Tahoe Truckee Region Elections & Politics Digest

Rural counties are some of the most reliant on federal funding and federal workers. But some still welcome Trump’s upcoming cuts to forestry and other departments

At a time when the political climate calls for strong and steady leadership, many Black Californians are losing faith in the lawmakers they sent to Sacramento to deliver on a justice agenda anchored by reparations.

Voter guides in various languages at a polling site at Modoc Hall in Sacramento State in Sacramento on March 5, 2024. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Under Trump’s directive the Department of Education laid off half its staff. The lawsuit argues Trump has no authority to make such drastic changes.

Los Angeles Assemblymember Rick Zbur says he wants to narrow the standards for justifiable homicide. Critics say he wants to make self-defense illegal.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to see tangible results from the $6.4 billion mental health bond voters approved last year. Moving fast carries a risk of neglecting under-resourced communities.

California schools are grappling with the U.S. Department of Education's letter requiring them to scrap their DEI programs.

The audit by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission followed CalMatters’ revelations that a law requiring trip organizers to annually disclose their major donors had been used only twice in seven years — even as interest groups continued paying millions for lawmakers’ travel.

Californians rejected the anti-slavery ballot measure Proposition 6, which would have forbid forced prison labor. Reparations advocates want to try again in 2026.

Sen. Kelly Seyarto is the only former career firefighter currently serving in the Legislature. But as a Republican in a Democratic supermajority, he says it can be challenging to make progress on wildfire policy.

California’s Democratic leaders set aside tens of millions of dollars to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive orders and policies.

Some schools destroyed years ago in the Sonoma and Butte fires are just now reopening. The long, expensive process of rebuilding in LA may eat up much of the money voters approved in November for school repairs statewide.

With assurances that “sunlight is pouring over the entire world,” President Donald Trump was sworn into office Monday for his second term. He wasted no time taking potshots at California.

THREATS AND HARASSMENT are pushing some politicians out of office, scaring off some would-be candidates and even compelling some elected officials to change their vote.

Those in California who’d like a latte with a side of weed have gotten their wish now that a new law goes into effect that permits licensed cannabis dispensaries to add sit-in cafes to their sites.  

After winning a costly legislative battle last year, California’s casino-owning tribes have sued their rivals in the gambling business. Cities could lose money if the tribes prevail in court.

The increase in lobbyists means there’s now at least one lobbyist for every legislative staff member.

Here are some of the most noteworthy 2025 laws that go into effect on Jan. 1.

California recorded historically high numbers of deaths in county jails for the past six years. Now, counties expect to house more prisoners as Prop. 36 takes effect.

Pledging to take on the affordable housing crisis and bring down health care costs, Adam Schiff was sworn in Monday by Vice President Kamala Harris as California’s junior U.S. senator.

The California Voter Foundation launched a tool tracking daily vote counts in 18 close contests for Congress and the state Legislature. The tracker aims to show how counts change over time and dispel misinformation about election fraud, the group says.

Voters in California’s farm belt, stretching more than 400 miles from Kern County on the south to Tehama County on the north, delivered solid majorities for Donald Trump in this month’s presidential election.

Between the summer session of the California Legislature featuring hot topics like AI regulation and money for journalism, and a special one focusing on gas prices, powerful corporations poured in record-setting money to influence lawmakers.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on implementing a sweeping border crackdown and undertaking the largest-scale deportation effort in history. If carried out, his proposed initiatives will have profound consequences in California, which shares a 140-mile border with Mexico.

California’s Senate will reach gender parity, but depending on the outcome of some close contests, that could extend to the whole Legislature.

Newsom wants the new Legislature to ‘protect’ California from Donald Trump on civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and immigrant families. The session will start Dec. 2.

A lot is at stake with the new Trump administration: California’s water projects, its unique authority to clean its air, federal support for offshore wind and disaster aid for wildfires.

THE SALINAS VALLEY is the setting for fecund soil, labor rights movements and John Steinbeck novels.Squeezed into one 90-mile-long wedge between the Gabilan and Santa Lucia mountains, the valley’s residents constitute less than 1% of Californians but have shaped the identity of the whole state.

Homeless Californians face many barriers to casting a ballot, even in elections that affect their lives. Some counties and nonprofits are trying to boost turnout.

Proposition 33 on local rent control and the related Proposition 34 are attracting the most campaign cash by far of the 10 ballot measures. But the amount pales to what was spent on dueling sports betting measures in 2022.

Use our tool to search through investigations opened by the state’s campaign law watchdog. The data updates weekly.

Only one-third of the California GOP congressional delegation has pledged to accept the 2024 presidential election results. And only two incumbents in office in 2021 voted to certify President Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump in the 2020 race.