California Voices

Flat-free contracts for public defense attorneys are barred in many states, yet 15 California counties use this format for representing defendants who can't pay for one. The problem? It creates a disincentive to spend money fighting criminal charges.

Los Angeles' leaders got plenty of warnings they've been overspending for years. Now they're using January's fires to seek a state bailout.

A formerly homeless man residing in Ventura makes the case for shelters in response to a recent CalMatters investigation.

As lawmakers debate whether transgender athletes can play sports, they're missing a more widespread education issue — low test scores, especially in reading.

After seeing the headlines about Gavin Newsom's podcast, a longtime policy expert assumed the worst. Then she listened and discovered a model for the type of political discourse desperately missing today.

California’s governors and legislators have a number of irritating habits, but the worst is their tendency to enact sweeping programs or policy decrees without weighing the risks.

The California Penal Code requires officers to make an arrest in domestic violence incidents, but a well-intended law is leading to victims being wrongfully detained, as a former political staffer's experience reveals.

Given the expected decline in gas sales under California's zero-emission vehicle mandates, the politics for implementing a new revenue source will be as thorny as the gas tax has been for 102 years.

California ranks No. 1 in international students, who are afraid of escalating ICE activity on campus. Colleges pledged safeguards but their protections are limited.

Guest Commentary written by Tracy Nguyen Tracy Nguyen is a student at Stanford University studying political science and public policy. She specializes in state and local governance with a broader focus in health policy. Imagine driving 75 miles one way every day because your life depended on it. That used to be the case for […]