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Lynn La

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Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter with more than 150,000 subscribers.    

In the newsletter, Lynn analyzes the state’s policy issues for a broader audience, through original reporting and by summarizing and compiling stories from CalMatters and other news sources. Recently, she has reported on bills to address California’s worsening fentanyl epidemic, tackle retail theft and legislate happiness. She also reveals more about lawmakers by interviewing them for an occasional series on first-term legislators in 2023 and new committee chairpersons in 2024. 

Through WhatMatters, Lynn also plays a crucial role in CalMatters election coverage, helping to keep track of daily developments in key campaigns, including legislative and congressional races and ballot measures.  

Prior to joining CalMatters in March 2023, she wrote for the education technology startup Guild and was a senior editor at CNET. She also covered public health at The Sacramento Bee as a Kaiser media fellow and was an intern reporter at Capitol Weekly. 

Lynn is based in the Bay Area. She graduated from UC Davis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Other languages spoken: Vietnamese (basic)

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Latest Stories

A line of sheriff’s deputies in tactical gear and gas masks fire less-lethal weapons through a barrier of yellow crowd-control fencing during a protest. Smoke emits from one of the launchers. Behind them, more officers are stationed on trucks equipped with barricades and mounted weapons. The scene is tense and highly militarized in a residential-looking area at dusk.
WhatMatters
National Guard in LA: Calming or amplifying tensions?
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the California National Guard out of Los Angeles. He released a letter Sunday criticizing President Donald Trump’s deployment of troops over the weekend, a move that Trump said he made to protect immigration enforcement officers. As CalMatters’ reporters explain, beginning Friday federal agents conducted raids in downtown L.A. and in the […]
By • June 9, 2025
Oil pumps in the Kern River Oil Field near Bakersfield on July 6, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
WhatMatters
Oil lobby stalls another CA climate change bill
An ambitious proposal that would require fossil fuel polluters to pay for climate disasters caused by the greenhouse gases they emit appears to have stalled in the face of strong opposition from those same fossil fuel polluters. As CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo explains, a bill by Assemblymember Dawn Addis would require multinational oil and gas companies […]
By • June 6, 2025
Three small, weathered buildings sit side by side on a wet street in a mountain town. The structures show signs of age, with faded paint, boarded windows, and moss-covered roofs. Bare trees stand behind them, and a misty forested hillside rises in the background under an overcast sky. The scene is quiet and damp, evoking a sense of stillness and isolation.
WhatMatters
CA fails to provide a vital safeguard against wrongful convictions
For 32 years, the kidnapping and murder of 6-year-old Willie Cook remained a mystery.  Then, in 2008, sheriff’s deputies in Siskiyou County got their first big break: A man came forward to say he had witnessed the kidnapping. Steve Marshall was only 10-years-old when Willie disappeared, but his memory of that August day remained vivid.  […]
By • June 5, 2025
Students in a class at Lake Marie Elementary School in Whittier on Nov. 17, 2022. Photo by Lauren Justice for CalMatters
WhatMatters
Teacher pay bill could help labor shortage, but can CA afford it?
Would paying teachers-in-training more money help California solve its teacher shortage? One state lawmaker thinks it should, but faces an uphill battle as California also grapples with a $12 billion budget shortfall, reports CalMatters’ Carolyn Jones.  To become a California K-12 public school teacher, candidates need a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential. The credential […]
By • June 4, 2025
A close-up view of a phone and an over-the-ear headset lying on a table. In the background is a row of computers with the screens lit up.
WhatMatters
CA mental health phone line faces steep budget cuts
As California grapples with a $12 billion budget deficit, that state’s peer-run phone service that provides free 24/7 mental health support to thousands of residents across the state could face deep funding cuts, or even a shutdown. The California Peer Run Warm Line — which is different from 911 and the federal 988 mental health […]
By • June 3, 2025
A person, wearing a cowboy hat and a pink shirt, stands in front of a lectern with a sign in front of it that reads "California Democratic Party." The California state and American flags can be seen behind the person.
WhatMatters
CA Dems soul searching on how they lost Latino, young voters
From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu:  Boos. Heckles. Accusations.  At the California Democratic Party convention in Anaheim over the weekend, some Latino Democrats waged a contentious referendum on their leaders — and won. Nilza Serrano, a Los Angeles consultant, was elected chair of the party’s Latino caucus, upsetting longtime activist Carlos Alcala, who had chaired […]
By • June 2, 2025
Two people sit across from each other at a white table in a brightly colored room. One person, wearing a blue blazer, types on a laptop while the other, seated in a folding chair, listens attentively. Papers, a notebook, a red wallet, and a phone are spread out on the table. Empty chairs and a table are visible in the background near a yellow and blue hallway.
WhatMatters
Millions of Californians at risk of losing Medi-Cal coverage
Last week the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives advanced a budget package gutting Medicaid spending by $700 billion in order to help offset the cost of extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy. In addition to California potentially losing as much as $20 billion a year and 217,000 jobs because […]
By • May 30, 2025
WhatMatters
COVID-19 variant in CA, right on time for summer spike
Stanford scientists have recently confirmed California’s first known infection of a highly transmissible COVID-19 variant, known as NB.1.8.1. Detected in the state as early as April 17, its symptoms do not appear to be any more severe than earlier strains so far, and because NB.1.8.1 is an Omicron variant, the latest vaccines should provide some […]
By • May 29, 2025
Planned Parenthood Dr. Jessica Hamilton inside a consultation room at the health center in Sacramento. California abortion providers are preparing for an influx of patients from other states, if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe vs. Wade case. Feb. 1, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
WhatMatters
CA continues fight with other states over reproductive care
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections in 2022, California lawmakers moved quickly to make the state a “safe haven” for reproductive health care. But while California has some of the strongest laws ensuring abortion rights, other states’ restrictions can make performing or seeking the procedure from California doctors more complicated. On Tuesday […]
By • May 28, 2025
Several lawmakers and state Capitol staff sit behind a two-row dais during a legislative hearing. A large oval image of the California State Assembly seal can be seen hung up on the wall behind them.
WhatMatters
CA lawmakers halt hundreds of bills with new spending as deficits loom
State legislators on Friday halted hundreds of bills with new spending attached from advancing. Why? The Legislature again underwent its relatively opaque process known as the “suspense file.” Hanging over lawmakers’ heads is the expected $12 billion state budget deficit that is projected to worsen due to federal tariffs and increased state health care spending. […]
By • May 27, 2025

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Lynn La - CalMatters
Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday.
CalMatters
California, explained
Lynn La
Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter with more than 150,000 subscribers. Prior to joining CalMatters in March 2023, she wrote for the education technology startup Guild and was a senior editor at CNET. She also covered public health at The Sacramento Bee as a Kaiser media fellow and was an intern reporter at Capitol Weekly. Lynn is based in the Bay Area. She graduated from UC Davis and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Other languages spoken: Vietnamese (basic)