San Francisco Chronicle

Here are 22 new laws Californians must start following in 2022 (December 6, 2021)
New laws taking effect on Jan. 1 change the rules on everything from how we vote to whether you can order a margarita with your Mexican takeout.

Chesa Boudin is pursuing looting charges against Union Square theft suspects. It’s a legal gamble (November 30, 2021)
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s decision last week to pursue felony looting charges for a recent wave of organized retail theft across the city is a legal gamble that may require his office to prove the crimes were the result of the coronavirus pandemic.

California cities rush to limit new law increasing density of single-family neighborhoods (November 24, 2021)
The battle over SB9 — which could ultimately help add hundreds of thousands of homes across the state by allowing up to four units on some properties that had just one before — is ramping up again before the the law takes effect in January, as cities that opposed the measure move to limit its impact on their communities.

Lobbyists weren’t eligible for Paycheck Protection money, but California firms got millions (November 12, 2021)
Dozens of California lobbying firms received millions of dollars in emergency federal assistance meant for small businesses to ride out the coronavirus pandemic, though some were ineligible for the program.

Tension over state vs. local control in California housing policy could get even worse next year (November 4, 2021)
Growing tension over state intervention in local housing policy is likely to further escalate in the coming year as state officials ramp up their enforcement of laws that aim to boost construction while opponents pursue a constitutional amendment to wrest back authority.

Why state lawmakers are fired up over a derailed S.F. housing project (November 2, 2021)
For some leading advocates, the confusing collapse of the proposed housing project in an alley near the corner of Sixth and Market streets is a stark example of why state intervention is not only necessary, but should escalate.

California rejected 6% of medical exemptions for school vaccinations this year, in hint of fight ahead (October 24, 2021)
As California moves toward requiring all students to be inoculated against COVID-19, state officials have revoked more than 180 medical exemptions granted to families for other required school vaccinations since the start of the year.

In-N-Out donated $40,000 to California Republican Party during Newsom recall campaign (October 21, 2021)
Months before objecting to requirements that its restaurants check customers’ coronavirus vaccination status, fast-food chain In-N-Out Burger donated $40,000 to the California Republican Party as it worked to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, in large part over his aggressive pandemic response.

Female lawmakers say their absence at bill signings hints at bigger challenges (October 3, 2021)
For some female lawmakers and political professionals, the lack of visibility at two of the most high-profile public events the governor has hosted during the annual bill-signing period was a reminder of the additional challenges they face getting credit for their work at a state Capitol that is still dominated by men

Bad cops could lose their badges under new California law (September 30, 2021)
California will create a police decertification process, joining 46 other states that have a system to strip officers of their badges for professional misconduct.

California takes aim at housing discrimination with new laws (September 28, 2021)
With state policy increasingly focused on boosting development to address the housing affordability crisis, California has adopted measures to combat discrimination in the housing market that supporters say is critical to ensuring the state not only builds enough homes but that everyone has access to them.

‘I don’t feel like it’s a loss’: Resignation and a glimmer of hope in California’s most pro-recall county (September 24, 2021)
In Calaveras County, where voters signed the petition to remove Newsom at a higher rate than anywhere else in California, the defeat has been met with a sense of resignation that the effort never had much of a chance anyway.

Newsom backs denser zoning for single-family neighborhoods (September 16, 2021)
Years of pitched legislative battles over single-family zoning and height limits ended with a long-awaited victory for advocates who have pushed California to embrace denser construction as a solution to its critical housing shortage.

After beating recall, invigorated Newsom feels new sense of urgency (September 15, 2021)
Critics of Gov. Gavin Newsom spent more than a year trying to recall him. Between administrative expenses for the state and campaign expenditures by the candidates, the cost of the election totaled around $400 million. And in the end, none of it may amount to much of anything.

Voters resoundingly defeat recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (September 14, 2021)
After convincingly beating back a recall effort that came to dominate his third year in office, Gov. Gavin Newsom took an understated victory lap Tuesday night, calling for unity following an election that he said had divided California and challenged its values.

Newsom isn’t dwelling on mistakes ahead of recall judgment day (September 11, 2021)
After a tumultuous year and a half, in which a never-ending pandemic consumed his governorship and landed him in only the second gubernatorial recall election in California history, Gavin Newsom owns up to his mistakes. Well, one of them.

