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We keep you informed about how decisions made by California politicians and officials shape your lives, and about the forces and players that influence those decisions. We also give you the tools to participate and vote.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom is surrounded by lawmakers as he signs into law his oil profit penalty plan in Sacramento on March 28, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters Which bills will Gavin Newsom sign into new California laws?
Republican gubernatorial candidate, state Sen. Brian Dahle, right, hugs his wife, Assemblywoman Megan Dahle, in celebration at an election night gathering in Sacramento on June 7, 2022. Dahle faced-off against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in the November general election. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo Family business: Meet the Legacy Caucus in the California Legislature
Henry Sanchez, 22, who lives in Bell Gardens, waits for the Metro bus to arrive at the Norwalk Green Line Station in Norwalk on April 3, 2023. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters Why California public transit is at a pivotal moment
Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the media after a meeting with local leaders on homelessness in Sacramento on Nov. 18, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters A failure to communicate: California government cuts back press access
The California Legislative Native American Caucus, from the left: Assemblymembers Mike A. Gipson, a Carson Democrat, Esmeralda Soria, a Merced Democrat, Sabrina Cervantes, a Riverside Democrat, Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, a South Los Angeles Democrat, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Lakewood Democrat and James C. Ramos, a Rancho Cucamonga Democrat, during a meeting in Sacramento on April 18, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters Across the aisle: Can bipartisan caucuses change the California Legislature?
California Legislature paid trips. Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock How free trips for California legislators lead to bills
A worshipper at the Shri Guru Ravidass Temple in Rio Linda on June 3, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters A small world: How caste discrimination came to California
Meet the Team
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Foon Rhee
Deputy Managing Editor
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Sameea Kamal
Capitol Reporter
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Jeremia Kimelman
Data Reporter
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Alexei Koseff
Capitol Reporter
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Yue Stella Yu
Politics and Campaign Reporter
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Lynn La
Newsletter Writer
Politics
Money rains from perfect storm of politics
Some of the outsized money spent on California legislative races this year came pouring through the mail slot of voter Michael Johnson’s home, arriving in the form of two or three glossy ads a day in advance of the June primary. Most of the ads weren’t from candidates. They were from interest groups that have business before […]
By • June 15, 2016
Politics
What to disclose when an abused child nearly dies
How much information should be available to the public in cases of severe child abuse? California lawmakers and the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown have been at odds over that question for the last two years. Legislators recently rejected a proposal to limit public access to reports on abuse so extreme that children nearly die. […]
By • June 7, 2016
Politics
Can love conquer politics? Democrat-Republican marriages in California
In an era of increasingly polarized politics, Republicans and Democrats still manage to find enough common ground for romance—even marriage—though not very often. On the eve of the 2016 primary election, here’s an approximate look at California’s mixed political pairs. At least one study suggests such unions could have implications for Tuesday’s voting. The Marriage […]
By • June 6, 2016
Climate Change
Oil money flows for black and Latino Democrats
It’s not often that interest groups call out public officials by their race, but as environmentalists evaluated state lawmakers’ voting records last year, that is just what they did. Black and Latino Democrats “must do better” to buck the interests of the petroleum industry and help the communities they represent, the California Environmental Justice Alliance […]
By • June 1, 2016
Politics
Quizzing the candidates leaves a secret paper trail
The eight-page document reads like a contract, asking candidates seeking a seat in the Legislature to pledge support for workers organizing unions. It lists priority issues – including health care, immigration and retirement benefits – and asks if the candidate will be a “supporter,” “champion” or “partner” as the union pursues its agenda in Sacramento. […]
By • May 25, 2016
Elections
Candidate Questionnaires
Questionnaires for candidates are a staple of electoral politics. Many interest groups use them in evaluating whether to endorse contestants or spend money to support their campaigns. The stakes are high on both sides, and the process raises some ethical questions. Here is a sampling of questionnaires given to this year’s candidates for the Legislature.​ […]
By • May 24, 2016
Vallejo High School's district is among 100 with bond measures on the ballot this year. Photo by Robert Durell for CALmatters.
Education
Education fight ‘over shades of Democrat’
A group that lobbies to change public education is pouring money into a handful of Northern California legislative races ahead of the June 7 election, aiming to influence the kind of Democrats who hold power in the state Capitol. Democrats make up a solid majority of the Legislature, but they do not agree on everything. […]
By • May 18, 2016
Politics
Prop 50: The weirdest measure on the ballot this year
In their own words “You can’t do that, man, you go to jail for that.” – Sen. Leland Yee on June 20, 2013, talking to an undercover FBI agent who offered him a bribe “What has happened to me could happen to anyone in public office.” – Sen. Ron Calderon on Nov. 13, 2013, after […]
By • May 11, 2016
Climate Change
California ponders expanding cap and trade to Brazil
With feathers adorning his head and red paint decorating his face, Haru Kuntanawa hardly looked like a potential business partner for California’s oil industry when he addressed the crowd gathered last week in a Sacramento conference room. But under a plan state air regulators are considering, industries that emit greenhouse gas pollution in California could […]
By • May 4, 2016