California Voices

Viewpoints from across California

A group of five people, dressed in professional attire, sit on chairs on a stage in front of a crowd, with a banner behind them reading “Governor Candidate Forum.” Four of the five people sitting on stage have their hands up to answer the question while a crowd of people watches in the dark.

No clear frontrunner for governor, but new poll names five with the best shot

A poll shows three Democrats and two Republicans have voter support percentages in the teens. The top two vote-getters in June will face off in November.

Dan Walters

A person in medical protective clothing, wearing a face mask and a hair net, pushes a hospital gurney through a hallway inside a hospital, viewed from an open door.

She spent six of her last years in arbitration with her HMO. Her husband’s still fighting the system

Arbitrators in medical disputes are supposed to be unbiased, but this couple suspected there is an incentive to favor HMO’s in arbitration.

By Stephen Martinez

Two people face each other as they speak: the person on the left has a happy expression and her arm to her chest, while the person on the right wears a grey suit jacket and glasses. Both people are standing in a park area on a sunny day. In the background is a fence to a baseball field.

A former political ally tests LA liberals’ allegiance to Mayor Karen Bass

Mayor Karen Bass isn't vulnerable on her right, but she may be on her left, as City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist and ex-supporter, runs against her.

Jim Newton

A close-up view of a person's hand holding a sign that reads "We wants answers! No more deaths!" and they stand at the front steps of a building surrounded by other people holding signs.

California promised accountability for inmate deaths in jails. A year later, no results.

Lawmakers passed a law creating a state department to review inmate deaths, but it hasn’t completed a single death review in its first year.

By David Myers

Commentary

Commentary: State’s ‘balanced and progressive’ budget carries big risks for taxpayers

Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders are patting themselves on the back for what Brown describes as a “balanced and progressive budget” for the 2017-18 fiscal year that begins July 1. The “progressive” description of the $185 billion budget alludes to expanding benefits for the very large number of impoverished Californians – at least a […]

Dan Walters

• June 18, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Board of Equalization, an embarrassment for decades, finally getting overhaul

Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators are on the verge of virtually eliminating the state Board of Equalization, which has been in existence nearly 140 years. It’s about time. The five-member tax agency has been an embarrassment for decades. Four of the five members are directly elected from immense districts and the board, which collects sales […]

Dan Walters

• June 15, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: After 9,000 columns, I’m still watching California — now from a new perch

So here I am again, beginning the third incarnation of my running commentary on all things California, but particularly its politics. Having written more than 9,000 California-centric columns over the last 36-plus years, first for the late Sacramento Union and then for 33 years for the Sacramento Bee, I and the column have moved to […]

Dan Walters

• June 14, 2017

Health

Reader reaction: A dentist questions safety paradigms

This letter was written in response to A child’s death and the power of the dental lobby, which CALmatters published on April 13, 2016. “There is no evidence that dental anesthesia under this model of care carries a greater risk than dental care with a second anesthesiologist present,” Alicia Malaby, spokeswoman for the California Dental […]

Reader Reactions

• April 26, 2016

Economy

Opinion: Why California should follow its cities to a higher minimum wage

With wages stagnant, inequality growing, and Washington, D.C., gridlocked, states and cities are taking matters into their own hands by raising the minimum wage. Before 2012, only five local governments in the United States had their own minimum wage laws; now about 30 do. At the forefront are 15 California cities and counties, the largest […]

Expert Perspectives

• November 22, 2015

Reader Reactions

Opinion: Increasing minimum wage is wrong tool to alleviate poverty

Of late, the minimum wage battle in California appears to be never-ending. No sooner did California increase its minimum wage to $9 per hour in 2013 (slated to increase to $10 per hour in January 2016), did some legislators attempt to accelerate and further increase the minimum wage. More recently, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee […]

Expert Perspectives

• November 22, 2015