The story behind the long, messy legislative fight this year over a bill meant to address teaching about antisemitism in California schools. @bystellayu.bsky.social and @mzinshteyn.bsky.social:

Proposition 50 would require CA to use new congressional district maps. On October 14, proponents from each side will offer arguments in a debate moderated by @wordsmith24.bsky.social of Capitol Weekly & @jwilliamsjourno.bsky.social of @calmatters.org capitolweekly.net/events/calif...

Gavin Newsom's Democratic redistricting plan would merge conservative rural Modoc County with liberal Marin County, angering ranchers. https://cal.news/46cOw4J 📷 Miguel Gutierrez Jr.

California lawmakers pushed through hundreds of bills in the final days of the Legislative session. Here are some we're watching for Gov. Newsom's action:

Well, that's a wrap on this year's legislative session. Kudos to my @calmatters.org colleagues, who were all over every move.

The passage of this bill, nearly a decade in the making, slaps a symbolic bow on what has already been a banger of a year for controversial and ambitious housing production legislation in California. calmatters.org/housing/2025...

Politics palate cleanser

Congratulations @akoseff.bsky.social! We will miss you.

Negotiations that could have a major effect on California's air quality, gas supply, transportation networks and the future of Medi-Cal are all taking place behind closed doors, with virtually no input from the public. @bystellayu.bsky.social

California lawmakers are scrambling to finalize a last-minute deal that would extend the state’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction program – known as cap and trade – through 2045. https://cal.news/4ptq6LU

Gavin Newsom is their biggest foil, but California Republicans are shying away from making him the center of attention in their campaign against Proposition 50.

@jeannereporter.bsky.social's story on soaring temperatures in California prisons and the new, tiny, step toward addressing them will make you exasperated and sad for the people affected.

Beating Trump to the punch in California?

Find out if your vote could be affected by Newsom's redistricting plans with these cool maps comparing before & after. Great work by @jeremiak.com & @akoseff.bsky.social!

If she were elected governor, former Senate leader Toni Atkins would oversee contracts with her spouse's many consulting firms. cal.news/4mBgKeI 📸 AP

Half a dozen Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas to stop a Republican-led redistricting scheme met Friday with top California Democrats as they draw their own new congressional lines calmatters.org/politics/202...

“At this moment, I believe I can make the greatest impact by focusing on California’s financial future,” @eleniforca.bsky.social said in a statement calmatters.org/politics/202...

Next Democratic president should expropriate Trump's wealth to pay for scraping all this Temu shit off the walls of the White House.

Huge props to @gauchoesque.bsky.social and @jeannereporter.bsky.social for giving me the layperson's understanding of a proposed shared power network in the West: calmatters.org/politics/202...

The time for a decision has finally come. Let the governor's race begin!

Powerful story today by @akoseff.bsky.social on the Afghans in California who are caught in legal limbo as the Trump administration changes policies:

Spokane politician arrested by feds at his home for protesting ICE kidnapping of two immigrants at check-in appointment. "Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart … was indicted by a federal grand jury and [will] be charged with conspiracy to impede or injure law enforcement."

The Carpenters Union is "a pariah" among California construction trades unions, @jeannereporter.bsky.social and @frombenc.bsky.social report. Yet the Carpenters struck the deal for the biggest overhaul of California's environmental law in a generation. Here's the backstory:

Earlier this year, the governor demanded that state workers return to the office four days a week — then he negotiated away the requirement in return for other savings in union contracts, @mayacmiller.bsky.social reports: calmatters.org/politics/202...

For months, a plan to create an infrastructure financing agency largely shielded from the public eye sailed smoothly through the state Senate. Lawmakers only backtracked when transparency advocates sounded the alarm. cal.news/44cKpEP 📝 Martin do Nascimento

Lawmakers continue to try to keep documents that belong to the public secret and unsearchable. @bystellayu.bsky.social is keeping them accountable for @calmatters.org

An excellent explanation by @frombenc.bsky.social of the Legislature's vote to claw black a longstanding environmental regulation often used to block housing. #CalMatters

Beautiful storytelling. The people’s business.

