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Educators","link":"/education","type":"title"},{"name":"Support KQED","link":"/support","type":"title"},{"name":"About","link":"/about","type":"title"},{"name":"Help Center","link":"https://kqed-helpcenter.kqed.org/s","type":"title"}]}]},"pagesReducer":{},"postsReducer":{"stream_live":{"type":"live","id":"stream_live","audioUrl":"https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio","title":"Live Stream","excerpt":"Live Stream information currently unavailable.","link":"/radio","featImg":"","label":{"name":"KQED Live","link":"/"}},"stream_kqedNewscast":{"type":"posts","id":"stream_kqedNewscast","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1","title":"KQED Newscast","featImg":"","label":{"name":"88.5 FM","link":"/"}},"news_11997351":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11997351","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11997351","score":null,"sort":[1721934029000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"premiums-for-covered-california-insurance-will-go-up-in-2025-heres-how-much","title":"Find Out How Much Covered California Insurance Premiums Will Increase in 2025","publishDate":1721934029,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Find Out How Much Covered California Insurance Premiums Will Increase in 2025 | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Premiums for health insurance sold through the state’s marketplace will increase by nearly 8% in 2025, Covered California officials announced Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a smaller increase than this year’s 10% hike, which was the biggest jump in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/07/covered-california-2024-health-rates/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Covered California insurance costs\u003c/a> since 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Covered California Executive Director Jessica Altman, in a media call, attributed the upcoming increase to factors such as rising pharmacy costs, labor shortages and wage increases in the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/06/health-care-minimum-wage/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">health care industry\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what does this mean for consumers?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most enrollees are typically shielded from annual premium increases because they receive financial assistance from the government. When the cost of premiums rise, usually so do government-funded subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who don’t qualify for subsidies bear the full cost of rate hikes. About 90% of Covered California’s 1.7 million enrollees receive aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Premium increases vary by region and insurance carrier. Like most years, the 29,000 enrollees in the coastal region comprising Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties will see the biggest spike: an average increase of 15.7%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That area is one of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/01/california-hospital-salinas-cost/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">most expensive health care markets\u003c/a> in the country. Experts have blamed geographic isolation and lack of market competition in the area for its high \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/health-care/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">health care \u003c/a>costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A notable change in 2025 for that area is that Kaiser Permanente will begin serving residents in Monterey County and is expected to cover about half of the marketplace enrollees there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In terms of insurance carriers, Aetna CVS Health, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield have proposed the biggest rate hikes — 15.4%, 12.7% and 8.4%, respectively. Blue Shield and Anthem cover about 40% of all Covered California enrollees.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Subsidies for Covered California premiums\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A combination of state and federal subsidies has kept premiums affordable for many Californians despite recent inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the new \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/california-budget/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">state budget\u003c/a>, lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved $165 million to eliminate or reduce deductibles and lower copays for enrollees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s in addition to the premium assistance provided by the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has consistently provided some financial assistance. More recent laws adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic — the American Rescue Plan and then later the Inflation Reduction Act — enhanced that aid by capping what people spend on their health insurance premiums to 8.5% of their income. That allowed more middle-income people to qualify for aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Despite the rate increase, Californians who enroll in health insurance through Covered California in 2025 will benefit from the greatest level of financial support ever offered by Covered California,” Altman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What people end up paying for a health plan depends largely on their income, household size and age. Individuals and families on the lower end of the income spectrum may find they qualify for a plan with a monthly premium of $0 a month or $20 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The enhanced financial assistance provided by the Inflation Reduction Act expires at the end of 2025. Congress would have to extend this aid for it to continue beyond next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Us and advocates all across the country are hoping that it does not end at the end of 2025. We hope that we will be able to get a continuation of these subsidies that have been really popular across the country and especially in California,” said Diana Douglas, director of policy and legislative advocacy at the advocacy group Health Access California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tax penalties for uninsured Californians\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many Californians who go without insurance may unknowingly pay more in tax penalties than they would for a health plan. California is one of four states, plus the District of Columbia, that penalizes residents for not having health insurance. This most recent tax season, Californians saw penalties of up to $850 per adult and $425 per child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2022 tax season, the latest year for which data is available, more than 271,000 households paid\u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/data-reports-plans/Health-Care-Minimum-Essential-Coverage-Mandated-Report-2023-Process-Year-2022%20.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> fines for lacking health insurance\u003c/a>, according to the Franchise Tax Board. Most of those who paid the fines earned less than $50,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates also advise that Covered California enrollees should ensure their household and income information is up to date. If that information is outdated because of a job change or another life event, enrollees could receive excess premium subsidies. In that case, they may find that they’ll have to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/06/affordable-care-act-repayment/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repay some of that assistance\u003c/a> when they next file their taxes. Conversely, some people may learn they are eligible for more assistance than they currently receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open enrollment for 2025 starts Nov. 1.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Premium increases are expected to vary largely by region and plan, but most consumers will receive subsidies protecting them from steep hikes.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721933776,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":24,"wordCount":773},"headData":{"title":"Find Out How Much Covered California Insurance Premiums Will Increase in 2025 | KQED","description":"Premium increases are expected to vary largely by region and plan, but most consumers will receive subsidies protecting them from steep hikes.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Find Out How Much Covered California Insurance Premiums Will Increase in 2025","datePublished":"2024-07-25T12:00:29-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-25T11:56:16-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Ana B. Ibarra, CalMatters","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11997351/premiums-for-covered-california-insurance-will-go-up-in-2025-heres-how-much","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Premiums for health insurance sold through the state’s marketplace will increase by nearly 8% in 2025, Covered California officials announced Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a smaller increase than this year’s 10% hike, which was the biggest jump in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/07/covered-california-2024-health-rates/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Covered California insurance costs\u003c/a> since 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Covered California Executive Director Jessica Altman, in a media call, attributed the upcoming increase to factors such as rising pharmacy costs, labor shortages and wage increases in the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/06/health-care-minimum-wage/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">health care industry\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what does this mean for consumers?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most enrollees are typically shielded from annual premium increases because they receive financial assistance from the government. When the cost of premiums rise, usually so do government-funded subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who don’t qualify for subsidies bear the full cost of rate hikes. About 90% of Covered California’s 1.7 million enrollees receive aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Premium increases vary by region and insurance carrier. Like most years, the 29,000 enrollees in the coastal region comprising Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties will see the biggest spike: an average increase of 15.7%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That area is one of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/01/california-hospital-salinas-cost/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">most expensive health care markets\u003c/a> in the country. Experts have blamed geographic isolation and lack of market competition in the area for its high \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/health-care/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">health care \u003c/a>costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A notable change in 2025 for that area is that Kaiser Permanente will begin serving residents in Monterey County and is expected to cover about half of the marketplace enrollees there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In terms of insurance carriers, Aetna CVS Health, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield have proposed the biggest rate hikes — 15.4%, 12.7% and 8.4%, respectively. Blue Shield and Anthem cover about 40% of all Covered California enrollees.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Subsidies for Covered California premiums\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A combination of state and federal subsidies has kept premiums affordable for many Californians despite recent inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the new \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/california-budget/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">state budget\u003c/a>, lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved $165 million to eliminate or reduce deductibles and lower copays for enrollees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s in addition to the premium assistance provided by the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has consistently provided some financial assistance. More recent laws adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic — the American Rescue Plan and then later the Inflation Reduction Act — enhanced that aid by capping what people spend on their health insurance premiums to 8.5% of their income. That allowed more middle-income people to qualify for aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Despite the rate increase, Californians who enroll in health insurance through Covered California in 2025 will benefit from the greatest level of financial support ever offered by Covered California,” Altman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What people end up paying for a health plan depends largely on their income, household size and age. Individuals and families on the lower end of the income spectrum may find they qualify for a plan with a monthly premium of $0 a month or $20 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The enhanced financial assistance provided by the Inflation Reduction Act expires at the end of 2025. Congress would have to extend this aid for it to continue beyond next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Us and advocates all across the country are hoping that it does not end at the end of 2025. We hope that we will be able to get a continuation of these subsidies that have been really popular across the country and especially in California,” said Diana Douglas, director of policy and legislative advocacy at the advocacy group Health Access California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tax penalties for uninsured Californians\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many Californians who go without insurance may unknowingly pay more in tax penalties than they would for a health plan. California is one of four states, plus the District of Columbia, that penalizes residents for not having health insurance. This most recent tax season, Californians saw penalties of up to $850 per adult and $425 per child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2022 tax season, the latest year for which data is available, more than 271,000 households paid\u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/data-reports-plans/Health-Care-Minimum-Essential-Coverage-Mandated-Report-2023-Process-Year-2022%20.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> fines for lacking health insurance\u003c/a>, according to the Franchise Tax Board. Most of those who paid the fines earned less than $50,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates also advise that Covered California enrollees should ensure their household and income information is up to date. If that information is outdated because of a job change or another life event, enrollees could receive excess premium subsidies. In that case, they may find that they’ll have to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/06/affordable-care-act-repayment/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repay some of that assistance\u003c/a> when they next file their taxes. Conversely, some people may learn they are eligible for more assistance than they currently receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open enrollment for 2025 starts Nov. 1.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11997351/premiums-for-covered-california-insurance-will-go-up-in-2025-heres-how-much","authors":["byline_news_11997351"],"categories":["news_457","news_8"],"tags":["news_5164","news_1054","news_423"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11997354","label":"news_18481"},"news_11996598":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11996598","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11996598","score":null,"sort":[1721514118000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-sent-a-mentally-ill-man-to-a-state-hospital-and-charged-him-nearly-770000","title":"California Sent a Mentally Ill Man to a State Hospital and Charged Him Nearly $770,000","publishDate":1721514118,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California Sent a Mentally Ill Man to a State Hospital and Charged Him Nearly $770,000 | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>The first bill arrived in Sultan Khan’s mailbox two years after his release from Napa State Hospital. Khan had received psychiatric treatment there for three years after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to a criminal charge stemming from an assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He stared in disbelief at the paper in front of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of State Hospitals wanted him to pay back the cost of that stay: $769,490.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wondering if he was being scammed, Khan phoned the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They suggested a payment plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department’s practice of billing patients exorbitant sums after releasing them from its care has existed for decades, attorneys and advocates say. Such billing has been required under state law since 1967, and has been allowable since the 1930s. The practice has endured even though the state has passed laws in recent years preventing other government entities from charging big fees to vulnerable populations. One example: People leaving prisons and jails no longer have to pay for many of the costs of their incarceration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here’s (the Department of State Hospitals) quietly collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from our absolutely most, most vulnerable clients with the least ability to make any kind of payment,” said Rachel Draznin-Nagy, Khan’s public defender in Contra Costa county. “I’m so furious about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has five state mental health hospitals caring for more than 5,500 patients, the vast majority of them from the criminal justice system. Most have been charged with or convicted of offenses related to their serious mental illnesses; some, like Khan, are sick enough to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/medi-cal/\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a> does not insure people who are in state hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After they are released months or years later, few of these patients have the financial resources to pay off massive bills, Draznin-Nagy and other public defenders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of State Hospitals refused to make anyone available to speak with CalMatters about its fee collections program. But, in an unsigned email, representatives of the department said it “recognizes the stress and concern that individuals may experience when receiving financial notifications.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They pointed to \u003ca href=\"https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/welfare-and-institutions-code/wic-sect-7275/\">statutes\u003c/a> “which require (the department) to collect upon the cost of care delivered in state hospitals.” In order to be reimbursed by Medicare, they said, state agencies must bill patients for the cost of care when such billing is required by state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past May, thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB184/id/2600107\">recent changes in law\u003c/a>, the department rolled out a new \u003ca href=\"https://www.dsh.ca.gov/Financial_Assistance_Program/index.html\">financial assistance program\u003c/a> that allows it to forgive some or all of a patient’s debt. But public defenders say many of their clients do not have the wherewithal to complete the paperwork required to apply for the program in a timely manner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evening before publication, the department announced it had fully forgiven the debt of its first applicant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data from a report to the Legislature in 2022 showed that the department collected $418,861 from an unspecified number of former patients between January 2018 and September 2021. The report also noted that the department had filed six lawsuits seeking collections during that time. It had not written off, reduced or canceled any patient debt in that period. The department did not provide CalMatters with more recent data. Its current budget is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dsh.ca.gov/About_Us/docs/DSH_2024-25_Budget_Act_Highlights.pdf\">$3.4 billion (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its email, the department’s representatives said it has neither sent former patients to collections agencies nor garnished their wages. But if patients have not made an effort to pay their bills or been in contact about making payment arrangements, contesting their bill, or applying for the financial assistance program, the department can forward a request to the Franchise Tax Board to collect unclaimed property, funds or tax returns to offset the cost of care.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Shocking’ hospital bills\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, advocates and attorneys have convinced the Legislature to overturn other policies that require billing vulnerable groups, often low-income people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, California led the way nationally in \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_201720180sb190\">abolishing fees for juvenile offenders\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, the state halted the collection of fees from people in jail and prison for\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB177\"> costs associated with their incarceration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996600\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sultan Khan’s medical bills and related letters that he received from the California Department of State in Martinez, on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Florence Middleton/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stephanie Campos-Bui, a Berkeley Law professor involved with those efforts, said the size of Department of State Hospitals bills, such as the one Khan received, is “shocking.” Part of what led to legislative changes banning collection of other types of fees is that the cost to the state often negates any revenue such fees might generate, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we really think it’s in our interest as a society to be placing these people in state hospitals, that should be on the general fund, the taxpayers, to do that, not on people who are involuntarily being committed to these facilities,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph Gocke, a public defender from Yolo County, said one of his clients received a bill in 2022 for $81,491 after spending months in a state hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We went to court. We contested it. We lost, unfortunately,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the case law that allows the department to collect such fees dates back to the 1950s and early ’60s, he said, predating even the right to an attorney, which was \u003ca href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/372/335/\">established in 1963\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s bizarre that this is still allowed because these are clients of ours that the law also mandates that they go to the state hospital for treatment,” he said. “And to then turn around and give them a bill for something they’re not choosing seems fundamentally unfair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Madsen, a Placer County public defender, requested an itemized bill for one client in 2020, after he was deemed incompetent to stand trial and sent to a state hospital. The Department of State Hospitals, the bill showed, charged $520 a day for his three-month stay. State officials sent multiple bills to his parents trying to collect a total of $51,945, which included the day rate as well as the cost of medications and vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996602\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996602\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sultan Khan at the Contra Costa County Public Defenders’ office in Martinez on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Florence Middleton/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Madsen said this was the only such bill she was aware of any of her clients receiving over the years, leading her and other public defenders to believe such billing is unevenly implemented. She said state hospital representatives told her they sent such bills all the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The email from the Department of State Hospitals earlier this month noted that, “upon any individual’s admission to the state hospital, the Hospital’s Trust Office informs the patient about their liability for the care, support, and maintenance in a state institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m basically going to be in debt for the rest of my life’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Khan doesn’t remember anyone telling him he’d be on the hook for so much money. He was struggling with a new diagnosis of schizophrenia and his life being upended at the time: “I had other things on my mind,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If hospital officials had explained how much debt he’d be in, he said, he might have opted to just go to prison – even though he feels the treatment he received at the state hospital ultimately helped him enormously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, $760,000, I’m basically going to be in debt for the rest of my life,” he said recently, sitting in a conference room in downtown Martinez with his public defender, Draznin-Nagy. “It’s not a good feeling, believe me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996601\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996601\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sultan Khan’s medical bills and related letters that he received from the California Department of State after he was involuntarily committed to Napa State Hospital by Contra Costa County in Martinez, on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Florence Middleton/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Khan had landed in the criminal justice system soon after he returned from a stint as a Pashto interpreter at Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention camp in Cuba where the United States military housed detainees after 9/11. The violence he saw while working there traumatized him, he said. In addition to experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in jail. In the state hospital, his illness responded well to medication and treatment. He was discharged in 2018, and began the process of piecing his life back together. He moved in with his family. He started collecting disability payments. He got a part-time job at a local grocery store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He received the first bill two years later. The treatment team that worked with him in the county’s conditional release program sent the department proof of his inability to pay, he and Draznin-Nagy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year went by before Khan received another letter from the department informing him that it was updating its policies and would not pursue collection until that process was completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost three years after that, Khan received a third letter this past May. If he did not contact the department’s Patient Cost Recovery Section to request financial help within 30 days, it said, the department would resume billing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he has reached out to the state through his attorney, Khan says anxiety about the bill keeps him awake at night. He thinks about it while he’s working and during walks through the local park that used to help him clear his head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a weight on my shoulders,” he said. “It lingers in my mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"California State Hospitals can bill patients for the care they receive during confinement. The charges often run in the tens of thousands of dollars, putting vulnerable people in debt for years.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721514118,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":38,"wordCount":1667},"headData":{"title":"California Sent a Mentally Ill Man to a State Hospital and Charged Him Nearly $770,000 | KQED","description":"California State Hospitals can bill patients for the care they receive during confinement. The charges often run in the tens of thousands of dollars, putting vulnerable people in debt for years.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"California Sent a Mentally Ill Man to a State Hospital and Charged Him Nearly $770,000","datePublished":"2024-07-20T15:21:58-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-20T15:21:58-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2024/07/state-hospital-bill/\">Jocelyn Wiener\u003c/a>, CalMatters","nprStoryId":"kqed-11996598","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11996598/california-sent-a-mentally-ill-man-to-a-state-hospital-and-charged-him-nearly-770000","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The first bill arrived in Sultan Khan’s mailbox two years after his release from Napa State Hospital. Khan had received psychiatric treatment there for three years after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to a criminal charge stemming from an assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He stared in disbelief at the paper in front of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of State Hospitals wanted him to pay back the cost of that stay: $769,490.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wondering if he was being scammed, Khan phoned the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They suggested a payment plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department’s practice of billing patients exorbitant sums after releasing them from its care has existed for decades, attorneys and advocates say. Such billing has been required under state law since 1967, and has been allowable since the 1930s. The practice has endured even though the state has passed laws in recent years preventing other government entities from charging big fees to vulnerable populations. One example: People leaving prisons and jails no longer have to pay for many of the costs of their incarceration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here’s (the Department of State Hospitals) quietly collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from our absolutely most, most vulnerable clients with the least ability to make any kind of payment,” said Rachel Draznin-Nagy, Khan’s public defender in Contra Costa county. “I’m so furious about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has five state mental health hospitals caring for more than 5,500 patients, the vast majority of them from the criminal justice system. Most have been charged with or convicted of offenses related to their serious mental illnesses; some, like Khan, are sick enough to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/medi-cal/\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a> does not insure people who are in state hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After they are released months or years later, few of these patients have the financial resources to pay off massive bills, Draznin-Nagy and other public defenders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of State Hospitals refused to make anyone available to speak with CalMatters about its fee collections program. But, in an unsigned email, representatives of the department said it “recognizes the stress and concern that individuals may experience when receiving financial notifications.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They pointed to \u003ca href=\"https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/welfare-and-institutions-code/wic-sect-7275/\">statutes\u003c/a> “which require (the department) to collect upon the cost of care delivered in state hospitals.” In order to be reimbursed by Medicare, they said, state agencies must bill patients for the cost of care when such billing is required by state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past May, thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB184/id/2600107\">recent changes in law\u003c/a>, the department rolled out a new \u003ca href=\"https://www.dsh.ca.gov/Financial_Assistance_Program/index.html\">financial assistance program\u003c/a> that allows it to forgive some or all of a patient’s debt. But public defenders say many of their clients do not have the wherewithal to complete the paperwork required to apply for the program in a timely manner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evening before publication, the department announced it had fully forgiven the debt of its first applicant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data from a report to the Legislature in 2022 showed that the department collected $418,861 from an unspecified number of former patients between January 2018 and September 2021. The report also noted that the department had filed six lawsuits seeking collections during that time. It had not written off, reduced or canceled any patient debt in that period. The department did not provide CalMatters with more recent data. Its current budget is \u003ca href=\"https://www.dsh.ca.gov/About_Us/docs/DSH_2024-25_Budget_Act_Highlights.pdf\">$3.4 billion (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its email, the department’s representatives said it has neither sent former patients to collections agencies nor garnished their wages. But if patients have not made an effort to pay their bills or been in contact about making payment arrangements, contesting their bill, or applying for the financial assistance program, the department can forward a request to the Franchise Tax Board to collect unclaimed property, funds or tax returns to offset the cost of care.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Shocking’ hospital bills\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, advocates and attorneys have convinced the Legislature to overturn other policies that require billing vulnerable groups, often low-income people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, California led the way nationally in \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_201720180sb190\">abolishing fees for juvenile offenders\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, the state halted the collection of fees from people in jail and prison for\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB177\"> costs associated with their incarceration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996600\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996600\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_72-2-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sultan Khan’s medical bills and related letters that he received from the California Department of State in Martinez, on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Florence Middleton/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Stephanie Campos-Bui, a Berkeley Law professor involved with those efforts, said the size of Department of State Hospitals bills, such as the one Khan received, is “shocking.” Part of what led to legislative changes banning collection of other types of fees is that the cost to the state often negates any revenue such fees might generate, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we really think it’s in our interest as a society to be placing these people in state hospitals, that should be on the general fund, the taxpayers, to do that, not on people who are involuntarily being committed to these facilities,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph Gocke, a public defender from Yolo County, said one of his clients received a bill in 2022 for $81,491 after spending months in a state hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We went to court. We contested it. We lost, unfortunately,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the case law that allows the department to collect such fees dates back to the 1950s and early ’60s, he said, predating even the right to an attorney, which was \u003ca href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/372/335/\">established in 1963\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s bizarre that this is still allowed because these are clients of ours that the law also mandates that they go to the state hospital for treatment,” he said. “And to then turn around and give them a bill for something they’re not choosing seems fundamentally unfair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Madsen, a Placer County public defender, requested an itemized bill for one client in 2020, after he was deemed incompetent to stand trial and sent to a state hospital. The Department of State Hospitals, the bill showed, charged $520 a day for his three-month stay. State officials sent multiple bills to his parents trying to collect a total of $51,945, which included the day rate as well as the cost of medications and vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996602\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996602\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_51-2-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sultan Khan at the Contra Costa County Public Defenders’ office in Martinez on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Florence Middleton/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Madsen said this was the only such bill she was aware of any of her clients receiving over the years, leading her and other public defenders to believe such billing is unevenly implemented. She said state hospital representatives told her they sent such bills all the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The email from the Department of State Hospitals earlier this month noted that, “upon any individual’s admission to the state hospital, the Hospital’s Trust Office informs the patient about their liability for the care, support, and maintenance in a state institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m basically going to be in debt for the rest of my life’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Khan doesn’t remember anyone telling him he’d be on the hook for so much money. He was struggling with a new diagnosis of schizophrenia and his life being upended at the time: “I had other things on my mind,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If hospital officials had explained how much debt he’d be in, he said, he might have opted to just go to prison – even though he feels the treatment he received at the state hospital ultimately helped him enormously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, $760,000, I’m basically going to be in debt for the rest of my life,” he said recently, sitting in a conference room in downtown Martinez with his public defender, Draznin-Nagy. “It’s not a good feeling, believe me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996601\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996601\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1046\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/2024.06.27_Middleton_HospitalBill_68-2-copy-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sultan Khan’s medical bills and related letters that he received from the California Department of State after he was involuntarily committed to Napa State Hospital by Contra Costa County in Martinez, on June 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Florence Middleton/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Khan had landed in the criminal justice system soon after he returned from a stint as a Pashto interpreter at Guantanamo Bay, the controversial detention camp in Cuba where the United States military housed detainees after 9/11. The violence he saw while working there traumatized him, he said. In addition to experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in jail. In the state hospital, his illness responded well to medication and treatment. He was discharged in 2018, and began the process of piecing his life back together. He moved in with his family. He started collecting disability payments. He got a part-time job at a local grocery store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He received the first bill two years later. The treatment team that worked with him in the county’s conditional release program sent the department proof of his inability to pay, he and Draznin-Nagy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year went by before Khan received another letter from the department informing him that it was updating its policies and would not pursue collection until that process was completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost three years after that, Khan received a third letter this past May. If he did not contact the department’s Patient Cost Recovery Section to request financial help within 30 days, it said, the department would resume billing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he has reached out to the state through his attorney, Khan says anxiety about the bill keeps him awake at night. He thinks about it while he’s working and during walks through the local park that used to help him clear his head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a weight on my shoulders,” he said. “It lingers in my mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11996598/california-sent-a-mentally-ill-man-to-a-state-hospital-and-charged-him-nearly-770000","authors":["byline_news_11996598"],"categories":["news_31795","news_457","news_8"],"tags":["news_683","news_21770","news_2605","news_26763","news_17983"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11996599","label":"news_18481"},"news_11996415":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11996415","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11996415","score":null,"sort":[1721415600000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"newsom-is-all-in-for-biden-as-defections-grow-strategists-say-hes-playing-the-long-game","title":"Newsom Is 'All In' for Biden as Defections Grow. Strategists Say He's Playing the 'Long Game'","publishDate":1721415600,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Newsom Is ‘All In’ for Biden as Defections Grow. Strategists Say He’s Playing the ‘Long Game’ | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>As efforts to push embattled President Joe Biden out of the race crescendo, Gov. Gavin Newsom has remained one of his most committed champions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked last week by CBS News’ Robert Costa about receiving appeals to jump into the fray to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, Newsom said he hits “delete, delete, delete, delete” on the texts and emails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m all in, no daylight” with Biden, Newsom said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqgFXQrDCk\">short clip released by CBS News\u003c/a> to promote the interview, which was ultimately preempted after Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though not a new message from Newsom, it underscores how the governor has emerged as perhaps Biden’s most forceful surrogate through the chaos that followed the president’s June 27 debate debacle. As a growing number of elected officials call for Biden to forgo his party’s nomination for a second term, Newsom has tied himself more closely to the president than almost any Democrat in the country who’s not already on the ticket — including other ascendant younger politicians who could \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/07/gavin-newsom-for-president-assets-liabilities/\">potentially be his rivals in a future presidential race\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Political strategists told CalMatters this is a prudent posture for Newsom, who does not have the clout to influence Biden’s decision about whether to leave the race but stands to benefit from being seen as a team player, even if Biden drops out or loses in November. In addition to shrewdly raising his own profile through aggressive advocacy for the president, Newsom’s loyalty could win him favor with party insiders positioned to boost his candidacy if he eventually runs for the Democratic nomination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom wants to be seen as a loyal soldier. He doesn’t have any other cards to play,” said Matt Rodriguez, a Democratic consultant who worked on presidential campaigns for Barack Obama, Dick Gephardt and Bill Bradley. “He’s doing the thing he needs to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Newsom, who has publicly and repeatedly denied any interest in the presidency, said there is no strategy involved in his strong support for the Biden campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom’s advocacy for the President and his administration reflects a recognition of all that President Biden has accomplished, Governor Newsom’s loyalty to the President and the Vice President, and a clear view of the real danger a second Trump administration would have for California and democracy in America,” Nathan Click said in a text message.