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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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Gov. Gavin Newsom holds a press conference at The Unity Council in Oakland to announce an estimated $75.7 billion surplus and in addition to stimulus checks, tax rebates and additional rent relief on May 10, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
California is overflowing with money
Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, May 11. Good timing for Newsom The message was clear Monday when Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has attended recent public events in jeans and a bear-emblazoned jacket, stood behind a podium bearing the slogan “California Roars Back” while wearing a suit and tie. The message: I mean business — and the […]
By • May 11, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference after getting vaccinated for COVID-19 at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles on April 1, 2021. Photo by Shae Hammond for CalMatters
WhatMatters
Newsom wants to send stimulus checks to two-thirds of Californians
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is facing a recall election, wants to use the state’s sizable budget surplus to put money in the majority of Californians’ pockets.  The governor today will unveil an $11.9 billion proposal that would send $600 stimulus checks to two-thirds of Californians and an additional $500 to families with kids. Details, including […]
By • May 10, 2021
WhatMatters
Backlogged claims, calls: Things are getting worse at state’s jobless agency
“Everything that should be up is up and everything that should be down is down,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in January when lifting California’s regional stay-at-home order. Today, that statement holds true for many aspects of California’s pandemic response — vaccinations are up, infections are down, hospitalizations are down — but rings hollow when it […]
By • May 7, 2021
Beach goers set up an umbrella in Huntington Beach during a sweltering heat wave over Labor Day weekend on Sept. 5, 2020. Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Getting hotter: More blackouts on the way?
Facing the triple threat of wildfire season, severe drought and a likely recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom is undoubtedly hoping that California will be able to avoid rolling blackouts this year after last summer’s heat wave triggered the first outages in nearly two decades. But while the president of California’s electric grid operator expressed “guarded […]
By • May 6, 2021
Nine-year-old Tag, a 1,000 lb Kodiak bear, lays in the sunshine while recall candidate John Cox speaks to the press at a campaign event at Miller Regional Park in Sacramento on May 4, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Recall circus begins
Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, May 5. Elections and bears, oh my If, like me, you didn’t have “California political candidate campaigns with 1,000-pound Kodiak bear” on your 2021 bingo card, you were not prepared for the excesses of a gubernatorial recall election. The effort to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom from office entered a new […]
By • May 5, 2021
Santa Monica pier, beach and walkways are closed due to COVID-19, May 8, 2020. Photos by Lisa Hornak for CalMatters
WhatMatters
Behind the scenes of CA’s pandemic response
Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, May 4. An incomplete story Even as California appears to be nearing the end of the pandemic, many gaps remain in our knowledge about the past year’s events — raising questions as to the state’s preparedness for potential future disasters. Today — with record-low hospitalizations, a 1.1% positivity rate and […]
By • May 4, 2021
Stacy Estes in front of the home he shares with fiancée Kristin Pruitt, in Sacramento, Calif on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. “I don’t mind paying what it takes to raise my kids,” Estes said, but having his wages garnished for nearly 25 years has placed an unsustainanble financial burden on him. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
How California makes millions off child support
Good morning, California. It’s Monday, May 3. Repaying public aid $18.4 billion. That’s how much California parents owe in overdue child support payments, but a staggering $6.8 billion of that debt is due to the government, not families — the result of the Golden State keeping an unusually large portion of payments for itself. No […]
By • May 3, 2021
Assemblymember Alex Lee speaks on the Assembly floor. Photo by Krishnia Parker courtesy of the office of Alex Lee
WhatMatters
Progressive bills go down in flames
Good morning, California. It’s Friday, April 30. Meet Asm. Alex Lee It isn’t even halfway through the legislative year, and three lofty progressive proposals have already been squashed — showcasing the sharp divide within California’s Democrat-dominated Legislature. A bill to create single-payer health care? Tabled last week. A bill to ban corporations and “business entities” from […]
By • April 30, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the press during a visit to Ruby Bridges Elementary School in Alameda on March 16, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
More good news for Newsom
Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, April 29. High marks on schools Things are looking up for Gov. Gavin Newsom. Majorities of Californians — 58% of likely voters and 64% of public school parents — approve of how the governor is handling the state’s public K-12 education system, and a solid 59% of likely voters give […]
By • April 29, 2021
Park-goers enjoy the sunshine at Dolores Park on the Fourth of July in San Francisco on July 4, 2020. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Inside California’s stunning COVID reversal
How the tables have turned for California. The state’s seven-day coronavirus positivity rate fell to 1.2% on Tuesday, the lowest rate in the country. Just four months ago, California’s positivity rate was a staggering 17.1% and hospitalizations were surging to record levels, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a regional stay-at-home order. Contrast that with […]
By • April 28, 2021

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