Dan Walters

The Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown enacted landmark legislation that eliminates cash bail for criminal defendants and substitutes a system of evaluating pre-trial flight risk. However, the legislation is just the opening salvo of a multi-front legal and political war over the issue.

Voter participation is the key to whether Democrats score big in California congressional races. Republicans hope a gas-tax repeal measure will lure GOP voters to save targeted seats.

A 2012 "reform" overseen by Gov. Jerry Brown reduced employers' costs of compensating workers for job-related disabilities, However, those costs are still very high relative to those in other states, and another round in the perpetual political war over the system will face Brown';s successor, almost certainly Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

With a strong economy, California has a very tight labor market with many jobs going unfilled. A low "workforce participation rate" and high housing costs that discourage migration exacerbate the worker shortage and could slow the state's economic growth.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

Lt. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Dianne Feinstein look like winners in a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, while the ballot's two highest-profile measures look like losers.

An initiative that would remove Proposition 13's property tax assessment protections from hotels, warehouses, office buildings and other commercial property has qualified for the 2020 ballot. However, the chief organizer of the proposal hopes for an agreement on tax changes that would remove the measure from the ballot.

California officials are straddling a fine legal line as they use public funds to persuade voters to approve billions of dollars in taxes, fees and bonds.

Tying political contributions to legislation is illegal bribery that could land dealmakers in prison, but such pay-to-play tactics are perfectly legal when it comes to ballot measures.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.