WhatMatters

How does it feel to have a proposal you care about get killed in California’s Legislature? For Sen. Scott Wiener, Thursday’s “suspense file” process — his 15th since he was elected to the Senate in 2016 — never gets “less stressful or anxiety-inducing.”  Though the San Francisco Democrat says he is grateful that nine of […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom released his revised budget proposal last week, but this week more details are emerging about how he plans to close the remaining shortfall — now pegged at $27.6 billion (though the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office is expected to issue a higher deficit number). To balance the 2024-25 budget, Newsom has proposed dipping […]

From CalMatters investigative editor Andrew Donohue:  In 2021, Lorena Gonzalez authored the law that was supposed to stop police from using less-lethal munitions on protesters.  The former Assemblymember spoke up Tuesday after reading our investigation into how California Highway Patrol handled the pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, calling the police response “a total training failure by […]

When California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear dispersed pro-Palestininan protests at UCLA earlier this month, it marked the first public test of a 2021 California law restricting the use of less-lethal munitions against protesters.  Yet a review by CalMatters investigative reporter Sergio Olmos, who was recording video from inside the encampment, documented at least […]

On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered sobering news to lots of groups that rely on state funding, proposing billions in budget cuts to ongoing programs. Later this week, more bad tidings are on the way: Dozens of bills with new spending will get killed in the Legislature’s “suspense file.”  That process is scheduled to unfold […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to unveil his revised proposed 2024-25 state budget at 11 a.m. today — and legislators, advocates and lobbyists are all bracing for likely deep spending cuts to bridge a big deficit.  His plan will account for updated tax revenue data through April. In his initial budget proposal in January, Newsom projected […]

Of the 11 measures now on California’s November ballot (one to add a personal finance class to high school graduation requirements qualified Wednesday), two competing ones focus on taxes — specifically who can raise them and how many votes should be required. On one side, explains CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff, is a coalition led […]

Californians pay more at the pump than residents of any other state — an average of $5.34 a gallon for regular unleaded, compared to the national average of $3.64, according to AAA. Statewide, gas prices have jumped 55 cents a gallon from this time a year ago. It’s also a little more than a year […]

Despite California spending $24 billion on housing and homelessness over the past five years, the number of unhoused people continues to rise and questions persist whether the billions spent have made a meaningful difference. But in a bit of rare good news, the independent research firm Abt Global released a report Monday night that found […]

The number of people dying in California jails continues to increase even as the state’s elected officials urge greater transparency around inmate deaths. In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for more scrutiny of California’s 57 county jail systems and signed a law last year to require jails to disclose more information about deaths behind bars. […]