Dan Walters

California relishes its self-proclaimed propensity for leading-edge policymaking, but there are drawbacks to going it alone.

As California deals with new waves of crime and COVID-19, the Legislature reconvenes and must decide how to spend a multi-billion-dollar windfall of tax revenues.

Newly redrawn congressional and legislative districts will create turnover in political offices, but changing faces will not alter the balance of power in California.

The California Public Utilities Commission probably will side with major utilities by reducing payments to owners of rooftop solar systems for their excess power.

History may be repeating itself as California's public school enrollment declines, putting the squeeze on the finances of local school systems.

One of former Gov. Jerry Brown's major achievements was a reform of California public employee pension system but President Joe Biden's administration is backing union efforts to undermine the law.

California's educational "achievement gap" remains wide, but some local school systems are seeing success.

California's "tort wars" over the rules governing personal injury lawsuits are heating up again and dueling ballot measures may land on the 2022 ballot.

California's housing crisis is a hot current topic but it has been developing for decades and there are no magic solutions for it.

The state Capitol's annex will soon disappear and a replacement will be built costing more than a billion dollars. No one will be sorry to see the ugly, dysfunctional building go.