Amid growing scientific research into therapeutic uses for psychedelic drugs and a progressive push to soften punishment for drug crimes, California lawmakers are considering a bill to legalize magic mushrooms, Ecstasy and several other hallucinogenic substances. The proposal has set off an intense debate over how far California should go...
Follow the Money: Gavin Newsom Recall Edition
The forecast for this summer is hot, with high wildfire risk and a fever-pitch campaign to determine the political fate of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The fight to recall Newsom has already consumed state politics, with the governor in campaign mode since March and both sides already reporting millions of dollars...
Can California Withstand a Teacher Retirement Boom?
BY ELI WOLFE CalMatters Earlier this year, the California State Teachers Retirement System issued an ominous statement: teacher retirements in California are projected to hit nearly record-breaking heights in 2021. The statement, which came in the form of a February blog post, said that the numbers will be almost as...
California’s Police Use-of-Force Law, Explained
In the culmination of one of the fiercest political battles in recent years, California in 2020 put in place a new legal standard tightening the rules around when police can use deadly force. The new standard was a compromise between police and civil rights groups. It legally permits police to...
Abolishing School Police Should be Part of Reopening Plans
School districts, teachers and policymakers across California are determining how to get more students back to in-person learning as safely as possible. While these conversations are important, the continued decriminalization of Black and Brown students, and the abolition of school police, must be central to any plan for reopening schools....
How to House People and Achieve California’s Climate Goals
California faces a housing crisis and a climate emergency. We don’t build enough housing so we drive too frequently and too far in cars that generate most of California’s greenhouse gases. The solution is simple and obvious: build more housing in cities where people work so we don’t have to drive...
Merced and Inyo Struggle to Escape State’s Strictest COVID Tier
Every year, tens of thousands of equine aficionados gather in the streets of Bishop for one of the biggest events in the Eastern Sierra: Mule Days. Touting “the world’s longest mule parade,” as well as an array of riding competitions and other festivities, the multi-day event leading up to Memorial...
Carrots, Sticks and Jabs: What Will California Do to Win Over Vaccine Skeptics?
Today all Californians 50 and older are now eligible to get their coveted COVID vaccine — including one politically imperiled 53-year-old governor. Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated this latest benchmark by getting a well-publicized jab himself, thus marking the beginning of the end of what has been a particularly thorny political...
How Did $2.7 Billion in California Housing Bonds Disappear? Cue the Finger-Pointing.
Before California’s housing shortage contributed to a surge in homelessness and tipped median home prices close to $700,000, an obscure state financing agency led by top elected officials had the opportunity over the last decade to help private developers build a trove of affordable housing. The California Debt Limit Allocation...
Walters : Factory-Produced Housing Could Help Solve Affordability Crisis
Two years ago, CalMatters housing writer Matt Levin described a factory in Vallejo that was building housing modules that could quickly — and relatively inexpensively — be assembled into multi-story apartment houses. Levin described the factory as more resembling an automobile assembly line than a construction site. “They build one floor approximately...