fifth year in a row that we’ve reported in real time on the extraordinary “budget process” of a state with an economy larger than most nations in the world and a population that includes about 1 out of every 8 Americans.
Of course, most people are about as keen on paying attention…

It was two years ago that Philadelphia’s arts and higher-education communities were stunned at news of the abrupt closure of the University of the Arts (UArts). The University of the Arts is closing June 7, its president says (May 31, 2024, updated June 1, 2024) Susan Snyder et al, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
With “roots…

“Just two weeks ago, cities around the country were finalizing plans for celebrations of Cesar Chavez Day” on March 31, 2026.
But in California and several other states this year – (just two days ago) – the sun rose and set instead on “Farmworkers Day.”
March 31st, the late Mr. Chavez’s birthday, is still…

 
There is an elegantly simple phrase – “the ‘Current Context’” – coined last year by the Center for Effective Philanthropy to convey that the Trump 2.0 Inauguration commenced an unsettling and chaotic new era for the charitable community in the United States.
The CEP folks insert “Current Context” in referring to “the…