March 2023

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at San Quentin State Prison announcing that the facility will be transformed to focus on training and rehabilitation on March 17, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters

Commentary

Third time possibly the charm for Newsom’s campaign to limit oil profits

After two false starts, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying again to set limits on oil refinery profits and impose penalties for exceeding them.

By

Dan Walters

• March 22, 2023

Firearms instructor Ziyad "Zip" Showket offers concealed carry training in various locations around the state. March 15, 2023. Photo by Mark Leong for CalMatters

Capitol

A boom for concealed carry classes, but long waits for permits

Many more gun owners are seeking California concealed carry permits, even in blue, coastal counties. Gov. Newsom and Democrats in the Legislature are trying again to limit where weapons are allowed.

By

Ben Christopher

• March 21, 2023

CalMatters en Español

Aumentan los desalojos y los inquilinos en el condado de Los Ángeles buscan ayuda; protecciones terminan este 31 de Marzo

EN RESUMEN Las protecciones de inquilinos del condado de Los Ángeles afectados por la pandemia del Covid-19 vencen el 31 de marzo. Pero los defensores ya predicen un aumento en los desalojos, ya que los propietarios están buscando una recuperación financiera. Read this article in English. Irma Cervantes apenas podía pagar el alquiler mensual de […]

By

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

• March 21, 2023

Inside the Newsroom

CalMatters journalists nominated 7 times in Sacramento Press Club Awards

The 3rd Annual Sacramento Press Club Awards honor the best California politics and policy journalism.

By

Sonya Quick

• March 21, 2023

Community activist Morris Griffin speaks during a meeting with the state Reparations Task Force at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Sacramento on March 3, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters

Commentary

How the California Reparations Task Force is crafting its recommendations

As the California Reparations Task Force finalizes its recommendations for the Legislature, a member lays out the committee's guiding principles and how their work aligns with international protocols and the examples set by other countries that provided reparations.

By

Guest Commentary

• March 21, 2023

Irma Cervantes at Atlantic Avenue Park in East Los Angeles on March 2, 2023. “It’s difficult to move because I do not have a job at the moment,” Cervantes said, who used to do janitorial work at the convention centers in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. “I just want to find a way to pay the rent without getting harassed.” Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

California Divide

Evictions rise, tenants scramble for help as LA County protections expire

L.A. County's tenant pandemic protections expire March 31. But already advocates predict a spike in evictions, as landlords seek financial recovery.

By

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

• March 21, 2023

Voters cast their ballot at a polling station at the Sacramento County voter registration and elections office in Sacramento on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

WhatMatters

Labor hits back on business-led California ballot measures

From CalMatters state Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal: It’s become a key part of the big business playbook: If an industry doesn’t like a California law, it uses the referendum process to try and overturn it. Already on the November 2024 ballot: the oil industry qualified a ballot measure to kill a law that bans new […]

By

Lynn La

• March 21, 2023

Zachary Yeates casts his ballot at a polling site at the California Museum in Sacramento on Nov. 7, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Commentary

Should California referendum law become harder to use?

California business interests increasingly use ballot measures to block or delay laws imposing new regulations. Progressive groups want to make such actions more difficult.

By

Dan Walters

• March 21, 2023

CalMatters en Español

Fallo judicial abre la puerta a proyecto de ley para sindicalizar a conductores temporales, dicen activistas

EN RESUMEN Un fallo judicial la semana pasada respaldó la mayor parte de una iniciativa para trabajadores temporales realizada en 2020, pero encontró que parte de la medida no era válida. La parte anulada por el tribunal abre la puerta a la legislación sobre la sindicalización de conductores, según los defensores laborales que cuestionan la […]

By

Grace Gedye

• March 20, 2023

Garbage piles at Stockton Park Village in Stockton on Nov. 22, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters.

Housing

Mobile home parks offer refuge from California’s housing squeeze. Who’s watching them?

Mobile home parks are a last bastion of unsubsidized affordable housing in California. But when the health and safety of their residents is on the line, is the state doing enough to help?

By

Manuela Tobias

• March 20, 2023