If you want to identify a single reason for the new Republican House majority, it could be as simple as pointing to California’s independent redistricting. Thanks to this process, the state’s Democratic Legislature has been denied the opportunity to gerrymander districts and maximize the party’s advantage for the past two...
Ex-CSU Leader Castro’s Cal Poly Teaching Job Stirs Controversy
Backlash is growing to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s granting of a teaching position to former Cal State chancellor Joseph Castro, who resigned in the wake of allegations he mishandled sexual harassment complaints against another administrator. The controversy over the appointment of Castro as a professor of leadership and public policy in...
Digging Into Newsom’s About-Face on Withholding $1B in Homeless Funds
Two weeks after withholding $1 billion in homelessness funding over lackluster local plans, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that most cities and counties would get the funds as early as next week anyway — as long as in the next round, they commit to more aggressive plans to reduce street homelessness. But...
State Can Help Valley Farmers by Supporting Solar Development
California’s largest farming region faces a daunting challenge. As farmers reduce their groundwater use under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the footprint of irrigated agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley will have to shrink. The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that at least 500,000 acres of farmland will likely need to...
CA’s Proposed Zero-Emission Trucking Rules Ignore Years of Industry Concerns
On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board will hold the first of two hearings on the nation’s first zero-emission mandate for trucking fleets. The proposal completely ignores the numerous practical concerns the trucking industry has raised for years. In some respects, CARB regulating the trucking industry is nothing new. Since 2008,...
Answers to Your Questions About California’s Inflation/Gas Rebates
To help with the high price of gas — and the rising cost of living — California started sending payments ranging from $200 to $1,050 to residents in October. Whenever money might be headed to people’s bank accounts, they tend to have questions. We’ve already answered the basics, including who is eligible...
La Niña Conditions Signal Another Dust Bowl Year for California
As California’s 2022 water year ends this week, the parched state is bracing for another dry year — its fourth in a row. So far, in California’s recorded history, six previous droughts have lasted four or more years, two of them in the past 35 years. Despite some rain...
Be Informed Before You Vote With Nonpartisan CalMatters Guide
We get it, California voters. You’ve been busy lately. Just two years ago, you and 17.7 million of your civically-minded neighbors helped decide who ought to become the next president, who should sit in the Legislature and congressional delegation and how the state should handle issues such as property taxes,...
Big Changes for Big Rigs as California Phases Out Diesel Trucks
New big rigs and other trucks will have to be zero-emissions in 2040 — ending their decades-long reliance on high-polluting diesel — under a proposed regulation unveiled by the California Air Resources Board. Under the proposal, manufacturers couldn’t sell new medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks fueled by diesel or gasoline that...
Kings County Has California’s Highest Incarceration Rate
Shasta County in rural northern California has some of the state’s highest incarceration rates. Ask Robert Bowman what’s going on, and he takes a long, deep sigh. “It’s a perfect storm of bad,” he said. Bowman, director of the county’s program that helps formerly incarcerated people transition back to...