The pandemic fueled the recall election. Now it may save Gavin Newsom (September 5, 2021)
California voters are returning their mail ballots for the Sept. 14 recall election as the state grapples with a resurgent fourth wave of the coronavirus that has again pushed hospitals to capacity in some rural areas. But an issue that once seemed like it could be Newsom’s biggest liability is suddenly looking like the thing that could save his governorship.

COVID shutdown lawsuits cost California more than $4 million for settlements (August 31, 2021)
The state of California has settled at least 10 lawsuits this year related to public health orders during the coronavirus pandemic, agreeing to pay more than $4 million to cover the costs of lawyers who sued over restrictions on religious services, schools, strip clubs and tattoo parlors.

‘Get worried’: Gavin Newsom’s supporters are trying to bridge an enthusiasm gap by pumping up the fear (August 22, 2021)
As county elections officials finish sending out mail ballots to every registered voter in California, the campaign to prevent Newsom from being removed from office before the end of his term is increasingly driven by a strategy of instilling fear — fear that he could lose, fear of the consequences if he does, fear that voters aren’t engaged enough to care.

Fact check: No, California’s recall ballot was not designed to help Gavin Newsom and cheat Larry Elder (August 20, 2021)
Supporters of recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom, including conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, the leading candidate to replace him, spread false claims this week that the mail ballot was designed to facilitate fraud and rig the election in favor of the governor.

Will Gavin Newsom take the fall for California’s homelessness crisis? (August 16, 2021)
Supporters of the campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom now sense an opportunity to capitalize on frustration over widespread encampments across the state and oust the first-term Democrat in a Sept. 14 special election.

Assisted death is legal in California, but some patients die waiting. A new bill could help (July 31, 2021)
Once unthinkable, assisted death has established itself as a widely accepted option at the end of life since first becoming available to Californians in June 2016. Now state legislators are moving to streamline the process and remove some of the barriers that advocates say have prevented the law from becoming more widely used.

Newsom’s biggest challenger in the recall election may be himself (July 22, 2021)
Facing a diffuse field of challengers in a highly polarized political environment, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fate in the upcoming recall election rests primarily in his own hands.

Police reform bill to strip bad cops of badges stuck on who should decide (June 9, 2021)
The legislative push to establish a system in California for stripping badges from bad cops has become a battle over how much authority law enforcement should be given to regulate itself.

California’s housing bill was intended to strike a compromise between warring factions. No such luck (June 4, 2021)
It was meant as an olive branch, a series of proposals that would better balance their goal of making it easier to build more housing with the concerns of communities who feared losing a say in how they develop. Instead, it has generated intense resistance from the same neighborhood associations and local governments that helped defeat earlier legislation.

California sports betting initiative hinges on gambling fight with tribes (May 28, 2021)
A push by Native American tribes to expand the types of gambling they can offer, including bringing the newly legal sports betting market to California, will go before voters next year, probably setting off another expensive electoral campaign in the long-running battle over gaming rights in the state.

His French Laundry birthday party with Newsom became infamous. Then his lobbying firm’s revenue boomed (May 18, 2021)
Billings by lobbying firm Axiom Advisors, where lobbyist Jason Kinney is a partner, rose by more than 25% last quarter, after his infamous birthday dinner at Napa Valley’s French Laundry restaurant attended by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Red flag law takes guns from dangerous people. Why aren’t more California counties using it? (May 14, 2021)
Use of gun violence restraining orders is on the rise but implementation in California remains regional, with some counties often seizing firearms from people they consider dangerous and others all but ignoring the law.

It had never happened in a century: California’s population drops (May 7, 2021)
California’s population shrank slightly last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, the first time the state has measured an annual decline in more than a century of tracking.

GOP’s Cox trots out ursine pal to underscore campaign for ‘beastly changes’ (May 4, 2021)
More than two years after losing to Gov. Gavin Newsom in historic fashion, Republican John Cox bet that a four-legged furry giant is his key to a fairy-tale comeback.

Progressives place reform hopes on Rob Bonta as California attorney general (April 20, 2021)
An activist culture has forged the shape of Bonta’s career. But for the first time in his political career, he faces the demands of a constituency beyond the liberal East Bay.

