Let me start with an admission: government officials — at all levels — don’t do a good job of engaging the public as we grapple with big, complex challenges. Hearings only go so far. Videos and social posts get into only so much detail and nuance. And, most importantly, most...
Walters: New State Budget Has Some Big Caveats
California’s political leaders, Democrats all, are touting a new state budget that expands spending on services for the state’s poor while building reserves. That’s true, as far as it goes. However, there are some very big caveats in the $213 billion 2019-20 budget, the first by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The...
As Newsom Rethinks Juvenile Justice, California Reconsiders Prison for Kids
As for most high school students, commencement day was big for Osvaldo Moreno. “This is a proud moment for me,” he beamed on a recent June weekend, and not just because he was the first to finish school among six — soon to be seven — children in his family....
911 Upgrade Could Cost Californians Despite Budget Surplus
SACRAMENTO — A $214.8 billion budget approved Thursday by California lawmakers would upgrade the state's aging 911 system following the most devastating wildfire season in state history and help middle class families pay their monthly health insurance premiums. To fund those changes, however, lawmakers want to impose a new monthly...
California Lawmakers OK $213 Billion Budget. Here's What's Inside.
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers on Thursday approved a $214.8 billion operating budget, sending the plan to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk with a focus on expanding access to health insurance while spending billions of new money on homelessness and housing. Newsom will have 12 days to review the bill and is...
Fresno County Firefighter Dies in Car Crash Near Merced
MERCED — The California Highway Patrol says a Cal Fire firefighter died in a car crash in Merced County. Hamilton's Car Overturned in a Remote Area California Highway Patrol Officer Eric Zuniga tells the Merced Sun Star that Capt. Stacy Hamilton was traveling alone early Saturday. His 2004 Subaru Outback...
Walters: Politicians Missing in Action on Housing Shortage
When the year began, the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom had just two must-do jobs – pass a state budget and do something meaningful about the state’s chronic and corrosive shortage of housing. The budget is a slam-dunk, thanks to the state’s fat treasury. Housing, however, is a smellier kettle...
California Has Housing Crisis, Legislature Has No Fix Yet
SACRAMENTO — Crisis. Emergency. California lawmakers are describing the state’s housing crunch in dire terms. But few seem to agree on what to do about it. The political wrangling over the last few weeks around bills to cap rent increases, set new rules for evictions and cut red tape to...
California Democrats Loudly Lean Left but Quietly Make Safe Choice
Anyone who spent the weekend at the California Democratic Party’s convention — watching 14 White House contenders try to impress what one Congresswoman called “the wokest Democrats in the country” — observed the following: Saturday’s most rapturous cheers went to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who declared “the time for small...
A Rare Tenant Win, But Why Don’t California’s Renters Have More Political Punch?
California tenants just scored a rare victory in the state Capitol — emphasis on the rare. A high-profile bill passed by the state Assembly would impose a “rent-gouging cap” on annual rent increases for the vast majority of renters. If approved by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it...