Dan Walters

Hoping to leverage popular resistance to tax increases, business and anti-tax groups in California have qualified a measure for the November ballot that would make raising state and local taxes much more difficult. It's a showdown that's been building for nearly five decades.

California labor groups have their list of priority bills and the California Chamber of Commerce has a list of "job killers" it wants to defeat. Sometimes the two lists collide.

California's water supply is the healthiest it's been this century thanks to two consecutive wet winters, but the state's water interests continue jousting over priorities.

Progressive groups in California seemed to be making headway on their agendas in recent years. But now, with the state facing huge budget deficits, those gains are in jeopardy.

For the past year, debate has raged over plans to impose new fixed charges on electric utility customers based on their incomes. The issue began with a 2022 budget "trailer bill," a process governors and legislators misuse to enact major policy changes without fully debating them.

California's gas prices are spiking again. The state's motorists are not only paying high prices but high fuel taxes and not getting much in return.

While much of the nation is enjoying a vigorous economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, California is falling behind with scant job growth.

California is a liberal state where politicians enact laws and regulations aimed at improving Californians' lives, but that also makes them susceptible to influence.

California faces a multibillion-dollar budget deficit that could last for years. Rather than treat it as a serious fiscal crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders are using gimmicks to close the gap.

California's public schools depend on state aid for the lion's share of their operational income. Two trends – declining enrollment and high absenteeism – are creating financial headaches.