Emily Hoeven

WhatMatters

Will California subsidize rural police departments?

California has a police problem. In some parts of the state, particularly rural areas, there aren’t enough of them. Tehama County, population 65,000, made national headlines last month when the sheriff announced he would be ending daytime patrols due to the agency’s “catastrophic staffing shortage.” But the two main challenges facing Tehama County are also […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 14, 2022

WhatMatters

How California is dealing with 3 elections at once

Most of the remaining loose ends from California’s Nov. 8 election were tied up Monday — though at least one especially close race appears to remain unresolved and election battles from 2020 and 2024 continue to intensify. First, Democrat Christy Holstege conceded her bid for an open state Assembly seat stretching across Riverside and San […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 13, 2022

WhatMatters

Will California keep up its climate momentum?

California has climate action on the mind. This week state lawmakers, senior officials in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and prominent environmental leaders are representing California at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, Canada — an appearance that could make a splash on the world stage as Newsom continues to tout his climate […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 12, 2022

WhatMatters

How will California handle the youth fentanyl overdose crisis?

Expect a lot of debate over how California should respond to the state’s mounting fentanyl epidemic when state lawmakers return to Sacramento early next year. Bills dealing with the super-powerful synthetic opioid are already piling up, many of them focused on youth in the wake of a stunning analysis that found fentanyl was responsible for […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 9, 2022

WhatMatters

California budget season starts off with a bang

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step — like the one Assembly Democrats took Wednesday, when they unveiled their budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The move marks a start to months-long negotiations between Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers over how money should be divided between key programs — […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 8, 2022

WhatMatters

More housing, fewer prisons: California outlines game plan

Hanging over the heads of California’s newly sworn-in state lawmakers — and likely to be top of mind when they return to Sacramento next month — are the state’s intertwined housing and homelessness crises. That was made clear Tuesday, when Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco introduced for the third time a bill […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 7, 2022

WhatMatters

Big tests ahead for new Legislature

Now comes the hard part. That was the main takeaway from Monday’s largely ceremonial flurry of activity in the state Capitol. Joined by their families, newly elected lawmakers were sworn into office after opening speeches that at times ventured into the metaphysical, with Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon at one point comparing the challenge of political […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 6, 2022

WhatMatters

An unusual start to the legislative session

Today is shaping up to be a pretty unusual day in Sacramento. Newly elected state lawmakers will be descending on the Capitol to be sworn into office — even though two seats are still up in the air. That’s because, by some measures, California is in the middle of two of its closest legislative races […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 5, 2022

WhatMatters

A changing of the guard in Sacramento

Three days before California’s new state Legislature is set to be sworn into office — and to convene a special session focused on oil industry profits — it’s still not clear who will occupy two of the seats. As of Thursday evening, Democrat Christy Holstege and Republican Greg Wallis each had 50% of the vote […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 2, 2022

WhatMatters

As storm hits California, what about drought, wildfires?

Many Californians will wake up this morning to a relatively rare phenomenon: Rain. Today, the freezing-cold temperatures and high-powered winds that have gripped much of the state this week are set to give way to a good old-fashioned winter storm: Both Northern and Southern California are expecting rain, strong winds and heavy mountain snow, with […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 1, 2022