California Governor

Gov. Newsom expands the California drought emergency from 50 counties to statewide, but does not order mandatory water conservation. He did authorize water regulators to ban wasteful water use, such as spraying down public sidewalks.

Gov. Newsom had his reasons for blocking California bills passed by the Legislature: cost, duplication and some politics. Overall, he signed 770 bills into law and vetoed 66, or about 8%.

Lawmakers have more money and political will, but the telecommunications industry could still stand in the way of broadband for all Californians.

California’s air board will vote this week on stopping burns that spew plumes of smoke that can trigger asthma attacks. The move is long in coming — it was supposed to end a decade ago under state law.

Socorro Diaz, who has worked cleaning houses for 17 years, was still trying to digest Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of a bill that would have provided protections for domestic workers. “I am very angry, very sad because I know that my work is worthy and deserves respect,” said Diaz. SB 1257, which was approved by […]

The dynamic between Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump has turned out to be a surprise during Newsom’s short time as governor, as he’s navigated an extraordinary spate of disasters requiring federal aid and diplomacy.

Welcome to the next installment of Insiders. Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, a 35-year-old Rocklin Republican with degrees from Harvard and Yale, left a promising law career to run for a state Legislature so heavily dominated by Democrats as to render Republican votes almost meaningless.  “I would do it all over again if I had the opportunity,” […]

Despite entering 2020 with the governor and many legislators pushing for an increase in housing production, none of the bills put forth went into effect. The coronavirus pandemic has also put prospects for such bills in 2021 in doubt.

In a year when the coronavirus pandemic upended every aspect of normal life, the impact in the California Capitol was also dramatic. Lawmakers took an unprecedented two-month pause in the spring, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order for people to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. They returned to the […]

Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, August 5. State, counties underreporting cases California’s glitchy tech systems strike again. Both the state and counties have been underreporting coronavirus cases and positivity rates due to data “getting stuck” in California’s disease reporting system, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health and human services secretary, said Tuesday. Ghaly: “We’ve discovered […]