Reporter

Lauren Hepler

Lauren covers the state economy for CalMatters, with a focus on jobs and business regulation. Her past stories have been published by the New York Times, the L.A. Times, the Guardian, Slate and the BBC. She previously worked as a staff reporter for Protocol and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Lauren grew up in Ohio, studied the history of social movements at George Washington University and holds a master's degree from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.

A San Diego Police Department patrol vehicle drives past an encampment in downtown San Diego on March 22, 2024. Photo by Kristian Carreon for CalMatters

California passed a law to fix unsafe homeless shelters. Cities and counties are ignoring it

July 18, 2024 at 12:11 p.m.

Now that the Supreme Court has granted cities more power to ban sleeping outside, homeless Californians face a crucial decision: Try to get into a shelter, or risk going to jail.

Law enforcement agencies around the state announced busts involving EDD debit cards in the early months of the pandemic. Photo courtesy of Burbank Police Department

Internal documents reveal the story behind California’s unemployment crash

December 13, 2023 at 6:51 a.m.

Scammers pulled off one of the biggest suspected frauds in U.S. history while laid-off workers scrambled to survive. A CalMatters investigation finds that the EDD missed red flags and failed...

Sharon and Nicolas Allen watch their two sons play in their home in Fresno on April 10, 2023.

‘I’m a hostage’: Why California’s COVID unemployment mess isn’t over yet

May 16, 2023 at 12:36 p.m.

Workers denied pandemic-era jobless benefits are still struggling with debt and stress -- collateral damage as they fight a state employment agency on edge about fraud and an appeals system...

Michelle Hackett stands at the entrance to Riverview Farms in Salinas that flooded in the mid-March storms.

As emergency aid flows to flooded-out Californians, will thousands be left out?

March 15, 2023 at 10:47 a.m.

Many cannabis farms and undocumented farmworkers lost their homes and livelihood, yet they will not qualify for federal help. Will legislators and Gov. Newsom, who is expected to visit flooded...

Stacy Lira and her husband of 28 years, Armando, outside their home in Victorville on March 29, 2021. She is holding a folder full of unemployment paperwork. (Shae Hammond for CalMatters)

Amid California’s unemployment crisis, a tech gold rush

April 5, 2021 at 9:09 a.m.

The state's unemployment agency has signed $236 million in private contracts as jobless workers await benefits. EDD says it needs the outside help.

Lance Hastings, president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association, in Sacramento on March 26, 2021. CMTA has received 16 fraudulent EDD claims using their former address, each with different Social Security numbers, since September. (Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters)

Is California blowing it on unemployment reform?

March 29, 2021 at 9:51 a.m.

The state went deep into debt to keep jobless benefits flowing during the pandemic. And if it doesn't fix its $48 billion unemployment problem, that could derail COVID-19 recovery.

Bailey Brown at her home in Pismo Beach on Oct. 25, 2020. (Photo by Robert Oliver for CalMatters)

California offered a lifeline when their hours were cut — then payments froze

November 4, 2020 at 6:48 a.m.

Delays at the Employment Development Department’s Work Sharing layoff-prevention program have left some struggling workers out thousands of dollars. Economists say that fixing the problems fast could help ease the...

The Soper Reese Theater in Lakeport remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is but one of many local businesses which have been impacted. (File photo.)

What no Trump stimulus means for California schools, unemployment and more

October 14, 2020 at 6:29 a.m.

An Oct. 15 state deadline to restore $11 billion in funding for education, housing and state workers looks likely to pass with no more financial help from Washington. Is there...

Ben Valdez, an L.A. Uber and Lyft driver, says predicting his pay on the apps is "like going to Vegas." (Photo by Tash Kimmell for Cal Matters)

What to know about gig worker pay before voting on Prop. 22

October 9, 2020 at 6:25 a.m.

No, the ballot measure won’t ban Uber and Lyft in California. But it would overhaul how drivers get paid.

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