Midway through plagued first term, Newsom’s career hits make-or-break point
Speaking to the camera from his home office during the final days of a family quarantine, Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed at times to be giving himself a pep talk, as much as encouraging 40 million Californians to hunker down amid a coronavirus spike threatening to overwhelm hospitals. “We will get through this,” the governor said […]
Home State Advantage: What a Vice President Kamala Harris means for California
Goodbye, state of resistance. Hello, state of influence. California’s status has shifted dramatically with the election of Joe Biden as the next president. The reasons are both political — deep blue California will have more inroads to a White House controlled by Democrats — and personal: For just the second time in American history, a […]
Voters help big business override California lawmakers
Jeff Clayton remembers the day, two years ago, when California passed a law that would put his industry out of business in the state. The ban on money bail — which Democrats advanced saying it would bring more fairness in the criminal justice system — would devastate companies in the American Bail Coalition that Clayton […]
California lawmakers failed to enact sweeping police reforms. Here’s why.
Last summer, when California passed a landmark law meant to reduce police shootings, lawmakers praised the mothers, fathers and activists who had packed the Capitol throughout the year. They wore T-shirts memorializing shooting victims. Filled hallways with songs and prayer. Laid flowers at the doorsteps of politicians’ offices. And lined up, sometimes by the hundreds, […]
Faced with dying Californians and withering businesses, Gov. Newsom steers a middle path. Can it last?
Californians could be forgiven for feeling like we’re running in place. Three months after Gov. Gavin Newsom began easing the stay-at-home order meant to curb the coronavirus pandemic, the virus is raging — and the vast majority of residents are back to living under major government restrictions. About 97% of Californians live in counties where […]
Budget deal shields neediest Californians, shifts burden to middle class
The work of crafting a pandemic-era state budget was never going to make California Democrats happy. The question, as soon as the economic fallout from the coronavirus became evident this spring, wasn’t whether there would be cuts, but rather, who would take them and how deep they would go. The answer, detailed in an agreement […]
Assembly to Newsom: Don’t count on feds to rescue California from deep budget cuts
California shouldn’t rely so heavily on money from the federal government to close its budget deficit, a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers told the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom during an unusual hearing Tuesday. Almost every member of the state Assembly spoke out about Newsom’s proposal to slash billions from the budget amid the pandemic-induced recession. […]
How does Newsom Reopen California?
Restless Californians are letting Gov. Gavin Newsom know they’re over his statewide order to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. At noisy street demonstrations and in polite letters from government officials, they’re saying: Let us start getting back to normal. Other local leaders — still concerned about the potential for the virus […]
Newsom, Trump: more beds, masks, equipment ahead for coronavirus
As California braced for an onslaught of desperately ill coronavirus patients, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans over the weekend to open two new hospitals, and President Donald Trump said the federal government will ship a number of mobile hospital units to the state, pay for National Guard deployments and deploy the San Diego-based naval hospital […]
How California is Rewriting the Law on Online Privacy
(Editor’s note: This is the introduction to Laurel Rosenhall’s reporting on California privacy laws written for CalMatters. The series consists of ten pieces diving into and explaining the privacy laws. You can find the series here.) Our actions online have created a vast trove of information worth billions of dollars. Every time we search, click, […]