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Lynn La

Newsletter Writer

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

California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks at a press event in San Francisco on Sept. 21, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
Assemblymembers on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol in Sacramento on March 27, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
Fast-food workers protest outside of a Jack in the Box restaurant in Sacramento on April 28, 2022. Photo by Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
People walk past a First Republic Bank branch in San Francisco on April 28, 2023. Photo by Loren Elliott, Reuters
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
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
The state Capitol in Sacrament on July 6, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the media at a press conference at Hansen Ranches outside of Corcoran on April 25, 2023. Newsom addressed the areas flooded farmlands during the winter storms in Kings County. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
Commuters quickly jump on the Metro bus at the Norwalk Green Line Station in Norwalk on April 3, 2023. A decline in ridership was exacerbated when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, leading to service cuts and fare hikes. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters
The sun sets behind a row of transmission towers as temperatures rise to a scorching 114 degrees in Fresno County on Sept. 6, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

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