In a break with the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Gov. Gavin Newsom sided with farmers and water agencies Saturday by rejecting legislation aimed at blocking the Trump administration from rolling back endangered species protections. Over Newsom’s objections, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins pushed forward with votes on what is the most...
Hot Off the Grille: Is California Ready to Legalize Roadkill Cuisine?
Let’s get the jokes out of the way first. “Meals under wheels.” “Bumper crop.” “Gravel-tenderized meat.” Chances are state Sen. Bob Archuleta has heard most of them. A Los Angeles County Democrat, he has a bill advancing through the Legislature that would allow Californians to “salvage” recently deceased wildlife from the sides...
California’s Public School Chief Says Education No Place for Competition
Tony Thurmond seems to be exactly the man that his most loyal backers hoped (and his opponents feared) he would be. In a discussion with CALmatters’ education reporter Ricardo Cano at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club in March, he talked about how his mother, an immigrant from Panama, died when he...
Cal Chamber Has Best Year Yet Steamrolling 'Job Killer' Bills
As CALmatters columnist Dan Walters notes in his Sept. 10 analysis, the California Chamber of Commerce quite often prevails in getting the Legislature to kill or quietly abandon bills that the pro-business lobby deems "job killers." But in the recently concluded legislative cycle, the chamber was even more effective than...
What Is California Doing Right? Community Colleges.
Dan Walters might be the most high-profile media advocate for community colleges in California. For example, he long has championed allowing community colleges to grant baccalaureate degrees in technical fields — especially in rural regions where students must travel long distances to attend a four-year institution. New Community College Programs In...
Who Are Real Poverty Pimps? They're Democrats: Walters
By most metrics, California has a poverty problem. One out of every five Golden Staters lives below the “line,” which recently has been recalibrated and no longer masks the truth. CALmatter’s Dan Walters opines that he knows the main culprit in his July 22 column: “California has an immense poverty...
Walters: Why de León's Endorsement Coup Doesn't Matter
Dianne Feinstein has been a stalwart of Democratic politics in California ever since her election to San Francisco city government in the 1970s. Her party credentials are without comparison. But, that apparently isn’t enough to satisfy the Democratic party of today. As Dan Walters noted in his July 18 CALmatters...
Liberal Billionaire George Soros Clobbered in California Election
Money can’t buy you happiness. And, apparently, it can’t buy you elections. CALmatters columnist Dan Walters notes how one of the richest men in the world failed in his latest go-around dabbling into California politics. Billionaire and philanthropist George Soros backed four district attorney candidates to achieve his goal of...
New Energy Plan Could Leave Californians in Dark: Walters
CALmatters’ Dan Walters is sounding the siren that history is repeating itself when it comes to energy deregulation. In his latest piece, Walters recalls the history of power company deregulation in the 1990s and how badly it missed on its promises. Now, it is happening again. “Newly drafted legislation would...
State Politicians Still Up to their Sneaky Tricks: Walters
Californians like transparency when its comes to their elected leaders. Voters demanded that legislation be printed three days in advance when Proposition 54 passed in 2016. 'Mushroom Bills' Grow in the Dark But as CALmatters columnist Dan Walters notes in his June 14 piece, Sacramento lawmakers still find an end-around. With...