California Legislature

From CalMatters politics reporter Alexei Koseff: It wasn’t Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins’ first turn standing in for the governor of California while he was out of the state. (That came in 2014, when she was Assembly speaker and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel tried to get her to invade Oregon during her 10 hours […]

The first day back from the July Fourth holiday turned out to be very, very busy for the California Legislature.  Let’s get right to the highlights: Caste discrimination bill survives: The first-in-the-nation measure to add caste to California’s anti-discrimination laws is still alive after a key committee hearing on Wednesday. The bill language was tweaked […]

The first-in-the-nation measure to add caste to state anti-discrimination laws, which passed the state Senate, survives the Assembly judiciary committee. The bill’s author refused to water down the measure further.

Two proposals that would usher in single-payer health care have divided former allies in the fight for reform.

Tolls on San Francisco Bay Area bridges are rising sharply and that could affect the economy of a region still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three major providers of public services mounted strong campaigns for more state aid, citing financial crises, but the new state budget's outcomes varied greatly.

After a prolonged transition, the Salinas Democrat was sworn in as Assembly speaker today, taking over from Anthony Rendon. They’re ideologically similar so the differences may be more in leadership style than policy.

Assemblyman Anthony Rendon is stepping aside after one of the longest runs as speaker in California history. Supporters say his leadership style, empowering committees and legislators to craft policy instead of himself, made the lower statehouse more democratic.

The first-in-the-nation state-appointed task force report contains hundreds of recommendations for reparation, including a proposal that the state apologize and make financial amends for slavery and decades of racist policies.

California’s first-in-the-nation task force on reparations is handing lawmakers dozens of recommendations, including a proposal that the state apologize for slavery and racist policies, and make financial amends.