As governor, Jerry Brown vetoed a 2017 measure to keep presidential candidates off the California primary ballot unless they release their tax returns. With a stern veto message, he said the Trump-trolling bill would create a political “slippery slope.” “Today we require tax returns, but what would be next? Five...
Walters: California’s Other Fiscal Crisis
Gov. Gavin Newsom and his predecessor, Jerry Brown, have repeatedly stressed the need to build state budget reserves to cushion the impact of the next recession, whenever it hits. Thanks to a vibrant economy, they’ve squirreled away nearly $20 billion in various reserve accounts. When recession hits, however, the state...
Walters: Trump and California at It Again
President Donald Trump and the Democrats who dominate California politics are locked into a rather bizarre, symbiotic relationship. Almost daily, they fire political and legal bullets at each other across 2,728 miles – by highway – of American soil, each knowing that no matter how strange the missives may appear...
Tiny California City Vows to Offer Sanctuary to Gun Rights
California has some of the strongest gun-control laws in the nation. One little city in the Golden State has decided to swim against the current. Needles is a former railroad town located just across the Colorado River from Arizona and about 40 minutes from Laughlin, Nevada. The leaders of this...
Walters: Trump Doing California a Bullet Train Favor
At last count, California’s Democratic political leadership had filed four dozen lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s administration, reflecting differences on policies large and small. For the most part, California’s legal allegations have been on target. However, Trump is on solid legal and logical ground in the latest conflict over the...
5 Takeaways From Newsom’s Revised Budget Plan
Buoyed by California’s strong economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent state lawmakers a revised budget Thursday that boosts his already-hefty January proposal to $213.6 billion. Ka-ching! Public schools will reap most of the gains if the Democratic-controlled Legislature rolls with him. Newsom also upped his ante on the housing crisis with a proposed...
Newsom to Reveal Updated $200 Billion Spending Plan
SACRAMENTO — California is flooded with money and Gov. Gavin Newsom will outline how he thinks the nation's most populous state should spend it Thursday when he releases a revised version of his $200 billion-plus state budget. The Democratic governor has already proposed new spending to expand health care for...
Gov. Newsom Is Shrinking Jerry Brown’s Pet Projects
When Jerry Brown began his first governorship in 1975, he quickly set himself apart from his father, former Gov. Pat Brown. The elder Brown’s legacy had been an immense expansion of the state’s public-works infrastructure—new colleges and universities, a web of freeways and, most of all, a massive project to...
Governor Scraps Delta ‘Twin Tunnels’ Projects, Orders New Plan
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom scrapped a $16 billion plan Thursday to build two giant water tunnels to reroute the state's water system and instead directed state agencies to restart planning for a single tunnel. The move is a blow to the vision of his predecessor, Jerry Brown, who had...
Walters: Can We Protect Kids From Becoming Zombies?
We’ve all seen children, often very young children, hunched over from heavy book backpacks, shuffling along sidewalks just an hour or two after sunrise on their way to school. They look like zombies, and that’s because California’s public schools often begin their classes so early in the morning that many...