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Gov. Gavin Newsom’s trip overseas this week has had its share of twists: First a surprise visit to Israel, followed by a surprise meeting a few days later with Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday in Beijing to discuss trade relations, climate change and even fentanyl. Newsom isn’t the first California governor to visit China — […]

The question of whether the state can make college debt-free for all Californians — or just some — is a particularly fraught one.  Take for instance, California’s Middle Class Scholarship program, which launched in 2022. In the last academic year, about 300,000 students received an average of $1,970 more toward their college education through the […]

Though Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a handful of laws earlier this month to address the state’s mental health crisis — including a measure to loosen rules about who is eligible for involuntary treatment and another that gives voters the opportunity to decide on a multi-billion dollar bond measure to add thousands of treatment beds statewide […]

The California Energy Commission isn’t necessarily an agency that the public, or even reporters, follow for its every twist and turn. But it does have a wide-ranging purview and its decisions can affect people’s daily lives, not to mention the industries being regulated. For example, last week, it voted to begin proceedings for two key […]

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff:  With his desk clear of bills for the year, Gov. Gavin Newsom is turning his attention from California policymaking to international relations. The governor is on his way to China for a week-long excursion to promote cooperation on climate change, economic development and cultural exchange — after a brief […]

This is CalMatters housing reporter Ben Christopher pinch-hitting for Lynn.  There’s something odd going on in California’s housing market. If you’ve bought a house in this state lately — or if you’ve thought about buying a house, perused your local listings and then deleted the Zillow app from your phone while quietly weeping — you’ve […]

With California gas prices hovering roughly $2 above the national average — sometimes $3 depending where you are — the state’s Energy Commission today is expected to consider whether to take a key step toward penalties on windfall oil profits, and to broaden what data its new watchdog agency can collect. Quick reminder: The agency […]

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu:  There is no shortage of political wealth in California — and certainly not in the 2024 U.S. Senate race. With less than five months until the March 5 primary, the five top Democrats and Republicans have collectively raised roughly $50 million — more than the $40 million the […]

From CalMatters environment reporter Julie Cart:  Ocean waters off California’s coast are being prepared to host a massive experiment, floating beyond the continental shelf: Platforms with giant turbines and spinning rotors will capture the Pacific Ocean’s prodigious wind energy. Hundreds of square miles of the ocean about 20 miles off the coasts of Humboldt County […]

In what it described as a “historic agreement,” the California Department of Managed Health Care announced Thursday that it has settled with Kaiser Permanente over the company’s failure to deliver adequate behavioral health care services to its patients.  The settlement, CalMatters’ health reporter Ana B. Ibarra writes, includes a $50 million fine (the department’s biggest […]