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-playing-the-long-game\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Playing the ‘long game’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When chatter about whether to dump Biden as the nominee exploded last month following his catastrophic performance in the televised debate against Trump, Newsom was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/joe-biden-democrats-nomination-gavin-newsom-whitmer.html\">among the top tier of potential replacements\u003c/a> floated by pundits. The discourse has been dominated by politicians already viewed as strong potential contenders in the 2028 Democratic primary: Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Democratic Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Andy Beshear of Kentucky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All have stood behind Biden as uncertainty grows over his political future, but the extent to which they’ve defended the president has ranged widely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aside from the vice president, none have been a more visible cheerleader than Newsom, who immediately appeared on television to swat down concerns about the debate, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/us/politics/biden-meeting-democrat-governors.html\">rushed to the White House\u003c/a> for a damage-control meeting with Democratic governors that some attended remotely, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/2024/07/10/biden-campaign-staff-morale-election-2024\">delivered a pep talk to Biden campaign staff on a conference call\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996416\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996416\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom, in New Hampshire to attend a fundraising event for President Joe Biden’s campaign, greets people at the Common Man Roadside Cafe & Deli in Hooksett, New Hampshire, on July 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Reba Saldanha/Reuters via CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a tour through Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire on the president’s behalf over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Newsom told reporters that \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-surrogate-newsom-says-calls-democrats-president-step-aside-not-helpful\">calls for Biden to step aside were “not helpful”\u003c/a> and he had no doubts about the president’s cognitive health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I decided instead of just rolling over and giving up, that I would step up and pick up the fight,” Newsom said \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-biden-president-democrat-new-hampshire-09d4b827dd4be869245fa790907c81be\">at one New Hampshire stop\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others have charted a more cautious approach, appearing to maintain some distance from Biden without abandoning him. Whitmer, who is a co-chairperson of his reelection campaign, told CNN last week that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/10/politics/gretchen-whitmer-biden-cognitive-test-cnntv/index.html\">“it wouldn’t hurt” for Biden to take a cognitive test\u003c/a> and later \u003ca href=\"https://www.crainsdetroit.com/politics-policy/gretchen-whitmer-miss-joe-biden-campaign-stop\">skipped a rally he held in Detroit\u003c/a>. Beshear, currently \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/kentucky-governor-asian-trip-d5e838e490f3009b6b6bff72ef7cbebd\">on a business trip in Asia\u003c/a>, has reiterated that Biden should take more steps to reassure Americans about his health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those officials may have different considerations because of the more conservative politics of their home states. But strategists agreed that Newsom, as governor of the biggest Democratic state in the country, is on a path that holds far more rewards than risks for his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given his relatively short record as a national political figure — and his history as an \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/05/politics/campaign/some-democrats-blame-one-of-their-own.html\">upstart rattling the establishment\u003c/a> on issues such as gay marriage — Newsom has more to prove to Democrats, said Catherine Lew, a political consultant who worked on Bill\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992. Stumping for Biden should help Newsom get in the good graces of a party establishment that still deeply values loyalty, building relationships that could pay off down the road with endorsements, fundraising and staffing up a campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The governor obviously has the long game in mind,” Lew said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilary McLean, who worked on California communications for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign and Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection, said becoming a leading surrogate for Biden has signaled to the public that Newsom is “an important person for Democrats in the United States of America” going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What people will remember is he was super eloquent; he was a feisty advocate for Democratic ideas,” she said. “They’ll remember how well he did. They’re not going to hold it against him for supporting the president.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-newsom-is-not-going-out-on-a-limb\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Newsom is not ‘going out on a limb’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The growing defections in Democratic support for Biden, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/biden-drop-out-california-democrats/\">including California’s Rep. Adam Schiff\u003c/a> on Wednesday, and the lack of clarity, only a month before the party convention starts on Aug. 19, about whether he will remain the nominee is an unprecedented situation that has paralyzed many officials with indecision, Rodriguez said. He applauded Newsom for not overthinking his response and for sticking by Biden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the Democratic Party wants Biden off the presidential ticket, it will take others with more sway to push him out, Rodriguez said. Newsom calling for it would just make him appear “weak and feckless,” he said, especially if Biden sees the campaign through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always a risk, even if you’re right, to be the whistleblower,” Rodriguez said. “Why are you going out on a limb if you don’t have leverage?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By instead remaining a vocal defender of the president through his bleakest moment, Newsom could look like a hero in the event that Biden wins a second term, though that appears increasingly unlikely. And in the meantime, the campaign may continue to elevate Newsom, such as with a prime speaking slot at next month’s Democratic National Convention — which Rodriguez noted was the launching pad for Obama’s presidential aspirations in 2004.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Politics, especially at the national level, is really about timing,” Rodriguez said. “You do the best you can with what’s in front of you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strategists brushed off the idea that a bruising loss for Biden could hurt his top surrogates by association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of this is palace court stuff,” Lew said. “Voters’ memories are short, particularly when there are other pressing, day-to-day, quality-of-life issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said that if Trump wins another term in November, no one in the country is better positioned to lead the fight against him than Newsom, who has two years left as governor. That’s likely to be far more relevant in the 2028 primaries than what candidates said about Biden years prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such a lifetime away,” Rodriguez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A growing number of Democrats say President Biden can't win and should step aside. However, California's governor is standing steadfastly behind him, which could boost Newsom's future political prospects.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721418192,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":30,"wordCount":1442},"headData":{"title":"Newsom Is 'All In' for Biden as Defections Grow. Strategists Say He's Playing the 'Long Game' | KQED","description":"A growing number of Democrats say President Biden can't win and should step aside. However, California's governor is standing steadfastly behind him, which could boost Newsom's future political prospects.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Newsom Is 'All In' for Biden as Defections Grow. Strategists Say He's Playing the 'Long Game'","datePublished":"2024-07-19T12:00:00-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-19T12:43:12-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/alexei-koseff/\">Alexei Koseff\u003c/a>, CalMatters","nprStoryId":"kqed-11996415","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11996415/newsom-is-all-in-for-biden-as-defections-grow-strategists-say-hes-playing-the-long-game","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As efforts to push embattled President Joe Biden out of the race crescendo, Gov. Gavin Newsom has remained one of his most committed champions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked last week by CBS News’ Robert Costa about receiving appeals to jump into the fray to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, Newsom said he hits “delete, delete, delete, delete” on the texts and emails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m all in, no daylight” with Biden, Newsom said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqgFXQrDCk\">short clip released by CBS News\u003c/a> to promote the interview, which was ultimately preempted after Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though not a new message from Newsom, it underscores how the governor has emerged as perhaps Biden’s most forceful surrogate through the chaos that followed the president’s June 27 debate debacle. As a growing number of elected officials call for Biden to forgo his party’s nomination for a second term, Newsom has tied himself more closely to the president than almost any Democrat in the country who’s not already on the ticket — including other ascendant younger politicians who could \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/07/gavin-newsom-for-president-assets-liabilities/\">potentially be his rivals in a future presidential race\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Political strategists told CalMatters this is a prudent posture for Newsom, who does not have the clout to influence Biden’s decision about whether to leave the race but stands to benefit from being seen as a team player, even if Biden drops out or loses in November. In addition to shrewdly raising his own profile through aggressive advocacy for the president, Newsom’s loyalty could win him favor with party insiders positioned to boost his candidacy if he eventually runs for the Democratic nomination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Newsom wants to be seen as a loyal soldier. He doesn’t have any other cards to play,” said Matt Rodriguez, a Democratic consultant who worked on presidential campaigns for Barack Obama, Dick Gephardt and Bill Bradley. “He’s doing the thing he needs to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Newsom, who has publicly and repeatedly denied any interest in the presidency, said there is no strategy involved in his strong support for the Biden campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Governor Newsom’s advocacy for the President and his administration reflects a recognition of all that President Biden has accomplished, Governor Newsom’s loyalty to the President and the Vice President, and a clear view of the real danger a second Trump administration would have for California and democracy in America,” Nathan Click said in a text message.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-playing-the-long-game\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Playing the ‘long game’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When chatter about whether to dump Biden as the nominee exploded last month following his catastrophic performance in the televised debate against Trump, Newsom was \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/article/joe-biden-democrats-nomination-gavin-newsom-whitmer.html\">among the top tier of potential replacements\u003c/a> floated by pundits. The discourse has been dominated by politicians already viewed as strong potential contenders in the 2028 Democratic primary: Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Democratic Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Andy Beshear of Kentucky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All have stood behind Biden as uncertainty grows over his political future, but the extent to which they’ve defended the president has ranged widely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aside from the vice president, none have been a more visible cheerleader than Newsom, who immediately appeared on television to swat down concerns about the debate, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/us/politics/biden-meeting-democrat-governors.html\">rushed to the White House\u003c/a> for a damage-control meeting with Democratic governors that some attended remotely, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.axios.com/2024/07/10/biden-campaign-staff-morale-election-2024\">delivered a pep talk to Biden campaign staff on a conference call\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996416\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996416\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/070824-Newsom-Biden-Campaign-REUTERS-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom, in New Hampshire to attend a fundraising event for President Joe Biden’s campaign, greets people at the Common Man Roadside Cafe & Deli in Hooksett, New Hampshire, on July 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Reba Saldanha/Reuters via CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a tour through Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire on the president’s behalf over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Newsom told reporters that \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-surrogate-newsom-says-calls-democrats-president-step-aside-not-helpful\">calls for Biden to step aside were “not helpful”\u003c/a> and he had no doubts about the president’s cognitive health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I decided instead of just rolling over and giving up, that I would step up and pick up the fight,” Newsom said \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-biden-president-democrat-new-hampshire-09d4b827dd4be869245fa790907c81be\">at one New Hampshire stop\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others have charted a more cautious approach, appearing to maintain some distance from Biden without abandoning him. Whitmer, who is a co-chairperson of his reelection campaign, told CNN last week that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/10/politics/gretchen-whitmer-biden-cognitive-test-cnntv/index.html\">“it wouldn’t hurt” for Biden to take a cognitive test\u003c/a> and later \u003ca href=\"https://www.crainsdetroit.com/politics-policy/gretchen-whitmer-miss-joe-biden-campaign-stop\">skipped a rally he held in Detroit\u003c/a>. Beshear, currently \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/kentucky-governor-asian-trip-d5e838e490f3009b6b6bff72ef7cbebd\">on a business trip in Asia\u003c/a>, has reiterated that Biden should take more steps to reassure Americans about his health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those officials may have different considerations because of the more conservative politics of their home states. But strategists agreed that Newsom, as governor of the biggest Democratic state in the country, is on a path that holds far more rewards than risks for his career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given his relatively short record as a national political figure — and his history as an \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/05/politics/campaign/some-democrats-blame-one-of-their-own.html\">upstart rattling the establishment\u003c/a> on issues such as gay marriage — Newsom has more to prove to Democrats, said Catherine Lew, a political consultant who worked on Bill\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992. Stumping for Biden should help Newsom get in the good graces of a party establishment that still deeply values loyalty, building relationships that could pay off down the road with endorsements, fundraising and staffing up a campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The governor obviously has the long game in mind,” Lew said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilary McLean, who worked on California communications for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign and Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection, said becoming a leading surrogate for Biden has signaled to the public that Newsom is “an important person for Democrats in the United States of America” going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What people will remember is he was super eloquent; he was a feisty advocate for Democratic ideas,” she said. “They’ll remember how well he did. They’re not going to hold it against him for supporting the president.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-newsom-is-not-going-out-on-a-limb\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Newsom is not ‘going out on a limb’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The growing defections in Democratic support for Biden, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/biden-drop-out-california-democrats/\">including California’s Rep. Adam Schiff\u003c/a> on Wednesday, and the lack of clarity, only a month before the party convention starts on Aug. 19, about whether he will remain the nominee is an unprecedented situation that has paralyzed many officials with indecision, Rodriguez said. He applauded Newsom for not overthinking his response and for sticking by Biden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the Democratic Party wants Biden off the presidential ticket, it will take others with more sway to push him out, Rodriguez said. Newsom calling for it would just make him appear “weak and feckless,” he said, especially if Biden sees the campaign through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s always a risk, even if you’re right, to be the whistleblower,” Rodriguez said. “Why are you going out on a limb if you don’t have leverage?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By instead remaining a vocal defender of the president through his bleakest moment, Newsom could look like a hero in the event that Biden wins a second term, though that appears increasingly unlikely. And in the meantime, the campaign may continue to elevate Newsom, such as with a prime speaking slot at next month’s Democratic National Convention — which Rodriguez noted was the launching pad for Obama’s presidential aspirations in 2004.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Politics, especially at the national level, is really about timing,” Rodriguez said. “You do the best you can with what’s in front of you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strategists brushed off the idea that a bruising loss for Biden could hurt his top surrogates by association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of this is palace court stuff,” Lew said. “Voters’ memories are short, particularly when there are other pressing, day-to-day, quality-of-life issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rodriguez said that if Trump wins another term in November, no one in the country is better positioned to lead the fight against him than Newsom, who has two years left as governor. That’s likely to be far more relevant in the 2028 primaries than what candidates said about Biden years prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such a lifetime away,” Rodriguez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11996415/newsom-is-all-in-for-biden-as-defections-grow-strategists-say-hes-playing-the-long-game","authors":["byline_news_11996415"],"categories":["news_31795","news_8","news_13"],"tags":["news_33470","news_25015","news_29063"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11996417","label":"news_18481"},"news_11996132":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11996132","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11996132","score":null,"sort":[1721256774000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"uc-moves-to-limit-where-academic-departments-post-opinions-against-backdrop-of-gaza-war","title":"UC to Limit Where Academic Departments Can Post Opinions Online","publishDate":1721256774,"format":"standard","headTitle":"UC to Limit Where Academic Departments Can Post Opinions Online | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>Update: On July 18, the full board approved the webpage policy, with one “No” vote.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After seven months and three voting delays, the University of California Board of Regents is on the verge of approving a \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2.pdf\">pared-down policy (PDF)\u003c/a> outlining how academic departments should publish political and social opinions on university websites — largely embracing a set of standards that faculty themselves adopted in 2022. The journey to a consensus reenergized longstanding debates about academic freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While entirely a faculty matter, some pro-Palestinian students condemned previous versions of the regents’ proposed policy, which they interpreted as part of a crackdown on free speech that punished protests against Israel. Student anguish over the war in Gaza — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2024/05/uc-strike/\">and their anger\u003c/a> with UC leadership for so far not calling for a cease-fire or divesting from weapons manufacturers and companies tied to Israel — helped to amplify the faculty’s alarm over the regents’ initial proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university will need to clarify its rules on speech and expression further by this fall. The latest state budget is \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB108#:~:text=Of%20the%20funds%20appropriated%20in%20this%20item%2C%20%2425%2C000%2C000%20shall%20be%20released%20only%20if%20the%20Director%20of%20Finance%20certifies\">withholding $25 million\u003c/a> from the UC until system leadership\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB108#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20California%20Office%20of%20the%20President%20will%20develop%20a%20systemwide%20framework%20to%20provide%20for%20consistency%20with%20campus%20implementation%20and%20enforcement.\"> sends a report to the governor’s office\u003c/a> explaining its policies for public demonstrations and other free speech matters. While the two concepts — what faculty can do under academic freedom and how students can express themselves under free speech rules — are distinct issues, they’re often enmeshed publicly, especially over themes as contentious as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2023/11/israeli-palestinian-conflict-california-college/\">Islamophobia, antisemitism and its connection to Israel\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most regents were vague about the impetus for the plan, but one regent, Hadi Makarechian, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-homelessness-count/#:~:text=Mikhail%E2%80%99s%20story.-,Also%20from%20Mikhail%3A,-The%20undocumented%20students\">said in January\u003c/a> that the proposal emerged “because some people were making some political statements related to Hamas and Palestinians.” That meeting was occasionally testy, with another regent urging his peers to practice “decorum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What the new policy would do\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new rules, passed on Wednesday by a joint committee that will be voted on by the full board on Thursday, require that writings which depart from research, course information and other administrative announcements not be posted on the homepages of academic departments and other divisions. Instead,\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2attach1.pdf#page=2\"> they can appear (PDF)\u003c/a> on other departmental web pages designated for opinions. Full-board approval is likely; the rules would take hold immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only one regent, student member Josiah Beharry, voted no on the measure on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These so-called “discretionary expressions,” which are writings “that comment on institutional, local, regional, global or national events, activities or issues,” also need to be clearly labeled as opinions that don’t necessarily reflect the position of the university or campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The policy \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2attach1.pdf\">specifically avoids (PDF)\u003c/a> restricting academic research, course content or other “scholarly endeavors” — an undefined term — that may touch on political or social matters from appearing on the homepage. This was\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2attach2.pdf\"> new wording (PDF)\u003c/a> that emerged since the last \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-crime-expungement-victims/#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20California%20regents%20decided%20Wednesday%20to%20postpone%20a%20vote%20on%20a%20policy%20to%20restrict%20how%20academic%20departments%20at%20its%20campuses%20publish%20%E2%80%9Cpolitical%20or%20controversial%E2%80%9D%20statements%20on%20their%20websites.%C2%A0\">draft in March\u003c/a>. Nor does the policy proscribe speech on non-campus websites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were satisfied that the current policy does not violate principles of academic freedom or free speech,” said James Steintrager, chair of the Academic Senate, in an interview with CalMatters in May, when the proposal was on the agenda but ultimately never heard. “We’re still concerned about the drive for and necessity of a policy in this area, but we think that with the input of the senate, the Board of Regents has ended up in a much better place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That sentiment is a departure from how faculty initially received the policy proposal in January, which was saddled with confusion over the scope of the measure and what it sought. One possible takeaway was that the January plan intended to bar any expression of faculty opinion on administrative websites, “a draconian policy,” Steintrager said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regents also postponed votes in January and March after discussing the matter publicly each time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Wednesday’s regents meeting, Steintrager reaffirmed his praise and critique of the rules, adding that “public comment assertions to the contrary, this is not a ban on discretionary or political statements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Leib, a regent member and former chair of the board who has viewed some of the chants at student protests against the war in Gaza as antisemitic, said that “this whole topic about free speech is all BS because what we’re trying to do is show transparency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Does it go too far or not far enough?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But if it were up to senate members, including most full-time professors across the system, the regents would just adopt the policy the senate approved in 2022. Unlike the regents’ approach, the 2022 policy provided guidance — using words like “should” rather than “must” to encourage academic departments to distinguish their opinions from the positions of the university. The Academic Senate policy also recommended that departments “\u003ca href=\"https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/rh-senate-divs-recs-for-dept-statements.pdf\">solicit minority or opposition statements” as well (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Academic Senate believes that “the UC community at the level of departments and other units of the sort largely governs itself appropriately, and we favor policies that enable successful self-regulation over more restrictive measures,” Steintgrater \u003ca href=\"https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/js-rl-regents-policy-discretionary-statements.pdf\">wrote to the regents May 1 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regents’ proposal stopped short of that, preferring a mandatory set of publishing guidelines in part because few academic units or campuses “have followed the June 2022 Academic Senate advisory guidance,” a board document representing the regents said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"https://www.jfrg.org/home\">Jewish faculty\u003c/a> wanted the regents to ban all department statements and said the proposed rules don’t go far enough. “A claim that a department of a public university takes as a political position will be taken as the official stance of the university, no matter how it is delivered and no matter what qualifications are added,” said Jeffrey Young, a clinical psychologist at UCLA, during public comment on Tuesday. Several other professors voiced similar sentiments.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Focus on ethnic studies departments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Regent Jay Sures pushed for the policy, arguing in January that opinions on homepages “will be mistaken as the position of the institution itself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Statement-on-bias-in-UC-statements-1.pdf\">In late October (PDF)\u003c/a>, he excoriated an Oct. 16 letter by UC ethnic studies faculty that faulted the UC for calling Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel an act of terrorism. \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1053yck657ENep688zvPTs6njfAGWBvE6/view\">The ethnic studies letter,\u003c/a> which didn’t name Hamas, said that “to hold the oppressed accountable for ‘terrorism’ reinscribes a colonial narrative that seeks to have the world believe that history began on Oct. 7, 2023.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sures wrote that the council’s members should “commit to learning more about antisemitism and all forms of hate and how it lives on our campuses where you are tasked and trusted with educating our next generation of students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The homepage for UC Santa Cruz’s critical race and ethnic studies department as of Wednesday still contains language calling on scholars and organizers to “act now to end Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza,” a statement that’s been appearing since at least Oct. 25 of last year, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20231025234505/https://cres.ucsc.edu/\">web archiving tool Wayback Machine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department was following Academic Senate guidance, department chairperson Felicity Amaya Schaeffer said in an interview, as the guidance wasn’t mandatory and deferred to campus departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the regents committees’ backing of a mandatory rule, Schaeffer said key questions remain unanswered, mainly whether the department’s call to action counts as discretionary speech that needs to be moved to a different webpage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the regents policy is an attack on academic freedom. She also believes the regents are overreaching rather than deferring to faculty expertise on their own subjects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do have three faculty who work specifically on Palestine, who were hired by the university to do this kind of research,” she said. “So for us, this is not at all opinion, this is about the expertise of the department in which many of us write critically about state power, war, genocide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A rule like the one the regents is proposing is a poor fit for an ethnic studies department, Schaefer said, because “the lines between what gets called political or discretionary and research are completely entangled and inseparable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC San Diego’s ethnic studies department, however, appears to have relocated its statements of support for Palestinians to a secondary page reserved for “statements and commentaries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Dec. 4, 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20231204215827/https://ethnicstudies.ucsd.edu/\">snapshot of its homepage\u003c/a> shows a statement calling “for an immediate end to the war crimes and genocide taking place against the Palestinian people (50% of whom are children).” But by Dec. 14, the homepage \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20231214080803/https://ethnicstudies.ucsd.edu/\">underwent an overhaul\u003c/a>, with political statements moved from the homepage to the new “statements and commentaries” section beneath the “About Us” tab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Academic department leaders will be responsible for implementing the rules. “The expectation then is that the unit leadership enforce the policy,” said Charlie Robinson, general counsel for the UC, at Wednesday’s regents meeting, “and if there are any concerns about it, then you go up the hierarchy to make sure that it’s being enforced properly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"UC's Board of Regents voted to require that statements of academic departments appear on separate web pages rather than departmental homepages, raising concerns over academic freedom.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721342101,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":32,"wordCount":1584},"headData":{"title":"UC to Limit Where Academic Departments Can Post Opinions Online | KQED","description":"UC's Board of Regents voted to require that statements of academic departments appear on separate web pages rather than departmental homepages, raising concerns over academic freedom.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"UC to Limit Where Academic Departments Can Post Opinions Online","datePublished":"2024-07-17T15:52:54-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-18T15:35:01-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/mikhailzinshteyn/\">Mikhail Zinshteyn\u003c/a>, CalMatters","nprStoryId":"kqed-11996132","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11996132/uc-moves-to-limit-where-academic-departments-post-opinions-against-backdrop-of-gaza-war","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Update: On July 18, the full board approved the webpage policy, with one “No” vote.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After seven months and three voting delays, the University of California Board of Regents is on the verge of approving a \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2.pdf\">pared-down policy (PDF)\u003c/a> outlining how academic departments should publish political and social opinions on university websites — largely embracing a set of standards that faculty themselves adopted in 2022. The journey to a consensus reenergized longstanding debates about academic freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While entirely a faculty matter, some pro-Palestinian students condemned previous versions of the regents’ proposed policy, which they interpreted as part of a crackdown on free speech that punished protests against Israel. Student anguish over the war in Gaza — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2024/05/uc-strike/\">and their anger\u003c/a> with UC leadership for so far not calling for a cease-fire or divesting from weapons manufacturers and companies tied to Israel — helped to amplify the faculty’s alarm over the regents’ initial proposals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The university will need to clarify its rules on speech and expression further by this fall. The latest state budget is \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB108#:~:text=Of%20the%20funds%20appropriated%20in%20this%20item%2C%20%2425%2C000%2C000%20shall%20be%20released%20only%20if%20the%20Director%20of%20Finance%20certifies\">withholding $25 million\u003c/a> from the UC until system leadership\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB108#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20California%20Office%20of%20the%20President%20will%20develop%20a%20systemwide%20framework%20to%20provide%20for%20consistency%20with%20campus%20implementation%20and%20enforcement.\"> sends a report to the governor’s office\u003c/a> explaining its policies for public demonstrations and other free speech matters. While the two concepts — what faculty can do under academic freedom and how students can express themselves under free speech rules — are distinct issues, they’re often enmeshed publicly, especially over themes as contentious as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2023/11/israeli-palestinian-conflict-california-college/\">Islamophobia, antisemitism and its connection to Israel\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most regents were vague about the impetus for the plan, but one regent, Hadi Makarechian, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-homelessness-count/#:~:text=Mikhail%E2%80%99s%20story.-,Also%20from%20Mikhail%3A,-The%20undocumented%20students\">said in January\u003c/a> that the proposal emerged “because some people were making some political statements related to Hamas and Palestinians.” That meeting was occasionally testy, with another regent urging his peers to practice “decorum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What the new policy would do\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new rules, passed on Wednesday by a joint committee that will be voted on by the full board on Thursday, require that writings which depart from research, course information and other administrative announcements not be posted on the homepages of academic departments and other divisions. Instead,\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2attach1.pdf#page=2\"> they can appear (PDF)\u003c/a> on other departmental web pages designated for opinions. Full-board approval is likely; the rules would take hold immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only one regent, student member Josiah Beharry, voted no on the measure on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These so-called “discretionary expressions,” which are writings “that comment on institutional, local, regional, global or national events, activities or issues,” also need to be clearly labeled as opinions that don’t necessarily reflect the position of the university or campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The policy \u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2attach1.pdf\">specifically avoids (PDF)\u003c/a> restricting academic research, course content or other “scholarly endeavors” — an undefined term — that may touch on political or social matters from appearing on the homepage. This was\u003ca href=\"https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/july24/j2attach2.pdf\"> new wording (PDF)\u003c/a> that emerged since the last \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/california-crime-expungement-victims/#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20California%20regents%20decided%20Wednesday%20to%20postpone%20a%20vote%20on%20a%20policy%20to%20restrict%20how%20academic%20departments%20at%20its%20campuses%20publish%20%E2%80%9Cpolitical%20or%20controversial%E2%80%9D%20statements%20on%20their%20websites.%C2%A0\">draft in March\u003c/a>. Nor does the policy proscribe speech on non-campus websites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were satisfied that the current policy does not violate principles of academic freedom or free speech,” said James Steintrager, chair of the Academic Senate, in an interview with CalMatters in May, when the proposal was on the agenda but ultimately never heard. “We’re still concerned about the drive for and necessity of a policy in this area, but we think that with the input of the senate, the Board of Regents has ended up in a much better place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That sentiment is a departure from how faculty initially received the policy proposal in January, which was saddled with confusion over the scope of the measure and what it sought. One possible takeaway was that the January plan intended to bar any expression of faculty opinion on administrative websites, “a draconian policy,” Steintrager said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regents also postponed votes in January and March after discussing the matter publicly each time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Wednesday’s regents meeting, Steintrager reaffirmed his praise and critique of the rules, adding that “public comment assertions to the contrary, this is not a ban on discretionary or political statements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Leib, a regent member and former chair of the board who has viewed some of the chants at student protests against the war in Gaza as antisemitic, said that “this whole topic about free speech is all BS because what we’re trying to do is show transparency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Does it go too far or not far enough?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But if it were up to senate members, including most full-time professors across the system, the regents would just adopt the policy the senate approved in 2022. Unlike the regents’ approach, the 2022 policy provided guidance — using words like “should” rather than “must” to encourage academic departments to distinguish their opinions from the positions of the university. The Academic Senate policy also recommended that departments “\u003ca href=\"https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/rh-senate-divs-recs-for-dept-statements.pdf\">solicit minority or opposition statements” as well (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Academic Senate believes that “the UC community at the level of departments and other units of the sort largely governs itself appropriately, and we favor policies that enable successful self-regulation over more restrictive measures,” Steintgrater \u003ca href=\"https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/js-rl-regents-policy-discretionary-statements.pdf\">wrote to the regents May 1 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regents’ proposal stopped short of that, preferring a mandatory set of publishing guidelines in part because few academic units or campuses “have followed the June 2022 Academic Senate advisory guidance,” a board document representing the regents said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"https://www.jfrg.org/home\">Jewish faculty\u003c/a> wanted the regents to ban all department statements and said the proposed rules don’t go far enough. “A claim that a department of a public university takes as a political position will be taken as the official stance of the university, no matter how it is delivered and no matter what qualifications are added,” said Jeffrey Young, a clinical psychologist at UCLA, during public comment on Tuesday. Several other professors voiced similar sentiments.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Focus on ethnic studies departments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Regent Jay Sures pushed for the policy, arguing in January that opinions on homepages “will be mistaken as the position of the institution itself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Statement-on-bias-in-UC-statements-1.pdf\">In late October (PDF)\u003c/a>, he excoriated an Oct. 16 letter by UC ethnic studies faculty that faulted the UC for calling Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel an act of terrorism. \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1053yck657ENep688zvPTs6njfAGWBvE6/view\">The ethnic studies letter,\u003c/a> which didn’t name Hamas, said that “to hold the oppressed accountable for ‘terrorism’ reinscribes a colonial narrative that seeks to have the world believe that history began on Oct. 7, 2023.