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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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California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild (right) talks with Vice Chair Siva Gunda, during a hearing on the state gas price spike in Sacramento on Nov. 29, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Gas prices, campaign $$ database shake up Capitol
What do California gas prices and the state’s unwieldy database for tracking donations to political campaigns have in common? Both were the subject of intense hearings in Sacramento on Tuesday, six days before state lawmakers are set to return to the Capitol to get sworn into office and convene a special session called by Gov. […]
By • November 30, 2022
UC workers strike in Oakland on Nov. 28, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
WhatMatters
UC, CSU campuses in the hot seat
California’s public university systems, often ranked among the best in the nation, symbolize the state’s opportunities — and can also serve as a microcosm of some of its most pervasive challenges, such as bridging economic and racial divides. Monday marked the start of the third week of strikes at all 10 University of California campuses, […]
By • November 29, 2022
Kevin Kiley attends a press conference in Sacramento on Aug. 24, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
California election results near final form
Note: The newsletter will pause until Tuesday, Nov. 29 for the holiday weekend. Happy Thanksgiving! And then there was one. Just one California race for a U.S. House of Representatives seat remained too close to call as of Tuesday, two weeks after the Nov. 8 election: With about 335,000 unprocessed ballots left to count, Republican […]
By • November 23, 2022
The state Capitol in Sacramento on Nov. 17, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
Oil tax likely won’t be considered until January
When might Californians get more details about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to enact a windfall profits tax on oil companies, which newly elected state lawmakers are set to consider in a special legislative session beginning on Dec. 5? The specifics of the proposal aren’t likely to surface until the start of the special session, the […]
By • November 22, 2022
Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Siebel Newsom speak to media after casting their ballots on election day at the California Museum in Sacramento on Nov. 8, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
Amid ‘security concerns,’ no details on Newsom trip
Gov. Gavin Newsom left California on Sunday to travel with his family for the Thanksgiving holiday, but due to security concerns, the trip location won’t be revealed until after he returns next weekend, according to his office. The California Highway Patrol, which handles the governor’s security, made the safety determination, according to Newsom’s office. The […]
By • November 21, 2022
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, is surrounded by members of the media as she heads back to her office after speaking on the House floor at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Nov. 17, 2022. Photo by Andrew Harnik, AP Photo
WhatMatters
California braces for post-Pelosi future
“We are mindful that we’re going to have to be more proactive as a state in terms of our efforts in Washington, D.C.” That was Gov. Gavin Newsom’s delicately worded assessment of how California might fare differently under Kevin McCarthy — the Bakersfield Republican positioned to take over as speaker of the U.S. House of […]
By • November 18, 2022
The state Capitol in Sacramento on July 6, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Budget whiplash: California faces $25 billion deficit
$25 billion. That’s the estimated deficit Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers will confront when crafting a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal advisor announced Wednesday. The projection marks a stunning reversal from back-to-back years of unprecedented prosperity: The budget for California’s current fiscal year clocked in at a whopping $308 […]
By • November 17, 2022
The sun sets outside the venue of the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Nov. 12, 2022. Photo by Peter Dejong, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Inside lawmakers’ climate trips to Egypt, Japan
Get ready for another raft of ambitious climate bills when California lawmakers return to Sacramento next month. A few days after the Nov. 8 election, bipartisan groups of more than a dozen state legislators — including some who have hit term limits and won’t be returning to the Legislature — embarked on international trips with a […]
By • November 16, 2022
WhatMatters
Widespread strikes descend on California
It’s strike season in California, again. Today, fast food workers across the state are set to picket outside of Starbucks, Chipotle, Jack in the Box and other restaurants to protest the companies’ efforts to qualify a 2024 referendum to overturn a new state law. The first-in-the-nation law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on Labor Day, […]
By • November 15, 2022
Representative David Valadao speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on March 17, 2021. Photo by Graeme Sloan, Sipa USA via Reuters
WhatMatters
California may determine control of the House
This is what they call a nail-biter, folks. With Democrats managing to hang on to control of the U.S. Senate following votes tallied this weekend, all eyes have shifted to the U.S. House — and to California, which could end up determining the balance of power in Congress and the political direction of the country. […]
By • November 14, 2022

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