November 2019

Wade Crowfoot and Jared Blumenfeld, secretaries of Natural Resources and CalEPA: After careful review of the federal biological opinions released late last month, our best experts concluded they are insufficient to protect endangered fish. As a result, the state needs to protect California’s interests and values.

In the lead opinion, California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye says the state constitution makes clear "it is the voters who must decide" whether a presidential candidate's refusal to publicly share tax returns will have consequences at the ballot box. Many constitutional law experts, former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Republican Party are now all officially entitled to say, "I told you so."

Good morning, California. “President Trump talks a lot about America’s economic growth under his presidency, but when you look behind the numbers, you see that it’s California’s growth that has provided the economic rocket fuel for the nation.”—Gov. Gavin Newsom, on a projection that California will have a budget surplus of at least $7 billion […]

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris' run for the presidency is collapsing. She now must concentrate on winning re-election in 2022.

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta: The Newsom administration needs to make clear where it stands on Delta management. More importantly, the Newsom administration must act on its water values forcefully, and not succumb to the water grab being orchestrated by the Trump-Bernhardt-Westlands alliance.

State implements new rules for oil production. Gambling measure may be headed to 2020 ballot. Exposing tobacco industry comes with unintended consequences.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the state to stop buying cars from automakers that won't agree to the state's emission rules. But it's just symbolic huffing and puffing.

Starting Jan. 1, adults have until at least their 40th birthday to file claims against people and institutions they seek to hold responsible for sexual molestation or sexual assault they experienced as children. It's the second to be featured in our CalMatters #CALaws2020 video playlist of laws that take effect next year.

Kevin Kiley, Republican Assemblyman from Rocklin: The job of writing all-important descriptions for ballot measures falls is instead entrusted to the partisan elected attorney general of California. Our current Attorney General, Democrat Xavier Becerra, is only the latest in a line of attorneys general who have exercised this power without even a pretense of impartiality, instead skewing ballot language to lead voters towards their preferred political outcome. That must change.

PG&E comes under fire at Capitol. State, L.A. sue Juul Labs over e-cigarette practices. Kamala Harris sinks in presidential polls.