Dan Walters

Gavin Newsom's late-session deal failed in the Legislature. It would have lessened liability for utilities whose equipment causes wildfires. A state Senate compromise never got a vote.

Having a union-dominated school board has not stemmed the tide of red ink in the Sacramento City Unified district.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom just doesn’t have the clout he once wielded so aggressively as the end of his reign approaches.

The process has become opaque, and the budget itself is a hodgepodge of phantom revenues, accounting gimmicks and off-the-books loans.

The governor will appoint new state education leadership. But three bills to hold the state more accountable just died in the state senate.

Legislators this week and voters this November will weigh in on measures to curtail some of CEQA's vexing construction project restrictions.

If Prop 43 succeeds, local tax increases will need two-thirds approval from voters to pass. Some cities and counties have put tax increases on the current ballot.

Unions, consumer groups, personal injury lawyers and environmentalists are battling business groups over surveillance pricing and anti-monopoly bills.

Rob Bonta has sent nearly 500 press releases this year. But he has been quiet about California's payouts for lost or settled court cases. Recently they totaled $7 million.

To get high-income Californians to pay more taxes, voters could approve Propositions 40 and 3. Props 41, 42 and 43 would make it harder to raise taxes.