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Scott Detrow
Sacramento Bureau Chief, The California Report
Sacramento bureau chief Scott Detrow covers state government, politics and policy for KQED News and its statewide news program, The California Report.
Before joining KQED, Scott reported on Pennsylvania's natural gas drilling boom for NPR's StateImpact project. He examined how hydraulic fracturing - or fracking - affected the Keystone State's economy and environment, and ways state government regulated the industry. In addition to filing radio reports that regularly aired on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, Scott blogged about drilling policy, and helped create interactive applications that visualized Pennsylvania's energy boom. The StateImpact Pennsylvania project won the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton in 2013.
From 2009 to 2011, Scott worked as Pennsylvania Public Radio's state Capitol bureau chief. He covered politics and government, reporting on the 2010 gubernatorial and Senate campaigns and a 101-day budget impasse, among other stories. During that stint, Scott won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of the Pennsylvania National Guard, which included a stint embedding with its 56th Stryker Brigade in Taji, Iraq.
Scott has also worked as a general assignment reporter and anchor at WITF in Harrisburg, PA and WFUV in New York City. He graduated from Fordham University, and is working toward completing a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government.
Stories (18 archives)
Brown's Budget Sends Surplus Cash Mostly to Schools
The state brought in more tax revenue than expected this year, but Gov. Brown's new budget takes a conservative tack. As expected, the bulk of the money is going to schools, including another $500 million to the state's universities. Brown is not adding money for social welfare programs or the courts, but he did outline a plan for how to expand healthcare coverage with the state -- not the counties -- taking the lead.
Gov. Brown Releases Updated Spending Plan
The business of passing a state budget begins in earnest on Tuesday, when Gov. Brown rolls out his updated spending plan. This is the first time in years that lawmakers will negotiate what to do with extra money -- not how to cut billions of dollars in spending.
Tough Laws Do Little to Slow Calif. Gun Rush
California has one of the toughest gun background check systems in the country, but that's not stopping people from buying more firearms. Some lawmakers want to make the screening process for buying a gun even tougher.
State Assembly Leader Wants To Create Rainy Day Fund
There's a lot of pressure on Democrats in Sacramento to loosen the spending spigot, given that the state's fiscal revenues are running ahead of estimates. For now, at least, Assembly Speaker John Perez is refusing to budge. He wants a rainy day fund instead.
New Effort Would Lift Medical Malpractice Compensation Cap
State lawmakers are being lobbied to take a harder line on prescription drug abuse and the doctors who enable it. A number of bills attempt to address that problem -- but not the $250,000 cap on jury awards to victims of medical malpractice for pain and suffering. That was etched in stone as part of a landmark act in 1975. Now, reform advocates are mobilizing to attack the cap on next year's ballot.
