Dan Walters

As California enters a new year, its most striking public policy issues remain unresolved, and an immense budget deficit will make dealing with them more difficult.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is making a bid for national political standing, but could he actually mount a successful campaign for the White House?

California legislators have been actively themselves into workplace issues such as wages and working conditions. But their actions have potentially negative side effects, as a new study showed.

California publishes a "dashboard" that grades schools on a variety of factors, but it can obscure the continuing failure of the state's K-12 system to help students meet key academic standards.

After years of jousting among California's many water interests, there have been a few major breakthroughs recently. But other battles, such as validity of long-standing water rights, remain unsettled.

The ongoing conflict between state officials in California and local governments over housing resembles a game of Whac-A-Mole.

Although Democrats dominate California's politics, left-leaning organizations feel frustrated in their efforts to remake the state.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is having a divisive impact on Democratic politics and in academia and California is a forum for the debates.

California politicians have steadfastly refused to deal with the volatile revenues that plague the state budget. They now face a whopping $68 billion deficit.

A newly elected Gov. Gavin Newsom was skeptical about completing California's bullet train project, but he's morphed into a booster. However, his reservations about the project remain valid.