Dan Walters

Californians' power costs are among the nation's highest and could keep climbing. There’s precious little Newsom and legislators can do about it since they face chronic budget deficits.

California once led the nation in government transparency. But as one-party rule emerged and the Capitol press corps shrank, lawmakers have increasingly operated in the dark. Several pending bills could expand their secrecy.

Democratic gerrymandering of California’s districts will not be as easy as Republican gerrymandering in Texas. Apart from persuading voters, there are looming political and legal battles.

While Newsom is fond of touting California’s immense economic output, he rarely mentions its high rates of unemployment, poverty and homelessness, thanks largely to the state's high costs of housing, utilities and other necessities.

Unfettered use of AI-driven deepfakes in political campaigns present an obvious peril, but so does any effort to prohibit free speech — no matter how distasteful.

Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders want to counter the nakedly partisan gerrymandering effort in Texas by gerrymandering California’s congressional districts. It could be another chapter in the tortured history of California redistricting.

With Kamala Harris out of the picture, the field remains crowded in the race for California governor. There is no clear frontrunner and at least one more potential candidate lurking.

Four decades after education reformer Marian Joseph pushed phonics in schools to change the way young readers learn, California lawmakers are embracing it.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is counting $7 billion drawn from a reserve account as revenue, making California's $20 billion budget deficit seem smaller.

A conflict in the Imperial Valley offers a window into an increasingly sharp debate within California's $60 billion agricultural sector over what should happen as acreage devoted to crops and livestock shrinks.