Dan Walters

Highly paid political consultants dream up ways to lure voters into doing something they would not otherwise be likely, or even willing, to do.

The sexual harassment scandal that’s enveloped the Capitol exposes an unsavory aspect of the building’s culture that had been hidden for decades. It’s also exposed another, equally unseemly trait – the Legislature’s routine exemption of itself from laws it imposes on everyone else. Although, for instance, legislative leaders agreed that complaints about harassment should be […]

When Santa Cruz, a picturesque and funky coastal city, first started to feel the pinch of rising retirement costs for city workers, it took several steps to limit the fiscal pain. As recommended by the League of Cities and other authorities, Santa Cruz issued a bond to pay down its rising pension liabilities, set aside […]

Ten years ago, California voters approved – very narrowly – a $9.95 billion bond issue to partially finance what was described as a $40 billion high-speed train system linking the northern and southern regions of the state. Since then, construction has started on a 119-mile starter line in the San Joaquin Valley, from Madera to […]

Exploiting Democrats' abject lack of party discipline, the GOP could block Democratic challengers from reaching the November ballot.

The state's candidates for governor were all over the map on the issue at a recent forum.

That was quite a show that politicians staged in Sacramento last Wednesday. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions swooped into town to tell an audience of police officials that he was suing the state to overturn three laws aimed at helping millions of undocumented immigrants avoid deportation. The centerpiece is Senate Bill 54, which puts some […]

After decades of shameful neglect of California’s vital transportation network, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature last year enacted a multi-billion-dollar package of new fees and fuel taxes. It was the right thing to do, and if it merits any criticism, it is that it took too long and may fall short of meeting the […]

After the newly created Citizen Redistricting Commission redrew congressional and legislative districts in 2011, Republicans complained that the new maps were tilted in favor of Democrats. The subsequent three election cycles seemingly confirmed the Democratic advantage, as the party expanded its control of the congressional delegation, gained two-thirds supermajorities in both legislative houses in 2012, […]

So far, electing a new governor of California has resembled a game of musical chairs more than a horse race. Every fortnight, it seems, brings the announcement of a new candidate and/or a new opt-out, and every change in the lineup alters the odds of who will survive June’s top-two primary and win the right […]