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A person wearing a red and gold pattern dress stands behind a lectern with microphones from local media outlets during a press conference. A bookshelf with law books can be seen behind them.

WhatMatters

California crime policy takes conservative turn

I’m CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu, subbing for Lynn. Why do California voters keep electing progressive prosecutors and keep voting them out of office? That’s the question some criminal justice advocates are asking themselves after the defeats of two progressive district attorneys — Pamela Price in Alameda County and George Gascón in Los Angeles […]

By

Lynn La

• November 26, 2024

Two people inside a car look out the passenger window while one of them holds a cut out of President-elect Donald Trump wearing a hat that reads "MAGA". The outside of the car is decorated with more Trump paraphernalia including mini flags and a cut-out sticker of Trump pasted onto one of the side windows.

WhatMatters

California vs. Trump: Vaccines and immigration

In one week the Legislature will kick off a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom to prepare the state for President-elect Donald Trump. CalMatters reporters drill into two particular issues where California’s policies could clash with the Trump administration: public health and immigration. RFK Jr. and vaccination: California Democratic officials are already bracing for […]

By

Lynn La

• November 25, 2024

People on a small stage, with one person standing in front of a lectern, in front of an audience at a library surrounded by books and Covered California signage that reads "Let's talk health."

Inequality Insights

Dreamers can now enroll in Covered California

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m Wendy Fry. California has expanded its health insurance marketplace, Covered California, to allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients to purchase subsidized health plans, CalMatters’ health reporter Ana B. Ibarra reports. This is a result of a federal rule that aims to provide health coverage to thousands of “Dreamers,” […]

By

Wendy Fry

• November 22, 2024

A person seated in a leather chair at a judicial bench, wearing a black robe and glasses. They appear to be engaged in court proceedings, with a microphone and a laptop visible on the desk in front of them. A light-colored wall and a portion of a wooden desk complete the courtroom setting.

WhatMatters

How well is California’s racial justice law working?

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Racial Justice Act into law in September 2020, following the police murder of George Floyd. For the first time, defendants can put bias from any brush with the criminal legal system — from arrest to sentencing — on the stand. However, a Garrison Project and CalMatters analysis of the Racial […]

By

Lynn La

• November 22, 2024

WhatMatters

California colleges grapple with free speech

As California public universities try to balance campus safety with students’ right to protest, community colleges are squaring off in court with students and staff who argue that the schools are violating their freedom of speech, explains CalMatters community college reporter Adam Echelman. Since 2020, there have been at least seven lawsuits filed by professors […]

By

Lynn La

• November 21, 2024

A close-up view of a person's checkered pattern shoes as they lean over a voting booth at a vote center.

WhatMatters

What to do about slow California election results

The complaints and questions surface after every election: It takes California way too long to count all the votes. It’s unfair to candidates and their supporters in close races to make them wait. Is there something nefarious going on? It’s all happening again, further eroding public confidence in elections: In California’s 45th Congressional District, Republican […]

By

Lynn La

• November 20, 2024

A person in a kitchen at a fast-food restaurant prepares a meal, while in the foreground, four trays sit on a counter.

WhatMatters

Foes of raising California’s minimum wage declare victory

Two weeks after Election Day, the results on two of the 10 statewide propositions remain undecided. But opponents and supporters aren’t waiting around. Prop. 32 opponents declare victory: Despite no official call by the Associated Press, opponents said voters delivered a “historic” rejection of the statewide ballot measure to raise the hourly minimum wage from […]

By

Lynn La

• November 19, 2024

A close-up view of people on a small stage during an event at a library surrounded by books and Covered California signage that reads "Let's talk health."

WhatMatters

DACA recipients get more California health care

A major rule change under the Biden administration allows certain undocumented immigrants to purchase subsidized health plans through California’s insurance marketplace. But with a Republican-led effort to halt this expansion, and President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge of mass deportations, California health leaders worry that the gains the state achieved in coverage could be undone, writes CalMatters […]

By

Lynn La

• November 18, 2024

A construction site to a apartment complex.

Inequality Insights

Will Trump evict mixed-status families?

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m CalMatters housing affordability reporter Felicia Mello. One in five California children comes from a mixed-status family, in which at least one member is undocumented, according to the California Immigrant Data Portal. Concern is growing among housing advocates that those families risk losing access to federal housing assistance once President-elect […]

By

Felicia Mello

• November 15, 2024

A person wearing a hat with an American flag and a grey shirt sits on a green bench in an outside area of downtown Merced.

WhatMatters

California election trends so far

California is still counting votes (1.5 million yet to go), but some noteworthy trends are becoming clearer: Latino voters: Although the extent is still uncertain, polls show that support for President-elect Donald Trump among Latinos has grown nationwide. In California, a CalMatters analysis found that a larger share of votes in at least nine of […]

By

Lynn La

• November 15, 2024