Election boosts advocates of higher taxes

This month’s election was good news for those who believe that Californians should pay more taxes. One indication is that about three-quarters of local tax and bond issues were approved by voters.

The politics of California’s killer wildfires

There’s no escaping political fingerpointing as two killer wildfires strike in California.

Newsom will find stack of Brown’s leftovers

While Gavin Newsom won’t face a budget crisis when he is inaugurated in January, he will find a stack of leftover issues on his desk from outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown.

Newsom won’t have budget crisis, but can it last?

Gavin Newsom will be only the second governor in the last half-century to begin his first term without a major budget crisis to be solved. But keeping the state in the black may be difficult, particularly as he pursues an expansionist agenda.

Dan Walters is one of most decorated and widely syndicated columnists in California history, authoring a column four times a week that offers his view and analysis of the state’s political, economic,...