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sures wrote that the council’s members should “commit to learning more about antisemitism and all forms of hate and how it lives on our campuses where you are tasked and trusted with educating our next generation of students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The homepage for UC Santa Cruz’s critical race and ethnic studies department as of Wednesday still contains language calling on scholars and organizers to “act now to end Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza,” a statement that’s been appearing since at least Oct. 25 of last year, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20231025234505/https://cres.ucsc.edu/\">web archiving tool Wayback Machine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department was following Academic Senate guidance, department chairperson Felicity Amaya Schaeffer said in an interview, as the guidance wasn’t mandatory and deferred to campus departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the regents committees’ backing of a mandatory rule, Schaeffer said key questions remain unanswered, mainly whether the department’s call to action counts as discretionary speech that needs to be moved to a different webpage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the regents policy is an attack on academic freedom. She also believes the regents are overreaching rather than deferring to faculty expertise on their own subjects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do have three faculty who work specifically on Palestine, who were hired by the university to do this kind of research,” she said. “So for us, this is not at all opinion, this is about the expertise of the department in which many of us write critically about state power, war, genocide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A rule like the one the regents is proposing is a poor fit for an ethnic studies department, Schaefer said, because “the lines between what gets called political or discretionary and research are completely entangled and inseparable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC San Diego’s ethnic studies department, however, appears to have relocated its statements of support for Palestinians to a secondary page reserved for “statements and commentaries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Dec. 4, 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20231204215827/https://ethnicstudies.ucsd.edu/\">snapshot of its homepage\u003c/a> shows a statement calling “for an immediate end to the war crimes and genocide taking place against the Palestinian people (50% of whom are children).” But by Dec. 14, the homepage \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20231214080803/https://ethnicstudies.ucsd.edu/\">underwent an overhaul\u003c/a>, with political statements moved from the homepage to the new “statements and commentaries” section beneath the “About Us” tab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Academic department leaders will be responsible for implementing the rules. “The expectation then is that the unit leadership enforce the policy,” said Charlie Robinson, general counsel for the UC, at Wednesday’s regents meeting, “and if there are any concerns about it, then you go up the hierarchy to make sure that it’s being enforced properly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11996132/uc-moves-to-limit-where-academic-departments-post-opinions-against-backdrop-of-gaza-war","authors":["byline_news_11996132"],"categories":["news_18540","news_8"],"tags":["news_20013","news_33673","news_33333","news_33647","news_206"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11996136","label":"news_18481"},"news_11996078":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11996078","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11996078","score":null,"sort":[1721250057000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"californias-law-to-fix-unsafe-homeless-shelters-ignored-by-cities-and-counties","title":"California's Law to Fix Unsafe Homeless Shelters Ignored by Cities and Counties","publishDate":1721250057,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California’s Law to Fix Unsafe Homeless Shelters Ignored by Cities and Counties | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Now that the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/06/california-homeless-camps-grants-pass-ruling/\">Supreme Court\u003c/a> has granted cities more power to ban sleeping outside, homeless Californians face a crucial decision: Try to get into a shelter, or risk going to jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those able to find a shelter bed will step into a world rife with reports of violence, theft, health hazards — and a lack of accountability. Public records obtained by CalMatters show that most cities and counties have seemingly ignored a recent state law that aimed to reform dangerous conditions in shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, following earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclusocal.org/en/publications/thisplaceiskillingme#:~:text=A%20year%2Dlong%20investigation%20by,porta%20potties%3B%20showers%20with%20no\">reports\u003c/a> of maggots, flooding and sexual harassment in shelters, the state Legislature created \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">a new system\u003c/a> requiring local governments to inspect the facilities after complaints and file annual reports on shelter conditions, including plans to fix safety and building code violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters found that just five of California’s 58 counties — Lake, Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange and Yuba — have filed shelter reports. Only 4 of the state’s 478 cities filed reports: Fairfield, Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Woodland, according to records from the agency in charge of implementing the law, the California Department of Housing and Community Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is shocking, number one, that there is so little reporting, considering that is part of the legislation,” said the law’s author, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat representing parts of Orange and L.A. counties. “We are asking for the basics here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of CalMatters’ findings, she said she has requested a meeting with officials at the state housing agency. Quirk-Silva said she will consider audits or other measures as needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe we need to add more teeth,” she said. “There certainly could be a possibility that we will follow up with another piece of legislation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police call logs, shelter incident reports and other records obtained by CalMatters provide a hint of what’s missing as a result of the failure to report: a child falling out of an unreinforced window in San Mateo County and being hospitalized; multiple allegations of sexual harassment in Contra Costa County; food shortages in Placer County; and deaths, mold and vermin in many places across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has spent \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">at least $1.5 billion\u003c/a> on shelters and related solutions since 2018, legislative reports show, on top of millions invested by cities, counties and the federal government. The facilities are designed to be a temporary stop on the road to regaining housing but increasingly function as a bridge to nowhere; the state added new emergency shelter beds at roughly five times the rate of permanent housing with supportive services from 2018 to 2023, gaining 27,544 shelter beds, \u003ca href=\"https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_HIC_State_CA_2023.pdf\">federal\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_HIC_State_CA_2018.PDF\">data\u003c/a> shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happens in those shelters is largely a black box. No state agency keeps an updated list of how many shelters are operating or where, officials told CalMatters. There is no state licensing process for shelters. The U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_HIC_State_CA_2023.pdf\">Department of Housing and Urban Development\u003c/a> tracks numbers of emergency shelter beds and how long people live in them, but no information about resident deaths, health or safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996094\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996094\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32.jpg\" alt=\"The outside of a door.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The only 24-hour outdoor access residents had at this former homeless shelter in Anaheim was a small outdoor patio used for smoking. The shelter has since been permanently shut down and partially boarded up. May 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Jules Hotz / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While not every city or county in California has a homeless shelter, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">state housing officials estimated\u003c/a> a total of around 1,300 shelters in 2021. Municipalities continue to invest in them as a more immediate alternative to street homelessness, even as \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-AHAR-Part-2.pdf\">experts stress\u003c/a> that other options — such as direct rent subsidies or housing with on-site services — are often more effective at combating the root issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a bad idea. At the same time, so many unhoused people are living in these congregate shelters,” said Eve Garrow, a senior policy analyst and advocate for the ACLU of Southern California. “We want to make sure those spaces are safe and clean for as long as people need them, but we also want to move away from that model.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996093\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30.jpg\" alt=\"Shopping carts next to chairs, safety cones and other materials outside of a fenced in storage unit.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An area where folks experiencing homelessness were given space to store their belongings while staying at the shelter that has since been permanently shut down in Anaheim on May 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Photo by )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 2021 state law was supposed to help enforce minimum building and safety standards for shelters by creating a new state oversight system. When people staying at shelters or their advocates \u003ca href=\"https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/03/Discrimination-and-Harassment-in-Shelters_ENG.pdf\">file complaints\u003c/a>, the law requires cities or counties to inspect the facilities and report any violations to the state to reconsider future funding. The catch: cities and counties only have to report to the state if they determine that \u003ca href=\"https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/health-and-safety-code/hsc-sect-17920-3/?DCMP=google:ppc:TRLNA:21219027752:697523562873:161386574133&HBX_PK=&sid=9061109&source=google~ppc&tsid=latlppc&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwtNi0BhA1EiwAWZaANIzl4kC28Sc9Kndy8F98puHpp4hD7dhJfgeGKqQGTcsejt7nrnMrGhoCSugQAvD_BwE\">a violation\u003c/a> is severe enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Each city and county has a very unique way of processing complaints\u003cem>,\u003c/em>” said Mitchel Baker, assistant deputy director of the Department of Housing and Community Development’s codes and standards division. “What may be perceived as complaints or violations may not ultimately result in the issuance of a notice of violation or corrective order.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California and the rest of the country barrel into a new legal era for mass homelessness, promises of safe shelter will be key to determining how many people can avoid more frequent tickets or jail. Many public officials, meanwhile, cast the \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf\">Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling\u003c/a> as a necessary clarification after years of conflict over when cities should be allowed to dismantle tents, insisting that they will continue to offer alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement after the ruling. “The state will continue to work with compassion to provide individuals experiencing homelessness with the resources they need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What those resources are is often hard to know, since many shelters are closed to visitors and so few places have filed state reports on conditions. However, people who have lived in shelters paint a more dire picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of one Huntington Beach shelter recently complained to health officials about mold, never-ending cases of pneumonia and neighbors walking around with infected, open sores. Homeless people and their families have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-shelter-private-security/\">filed lawsuits\u003c/a> in several cities over shelter sexual assaults and wrongful deaths. In San Diego, Sharon Descans has been bouncing between shelters and a borrowed van after being evicted from a newer kind of publicly-funded tent city, where she said she weathered unpaid labor, multiple neighbors’ deaths and flashes of chaos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are pulling swords on each other and hitting each other with two-by-fours,” Descans said. “All I wanted from the day I got there is to get out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996102\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996102\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005.jpg\" alt=\"A white woman wearing a dark dress rests her arm on a table outside while sitting down.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Descans at the Chula Vista Bayfront Park on June 23, 2024. Descans has been staying in a van after getting evicted from the O Lot Safe Sleeping site in San Diego’s Balboa Park. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Old problems, new failures\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Up until the 1980s, many of the poorest people in California and other states could still afford rented rooms or cheap hotels. Then came a tidal wave of gentrification, wage stagnation, federal cuts to housing and cash aid, plus shocks like the AIDS and drug epidemics. In less than three decades, the state went from 37,000 dedicated beds for mental health patients to just 2,500 by 1983, according to historians at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519584/\">National Academies of Sciences\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vast numbers of people “drifted onto the streets,” the historians wrote, as promised investments in community resources proved inadequate. The “modern era of homelessness” had begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Large emergency shelters with bunk beds and communal showers emerged as a stop-gap despite comparisons to jail cells or military barracks. The shelter triage approach spread as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/06/california-housing-law-charter-city/\">California housing construction\u003c/a> slowed and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/01/california-homeless-point-in-time-count-2024/\">homelessness exploded\u003c/a>, up 40% in the past five years alone, to more than 181,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelters boomed thanks in large part to court rulings that forbid authorities from cracking down on homeless people solely for being homeless. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/california-homeless-shelters-17423387.php\">Martin v Boise\u003c/a>, courts decided that the city violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment by ticketing people for sleeping outside when there wasn’t “adequate” shelter available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What has happened is cities and counties have quite explicitly raced to build more shelters in order to criminalize more people,” Garrow said. “Shelters become kind of an arm of this criminal legal system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva proposed the 2021 shelter law after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclusocal.org/en/publications/thisplaceiskillingme\">2019 ACLU report\u003c/a> by Garrow documented bedbug infestations, overflowing sewage and sexual harassment by shelter workers. The findings collided with Quirk-Silva’s experience talking with people on the street near her Fullerton neighborhood about why they weren’t in shelters. Her own brother died at age 50 after struggling with housing instability, mental health and alcohol abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelters were growing fast, Quirk-Silva realized, and people were staying longer. California shelter residents now stay a median of about five months, or 155 days, the most recent federal \u003ca href=\"https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/system.performance.measures.hud.public.data/viz/HUDCoCSystemPerformanceMeasures/M2Returns\">data from 2023 shows\u003c/a> — a 30% increase since 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garrow supported the 2021 law’s effort to create minimum standards for shelters. She has seen a few problematic shelters closed down in Orange County, she said, including an old transit station in Santa Ana not meant for human habitation, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.ocregister.com/2019/03/14/aclu-report-alleges-abuse-unsanitary-conditions-common-at-orange-county-homeless-shelters/\">previously flooded\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Garrow wasn’t surprised to hear about the small number of cities and counties following through on the law, which she said several \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">amendments\u003c/a> weakened. One removed a requirement for local officials to regularly conduct unannounced shelter inspections. Another struck a rule to add signs with information about how to file complaints at shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would attribute the low number of complaints not to the fact that shelters are now clean and sanitary and abiding by a new law,” Garrow said. “But to the fact that people aren’t aware.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the law, cities and counties that find violations in their shelters are supposed to report any conditions that are “dangerous, hazardous, imminently detrimental to life or health, or otherwise render the homeless shelter unfit for human habitation.” However, even places filing state shelter reports omit serious potential safety issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>L.A. County, for example, has filed lists of its several dozen shelters and one-page inventories of violations related to rats, roaches, hot water outages and garbage. Not mentioned were issues like a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-shelter-private-security/\">2021 conviction\u003c/a> of a former shelter security guard on multiple sexual assault charges. Or reports of shelter deaths, physical attacks and other incidents that appear in police call logs requested by CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shelters after SCOTUS\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday in San Diego’s crown jewel of a central park, Balboa Park, Sharon Descans laid down on a concrete bench under a palm tree to ease the pain in her joints after a year of constant motion. The former college swimmer said she became homeless for the first time last year, after she got sick with COVID-19, lost two property management jobs, fell behind on rent and got evicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What followed was a tour she never wanted of last-ditch housing in a city \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-encampment-ban/\">at the forefront\u003c/a> of statewide efforts to vanquish street encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the Supreme Court decision, San Diego officials were moving people off the street to large publicly funded tent cities, called “safe sleeping” sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a site called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiego.gov/insidesd/mayor-gloria-opens-second-safe-sleeping-site-unsheltered-san-diegans\">O Lot\u003c/a>, Descans and many neighbors lived in Eskimo-brand ice fishing huts that multiple residents said were prone to leaking during rain. Her anxiety spiked at the makeshift shelter, she said, since she didn’t have a door to lock and witnessed widespread drug use and unpredictable outbursts. One neighbor died of cancer alone in his tent, Descans said, after what seemed like days without anyone checking on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02.jpg\" alt=\"A view of tents on a street sidewalk from the a car window.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Gary Gonzales’ drives past an encampment in downtown San Diego on March 22, 2024. Gonzales is a part of the neighborhood policing division of the San Diego Police Department. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>None of that has been captured in state reports. San Diego is one of the many California locales that has not submitted any reports after the 2021 shelter law, according to state records, despite housing \u003ca href=\"https://sdhc.org/homelessness-solutions/city-homeless-shelters-services/#shelters\">more than a dozen shelters\u003c/a> and some 10,600 homeless residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Even if San Diego had filed the reports, state and local spokespeople said it’s not certain they would’ve captured operations at O Lot. Though many homeless people have temporarily lived at the tent site, nonprofit operator Dreams For Change stressed that it is not technically a shelter under federal definitions.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16.jpg\" alt=\"A row of tents with tarps over them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tents are shown at the city’s O Lot Safe Sleeping site at Balboa Park in San Diego on March 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked whether there was any process in place for complaints about homeless shelters in San Diego County, a spokesperson said only that the county does not directly operate any shelters. Under the state law, cities and counties are still responsible for monitoring complaints and reporting violations at shelters in their area with other owners or operators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesman for the city of San Diego said it has received five complaints since the shelter law was passed and that “city staff are working on” evaluating why a state report had not been filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At all city-funded shelters, including the Safe Sleeping and Safe Parking programs, there is a comprehensive complaint process where potential issues are quickly and thoroughly resolved,” spokesperson Matt Hoffman said in a statement. “Every complaint is followed up on and, if needed, action is promptly taken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At O Lot, Descans tried to keep her head down. She made friends with another mom whose son had also wrestled at a nearby high school. The pair heard they could earn money to work their way out of the tents by cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry for the nonprofit Dreams for Change. Descans said she was never paid around $1,000 for 55 hours of cleaning work, which she documented in photos and text message complaints to a site supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17.jpg\" alt=\"The inside of a tent with a cot, blankets and bag.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The inside of one of the tents provided at the O Lot Safe Sleeping site at Balboa Park in San Diego on March 22, 2024. People are given a cot, blanket, sleeping bag, and hygiene kit. 24/7 staffing, showers, laundry, and shuttles are also provided for clients. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In June, Descans was “exited” from the shelter — nonprofit-speak for evicted — after forms said she had a verbal altercation with staff and allowed an unpermitted visit from her 17-year-old son, who lives with other family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just feel like nobody cares,” Descans said. “It’s like cover your ass at any expense — who even cares about these homeless people?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Dreams for Change spokesperson said the nonprofit cannot comment on individual cases but has a process for formally hiring and paying residents who wish to work. The nonprofit added that it is one of several contractors that operate safe sleeping sites near Balboa Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 80 households have secured permanent housing after living at Dreams for Change’s portion of O Lot, spokesperson Kelly Spoon said in a statement. She confirmed three deaths at the site and added, “Dealing with a diverse population, occasional altercations may arise, but physical altercations are extremely rare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another current resident of the safe sleeping site, who asked not to be identified due to fear of retaliation, said he was also concerned about a lack of sufficient meals, deaths, sexual assaults reported by female neighbors, and a nagging lack of information from caseworkers about housing options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The animals almost get better treatment than the people,” he said. “You keep shitting on people, you’re going to get shit results.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn Swearigen also lived in a tent at O Lot before moving to a subsidized apartment last month. The grandson of a cattle rancher from Imperial County worked in construction for years until family deaths and the 2008 housing crash landed him on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996091\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996091\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing a cowboy hat, a reddish orange shirt and black track pants with orange stripes sits on a blanket in the grass outside.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shawn Swearingen, 55, at the O Lot Safe Sleeping site at Balboa Park in San Diego on March 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The tent in Balboa Park “wasn’t bad,” he said, though it wasn’t immune from theft and mental health crises that he has found are two constants of homelessness. Swearigen valued having his own space, as opposed to being “dormed up” in a bunk bed like when he first became homeless and stayed at a large shelter. It was so claustrophobic and counter-productive, he said that he spent the next decade trying to stay out of sight, often camping in the woods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was kind of like a lack of options,” Swearigen said. “I really didn’t want to be a burden on people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Have you stayed at a California homeless shelter? Tell us about your experience \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://forms.gle/nFga3B3XvLRfd3dv6\">\u003cem>here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Supreme Court’s decision on homelessness will test a shelter system that has many problems and lacks accountability.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721254261,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":53,"wordCount":2897},"headData":{"title":"California's Law to Fix Unsafe Homeless Shelters Ignored by Cities and Counties | KQED","description":"The Supreme Court’s decision on homelessness will test a shelter system that has many problems and lacks accountability.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"California's Law to Fix Unsafe Homeless Shelters Ignored by Cities and Counties","datePublished":"2024-07-17T14:00:57-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-17T15:11:01-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"source":"CalMatters","sticky":false,"nprByline":"Lauren Hepler, CalMatters","nprStoryId":"kqed-11996078","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11996078/californias-law-to-fix-unsafe-homeless-shelters-ignored-by-cities-and-counties","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Now that the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/06/california-homeless-camps-grants-pass-ruling/\">Supreme Court\u003c/a> has granted cities more power to ban sleeping outside, homeless Californians face a crucial decision: Try to get into a shelter, or risk going to jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those able to find a shelter bed will step into a world rife with reports of violence, theft, health hazards — and a lack of accountability. Public records obtained by CalMatters show that most cities and counties have seemingly ignored a recent state law that aimed to reform dangerous conditions in shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, following earlier \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclusocal.org/en/publications/thisplaceiskillingme#:~:text=A%20year%2Dlong%20investigation%20by,porta%20potties%3B%20showers%20with%20no\">reports\u003c/a> of maggots, flooding and sexual harassment in shelters, the state Legislature created \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">a new system\u003c/a> requiring local governments to inspect the facilities after complaints and file annual reports on shelter conditions, including plans to fix safety and building code violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters found that just five of California’s 58 counties — Lake, Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange and Yuba — have filed shelter reports. Only 4 of the state’s 478 cities filed reports: Fairfield, Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Woodland, according to records from the agency in charge of implementing the law, the California Department of Housing and Community Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is shocking, number one, that there is so little reporting, considering that is part of the legislation,” said the law’s author, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat representing parts of Orange and L.A. counties. “We are asking for the basics here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of CalMatters’ findings, she said she has requested a meeting with officials at the state housing agency. Quirk-Silva said she will consider audits or other measures as needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe we need to add more teeth,” she said. “There certainly could be a possibility that we will follow up with another piece of legislation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police call logs, shelter incident reports and other records obtained by CalMatters provide a hint of what’s missing as a result of the failure to report: a child falling out of an unreinforced window in San Mateo County and being hospitalized; multiple allegations of sexual harassment in Contra Costa County; food shortages in Placer County; and deaths, mold and vermin in many places across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has spent \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">at least $1.5 billion\u003c/a> on shelters and related solutions since 2018, legislative reports show, on top of millions invested by cities, counties and the federal government. The facilities are designed to be a temporary stop on the road to regaining housing but increasingly function as a bridge to nowhere; the state added new emergency shelter beds at roughly five times the rate of permanent housing with supportive services from 2018 to 2023, gaining 27,544 shelter beds, \u003ca href=\"https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_HIC_State_CA_2023.pdf\">federal\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_HIC_State_CA_2018.PDF\">data\u003c/a> shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happens in those shelters is largely a black box. No state agency keeps an updated list of how many shelters are operating or where, officials told CalMatters. There is no state licensing process for shelters. The U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_HIC_State_CA_2023.pdf\">Department of Housing and Urban Development\u003c/a> tracks numbers of emergency shelter beds and how long people live in them, but no information about resident deaths, health or safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996094\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996094\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32.jpg\" alt=\"The outside of a door.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-32-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The only 24-hour outdoor access residents had at this former homeless shelter in Anaheim was a small outdoor patio used for smoking. The shelter has since been permanently shut down and partially boarded up. May 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Jules Hotz / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While not every city or county in California has a homeless shelter, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">state housing officials estimated\u003c/a> a total of around 1,300 shelters in 2021. Municipalities continue to invest in them as a more immediate alternative to street homelessness, even as \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-AHAR-Part-2.pdf\">experts stress\u003c/a> that other options — such as direct rent subsidies or housing with on-site services — are often more effective at combating the root issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a bad idea. At the same time, so many unhoused people are living in these congregate shelters,” said Eve Garrow, a senior policy analyst and advocate for the ACLU of Southern California. “We want to make sure those spaces are safe and clean for as long as people need them, but we also want to move away from that model.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996093\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996093\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30.jpg\" alt=\"Shopping carts next to chairs, safety cones and other materials outside of a fenced in storage unit.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/051424-OC-Shelter-JAH-CM-30-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An area where folks experiencing homelessness were given space to store their belongings while staying at the shelter that has since been permanently shut down in Anaheim on May 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Photo by )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 2021 state law was supposed to help enforce minimum building and safety standards for shelters by creating a new state oversight system. When people staying at shelters or their advocates \u003ca href=\"https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/03/Discrimination-and-Harassment-in-Shelters_ENG.pdf\">file complaints\u003c/a>, the law requires cities or counties to inspect the facilities and report any violations to the state to reconsider future funding. The catch: cities and counties only have to report to the state if they determine that \u003ca href=\"https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/health-and-safety-code/hsc-sect-17920-3/?DCMP=google:ppc:TRLNA:21219027752:697523562873:161386574133&HBX_PK=&sid=9061109&source=google~ppc&tsid=latlppc&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwtNi0BhA1EiwAWZaANIzl4kC28Sc9Kndy8F98puHpp4hD7dhJfgeGKqQGTcsejt7nrnMrGhoCSugQAvD_BwE\">a violation\u003c/a> is severe enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Each city and county has a very unique way of processing complaints\u003cem>,\u003c/em>” said Mitchel Baker, assistant deputy director of the Department of Housing and Community Development’s codes and standards division. “What may be perceived as complaints or violations may not ultimately result in the issuance of a notice of violation or corrective order.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California and the rest of the country barrel into a new legal era for mass homelessness, promises of safe shelter will be key to determining how many people can avoid more frequent tickets or jail. Many public officials, meanwhile, cast the \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf\">Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling\u003c/a> as a necessary clarification after years of conflict over when cities should be allowed to dismantle tents, insisting that they will continue to offer alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement after the ruling. “The state will continue to work with compassion to provide individuals experiencing homelessness with the resources they need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What those resources are is often hard to know, since many shelters are closed to visitors and so few places have filed state reports on conditions. However, people who have lived in shelters paint a more dire picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of one Huntington Beach shelter recently complained to health officials about mold, never-ending cases of pneumonia and neighbors walking around with infected, open sores. Homeless people and their families have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-shelter-private-security/\">filed lawsuits\u003c/a> in several cities over shelter sexual assaults and wrongful deaths. In San Diego, Sharon Descans has been bouncing between shelters and a borrowed van after being evicted from a newer kind of publicly-funded tent city, where she said she weathered unpaid labor, multiple neighbors’ deaths and flashes of chaos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are pulling swords on each other and hitting each other with two-by-fours,” Descans said. “All I wanted from the day I got there is to get out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996102\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996102\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005.jpg\" alt=\"A white woman wearing a dark dress rests her arm on a table outside while sitting down.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_HomelessShelterConditions_KC_CM_005-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Descans at the Chula Vista Bayfront Park on June 23, 2024. Descans has been staying in a van after getting evicted from the O Lot Safe Sleeping site in San Diego’s Balboa Park. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Old problems, new failures\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Up until the 1980s, many of the poorest people in California and other states could still afford rented rooms or cheap hotels. Then came a tidal wave of gentrification, wage stagnation, federal cuts to housing and cash aid, plus shocks like the AIDS and drug epidemics. In less than three decades, the state went from 37,000 dedicated beds for mental health patients to just 2,500 by 1983, according to historians at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519584/\">National Academies of Sciences\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vast numbers of people “drifted onto the streets,” the historians wrote, as promised investments in community resources proved inadequate. The “modern era of homelessness” had begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Large emergency shelters with bunk beds and communal showers emerged as a stop-gap despite comparisons to jail cells or military barracks. The shelter triage approach spread as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/06/california-housing-law-charter-city/\">California housing construction\u003c/a> slowed and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/01/california-homeless-point-in-time-count-2024/\">homelessness exploded\u003c/a>, up 40% in the past five years alone, to more than 181,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelters boomed thanks in large part to court rulings that forbid authorities from cracking down on homeless people solely for being homeless. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/california-homeless-shelters-17423387.php\">Martin v Boise\u003c/a>, courts decided that the city violated the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment by ticketing people for sleeping outside when there wasn’t “adequate” shelter available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What has happened is cities and counties have quite explicitly raced to build more shelters in order to criminalize more people,” Garrow said. “Shelters become kind of an arm of this criminal legal system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quirk-Silva proposed the 2021 shelter law after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclusocal.org/en/publications/thisplaceiskillingme\">2019 ACLU report\u003c/a> by Garrow documented bedbug infestations, overflowing sewage and sexual harassment by shelter workers. The findings collided with Quirk-Silva’s experience talking with people on the street near her Fullerton neighborhood about why they weren’t in shelters. Her own brother died at age 50 after struggling with housing instability, mental health and alcohol abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelters were growing fast, Quirk-Silva realized, and people were staying longer. California shelter residents now stay a median of about five months, or 155 days, the most recent federal \u003ca href=\"https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/system.performance.measures.hud.public.data/viz/HUDCoCSystemPerformanceMeasures/M2Returns\">data from 2023 shows\u003c/a> — a 30% increase since 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garrow supported the 2021 law’s effort to create minimum standards for shelters. She has seen a few problematic shelters closed down in Orange County, she said, including an old transit station in Santa Ana not meant for human habitation, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.ocregister.com/2019/03/14/aclu-report-alleges-abuse-unsanitary-conditions-common-at-orange-county-homeless-shelters/\">previously flooded\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Garrow wasn’t surprised to hear about the small number of cities and counties following through on the law, which she said several \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB362\">amendments\u003c/a> weakened. One removed a requirement for local officials to regularly conduct unannounced shelter inspections. Another struck a rule to add signs with information about how to file complaints at shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would attribute the low number of complaints not to the fact that shelters are now clean and sanitary and abiding by a new law,” Garrow said. “But to the fact that people aren’t aware.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the law, cities and counties that find violations in their shelters are supposed to report any conditions that are “dangerous, hazardous, imminently detrimental to life or health, or otherwise render the homeless shelter unfit for human habitation.” However, even places filing state shelter reports omit serious potential safety issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>L.A. County, for example, has filed lists of its several dozen shelters and one-page inventories of violations related to rats, roaches, hot water outages and garbage. Not mentioned were issues like a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-shelter-private-security/\">2021 conviction\u003c/a> of a former shelter security guard on multiple sexual assault charges. Or reports of shelter deaths, physical attacks and other incidents that appear in police call logs requested by CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shelters after SCOTUS\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday in San Diego’s crown jewel of a central park, Balboa Park, Sharon Descans laid down on a concrete bench under a palm tree to ease the pain in her joints after a year of constant motion. The former college swimmer said she became homeless for the first time last year, after she got sick with COVID-19, lost two property management jobs, fell behind on rent and got evicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What followed was a tour she never wanted of last-ditch housing in a city \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/04/homeless-encampment-ban/\">at the forefront\u003c/a> of statewide efforts to vanquish street encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before the Supreme Court decision, San Diego officials were moving people off the street to large publicly funded tent cities, called “safe sleeping” sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a site called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiego.gov/insidesd/mayor-gloria-opens-second-safe-sleeping-site-unsheltered-san-diegans\">O Lot\u003c/a>, Descans and many neighbors lived in Eskimo-brand ice fishing huts that multiple residents said were prone to leaking during rain. Her anxiety spiked at the makeshift shelter, she said, since she didn’t have a door to lock and witnessed widespread drug use and unpredictable outbursts. One neighbor died of cancer alone in his tent, Descans said, after what seemed like days without anyone checking on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02.jpg\" alt=\"A view of tents on a street sidewalk from the a car window.