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Two hands with painted nails hold a heart-shaped photograph of a person smiling and wearing a baseball hat. The hands belong to a mother and a daughter, and the image has a feeling of "remembrance." The image is focused on the heart and the hands.

WhatMatters

A wrongful death case focuses on California mental health insurance

Many California families are still struggling to get mental health treatment four years after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a landmark law requiring health insurance plans to provide enrollees with all medically necessary mental health and addiction treatment. A new investigation by CalMatters mental health reporter Jocelyn Wiener found the system for appealing mental health denials […]

By

Lynn La

• October 28, 2024

Inequality Insights

Will Prop 36 mean more deportations?

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m Wendy Fry. Proposition 36, appearing on California’s 2024 ballot, would reclassify some retail theft and drug crimes as felonies after multiple convictions. It aims to reverse parts of Proposition 47, a 2014 law that reduced such offenses to misdemeanors in an effort to decrease prison overcrowding. Proponents have raised […]

By

Wendy Fry

• October 25, 2024

Two people stand over a container labeled "official ballot drop box." One individual writes on a clipboard with papers and the other organizes ballot envelopes.

WhatMatters

California Republicans embrace mail voting

Voting ends in California on Nov. 5, and nearly 3.3 million ballots had already been returned as of Thursday. It’s not shocking that more than half of them are from voters 65 and older, the most reliable voters. What’s more noteworthy is that the turnout so far is higher among registered Republicans (16.5%) than Democrats […]

By

Lynn La

• October 25, 2024

Department of Elections employee Hong Pharmacy Ngo places scanned mail-in and drop-off ballots into bins during Super Tuesday at City Hall in San Francisco on March 5, 2024. Photo by Juliana Yamada for CalMatters

WhatMatters

Which California ballot props are likely to pass?

With less than two weeks until Election Day, some of you may have already filled out your ballot and submitted your vote (way to go, you!). But for those who are still deciding and curious about what other California voters think about the statewide ballot measures, a new poll out Wednesday night from the Public […]

By

Lynn La

• October 24, 2024

WhatMatters

California congressional Republicans bank on Newsom unpopularity

Gov. Gavin Newsom easily survived a recall attempt in 2021, then overwhelmingly won re-election a year later. But his approval rating dropped to a low point by November 2023, and hasn’t recovered. Californians remain divided on his job performance (49% approval, 48% disapproval in a September Public Policy Institute of California survey). Republicans in the […]

By

Lynn La

• October 23, 2024

WhatMatters

Will California ballot proposition mean more deportations?

With proponents of Proposition 36 raising nearly $15 million so far — about three times as much as its opponents — and 71% of likely voters in support, it appears the statewide ballot measure will pass in November. And that’s exactly what immigrant rights advocates are worried about. As CalMatters’ Wendy Fry explains, Prop. 36 […]

By

Lynn La

• October 22, 2024

A close-up of a key with a California flag keychain on a voting panel with the "Aye" vote button lite up in green on a legislator's desk on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 17, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters

WhatMatters

Why California lawmakers miss votes — and why it matters

For the last five years, Democrats have had supermajorities in both legislative chambers — leading to “yes” votes most of the time. Sometimes, however, a legislator does not vote, either due to an absence or an abstention. But because both are categorized the same way — as “No Vote Recorded” — it’s difficult for constituents […]

By

Lynn La

• October 21, 2024

A guard tower at the California Health Care Facility prison in Stockton on March 2, 2022. Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Inequality Insights

Prop 36: Is ‘mass treatment’ a fantasy?

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m Wendy Fry. Californians are set to vote next month on Proposition 36, which aims to reduce drug-related crimes by steering repeat offenders toward treatment rather than prison. The ballot initiative would also increase punishments for certain drug and theft offenses. It appears likely to pass, with polls showing voters […]

By

Wendy Fry

• October 18, 2024

Congressional candidate Rudy Salas speaks to a crowd of volunteers at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Bakersfield

WhatMatters

Who’s fueling California’s congressional money race

With Democrats firmly in control of statewide offices and the Legislature, California isn’t often seen as a “battleground state.” But California could decide which party controls Congress — and both parties and their allies are spending tens of millions of dollars to seize the opportunity. As CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu explains, outside political […]

By

Lynn La

• October 18, 2024

A close-up of a person wearing a black suit and white shirt with a stoic expression on their face.

WhatMatters

Why CalPERS is being pushed to divest from Tesla

Elon Musk, the tech mogul who runs Tesla, said in December that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts “must die.” Now, two civil rights groups are calling for the nation’s largest public pension fund to divest from the electric vehicle maker. On Wednesday, LatinoJustice and the National Institute for Workers’ Rights sent a letter to State […]

By

Lynn La

• October 17, 2024