Commentary

California and President Donald Trump are at war again, this time over the administration's plan to freeze nationwide auto mileage standards and withdraw California's ability to set its own auto emission rules.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

A seat on the state Supreme Court has been vacant for 17 months and Gov. Jerry Brown has been coy about filling it. He seems to be waiting until an Aug. 30 deadline for placing names on the ballot, thus shielding his appointee from facing voters until 2022.

The Trump administration’s rule authorizing the expansion of short-term insurance plans is bad news for small businesses, small business employees and solo entrepreneurs in California that depend on the Affordable Care Act for quality, affordable insurance. The rule says short-term insurance plans may last up to 364 days, and allows insurance companies to renew these […]

CALmatters commentator Dan Walters comments that “legislators lift the red tape imposed by the law for sports arenas, but not for housing.” I often hear the high cost of housing described as a crisis, as if a recent change caused housing prices to rise. But it’s not new or sudden; The California Environmental Quality Act […]

According to California's Legislative Analyst's Office, per‑pupil spending in California ranks in the middle of the states yet your article asserts that California ranks near the bottom and sources an article that reaches no such conclusion.

Californians should be wary when the Legislature makes big decisions in the hectic last days of its annual session and this year is no exception.

Public pension haters paint a picture of overpaid public employees, always taking, never giving. They’d have credibility if they demonstrated basic knowledge about who gets pensions and how they spend them.

California's laudable greenhouse gas reduction targets are not achievable if the state fails to address megafires.

Californians recognize that water fuels our economy, grows our food, and sustains our natural places. The system also is in peril and the next governor will have plenty of work to do. It’s also in peril