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Gary Gonzales’ drives past an encampment in downtown San Diego on March 22, 2024. Gonzales is a part of the neighborhood policing division of the San Diego Police Department. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>None of that has been captured in state reports. San Diego is one of the many California locales that has not submitted any reports after the 2021 shelter law, according to state records, despite housing \u003ca href=\"https://sdhc.org/homelessness-solutions/city-homeless-shelters-services/#shelters\">more than a dozen shelters\u003c/a> and some 10,600 homeless residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Even if San Diego had filed the reports, state and local spokespeople said it’s not certain they would’ve captured operations at O Lot. Though many homeless people have temporarily lived at the tent site, nonprofit operator Dreams For Change stressed that it is not technically a shelter under federal definitions.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16.jpg\" alt=\"A row of tents with tarps over them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tents are shown at the city’s O Lot Safe Sleeping site at Balboa Park in San Diego on March 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When asked whether there was any process in place for complaints about homeless shelters in San Diego County, a spokesperson said only that the county does not directly operate any shelters. Under the state law, cities and counties are still responsible for monitoring complaints and reporting violations at shelters in their area with other owners or operators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesman for the city of San Diego said it has received five complaints since the shelter law was passed and that “city staff are working on” evaluating why a state report had not been filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At all city-funded shelters, including the Safe Sleeping and Safe Parking programs, there is a comprehensive complaint process where potential issues are quickly and thoroughly resolved,” spokesperson Matt Hoffman said in a statement. “Every complaint is followed up on and, if needed, action is promptly taken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At O Lot, Descans tried to keep her head down. She made friends with another mom whose son had also wrestled at a nearby high school. The pair heard they could earn money to work their way out of the tents by cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry for the nonprofit Dreams for Change. Descans said she was never paid around $1,000 for 55 hours of cleaning work, which she documented in photos and text message complaints to a site supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17.jpg\" alt=\"The inside of a tent with a cot, blankets and bag.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_17-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The inside of one of the tents provided at the O Lot Safe Sleeping site at Balboa Park in San Diego on March 22, 2024. People are given a cot, blanket, sleeping bag, and hygiene kit. 24/7 staffing, showers, laundry, and shuttles are also provided for clients. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In June, Descans was “exited” from the shelter — nonprofit-speak for evicted — after forms said she had a verbal altercation with staff and allowed an unpermitted visit from her 17-year-old son, who lives with other family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just feel like nobody cares,” Descans said. “It’s like cover your ass at any expense — who even cares about these homeless people?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Dreams for Change spokesperson said the nonprofit cannot comment on individual cases but has a process for formally hiring and paying residents who wish to work. The nonprofit added that it is one of several contractors that operate safe sleeping sites near Balboa Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 80 households have secured permanent housing after living at Dreams for Change’s portion of O Lot, spokesperson Kelly Spoon said in a statement. She confirmed three deaths at the site and added, “Dealing with a diverse population, occasional altercations may arise, but physical altercations are extremely rare.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another current resident of the safe sleeping site, who asked not to be identified due to fear of retaliation, said he was also concerned about a lack of sufficient meals, deaths, sexual assaults reported by female neighbors, and a nagging lack of information from caseworkers about housing options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The animals almost get better treatment than the people,” he said. “You keep shitting on people, you’re going to get shit results.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn Swearigen also lived in a tent at O Lot before moving to a subsidized apartment last month. The grandson of a cattle rancher from Imperial County worked in construction for years until family deaths and the 2008 housing crash landed him on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11996091\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11996091\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing a cowboy hat, a reddish orange shirt and black track pants with orange stripes sits on a blanket in the grass outside.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/032223_SD_Encampment-Ban_KC_CM_20-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shawn Swearingen, 55, at the O Lot Safe Sleeping site at Balboa Park in San Diego on March 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kristian Carreon / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The tent in Balboa Park “wasn’t bad,” he said, though it wasn’t immune from theft and mental health crises that he has found are two constants of homelessness. Swearigen valued having his own space, as opposed to being “dormed up” in a bunk bed like when he first became homeless and stayed at a large shelter. It was so claustrophobic and counter-productive, he said that he spent the next decade trying to stay out of sight, often camping in the woods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was kind of like a lack of options,” Swearigen said. “I really didn’t want to be a burden on people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Have you stayed at a California homeless shelter? Tell us about your experience \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://forms.gle/nFga3B3XvLRfd3dv6\">\u003cem>here\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11996078/californias-law-to-fix-unsafe-homeless-shelters-ignored-by-cities-and-counties","authors":["byline_news_11996078"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_22307","news_5259","news_4020","news_1172","news_30602"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11996092","label":"source_news_11996078"},"news_11995784":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11995784","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11995784","score":null,"sort":[1721214043000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-needs-a-million-ev-charging-stations-but-thats-unlikely-and-unrealistic","title":"Can California Build a Million EV Charging Stations to Meet Its Clean Energy Goals?","publishDate":1721214043,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Can California Build a Million EV Charging Stations to Meet Its Clean Energy Goals? | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>California will have to build public charging stations at an unprecedented — and some experts say unrealistic — pace to meet the needs of the 7 million electric cars expected on its roads in less than seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sheer scale of the build-out has alarmed many experts and lawmakers, who fear that the state won’t be prepared as Californians purchase more electric cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A million public chargers are needed in California by the end of 2030, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/reports/electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-assessment-ab-2127\">state’s projections\u003c/a> — almost 10 times more than the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics-collection/electric\">number available to drivers\u003c/a> in December. To meet that target, 129,000 new stations — more than seven times the current pace — must be built every year for the next seven years. Then, the pace would have to accelerate again to reach a target of 2.1 million chargers in 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A robust network of public chargers — akin to the state’s more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/transportation-energy/california-retail-fuel-outlet-annual-reporting\">8,000 gas stations\u003c/a> — is essential to ensure that drivers will have the confidence to purchase electric vehicles over the next several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very unlikely that we will hit our goals, and to be completely frank, the EV goals are a noble aspiration but unrealistic,” said Stanford professor Bruce Cain, who coauthored a \u003ca href=\"https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/overcoming-roadblocks-californias-public-ev-charging-infrastructure\">policy briefing\u003c/a> detailing California’s electric vehicle charging problems. “This is a wakeup call that we address potential institutional and policy obstacles more seriously before we commit blindly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under California’s landmark \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/08/electric-cars-california-to-phase-out-gas-cars/#:~:text=This%20regulation%20will%20essentially%20end,and%20100%25%20for%202035%20models.\">electric car mandate\u003c/a>, a pillar of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/09/california-ban-gasoline-powered-cars-in-2035/\">climate change agenda\u003c/a>, 68% of all new 2030 model cars sold in the state must be zero emissions, increasing to 100% by 2035, when 15 million electric cars are expected in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to look really silly if we are telling people that they can only buy electric vehicles, and we don’t have the charging infrastructure to support that,” said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from Encino \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/256707?t=787&f=9187f5030274d8f03a4f6e590a116f76\">who introduced\u003c/a> a package of unsuccessful bills last year aimed at expanding access to car chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are way behind where we need to be,” Gabriel told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://graphic-ev-chargers.netlify.app/?initialWidth=780&childId=pym_0&parentTitle=CA%20needs%20a%20million%20EV%20chargers%20but%20experts%20say%20that%E2%80%99s%20unlikely%20-%20CalMatters&parentUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fenvironment%2Fclimate-change%2F2024%2F07%2Fcalifornia-electric-car-chargers-unrealistic-goals%2F\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big obstacles stand in the way of amping up the pace of new charging stations in public places. California will need billions of dollars in state, federal and private investments, streamlined city and county permitting processes, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/01/california-electric-cars-grid/?series=california-electric-vehicles\">major power grid upgrades\u003c/a> and accelerated efforts by utilities to connect chargers to the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials are also tasked with ensuring that charging stations are available statewide, in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/05/electric-car-chargers-california-imperial-county/\">rural and less-affluent areas\u003c/a> where private companies are reluctant to invest, and that they are reliable and functioning whenever drivers pull up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Pacific Gas & Electric’s vast service area, home to 40% of all Californians, electric car purchases are moving twice as fast as the build-out of charging stations, said Lydia Krefta, the utility’s director of clean energy transportation. Californians now own \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics-collection/light\">more than 1.5 million\u003c/a> battery-powered cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patty Monahan, who’s on the Energy Commission, the state agency responsible for funding and guiding the ramp-up, told CalMatters that she is confident that California can build the chargers its residents need in time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency’s estimate of the current chargers is likely an undercount, she said. In addition, fast-charging stations could play a bigger role than initially projected, meaning hundreds of thousands of fewer chargers might be needed. Also, as the ranges and charging speeds on cars improve, there may be less demand for public chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has a history of defying the odds,” Monahan said. “We have a history of advancing clean cars, clean energy, writ-large. We have naysayers left and right saying you can’t do it, and then we do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barriers to private investments: an uncertain market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a September day last year, Monahan spoke behind a podium in the parking lot of a Bay Area grocery store. A row of newly constructed car chargers rose behind her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s celebrate for a moment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California had met its goal of 10,000 fast electric chargers statewide — two years ahead of the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.gov.ca.gov/archive/gov39/2018/01/26/governor-brown-takes-action-to-increase-zero-emission-vehicles-fund-new-climate-investments/index.html\">target\u003c/a> set in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995800\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995800\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Energy Commissioner Patty Monahan speaks during the launch of an EVgo fast charging station in Union City on Sept. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fast chargers, like the new ones at the grocery store, are increasingly seen as critical to meeting the needs of drivers. They can \u003ca href=\"https://www.transportation.gov/urban-e-mobility-toolkit/e-mobility-basics/charging-speeds\">power a car to 80%\u003c/a> in 20 minutes to an hour, while the typical charger in use today, a slower Level 2, takes from four to 10 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But installing and operating fast chargers is an expensive business — one that doesn’t easily turn a profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/85654.pdf#page=46\">Nationwide, each fast charger (PDF)\u003c/a> can cost up to $117,000, according to a 2023 study. And in California, it could be even more — between $122,000 and $440,000 each, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X23000238\">a separate study\u003c/a>, although the Energy Commission said the range was $110,000 to $125,000 for \u003ca href=\"https://calevip.org/\">one of its programs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of America’s publicly traded charger companies have been forced to seek more financing, lay off workers and slow their network build-outs, analysts said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/finance/quote/EVGO:NASDAQ?window=MAX\">EVgo\u003c/a>, for instance, has seen its share price crater, as has \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/finance/quote/CHPT:NYSE?window=MAX\">ChargePoint\u003c/a>, which specializes in selling the slower Level 2 hardware.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California stands apart from other states — it has by far the most chargers and electric car sales and more incentives and policies encouraging them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, America’s top-selling electric car manufacturer, dominates fast-charging in both California and the U.S. — but the company didn’t get into the business to sell charges to drivers; it got into the charger business to sell its electric cars. Initially Tesla Superchargers were exclusive to its drivers, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/support/supercharging-other-evs#charge-if-not-tesla-vehicle\">starting this year\u003c/a> other EV drivers can use them after Tesla \u003ca href=\"https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023/05/25/ford-ev-customers-to-gain-access-to-12-000-tesla-superchargers--.html\">provided ports to Ford\u003c/a> and other automakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla’s manufacturing prowess, supply chain dominance and decade-plus of experience with fast chargers have given it an edge over competitors — a coterie of unprofitable, publicly traded startups, as well as private companies that often benefit from public subsidies, according to analysts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the automakers joined forces with their biggest competitor,” said Loren McDonald, chief executive of the consulting firm EVAdoption. “If that doesn’t tell you how bad fast-charging networks and infrastructure were, I don’t know what else does.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995801\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995801\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tesla vehicles charge at a Supercharger lot in Kettleman City on June 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995832\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995832\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"834\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-2048x683.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-1920x641.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: An EVgo fast charger at El Mercado Plaza Shopping Center in Union City. Right: A Hyundai Ioniq 6 charges at an Electrify America station in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott and Camille Cohen for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Tesla is showing \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/inside-story-elon-musks-mass-firings-tesla-supercharger-staff-2024-05-15/\">uncertainty about the future of its charging business\u003c/a> amid slumping car sales and \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/inside-story-elon-musks-mass-firings-tesla-supercharger-staff-2024-05-15/\">eliminating nearly its entire\u003c/a> 500-member Supercharger team in April. Then chief executive Elon Musk said in May that he would \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1788834859110002716?lang=en\">spend $500 million\u003c/a> to expand the network and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-13/tesla-rehires-some-supercharger-workers-weeks-after-musk-s-culling?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcxNTYyMjU0MiwiZXhwIjoxNzE2MjI3MzQyLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTREVRQjJUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIzNDVFQTA0MjNBMUQ0NTI2QjY1QkNBNUZDRUJGQThGNiJ9.2RNvF37kKk0-xvIIdZ-YnoQY2ND7fdX3l67QJ5XqjBk\">hired back\u003c/a> some fired workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, Electrify America, a privately held company, was created by Volkswagen as a settlement for \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/california-receive-153m-final-settlement-volkswagen\">cheating on emissions tests\u003c/a> for its gas-powered cars. The company is spending $800 million on California chargers, building a robust network of 260 stations, with more than half in lower-income communities, including \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/05/electric-car-chargers-california-imperial-county/\">the state’s worst charging desert\u003c/a>, Imperial County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is Electrify America was ranked dead last in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2023-us-electric-vehicle-experience-evx-public-charging-study\">consumer survey\u003c/a> last year, and reliability problems and customer complaints have plagued its chargers. The California Air Resources Board in January \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/books/2024/012524/prores24-2.pdf#page=5\">directed Electrify America (PDF)\u003c/a> to “strive to achieve charger reliability consistent with the state of the industry.” A company spokesperson said the dissatisfaction showed “an industry in its growth trajectory.” There are signs of improvement, based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.jdpower.com/business/resources/are-recent-improvements-public-ev-charging-infrastructure-enough-reverse\">consumer data from the first three months\u003c/a> of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Startups continue to jump into the charging business, with the number of companies offering fast chargers growing from 14 in 2020 to 41 in 2024, EVAdoption said. Seven carmakers formed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/business/energy-environment/electric-vehicles-fast-chargers-automakers.html\">$1 billion venture\u003c/a> to build a 30,000-charger network in North America. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/big-winner-in-bidens-ev-charging-revolution-gas-stations/\">gas stations\u003c/a> such as Circle K offer more charging because electric car customers spend more time shopping while waiting for their rides to juice up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the realization that charging is a costly business has set in on Wall Street, and that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon. “Can public EV fast-charging stations be profitable in the United States?” the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/features/mckinsey-center-for-future-mobility/our-insights/can-public-ev-fast-charging-stations-be-profitable-in-the-united-states\">consultancy McKinsey & Company asked\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fervor, the excitement from the investor base, has definitely dwindled quite a bit, given the prospects that EV adoption in the U.S. is going to be slower, revenue growth is really slower, the path to profitability is going to be slower, and they might need more capital than everyone originally expected,” said Christopher Dendrinos, a financial analyst who covers electric car charging companies for the investment bank RBC Capital Markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stakes are high for California when it comes to encouraging investments in expensive fast chargers: If 63,000 additional ones were built, California might need 402,000 fewer slower Level 2 chargers in 2030, according to an alternative \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24795161/assembly-bill-2127-second-electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-second-assessment-revised-staff-report.pdf#page=18\">forecast (PDF)\u003c/a> by the Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Billions of public dollars: Will it be enough?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nationwide, $53 billion to $127 billion in private investments and public funding is needed by 2030 to build chargers for about 33 million electric cars, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/85654.pdf#page=7\">according to a federal estimate (PDF)\u003c/a>. Of that, about half would be for public chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress and the Biden administration have set aside $5 billion for a national network of fast chargers. So far, only 33 of the eight locations have been built, but more than 14,000 others are in the works, according to the Federal Highway Administration. California’s share of the federal money totals $384 million; about 500 fast chargers will be built with an initial $40.5 million, Energy Commission spokesperson Lindsay Buckley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, the state has spent $584 million to build more than \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Clean-Transportation-Program-Plan.pdf#page=27\">33,000 electric car chargers (PDF)\u003c/a> through its Clean Transportation Program, funded by fees drivers pay when they register cars. The Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/09/hydrogen-cars-california-funding-legislature/\">extended that program\u003c/a> for an additional decade last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has committed to spending $1 billion through 2028 on chargers with his “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Fact-Sheet-California-Climate-Commitment.pdf\">California Climate Commitment (PDF)\u003c/a>,” Buckley said. But this year, Newsom and the Legislature trimmed $167 million from the charger budget as the state faces a record deficit. A lobbyist for the Electric Vehicle Charging Association said, “The state pullback sends a very challenging message” to the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s commitment to charger funding is “solid,” despite the cuts, Buckley said. They have not yet estimated the total investment needed in California to meet the targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Ted Lamm, a UC Berkeley Law researcher who studies electric car infrastructure, said the magnitude of building what California needs in coming years likely dwarfs the public funding available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and federal programs will “only fund a fraction,” and the state needs to spend that money on lower-income communities, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another possible funding source is California’s \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/low-carbon-fuel-standard\">Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which is expected to be revised in November\u003c/a>. The program requires carbon-intensive fuel companies to pay for cleaner-burning transportation. Utilities get credits and use that money to pay for chargers, rebates to car buyers and grid improvements, said Laura Renger, executive director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition, which represents utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think with that, we would have enough money,” Renger said. She said the program’s overhaul could help utilities invest “billions” in chargers and other electric car programs over the next two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Backlogged local permits and grid delays\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest barriers to more chargers isn’t money. It’s that cities and counties are slow to approve plans for the vast number of stations needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials only have so much political power to compel local jurisdictions to do what they want — a reality made \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/01/california-zoning/\">abundantly clear\u003c/a> by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/housing-crisis/\">housing crisis\u003c/a>, for instance. California relies on grants and persuasion to accomplish its goals, and the slow build-out of chargers shows how those strategies can fall short, said Stanford’s Cain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The locals cannot be compelled by regulatory agencies to make land and resources available for what the state wants to achieve,” Cain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same obstacles have marked the state’s broader effort to electrify California and switch to clean energy. Local opposition and environmental reviews sometimes hold up \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/08/renewable-energy-california-counties/\">large solar projects\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/07/ceqa-california-energy-grid-state-parks/\">transmission projects\u003c/a> for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has created a “culture of regulation that emphasizes the need to be extra careful and extra perfect, but this takes an incredible amount of time,” Steve Bohlen, senior director of government affairs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said last month at the \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/258152?t=2513&f=37ff81eefb4f72eb25bbcb88ea60fd30\">inaugural hearing of the state Assembly’s Select Committee on Permitting Reform\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re moving into a period of rapid change, and so perfect can’t be the enemy of the good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995836\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"834\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-2048x683.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-1920x641.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Workers install a transformer to power electric car chargers in Calexico. Right: A row of new public chargers there. \u003ccite>(Adriana Heldiz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chargers aren’t as complicated as large-scale solar or \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/10/california-offshore-wind-humboldt/\">offshore wind projects\u003c/a>. However, most chargers installed in public spaces need a land-use or encroachment permit, among other approvals.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>California has \u003ca href=\"https://business.ca.gov/industries/zero-emission-vehicles/plug-in-readiness/permitting-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-best-practices/\">passed laws\u003c/a> requiring local jurisdictions to streamline permits for chargers. What’s more, the Governor’s Office of Business Development now grades cities and counties using a \u003ca href=\"https://business.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Permitting-Electric-Vehicle-Charging-Stations-Scorecard.pdf\">scorecard (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://business.ca.gov/industries/zero-emission-vehicles/plug-in-readiness/\">maintains a map\u003c/a> displaying who has or hasn’t made life easier for car charger builders. But these strategies only go so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t matter how many requirements you put on [local governments],” Lamm said. “If they just don’t have the time in the day to do it … it’s going to sit in the backlog because that’s how it works.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delays have consequences. Getting a station permitted in California, on average, \u003ca href=\"https://media.electrifyamerica.com/assets/documents/original/1160-2023CARBAnnualReportFinal43024Public2.pdf#page=19\">takes 26% longer (PDF)\u003c/a> than the national average, Electrify America reported. Designing and constructing a station in California can cost, on average, \u003ca href=\"https://media.electrifyamerica.com/assets/documents/original/1160-2023CARBAnnualReportFinal43024Public2.pdf#page=19\">37% more (PDF)\u003c/a> than in other states because of delays in permitting and grid connections. A utility, on average, takes 17 weeks after work is completed to connect chargers to the grid, Electric America said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Powering large charging projects often requires grid upgrades, which can take a year or more for approval, said Chanel Parson, a director at Southern California Edison. Supply chain issues also make getting the right equipment a challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edison, which has a 10-year plan to meet expected demand, has asked the utilities commission for approval to upgrade the grid where it anticipates high charging demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every EV charging infrastructure project is a major construction project,” Parson said. “There are a number of variables that influence how long it takes to complete the project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impatient with broken chargers, bad service\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Inspired to help the nation reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, Zach Schiff-Abrams of Los Angeles bought a Genesis GV60. As a renter, he has relied on public charging, primarily using Electrify America stations — and that’s been his biggest problem about owning an electric car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charging speeds have been inconsistent, he said, with half-hour sessions providing only a 15% to 30% charge, and he often encounters broken chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe in electrical, so I’m really actually trying to be a responsible consumer,” Schiff-Abrams said. “I want to report them when they’re down, but the customer service is horrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995802\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995802\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Electric vehicles line up at a busy Electrify America charging station in Kettleman City, Kings County. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For years, the reliability of charging networks has been a well-documented problem. Only \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4077554\">73% of fast chargers in the San Francisco Bay Area were functional\u003c/a> in a 2022 study. The growth of the EV market has put increasing strain on public charging stations, \u003ca href=\"https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2022-us-electric-vehicle-experience-evx-public-charging-study\">a consumer survey found\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/mt/2024/mt012524.pdf#page=31\">January (PDF)\u003c/a>, the California Air Resources Board approved a final $200 million spending plan for Electrify America — but not before board chair Liane Randolph scolded its CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randolph — arguably one of America’s top climate regulators — told CEO Robert Barrosa about an exchange she had with his company’s customer service line after finding a broken charger at a station along Interstate 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It didn’t work,” Randolph said during the board meeting. “Called the customer service line, waited like 10-ish minutes. … [The charger] was showing operable on the app and the guy goes, ‘Oh, my data is showing me that it has not had a successful charge in three days.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These issues are not easy,” Barrosa responded. “Our head is not in the sand,” he \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/mt/2024/mt012524.pdf#page=45\">told board members (PDF)\u003c/a> earlier. “We are listening to customers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Randolph, addressing journalists at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sej.org/initiatives/coverage-sejs-33rd-annual-conference#mini-workshop8-04062024\">conference in Philadelphia\u003c/a>, pushed back against the idea that because the transition to electric vehicles is happening gradually that, it’s a failure. Many people will rely on charging at home or work, and batteries are becoming more efficient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The infrastructure is continuing to be rolled out at a rapid pace,” Randolph said. “It doesn’t all have to be perfect instantly. It’s a process. And it’s a process that’s continuing to move.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Data journalists Erica Yee and Arfa Momin contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Public chargers must be built at an unprecedented pace to meet the target in less than seven years and then doubled to 2 million in 2035. The high cost is just one obstacle.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721185886,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://graphic-ev-chargers.netlify.app/"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":67,"wordCount":3099},"headData":{"title":"Can California Build a Million EV Charging Stations to Meet Its Clean Energy Goals? | KQED","description":"Public chargers must be built at an unprecedented pace to meet the target in less than seven years and then doubled to 2 million in 2035. The high cost is just one obstacle.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Can California Build a Million EV Charging Stations to Meet Its Clean Energy Goals?","datePublished":"2024-07-17T04:00:43-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-16T20:11:26-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/alejandro-lazo/\">Alejandro Lazo\u003c/a>, CalMatters","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11995784/california-needs-a-million-ev-charging-stations-but-thats-unlikely-and-unrealistic","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California will have to build public charging stations at an unprecedented — and some experts say unrealistic — pace to meet the needs of the 7 million electric cars expected on its roads in less than seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sheer scale of the build-out has alarmed many experts and lawmakers, who fear that the state won’t be prepared as Californians purchase more electric cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A million public chargers are needed in California by the end of 2030, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/reports/electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-assessment-ab-2127\">state’s projections\u003c/a> — almost 10 times more than the \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics-collection/electric\">number available to drivers\u003c/a> in December. To meet that target, 129,000 new stations — more than seven times the current pace — must be built every year for the next seven years. Then, the pace would have to accelerate again to reach a target of 2.1 million chargers in 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A robust network of public chargers — akin to the state’s more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/transportation-energy/california-retail-fuel-outlet-annual-reporting\">8,000 gas stations\u003c/a> — is essential to ensure that drivers will have the confidence to purchase electric vehicles over the next several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very unlikely that we will hit our goals, and to be completely frank, the EV goals are a noble aspiration but unrealistic,” said Stanford professor Bruce Cain, who coauthored a \u003ca href=\"https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/overcoming-roadblocks-californias-public-ev-charging-infrastructure\">policy briefing\u003c/a> detailing California’s electric vehicle charging problems. “This is a wakeup call that we address potential institutional and policy obstacles more seriously before we commit blindly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under California’s landmark \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/08/electric-cars-california-to-phase-out-gas-cars/#:~:text=This%20regulation%20will%20essentially%20end,and%20100%25%20for%202035%20models.\">electric car mandate\u003c/a>, a pillar of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/09/california-ban-gasoline-powered-cars-in-2035/\">climate change agenda\u003c/a>, 68% of all new 2030 model cars sold in the state must be zero emissions, increasing to 100% by 2035, when 15 million electric cars are expected in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to look really silly if we are telling people that they can only buy electric vehicles, and we don’t have the charging infrastructure to support that,” said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from Encino \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/256707?t=787&f=9187f5030274d8f03a4f6e590a116f76\">who introduced\u003c/a> a package of unsuccessful bills last year aimed at expanding access to car chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are way behind where we need to be,” Gabriel told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://graphic-ev-chargers.netlify.app/?initialWidth=780&childId=pym_0&parentTitle=CA%20needs%20a%20million%20EV%20chargers%20but%20experts%20say%20that%E2%80%99s%20unlikely%20-%20CalMatters&parentUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fenvironment%2Fclimate-change%2F2024%2F07%2Fcalifornia-electric-car-chargers-unrealistic-goals%2F\" width=\"800\" height=\"550\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big obstacles stand in the way of amping up the pace of new charging stations in public places. California will need billions of dollars in state, federal and private investments, streamlined city and county permitting processes, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/01/california-electric-cars-grid/?series=california-electric-vehicles\">major power grid upgrades\u003c/a> and accelerated efforts by utilities to connect chargers to the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials are also tasked with ensuring that charging stations are available statewide, in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/05/electric-car-chargers-california-imperial-county/\">rural and less-affluent areas\u003c/a> where private companies are reluctant to invest, and that they are reliable and functioning whenever drivers pull up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Pacific Gas & Electric’s vast service area, home to 40% of all Californians, electric car purchases are moving twice as fast as the build-out of charging stations, said Lydia Krefta, the utility’s director of clean energy transportation. Californians now own \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics-collection/light\">more than 1.5 million\u003c/a> battery-powered cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patty Monahan, who’s on the Energy Commission, the state agency responsible for funding and guiding the ramp-up, told CalMatters that she is confident that California can build the chargers its residents need in time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency’s estimate of the current chargers is likely an undercount, she said. In addition, fast-charging stations could play a bigger role than initially projected, meaning hundreds of thousands of fewer chargers might be needed. Also, as the ranges and charging speeds on cars improve, there may be less demand for public chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has a history of defying the odds,” Monahan said. “We have a history of advancing clean cars, clean energy, writ-large. We have naysayers left and right saying you can’t do it, and then we do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barriers to private investments: an uncertain market\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a September day last year, Monahan spoke behind a podium in the parking lot of a Bay Area grocery store. A row of newly constructed car chargers rose behind her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s celebrate for a moment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California had met its goal of 10,000 fast electric chargers statewide — two years ahead of the \u003ca href=\"https://archive.gov.ca.gov/archive/gov39/2018/01/26/governor-brown-takes-action-to-increase-zero-emission-vehicles-fund-new-climate-investments/index.html\">target\u003c/a> set in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995800\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995800\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/092523_EV-Fast-Charging-Event_LE_CM_10-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Energy Commissioner Patty Monahan speaks during the launch of an EVgo fast charging station in Union City on Sept. