California Legislature

To battle climate change and clean up its severe air pollution, California enacted a historic mandate to replace gasoline cars with zero-emission vehicles within 12 years. But can the transition really happen as quickly as the state requires? And what will it mean for Californians and their economy? Today, CalMatters launches “Race to Zero: California’s […]

Programming note: The newsletter will take a break on Monday, Jan. 16 for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. We’ll be back in your inbox Tuesday, Jan. 17. California’s projected $22.5 billion deficit means budget cuts are almost inevitable — much to the chagrin of climate activists, public health advocates and others who have criticized […]

President Biden signed a law banning nearly 4 million federal employees from having TikTok on their government phones, over national security concerns. This week, New Jersey and Ohio joined at least 20 other states in restricting access to TikTok, amid fears that the Chinese government could use the app to spy on Americans.   Will California […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s big budget reveal Tuesday morning is only a first step in a long process: Legislators hold hearings, number crunchers update revenue projections, Newsom presents a revised version in May and he negotiates with the Legislature before approval by June 15.  But that isn’t stopping advocacy groups, Republican officials and others from reacting […]

After years of record California budget surpluses, Gov. Newsom outlines a plan to deal with a deficit he projects at $22.5 billion. He says he can keep his big promises despite the "modest shortfall."

Programming note: Add whatmatters@calmatters.org, our new sender email address, to your safe senders list to ensure WhatMatters does not go to junk email. Here is a quick guide on how you can do this. Now, on to the news:  Rebekah Rohde, 40, and Steven Sorensen, 61, are two of at least 14 people killed by […]

After leading a "March for Democracy" on the second anniversary of the U.S. Capitol insurrection, Gavin Newsom portrayed himself as a partisan warrior on the national stage, but a unifier in California in his second inaugural speech.

The California Legislature reconvenes with record diversity, but with several key questions and many significant challenges.

One shared takeaway from the otherwise very different starts to new legislative sessions in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.: What a difference 20 votes make. The Legislature that reconvened Wednesday in the California Capitol is the most diverse in state history, with a record 50 women — although there’s still a slim possibility that number could […]

The new state Legislature is the most diverse ever, but by some measures, it still isn’t fully representative of California. See details in our interactive tool.