The House wants to raise the SALT deduction cap, while the Senate wants to keep it at $10,000, the limit first established in 2017 to help pay for tax cuts for big corporations. Here's my look at how the outcome could affect millions of high-income California taxpayers.

FAC has sued the CIty of San Diego to force the city to disclose records about SDPD officers' use of force against Marcus Evans. Evans had his hands in the air when he was shot with beanbag rounds and mauled by a police dog. firstamendmentcoalition.org/news/post/fa...

California voted to bar immigrants from schools and social services in 1994. Now most Californians see immigrants as a benefit to the state. Read this story of the last 30 years that @frombenc.bsky.social and I reported. Smart editing by @jwilliamsjourno.bsky.social calmatters.org/politics/202...

The First Amendment gives the press and reporters the right to observe, document, and record protests in public from a reasonable and safe distance. If you are a reporter with questions about your right to cover protests, reach out to our free legal hotline: bit.ly/FACLegalHotl...

The California Legislature passed a state budget today that relies more on borrowing than spending cuts to close a projected $12 billion deficit, aiming to push off difficult decisions about priorities even as that gap is only expected to grow in future years. calmatters.org/politics/202...

Law enforcement agencies across Southern California violated state law more than 100 times last month by sharing information from automated license plate readers with federal agents... From my colleagues at @calmatters.org

“The president is of course limited to his authority,” Breyer said. “That’s the difference between a constitutional government and King George.” calmatters.org/justice/2025...

A carefully calibrated truce between @gavinnewsom.bsky.social and Donald Trump, forged in the wake of January’s devastating wildfires across Los Angeles, collapsed over the weekend — putting both the governor and California at increasing risk of reprisal calmatters.org/politics/202...

With 24 other orgs, FAC condemns the treatment of journalists covering the protests against ICE raids in LA. Targeting journalists violates the First Amendment. firstamendmentcoalition.org/2025/06/09/c...

It took longer than many of us expected, but the fragile Trump-Newsom detente has exploded in full public view. By @akoseff.bsky.social

As if there wasn't enough going on in California today, Democrats in the Legislature responded to Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed deep cuts to social services with a "no thanks" proposal relying on borrowing. By @bystellayu.bsky.social @jeannereporter.bsky.social and @mzinshteyn.bsky.social

Even when a bill dies one year, and even if a governor kills it, there’s a strong likelihood it will return, especially if big money interests like labor unions and business groups want it signed into law. buff.ly/87igcRx

A "MAGA-nificent" city council transformed Huntington Beach into the conservative bulwark of California. Liberal critics hope they've finally gone too far as a special election next week has become "ground zero" in the national battle over library books. calmatters.org/politics/202...

"...as dense urban neighborhoods grow more costly, lower- and moderate-income renters, the very people most likely to ride the bus, are pushed out and replaced by a more affluent set who, on the whole, tend to favor getting around by car." @frombenc.bsky.social calmatters.org/housing/2025...

State agencies don't use high risk automated systems, a state report claims, but legislative staff say it could cost billions of dollars for CA agencies to assess high risk AI they use or plan to use. A source told me those two things can't be true + somebody's lying calmatters.org/economy/tech...

Sacramento police say the state senator was driving while under the influence of a drug when crash occurred. Footage seen by CalMatters appears to show she had the right-of-way.

A controversial $125 million deal California struck with Google last year to prop up the state’s struggling journalism industry is already on track to shrink — before any of the money has been delivered to news outlets. via @jeannereporter.bsky.social tinyurl.com/pzvzv3w5

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed deep budget cuts this week. But he's doubling down on his proposal to boost Hollywood tax incentives to $750 million a year.

California's budget deficit hits $12 billion, throwback to another era. Newsom says the state economy was booming before Trump announced his tariffs. By @akoseff.bsky.social

Come work @calmatters.org! We're looking for the next amazing Environment and Health Editor to lead a lineup of stellar environment and health reporters here in California. Details: calmatters.org/about/jobs/e...

Californians are waiting to see the results of Democratic legislators' "affordability agenda." Much of the talk isn't even happening until this summer, though. By @bystellayu.bsky.social