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fast chargers, like the new ones at the grocery store, are increasingly seen as critical to meeting the needs of drivers. They can \u003ca href=\"https://www.transportation.gov/urban-e-mobility-toolkit/e-mobility-basics/charging-speeds\">power a car to 80%\u003c/a> in 20 minutes to an hour, while the typical charger in use today, a slower Level 2, takes from four to 10 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But installing and operating fast chargers is an expensive business — one that doesn’t easily turn a profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/85654.pdf#page=46\">Nationwide, each fast charger (PDF)\u003c/a> can cost up to $117,000, according to a 2023 study. And in California, it could be even more — between $122,000 and $440,000 each, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X23000238\">a separate study\u003c/a>, although the Energy Commission said the range was $110,000 to $125,000 for \u003ca href=\"https://calevip.org/\">one of its programs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of America’s publicly traded charger companies have been forced to seek more financing, lay off workers and slow their network build-outs, analysts said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/finance/quote/EVGO:NASDAQ?window=MAX\">EVgo\u003c/a>, for instance, has seen its share price crater, as has \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/finance/quote/CHPT:NYSE?window=MAX\">ChargePoint\u003c/a>, which specializes in selling the slower Level 2 hardware.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California stands apart from other states — it has by far the most chargers and electric car sales and more incentives and policies encouraging them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla, America’s top-selling electric car manufacturer, dominates fast-charging in both California and the U.S. — but the company didn’t get into the business to sell charges to drivers; it got into the charger business to sell its electric cars. Initially Tesla Superchargers were exclusive to its drivers, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.tesla.com/support/supercharging-other-evs#charge-if-not-tesla-vehicle\">starting this year\u003c/a> other EV drivers can use them after Tesla \u003ca href=\"https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023/05/25/ford-ev-customers-to-gain-access-to-12-000-tesla-superchargers--.html\">provided ports to Ford\u003c/a> and other automakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tesla’s manufacturing prowess, supply chain dominance and decade-plus of experience with fast chargers have given it an edge over competitors — a coterie of unprofitable, publicly traded startups, as well as private companies that often benefit from public subsidies, according to analysts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the automakers joined forces with their biggest competitor,” said Loren McDonald, chief executive of the consulting firm EVAdoption. “If that doesn’t tell you how bad fast-charging networks and infrastructure were, I don’t know what else does.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995801\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995801\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-City-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_16-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tesla vehicles charge at a Supercharger lot in Kettleman City on June 23, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995832\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995832\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"834\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-2048x683.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-1-KQED-1-1920x641.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: An EVgo fast charger at El Mercado Plaza Shopping Center in Union City. Right: A Hyundai Ioniq 6 charges at an Electrify America station in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott and Camille Cohen for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Tesla is showing \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/inside-story-elon-musks-mass-firings-tesla-supercharger-staff-2024-05-15/\">uncertainty about the future of its charging business\u003c/a> amid slumping car sales and \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/inside-story-elon-musks-mass-firings-tesla-supercharger-staff-2024-05-15/\">eliminating nearly its entire\u003c/a> 500-member Supercharger team in April. Then chief executive Elon Musk said in May that he would \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1788834859110002716?lang=en\">spend $500 million\u003c/a> to expand the network and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-13/tesla-rehires-some-supercharger-workers-weeks-after-musk-s-culling?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcxNTYyMjU0MiwiZXhwIjoxNzE2MjI3MzQyLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTREVRQjJUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIzNDVFQTA0MjNBMUQ0NTI2QjY1QkNBNUZDRUJGQThGNiJ9.2RNvF37kKk0-xvIIdZ-YnoQY2ND7fdX3l67QJ5XqjBk\">hired back\u003c/a> some fired workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, Electrify America, a privately held company, was created by Volkswagen as a settlement for \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/california-receive-153m-final-settlement-volkswagen\">cheating on emissions tests\u003c/a> for its gas-powered cars. The company is spending $800 million on California chargers, building a robust network of 260 stations, with more than half in lower-income communities, including \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/05/electric-car-chargers-california-imperial-county/\">the state’s worst charging desert\u003c/a>, Imperial County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is Electrify America was ranked dead last in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2023-us-electric-vehicle-experience-evx-public-charging-study\">consumer survey\u003c/a> last year, and reliability problems and customer complaints have plagued its chargers. The California Air Resources Board in January \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/books/2024/012524/prores24-2.pdf#page=5\">directed Electrify America (PDF)\u003c/a> to “strive to achieve charger reliability consistent with the state of the industry.” A company spokesperson said the dissatisfaction showed “an industry in its growth trajectory.” There are signs of improvement, based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.jdpower.com/business/resources/are-recent-improvements-public-ev-charging-infrastructure-enough-reverse\">consumer data from the first three months\u003c/a> of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Startups continue to jump into the charging business, with the number of companies offering fast chargers growing from 14 in 2020 to 41 in 2024, EVAdoption said. Seven carmakers formed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/business/energy-environment/electric-vehicles-fast-chargers-automakers.html\">$1 billion venture\u003c/a> to build a 30,000-charger network in North America. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/big-winner-in-bidens-ev-charging-revolution-gas-stations/\">gas stations\u003c/a> such as Circle K offer more charging because electric car customers spend more time shopping while waiting for their rides to juice up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the realization that charging is a costly business has set in on Wall Street, and that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon. “Can public EV fast-charging stations be profitable in the United States?” the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/features/mckinsey-center-for-future-mobility/our-insights/can-public-ev-fast-charging-stations-be-profitable-in-the-united-states\">consultancy McKinsey & Company asked\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fervor, the excitement from the investor base, has definitely dwindled quite a bit, given the prospects that EV adoption in the U.S. is going to be slower, revenue growth is really slower, the path to profitability is going to be slower, and they might need more capital than everyone originally expected,” said Christopher Dendrinos, a financial analyst who covers electric car charging companies for the investment bank RBC Capital Markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stakes are high for California when it comes to encouraging investments in expensive fast chargers: If 63,000 additional ones were built, California might need 402,000 fewer slower Level 2 chargers in 2030, according to an alternative \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24795161/assembly-bill-2127-second-electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-second-assessment-revised-staff-report.pdf#page=18\">forecast (PDF)\u003c/a> by the Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Billions of public dollars: Will it be enough?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nationwide, $53 billion to $127 billion in private investments and public funding is needed by 2030 to build chargers for about 33 million electric cars, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/85654.pdf#page=7\">according to a federal estimate (PDF)\u003c/a>. Of that, about half would be for public chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress and the Biden administration have set aside $5 billion for a national network of fast chargers. So far, only 33 of the eight locations have been built, but more than 14,000 others are in the works, according to the Federal Highway Administration. California’s share of the federal money totals $384 million; about 500 fast chargers will be built with an initial $40.5 million, Energy Commission spokesperson Lindsay Buckley said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, the state has spent $584 million to build more than \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Clean-Transportation-Program-Plan.pdf#page=27\">33,000 electric car chargers (PDF)\u003c/a> through its Clean Transportation Program, funded by fees drivers pay when they register cars. The Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/09/hydrogen-cars-california-funding-legislature/\">extended that program\u003c/a> for an additional decade last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has committed to spending $1 billion through 2028 on chargers with his “\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Fact-Sheet-California-Climate-Commitment.pdf\">California Climate Commitment (PDF)\u003c/a>,” Buckley said. But this year, Newsom and the Legislature trimmed $167 million from the charger budget as the state faces a record deficit. A lobbyist for the Electric Vehicle Charging Association said, “The state pullback sends a very challenging message” to the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s commitment to charger funding is “solid,” despite the cuts, Buckley said. They have not yet estimated the total investment needed in California to meet the targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Ted Lamm, a UC Berkeley Law researcher who studies electric car infrastructure, said the magnitude of building what California needs in coming years likely dwarfs the public funding available.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and federal programs will “only fund a fraction,” and the state needs to spend that money on lower-income communities, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another possible funding source is California’s \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/low-carbon-fuel-standard\">Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which is expected to be revised in November\u003c/a>. The program requires carbon-intensive fuel companies to pay for cleaner-burning transportation. Utilities get credits and use that money to pay for chargers, rebates to car buyers and grid improvements, said Laura Renger, executive director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition, which represents utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think with that, we would have enough money,” Renger said. She said the program’s overhaul could help utilities invest “billions” in chargers and other electric car programs over the next two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Backlogged local permits and grid delays\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest barriers to more chargers isn’t money. It’s that cities and counties are slow to approve plans for the vast number of stations needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials only have so much political power to compel local jurisdictions to do what they want — a reality made \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/01/california-zoning/\">abundantly clear\u003c/a> by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/housing-crisis/\">housing crisis\u003c/a>, for instance. California relies on grants and persuasion to accomplish its goals, and the slow build-out of chargers shows how those strategies can fall short, said Stanford’s Cain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The locals cannot be compelled by regulatory agencies to make land and resources available for what the state wants to achieve,” Cain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same obstacles have marked the state’s broader effort to electrify California and switch to clean energy. Local opposition and environmental reviews sometimes hold up \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/08/renewable-energy-california-counties/\">large solar projects\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/07/ceqa-california-energy-grid-state-parks/\">transmission projects\u003c/a> for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has created a “culture of regulation that emphasizes the need to be extra careful and extra perfect, but this takes an incredible amount of time,” Steve Bohlen, senior director of government affairs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said last month at the \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/258152?t=2513&f=37ff81eefb4f72eb25bbcb88ea60fd30\">inaugural hearing of the state Assembly’s Select Committee on Permitting Reform\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re moving into a period of rapid change, and so perfect can’t be the enemy of the good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995836\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"834\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-2048x683.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/EV-DIPTYCH-2-KQED-1-1920x641.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Workers install a transformer to power electric car chargers in Calexico. Right: A row of new public chargers there. \u003ccite>(Adriana Heldiz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Chargers aren’t as complicated as large-scale solar or \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/10/california-offshore-wind-humboldt/\">offshore wind projects\u003c/a>. However, most chargers installed in public spaces need a land-use or encroachment permit, among other approvals.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>California has \u003ca href=\"https://business.ca.gov/industries/zero-emission-vehicles/plug-in-readiness/permitting-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-best-practices/\">passed laws\u003c/a> requiring local jurisdictions to streamline permits for chargers. What’s more, the Governor’s Office of Business Development now grades cities and counties using a \u003ca href=\"https://business.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Permitting-Electric-Vehicle-Charging-Stations-Scorecard.pdf\">scorecard (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://business.ca.gov/industries/zero-emission-vehicles/plug-in-readiness/\">maintains a map\u003c/a> displaying who has or hasn’t made life easier for car charger builders. But these strategies only go so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t matter how many requirements you put on [local governments],” Lamm said. “If they just don’t have the time in the day to do it … it’s going to sit in the backlog because that’s how it works.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The delays have consequences. Getting a station permitted in California, on average, \u003ca href=\"https://media.electrifyamerica.com/assets/documents/original/1160-2023CARBAnnualReportFinal43024Public2.pdf#page=19\">takes 26% longer (PDF)\u003c/a> than the national average, Electrify America reported. Designing and constructing a station in California can cost, on average, \u003ca href=\"https://media.electrifyamerica.com/assets/documents/original/1160-2023CARBAnnualReportFinal43024Public2.pdf#page=19\">37% more (PDF)\u003c/a> than in other states because of delays in permitting and grid connections. A utility, on average, takes 17 weeks after work is completed to connect chargers to the grid, Electric America said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Powering large charging projects often requires grid upgrades, which can take a year or more for approval, said Chanel Parson, a director at Southern California Edison. Supply chain issues also make getting the right equipment a challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edison, which has a 10-year plan to meet expected demand, has asked the utilities commission for approval to upgrade the grid where it anticipates high charging demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every EV charging infrastructure project is a major construction project,” Parson said. “There are a number of variables that influence how long it takes to complete the project.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impatient with broken chargers, bad service\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Inspired to help the nation reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, Zach Schiff-Abrams of Los Angeles bought a Genesis GV60. As a renter, he has relied on public charging, primarily using Electrify America stations — and that’s been his biggest problem about owning an electric car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charging speeds have been inconsistent, he said, with half-hour sessions providing only a 15% to 30% charge, and he often encounters broken chargers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe in electrical, so I’m really actually trying to be a responsible consumer,” Schiff-Abrams said. “I want to report them when they’re down, but the customer service is horrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995802\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995802\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/062324_Kettleman-Charging-Stations_LV_CM_21-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Electric vehicles line up at a busy Electrify America charging station in Kettleman City, Kings County. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For years, the reliability of charging networks has been a well-documented problem. Only \u003ca href=\"https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4077554\">73% of fast chargers in the San Francisco Bay Area were functional\u003c/a> in a 2022 study. The growth of the EV market has put increasing strain on public charging stations, \u003ca href=\"https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2022-us-electric-vehicle-experience-evx-public-charging-study\">a consumer survey found\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/mt/2024/mt012524.pdf#page=31\">January (PDF)\u003c/a>, the California Air Resources Board approved a final $200 million spending plan for Electrify America — but not before board chair Liane Randolph scolded its CEO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randolph — arguably one of America’s top climate regulators — told CEO Robert Barrosa about an exchange she had with his company’s customer service line after finding a broken charger at a station along Interstate 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It didn’t work,” Randolph said during the board meeting. “Called the customer service line, waited like 10-ish minutes. … [The charger] was showing operable on the app and the guy goes, ‘Oh, my data is showing me that it has not had a successful charge in three days.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These issues are not easy,” Barrosa responded. “Our head is not in the sand,” he \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/board/mt/2024/mt012524.pdf#page=45\">told board members (PDF)\u003c/a> earlier. “We are listening to customers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Randolph, addressing journalists at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sej.org/initiatives/coverage-sejs-33rd-annual-conference#mini-workshop8-04062024\">conference in Philadelphia\u003c/a>, pushed back against the idea that because the transition to electric vehicles is happening gradually that, it’s a failure. Many people will rely on charging at home or work, and batteries are becoming more efficient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The infrastructure is continuing to be rolled out at a rapid pace,” Randolph said. “It doesn’t all have to be perfect instantly. It’s a process. And it’s a process that’s continuing to move.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Data journalists Erica Yee and Arfa Momin contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11995784/california-needs-a-million-ev-charging-stations-but-thats-unlikely-and-unrealistic","authors":["byline_news_11995784"],"categories":["news_31795","news_8","news_356","news_248","news_1397"],"tags":["news_22457","news_34146","news_20517"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11995817","label":"news_18481"},"news_11995538":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11995538","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11995538","score":null,"sort":[1721156458000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"a-california-story-kamala-harris-road-to-the-white-house","title":"A California Story: Kamala Harris' Road to the White House","publishDate":1721156458,"format":"standard","headTitle":"A California Story: Kamala Harris’ Road to the White House | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Whether President Joe Biden bows to the growing chorus of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/more-democrats-call-biden-step-down-2024-race-press-conference-rcna161486\">elected Democrats\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/11/poll-biden-drop-out-election/\">Democratic voters\u003c/a> calling for him to exit the 2024 race or continues to seek a second term as a visibly frail 81-year-old, suddenly everyone is taking another good hard look at \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/kamala-harris/\">Kamala Harris\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vice presidents rarely get much attention. What attention Harris has gotten on the job hasn’t been particularly positive. Counter to the reputation she cultivated early on in the campaign trail as a pragmatic politician and sharp-minded prosecutor, public opinion on Harris soured in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/projects/kamala-harris-approval-rating-polls-vs-biden-other-vps/#:~:text=A%20California%20native%2C%20Harris%20is,according%20to%20a%20Times%20average.\">summer of 2021\u003c/a> and has mostly stayed sour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was partly thanks to the White House saddling her with a series of \u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/06/harris-biden-immigration-voting-rights.html\">unenviable and intractable tasks\u003c/a>. Beyond that, her role, like that of most vice presidents, has been high on profile but low on actual responsibility. It’s a job perhaps best described by fictional \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/veep-final-episode-review/\">Veep Selina Meyer\u003c/a> as the political equivalent of being “declawed, defanged, neutered, ball-gagged, and sealed in an abandoned coal mine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nor was Harris faring much better with voters in her home state. Last year, 59% of California voters in a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll said they would not welcome her at the top of the ticket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now that Harris is being considered as the most likely substitute for Biden, more voters seem to be warming to her. A fresh Washington Post poll found that the vast majority of \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/11/poll-biden-drop-out-election/\">Democratic voters nationwide would be “satisfied”\u003c/a> with Harris at the top of the ticket. The same poll found her narrowly beating Trump in a head-to-head election among registered voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the nation is catching itself back up to speed on all things Harris — and that means catching up on a life of accomplishment and controversy here. More than any other vice president in generations, Kamala Harris’ biography is singularly Californian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Oakland, bussed to school in Berkeley, tested by San Francisco’s cutthroat municipal politics and propelled onto the national stage as the state’s top law enforcement officer and then its first female senator of color, Harris’ approach to politics and policymaking were honed here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that voters are reconsidering whether Harris has what it takes to be president of the United States — and as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/donald-trump/\">Donald Trump\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-vice-president-vance-rubio-burgum-rnc-6cc438a8370a21b2631f5a53b06b71d0\">JD Vance\u003c/a> train their \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/republicans-turn-focus-harris-talk-replacing-biden-democratic-111705713\">oppo-machine \u003c/a>upon her — we’re resurrecting this look at her California years and career. Here are nine ways that California shaped Kamala Harris and that Harris shaped California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. A child of Berkeley\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a state full of transplants, Harris is a lifelong Californian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was born in 1964 in Oakland — the hospital a little over a mile from the city hall where, more than half a century later, she would announce her short-lived 2020 bid for the presidency. She spent her childhood in Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement, born to immigrant parents who met while getting their PhDs and protesting for civil rights at UC Berkeley. Harris’ father, Donald Harris, is from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, is from India. The couple split when Harris was 7, and Harris and her sister Maya were raised mostly by her mother, who died in 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first Democratic presidential debate in 2019, Harris \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/girl-senator-harris-vice-president-biden-spar-desegregation/story?id=64007842\">famously skewered Joe Biden\u003c/a> — then her campaign rival — for his past opposition to federally mandated busing to desegregate public schools. For Harris, she said, the issue was “personal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, Harris \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/07/23/who-is-real-kamala-harris-her-sister-maya-knows-answer/?utm_term=.375222da13c3\">rode the “red rooster”\u003c/a> from Berkeley’s working-class flatlands to Thousand Oaks Elementary School at the base of the affluent north Berkeley hills. This was 1969, just one year after Berkeley Unified \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/10/16/a-radical-decision-an-unfinished-legacy\">introduced\u003c/a> its “two-way” busing program across its elementary schools. Berkeley being Berkeley, unlike local integration plans across the country, the city had undertaken this one on its own accord.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901143\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11901143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kamala Harris as a young girl.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1753\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-800x548.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-1020x698.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-1536x1052.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-2048x1402.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-1920x1315.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamala Harris, at age 7, in Berkeley. In her memoir, Harris recalls attending events as a young girl at The Rainbow Sign, including a Nina Simone concert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Kamala Harris/Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After the debate dust-up, Harris clarified that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/harris-says-busing-should-be-considered-by-school-districts-not-federally-mandated\">does not support federally mandated busing\u003c/a>, a policy stance not so dissimilar from the one she needled Biden over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traversing back and forth between different strata of society — black, white and Asian; well-off and working-class — is a familiar trope in Harris’ biography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t a homogenous life,” said Debbie Mesloh, a friend who has also worked for Harris as a communication director and a consultant. “She’s a very resourceful person in that she can move in between these worlds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris spent her teenage years in Montreal, moving there with her sister and mother when Gopalan accepted a university research position there. She earned a political science and economics degree at Howard University in Washington D.C. but returned to California to get her law degree in 1989 at the University of California, Hastings in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until her most recent move to Washington, she called California home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh out of law school, she joined the Alameda County district attorney’s office in 1990, serving there for eight years before crossing the bay to San Francisco. In 2003, she unexpectedly won the election as San Francisco district attorney, where she served two terms before her narrow election as state attorney general in 2010. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. The influence of king/queen-maker Willie Brown\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Former state Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has helped accelerate many a successful political career in California (including that of Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/gavin-newsom/\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>). Harris got a boost from Brown, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March 1994, San Francisco Chronicle’s legendary columnist Herb Caen described the scene at Brown’s surprise 60th birthday party. Clint Eastwood was there, wrote Caen, and he “spilled champagne on the Speaker’s new steady, Kamala Harris.” Brown had a reputation for dating much younger women. In his column, Caen described Harris, then a deputy district attorney of Alameda County, as “something new in Willie’s love life. She’s a woman, not a girl.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The relationship ended after two years, but her connection to Brown, three decades her senior, did have an outsized effect on her career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995841\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1554px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42%E2%80%AFAM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995841\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42%E2%80%AFAM.png\" alt=\"A vintage image of a Black man in a tuxedo and a woman in a black dress.\" width=\"1554\" height=\"870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM.png 1554w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-800x448.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-1020x571.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-1536x860.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1554px) 100vw, 1554px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Willie Brown and Kamala Harris in 1994. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would think it’s fair to say that most of the people in San Francisco met her through Willie,” John Burton, who used to be president pro tem of the state Senate, former chair of the California Democratic Party and a San Francisco political powerhouse in his own right, told \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/08/09/kamala-harris-2020-president-profile-san-francisco-elite-227611\">Politico\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The speaker gave Harris a couple of plum positions on two state regulatory boards — the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission. “If you were asked to be on a board that regulated medical care, would you say no?” Harris told \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfweekly.com/news/kamalas-karma/\">SFWeekly\u003c/a> a few years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ connection to Brown also helped her connect with San Francisco’s high society and California’s political elite. In 1996, a year after Brown became mayor and Harris broke off the relationship, she joined the board of trustees at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Harris ran for San Francisco district attorney nearly a decade later, \u003ca href=\"https://public.netfile.com/Pub2/AllFilingsByFiler.aspx?id=6679828\">her first contribution \u003c/a>came from Elaine McKeon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Elaine-McKeon-key-figure-in-SFMOMA-s-growth-dies-2502350.php\">chair of the museum’s board\u003c/a>. More — much more — poured in from donors with last names like Fisher, Getty, Buell, Haas and other noble houses of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But from the beginning of her political career, Harris has seen her connection with Brown as a liability — a cudgel that opponents \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfweekly.com/news/kamalas-karma/\">can use against her\u003c/a> and, at worst, a tired, sexist trope used to \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/08/01/tomi-lahren-apologizes-after-saying-kamala-harris-slept-her-way-top/?noredirect=on\">question the legitimacy\u003c/a> of her ascendant career. In the first run to be San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris deliberately hired a campaign consultant known for working with clients outside the Brown political machine. During that same campaign, she described her past relationship with the former speaker and mayor as “an albatross hanging around my neck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Brown, he recently told a reporter, regretfully, that he and Harris are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/03/california-willie-brown-reflects-career/\">no longer in touch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. A lack of clarity\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You saw it in the presidential race. You’ve seen it in her \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/14/politics/kamala-harris-border-answer-fallout/index.html\">as vice president\u003c/a>. As the New York Times once\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/us/politics/kamala-harris-2020-election.html?searchResultPosition=6\"> put it\u003c/a>: “The content of her message remains a work in progress.” We saw it before in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While running the California Department of Justice, Harris was often loath to wade into the political battles taking place just a few blocks away in the state Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a bill that would have required her office to investigate police shootings. She did not take a formal position (though she did \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Kamala-Harris-sees-safeguards-in-D-A-s-5972586.php\">tell a reporter\u003c/a> it would be bad policy). The bill died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was the proposal to force police departments to gather data on the ethnicity and race of the civilians they stop. Harris also \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-05/kamala-harris-police-shootings-black-lives-matter\">declined\u003c/a> to take a position. It passed anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And on the biggest criminal justice overhaul in California in a generation, Harris also kept mum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prompted by a judicial decree that the state had to dramatically cut the population of its overcrowded prison system, “realignment” was a package of state policies passed in 2011 that shifted tens of thousands of inmates out of state custody and into county jails or onto the rolls of local probation systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite in many ways reflecting the lessons described in her book “Smart on Crime,” which argued that non-violent criminals can be redirected into less punitive systems without jeopardizing public safety, Harris, the state’s top law enforcement officer, was silent on the policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That earned a rebuke from the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-senate-endorsement-20161006-snap-story.html\">wrote\u003c/a> in its endorsement of her 2016 Senate candidacy that Harris “has been too cautious and unwilling to stake out a position on controversial issues, even when her voice would have been valuable to the debate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What some critics call prevarication or flip-floppery, her supporters call pragmatism. Those are just two ways of describing the same quality, said Corey Cook, a political scientist and provost at St. Mary’s College and a longtime observer of San Francisco politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s not an ideologue,” he said, meaning rather than stake out the boldest, ideologically coherent agenda, she tends to focus on individual fixes to specific problems. Hence, the “\u003ca href=\"http://v/\">3am agenda\u003c/a>” of her presidential campaign, a collection of policy changes designed to address the problems that keep the average voter up at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea that she would have consistent positions on issues informed by ideology isn’t who she is,” Cook said. Harris may appear to pick her battles, he said, because for her, “the only lasting solutions are going to be the ones that are able to sustain a majority coalition of support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. Making a mark: sex crimes, domestic violence, child abuse\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Harris has never shied away from the “tough on crime” label when it comes to a certain class of criminals: domestic violence perpetrators, child abusers and sex traffickers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After nearly a decade in Alameda County and a short stint as a deputy district attorney in San Francisco (she left, calling the leadership there “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Top-S-F-Prosecutor-Quits-D-A-s-Office-2710499.php\">dysfunctional\u003c/a>”), in 2000, Harris joined the San Francisco city attorney’s office under Louise Renne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renne said she was looking for someone to head the office’s Child and Family Service unit, which investigates child abuse cases. This was not considered a prestigious post. Prosecutors inside the unit had taken to calling it “kiddie law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renne thought Harris, who had focused on child abuse and sexual exploitation cases in Alameda County, would be a good fit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That instinct was confirmed on Harris’ first day on the job, Renne said, when a number of children who had been separated from their parents were formally adopted into new families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She comes into my office and says, ‘Come on, Louise, we’ve got to go over to court. There are going to be adoptions today,’ and she had all these teddy bears,” Renne recalled. “She knew the occasion. She knew it was an important one, and it should be celebrated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ focus on the victims of abuse and exploitation continued after she was elected as San Francisco’s District Attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know what the term ‘teenage prostitute’ means. I have never met a ‘teenage prostitute.’ I have met exploited kids,” Mesloh, then Harris’ communications director, recalls her boss saying at her first all-staff meeting. Harris then ordered her prosecutors not to use the term in court. A year later, Harris sponsored a bill putting the crime of human trafficking into the state criminal code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Democrats say Harris’ prior life as a prosecutor with a focus on sex crimes would be a \u003ca href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-kamala-harris-is-the-prosecutor-this-nation-needs\">key advantage\u003c/a> in a potential general election contest against Trump, who has been found \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/09/e-jean-carroll-trump-trial-verdict/\">liable in a civil case for sexual assault\u003c/a> and recently became the first former president to be convicted of a felony. In that case, the 34 counts were related to the falsifying of business records in connection to an alleged sexual encounter with a pornographic film actress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But using the full force of the law to penalize pimps, traffickers and other abusers has earned Harris some criticism from \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/29/first-amendment-limits-backpage-escort-ads-219034\">civil libertarians\u003c/a> and from \u003ca href=\"https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/kamala-harris-sex-workers/\">advocates for sex workers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one of her final acts as California’s attorney general, Harris had the CEO of Backpage.com, Carl Ferrer, arrested on pimping charges. Backpage was an online classifieds site known for its “adult services” section, which prosecutors had long warned served as a marketplace for sex traffickers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The arrest was based on a contentious legal argument that pitted anti-trafficking fervor against the First Amendment. Since Backpage was merely a platform for ads, its lawyers argued that it was protected by the same law that protects Google from being held liable for illicit websites listed in its search results. A superior court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Backpage-Order.pdf\">agreed\u003c/a> and threw out the case, though an amended charge, pursued by Harris’ successor, then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, led Ferrer to \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/13/backpage-ceo-carl-ferrer-pleads-guilty-in-three-states-agrees-to-testify-against-other-website-officials/\">plead guilty\u003c/a> to money laundering and conspiracy to facilitate prostitution and to the shuttering of the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>5. The Harris mantra: ‘Smart on Crime’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons Harris became known as a rising star District Attorney was her focus on prevention, which she explained in her book, \u003cem>Smart on Crime\u003c/em>, written in 2009, the year before she ran for attorney general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public health practitioners know that the most beneficial use of resources is to prevent an outbreak, not to treat it,” Harris wrote. “Instead of just reacting to a crime every time it is committed, we have to step back and figure out how to disrupt the routes of infection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing a business suit with two flags in the background. \" width=\"1024\" height=\"704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641-160x110.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamala Harris, the district attorney for San Francisco, stands for a portrait in her Hall of Justice office on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Mike Kepka/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Harris’ “Back on Track” program, considered the most successful implementation of this idea, redirected first-time, non-violent drug offenders into supervised education, job training courses, therapy sessions and life skills classes. It was a modest program but a novel one compared to what most other big city law enforcement officers were doing in 2005.