Join us at the CalMatters Ideas Festival on May 21. 💡 Get your tickets now.

Avatar photo

Lynn La

Newsletter Writer

Contact Latest Stories

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)

Contact

Email

Latest Stories

WhatMatters
Some CA lawmakers want voting materials to reflect language diversity
California is one of the country’s most racially diverse states, with its population speaking more than 200 different languages and dialects, as CalMatters reported in 2022.  Several groups have now joined forces to try and make voting easier for those groups:  Backed by good governance advocacy organizations including Common Cause California and the immigrants rights […]
By • March 26, 2025
People in sweaters and warm clothing walk with picket signs on signs outside the fence of an Amazon Warehouse. The signs the people are holding say, “ TANNC Amazon ULP Strike.”
WhatMatters
Unions ask California to play a more powerful role in labor disputes
From CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang: As businesses like SpaceX and Amazon seek to undo the National Labor Relations Board, California unions are trying a novel tactic to preserve labor organizing rights.  They’ve introduced a bill that would give the state a new role in union disputes. Assembly Bill 288 by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor would […]
By • March 25, 2025
A boarded-up storefront is seen through a rectangular opening in a metal structure. The glass doors are covered with a metal security grate, and the windows have wooden boards behind them. The surrounding area appears empty, with no visible activity. The perspective creates a framing effect, drawing attention to the entrance of the vacant building.
WhatMatters
CA homeless shelter investigation inspires new legislation
From CalMatters investigative reporter Lauren Hepler:  A new state bill would add more oversight to California homeless shelters after a CalMatters investigation exposed that many taxpayer-funded facilities are plagued by violence, mismanagement and low re-housing rates. Assembly Bill 750 would build on an existing state law that was supposed to add basic checks on homeless […]
By • March 24, 2025
WhatMatters
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara explains his trip to Bermuda was for insurance work
From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay: When Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara testified about California’s property insurance market before the Assembly’s insurance committee this week, he mentioned a recent trip to Bermuda — somewhat defensively.  Lara attended the Bermuda Risk Summit, an insurance industry conference, last week. He gave a keynote address on March 11, the […]
By • March 21, 2025
A rubber-tired gantry crane places an orange shipping container on a red semi-truck. The frame is lined with stacks of other shipping containers on both sides.
WhatMatters
Do proposed rules to curb CA port pollution go far enough?
Southern California’s Long Beach and Los Angeles ports move millions of tons of cargo a year, handling 40% of the country’s imports and exports. They shuffle goods including produce, electronics and pharmaceuticals, and are critical to the state and national economies, writes CalMatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde. But with diesel trucks, trains, ships and cargo equipment coming […]
By • March 20, 2025
An aerial view of a dark blue lake with boats on it near a dock that's next to a two-way street and a forest of sugar pine trees.
WhatMatters
Keeping the Tahoe blues: The many problems of CA’s treasured lake
Lake Tahoe is sick, and getting worse. This alpine treasure, tucked in the Sierra Nevada, is facing an array of problems that humans inflict on it: Murky waters, pollutants, toxic algae, development, tourism, traffic. Buffeted by the constant tug between developing the region and preserving it, and attracting visitors while managing their impact, Lake Tahoe […]
By • March 19, 2025
Branches from nearby trees frame the view of a multi-story building in gray and brown tones with multiple square windows and a sign in the middle that reads, "Department of Housing and Urban Development."
WhatMatters
Rent program’s early end could leave many Californians homeless
Funds for a federal rental assistance program — intended to keep the most vulnerable people housed during the COVID-19 pandemic — are drying up faster than expected, potentially leading to thousands more Californians living on the streets as soon as next year.  As CalMatters’ Ben Christopher explains, the Emergency Housing Voucher program began in 2021, […]
By • March 18, 2025
A classroom wall covered in large, handwritten posters displaying a student's summer vacation narrative in Spanish. The posters are organized with colorful boxes and arrows, detailing different events such as visiting Oaxaca, going to the beach, and attending a rodeo. The background features a polka-dotted bulletin board, educational materials, and neatly arranged supplies on a table.
WhatMatters
CA lawmakers propose bills on bilingual education, jury duty exemptions
State lawmakers have been busy considering new bills that address issues including dwindling bilingual education, jury duty and putrid landfills. Let’s dive in: CalMatters covers the Capitol: We have guides and stories to keep track of bills and your lawmakers; find out how well legislators are representing you; explore the Legislature’s record diversity; and make […]
By • March 17, 2025
A person, wearing clear glasses and a black suit with a patterned-pink tie, stands in front a group of reporters holding microphones and cell phones in front of them to record what the person is saying.
WhatMatters
CA borrows $3.4B to cover Medi-Cal budget gap
To cover a budget gap in Medi-Cal — which provides health insurance for roughly 15 million disabled and low-income Californians — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is borrowing $3.4 billion from the state’s general fund.  As CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra and Kristen Hwang explain, the move comes during a time when the state is facing a limited […]
By • March 14, 2025
A white poster taped to a window with a plane warned travelers about the measles virus. Reflected in the window are lights from an office ceiling. The sign shows a plane made of different blue icons and a single red heart.
WhatMatters
What to know about two new measles cases in California
From CalMatters health reporter Ana B. Ibarra: California public health officials are closely monitoring two residents who recently tested positive for measles. Officials are on high alert given ongoing measles outbreaks in Texas, New Mexico and abroad.  The Los Angeles and Fresno public health departments each disclosed a case on Tuesday. In both cases, the […]
By • March 13, 2025

Gift this article

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)