Politics

Can a Democrat cross environmentalists and labor unions and still keep her seat in the California Legislature? Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown (D-San Bernardino) is putting that question to the test. After two terms in the statehouse, Brown is facing a challenge from the left as she runs for re-election. Environmentalists and union leaders unhappy with Brown’s […]

This letter first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle Letters to the Editor on March 23, 2016, in response to Why your signature is worth more than ever. Regarding “Populist concept now for the rich” (March 21): For some time now, the giant special interests such as Big Tobacco have gamed the initiative process by […]

Democracy has a price. And at the moment, it’s higher than ever in California. With a presidential election coming up this fall, dozens of groups are trying to get measures on the ballot — asking voters to sanction recreational marijuana, stiffen gun controls, increase cigarette taxes and pass numerous other laws. The competition among them […]

A month after taking over as the California Assembly’s Republican leader, Chad Mayes brought his caucus to a shelter for homeless mothers. The lawmakers listened as women shared stories of drug abuse and recovery. They poked their heads into rooms crowded with bunk beds. They greeted children bouncing balls on the playground. “It’s important to […]

A Harvard economist known globally for his work on climate change policy sat in the Sacramento office of the oil industry’s lobbying firm recently, making the case that California is fighting global warming the wrong way. The state has a good cap and trade system, Robert Stavins said, but some of its other environmental policies […]

Women who work in California politics gathered in the historic Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento for a #WinLikeAGirl networking event paid for by the state Democratic party on February 11, 2016. All photos by Max Whittaker for CALmatters. Cynthia Bryant (holding microphone, executive director of the California Republican Party) and Shawnda Westly (at right, senior strategist […]

#WinLikeAGirl at the Governor’s Mansion Click here to see more photos from the bipartisan networking event for women in California politics.   Photos decorating the Political Solutions lobbying firm look like those inside many similar businesses in Sacramento. One shows a firm partner on the golf course with a former assembly speaker. In another, three […]

Several times in the last year, Assemblyman Eric Linder (R-Corona) pushed the green “Yes” button on his desk when most of his Republican colleagues pressed “No.” He broke from his party to vote for labor-backed bills requiring more disclosure of health care rates, new layoff protections for civil servants and a system for workers to […]

When President Barack Obama announced last month that he is taking executive action to ban the solitary confinement of juveniles in federal prisons, it was a rare case of Washington setting policy more liberal than what comes out of Sacramento. In California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature, bills to restrict the use of solitary confinement on youth have […]

In 1976, a year into his first term as governor, Jerry Brown signed a bill that came to be seen as one of the strongest environmental protection laws in the country. The California Coastal Act limited development along the 1,100-mile shoreline and guaranteed public access to the beach. Yet just two years later, Brown had […]