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In that time period, I think that she was a radical,” Mesloh said. Cities around the country have since emulated the program. When Harris became attorney general, she launched a similar pilot program for Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ focus on prevention produced some of her key accomplishments as district attorney. However, in the context of the 2020 presidential primary, some of those same accomplishments struck many critics on the left as overly punitive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year after launching Back on Track, Harris introduced an anti-truancy initiative. Based on a statistical correlation that chronic class skippers are more likely to be both perpetrators and victims of homicide, Harris’ office began threatening the parents of persistently absent students with prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris has been quick to point out that the “stick” in this carrot-and-stick approach only came out after a series of escalating interventions, including mandatory meetings with school staff and social workers. No one went to jail under the program, though a handful of parents were fined. Within a few years, city truancy rates fell by a \u003ca href=\"https://sfdistrictattorney.org/sfs-anti-truancy-initiative-goes-statewide\">third\u003c/a> and Harris took credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, her office \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB1317\">sponsored a bill\u003c/a> to take the program statewide. In the hands of other district attorneys, the statute was used in at least a \u003ca href=\"https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/05/11/truancy-crackdown-lands-oc-parents-in-jail/\">handful\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/truancy-case-not-a-first-for-lemoore-mom/article_53291246-075a-11e1-bc7c-001cc4c002e0.html\">of\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://kmph.com/archive/mom-jailed-for-kids-truancy-hanford-mother-sentenced-to-180-days\">cases\u003c/a> to put parents behind bars. Critics have said that the policy has been disproportionately \u003ca href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-harris-truancy-arrests-2020-progressive-prosecutor_n_5c995789e4b0f7bfa1b57d2e\">wielded against poor parents of color\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://crooked.com/podcast/2020-kamala-harris-on-american-identity-and-secret-recipes/\">interview\u003c/a>, Harris said she regretted any “unintended consequences” of the state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>6. Harris has (almost) always opposed capital punishment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Her opposition to the death penalty has been one of the most controversial stands in her career, but it’s also an example for those who criticize her lack of consistency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 10, 2004, three months after her inauguration as San Francisco’s new district attorney, 29-year-old police officer Isaac Espinoza was gunned down by a 21-year-old with an AK-47. Three days later, Harris made good on a campaign promise and vowed not to seek the death penalty for the shooter. David Hill was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision engendered a predictably fierce backlash from the police union and rebukes from politicians. “This is not only the definition of tragedy,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at Espinoza’s funeral, “it’s the special circumstance called for by the death penalty law.” The assembled officers cheered while Harris remained seated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Harris’ critics say she has wavered in tougher political circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, when a \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-death-penalty-appeal-20140821-story.html\">federal court judge ruled\u003c/a> that California’s administration of the death penalty was unconstitutional, Harris appealed the decision as state attorney general, arguing that it was “not supported by the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris later \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article74792387.html\">said\u003c/a> that she was obligated to defend capital punishment as the legal representative of the state. Many have pointed out that she was happy not to defend a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that voters passed in Proposition 8 when it was challenged a year earlier. Harris’ response: She was merely reflecting the position of her client, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/diaz/article/Harris-and-the-death-penalty-years-of-13693075.php?psid=e8d2h\">explained\u003c/a> that the judge’s ruling, which held that the long delays between sentencing and execution in California amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” could be used to justify speeding up the state’s system of capital punishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>7. Prosecutorial overreach controversies\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both as district attorney and as state attorney general, Harris led offices that criminal justice advocates say were overly aggressive in pursuing convictions and lacked transparency in a way that belies Harris’ brand as a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/08/10/kamala-harris-progressive-pioneer-san-francisco-da-column/3334668001/\">progressive prosecutor\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March 2010, just as Harris was campaigning to become California’s attorney general, San Francisco authorities shut down a police department crime lab in the city’s Hunters Point naval yard. A technician named Deborah Madden was accused of skimming drugs, raising broader questions about the lab’s ability to appropriately handle evidence in criminal cases. (Madden later pleaded guilty).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris immediately dismissed 20 drug cases, but the number eventually grew to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Prosecutor-SFPD-ignored-tech-s-unreliability-3267300.php\">over 1,500 \u003c/a>after documents showed that prosecutors within Harris’ office had known about Madden’s potential unreliability months before the lab was closed but had neglected to tell defense attorneys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A superior court judge later \u003ca href=\"https://legalpad.typepad.com/files/massulloorder.pdf\">excoriated\u003c/a> Harris’ office, writing that the violations infringed on the defendants’ constitutional rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterward, Harris formed a unit to handle the sharing of evidence with criminal defense attorneys. She has also said that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/crime-lab-scandal-rocked-kamala-harriss-term-as-san-francisco-district-attorney/2019/03/06/825df094-392b-11e9-a06c-3ec8ed509d15_story.html\">did not know\u003c/a> about the problems at the crime lab until after the scandal blew up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that hasn’t done much to assuage the concerns of critics who say Harris \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html\">tended prosecutorial overreach\u003c/a>, which continued once Harris became the state’s attorney general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11836111\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11836111\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing a business suit gestures with her hands while standing at a podium. Two men are behind her.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1836\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-800x574.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-1020x732.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-1536x1102.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-2048x1469.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-1920x1377.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks at a news conference on May 17, 2013, in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2015, for example, lawyers for an inmate convicted of murder attempted to have the case thrown out after new evidence suggested that Riverside County prosecutors lied on the stand during the initial trial. Harris’ office, representing the state prison system, resisted, only backing down after footage of one of her \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/2sCUrhgXjH4?t=962\">deputies being eviscerated\u003c/a> by three federal judges went viral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for her since-abandoned presidential campaign said Harris ordered her office to drop the challenge as soon as “she became aware” of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics point to other examples. There was her office’s decision to \u003ca href=\"https://observer.com/2015/03/california-prosecutor-falsifies-transcript-of-confession/\">defend\u003c/a> a molestation conviction that local prosecutors had secured with a false confession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about that case, the spokesperson said that it was “long-standing practice” for prosecutors within the Californian Department of Justice to file legal motions without the express approval of the Attorney General, implying that, again, Harris was not aware that her office was making the argument. But in this case, the spokesperson added, state prosecutors believed “the original case…was valid and that the victim in the case deserved justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another example: her office’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/kamala-harris-progressive-prosecutor.html\">refusal\u003c/a> to take over a 2011 Seal Beach mass shooting case after a judge recused the entire Orange County District Attorney’s office for widespread prosecutorial misconduct. Harris \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/kamala-harris-progressive-prosecutor.html\">defended\u003c/a> her decision: “It was being handled at the local level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a track record is to be expected of any prosecutor, said Sally Lieber, who worked with Harris on human trafficking legislation while representing Mountain View in the state Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is an adversarial system, and so she was filling a particular role, but I think that she was able to do it in a very sophisticated, smart and responsive way,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>8. As California’s AG: Playing hardball\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Harris’ biggest accomplishment as California’s attorney general was securing a financial settlement with some of the country’s largest banks accused of illegally foreclosing on homeowners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September 2011, Harris pulled out of ongoing negotiations between attorneys general from nearly every U.S. state and the five banks, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JhiSDgCc-g&feature=youtu.be&t=558\">calling\u003c/a> the proposed deal of $2 billion to $4 billion “crumbs on the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10405137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/01/RS4476_148166024-e1431097814175.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10405137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/01/RS4476_148166024-e1431097814175.jpg\" alt=\"A closeup of a woman with her hand raised.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1335\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attorney General Kamala Harris has won an extension of the state’s deadline to process an initiative that would impose the death penalty for gay sex. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Harris was not the first attorney general to walk away, but the departure of the country’s largest state seemed to have its intended effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, with California back in the mix, a new deal was struck. This time, California got $20.2 billion in debt reductions and direct financial assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, some consumer groups and outside experts were critical of the deal, arguing that the banks would have been forced to write off much of that bad debt eventually. “\u003ca href=\"https://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2012/02/the-servicing-settlement-banks-1-public-0.html\">All sizzle, no steak\u003c/a>,” is how Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin put it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Harris’ willingness to play hardball did result in a bigger settlement, said Rob McKenna, former Washington attorney general who was part of the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible for states to overstate the impact they had on the final settlement. The former New York Attorney General (Eric Schneiderman) would sometimes make claims about the settlement and improvements he had obtained,” he said. “But it’s fair to say that Attorney General Harris negotiated and obtained some improvement in the settlement for California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>9. Kamala, the campaigner\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Harris launched her 2020 presidential campaign high on fanfare and hype, only to \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2019/12/03/kamala-harris-drops-out-of-presidential-race-1230369\">flame out less than a year later\u003c/a> before even making it to Iowa. It was a historically stark underperformance from a candidate that many Democratic insiders believed would be a formidable contender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, Harris’ electoral track record has been mixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first spin on the campaign trail was a superlative success. In her 2003 race for San Francisco District Attorney, she pushed out a two-term incumbent and won more votes than any other candidate running for a city-wide office that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ first run for statewide office didn’t go quite smoothly. Her race for Attorney General against Republican Steve Cooley wasn’t called until \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-nov-25-la-me-cooley-20101125-story.html\">weeks after Election Day\u003c/a>. Yes, Harris won. But she did so by less than a percentage point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, after 18 years in which not a single Republican has won statewide office in California, it’s easy to look back at that nail-biter of an election and see an early sign of Harris’ weakness as a candidate. But at the time, the calculus was a little different. Cooley, a relative moderate, was considered the favorite to win against Harris, a San Francisco liberal. This was 2010, which proved to be a historic landslide election for the GOP. The fact that Harris eked it out despite those headwinds, and as the first woman and person of color to hold that office no less, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2010/12/kamala-harris-democrats-anti-palin-046783\">cemented her status as a rising star\u003c/a> in the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995814\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995814\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman wearing face masks walk outside.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"929\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490-800x726.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490-1020x925.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490-160x145.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, met with Gov. Gavin Newsom and CalFire officials to review the devastation of the Creek fire in Pineridge on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. \u003ccite>(Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Also rising was Gavin Newsom. The two were San Francisco friends who ran in the same social circles even before their political careers ignited. They share the same political consultants. And when the two most prestigious California elective offices opened up — for governor and U.S. senator — they sidestepped a ballot rivalry when she successfully ran for the Senate, as did he for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-newsom-i-m-not-convinced-we-ve-learned-the-lessons-from-covid-192566853729\">said\u003c/a> — and recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-12/as-kamala-harris-rises-gavin-newsoms-short-term-presidential-prospects-fall\">reiterated\u003c/a> — that he would not challenge Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination should Biden withdraw. Although \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/07/gavin-newsom-for-president-assets-liabilities/\">Newsom’s name frequently appears\u003c/a> on lists of hypothetical Biden replacements, she is already on the ticket and is seen by many as the heir-apparent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regardless, both are publicly saying now, again and again, that they are backing Biden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story incorporates prior reporting and interviews from CalMatters’ 2020 election coverage.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Is she on track to be the first Democratic president from California? Here are nine ways that California shaped Kamala Harris and that Harris has shaped California.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721421898,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":97,"wordCount":4564},"headData":{"title":"A California Story: Kamala Harris' Road to the White House | KQED","description":"Is she on track to be the first Democratic president from California? Here are nine ways that California shaped Kamala Harris and that Harris has shaped California.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"A California Story: Kamala Harris' Road to the White House","datePublished":"2024-07-16T12:00:58-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-19T13:44:58-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"WpOldSlug":"a-california-story-kamala-harris-and-her-road-to-the-white-house","nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/ben-christopher/\">Ben Christopher\u003c/a>, CalMatters ","nprStoryId":"kqed-11995538","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11995538/a-california-story-kamala-harris-road-to-the-white-house","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Whether President Joe Biden bows to the growing chorus of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/more-democrats-call-biden-step-down-2024-race-press-conference-rcna161486\">elected Democrats\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/11/poll-biden-drop-out-election/\">Democratic voters\u003c/a> calling for him to exit the 2024 race or continues to seek a second term as a visibly frail 81-year-old, suddenly everyone is taking another good hard look at \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/kamala-harris/\">Kamala Harris\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vice presidents rarely get much attention. What attention Harris has gotten on the job hasn’t been particularly positive. Counter to the reputation she cultivated early on in the campaign trail as a pragmatic politician and sharp-minded prosecutor, public opinion on Harris soured in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/projects/kamala-harris-approval-rating-polls-vs-biden-other-vps/#:~:text=A%20California%20native%2C%20Harris%20is,according%20to%20a%20Times%20average.\">summer of 2021\u003c/a> and has mostly stayed sour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was partly thanks to the White House saddling her with a series of \u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/06/harris-biden-immigration-voting-rights.html\">unenviable and intractable tasks\u003c/a>. Beyond that, her role, like that of most vice presidents, has been high on profile but low on actual responsibility. It’s a job perhaps best described by fictional \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/veep-final-episode-review/\">Veep Selina Meyer\u003c/a> as the political equivalent of being “declawed, defanged, neutered, ball-gagged, and sealed in an abandoned coal mine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nor was Harris faring much better with voters in her home state. Last year, 59% of California voters in a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll said they would not welcome her at the top of the ticket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But now that Harris is being considered as the most likely substitute for Biden, more voters seem to be warming to her. A fresh Washington Post poll found that the vast majority of \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/11/poll-biden-drop-out-election/\">Democratic voters nationwide would be “satisfied”\u003c/a> with Harris at the top of the ticket. The same poll found her narrowly beating Trump in a head-to-head election among registered voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the nation is catching itself back up to speed on all things Harris — and that means catching up on a life of accomplishment and controversy here. More than any other vice president in generations, Kamala Harris’ biography is singularly Californian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Oakland, bussed to school in Berkeley, tested by San Francisco’s cutthroat municipal politics and propelled onto the national stage as the state’s top law enforcement officer and then its first female senator of color, Harris’ approach to politics and policymaking were honed here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that voters are reconsidering whether Harris has what it takes to be president of the United States — and as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/donald-trump/\">Donald Trump\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-vice-president-vance-rubio-burgum-rnc-6cc438a8370a21b2631f5a53b06b71d0\">JD Vance\u003c/a> train their \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/republicans-turn-focus-harris-talk-replacing-biden-democratic-111705713\">oppo-machine \u003c/a>upon her — we’re resurrecting this look at her California years and career. Here are nine ways that California shaped Kamala Harris and that Harris shaped California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. A child of Berkeley\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In a state full of transplants, Harris is a lifelong Californian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was born in 1964 in Oakland — the hospital a little over a mile from the city hall where, more than half a century later, she would announce her short-lived 2020 bid for the presidency. She spent her childhood in Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement, born to immigrant parents who met while getting their PhDs and protesting for civil rights at UC Berkeley. Harris’ father, Donald Harris, is from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, is from India. The couple split when Harris was 7, and Harris and her sister Maya were raised mostly by her mother, who died in 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first Democratic presidential debate in 2019, Harris \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/girl-senator-harris-vice-president-biden-spar-desegregation/story?id=64007842\">famously skewered Joe Biden\u003c/a> — then her campaign rival — for his past opposition to federally mandated busing to desegregate public schools. For Harris, she said, the issue was “personal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, Harris \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/07/23/who-is-real-kamala-harris-her-sister-maya-knows-answer/?utm_term=.375222da13c3\">rode the “red rooster”\u003c/a> from Berkeley’s working-class flatlands to Thousand Oaks Elementary School at the base of the affluent north Berkeley hills. This was 1969, just one year after Berkeley Unified \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.com/2018/10/16/a-radical-decision-an-unfinished-legacy\">introduced\u003c/a> its “two-way” busing program across its elementary schools. Berkeley being Berkeley, unlike local integration plans across the country, the city had undertaken this one on its own accord.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901143\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11901143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kamala Harris as a young girl.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1753\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-800x548.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-1020x698.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-1536x1052.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-2048x1402.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/Art.16-1920x1315.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamala Harris, at age 7, in Berkeley. In her memoir, Harris recalls attending events as a young girl at The Rainbow Sign, including a Nina Simone concert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Kamala Harris/Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After the debate dust-up, Harris clarified that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/harris-says-busing-should-be-considered-by-school-districts-not-federally-mandated\">does not support federally mandated busing\u003c/a>, a policy stance not so dissimilar from the one she needled Biden over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traversing back and forth between different strata of society — black, white and Asian; well-off and working-class — is a familiar trope in Harris’ biography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t a homogenous life,” said Debbie Mesloh, a friend who has also worked for Harris as a communication director and a consultant. “She’s a very resourceful person in that she can move in between these worlds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris spent her teenage years in Montreal, moving there with her sister and mother when Gopalan accepted a university research position there. She earned a political science and economics degree at Howard University in Washington D.C. but returned to California to get her law degree in 1989 at the University of California, Hastings in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until her most recent move to Washington, she called California home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fresh out of law school, she joined the Alameda County district attorney’s office in 1990, serving there for eight years before crossing the bay to San Francisco. In 2003, she unexpectedly won the election as San Francisco district attorney, where she served two terms before her narrow election as state attorney general in 2010. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. The influence of king/queen-maker Willie Brown\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Former state Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has helped accelerate many a successful political career in California (including that of Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/gavin-newsom/\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>). Harris got a boost from Brown, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March 1994, San Francisco Chronicle’s legendary columnist Herb Caen described the scene at Brown’s surprise 60th birthday party. Clint Eastwood was there, wrote Caen, and he “spilled champagne on the Speaker’s new steady, Kamala Harris.” Brown had a reputation for dating much younger women. In his column, Caen described Harris, then a deputy district attorney of Alameda County, as “something new in Willie’s love life. She’s a woman, not a girl.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The relationship ended after two years, but her connection to Brown, three decades her senior, did have an outsized effect on her career.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995841\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1554px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42%E2%80%AFAM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995841\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42%E2%80%AFAM.png\" alt=\"A vintage image of a Black man in a tuxedo and a woman in a black dress.\" width=\"1554\" height=\"870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM.png 1554w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-800x448.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-1020x571.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-160x90.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-16-at-10.18.42 AM-1536x860.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1554px) 100vw, 1554px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Willie Brown and Kamala Harris in 1994. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would think it’s fair to say that most of the people in San Francisco met her through Willie,” John Burton, who used to be president pro tem of the state Senate, former chair of the California Democratic Party and a San Francisco political powerhouse in his own right, told \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/08/09/kamala-harris-2020-president-profile-san-francisco-elite-227611\">Politico\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The speaker gave Harris a couple of plum positions on two state regulatory boards — the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission. “If you were asked to be on a board that regulated medical care, would you say no?” Harris told \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfweekly.com/news/kamalas-karma/\">SFWeekly\u003c/a> a few years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ connection to Brown also helped her connect with San Francisco’s high society and California’s political elite. In 1996, a year after Brown became mayor and Harris broke off the relationship, she joined the board of trustees at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Harris ran for San Francisco district attorney nearly a decade later, \u003ca href=\"https://public.netfile.com/Pub2/AllFilingsByFiler.aspx?id=6679828\">her first contribution \u003c/a>came from Elaine McKeon, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Elaine-McKeon-key-figure-in-SFMOMA-s-growth-dies-2502350.php\">chair of the museum’s board\u003c/a>. More — much more — poured in from donors with last names like Fisher, Getty, Buell, Haas and other noble houses of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But from the beginning of her political career, Harris has seen her connection with Brown as a liability — a cudgel that opponents \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfweekly.com/news/kamalas-karma/\">can use against her\u003c/a> and, at worst, a tired, sexist trope used to \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/08/01/tomi-lahren-apologizes-after-saying-kamala-harris-slept-her-way-top/?noredirect=on\">question the legitimacy\u003c/a> of her ascendant career. In the first run to be San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris deliberately hired a campaign consultant known for working with clients outside the Brown political machine. During that same campaign, she described her past relationship with the former speaker and mayor as “an albatross hanging around my neck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Brown, he recently told a reporter, regretfully, that he and Harris are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/03/california-willie-brown-reflects-career/\">no longer in touch\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. A lack of clarity\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You saw it in the presidential race. You’ve seen it in her \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/14/politics/kamala-harris-border-answer-fallout/index.html\">as vice president\u003c/a>. As the New York Times once\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/us/politics/kamala-harris-2020-election.html?searchResultPosition=6\"> put it\u003c/a>: “The content of her message remains a work in progress.” We saw it before in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While running the California Department of Justice, Harris was often loath to wade into the political battles taking place just a few blocks away in the state Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a bill that would have required her office to investigate police shootings. She did not take a formal position (though she did \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Kamala-Harris-sees-safeguards-in-D-A-s-5972586.php\">tell a reporter\u003c/a> it would be bad policy). The bill died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was the proposal to force police departments to gather data on the ethnicity and race of the civilians they stop. Harris also \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-05/kamala-harris-police-shootings-black-lives-matter\">declined\u003c/a> to take a position. It passed anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And on the biggest criminal justice overhaul in California in a generation, Harris also kept mum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prompted by a judicial decree that the state had to dramatically cut the population of its overcrowded prison system, “realignment” was a package of state policies passed in 2011 that shifted tens of thousands of inmates out of state custody and into county jails or onto the rolls of local probation systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite in many ways reflecting the lessons described in her book “Smart on Crime,” which argued that non-violent criminals can be redirected into less punitive systems without jeopardizing public safety, Harris, the state’s top law enforcement officer, was silent on the policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That earned a rebuke from the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-senate-endorsement-20161006-snap-story.html\">wrote\u003c/a> in its endorsement of her 2016 Senate candidacy that Harris “has been too cautious and unwilling to stake out a position on controversial issues, even when her voice would have been valuable to the debate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What some critics call prevarication or flip-floppery, her supporters call pragmatism. Those are just two ways of describing the same quality, said Corey Cook, a political scientist and provost at St. Mary’s College and a longtime observer of San Francisco politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s not an ideologue,” he said, meaning rather than stake out the boldest, ideologically coherent agenda, she tends to focus on individual fixes to specific problems. Hence, the “\u003ca href=\"http://v/\">3am agenda\u003c/a>” of her presidential campaign, a collection of policy changes designed to address the problems that keep the average voter up at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea that she would have consistent positions on issues informed by ideology isn’t who she is,” Cook said. Harris may appear to pick her battles, he said, because for her, “the only lasting solutions are going to be the ones that are able to sustain a majority coalition of support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. Making a mark: sex crimes, domestic violence, child abuse\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Harris has never shied away from the “tough on crime” label when it comes to a certain class of criminals: domestic violence perpetrators, child abusers and sex traffickers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After nearly a decade in Alameda County and a short stint as a deputy district attorney in San Francisco (she left, calling the leadership there “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Top-S-F-Prosecutor-Quits-D-A-s-Office-2710499.php\">dysfunctional\u003c/a>”), in 2000, Harris joined the San Francisco city attorney’s office under Louise Renne.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renne said she was looking for someone to head the office’s Child and Family Service unit, which investigates child abuse cases. This was not considered a prestigious post. Prosecutors inside the unit had taken to calling it “kiddie law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renne thought Harris, who had focused on child abuse and sexual exploitation cases in Alameda County, would be a good fit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That instinct was confirmed on Harris’ first day on the job, Renne said, when a number of children who had been separated from their parents were formally adopted into new families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She comes into my office and says, ‘Come on, Louise, we’ve got to go over to court. There are going to be adoptions today,’ and she had all these teddy bears,” Renne recalled. “She knew the occasion. She knew it was an important one, and it should be celebrated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ focus on the victims of abuse and exploitation continued after she was elected as San Francisco’s District Attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know what the term ‘teenage prostitute’ means. I have never met a ‘teenage prostitute.’ I have met exploited kids,” Mesloh, then Harris’ communications director, recalls her boss saying at her first all-staff meeting. Harris then ordered her prosecutors not to use the term in court. A year later, Harris sponsored a bill putting the crime of human trafficking into the state criminal code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Democrats say Harris’ prior life as a prosecutor with a focus on sex crimes would be a \u003ca href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-kamala-harris-is-the-prosecutor-this-nation-needs\">key advantage\u003c/a> in a potential general election contest against Trump, who has been found \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/09/e-jean-carroll-trump-trial-verdict/\">liable in a civil case for sexual assault\u003c/a> and recently became the first former president to be convicted of a felony. In that case, the 34 counts were related to the falsifying of business records in connection to an alleged sexual encounter with a pornographic film actress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But using the full force of the law to penalize pimps, traffickers and other abusers has earned Harris some criticism from \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/29/first-amendment-limits-backpage-escort-ads-219034\">civil libertarians\u003c/a> and from \u003ca href=\"https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/kamala-harris-sex-workers/\">advocates for sex workers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one of her final acts as California’s attorney general, Harris had the CEO of Backpage.com, Carl Ferrer, arrested on pimping charges. Backpage was an online classifieds site known for its “adult services” section, which prosecutors had long warned served as a marketplace for sex traffickers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The arrest was based on a contentious legal argument that pitted anti-trafficking fervor against the First Amendment. Since Backpage was merely a platform for ads, its lawyers argued that it was protected by the same law that protects Google from being held liable for illicit websites listed in its search results. A superior court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Backpage-Order.pdf\">agreed\u003c/a> and threw out the case, though an amended charge, pursued by Harris’ successor, then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, led Ferrer to \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2018/04/13/backpage-ceo-carl-ferrer-pleads-guilty-in-three-states-agrees-to-testify-against-other-website-officials/\">plead guilty\u003c/a> to money laundering and conspiracy to facilitate prostitution and to the shuttering of the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>5. The Harris mantra: ‘Smart on Crime’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons Harris became known as a rising star District Attorney was her focus on prevention, which she explained in her book, \u003cem>Smart on Crime\u003c/em>, written in 2009, the year before she ran for attorney general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public health practitioners know that the most beneficial use of resources is to prevent an outbreak, not to treat it,” Harris wrote. “Instead of just reacting to a crime every time it is committed, we have to step back and figure out how to disrupt the routes of infection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing a business suit with two flags in the background. \" width=\"1024\" height=\"704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1206642641-160x110.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamala Harris, the district attorney for San Francisco, stands for a portrait in her Hall of Justice office on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Mike Kepka/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Harris’ “Back on Track” program, considered the most successful implementation of this idea, redirected first-time, non-violent drug offenders into supervised education, job training courses, therapy sessions and life skills classes. It was a modest program but a novel one compared to what most other big city law enforcement officers were doing in 2005.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In that time period, I think that she was a radical,” Mesloh said. Cities around the country have since emulated the program. When Harris became attorney general, she launched a similar pilot program for Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ focus on prevention produced some of her key accomplishments as district attorney. However, in the context of the 2020 presidential primary, some of those same accomplishments struck many critics on the left as overly punitive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year after launching Back on Track, Harris introduced an anti-truancy initiative. Based on a statistical correlation that chronic class skippers are more likely to be both perpetrators and victims of homicide, Harris’ office began threatening the parents of persistently absent students with prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris has been quick to point out that the “stick” in this carrot-and-stick approach only came out after a series of escalating interventions, including mandatory meetings with school staff and social workers. No one went to jail under the program, though a handful of parents were fined. Within a few years, city truancy rates fell by a \u003ca href=\"https://sfdistrictattorney.org/sfs-anti-truancy-initiative-goes-statewide\">third\u003c/a> and Harris took credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, her office \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB1317\">sponsored a bill\u003c/a> to take the program statewide. In the hands of other district attorneys, the statute was used in at least a \u003ca href=\"https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/05/11/truancy-crackdown-lands-oc-parents-in-jail/\">handful\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/truancy-case-not-a-first-for-lemoore-mom/article_53291246-075a-11e1-bc7c-001cc4c002e0.html\">of\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://kmph.com/archive/mom-jailed-for-kids-truancy-hanford-mother-sentenced-to-180-days\">cases\u003c/a> to put parents behind bars. Critics have said that the policy has been disproportionately \u003ca href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-harris-truancy-arrests-2020-progressive-prosecutor_n_5c995789e4b0f7bfa1b57d2e\">wielded against poor parents of color\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://crooked.com/podcast/2020-kamala-harris-on-american-identity-and-secret-recipes/\">interview\u003c/a>, Harris said she regretted any “unintended consequences” of the state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>6. Harris has (almost) always opposed capital punishment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Her opposition to the death penalty has been one of the most controversial stands in her career, but it’s also an example for those who criticize her lack of consistency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 10, 2004, three months after her inauguration as San Francisco’s new district attorney, 29-year-old police officer Isaac Espinoza was gunned down by a 21-year-old with an AK-47. Three days later, Harris made good on a campaign promise and vowed not to seek the death penalty for the shooter. David Hill was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision engendered a predictably fierce backlash from the police union and rebukes from politicians. “This is not only the definition of tragedy,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at Espinoza’s funeral, “it’s the special circumstance called for by the death penalty law.” The assembled officers cheered while Harris remained seated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Harris’ critics say she has wavered in tougher political circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, when a \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-death-penalty-appeal-20140821-story.html\">federal court judge ruled\u003c/a> that California’s administration of the death penalty was unconstitutional, Harris appealed the decision as state attorney general, arguing that it was “not supported by the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris later \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article74792387.html\">said\u003c/a> that she was obligated to defend capital punishment as the legal representative of the state. Many have pointed out that she was happy not to defend a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that voters passed in Proposition 8 when it was challenged a year earlier. Harris’ response: She was merely reflecting the position of her client, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/diaz/article/Harris-and-the-death-penalty-years-of-13693075.php?psid=e8d2h\">explained\u003c/a> that the judge’s ruling, which held that the long delays between sentencing and execution in California amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” could be used to justify speeding up the state’s system of capital punishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>7. Prosecutorial overreach controversies\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both as district attorney and as state attorney general, Harris led offices that criminal justice advocates say were overly aggressive in pursuing convictions and lacked transparency in a way that belies Harris’ brand as a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/08/10/kamala-harris-progressive-pioneer-san-francisco-da-column/3334668001/\">progressive prosecutor\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March 2010, just as Harris was campaigning to become California’s attorney general, San Francisco authorities shut down a police department crime lab in the city’s Hunters Point naval yard. A technician named Deborah Madden was accused of skimming drugs, raising broader questions about the lab’s ability to appropriately handle evidence in criminal cases. (Madden later pleaded guilty).