California Voices
California Voices: A conversation with first-time voters
CalMatters asked a mix of new voters to write essays about why they were voting this year.
“CalMatters sets a high bar, offering dedicated coverage and expert reporters that ask tough questions and hold our leaders responsible.”
Maricela, Montrose
Featured CalMatters Member
Members make our mission possible.
ECONOMY
Commentary
Children are addicted to technology created in California. Let’s clean up our mess
Finally, California is enacting laws to protect children from social media addiction and the harms of smartphones. It’s a welcome sign for many families that have endured tragedy or hardship.
EDUCATION
Commentary
How early care apprenticeships can help address California’s dire teacher shortage
California is losing teachers while also preparing for even greater demand under the expansion of transitional kindergarten. Apprenticeship programs that prepare teachers for a career in early care education can help build the pipeline California needs.
ENVIRONMENT
Commentary
California has enough debt. It doesn’t need $10 billion more for a climate bond
California voters will soon decide whether the state should authorize a $10 billion bond to help respond to climate change. The state’s highest-ranking Republican legislator argues California can’t afford the additional debt, especially for a questionable list of projects and programs.
JUSTICE
Commentary
California lawmakers should be held accountable for gutting solitary confinement reforms
Several efforts to restrict solitary confinement in California, including a bill attempting to exclude pregnant people, have either been vetoed, killed or watered down. Reformers…
HEALTH
Commentary
Warehouse regulation bill attracts strange bedfellows in support and opposition
Culminating years of debate over the environmental impacts of Southern California’s massive array of warehouses, the Legislature has passed a bill regulating future construction.
CAPITOL
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Commentary
Gov. Gavin Newsom may regret pledges to Black Californians
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s promises to Black Californians about filling U.S. Senate seat and providing reparations for the lingering effects of slavery might be harder to fulfill than he originally thought.
Insurance looms as California Legislature nears end of session
There are just a few days remaining in the 2023 session of the California Legislature and it has nearly 1,000 bills still to process – and perhaps some late-blooming measures not yet drafted.
HOUSING
Commentary
A Santa Clara vineyard owner refused to evict a worker. Now he’s fighting California’s rigid zoning laws
Rigid zoning rules, which limit what private citizens can do on their land, only make California’s housing crisis worse, as a recent Santa Clara County dispute reveals.
CALIFORNIA DIVIDE
A statewide media collaboration to raise awareness about poverty and income inequality through in-depth journalism and community outreach.
Sign up for the Inequality Insights newsletter.
Commentary
California foster youth and COVID orphans gaining a sense of hope from trust fund program
A California program providing trust funds, or “baby bonds,” for foster youth and COVID orphans is giving traumatized young people a chance to pursue their dreams just like everyone else.
CALIFORNIA VOICES
Guest Commentary
Speeding alerts in California cars could prevent the type of accidents that shattered my family
A father whose children died in a car accident on a San Bernardino County highway is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill requiring automakers to add speeding alerts to new cars by 2030.
California will need more than just policy to prepare for an aging workforce
Without adequate workforce opportunities for older adults, their quality of life and California’s economy could take a staggering hit. The challenge can’t be solved with policy alone.
We want to hear from you!
Want to submit a guest commentary or reaction to an article we wrote? You can find our submission guidelines here. For questions, please email commentary@calmatters.org
DAN WALTERS
Trump killed a tax break popular in California. Now he agrees with Pelosi and wants to restore it
Under then-President Donald Trump a popular federal income tax deduction was capped at $10,000 a year, costing Californians thousands of dollars. Now he’s ready to cut the cap.
2024 ELECTIONS
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
EXPLAINERS
Explore CalMatters’ explainer “card decks” to discover the data-driven context you need to make sense of big issues confronting California.
COLLEGE BEAT
More Coverage
WHATMATTERS NEWSLETTER
Follow the latest news on your California government, delivered to your inbox weekday mornings
Our team closely follows what’s happening in California, from homelessness and drought to wildfires and public education. Sign up for our newsletters to get the critical context you need to understand the problems we face and the possible solutions that could lead to a better California for all.
Laphonza Butler wants you to know she’s your U.S. senator
Ever since Laphonza Butler took herself out of the running for U.S. Senate a year ago — just two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom picked her to replace the late…
