CalMatters
CalMatters is an award-winning, nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters.
We were founded to fill the gap left by a shrinking press corps in order to empower people to engage on key issues, hold the powerful accountable, and create a better California for all. In six years CalMatters has established ourselves as a trusted brand and “go-to” hub for in-depth news and information on statewide issues. Our office is in Sacramento, but our team of award winning reporters and photo journalists are found throughout California.
Environment, education, health care, housing, justice, economic inequality – the debates on these vital issues and others have a profound impact on the lives of 38 million Californians and beyond.
Our team of more than 50 experienced journalists, data, audience, product, revenue and partnership professionals, with the time and resources to dig deep, is committed to meaningfully informing Californians about the players, politics, and interests that shape the issues that affect our lives.
We reach 1 in 10 Californians across the state by posting our work online and by sharing our stories at no cost with more than 200 media partners. We have readers and listeners in every major metropolitan area and hundreds of smaller towns and cities.
Our work has led to changes in policy, new legislation and investigations and discussions at the Capitol, in political groups and beyond — and created an awareness of important issues that aren’t getting covered anywhere else.
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Ignoring urgent pleas from water officials, Californians used substantially more water after a record-dry three months gripped the state. -
California lawmakers want to remove a fee that can transform a minor ticket into hundreds of dollars of debt for low-income residents.
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‘When you don’t know where to go, you come here:’ California preps to be a haven for abortion rightsCalifornia abortion rights groups, providers and Democratic lawmakers are all getting ready for a potential influx of out-of-state women. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to dramatically scale back, or even end, the constitutional right to abortion.
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Volunteers fanned out across the state for the first statewide count of California’s homeless population since 2020. The number is expected to be higher, raising more questions about the impact of the state’s increased spending.
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If enacted this summer, California’s mandate — the first in the world — would increase sales of electric or other zero-emission cars to 35% in 2026, and prohibit new gasoline or diesel cars by 2035.
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A task force is helping state officials examine how African Americans have been harmed by slavery and systemic racism and, weighing that, how the state should respond. What reparations should there be?
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According to new data from the California Department of Education, enrollment continues to drop at faster rates than before the pandemic.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is pushing a first-in-the-nation plan for California to partner with a drugmaker to produce cheaper insulin. It’s one of many proposed state and federal remedies to soaring insulin costs.
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From housing and health to transportation and education, the Legislative Analyst’s Office provides a litany of sobering climate change impacts for California legislators to address as they enact policies and set budgets.
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Regulators approved “seriously deficient” fire prevention plans, including from PG&E, which sparked California’s deadliest wildfire, state auditor says.