Newsom sounds like Gray Davis in fighting recall as GOP ‘power grab’ (April 7, 2021)
Nearly two decades later, the early weeks of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recall defense campaign have played out like a remake of Gray Davis’ fight to save his job.

Their guns should be taken away, but California is falling behind on tracking them down (April 2, 2021)
The failure to get the prohibited gun owner backlog under control has frustrated both Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento for nearly a decade, and some are now pushing for changes to the program that could shift more of the work to the local level.

Ellis Act evictions targeted in California Legislature: New bill would sharply limit them (March 31, 2021)
Evictions allowed under a state law called the Ellis Act are coming under scrutiny again at the state Capitol, where a resurgent tenant rights movement has won several unexpected victories in the past few years that long seemed out of reach.

Newsom’s French Laundry dining companion barred from lobbying governor’s administration (March 18, 2021)
Gov. Gavin Newsom will now prohibit all his outside consultants from lobbying his administration regardless of whether they are paid, including Jason Kinney, the lobbyist and longtime Newsom adviser whose 50th birthday dinner at the French Laundry in November sparked intense scrutiny of their relationship.

There’s a long-shot chance for Gavin Newsom to knock recall off ballot. Will he try it? (March 15, 2021)
Gov. Gavin Newsom is shifting into campaign mode to save his job, but it will be months before voters find out if and when they will have an opportunity to weigh in on a potential recall — the result of changes adopted several years ago by California Democrats trying to protect one of their own.

California Republican defections tripled after pro-Trump insurrection (February 3, 2021)
The pace of Californians leaving the Republican Party tripled in the weeks after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, though it represents a tiny drop in GOP affiliation in the state.

Why Blue Shield for California’s COVID vaccine effort? Gavin Newsom’s administration says little (January 29, 2021)
State officials have offered few explanations about their decision this week to turn over coronavirus vaccine distribution to the health insurance giant Blue Shield of California, including who selected the company, whether there were competitors and why the state could no longer do the job itself.

Newsom keeps politically connected picks in medical watchdog role past deadline (January 13, 2021)
Gov. Gavin Newsom used his emergency powers during the coronavirus pandemic to extend the confirmation deadlines for three politically connected appointees to the state board that licenses and regulates doctors, allowing them to continue serving on the board without legislative approval.

California considers requiring police recruits to finish college or setting minimum age of 25 (January 4, 2021)
Should California require its police officers to have more education or life experience before allowing them to join the law enforcement ranks?

Here are 21 new laws for Californians in 2021 (January 1, 2021)
Starting in 2021, more California workers get job-protected leave to care for sick family members, corporations will have to diversify their boards, and you won’t be allowed to buy a puppy at a pet store anymore.

Who is Alex Padilla? California’s new senator has broken ground in state politics for two decades (December 22, 2020)
Padilla has risen steadily through local and state elected office over the two decades, frequently breaking new political ground before becoming the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate.

Newsom lobbying ban won’t immediately affect French Laundry dining partner Jason Kinney (December 17, 2020)
The lobbying ban that Gov. Gavin Newsom adopted last week for his political consultants does not include the type of “revolving door” prohibition that is standard in government service, allowing his advisers to return to lobbying his administration as soon as he stops paying them.

Newsom bans advisers from lobbying as criticism mounts of ties to interest group consultants (December 13, 2020)
Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced a lobbying ban for his paid political advisers, after weeks of criticism over his close ties to consultants who also work for corporate clients and other influential interests at the state Capitol.

New California law seeks to give tribes more standing to recover sacred objects from museums (November 28, 2020)
Lacking the standing of laws that give federally recognized tribes the right to repatriate certain sacred objects from museums and universities, tens of thousands of items belonging to Native Americans in California remain tucked away in archives, marked as “culturally unidentifiable.”

Newsom’s French Laundry dinner shows how lobbyists get access to power in Sacramento (November 23, 2020)
When he dined at the French Laundry in Yountville this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom enjoyed not only fine cuisine at a three-star Michelin restaurant, but also the company of several influential figures with regular business before his administration.

California lawmakers’ Maui getaway: Here’s who is there (November 17, 2020)
At least nine California lawmakers and possibly several others are at a legislative conference taking place this week at a resort in Maui despite the coronavirus pandemic.

