Dan Walters

A seat on the state Supreme Court has been vacant for 17 months and Gov. Jerry Brown has been coy about filling it. He seems to be waiting until an Aug. 30 deadline for placing names on the ballot, thus shielding his appointee from facing voters until 2022.

Californians should be wary when the Legislature makes big decisions in the hectic last days of its annual session and this year is no exception.

California law bars state and local officials from using taxpayer money for political campaigns. But it's become a common practice, especially when voters are being asked to raise taxes.

"The Browns of California," a new book about the state's dominant political family, falls short by omitting facts that don't square with the family's images.

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

Gov. Jerry Brown talks about reforming the California Environmental Quality Act, calling it "the Lord's work." But he and the Legislature have failed to do it, while granting narrow exemptions from its provisions to particular projects, especially sports venues.

A new lawsuit alleges that state officials have failed to intervene in low-performing schools, leaving children unable to read. Meanwhile, new high school graduation data tell us that while graduation rates are low in big city districts, rural districts with large numbers of Latino kids are showing high rates.

California's 114 community colleges play a vital role in post-high school education but often don't get the respect they deserve. Now big changes are coming, some fostered by outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown, others by the colleges themselves.

Big moves are being made on water policy in the final months of Jerry Brown's second governorship, including twin tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a new water allocation policy and money for new water storage reservoirs.

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