Amid a public debate over the growing gap between rich and poor, major new laws affecting California businesses this year are squarely aimed at improving the lot of low-wage workers.

The Obama administration has adopted sweeping new rules to discourage nonprofit hospitals from using aggressive tactics to collect payments from low-income patients.

Republicans are looking to an unlikely ally in their bid to repeal a controversial piece of ObamaCare: Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

In addition to the normal thrills and chills of the income tax filing season, this year consumers will have the added excitement of figuring out how the health law figures in their 2014 taxes.

Although the Affordable Care Act has not led to soaring insurance costs, as many critics claimed it would, the law hasn't provided much relief to American workers either, according to a new study of employer-provided health benefits.

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Friday proposed a massive $113 billion state budget that boosts education spending and state savings while leaving some social programs funded below pre-recession levels, earning the ire of liberal activists that could set up a showdown with Democrats in the state legislature.