Politics

Ahead of a Thursday deadline, California Democrats are striking deals with interest groups to kick controversial measures off the November ballot. They are also finalizing a pair of ballot measures to fund affordable housing and allow the state to save more money in financially good years

Democratic leaders in California agree that speeding up the vote count would be nice. But they refuse to pursue any changes that would decrease voter access despite voter frustration with the slow trickle of results.

A balance act: To help fund the safety net, lawmakers have voted through a health tax extension that could increase premium costs for Californians with private insurance

Pacheco’s legislation would allow public agencies to delay records requests it deems “improperly” filed, sue for “malicious” requests and charge up to $66 an hour to produce government records. One good governance advocate calls it a “virtual horror show of governmental non-transparency.”

A California union wants to tax billionaires to fund healthcare. The initiative has drawn fierce opposition from Newsom and Silicon Valley moguls.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Trump administration appears to be investigating him and his wife, a step that the Democrat said is meant to intimidate him as he considers a run for president.

State officials have found they are using six high-risk AI-like systems. One year ago, they reported using zero.

State lawmakers’ budget plan would reject or delay many of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s social service cuts. Now, the budget negotiations begin in earnest.

Current state lawmakers dominated fundraising in races for California's little-known Board of Equalization, drawing heavily from interests with business before the Legislature.

Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed new carbon market rules that could drastically shrink the state’s funding for climate projects, threatening the spending deal he struck with legislators last year. Senate Democrats aren’t having it.