Dan Walters

California has the nation's largest population of homeless people and has spent billions of dollars to lower the number yet it keeps growing.

As California's precipitation becomes more erratic due to climate change, the state needs more tools, including more storage capacity, to make the water supply reliable.

The California Environmental Quality Act has often been used, or misused, to block housing construction and other projects. A new state appellate court decision could reduce that practice.

California's capital city, Sacramento, has become a startling example of official sneakiness in how it conducts its business.

Six weeks ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a budget that would close a $38 billion deficit, but his elaborate financial maneuvers might not be enough.

California's efforts to care for the mentally ill date back to its admission as a state in 1850. The latest wrinkle is Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom's overhaul of mental health services.

For years, school unions have waged a political war with charter school advocates. Los Angeles has been a major battleground. A new school board majority wants to evict some charters from its school buildings.

The ability to read is foundational for all other learning but California is not doing well. Adoption of a phonics-based system dubbed the "science of reading" has proven to be effective and should be universally adopted.

After much political angst, California's community colleges have received limited authority to award four-year degrees. It's been a success for students that should be expanded.

California has many long-term public policy issues, but politicians tend to have short attention spans. A new legislative report that catalogs major issues could spur action.