Dan Walters

Despite California's status as a technological innovator, its state government has seen failure after failure in implementing information technology. Gov. Gavin Newsom is promising to fix this chronic problem.

California's "achievement gap" in its K-12 schools has persisted, despite spending many billions of dollars to close it. Two new proposals, a state audit and a system to track students' achievement, may tell us why the gap has been so stubbornly wide.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

As Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators consider state tax increases, local government ballots are being loaded up with tax proposals and the jousting over them is becoming heated.

Senate Bill 861 is a prime example of how budget "trailer bills" are misused to bypass the usual legislative process.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom claims a global role in the immigration crisis, how he handles a more prosaic crisis in the Department of Motor Vehicles could have a greater effect on his political career.

Local officials still don't like having to tell voters how proposed bond issues will affect their property taxes and may seek relief from the Legislature.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

California community colleges are under pressure to improve outcomes for their students but college officials complain that the data being used to measure progress are faulty.

The California Chamber of Commerce has been remarkably successful for two decades in defeating or neutralizing bills it places on its annual list of "job killers," but the Capitol's ambiance is changing and continuing that record may be more difficult.