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Emily Hoeven

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Emily Hoeven wrote the daily WhatMatters newsletter for three years at CalMatters . Her reporting, essays, and opinion columns have been published in San Francisco Weekly, the Deseret News, the San Francisco Business Times, the Flathead Beacon, the Daily Pennsylvanian, and the Mercury News. Emily graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in English and French and studied English at the University of Cambridge, England as a Thouron Summer Prize fellow. She speaks French fluently and spent a year teaching English in Châteauroux, France.

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A screenshot from an ad about California Governor Gavin Newsom airing in Florida. Screenshot via Vimeo
WhatMatters
How Florida became the new California
Want to make a political point in California — and across the country? Try running ads in Florida. That’s the tack the oil and gas industry is taking following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s much-discussed decision earlier this month to air campaign ads in the Sunshine State accusing Republican leaders of restricting abortion access, voting rights and […]
By • July 28, 2022
Esperanza Guerrero, 35, fills a glass full with water from her tap in Teviston on October 20, 2021. The town has advised residents not to drink the water but only use it for washing dishes and washing clothes due to contamination. Photo by Stephanie Keith, REUTERS
WhatMatters
1 million Californians lack safe drinking water
Under state law, every Californian has the right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water — but a blistering audit released Tuesday shows just how far the state is from turning that promise into reality. As CalMatters water reporter Rachel Becker and I write, Acting State Auditor Michael Tilden slammed regulators at the State Water […]
By • July 27, 2022
A jogger runs near Bug Light in South Portland, Maine on June 7, 2022. Photo by Robert F. Bukaty, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Lawmakers spending the week in Maine, Canada
What do Ireland, Israel, Maine and Canada have in common? They’re among the locations to which California lawmakers have embarked on special interest-funded trips during their month-long summer recess, which comes to an end Monday when they return to Sacramento for the frenzied final month of the legislative session. The latest junket began Sunday, when […]
By • July 26, 2022
Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered his State of the State address from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 2021. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
WhatMatters
Newsom calls for more aggressive climate action
As the largest wildfire of the year rages across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is doubling down on an aggressive strategy to combat climate change — one that also appears to involve boosting his national profile. Newsom on Saturday proclaimed a state of emergency in Mariposa County due to the Oak Fire near Yosemite National Park, […]
By • July 25, 2022
Jaime Carrillo and other independent truck drivers protest California's AB 5 labor law by blocking entrance to the Matson berth at the Port of Oakland on July 21, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Truckers demand action from Newsom amid port blockade
As Gov. Gavin Newsom takes action on a slew of gun control bills, truckers are accusing him of failing to respond to a controversial state labor law they’ve been protesting for weeks, halting almost all operations at the Port of Oakland’s shipping terminals and snarling an already severely backlogged supply chain. First up: the gun […]
By • July 22, 2022
Students in a classroom in Sacramento on May 11, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
Will billions close California’s educational equity gaps?
Money talks — but actions speak louder than dollar bills. That’s the double-edged sword facing California as it pours an unprecedented amount of funding into a public school system grappling with declining enrollment, persistent shortages of educators and substitute teachers, and educational achievement gaps that only widened during the pandemic. And it was the unspoken […]
By • July 21, 2022
A large circular emblem on the exterior of a stone building displays the seal of the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General. The emblem features an image of a blindfolded figure holding a set of scales and a sword, with the inscription "Liberty and Justice Under Law." Green tree branches partially frame the top of the image, and a lamppost stands in the foreground. Security cameras are mounted on the building's facade.
WhatMatters
Concealed carry fiasco hangs over Capitol
A dispatch from me and CalMatters political reporter Ben Christopher: Legislative Republicans called Tuesday for an independent state audit to find out “what in the world happened” when the California Department of Justice briefly published the personal identifying information of more than 240,000 concealed carry weapon license applicants late last month. Assemblymember Jim Patterson, a […]
By • July 20, 2022
Edward Strickland receives a COVID-19 rapid test at Greater St. Paul Church in downtown Oakland on January 4, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Amid new COVID surge, confusing mix of rules
Another month, another COVID surge. As the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 spreads across California and the country — pushing the Golden State’s seven-day test positivity rate to 16.7% as of Thursday — all levels of government seem to be sending mixed messages about how we should respond. Case in point: U.S. Health and Human […]
By • July 19, 2022
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the California Chamber of Commerce's 94th Annual Sacramento Host Breakfast on May 23, 2019. Newsom said housing and inequality are two of the biggest issues facing state government and California businesses. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
WhatMatters
Full steam ahead for November election — and 2024
When it comes to California elections, it’s out with the old and in with the new. Secretary of State Shirley Weber on Friday certified the results from the June 7 primary election, which for many Californians probably already feels like a lifetime ago as the state’s political focus shifts to the complex and controversial initiatives […]
By • July 18, 2022
A truck drives out of the Long Beach Container Terminal in Long Beach on Nov. 30, 2021. Photo by Damian Dovarganes, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Could California labor law derail the supply chain?
California’s long-simmering war over a controversial state labor law is threatening to boil over at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland — sparking fears of disastrous ripple effects across a global supply chain already at its breaking point amid pandemic backlogs, ongoing labor disputes and inflation at a 40-year high. The escalating […]
By • July 15, 2022

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