Dan Walters

The state Department of Motor Vehicles is being sharply and justifiably criticized for hours-long waits for service, but intervention by Gov. Jerry Brown's office blocked a study of DMV operations by the state auditor's office.

California and President Donald Trump are at war again, this time over the administration's plan to freeze nationwide auto mileage standards and withdraw California's ability to set its own auto emission rules.

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

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.