California lawmakers, lobbyists mingle on Maui at getaway, pandemic or no pandemic (November 16, 2020)
Although the coronavirus pandemic has largely grounded the global travel industry, it did not stop the annual political conference that brings California lawmakers to Hawaii for five days of policy discussions and schmoozing with corporate sponsors.

Newsom on French Laundry dinner party: ‘I made a bad mistake’ (November 16, 2020)
Gov. Gavin Newsom apologized Monday for attending a birthday dinner party this month at the French Laundry in Napa County, an attempt to win back public trust for his coronavirus response strategy as California enters a dangerous new stage of the pandemic.

Newsom attended French Laundry party with more households than California advises during pandemic (November 13, 2020)
Gov. Gavin Newsom attended a birthday party for a political adviser last week that included people from several households, the type of gathering his administration has discouraged during the coronavirus pandemic.

Who will replace Kamala Harris in the Senate? It’s up to Gavin Newsom (November 7, 2020)
It didn’t take long when Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate in August for people to begin wondering who Gov. Gavin Newsom might appoint as her replacement in the U.S. Senate.

Prop. 16: Why California voters refused to lift affirmative action ban (November 4, 2020)
In the end, rapidly changing demographics and a summer of protest over racial justice did little to sway the California electorate’s opinion on affirmative action.

Prop. 16 fight intensifies over Ward Connerly comments about white nationalists (October 30, 2020)
The final days of a ballot measure campaign to overturn California’s ban on affirmative action have been turbocharged by comments about white nationalism made by Ward Connerly, the driving force behind the 1990s law.

California suffers harsh budget blow as Trump ends coronavirus stimulus talks (October 6, 2020)
The big state budget bet that California officials made this summer appears to have gone bust after President Trump declared he was ending talks with congressional Democrats on another coronavirus stimulus bill before the election.

New climate for affirmative action? California voters will decide with Proposition 16 (October 4, 2020)
The death of George Floyd forced a national reckoning over racism in policing, the workplace and nearly every other aspect of public life. Will it also inspire Californians to reverse the state’s ban on affirmative action?

California moves toward policing changes, but activists hoped for far more (September 30, 2020)
California will ban certain police choke holds and establish independent investigations for some law enforcement shootings under legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wednesday — the remnants of what activists once hoped would be a far more ambitious overhaul of policing practices.

Prop. 21: California will vote again on rent control. What makes this time different? (September 24, 2020)
Two years after California voters soundly rejected an initiative to roll back state limits on rent control, supporters are trying again with a scaled-back approach that they hope will resonate in a new political environment.

Newsom held back from attacking Trump directly on climate change. Here’s why (September 18, 2020)
The toned-down message reflects the delicate approach the governor has crafted for dealing with Trump, a political rival who also approves — or can block — spending for emergency firefighting resources and recovery aid the state needs.

How California’s most pressing problems fell victim to Legislature’s infighting (September 5, 2020)
Longstanding friction between the two houses ratcheted up to new levels this year, leading to the failure of several major proposals on the final night of session. Some lawmakers said the distrust was the worst they could remember.

California housing bills run into wall of union resistance (August 25, 2020)
A legislative package to streamline project approvals and spur more construction withered in the face of opposition from the powerful building trades over hiring guarantees.

Cabin fever meets Tahoe tension: ‘Not local? Not welcome!’ (August 15, 2020)
A vocal contingent of Lake Tahoe residents wants to rescind the invitation to tourists, saying overnight and day visitors are bombarding the region, clogging roadways and leaving trash and the deadly coronavirus in their wake.

California may crack down on bad cops in wake of George Floyd’s killing (August 5, 2020)
Nationwide upheaval over Floyd’s death has thrust issues of police brutality and misconduct back into the spotlight at the state Capitol, but a legislative process that has twice been abbreviated by the pandemic will test just how much political will there is to get something done this year.

Bay Area counties can spend millions buying hotels for homeless people, but timeline is tight (July 29, 2020)
Bay Area officials are racing to put together proposals to buy hotels and motels as the state prepares to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars for properties that can be turned into permanent housing for homeless people.

