Dan Walters

With San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, a moderate Democrat, entering the governor's race, the outcome will help reveal just how liberal California truly is.

Many bills represent serious efforts to address real issues, but many are offered to please political constituencies, align with popular trends or repay political debts.

California's budgets have been susceptible to the ways wealthy taxpayers derive their income, particularly during periods of economic uncertainty.

Newsom has steadily opposed major tax increases, but an ongoing, multiyear deficit and growing frustration among legislators has created a gulf between the governor and his allies on how to fix the problem.

Gov. Gavin Newsom dropped a brief and vaguely worded section into his State of the State address earlier this month, suggesting an overhaul of how California’s vast public education system is managed. “It’s long overdue that we modernize the management of our educational system,” Newsom said, “and so in the budget I’ll be submitting tomorrow, […]

Californians may never know for sure, but the half-dozen existential issues imperiling the state, from high living costs to water supply, may have scared off some candidates for governor.

Should taxing real estate be supplemented by tapping other assets of the state’s billionaires? California voters may decide this year if a wealth tax initiative qualifies for the ballot.

Gavin Newsom’s boast about per-pupil spending in a recent speech exemplifies the Capitol’s focus on money in its education debates, rather than results.

Newsom recently boasted about a 9% drop in homelessness, yet there are still plenty of encampments critics could feature in attack ads should he run for president in two years.

As both governor and a likely presidential candidate, Gavin Newsom's final state budget faces a political trap of his own making.