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From CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn:  The faculty union of California State University overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization, giving its leadership the green light to pull as many as 29,000 instructors from educating the more than 400,000 students in the nation’s largest public four-year university system.  The California Faculty Association said Monday that 95% […]

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal:   Normally an election to set up a fire district and fill one school board seat in a county with just 112,000 registered voters wouldn’t get statewide attention.  But the Nov. 7 election in Shasta County is far from normal and will be closely watched — including by the Secretary […]

From CalMatters state Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff: Coming soon to California: a diversity reporting mandate for venture capital firms. Not coming soon to California: a diversity reporting mandate for Gov. Gavin Newsom. As the bill signing period wrapped up earlier this month, Newsom approved a measure that will force venture capital firms operating in California […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s trip overseas this week has had its share of twists: First a surprise visit to Israel, followed by a surprise meeting a few days later with Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday in Beijing to discuss trade relations, climate change and even fentanyl. Newsom isn’t the first California governor to visit China — […]

The question of whether the state can make college debt-free for all Californians — or just some — is a particularly fraught one.  Take for instance, California’s Middle Class Scholarship program, which launched in 2022. In the last academic year, about 300,000 students received an average of $1,970 more toward their college education through the […]

Though Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a handful of laws earlier this month to address the state’s mental health crisis — including a measure to loosen rules about who is eligible for involuntary treatment and another that gives voters the opportunity to decide on a multi-billion dollar bond measure to add thousands of treatment beds statewide […]

The California Energy Commission isn’t necessarily an agency that the public, or even reporters, follow for its every twist and turn. But it does have a wide-ranging purview and its decisions can affect people’s daily lives, not to mention the industries being regulated. For example, last week, it voted to begin proceedings for two key […]

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff:  With his desk clear of bills for the year, Gov. Gavin Newsom is turning his attention from California policymaking to international relations. The governor is on his way to China for a week-long excursion to promote cooperation on climate change, economic development and cultural exchange — after a brief […]

This is CalMatters housing reporter Ben Christopher pinch-hitting for Lynn.  There’s something odd going on in California’s housing market. If you’ve bought a house in this state lately — or if you’ve thought about buying a house, perused your local listings and then deleted the Zillow app from your phone while quietly weeping — you’ve […]

With California gas prices hovering roughly $2 above the national average — sometimes $3 depending where you are — the state’s Energy Commission today is expected to consider whether to take a key step toward penalties on windfall oil profits, and to broaden what data its new watchdog agency can collect. Quick reminder: The agency […]