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris immediately dismissed 20 drug cases, but the number eventually grew to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Prosecutor-SFPD-ignored-tech-s-unreliability-3267300.php\">over 1,500 \u003c/a>after documents showed that prosecutors within Harris’ office had known about Madden’s potential unreliability months before the lab was closed but had neglected to tell defense attorneys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A superior court judge later \u003ca href=\"https://legalpad.typepad.com/files/massulloorder.pdf\">excoriated\u003c/a> Harris’ office, writing that the violations infringed on the defendants’ constitutional rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterward, Harris formed a unit to handle the sharing of evidence with criminal defense attorneys. She has also said that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/crime-lab-scandal-rocked-kamala-harriss-term-as-san-francisco-district-attorney/2019/03/06/825df094-392b-11e9-a06c-3ec8ed509d15_story.html\">did not know\u003c/a> about the problems at the crime lab until after the scandal blew up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that hasn’t done much to assuage the concerns of critics who say Harris \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html\">tended prosecutorial overreach\u003c/a>, which continued once Harris became the state’s attorney general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11836111\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11836111\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman wearing a business suit gestures with her hands while standing at a podium. Two men are behind her.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1836\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-800x574.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-1020x732.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-1536x1102.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-2048x1469.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/GettyImages-168960200-1920x1377.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks at a news conference on May 17, 2013, in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2015, for example, lawyers for an inmate convicted of murder attempted to have the case thrown out after new evidence suggested that Riverside County prosecutors lied on the stand during the initial trial. Harris’ office, representing the state prison system, resisted, only backing down after footage of one of her \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/2sCUrhgXjH4?t=962\">deputies being eviscerated\u003c/a> by three federal judges went viral.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for her since-abandoned presidential campaign said Harris ordered her office to drop the challenge as soon as “she became aware” of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics point to other examples. There was her office’s decision to \u003ca href=\"https://observer.com/2015/03/california-prosecutor-falsifies-transcript-of-confession/\">defend\u003c/a> a molestation conviction that local prosecutors had secured with a false confession.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about that case, the spokesperson said that it was “long-standing practice” for prosecutors within the Californian Department of Justice to file legal motions without the express approval of the Attorney General, implying that, again, Harris was not aware that her office was making the argument. But in this case, the spokesperson added, state prosecutors believed “the original case…was valid and that the victim in the case deserved justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another example: her office’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/kamala-harris-progressive-prosecutor.html\">refusal\u003c/a> to take over a 2011 Seal Beach mass shooting case after a judge recused the entire Orange County District Attorney’s office for widespread prosecutorial misconduct. Harris \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/kamala-harris-progressive-prosecutor.html\">defended\u003c/a> her decision: “It was being handled at the local level.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a track record is to be expected of any prosecutor, said Sally Lieber, who worked with Harris on human trafficking legislation while representing Mountain View in the state Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is an adversarial system, and so she was filling a particular role, but I think that she was able to do it in a very sophisticated, smart and responsive way,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>8. As California’s AG: Playing hardball\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Harris’ biggest accomplishment as California’s attorney general was securing a financial settlement with some of the country’s largest banks accused of illegally foreclosing on homeowners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September 2011, Harris pulled out of ongoing negotiations between attorneys general from nearly every U.S. state and the five banks, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JhiSDgCc-g&feature=youtu.be&t=558\">calling\u003c/a> the proposed deal of $2 billion to $4 billion “crumbs on the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10405137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/01/RS4476_148166024-e1431097814175.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10405137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/01/RS4476_148166024-e1431097814175.jpg\" alt=\"A closeup of a woman with her hand raised.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1335\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attorney General Kamala Harris has won an extension of the state’s deadline to process an initiative that would impose the death penalty for gay sex. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Harris was not the first attorney general to walk away, but the departure of the country’s largest state seemed to have its intended effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, with California back in the mix, a new deal was struck. This time, California got $20.2 billion in debt reductions and direct financial assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, some consumer groups and outside experts were critical of the deal, arguing that the banks would have been forced to write off much of that bad debt eventually. “\u003ca href=\"https://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2012/02/the-servicing-settlement-banks-1-public-0.html\">All sizzle, no steak\u003c/a>,” is how Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin put it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Harris’ willingness to play hardball did result in a bigger settlement, said Rob McKenna, former Washington attorney general who was part of the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible for states to overstate the impact they had on the final settlement. The former New York Attorney General (Eric Schneiderman) would sometimes make claims about the settlement and improvements he had obtained,” he said. “But it’s fair to say that Attorney General Harris negotiated and obtained some improvement in the settlement for California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>9. Kamala, the campaigner\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Harris launched her 2020 presidential campaign high on fanfare and hype, only to \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2019/12/03/kamala-harris-drops-out-of-presidential-race-1230369\">flame out less than a year later\u003c/a> before even making it to Iowa. It was a historically stark underperformance from a candidate that many Democratic insiders believed would be a formidable contender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, Harris’ electoral track record has been mixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first spin on the campaign trail was a superlative success. In her 2003 race for San Francisco District Attorney, she pushed out a two-term incumbent and won more votes than any other candidate running for a city-wide office that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris’ first run for statewide office didn’t go quite smoothly. Her race for Attorney General against Republican Steve Cooley wasn’t called until \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-nov-25-la-me-cooley-20101125-story.html\">weeks after Election Day\u003c/a>. Yes, Harris won. But she did so by less than a percentage point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, after 18 years in which not a single Republican has won statewide office in California, it’s easy to look back at that nail-biter of an election and see an early sign of Harris’ weakness as a candidate. But at the time, the calculus was a little different. Cooley, a relative moderate, was considered the favorite to win against Harris, a San Francisco liberal. This was 2010, which proved to be a historic landslide election for the GOP. The fact that Harris eked it out despite those headwinds, and as the first woman and person of color to hold that office no less, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2010/12/kamala-harris-democrats-anti-palin-046783\">cemented her status as a rising star\u003c/a> in the Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11995814\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11995814\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman wearing face masks walk outside.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"929\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490-800x726.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490-1020x925.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1272701490-160x145.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, met with Gov. Gavin Newsom and CalFire officials to review the devastation of the Creek fire in Pineridge on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. \u003ccite>(Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Also rising was Gavin Newsom. The two were San Francisco friends who ran in the same social circles even before their political careers ignited. They share the same political consultants. And when the two most prestigious California elective offices opened up — for governor and U.S. senator — they sidestepped a ballot rivalry when she successfully ran for the Senate, as did he for governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-newsom-i-m-not-convinced-we-ve-learned-the-lessons-from-covid-192566853729\">said\u003c/a> — and recently \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-12/as-kamala-harris-rises-gavin-newsoms-short-term-presidential-prospects-fall\">reiterated\u003c/a> — that he would not challenge Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination should Biden withdraw. Although \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/07/gavin-newsom-for-president-assets-liabilities/\">Newsom’s name frequently appears\u003c/a> on lists of hypothetical Biden replacements, she is already on the ticket and is seen by many as the heir-apparent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regardless, both are publicly saying now, again and again, that they are backing Biden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story incorporates prior reporting and interviews from CalMatters’ 2020 election coverage.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11995538/a-california-story-kamala-harris-road-to-the-white-house","authors":["byline_news_11995538"],"categories":["news_8","news_13"],"tags":["news_129","news_20251","news_61","news_559","news_28194"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11995815","label":"news_18481"},"news_11994015":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11994015","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11994015","score":null,"sort":[1721070058000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"is-a-california-prison-union-losing-ground-in-the-face-of-changing-prison-dynamics","title":"Is a California Prison Union Losing Ground in the Face of Changing Prison Dynamics?","publishDate":1721070058,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Is a California Prison Union Losing Ground in the Face of Changing Prison Dynamics? | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>A year after he took the top job in 2019, the president of one of California’s largest and most powerful unions \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article246020620.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said in a newsletter\u003c/a> that he wanted to be “the 800-pound gorilla” in Sacramento politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the union known as CCPOA representing 26,000 state prison guards, has spent and spent in a way it never did before. Its biggest recipient is Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/gavin-newsom/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>, who has taken $2.9 million from the union since he was elected governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s 31% of all political spending by the union since 2001.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union, under \u003ca href=\"http://www.ccpoa.org/\">President Glen Stailey,\u003c/a> gave $1.75 million to Newsom’s anti-recall campaign in 2021 — the largest single contribution to that effort — and another $1 million to support Proposition 1, Newsom’s treatment and housing plan for people experiencing serious mental illness, which \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/03/election-result-proposition-1/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed by the narrowest of margins this year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a noted contrast to the union’s relationship with the three governors who preceded Newsom, especially former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Prison-guards-union-chief-in-leadership-fight-3195334.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">who fought the union’s proposed raises \u003c/a>and was the target of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailynews.com/2008/10/17/guards-give-up-effort-to-recall-gov-arnold-schwarzenegger/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aborted recall campaign\u003c/a> launched by the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.datawrapper.de/_/r3OSp/\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prior to the Newsom administration, the prison union’s biggest political expense came in 2005, when it joined other labor organizations in fighting a package of ballot measures sponsored by Schwarzenegger that would have curbed state spending and weakened public employee unions. The unions won, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-nov-09-me-election9-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dealing Schwarzenegger a major defeat\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campaign finance records show the union largely stayed out of political fights during former Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration. It avoided the ballot measures that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975692/prop-47s-impact-on-californias-criminal-justice-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lowered criminal sentences\u003c/a> for nonviolent crimes and gave inmates \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11081078/gov-brown-sees-prop-57-as-key-to-ending-court-prison-oversight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more opportunities for parole\u003c/a> — propositions that voters passed and that contributed to declining headcounts in state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Newsom took office, and the union’s pocketbook opened wide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two ways to look at that spending, according to interviews with legislators, labor leaders, former prison officials and budget watchdogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one, it’s a naked display of power: one of the richest unions in a labor-friendly state reminding its top politicians that it can spend with them — or against them. That’s primarily the view from outside the Capitol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the other view, from inside the Capitol, it’s a reflection of the union’s anxiety in the face of waning influence as California’s future almost certainly includes fewer prisons and fewer union-represented prison guards to staff them. The numbers don’t lie: \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/realignment-incarceration-and-crime-trends-in-california/#:~:text=In%20September%202011%2C%20the%20month,355%20inmates%20per%20100%2C000%20residents).\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">California is housing 70,000 fewer inmates\u003c/a> in state prisons than it did in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the outset of his first term, Newsom floated the idea of closing a single-state prison. He’s since closed three and canceled a contract on another private prison, collectively saving hundreds of millions of dollars. However, facing a budget deficit and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/174/2024/01/Fall-2023-Population-Projections-Publication.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">4,000 fewer inmates\u003c/a> projected to be in prison by the end of his term in 2026, Newsom demurred this year from shutting down another institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a year of budget scarcity, when \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2024/01/california-prison-cost-per-inmate/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">each inmate costs about $132,000\u003c/a> to house annually and the Legislative Analyst’s Office has said the state has space to close five more prisons, Newsom has been stubborn about keeping prisons open. He has said he wants to keep some additional capacity in the system and that he wants to build up \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/17/san-quentin-transformation/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rehabilitative programs\u003c/a> that can help inmates reintegrate into society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom, in a written statement said that the governor has tried to balance potential budget savings with public safety needs inside prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Saving taxpayers billions of dollars without impacting public safety, Gov. Newsom has closed more prisons than any of his predecessors,” he wrote. “The governor’s decisions have been based exclusively on meeting the evolving needs of our criminal justice system in a manner that maximizes public safety and the judicious use of taxpayer dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nathan Ballard, an adviser to the union and a longtime Newsom ally, said in written responses to questions from CalMatters that the union and the governor had “respectful and substantive” discussions about potential prison closures this budget cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Union leaders clearly aired their views and listened very carefully to the administration’s priorities,” Ballard said. “The governor made it known that he valued the union’s input. Ultimately, Gov. Newsom’s process is his own, and it would be irresponsible to speculate about how he arrives at any particular decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The millions of dollars the union shoveled into Newsom’s most significant projects were a reflection of the union’s priorities, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the union and the governor are in alignment policy-wise, as they were during Proposition 1, the CCPOA does not hesitate to fight hard for the governor’s initiatives,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even while grappling with policy areas where they are less aligned, there is a strong commitment to finding areas of agreement and progress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>CCPOA’s big contracts in Newsom years\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spending lots of money to support the most powerful executive in the state is perhaps not surprising. So what happens to the politicians who cross the prison guard union?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the union wanted to get rid of John Moorlach, a Republican state senator who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article146516764.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">questioning pension benefits\u003c/a> for California public employees, it spent more than $1 million against him in his Orange County race. Then, the flyers started popping up, sponsored by the union, tying the Never Trumper senator to the policies and personal predilections of Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was cartoonish,” said Lance Christensen, Moorloch’s campaign manager in that 2020 race. “You would think that the public safety unions whose job it is to serve and defend and protect Californians would want a guy like John Moorlach, who was law and order and supportive generally of public safety programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11994026\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11994026\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing a business suit sits down with a name marker in front of him with a microphone.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-800x520.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-1020x663.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-1536x998.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-1920x1248.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. John Moorlach poses a question to State Auditor Elaine Howle during a Joint Committee on Legislative Audit hearing on workers’ compensation on January 7, 2020. \u003ccite>(Anne Wernikoff / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The prison guard union has spent $3.8 million across 32 state legislative races in this century — $1.2 million of that was spent to defeat Moorlach. He lost to Democrat Dave Min, 51%–49%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They decided that it was time to go hammer and tong after him and take him out,” Christensen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union, which represents about 10% of all state workers, has undoubtedly gotten good deals for its members, arguably none more so than last year, when it negotiated \u003ca href=\"https://www.calhr.ca.gov/labor-relations/Documents/Summary%20of%20Agreement%20with%20Unit%206%20July%203,%202023%20through%20July%202,%202025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a $1 billion raise\u003c/a> over three years. Correctional officers also got a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/08/ccpoa-contract-2023-california-prisons/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new state-funded retirement perk\u003c/a> out of the deal, in addition to their California Public Employees’ Retirement System pensions. And when the state mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for state employees, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/08/ccpoa-contract-2023-california-prisons/\">prison guards were permitted to skip them\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That spending has consistently come under fire from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which found in 2019 and 2021 that the Newsom administration offered \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4078\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">“no evidence to justify (a) pay increase”\u003c/a> in an unusually harsh analysis of proposed prison guard raises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis found that California prison guards have neither a recruitment nor a retention problem and that their salaries were already in line with the salaries in the counties where they work — if not more than 5% higher than comparable job classifications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Legislative Analyst’s Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">excoriated Newsom’s administration\u003c/a> for repeatedly refusing to make public a 2018 compensation study on prison guard salaries and benefits. The administration regularly publishes compensation studies regarding its \u003ca href=\"https://www.calhr.ca.gov/state-hr-professionals/Pages/salary-surveys-main.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18 other employee bargaining units\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the administration provided a 2022 compensation study, which the Legislative Analyst’s Office called “flawed” for its failure to account for overtime pay and its selection of large, metropolitan counties as pay comparison points rather than the rural areas where most prison guards work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The study is flawed to the point that it is not helpful in meeting its stated objective and we recommend policymakers not use it to assess whether the state’s compensation package for correctional officers is appropriate to attract and retain qualified workers,” according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those raises, said Brian Kaneda, deputy director for Californians United for a Responsible Budget, put the state’s budget crisis in sharper relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The CCPOA has a stranglehold on Sacramento politics,” Kaneda said. “Everyone’s struggling right now, but prison guards are getting a $1 billion raise. Explain how this could possibly be the right move for California as we tussle with this historic budget deficit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked to gauge the union’s influence in Sacramento and the diverging views on its power, Ballard said union leadership concentrates on its members more than its lobby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The union’s leaders are focused on matters of character, not reputation,” he said. “The CCPOA’s leaders are street-smart correctional officers who have worked in very tough conditions for decades, and as a group, they are not terribly concerned with perceived status.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is CCPOA a factor in Newsom’s prison closures?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom began identifying prisons to close in 2020. More followed in 2022. Then, Newsom stopped naming additional prisons to close even though they have thousands of empty beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What changed? For one, people’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/solid-majorities-of-californians-view-crime-as-a-problem/\">perception of crime\u003c/a> spiked in the pandemic — though the kind of crimes that would merit prison time mostly went down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a governor who perhaps has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/07/gavin-newsom-for-president-assets-liabilities/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ambitions beyond Sacramento\u003c/a>, that’s important, said one Democratic legislator who did not want their name used for fear of retaliation by both the governor’s office and the prison guard union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think the CCPOA is the reason we’ve stalled on prison closures,” the legislator said. “I think it’s the governor himself or someone in the governor’s office protecting (the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My presumption is the governor is moderating his views on public safety because of where he wants to go nationally. And so he’s super careful about any perception of being soft on crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11994027\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11994027\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37.jpg\" alt='A white man wearing a business suit stand in front of a podium and microphone with a sign that reads \"San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at San Quentin State Prison, announcing that the facility will be transformed to focus on training and rehabilitation on March 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In its heyday during the prison building boom of the 1990s and 2000s, the prison guard union would never have had to account for such calculations, former Corrections Secretary Matt Cate said. Back then, both parties had incentives to make nice with the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the time, the Democrats were more moderate than they are now, and they were doing everything to support labor generally,” said Cate, who was appointed corrections secretary in 2008 by Schwarzenegger and stayed for two years under Brown, leaving the office in 2011. “Meanwhile, Republicans were staunchly in favor of law enforcement and long sentences because they didn’t believe in rehabilitation and reentry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So CCPOA had an open field. It was just a much easier job than what the CCPOA faces today. It’s not as easy today to be an 800-pound gorilla as it would have been 20 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cate doubts the union is the sole reason, or even the main reason, that Newsom stopped designating prisons for closure. Closing a prison is like closing “a small city,” Cate said, with 3,000 inmates and 800–1,000 employees represented by a dozen or more different unions. The \u003ca href=\"https://cchcs.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prison system’s health care\u003c/a> is managed by a federal monitor, and another federal monitor oversees \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/dhcs/smhp-coleman/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the state’s prison mental health care.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.datawrapper.de/_/vMFSK/\" width=\"800\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Taking on a Democrat and losing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One legislator who crossed the prison union and whose career survived was Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat, who said the sharp-elbowed tactics employed by the union under Stailey, its president, were reflective of the union’s approach in the 1990s, a time when the union’s power was at its height.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they sneezed,” he said, “people got a cold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Jones-Sawyer fell into their crosshairs, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article245822830.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">literally\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union ran an online ad against Jones-Sawyer that showed Stailey \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article245822830.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pointing at a wall of photos\u003c/a> of legislators. Over Jones-Sawyer’s photo was a piece of white paper with crosshairs and a red dot. Jones-Sawyer \u003ca href=\"https://a57.asmdc.org/video/20200918-jones-sawyer-calls-investigation-ccpoa-advertisement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">took that as a threat\u003c/a>, and the union pledged to pull the ad down and re-edit it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became clear that if they wanted to get back the power, they needed to take somebody out to put the fear into everybody,” said Jones-Sawyer, who won reelection that year. “They thought I was an easy target to take out. They learned that was not the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones-Sawyer notes that the union didn’t spend much under former Gov. Brown — not until the threat of prison closures became a reality after Newsom’s election in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once they started talking about closing prisons, that’s when the fear from the CCPOA came up,” Jones-Sawyer said. “That’s when they started writing double max-out checks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones-Sawyer said he’s frustrated by what he sees as abuses within the prison system, especially guards with multiple infractions keeping their jobs. The Office of the Inspector General earlier this year found that the corrections department had \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/OIG-Special-Review-No-SR-23-01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reclassified a backlog of staff misconduct complaints\u003c/a> as “routine grievances” and allowed the statute of limitations to expire in 127 complaints between 2022 and 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Jones-Sawyer said, he’s considering calling for an audit of the prison system’s facilities and spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When (the corrections department) comes back and says this is the best way to do it, we try to see their logic and a lot of times we don’t,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are those hard-charging tactics isolating the prison union? One bill introduced this year may be an indication. The bill would limit the number of \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2178?slug=CA_202320240AB2178\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">empty beds available in the prison system \u003c/a>to account for the declining inmate population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the bill’s registered supporters are immigration advocates, the California Public Defenders Association and anti-incarceration lobbies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was just one group registered in opposition: the CCPOA.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The California Correctional Peace Officers Association faces a complicated political environment as inmate populations decline and calls to close prisons increase.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1721074562,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://www.datawrapper.de/_/r3OSp/","https://www.datawrapper.de/_/vMFSK/"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":61,"wordCount":2480},"headData":{"title":"Is a California Prison Union Losing Ground in the Face of Changing Prison Dynamics? | KQED","description":"The California Correctional Peace Officers Association faces a complicated political environment as inmate populations decline and calls to close prisons increase.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Is a California Prison Union Losing Ground in the Face of Changing Prison Dynamics?","datePublished":"2024-07-15T12:00:58-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-15T13:16:02-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Nigel Duara and Jeremia Kimelman, CalMatters","nprStoryId":"kqed-11994015","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11994015/is-a-california-prison-union-losing-ground-in-the-face-of-changing-prison-dynamics","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A year after he took the top job in 2019, the president of one of California’s largest and most powerful unions \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article246020620.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said in a newsletter\u003c/a> that he wanted to be “the 800-pound gorilla” in Sacramento politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the union known as CCPOA representing 26,000 state prison guards, has spent and spent in a way it never did before. Its biggest recipient is Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/gavin-newsom/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>, who has taken $2.9 million from the union since he was elected governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s 31% of all political spending by the union since 2001.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union, under \u003ca href=\"http://www.ccpoa.org/\">President Glen Stailey,\u003c/a> gave $1.75 million to Newsom’s anti-recall campaign in 2021 — the largest single contribution to that effort — and another $1 million to support Proposition 1, Newsom’s treatment and housing plan for people experiencing serious mental illness, which \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/03/election-result-proposition-1/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed by the narrowest of margins this year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a noted contrast to the union’s relationship with the three governors who preceded Newsom, especially former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Prison-guards-union-chief-in-leadership-fight-3195334.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">who fought the union’s proposed raises \u003c/a>and was the target of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailynews.com/2008/10/17/guards-give-up-effort-to-recall-gov-arnold-schwarzenegger/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aborted recall campaign\u003c/a> launched by the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.datawrapper.de/_/r3OSp/\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prior to the Newsom administration, the prison union’s biggest political expense came in 2005, when it joined other labor organizations in fighting a package of ballot measures sponsored by Schwarzenegger that would have curbed state spending and weakened public employee unions. The unions won, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-nov-09-me-election9-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dealing Schwarzenegger a major defeat\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campaign finance records show the union largely stayed out of political fights during former Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration. It avoided the ballot measures that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975692/prop-47s-impact-on-californias-criminal-justice-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lowered criminal sentences\u003c/a> for nonviolent crimes and gave inmates \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11081078/gov-brown-sees-prop-57-as-key-to-ending-court-prison-oversight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more opportunities for parole\u003c/a> — propositions that voters passed and that contributed to declining headcounts in state prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Newsom took office, and the union’s pocketbook opened wide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two ways to look at that spending, according to interviews with legislators, labor leaders, former prison officials and budget watchdogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one, it’s a naked display of power: one of the richest unions in a labor-friendly state reminding its top politicians that it can spend with them — or against them. That’s primarily the view from outside the Capitol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the other view, from inside the Capitol, it’s a reflection of the union’s anxiety in the face of waning influence as California’s future almost certainly includes fewer prisons and fewer union-represented prison guards to staff them. The numbers don’t lie: \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/realignment-incarceration-and-crime-trends-in-california/#:~:text=In%20September%202011%2C%20the%20month,355%20inmates%20per%20100%2C000%20residents).\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">California is housing 70,000 fewer inmates\u003c/a> in state prisons than it did in 2011.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the outset of his first term, Newsom floated the idea of closing a single-state prison. He’s since closed three and canceled a contract on another private prison, collectively saving hundreds of millions of dollars. However, facing a budget deficit and \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/174/2024/01/Fall-2023-Population-Projections-Publication.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">4,000 fewer inmates\u003c/a> projected to be in prison by the end of his term in 2026, Newsom demurred this year from shutting down another institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a year of budget scarcity, when \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2024/01/california-prison-cost-per-inmate/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">each inmate costs about $132,000\u003c/a> to house annually and the Legislative Analyst’s Office has said the state has space to close five more prisons, Newsom has been stubborn about keeping prisons open. He has said he wants to keep some additional capacity in the system and that he wants to build up \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/17/san-quentin-transformation/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rehabilitative programs\u003c/a> that can help inmates reintegrate into society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom, in a written statement said that the governor has tried to balance potential budget savings with public safety needs inside prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Saving taxpayers billions of dollars without impacting public safety, Gov. Newsom has closed more prisons than any of his predecessors,” he wrote. “The governor’s decisions have been based exclusively on meeting the evolving needs of our criminal justice system in a manner that maximizes public safety and the judicious use of taxpayer dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nathan Ballard, an adviser to the union and a longtime Newsom ally, said in written responses to questions from CalMatters that the union and the governor had “respectful and substantive” discussions about potential prison closures this budget cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Union leaders clearly aired their views and listened very carefully to the administration’s priorities,” Ballard said. “The governor made it known that he valued the union’s input. Ultimately, Gov. Newsom’s process is his own, and it would be irresponsible to speculate about how he arrives at any particular decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The millions of dollars the union shoveled into Newsom’s most significant projects were a reflection of the union’s priorities, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the union and the governor are in alignment policy-wise, as they were during Proposition 1, the CCPOA does not hesitate to fight hard for the governor’s initiatives,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even while grappling with policy areas where they are less aligned, there is a strong commitment to finding areas of agreement and progress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>CCPOA’s big contracts in Newsom years\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Spending lots of money to support the most powerful executive in the state is perhaps not surprising. So what happens to the politicians who cross the prison guard union?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the union wanted to get rid of John Moorlach, a Republican state senator who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article146516764.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">questioning pension benefits\u003c/a> for California public employees, it spent more than $1 million against him in his Orange County race. Then, the flyers started popping up, sponsored by the union, tying the Never Trumper senator to the policies and personal predilections of Donald Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was cartoonish,” said Lance Christensen, Moorloch’s campaign manager in that 2020 race. “You would think that the public safety unions whose job it is to serve and defend and protect Californians would want a guy like John Moorlach, who was law and order and supportive generally of public safety programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11994026\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11994026\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17.jpg\" alt=\"A white man wearing a business suit sits down with a name marker in front of him with a microphone.