California cuts off coronavirus aid to two cities that refuse to shut down (July 29, 2020)
Two small cities in the San Joaquin Valley that rejected public health orders to shut down certain businesses during the coronavirus pandemic remain defiant after the state took steps to withhold hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid.

California had a plan to bring clean water to a million people. Then the pandemic hit (July 25, 2020)
Just as the state was launching a program to clean up a crisis that has left a million Californians without safe drinking water, the coronavirus pandemic threw its finances into question.

California effort to restore affirmative action divides Asian Americans (June 24, 2020)
A vocal rift within the Asian American community is at the center of the debate over a bill to reverse California’s ban on affirmative action.

California’s respite care centers for seniors threatened by state budget disaster (June 5, 2020)
To help close a projected $54 billion budget deficit brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed eliminating a program that aims to keep seniors and disabled people in their homes instead of being institutionalized because of chronic medical or mental health conditions.

Gavin Newsom wants to close prisons as coronavirus shreds California’s budget (May 28, 2020)
The coronavirus pandemic and state budget woes are pushing California toward its first prison closures in nearly two decades.

California, Western state allies forging their own paths in coronavirus crisis (May 16, 2020)
Since it was rolled out with fanfare a month ago, an interstate pact between California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado to coordinate their response to the coronavirus pandemic has been loose, advisory and largely symbolic.

‘Whole new crisis’: California lawmakers wrestle with coronavirus on top of housing shortages (May 9, 2020)
As the Legislature returns for a session redefined by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, lawmakers say they remain committed to addressing what has become one of the biggest debates at the Capitol: How to resolve California’s housing crisis.

Protesters besiege Capitol in Sacramento — they want coronavirus restrictions lifted (April 20, 2020)
Hundreds of protesters with American flags and Make America Great Again hats marched and drove their cars around the state Capitol for hours on Monday, in opposition to what they said was government overreaction to the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus puts Gavin Newsom in tough spot on California progressives’ biggest priorities (April 18, 2020)
As the coronavirus pandemic plays havoc with the state budget, Newsom suddenly faces tough and unexpected choices that may require him to temporarily abandon key policy goals and disappoint allies.

California plots a coronavirus reopening. Trump insists it’s up to him (April 13, 2020)
Gov. Gavin Newsom said California’s reopening plan will be driven by facts, evidence and public health advisers. Notably not mentioned as a consideration was President Trump, who wants a quick reopening and has emphatically stated that it is up to him, not individual states or cities, to decide when society gets moving again.

Will coronavirus pandemic free California prisoners? Gavin Newsom says no (March 30, 2020)
California has long struggled with an overburdened prison system, crowding inmates into lockups that were designed to hold tens of thousands fewer people. Now activists are sounding the alarm that those cramped conditions could foment an explosion of the coronavirus.

Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t ordering coronavirus changes — he’s asking (March 17, 2020)
While governors across the country issue mandatory orders cutting back on social activity to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom is relying on policy guidelines and an expectation that Californians will voluntarily follow them.

Homelessness in California must be ‘top of our agenda,’ Gavin Newsom says (February 19, 2020)
Newsom focused his second annual State of the State address almost entirely on one topic — homelessness — an unusual move that reflected his intention to move the issue to “the top of our agenda.”

Registered to vote? You’d be required to cast a ballot under California bill (February 5, 2020)
A Bay Area lawmaker has a plan to improve voter participation in California: Require that everyone cast a ballot.

Fixing California’s failed SB50 housing bill — solutions won’t come easy (January 30, 2020)
The demise of a San Francisco state senator’s sweeping bill to allow denser residential construction around public transit and in wealthy suburbs thrusts the state’s efforts to fix its housing shortage into an uncertain future.

Costs mount for California’s improper diversion of foreclosure aid (January 28, 2020)
California paid more than $1.4 million to cover the legal costs of community groups that sued the state for diverting hundreds of millions of dollars meant to help homeowners hit by foreclosures during the last recession, documents obtained by The Chronicle show.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom leans in to power as California’s first partner (January 24, 2020)
Unlike her predecessor, who was the top adviser to the former governor but largely avoided public appearances, Jennifer Siebel Newsom has carved a path separate yet complementary to her husband’s work, taking ownership of an agenda focused on pay equity and other gender issues.

