WhatMatters

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, June 23. Deal or no deal? Hurry up, and wait. That’s all millions of Californians can do as Gov. Gavin Newsom and top Democratic lawmakers negotiate — largely behind closed doors — the terms of an extended eviction moratorium and the details of a whopping $267 billion budget. The impact […]

California has a lot of moratoriums it needs to worry about. Even as Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers rush to extend California’s eviction moratorium before it expires next week, another big deadline looms on the horizon. In November, the state’s moratorium on insurance companies dropping coverage for Californians living in wildfire-prone areas is set […]

How you interpret California’s latest unemployment numbers may have a lot to do with whether you’re a glass half-full or glass half-empty kind of person. If you’re the former, Friday’s report from the Employment Development Department is cause to celebrate: It shows that California’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% in May, down from April’s revised […]

Good morning, California. It’s Friday, June 18. Behind-the-scenes look Gov. Gavin Newsom is peeling back COVID-19 restrictions and handing out prizes, but as California tries to regain its balance, much of the fallout is landing at his feet. Cal/OSHA, the state’s workplace safety agency, voted Thursday to allow most fully vaccinated workers to forgo face […]

The images coming out of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent public events have been, to say the least, surreal — and could pose a political liability for the governor, who must balance buoying Californians’ spirits with acknowledging the ongoing harm of the pandemic as he fends off an almost-certain recall election. On Wednesday, Newsom rode a […]

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, June 16. For many, masks here to stay Rome wasn’t built in a day — and neither did California reopen in one. Flanked by minions, Smurfs and Transformers at Universal Studios Hollywood, a maskless Gov. Gavin Newsom drew $15 million worth of prizes in the state’s vaccine lottery and declared […]

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, June 15. State tries to boost travel Today’s the day — at last. A staggering 453 days after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first stay-at-home order, shutting the state down overnight, most businesses will be able to reopen at full capacity. Fully vaccinated Californians will be able to ditch […]

One key component of California’s reopening may come down to semantics. What’s the difference between a “vaccine verification system” and a “vaccine passport”? Hard to say — but Gov. Gavin Newsom distinguished between the two during a Friday press conference, suggesting the state is working on an electronic system that businesses can use to check […]

Democratic lawmakers are taking steps to move up the date of the all-but-certain election to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom — a sign they may be listening to arguments that doing so could help him stay in office. Thursday morning, the state Department of Finance released estimates showing it would cost California’s 58 counties at least […]

Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, June 10. School: Yes. Work: Maybe. Masks at school, but not at the store. Well, unless you work at the store. But store employees may only have to wear masks until June 28. As long as they’re fully vaccinated. But it’s up to businesses to figure out how to verify […]