WhatMatters

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu: Two Californians made history Tuesday in our nation’s capital — one starting a new job, the other losing theirs. Laphonza Butler took the oath of office as a U.S. senator, succeeding the late Dianne Feinstein and becoming the first Black and openly LGBTQ woman to serve in the […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom did not make his pick to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein promise not to run for a full term in 2024. So as Laphonza Butler prepares to get sworn into office today, that’s the big question hanging over her — and the U.S. Senate race next year. As CalMatters’ new politics […]

Late Sunday evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed that Laphonza Butler, president of EMILYs List — a political action committee focused on electing pro-choice, Democratic women — will replace the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and finish out her term through 2024. As CalMatters’ state Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff explains, Butler for many years was the […]

With tears in her eyes, Anneisha Williams, a Jack in the Box employee from Inglewood, lifted the piece of paper that was Assembly Bill 1228 with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fresh signature. The measure will raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour next April and create a council to set labor […]

California is at the center of the political universe this week — at least in Republican circles.  Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, seven GOP presidential contenders showed up for the second televised primary debate. But one very large elephant wasn’t in the room — former President Donald Trump, who […]

Small business and restaurant owners in Oakland have had enough. Tuesday, dozens gathered together in a tense and raucous rally downtown, and several owners went on “strike,” closing for a few hours or the whole day, to demand public safety reforms. Concerns about rising crime reverberate far beyond Oakland: In a February survey by the […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom has decided the fate of two more high-profile bills — one on criminal justice and the other on public schools. On Monday, the governor signed Senate Bill 14 into law, reclassifying child sex trafficking into a serious felony that increases prison sentences, saying that “California is going further to protect kids.” Sen. […]

The bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk whose fate is generating perhaps the greatest suspense: a measure that would allow striking workers in California to collect unemployment benefits after two weeks. It’s definitely a bill with clear battle lines drawn between labor and business. But what would its impact really be? Felicia Mello of CalMatters’ […]

As the threat from wildfires in California only grows with climate change, insurance companies have been pulling back their offerings to homeowners. But while the Legislature was unable to agree on how to address the high cost of doing business in the state while protecting homeowners, the executive branch is stepping in. On Thursday, Insurance […]

From CalMatters homelessness policy reporter Jeanne Kuang: Fed up with homeless encampments, California local officials are seeking guidance from the nation’s most powerful judges.  In a legal brief filed Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court, the California State Association of Counties and League of California Cities told the justices that a string of federal court […]