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We keep you informed about how decisions made by California politicians and officials shape your lives, and about the forces and players that influence those decisions. We also give you the tools to participate and vote.

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Newly elected legislators stand to be sworn in in the Senate chambers of the California State Capitol on Dec. 5, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters Rules for thee: How California Legislature skirts its own laws
Republican gubernatorial candidate, state Sen. Brian Dahle, right, hugs his wife, Assemblywoman Megan Dahle, in celebration at an election night gathering in Sacramento on June 7, 2022. Dahle faced-off against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in the November general election. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo Family business: Meet the Legacy Caucus in the California Legislature
Joseph Felice (right) and Kim Payne wait in line to receive food at the Trinity County Food Bank distribution at the Trinity County Fairgrounds on Feb. 8, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters Emerald Triangle communities were built on cannabis. Legalization has pushed them to the brink
Henry Sanchez, 22, who lives in Bell Gardens, waits for the Metro bus to arrive at the Norwalk Green Line Station in Norwalk on April 3, 2023. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters Why California public transit is at a pivotal moment
Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the media after a meeting with local leaders on homelessness in Sacramento on Nov. 18, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters A failure to communicate: California government cuts back press access
The California Legislative Native American Caucus, from the left: Assemblymembers Mike A. Gipson, a Carson Democrat, Esmeralda Soria, a Merced Democrat, Sabrina Cervantes, a Riverside Democrat, Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, a South Los Angeles Democrat, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Lakewood Democrat and James C. Ramos, a Rancho Cucamonga Democrat, during a meeting in Sacramento on April 18, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters Across the aisle: Can bipartisan caucuses change the California Legislature?
California Legislature paid trips. Illustration by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters; iStock How free trips for California legislators lead to bills
A worshipper at the Shri Guru Ravidass Temple in Rio Linda on June 3, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters A small world: How caste discrimination came to California
Meet the Team
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Foon Rhee
Deputy Managing Editor
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Sameea Kamal
Capitol Reporter
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Jeremia Kimelman
Data Reporter
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Alexei Koseff
Capitol Reporter
Climate Change
Back from the brink: State expands climate goals, but doubt and distrust linger
The sound of applause has scarcely died down in the Capitol after last week’s vote to significantly expand California’s requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Proponents who steered the groundbreaking legislation are still basking in the afterglow of an effort that—after seeming on the brink of defeat—deftly mustered unexpected support and reaffirmed the state’s international […]
By • September 1, 2016
Politics
Judging the judges: Recalls may become easier, but is that better?
The reaction has been swift, viral and unrelenting. Shortly after Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sentenced ex-Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to only six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, the victim’s emotional 12-page court statement drew 13 million readers online, and a cyber-petition demanding the judge’s removal garnered well over a million signatures. […]
By • August 25, 2016
Climate Change
Climate retreat? Legislature could ditch plan to radically cut emissions
Gov. Jerry Brown has taken the national stage to tout California’s fight against global warming, telling cheering throngs at the Democratic National Convention that the state has “the toughest climate laws in the country.” Yet inside the state Capitol, the fate of the policy’s centerpiece—legislation to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions—is in peril. One ominous […]
By • August 3, 2016
Elections
Ballot of the Bulge: Why a new law isn’t shrinking the ballot much – yet
Protracted policy questions. Big-money battles. Contradictory proposals that are difficult to discern. It’s shaping up to be an all-too-typical fall election—once again confronting  California voters with an unwieldy ballot. This wasn’t supposed to happen. After polls confirmed that California voters were frustrated by ballot overload, lawmakers two years ago made changes aimed at pre-empting at […]
By • July 20, 2016
Elections
Sex, drugs and a controversial AIDS activist
As an AIDS activist 30 years ago, Michael Weinstein helped defeat an inflammatory ballot measure that could have quarantined Californians with the disease. Today, Weinstein has turned to the ballot to advance his own controversial vision for public health. President of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has clinics around the world, Weinstein is […]
By • July 13, 2016
Politics
Money rains from perfect storm of politics
Some of the outsized money spent on California legislative races this year came pouring through the mail slot of voter Michael Johnson’s home, arriving in the form of two or three glossy ads a day in advance of the June primary. Most of the ads weren’t from candidates. They were from interest groups that have business before […]
By • June 15, 2016
Politics
What to disclose when an abused child nearly dies
How much information should be available to the public in cases of severe child abuse? California lawmakers and the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown have been at odds over that question for the last two years. Legislators recently rejected a proposal to limit public access to reports on abuse so extreme that children nearly die. […]
By • June 7, 2016