How Newsom’s campaign promises have fared one year into term (January 5, 2020)
When Gavin Newsom was sworn in as governor a year ago, he vowed to confront the problems that California “deferred for too long” and make the state a “progressive, principled” beacon for the rest of the country. Here is how key campaign promises have fared so far.

Can $500 a month change a city? Stockton tests universal basic income (January 2, 2020)
For 18 months, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration is tracking how $500 payments change recipients’ lives, a test to prove the viability of a concept known as universal basic income.

Consumer privacy, rent control and gig work: 20 new laws that will reshape California (December 31, 2019)
Here are 20 new laws that could transform people’s lives and the state in 2020 and beyond.

California could lose housing leverage over cities under court ruling (December 3, 2019)
A judge’s ruling in San Mateo County is raising fears among developers and advocates for more housing construction that the state will lose its leverage for forcing cities to build their way out of California’s affordability crisis.

With state executions on hold, death penalty foes rethink ballot strategy (November 29, 2019)
California advocates of abolishing the death penalty got a jolt of momentum in March, when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he would not allow any executions to take place while he was in office. But after trying twice this decade to persuade voters to end capital punishment, activists are taking their own pause and reassessing their strategy.

Proposition 13 overhaul backed by leading 2020 Democrats (November 14, 2019)
California property taxes are one area that U.S. presidents have no control over, but that hasn’t stopped candidates for the Democratic nomination from lining up behind a prospective ballot measure to overhaul Proposition 13, the state’s landmark tax-cutting law.

California bill to boost housing in suburbs gets new life. Newsom may back it (October 19, 2019)
When state Sen. Scott Wiener revives his contentious bid to allow more small to medium-size apartment buildings around public transit and in wealthy suburbs, the San Francisco Democrat could have some hefty additional muscle behind his effort.

In acting on 1,000 new bills, Newsom shows he’s not Jerry Brown (October 14, 2019)
When the dust settled Sunday evening on the 2019 legislative session — and Gov. Gavin Newsom had acted on more than 1,000 bills that made it to his desk this year — some of the most high-profile measures he signed into law were proposals vetoed by his predecessor, often more than once.

California bans private prisons and immigration detention centers (October 11, 2019)
California will phase out its use of private prisons within eight years, ending a practice the state has relied on for three decades to manage an overflow of inmates that once reached twice what its prison system was designed to hold.

California is first state to require abortion pills at public universities (October 11, 2019)
While states across the country clamp down on abortion access, California is moving in the opposite direction by becoming the first in the nation to require its public universities to provide abortion pills at campus health centers.

Gavin Newsom is annoyed blackouts hurt his wineries. Is that an ethics issue? (October 9, 2019)
Newsom vented his frustrations that widespread power shut-offs by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. were affecting his wineries, raising questions about how much he has separated himself from the business holdings he placed into a blind trust before taking office.

California gets its first statewide rent control, eviction protections (October 8, 2019)
As living costs soar across California amid a severe housing crunch, millions of residents will be protected for the first time from large rent increases and losing their homes if they have been reliable tenants.

Erasing mistakes: California helps inmates remove tattoos (September 23, 2019)
Dozens of prison inmates are burning off tattoos they no longer want — and in some cases, never did — through a pilot program set to expand statewide next year.

Backyard granny flats: California sees them as a solution to housing crisis (September 6, 2019)
Lawmakers in Sacramento are pushing half a dozen bills to encourage more secondary homes, which advocates believe could go a long way toward reducing California’s housing shortage.

Dem vs. Dem fight over gay-sex bill brings homophobia accusations (August 20, 2019)
The race for a state Senate seat in the Central Valley has erupted into battle over allegedly homophobic attacks involving a bill carried by a San Francisco lawmaker.

Gavin Newsom signs California bill tightening rules for police shootings (August 19, 2019)
California tightened its rules Monday for when police officers can open fire on suspects, giving the state one of the toughest use-of-force standards in the country.

California spending big on census after Trump’s citizenship question fight (August 6, 2019)
Even before President Trump abandoned his quest to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, California set aside a record $187 million for the count — more than six times what the state spent in 2000 and 2010 combined. Over the next eight months, the state will ramp up an aggressive outreach campaign to repair the damage that officials say Trump has caused to confidence in the census among the state’s most vulnerable residents.