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-800x520.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-1020x663.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-1536x998.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/010720_WorkersCompAudit_AW_CM_17-1920x1248.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. John Moorlach poses a question to State Auditor Elaine Howle during a Joint Committee on Legislative Audit hearing on workers’ compensation on January 7, 2020. \u003ccite>(Anne Wernikoff / CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The prison guard union has spent $3.8 million across 32 state legislative races in this century — $1.2 million of that was spent to defeat Moorlach. He lost to Democrat Dave Min, 51%–49%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They decided that it was time to go hammer and tong after him and take him out,” Christensen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union, which represents about 10% of all state workers, has undoubtedly gotten good deals for its members, arguably none more so than last year, when it negotiated \u003ca href=\"https://www.calhr.ca.gov/labor-relations/Documents/Summary%20of%20Agreement%20with%20Unit%206%20July%203,%202023%20through%20July%202,%202025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a $1 billion raise\u003c/a> over three years. Correctional officers also got a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/08/ccpoa-contract-2023-california-prisons/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new state-funded retirement perk\u003c/a> out of the deal, in addition to their California Public Employees’ Retirement System pensions. And when the state mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for state employees, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/08/ccpoa-contract-2023-california-prisons/\">prison guards were permitted to skip them\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That spending has consistently come under fire from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which found in 2019 and 2021 that the Newsom administration offered \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4078\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">“no evidence to justify (a) pay increase”\u003c/a> in an unusually harsh analysis of proposed prison guard raises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis found that California prison guards have neither a recruitment nor a retention problem and that their salaries were already in line with the salaries in the counties where they work — if not more than 5% higher than comparable job classifications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the Legislative Analyst’s Office \u003ca href=\"https://www.lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">excoriated Newsom’s administration\u003c/a> for repeatedly refusing to make public a 2018 compensation study on prison guard salaries and benefits. The administration regularly publishes compensation studies regarding its \u003ca href=\"https://www.calhr.ca.gov/state-hr-professionals/Pages/salary-surveys-main.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18 other employee bargaining units\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the administration provided a 2022 compensation study, which the Legislative Analyst’s Office called “flawed” for its failure to account for overtime pay and its selection of large, metropolitan counties as pay comparison points rather than the rural areas where most prison guards work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The study is flawed to the point that it is not helpful in meeting its stated objective and we recommend policymakers not use it to assess whether the state’s compensation package for correctional officers is appropriate to attract and retain qualified workers,” according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those raises, said Brian Kaneda, deputy director for Californians United for a Responsible Budget, put the state’s budget crisis in sharper relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The CCPOA has a stranglehold on Sacramento politics,” Kaneda said. “Everyone’s struggling right now, but prison guards are getting a $1 billion raise. Explain how this could possibly be the right move for California as we tussle with this historic budget deficit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked to gauge the union’s influence in Sacramento and the diverging views on its power, Ballard said union leadership concentrates on its members more than its lobby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The union’s leaders are focused on matters of character, not reputation,” he said. “The CCPOA’s leaders are street-smart correctional officers who have worked in very tough conditions for decades, and as a group, they are not terribly concerned with perceived status.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is CCPOA a factor in Newsom’s prison closures?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom began identifying prisons to close in 2020. More followed in 2022. Then, Newsom stopped naming additional prisons to close even though they have thousands of empty beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What changed? For one, people’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/solid-majorities-of-californians-view-crime-as-a-problem/\">perception of crime\u003c/a> spiked in the pandemic — though the kind of crimes that would merit prison time mostly went down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a governor who perhaps has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/07/gavin-newsom-for-president-assets-liabilities/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ambitions beyond Sacramento\u003c/a>, that’s important, said one Democratic legislator who did not want their name used for fear of retaliation by both the governor’s office and the prison guard union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think the CCPOA is the reason we’ve stalled on prison closures,” the legislator said. “I think it’s the governor himself or someone in the governor’s office protecting (the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My presumption is the governor is moderating his views on public safety because of where he wants to go nationally. And so he’s super careful about any perception of being soft on crime.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11994027\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11994027\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37.jpg\" alt='A white man wearing a business suit stand in front of a podium and microphone with a sign that reads \"San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/031723-SAN-QUENTIN-REHABILITATION-CENTER-MHN-CM-37-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at San Quentin State Prison, announcing that the facility will be transformed to focus on training and rehabilitation on March 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In its heyday during the prison building boom of the 1990s and 2000s, the prison guard union would never have had to account for such calculations, former Corrections Secretary Matt Cate said. Back then, both parties had incentives to make nice with the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the time, the Democrats were more moderate than they are now, and they were doing everything to support labor generally,” said Cate, who was appointed corrections secretary in 2008 by Schwarzenegger and stayed for two years under Brown, leaving the office in 2011. “Meanwhile, Republicans were staunchly in favor of law enforcement and long sentences because they didn’t believe in rehabilitation and reentry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So CCPOA had an open field. It was just a much easier job than what the CCPOA faces today. It’s not as easy today to be an 800-pound gorilla as it would have been 20 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cate doubts the union is the sole reason, or even the main reason, that Newsom stopped designating prisons for closure. Closing a prison is like closing “a small city,” Cate said, with 3,000 inmates and 800–1,000 employees represented by a dozen or more different unions. The \u003ca href=\"https://cchcs.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prison system’s health care\u003c/a> is managed by a federal monitor, and another federal monitor oversees \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/dhcs/smhp-coleman/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the state’s prison mental health care.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.datawrapper.de/_/vMFSK/\" width=\"800\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Taking on a Democrat and losing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One legislator who crossed the prison union and whose career survived was Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat, who said the sharp-elbowed tactics employed by the union under Stailey, its president, were reflective of the union’s approach in the 1990s, a time when the union’s power was at its height.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they sneezed,” he said, “people got a cold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Jones-Sawyer fell into their crosshairs, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article245822830.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">literally\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union ran an online ad against Jones-Sawyer that showed Stailey \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article245822830.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pointing at a wall of photos\u003c/a> of legislators. Over Jones-Sawyer’s photo was a piece of white paper with crosshairs and a red dot. Jones-Sawyer \u003ca href=\"https://a57.asmdc.org/video/20200918-jones-sawyer-calls-investigation-ccpoa-advertisement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">took that as a threat\u003c/a>, and the union pledged to pull the ad down and re-edit it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became clear that if they wanted to get back the power, they needed to take somebody out to put the fear into everybody,” said Jones-Sawyer, who won reelection that year. “They thought I was an easy target to take out. They learned that was not the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones-Sawyer notes that the union didn’t spend much under former Gov. Brown — not until the threat of prison closures became a reality after Newsom’s election in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once they started talking about closing prisons, that’s when the fear from the CCPOA came up,” Jones-Sawyer said. “That’s when they started writing double max-out checks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones-Sawyer said he’s frustrated by what he sees as abuses within the prison system, especially guards with multiple infractions keeping their jobs. The Office of the Inspector General earlier this year found that the corrections department had \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/OIG-Special-Review-No-SR-23-01.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reclassified a backlog of staff misconduct complaints\u003c/a> as “routine grievances” and allowed the statute of limitations to expire in 127 complaints between 2022 and 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Jones-Sawyer said, he’s considering calling for an audit of the prison system’s facilities and spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When (the corrections department) comes back and says this is the best way to do it, we try to see their logic and a lot of times we don’t,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are those hard-charging tactics isolating the prison union? One bill introduced this year may be an indication. The bill would limit the number of \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2178?slug=CA_202320240AB2178\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">empty beds available in the prison system \u003c/a>to account for the declining inmate population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the bill’s registered supporters are immigration advocates, the California Public Defenders Association and anti-incarceration lobbies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was just one group registered in opposition: the CCPOA.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11994015/is-a-california-prison-union-losing-ground-in-the-face-of-changing-prison-dynamics","authors":["byline_news_11994015"],"categories":["news_34167","news_8"],"tags":["news_26658","news_616","news_118","news_1305","news_2659"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11994028","label":"news_18481"},"news_11993616":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11993616","meta":{"index":"posts_1716263798","site":"news","id":"11993616","score":null,"sort":[1720724436000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-health-care-providers-tackle-homelessness-crisis-with-new-state-funds","title":"California Health Care Providers Tackle Homelessness Crisis With New State Funds","publishDate":1720724436,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California Health Care Providers Tackle Homelessness Crisis With New State Funds | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>When a shortfall of several hundred thousand dollars almost derailed new homeless housing in Bakersfield, the savior that swooped in to salvage the project wasn’t an affordable housing nonprofit, state housing grant or other traditional source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, it was a health care company that had never before built a single home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That unorthodox move is part of a broader effort to commingle California’s health care and homeless services agencies, as providers in both areas increasingly acknowledge a glaring truth: It’s nearly impossible to be healthy if you’re living on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health care company Akido Labs, which runs clinics and street medicine teams in Southern and Central California, covered about 10% of the cost to build that 16-unit project in Bakersfield. Health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is funding homeless housing projects in Alameda, Kings and Tulare counties. And Los Angeles County’s biggest health plan is paying to lease properties for its homeless clients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the unhoused, housing is medicine,” said Karthik Murali, head of public health at Akido Labs. “Providing stable housing can alleviate more health conditions than taking them to the ICU and the hospital and providing street medicine. … Knowing that fact, we wanted to be part of the solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/californias-homelessness-crisis-explained/\">homeless\u003c/a> have higher rates of illness, and die an average of 12 years younger than the general U.S. population, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/homelessness-and-health.pdf\">National Health Care for the Homeless Council (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom set the marriage between housing and health care in motion in 2022, via his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/02/california-medi-cal-reform/\">massive overhaul\u003c/a> of the state’s Medicaid system. With the launch of CalAIM, the state allows \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/medi-cal\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a> to fund things not traditionally covered as health care — such as helping \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/category/housing/homelessness/\">homeless\u003c/a> clients find housing, paying for security deposits and preventing evictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an incentive for health care plans to ramp up these new services, the state also provided $1.3 billion in additional funding under the \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/resource-center/homelessness-health-care/medi-cal-and-homelessness/housing-and-homelessness-incentive-program/\">Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program\u003c/a>. Managed care plans can earn those funds by investing in solutions to homelessness. It’s that money Akido and other health care providers are using to build and lease new homeless housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993619\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a hat sits down next to bags of medicine and equipment in a vineyard.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Rishi Patel from the Akido street medicine team checks on a homeless man living in a vineyard in Arvin on May 28, 2024. Street medicine teams throughout California are increasingly using long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication to stabilize the mental health of people living in homeless encampments. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still a relatively rare use of the money — it’s more likely to pay for services for unhoused people, such as case managers or safe RV parking sites. That’s partly because creating housing is so expensive in California, and partly because most health care providers don’t know much about homebuilding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, Murali said the new funds made a big difference. Recognizing that it could only do so much to help its homeless patients as long as they were living on the street, Akido had long wanted to get into the business of developing housing. The incentive program gave it the funds to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could not have been possible before, and it’s possible now,” Murali said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Housing as medicine\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles-based Akido Labs got its start as a health tech company out of Y Combinator, the startup incubator that grew big-name companies such as Airbnb and Dropbox. It later launched medical clinics and street medicine teams in Central and Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Kern County Housing Authority found itself over budget on the Bakersfield homeless housing project — in part because the housing authority underestimated the cost of an expensive retaining wall — Akido jumped in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993622\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06.jpg\" alt=\"Men wearing bright safety uniforms and hard hats look up near a construction site.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction site for an affordable housing apartment complex in Bakersfield on May 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We would have been stalled, and who knows where it would have been now if we hadn’t had that money come in,” said Stephen Pelz, executive director of the housing authority, who said Akido funded about 10% of the roughly $3 million project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04.jpg\" alt=\"The inside of a building under construction.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction site for an affordable housing apartment complex in Bakersfield on May 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The two-story development, where tenants will pay 30% of their income in rent, sits on a formerly vacant lot next to what used to be a large homeless encampment. Each apartment is a small one-bedroom, one-bath — about 500 square feet — and you can see the Sierra Nevada from the upstairs windows on a clear day. It’s a big deal to complete a project in that area, where most of the street doesn’t even have a sidewalk and new construction is rare, Pelz said. You’re more likely to see something here catch fire and then be torn down than you are to see something new get built, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akido also took on a second, 40-unit homeless housing project in Bakersfield. That development, now set to open in 2025, would have fallen apart without the health care company’s funding. The county had applied for a state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/12/california-homeless-developer-investigation/\">Homekey\u003c/a> grant, but that wasn’t enough to buy the property or fund the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akido paid about 20% of the project’s total $10 million cost, and it’s now working with the county housing authority. Akido is advocating for features it knows will help its clients, such as wheelchair accessible outdoor spaces, suicide prevention designs (such as shelves in closets instead of rails) and semigloss paint that makes cleaning easier. The health care company is learning to navigate the complicated world of housing production as it goes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s been an interesting process,” Murali said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Homeless housing from Sacramento to LA\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other counties are using the money to secure housing units without putting shovels in the ground. Sacramento County won $3.2 million for its Landlord Engagement and Assistance Program, which gives unhoused clients rental subsidies and places them with private landlords, while also working with landlords to prevent evictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That money will allow the county to expand that program by about 30%, said human services program manager Neil Kurtz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s everything,” Kurtz said. “We’re going to be able to make a significant impact, I think, in reducing homelessness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993624\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A tarp and other debris forming a living structure underneath an overpass.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment on W Street and Alhambra Boulevard in Sacramento on April 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County’s largest health plan, LA Care, is using the incentive funds to help open 1,700 homes to homeless residents by 2027. Working with the county, the health plan is funding programs to buy and lease those units, or pay for security deposits and other expenses. As of the end of last year, 600 of those homes were available, said Dr. Sameer Amin, chief medical officer for LA Care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield recently put money into a 42-unit homeless housing project in Tulare County, helped fund two more projects in Kings County, and contributed to a fund in Alameda County that’s building additional units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at other opportunities,” said Kris Kuntz, program director for housing and homeless strategy at Anthem. ”We’re looking at: Do we go purchase single family homes that are on the market? Things like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can the housing-health care partnership be sustainable?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Blurring the line between housing and health care has been confusing for many involved, said Carolina Reid, faculty research advisor at the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health care providers don’t know what organizations to partner with in order to get housing built, or how to enter their clients’ information into the state’s homelessness data system. Housing providers don’t know how to navigate strict patient privacy laws. The Terner Center is \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CalAIM-Brief-February-2024.pdf\">researching (PDF)\u003c/a> ways to help both sides adjust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state paints this health-care-meets-housing experiment as a success so far. Health care providers using the Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program money reported they now are more frequently screening their patients for homelessness, while also offering them more housing-related services. According to the state Department of Health Care Services, 48,172 patients have received housing — and 81% of them have remained housed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the problem with this money is that it’s a one-time grant, and Newsom has given no indication that he’ll replenish the coffers when it runs out. After Newsom and legislators \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/06/california-budget-deal-4/\">scrambled to close\u003c/a> a multibillion-dollar budget deficit this year, there’s little state funding up for grabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One question I have that I can’t answer is: Are these efforts sustained after the HHIP funds run out?” Reid said. “There needs to be a sustained source of funding to help managed care plans do this type of work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993623\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08.jpg\" alt=\"A sign that reads "Golden Empire Affordable Housing SWPPP's Strictly Enforced" with bullet points and text on a fence in front of a building and vehicle.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction site for an affordable housing apartment complex in Bakersfield on May 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Murali hopes Akido can drum up private equity to replace the state funding in future projects, but whether investors can be convinced it’s a good business move remains to be seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s more, when up against the steep cost of building or buying housing in California, the money the state allocated doesn’t amount to that much, Reid said. That’s why, she said, we haven’t seen more health care providers using the money to create new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuntz agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it comes to housing and homelessness,” he said, “you think it’s a large amount of money, but per county, it’s still … not huge, per say, given the need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Kern County, the housing authority typically receives anywhere from 500 to 1,000 applications for each new project, Pelz said. The project set to finish next month in Bakersfield has room for just 16 households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means, if you get chosen, Pelz said, “It’s kind of like winning the lottery.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Some California health care providers are starting to offer what their homeless patients really need: housing.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1720803202,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":37,"wordCount":1735},"headData":{"title":"California Health Care Providers Tackle Homelessness Crisis With New State Funds | KQED","description":"Some California health care providers are starting to offer what their homeless patients really need: housing.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"California Health Care Providers Tackle Homelessness Crisis With New State Funds","datePublished":"2024-07-11T12:00:36-07:00","dateModified":"2024-07-12T09:53:22-07:00","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","isAccessibleForFree":"True","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://www.kqed.org/#organization","name":"KQED","url":"https://www.kqed.org","logo":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/marisa-kendall/\">Marisa Kendall\u003c/a>, CalMatters","nprStoryId":"kqed-11993616","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11993616/california-health-care-providers-tackle-homelessness-crisis-with-new-state-funds","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When a shortfall of several hundred thousand dollars almost derailed new homeless housing in Bakersfield, the savior that swooped in to salvage the project wasn’t an affordable housing nonprofit, state housing grant or other traditional source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, it was a health care company that had never before built a single home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That unorthodox move is part of a broader effort to commingle California’s health care and homeless services agencies, as providers in both areas increasingly acknowledge a glaring truth: It’s nearly impossible to be healthy if you’re living on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health care company Akido Labs, which runs clinics and street medicine teams in Southern and Central California, covered about 10% of the cost to build that 16-unit project in Bakersfield. Health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is funding homeless housing projects in Alameda, Kings and Tulare counties. And Los Angeles County’s biggest health plan is paying to lease properties for its homeless clients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the unhoused, housing is medicine,” said Karthik Murali, head of public health at Akido Labs. “Providing stable housing can alleviate more health conditions than taking them to the ICU and the hospital and providing street medicine. … Knowing that fact, we wanted to be part of the solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/californias-homelessness-crisis-explained/\">homeless\u003c/a> have higher rates of illness, and die an average of 12 years younger than the general U.S. population, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/homelessness-and-health.pdf\">National Health Care for the Homeless Council (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom set the marriage between housing and health care in motion in 2022, via his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/02/california-medi-cal-reform/\">massive overhaul\u003c/a> of the state’s Medicaid system. With the launch of CalAIM, the state allows \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/medi-cal\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a> to fund things not traditionally covered as health care — such as helping \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/category/housing/homelessness/\">homeless\u003c/a> clients find housing, paying for security deposits and preventing evictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an incentive for health care plans to ramp up these new services, the state also provided $1.3 billion in additional funding under the \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/resource-center/homelessness-health-care/medi-cal-and-homelessness/housing-and-homelessness-incentive-program/\">Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program\u003c/a>. Managed care plans can earn those funds by investing in solutions to homelessness. It’s that money Akido and other health care providers are using to build and lease new homeless housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993619\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a hat sits down next to bags of medicine and equipment in a vineyard.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Injectable-LV_13-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Rishi Patel from the Akido street medicine team checks on a homeless man living in a vineyard in Arvin on May 28, 2024. Street medicine teams throughout California are increasingly using long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication to stabilize the mental health of people living in homeless encampments. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still a relatively rare use of the money — it’s more likely to pay for services for unhoused people, such as case managers or safe RV parking sites. That’s partly because creating housing is so expensive in California, and partly because most health care providers don’t know much about homebuilding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, Murali said the new funds made a big difference. Recognizing that it could only do so much to help its homeless patients as long as they were living on the street, Akido had long wanted to get into the business of developing housing. The incentive program gave it the funds to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could not have been possible before, and it’s possible now,” Murali said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Housing as medicine\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles-based Akido Labs got its start as a health tech company out of Y Combinator, the startup incubator that grew big-name companies such as Airbnb and Dropbox. It later launched medical clinics and street medicine teams in Central and Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Kern County Housing Authority found itself over budget on the Bakersfield homeless housing project — in part because the housing authority underestimated the cost of an expensive retaining wall — Akido jumped in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993622\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06.jpg\" alt=\"Men wearing bright safety uniforms and hard hats look up near a construction site.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_06-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction site for an affordable housing apartment complex in Bakersfield on May 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We would have been stalled, and who knows where it would have been now if we hadn’t had that money come in,” said Stephen Pelz, executive director of the housing authority, who said Akido funded about 10% of the roughly $3 million project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04.jpg\" alt=\"The inside of a building under construction.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_04-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction site for an affordable housing apartment complex in Bakersfield on May 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The two-story development, where tenants will pay 30% of their income in rent, sits on a formerly vacant lot next to what used to be a large homeless encampment. Each apartment is a small one-bedroom, one-bath — about 500 square feet — and you can see the Sierra Nevada from the upstairs windows on a clear day. It’s a big deal to complete a project in that area, where most of the street doesn’t even have a sidewalk and new construction is rare, Pelz said. You’re more likely to see something here catch fire and then be torn down than you are to see something new get built, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akido also took on a second, 40-unit homeless housing project in Bakersfield. That development, now set to open in 2025, would have fallen apart without the health care company’s funding. The county had applied for a state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/12/california-homeless-developer-investigation/\">Homekey\u003c/a> grant, but that wasn’t enough to buy the property or fund the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akido paid about 20% of the project’s total $10 million cost, and it’s now working with the county housing authority. Akido is advocating for features it knows will help its clients, such as wheelchair accessible outdoor spaces, suicide prevention designs (such as shelves in closets instead of rails) and semigloss paint that makes cleaning easier. The health care company is learning to navigate the complicated world of housing production as it goes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s been an interesting process,” Murali said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Homeless housing from Sacramento to LA\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other counties are using the money to secure housing units without putting shovels in the ground. Sacramento County won $3.2 million for its Landlord Engagement and Assistance Program, which gives unhoused clients rental subsidies and places them with private landlords, while also working with landlords to prevent evictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That money will allow the county to expand that program by about 30%, said human services program manager Neil Kurtz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s everything,” Kurtz said. “We’re going to be able to make a significant impact, I think, in reducing homelessness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993624\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A tarp and other debris forming a living structure underneath an overpass.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/04112023-Homeless-Encampment-Enforcement-RL-05-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment on W Street and Alhambra Boulevard in Sacramento on April 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County’s largest health plan, LA Care, is using the incentive funds to help open 1,700 homes to homeless residents by 2027. Working with the county, the health plan is funding programs to buy and lease those units, or pay for security deposits and other expenses. As of the end of last year, 600 of those homes were available, said Dr. Sameer Amin, chief medical officer for LA Care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield recently put money into a 42-unit homeless housing project in Tulare County, helped fund two more projects in Kings County, and contributed to a fund in Alameda County that’s building additional units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at other opportunities,” said Kris Kuntz, program director for housing and homeless strategy at Anthem. ”We’re looking at: Do we go purchase single family homes that are on the market? Things like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can the housing-health care partnership be sustainable?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Blurring the line between housing and health care has been confusing for many involved, said Carolina Reid, faculty research advisor at the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health care providers don’t know what organizations to partner with in order to get housing built, or how to enter their clients’ information into the state’s homelessness data system. Housing providers don’t know how to navigate strict patient privacy laws. The Terner Center is \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CalAIM-Brief-February-2024.pdf\">researching (PDF)\u003c/a> ways to help both sides adjust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state paints this health-care-meets-housing experiment as a success so far. Health care providers using the Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program money reported they now are more frequently screening their patients for homelessness, while also offering them more housing-related services. According to the state Department of Health Care Services, 48,172 patients have received housing — and 81% of them have remained housed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the problem with this money is that it’s a one-time grant, and Newsom has given no indication that he’ll replenish the coffers when it runs out. After Newsom and legislators \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/06/california-budget-deal-4/\">scrambled to close\u003c/a> a multibillion-dollar budget deficit this year, there’s little state funding up for grabs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One question I have that I can’t answer is: Are these efforts sustained after the HHIP funds run out?” Reid said. “There needs to be a sustained source of funding to help managed care plans do this type of work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11993623\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11993623\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08.jpg\" alt=\"A sign that reads "Golden Empire Affordable Housing SWPPP's Strictly Enforced" with bullet points and text on a fence in front of a building and vehicle.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/053124-Bakersfield-Rural-Homelessness-LV_08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction site for an affordable housing apartment complex in Bakersfield on May 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Murali hopes Akido can drum up private equity to replace the state funding in future projects, but whether investors can be convinced it’s a good business move remains to be seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s more, when up against the steep cost of building or buying housing in California, the money the state allocated doesn’t amount to that much, Reid said. That’s why, she said, we haven’t seen more health care providers using the money to create new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuntz agrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When it comes to housing and homelessness,” he said, “you think it’s a large amount of money, but per county, it’s still … not huge, per say, given the need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Kern County, the housing authority typically receives anywhere from 500 to 1,000 applications for each new project, Pelz said. The project set to finish next month in Bakersfield has room for just 16 households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means, if you get chosen, Pelz said, “It’s kind of like winning the lottery.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11993616/california-health-care-providers-tackle-homelessness-crisis-with-new-state-funds","authors":["byline_news_11993616"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8"],"tags":["news_3921","news_25015","news_683","news_33042"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11993621","label":"news_18481"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/all-things-considered"},"american-suburb-podcast":{"id":"american-suburb-podcast","title":"American Suburb: The Podcast","tagline":"The flip side of gentrification, told through one town","info":"Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED Bay Curious","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/baycurious","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"4"},"link":"/podcasts/baycurious","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"}},"bbc-world-service":{"id":"bbc-world-service","title":"BBC World Service","info":"The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service","meta":{"site":"news","source":"BBC World Service"},"link":"/radio/program/bbc-world-service","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/","rss":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"}},"code-switch-life-kit":{"id":"code-switch-life-kit","title":"Code Switch / Life Kit","info":"\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />","airtime":"SUN 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"}},"commonwealth-club":{"id":"commonwealth-club","title":"Commonwealth Club of California Podcast","info":"The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.","airtime":"THU 10pm, FRI 1am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Commonwealth Club of California"},"link":"/radio/program/commonwealth-club","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"}},"considerthis":{"id":"considerthis","title":"Consider This","tagline":"Make sense of the day","info":"Make sense of the day. Every weekday afternoon, Consider This helps you consider the major stories of the day in less than 15 minutes, featuring the reporting and storytelling resources of NPR. Plus, KQED’s Bianca Taylor brings you the local KQED news you need to know.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Consider-This-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"Consider This from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/considerthis","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"7"},"link":"/podcasts/considerthis","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1503226625?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/coronavirusdaily","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM1NS9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbA","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3Z6JdCS2d0eFEpXHKI6WqH"}},"forum":{"id":"forum","title":"Forum","tagline":"The conversation starts here","info":"KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal","officialWebsiteLink":"/forum","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"8"},"link":"/forum","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"}},"freakonomics-radio":{"id":"freakonomics-radio","title":"Freakonomics Radio","info":"Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. 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Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn","officialWebsiteLink":"/mindshift/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"}},"morning-edition":{"id":"morning-edition","title":"Morning Edition","info":"\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. 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On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. 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