California Legislature

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota at police hands, California stepped up with a plan: Put the state in charge of investigating police shootings of unarmed people. CalMatters is tracking these cases and, so far, the Justice Department is struggling to keep up.

California’s new program to police the police has produced few results so far.  That’s according to a new project from CalMatters justice reporter Nigel Duara, who is today launching the state’s most comprehensive public tracker of police shootings of unarmed civilians under investigation by the California Department of Justice. The department has opened 25 such […]

In the final weeks of the California election, industry and labor groups are spending millions to influence legislative races. That money is being spent not only to support favored candidates, but to attack their opponents with tough ads and mailers.

This school year the California transitional kindergarten program began expanding to eventually include all 4-year-olds. But amidst a teacher shortage, some school districts had to move teachers already on staff or lure staff away from preschool programs.

Test your knowledge of the 2022 California election, state politics and other assorted trivia with a CalMatters crossword puzzle.

Opponents of Proposition 1 argue it would expand California abortion law to allow late-term procedures for any reason, but the measure's supporters and legal experts dispute that interpretation.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control decided to list COVID-19 among the vaccines it recommends for children, but each state decides whether to adopt those guidelines. It's unclear what California will do, given the past controversies over children's vaccines and the COVID vaccine in particular.

A specter is haunting California’s affluent suburbs and beachside communities: The “builder’s remedy.” It’s the reason that a single developer submitted plans for 4,500 apartments in Santa Monica — more new units than the city has built in a decade. It’s why notoriously housing-averse Redondo Beach may be forced to permit 2,300 new units along […]

Note: The amazing Ben Christopher will be handling the newsletter on Monday and Tuesday. I’ll see you Wednesday! Don’t underestimate Kern County. This swath of land in the southern Central Valley produces 70% of California’s oil, and industry groups have already raised more than $8 million to gather signatures for a 2024 referendum to overturn […]

East Bakersfield may be the most fiercely fought-over part of the state for the Nov. 8 election. Key races for U.S. House and the state Legislature overlap in the changing, mostly Latino area.