The good news is that California finally ramped up its lagging COVID-19 vaccination program last week. The bad news, at least for Gov. Gavin Newsom, is that despite the surge, the state fell well short of the 1 million additional inoculations that he had promised during the 10-day period that...
California Becomes First State to Top 3 Million Virus Cases
California on Monday became the first state to record more than 3 million known coronavirus infections. The grim milestone, as tallied by Johns Hopkins University, wasn’t entirely unexpected in a state with 40 million residents but its speed stunning. The state only reached 2 million reported cases on Dec. 24....
Walters: A Big Data System for Public Education?
California, as we all should know by now, has an almost unblemished record of failure in efficiently implementing digital technology in state government operations. The Department of Motor Vehicles, the Employment Development Department, a system called FI$Cal for managing state finances, a failed judicial case management system and, most recently,...
Latinx Voters Flexed Their Power in 2020 Election
The 2020 election was evidence of the power of Latinx voters in California. With an estimated 5.5 million Latinx votes cast during the pandemic, Latinxs were a decisive force in the outcome of the 2020 election representing 31% of the total 17.8 million votes cast in California. As our electorate continues to grow with...
California Professor Who Spoke at Trump Rally Retires
ORANGE, Calif. — A law professor who spoke during President Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., rally last week before the attack on the U.S. Capitol has retired from a California university where there were demands for his ouster. The retirement of John Eastman from Chapman University resulted from an agreement reached...
Proposed Corporate Tax Hike in California Would Aid Homeless
SAN FRANCISCO — A California coalition is proposing legislation to boost taxes on wealthy multinational corporations to raise more than $2 billion a year to house tens of thousands of homeless people, addressing what has become a worsening problem in the country's most populous state. Supporters say Assembly Bill 71...
Democrats Liken Newsom Recall Effort — a Legal Option in California — to Extremist ‘Coup’
When is a constitutionally outlined petition campaign to remove an elected leader actually a “treasonous” effort to subvert the democratic process? According to the California Democratic Party, when Republicans are on one side of the campaign and Gov. Gavin Newsom is on the other. In a press conference Tuesday afternoon,...
Some Uber, Lyft Drivers Sue Over California Ballot Measure
LOS ANGELES — Drivers for app-based ride-hailing and delivery services filed a lawsuit Tuesday to overturn a California ballot initiative that makes them independent contractors instead of employees eligible for benefits and job protections. The lawsuit filed with the California Supreme Court said Proposition 22 is unconstitutional because it limits...
California Immediately Expands Vaccine Eligibility to All 65 and Older
California is immediately allowing residents 65 and older to get scarce coronavirus vaccines. Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement Wednesday puts seniors in line before emergency workers, teachers, childcare providers and food and agriculture workers even as counties complain they already don’t have enough doses to go around. “There is no higher...
Walters: California’s Technology Woes Deepen
While doing his stretch in solitary confinement as lieutenant governor of California, Gavin Newsom wrote a book entitled “Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government.” In the book, published in 2013, Newsom sang the praises of digital technology and its potential for making government and its...