Newsletters

More people are dying in California jails than they did before the pandemic, and it’s not because of COVID-19.  On the surface, the number of deaths is confusing: California has fewer people in jails than at any point in the last two decades. Yet between 2021 and 2023, people died at rates that exceed some […]

Black women disproportionately are crowded into roles with less security, predictability, and economic remuneration. 

Thursday marked the final day for the Legislature before its starts a week-long spring break. So lawmakers were busy proposing and hearing some bills on contentious issues with deadlines coming up in late April and early May for them to advance. Before leaving Sacramento, legislators also approved two pressing measures and sent them to Gov. […]

How should California treat criminals who have done their time? It’s a thorny question for lawmakers, especially when many Californians are taking a harsher stance against crime. In recent years, the Legislature has passed laws to make it easier for Californians to clear their criminal records and get a fresh start, writes CalMatters reporter Jeanne […]

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal:  Two weeks after voting ended in California’s primary, there are 166,000 ballots left to be counted, and a dozen congressional and legislative races remain too close to call, along with Proposition 1.  While the uncounted ballots are only about 2% of the 7.7 million cast, readers have again asked […]

On March 12 — a week after primary day — opponents of Proposition 1 waved the white flag, conceding that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health ballot measure would likely pass. Monday, the anti-Prop. 1 campaign withdrew its concession and revived its efforts. What changed? For one thing, the vote count tightened: As of late Monday, […]

With the unveiling of their own initial budget proposal last week, Democrats in the state Senate aim to make a bad situation a little less worse. Depending on whom you ask, California faces an immediate budget shortfall that ranges from $38 billion, per Gov. Gavin Newsom’s projections in his January budget proposal, to as much […]

Sunshine Week highlights the public's access to government records, which drives some of our best reporting on poverty and inequality.

Some college students can’t fill out their financial aid forms — and California lawmakers might come to the rescue. As CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn explains, students whose parents do not have Social Security numbers are receiving error messages when they try to fill out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. […]

The ongoing Gaza war and worsening humanitarian crisis have led to protests and put politicians on the spot in California and elsewhere. And as the calls for a ceasefire have grown louder, voters have been trying to find ways to make their voices heard. In states including Michigan, Hawaii and Minnesota, Democrats voted “uncommitted” to […]