Gilroy shooting shows how California’s gun laws are undermined by its neighbors (July 29, 2019)
California has the toughest gun control laws in the country and only continues to tighten them. But its efforts are undermined by a more permissive approach in other states, including the three that border California.

California prosecutors push to overturn new law on who can be guilty of murder (July 9, 2019)
Bombarded by hundreds of petitions to revisit past murder cases, district attorneys across the state are seeking to overturn a law limiting when an accomplice to a fatal crime can be charged with murder.

California looks to use Trump tax law to help state’s working poor (June 20, 2019)
California Democrats have finally found something to like about the federal tax overhaul that congressional Republicans and President Trump pushed through in 2017 — they can use it to give more money to the working poor.

Where Gov. Gavin Newsom wins and loses in newly passed California budget (June 14, 2019)
The budget proposal that Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced in January gave California’s new leader his first major opportunity to stake out how he would accomplish the ambitious agenda he touted on the campaign trail.

Some activists pull support from California compromise on police deadly force (June 14, 2019)
A deal that cleared the path for California to raise the legal standard for when officers can use deadly force on a suspect has divided the activists who rallied for the bill and shared their painfully personal testimonials at legislative hearings.

Renter advocates struggle for victories in California Legislature (May 30, 2019)
The divergent fates of two bills underscore the challenge of passing legislation this session to protect California renters.

1 million Californians use tainted water. Will state pass a clean-water tax? (May 30, 2019)
Hundreds of communities, and more than 1 million Californians, face a struggle for safe and affordable water that is now at the center of a budget fight at the state Capitol over how to fix the problem.

California’s big housing bill is dead for the year. Here’s what’s left (May 20, 2019)
After a major legislative push to spur more apartment construction around public transit and in wealthy suburbs was blocked in committee, a fix to California’s housing shortage remains as elusive as ever.

Wealthy Bay Area suburbs could have a whole new look under California housing bill (May 10, 2019)
A controversial bill to tackle California’s housing shortage would transform suburban neighborhoods and essentially eliminate single-family zoning in the state by allowing any home or vacant lot in a residential area to be converted to up to four units.

Gavin Newsom plays to a bigger audience as California’s problems await action (April 14, 2019)
While his big-ticket items on hard-to-solve problems slowly wend their way through the Legislature, Newsom has filled the void with a to-do list that bolsters California’s position as a counterweight to President Trump — and perhaps improves his own future prospects as a national political figure.

Gavin Newsom promised to empty California’s private prisons. Can he do it? (March 31, 2019)
A movement to abolish prisons run by private companies has grown over the past decade from a fringe position to a rallying cry for liberal presidential candidates — and now, Gov. Gavin Newsom. But to fulfill his promise, Newsom will have to confront the challenges of slimming down California’s overburdened prison system to make more space, at a time when state prisons are barely under a federal court-imposed cap for their inmate population.

California lawmakers target cities’ ability to block new housing (March 5, 2019)
The spirit of housing construction has imbued the state Capitol with renewed fervor this year as Gov. Gavin Newsom and coastal lawmakers push for policies to spur what they say is badly needed development to get soaring rents and home prices under control. The most provocative ideas — and those likely to cause the fiercest legislative fights — challenge the extent to which cities can control what gets built within their boundaries.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom puts distance between himself and Jerry Brown (February 23, 2019)
Gavin Newsom is the first Democrat to follow another Democrat into the California governor’s office in more than a century, but he’s made clear during his first six weeks in charge that his tenure will not be a third consecutive term of Jerry Brown.

‘Big Gulp ban,’ soda tax coming before California Legislature (February 19, 2019)
Months after the California Legislature reluctantly voted to ban cities from passing new soda taxes, Democratic lawmakers are taking another stab at a statewide fee and other measures to reduce consumption of sugary drinks.

California struggles to seize guns from people who shouldn’t have them (February 18, 2019)
California has struggled to enforce a unique state law that allows officials to seize guns from people with criminal convictions or mental health problems, leaving firearms in the hands of thousands of people legally barred from owning them.

California attorney general to take on Trump, in Spanish (February 5, 2019)
He has sued the Trump administration more than 40 times. Now Democratic congressional leaders have tapped him to give the Spanish-language response to the State of the Union address.