WhatMatters

Critics of California’s perceived penchant for overregulation are likely to bristle over a bill state lawmakers are considering that would put further limits on who can sit in a car’s front seat. As CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow explains, a bill backed by traffic safety advocates and authored by Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson of Suisun City would: […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration blew past an important federal deadline Monday — resulting in millions of dollars left on the table that would have been used for Medi-Cal care, writes CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang. In November California voters approved Proposition 35, which requires revenue that the state receives from a tax on health care insurance plans […]

As President Donald Trump and his administration carry out plans to conduct the largest deportation program in U.S. history, fear and mistrust have taken hold of daily life for many immigrant communities in California’s Central Valley. As CalMatters’ Nigel Duara explains in an immersive and detailed report, the threat of immigration sweeps has led to […]

Scheduling note: WhatMatters is taking Monday off to honor Cesar Chavez and will be back in your inboxes Tuesday. A handful of legislators rallied near the state Capitol Thursday to promote what they’re calling an “extremely unsexy,” but important, bipartisan bill package intended to put California’s housing development into overdrive.  But one bill stands out […]

From CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow: I had a routine lawmaker profile story in mind — not an investigation — when I went to interview Assemblymember Mike Gipson in his state Capitol office earlier this month in Sacramento. I knew that the Gardena Democrat was a former law enforcement officer whose family had suffered […]

California is one of the country’s most racially diverse states, with its population speaking more than 200 different languages and dialects, as CalMatters reported in 2022.  Several groups have now joined forces to try and make voting easier for those groups:  Backed by good governance advocacy organizations including Common Cause California and the immigrants rights […]

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang: As businesses like SpaceX and Amazon seek to undo the National Labor Relations Board, California unions are trying a novel tactic to preserve labor organizing rights.  They’ve introduced a bill that would give the state a new role in union disputes. Assembly Bill 288 by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor would […]

From CalMatters investigative reporter Lauren Hepler:  A new state bill would add more oversight to California homeless shelters after a CalMatters investigation exposed that many taxpayer-funded facilities are plagued by violence, mismanagement and low re-housing rates. Assembly Bill 750 would build on an existing state law that was supposed to add basic checks on homeless […]

From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay: When Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara testified about California’s property insurance market before the Assembly’s insurance committee this week, he mentioned a recent trip to Bermuda — somewhat defensively.  Lara attended the Bermuda Risk Summit, an insurance industry conference, last week. He gave a keynote address on March 11, the […]

Southern California’s Long Beach and Los Angeles ports move millions of tons of cargo a year, handling 40% of the country’s imports and exports. They shuffle goods including produce, electronics and pharmaceuticals, and are critical to the state and national economies, writes CalMatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde. But with diesel trucks, trains, ships and cargo equipment coming […]