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Lynn La

Newsletter Writer

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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

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at an event in anticipation of signing a bill on his proposed oil profit penalty plan in Sacramento on March 28, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr. , CalMatters
WhatMatters
Will Newsom call a second special session on gas prices?
With Saturday’s deadline looming to pass the last flurry of bills before adjourning, legislators can see the finish line. But they might have more work ahead: Gov. Gavin Newsom is considering calling a special session to push legislation on gas prices and oil regulations. The idea, which Newsom discussed with legislative leaders in private meetings […]
By • August 29, 2024
Lawmakers sit at their desk looking at paperwork or their digital devices at the state capitol.
WhatMatters
California legislators pass bills, honor colleagues
California legislators are slammed trying to get through hundreds of bills before the clock strikes midnight on Saturday. They still have more than 700 bills to consider after Tuesday’s sessions, according to lobbyist and legislative observer Chris Micheli.  But they’re not too busy to fete departing colleagues — and they’re quite a few of them. […]
By • August 28, 2024
A lawmaker, wearing a gray suit and glasses, sits at their desk on the Assembly floor marking a sheet of paper with a pen.
WhatMatters
California Legislature ramps up for final week
The California Legislature is in its (sometimes) frantic final week, racing to pass bills by the Saturday deadline.  Monday, lawmakers pulled some last-minute maneuvering to extend the time allowed for floor amendments (the deadline was last Friday) to five bills, including ones on paid family leave, mental competency of defendants and environmental reviews of hydrogen […]
By • August 27, 2024
Sally K., right, thirty-eight weeks pregnant, talks to midwife Andrea Bergleen, left, during a check-up at the Best Start Birthing Center in San Diego on March 20, 2024. Photo by Ariana Drehsler for CalMatters
WhatMatters
California is losing places to give birth
The March closure of California’s first licensed and accredited birth center underscores not only the state’s “de facto ban” on licensing birth centers (as one lobbyist put it), but also the uphill battle expectant mothers in California face when seeking the health care they need. In the past decade, nearly 50 maternity wards have closed […]
By • August 26, 2024
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, wearing a navy blue suit, walks on stage with hundreds of attendees holding up signs with her name at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
WhatMatters
Kamala Harris rallies Democrats, pledges to unite America
In the biggest speech of her political career so far, Vice President Kamala Harris told Americans Thursday night that she will bring the country together, build the middle class and govern with common sense.  “With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the […]
By • August 23, 2024
A wide view of an arena filled with attendees as Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is displayed on a giant screen.
WhatMatters
Kamala Harris and her California record
Speaker after speaker at the Democratic National Convention has praised Kamala Harris’ record in California. And when the vice president delivers the biggest speech of her life tonight, she’ll likely lean into her home state accomplishments, even though some voters may still be skittish about her California-ness. CalMatters has been looking at that record — […]
By • August 22, 2024
The hood of a semi truck is popped open as an instructor leans over the engine area and four individuals observe.
WhatMatters
Do California for-profit colleges pay off for job training?
From CalMatters community college reporter Adam Echelman:  Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to train more Californians for “good-paying, long-lasting, and fulfilling careers,” he said last year, announcing his intent to create a Master Plan for Career Education.  But many students in one of the largest job training programs in the state end up in low-paying industries, […]
By • August 21, 2024
Protesters march through downtown Chicago while carrying Palestinian flags and flanked by police officers on bicycles.
WhatMatters
Will Gaza protests spoil the party for Kamala Harris?
Day one of the Democratic National Convention focused on President Joe Biden’s legacy and smoothly passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who made a surprise appearance Monday night on stage to rapturous applause. But that script isn’t being followed by everyone.  As CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal reports from Chicago, protesters outside the convention hall […]
By • August 20, 2024
Viewed through a narrow, black sliver, Gov. Gavin Newsom stands at a podium while at a press conference.
WhatMatters
California’s Democratic leaders champion crime legislation
Now that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a spate of retail theft bills pushed by Democratic leaders, some Democrats are primed to champion the legislation and oppose a separate crime ballot measure, Proposition 36. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas plans to promote the 10 new laws today in Salinas, alongside police officers, business leaders and […]
By • August 19, 2024
Lawmakers sit a row of green chairs, in front of an American and California state flag during a hearing. A lawmaker in the middle is wearing a pink jacket, while lawmaker to her left is wearing a green one, and the lawmaker to her right is wearing a bright orange jacket.
WhatMatters
California Legislature kills bills, lots of bills
With 830 bills in the dreaded Senate and Assembly suspense files, legislators were busy Thursday killing about a third of them, write CalMatters Capitol reporters Sameea Kamal and Jeanne Kuang. Bills that got the ax included a handful of high-profile crime measures: After the appropriations committees finished, more than 500 bills are still alive. But […]
By • August 16, 2024

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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)