Past Events
Missed a CalMatters event? Watch recorded sessions and learn from influential speakers discussing California's most pressing issues.
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Virtual, Sacramento Sessions
The Battles Over California’s Groundwater
September 12, 2024 • 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
This year, for the first time in California history, state officials have taken steps toward cracking down on groundwater depletion in the state’s agricultural heartland. This conversation will consider the consequences of California’s groundwater law for farms and communities.
Hybrid
2024 Ideas Festival
June 05, 2024 10:30 am - June 06, 2024 8:00 pm
Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, 1230 J St, Sacramento, CA 95814
The two-day festival features more than a dozen events examining critical policy issues impacting the lives of millions of Californians.
Hybrid, Sacramento Sessions
No Deliveries: When Maternity Wards Close, Where Do Patients Go?
March 27, 2024 • 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
CalMatters Studio, 1303 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
California maternity wards are closing at a record pace. In the last decade, at least 46 hospitals have stopped labor and delivery services, a trend that accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, a CalMatters investigation found.
Hybrid, CalMatters Live
Farmworker Health: How Can California Protect its Essential Workers?
February 22, 2024 • 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Bakersfield 3100 Camino Del Rio Court Bakersfield
California is home to roughly half a million farmworkers. The majority of them work and live in the rich agricultural lands of the San Joaquin Valley. They’re an essential part of California’s $54 billion agricultural industry, yet are exposed to harsh working conditions, lack access to medical care and have little recourse when workplace safety rules are violated.
Hybrid, Sacramento Sessions
Book Bans and Pronoun Wars: What's in Store for School Boards in 2024
February 13, 2024 • 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
CalMatters Studio, 1303 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
From book bans to forced outing policies and fights over pronouns, political skirmishes have erupted at California's schools boards. Find out how these issues are dividing school communities, how the state is responding, and what the public can expect as we get closer to the 2024 elections.
Hybrid, Sacramento Sessions
California Is Embarking on a Billion-Dollar Overhaul to Unemployment (& More)
January 24, 2024 • 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
CalMatters Studio, 1303 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
As California embarks on an unprecedented $1.2 billion overhaul of the employment safety net, what lessons have the EDD and state regulators learned from mass COVID unemployment delays, a historic wave of fraud and years of stop-and-start reforms?
Hybrid, Sacramento Sessions
What to Look for in 2024 California Politics
December 12, 2023 • 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
CalMatters Studio, 1303 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
What were the biggest political stories this year and what can we look forward to in 2024? Join CalMatters political reporters Alexei Koseff, Sameea Kamal and Yue Stella Yu as they consider California's hot labor summer, the U.S. Senate race, a parade of 2024 ballot measures and more.
Hybrid, Sacramento Sessions
Hidden Hazards: California's Toxic Trash Problem and How to Fix It
November 15, 2023 • 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
CalMatters Studio, 1303 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
California produces millions of tons of hazardous waste every year. The toxic detritus can leach into groundwater or blow into the air, explode, spark fires, eat through metal containers, destroy ecosystems and sicken people. But over the past four decades, the number of facilities that manage hazardous waste has dwindled. What’s left is a tattered system of older sites with a troubling history of safety violations and polluted soil and groundwater. And most are located in communities of color, often ones with high rates of poverty.
Hybrid, Sacramento Sessions
Can the Dream of Debt-Free College Come True in California?
October 24, 2023 • 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
CalMatters Studio, 1303 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
California expanded a scholarship program to help more UC and Cal State students graduate debt-free, including an increased emphasis on middle-class students. A recent CalMatters analysis shows that the grant worked largely as intended in its first year, sending more money to students of higher-income families. Yet some critics say the funds are urgently needed elsewhere: the state's lowest income students, including those attending community colleges.
Hybrid, Sacramento Sessions
California’s Bet on Rehabilitation Over Incarceration
September 19, 2023 • 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
CalMatters Studio, 1303 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
Rehabilitation for prisoners and parolees is a centerpiece of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to change California’s criminal justice system. He’s reshaping San Quentin State Prison and steering more resources to so-called reentry programs. But do taxpayers know what they’re funding? And do the programs work?