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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 young boy peers through the border wall as migrants gather between primary and secondary border fences in San Diego as the United States prepares to lift COVID-19-era restrictions known as Title 42, that have blocked migrants at the U.S.- Mexico border from seeking asylum since 2020, near San Diego on May 8, 2023. Photo by Mike Blake, Reuters
WhatMatters
What Title 42’s end means for California
From Wendy Fry of CalMatters’ California Divide team: A pandemic-era public health policy known as Title 42, used to turn away asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border, is coming to an end just before 9 p.m. tonight, prompting concerns about unprecedented migration flows. Meanwhile, hundreds of migrants have been waiting outside between border walls in […]
By • May 11, 2023
The Assembly floor at the state Capitol on April 24, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
California bills in danger in ‘suspense file’
If you’re the author or supporter of a bill before the California Legislature, this is one list you dread: While getting sent to the “suspense file” doesn’t seal a measure’s fate, it does put it at some risk of being killed for the year.  Leading up to the big suspense file decision day next week, […]
By • May 10, 2023
Fast food workers from across the state rallied at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, urging lawmakers to pass AB 257. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
WhatMatters
California labor shows off its political muscle
If you need any more proof of labor’s power in Democratic politics, look no further than the joint conference of the California Labor Federation and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom told the gathering — “Unionize California” emblazoned everywhere — that worker rights are under threat in other states and […]
By • May 9, 2023
The AB 3121 Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans meets in Oakland on Dec. 14, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
WhatMatters
California reparations panel says millions owed for slavery
After 15 public hearings and testimony from more than 100 expert witnesses and the public, the California Reparations Task Force approved calculations on Saturday that estimate as much as hundreds of millions of dollars owed to eligible Black residents. Describing the emotional meeting as “one of the more rowdy hearings by the task force,” Wendy […]
By • May 8, 2023
California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks at a press event in San Francisco on Sept. 21, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
WhatMatters
California Attorney General Rob Bonta goes after the NFL, and tobacco
As California’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Rob Bonta has plenty of leeway for his to-do list. This week, he’s using his powers widely on some hot-button issues. NFL sexual harassment: Saying that no company is too big or powerful to be “above the law” Bonta announced a joint investigation on Thursday with New […]
By • May 5, 2023
Assemblymembers on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol in Sacramento on March 27, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
The payoff from free trips for California lawmakers
If you want to try to influence California legislators, there are lots of ways: Nice dinners, fundraisers, campaign contributions, one-on-one conversations. You can also take them on trips to exotic places around the globe. That’s how the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy likes to roll.  As CalMatters’ politics reporter Alexei Koseff and […]
By • May 4, 2023
Fast-food workers protest outside of a Jack in the Box restaurant in Sacramento on April 28, 2022. Photo by Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Flipping burgers — and living on California’s streets
From Jeanne Kuang of CalMatters’ California Divide team: Low wages and unpredictable hours make fast food the industry with the highest percentage of homeless workers in the state, according to a new union-sponsored report that is sure to stoke debate this year amid the latest contentious legislation over the industry’s labor practices.  The report released […]
By • May 3, 2023
People walk past a First Republic Bank branch in San Francisco on April 28, 2023. Photo by Loren Elliott, Reuters
WhatMatters
Is worst of California banking crisis over?
What started in March with the stunning collapse of Santa Clara-based Silicon Valley Bank continued Monday, as state regulators announced that they had seized San Francisco-based First Republic Bank, the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Quickly, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said it appointed as receiver the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., […]
By • May 2, 2023
A fleet of Tesla Semis on display at PepsiCo Beverages North America's Sacramento facility on April 11, 2023. PBNA hosted an event to celebrate the arrival of 18 Tesla Semi-trucks to its Sacramento location. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
Changing the world, one electric truck at a time
Now that California has opted to phase out diesel trucking, the state will find out in the years to come which was right: the aspirations of environmentalists or the warnings of the trucking industry.  On Friday the California Air Resources Board unanimously voted to ban the sale of new diesel big rigs, delivery and garbage […]
By • May 1, 2023
An unhoused person holds pieces of fentanyl in their hand in Los Angeles on Aug. 18, 2022. Use of the powerful synthetic opioid that is cheap to produce and is often sold as is or laced in other drugs, has exploded. Because it's 50 times more potent than heroin, even a small dose can be fatal. It has quickly become the deadliest drug in the nation, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Photo by Jae C. Hong, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Showdown on California fentanyl bills
During a dramatic hearing Thursday at the state Capitol, seven fentanyl measures finally received a verdict: Four bills passed, but the two most sweeping failed and a third was put on hold. Watching closely: Grieving families who lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning, recovering addicts and advocates for criminal justice reform. To get inside the […]
By • April 28, 2023

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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)