California Legislature

Open source voting systems are more transparent and cheaper than the state’s current contract with Smartmatic, which is facing bribery charges.

Obscure charts show how California's spending exploded under Newsom, far outstripping its stagnant population growth, inflation and a hefty increase in revenues.

An incarcerated person's constitutional right to a safe and healthy environment in a single occupancy cell cannot be withheld on the condition that she or he be good.

Lawmakers passed a law creating a state department to review inmate deaths, but it hasn’t completed a single death review in its first year.

California school districts could be on the hook for about $3 billion in liability for child sexual abuse lawsuits. Up to 40% may go to trial attorneys.

In 2019, the Legislature and Gov. Newsom closed a loophole that allowed schools to avoid liability for child sexual abuse. Now the law is under threat.

Prosecutions, referenda, recalls and regulatory agencies have, over the years, curbed some of California's government corruption, but not all of it.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas wants lawmakers to assess the effectiveness of state laws as his new approach to accountability. But legislators get to pick which laws get the scrutiny and details remain scant.

California created an inspector general to monitor its long-delayed high-speed rail project. Now, one lawmaker wants to allow that office to withhold some investigative records from the public.

Dave Lesher turned CalMatters into one of California’s most influential newsrooms — and launched new tools to make your government transparent