Dan Walters

State and local tax revenue is up sharply—at odds with the propaganda from those who want to tax more.

A bill requiring presidential candidates to reveal their tax returns is the latest conflict between Donald Trump and California Democrats.

A bill to abolish a controversial reading instruction test for teaching credential applicants died amidst a firestorm of criticism.

The bottom line of another electric utility overhaul is uncertain.

The vote required to enact special purpose taxes for local governments is legally up in the air after a San Francisco judge validated two tax measures that didn't receive two-thirds voter support.

On paper, California has some of the nation’s best open records laws, the latest of which allows access to previously secret information about police misconduct. However, passing a sunshine law is one thing, while applying it may be entirely different. That’s currently being demonstrated vis-à-vis the aforementioned law granting access to police misconduct records. The […]

Recent weeks have seen a debate of sorts about the image and reality of contemporary California. Is it, as Gov. Gavin Newsom contends, a nation-state proving that economic prosperity, multiculturism and social progress can advance together? “California is what America is going to look like,” he told a television interviewer. “California is America’s coming attraction.” […]

Recent weeks have seen a debate of sorts about the image and reality of contemporary California. Is it, as Gov. Gavin Newsom contends, a nation-state proving that economic prosperity, multiculturism and social progress can advance together? “California is what America is going to look like,” he told a television interviewer. “California is America’s coming attraction.” […]

The state budget package that Democratic legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom just enacted is sprinkled with billions of dollars in extra goodies for their most important political constituency, labor unions. Take, for example, Senate Bill 90, the budget’s omnibus education measure. It would allocate $3.1 billion to reduce mandatory payments that local school districts would otherwise […]

Every Californian should be aware by now that the state’s housing shortage not only causes personal angst for millions of the state’s residents, but is a key factor in its economic future. The latter was underscored last month in an analysis of the state’s employment picture by Christopher Thornberg, founder of Beacon Economics and director […]