Explainers

California voters will decide 10 propositions in November. Here’s what you need to know about them, how they got on the ballot and how direct democracy works in the state.

California's minimum wage is among the highest in the nation but the state's high cost-of-living strains even full-time workers.

The true cost of college in California depends on how much financial aid students qualify for and the cost of housing where they attend.

How bad is California hunger? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but is being reduced.

California’s first-in-the-nation task force on reparations is handing lawmakers dozens of recommendations, including a proposal that the state apologize for slavery and racist policies, and make financial amends.

When budget season arrived in 2022, state lawmakers enjoyed the excitement and possibilities over how to spend a record $97.5 billion budget surplus, a shocking figure coming at the end of a bruising COVID-19 pandemic. But the two ensuing years have played out like a mirror universe as the state stares down a budget deficit […]

Read this explainer in English. Desde el principio, ha habido un gobierno estatal. Incluso antes de que existiera un gobierno federal, hubo una colección de estados organizados bajo los Artículos de la Confederación en 1781. Pero las 13 entidades separadas con diferentes intereses pronto se dieron cuenta de que necesitaban un organismo global para hacer […]

But how much do you really know about how California’s state government works? CalMatters answers many of the most important questions in this explainer.

Here are some of the most interesting new laws that take effect in California for 2023, including ones on money, health and education.

Read this explainer in English. En 2022, la Legislatura de California aprobó casi 1,200 proyectos de ley, y casi 1,000 se convirtieron en ley con la firma del gobernador Gavin Newsom. Muchas de las nuevas leyes son correcciones menores a leyes que los legisladores y el gobernador promulgaron anteriormente. Otras son más bien reducidas o […]