Dan Walters

Dr. Shura Alexis Moreno sees a patient at Gabriel Medical Center in East Los Angeles on Sept. 14, 2021. Jessica Pons for CalMatters

Commentary

Would state health care work better than EDD?

Would a new centrally managed health care program be any more effective than the Employment Development Department or the state's other bungling bureaucracies?

By

Dan Walters

• February 1, 2022

Commentary

Newsom in the middle of solar panel battle

Gov. Gavin Newsom is the man in the middle of an intense battle over payments to rooftop solar panel owners for their excess power.

By

Dan Walters

• January 31, 2022

California election results photo illustration

Commentary

Two statewide races to watch this year

With Gov. Gavin Newsom a shoo-in for re-election the year's most significant statewide race will be for attorney general while its most interesting will be for insurance commissioner.

By

Dan Walters

• January 30, 2022

Commentary

Newsom’s vacillation on vaccinations, Phase 2

Another heated confrontation over vaccinations is looming in California's Capitol and once again Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to straddle the fence.

By

Dan Walters

• January 26, 2022

A worker welds. As California attracts higher-educated workers, it is running out of blue-collar labor. Photo via iStock

Commentary

California’s poor face new dilemma: inflation

California has the nation's highest poverty rate, COVID-19 has hit poor families the hardest and they must now contend with escalating inflation of living costs.

By

Dan Walters

• January 25, 2022

Commentary

Can downtown Sacramento recover from COVID-19?

Downtown Sacramento has been hard hit by COVID-19, stalling its recovery from years of decay. Can it snap back?

By

Dan Walters

• January 24, 2022

Commentary

Will California’s new school data system really work?

Gov. Gavin Newsom is creating a new system to collect data on education that should tell Californians how well schools are performing, but healthy skepticism is warranted.

By

Dan Walters

• January 23, 2022