Capitol

Mention Pacific Gas & Electric to Victor Porter, and the response is nothing like the bland non-opinion most Americans have of the companies that provide their electricity. “They have to pay,” said Porter, a 64-year-old artist who fled for his life with his partner and their dog when the towering Camp Fire swept down on […]

GOP Assemblyman Brian Maienschein of San Diego is the latest prominent California Republican to switch parties, giving Democrats a majority of epic proportions in the Legislature.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown, who pushed to rein in public employee pension costs, has started drawing on his $120,000-a-year pension after decades of public service. Brown officially retired Jan. 7 to his ranch in Colusa County and began drawing $9,994.29 a month after 33.5 years of service, according to Amy Morgan, a spokeswoman for the […]

A quarter-century after California elected Sheila Kuehl as its first openly gay or lesbian legislator, its LGBT caucus has a series of successes and a to-do list for the future. Said Kuehl: “You don’t get any respect unless you’re in the room where it happens. And that is symbolic sometimes but it is noticed by society—because you’re making policy for your community as well as for everybody else.”

The 2018 election was hailed as the "Year of the Woman," but California still lags behind its Western neighbors and many other states when it comes to female representation. Among the ideas to boost the number of elected women: let campaigns pay for child care.

An investigation commissioned by the California Assembly found that former California Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas of Los Angeles, who resigned abruptly in 2017 citing health problems, likely harassed at least two legislative staff members while he was in office.

The governor put the surplus into three buckets: $3 billion for education and social services, $8.5 billion in one-time spending and $10 billion to build what he is calling “budget resiliency.”

After a political "Year of the Woman," what percentage of California's new legislature is made up of women? With Latinos a plurality of California, are they a plurality among state legislators? Who's over-represented compared to their share of the adult population? Who's under-represented by the same metric? Watch to see how these lawmakers' demographics stack up agains the state as a whole.

A huge surprise surplus, a big push on affordable housing, help for college students, working poor tax credits, credit cards at the DMV, kindergarten potties.

The governor proposes extra payments and offers to help school districts meet their pension obligations as retirement liabilities top $256 billion.