Assembly

WhatMatters

Progressive bills go down in flames

Good morning, California. It’s Friday, April 30. Meet Asm. Alex Lee It isn’t even halfway through the legislative year, and three lofty progressive proposals have already been squashed — showcasing the sharp divide within California’s Democrat-dominated Legislature. A bill to create single-payer health care? Tabled last week. A bill to ban corporations and “business entities” from […]

By Emily Hoeven • April 30, 2021

WhatMatters

Big money, big challenges

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, April 13. Solutions elusive When it comes to California’s big problems, big money isn’t always enough. Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign into law a $536 million wildfire prevention bill lawmakers sent to his desk on Monday. But even as the state Assembly and Senate unanimously passed the bill — […]

By Emily Hoeven • April 13, 2021

Capitol

How to expand internet access for Californians

AB 537 would develop a universal, streamlined permitting process for high-speed internet projects to help bridge the digital divide.

By Guest Commentary • April 13, 2021

Politics

Gov. Newsom and legislators have lots of money to spend, few strings attached

The federal coronavirus relief package gives a $26 billion windfall to California. Business groups, doctors and activists all want their share.

By Ben Christopher • March 24, 2021

WhatMatters

One puzzle piece remains for Newsom, lawmakers

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, February 23. School reopenings stubborn Every piece of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s high-priority pandemic proposals has fallen into place — except for reopening schools. Lawmakers on Monday sent a $7.6 billion relief package to Newsom’s desk, which includes $600 stimulus payments for 5.7 million low-income Californians, $2 billion in small-business relief […]

By Emily Hoeven • February 23, 2021

Education

Lawmakers blitz governor on school reopenings

Members of the Legislature put forward a bill to require schools to reopen by mid-April and guarantee that teachers get offered a COVID-19 vaccine beforehand. The lawmakers have said they’ll vote on the bill next week without hearings and Gov. Gavin Newsom has signaled that he'll veto it if it reaches him.

By Ricardo Cano • February 18, 2021

Commentary

Data delay weighs on redistricting plans

The 2020 census will trigger redrawing of the state's congressional and legislative districts but data delays will squeeze deadlines for the redistricting process.

By Dan Walters • February 16, 2021

Politics

California Assembly impeachment vote puts Republicans in bind

That the California Assembly would spend its first day of the year calling for the removal of President Donald Trump — a week after he sicced a mob of white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and hooligans on Congress — is about as surprising as summer fog in San Francisco. Democrats hold a super-majority in both chambers […]

By Ben Christopher • January 11, 2021

Politics

Next secretary of state aims to teach Californians “how fragile the democracy is”

Seventy years ago, sharecroppers David and Mildred Nash refused to back down in a dispute with a white farmer, and fled from a lynch mob in Hope, Arkansas. With their 2-year-old daughter in tow, they found a new home out west in a place so different her grandfather, who would die without ever being able […]

By Ben Christopher • January 5, 2021

Commentary

Will Gov. Newsom patch up the Local Control Funding Formula for schools?

Without transparency, we cannot evaluate whether the Local Control Funding Formula is working for our most vulnerable students.

By Guest Commentary • January 5, 2021