Dan Walters

California's public transit systems say they are facing a "fiscal cliff" and are pleading for state aid, but so far haven't gained much traction in the Capitol.

California faces a large budget deficit for the forthcoming fiscal year and chronic shortfalls for years thereafter. How to deal with them is going to be a major problem for the state's politicians.

Despite how Gov. Gavin Newsom portrays it, Florida and California both use their education systems to promote ideological agendas.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to decarbonize California's economy but the California Environmental Quality Act is an impediment. So, he wants to streamline the law's application for big public works projects.

After suffering a bout of shingles, Dianne Feinstein's return to the Senate did not stop the calls for her resignation, which would create a huge political problem for Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Two big rivers, the Klamath and the Colorado, are being resuscitated after becoming dangerously unhealthy. In both cases, taxpayers are footing the hefty costs rather than those who profit off the rivers.

With California experiencing a serious budget deficit and the fiscal squeeze tightening, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators also face demands for billions of more dollars for troubled vital services.

For the past decade, California has spent billions of dollars to improve the education of at-risk children, but there's scant evidence that it had the intended effect.

A two-decade-long battle over California's labor laws, spurred by the Private Attorney General Act, is entering a new phase with a state Supreme Court case and a pending 2024 ballot measure promising to change how they're enforced.

The process of writing budgets for California's state government has become a political quagmire.