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"slug": "polluted-communities-hold-their-breath-as-companies-struggle-with-californias-diesel-truck-ban",
"title": "Polluted Communities Hold Their Breath as Companies Struggle With California’s Diesel Truck Ban",
"publishDate": 1733864446,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Polluted Communities Hold Their Breath as Companies Struggle With California’s Diesel Truck Ban | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Standing in his front yard in Wilmington, Jose Ulloa can’t get a sentence out without coughing. Heavy-duty trucks, headed to and from the Port of Los Angeles, pass in front of his home all day, their engines roaring and their exhaust spewing into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa, who was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, suffers frequent breathing problems and was hospitalized after one attack. The truck traffic is likely a trigger since health officials say diesel exhaust is known to cause \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/overview-diesel-exhaust-and-health\">asthma attacks and other respiratory problems\u003c/a>, including lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parade of big rigs in his neighborhood started four years ago after a series of traffic pattern changes altered their route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imelda, his wife, sweeps the yard and cleans the home nonstop, but black dust still collects on every surface of their home within hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you blow your nose, black dust will come out,” she said. “It’s a terrible life living here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, Mashhoor Alammari, who runs a small fleet of drayage trucks that haul cargo to and from the port, wants to do his part to help clean the air of dangerous diesel exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., bought two new zero-emission big rigs at a cost of more than $900,000. But the trucks, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, are expensive to operate and there are few if any fueling stations along their routes. The new trucks have been sitting in the parking lot most of the time since he bought them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to put myself into a financial hole,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experiences of the Wilmington family and the Oakland truck company illustrate the frustrations and obstacles that Californians face as state officials pursue an aggressive and controversial mandate to clean the air by phasing out diesel-powered big rigs and other trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/climate-change/2023/04/california-phases-out-diesel-trucks/\">approved by the Air Resources Board last year\u003c/a>, is the first in the world to ban new diesel trucks and require a switch to zero-emission vehicles, which are powered by electricity or hydrogen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-overview\">face varying deadlines\u003c/a> for ending their use of diesel, which for decades has been an efficient powerhouse fueling the economy and transport of goods. Starting in 2036, no new fossil-fueled medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks can be sold in California, and by 2042, large companies must convert their trucks to zero-emission models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trucking industry said the regulation is unreasonable and will wreak havoc on the economy, making it difficult to make long-haul shipments. The California Trucking Association and a collective of 17 states, including Nebraska, Alabama and New Mexico, \u003ca href=\"https://environmentalenergybrief.sidley.com/2024/05/23/17-states-file-complaint-challenging-constitutionality-of-californias-advanced-clean-fleets-regulation/\">have sued the state\u003c/a>, alleging the rule oversteps state power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg\" alt=\"A large white truck in the foreground with big shipping containers in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commercial trucks pass by a warehouse in front of a residential neighborhood along Drumm Avenue in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From big rigs to garbage trucks and delivery vans, the rules will dramatically change the 1.8 million commercial trucks driven on California’s roads over the next two decades. Sales already are accelerating even though no deadlines have kicked in yet. Last year, one out of every six trucks sold in the state — more than 18,000 — were zero emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate is in flux because the state still needs a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it can start enforcing them. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized California’s electric car mandates and in the past tried to revoke the state’s authority to set its own vehicle standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One deadline already has passed: All new drayage trucks, which are used to haul containers from ports, were supposed to be zero emissions by last October. But that deadline is not yet being enforced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truck companies like Alammari’s that took a risk to be early adopters of clean trucks are now in limbo, swallowing high operating costs and competing with cheaper diesel-only companies in an already struggling industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, California’s most vulnerable residents who live near roads with heavy diesel truck traffic may have to wait longer for a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The dangers of diesel\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Diesel trucks are among the state’s biggest sources of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/02/california-new-soot-standards/\">microscopic particles of soot\u003c/a>, which can damage lungs and trigger asthma attacks and heart attacks. They also play an outsized role in California’s smog: While they make up just 6% of all vehicles on California’s roads, they are responsible for 72% of nitrogen oxides, a key ingredient of smog, emitted by on-road vehicles, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, health officials declared diesel exhaust, which contains dozens of toxic gases, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr213_E.pdf\">human carcinogen (PDF.)\u003c/a> several decades ago because of studies linking it to lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles basin, diesel exhaust is responsible for more than two-thirds of the cancer risk posed by air pollution, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">a risk analysis by the South Coast Air Quality Management District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest dangers from diesels are in communities near high-traffic corridors. People near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles and parts of the Inland Empire are at risk of 350 to 500 cancer cases per million people because of diesel fumes, according to the analysis. That risk has dropped substantially in recent years as trucks get cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PKart/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s clean truck rule is \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/regact/2022/acf22/isor2.pdf\">expected through 2050 to save $26.5 billion (PDF.)\u003c/a> in statewide health costs and save fleet owners $48 billion through reduced fuel and maintenance costs, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The health benefits from eliminating the pollution (from diesel trucks) far exceed any cost the industry will bear,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney for environmental group Earthjustice. “Trucking lobbyists and other folks are super loud and they’re going to focus on the difficulties of the transition. But millions of Californians affected by pollution from the freight industry is not acceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Lots of obstacles for emissions-free trucking\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But a lack of fast, reliable charging stations and the vehicles’ limited ranges makes it difficult, even impossible, for trucks to transport goods long distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric heavy-duty trucks have ranges up to 250 miles, while hydrogen-powered ones can drive about 500 miles on a full tank. They can use the same public fast chargers as cars, but that’s impractical because they take up too much space and charging can take up to six hours. For hydrogen, only 22 fueling stations for large trucks are operating or in development statewide, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery-powered trucks also are heavy, which means they can carry less cargo. As a result, companies have to charge more, which shippers aren’t usually willing to pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry also points to the substantial investment that is needed to expand the electric grid’s capacity to eventually charge thousands of battery-powered trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one’s opposed” to cleaner air, said Matt Schrap head of the Harbor Trucking Association, which represents drayage truck companies. “It is about practical application and implementation of these rules. We have nowhere near enough infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air board’s mandate “is the epitome of ready, fire, aim,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials stress that truck companies have time and flexible options to comply, and the state is working to \u003ca href=\"https://calfleetadvisor.org/who-we-are/\">help them understand and comply with the complex rules\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are worried, I get it. But (the deadline) is not tomorrow,” said Bruce Tuter, who oversees compliance and outreach at the air board. “Charging times, charging speeds, all of that needs to start building up where it gets quicker to charge a truck and where it’s more accessible to charge when you’re traveling long distances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alammari, the truck company owner from Oakland, said he bought his two hydrogen trucks because he had interest from a shipping company that wanted to work with zero-emission vehicles. The profits Alammari would have made working with that company would have justified the added costs of operating a hydrogen fuel cell truck, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the last minute, however, the company chose to work with someone else. Without any customers willing to pay more to ship with his hydrogen trucks, he can’t use them. He’s doing his best to transition his entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles. He had even ordered three more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with help from state grants, Alammari said it’s not enough to help him operate the zero-emission vehicles or buy more of them. He pays substantially more for insuring them, and it costs twice as much to fully fuel them with hydrogen compared to a diesel, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without companies willing to ship goods with zero-emission vehicles, early adopters of the technology, like his company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., are at a disadvantage until the mandate makes everyone comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I don’t get customers to use these trucks, The Crew Transportation is not going to move forward to get the three remaining hydrogen trucks we ordered,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials created the most stringent deadlines for drayage trucks partly because they travel near the most vulnerable communities — the low-income communities of color around the ports. They also tend to make shorter trips compared to other heavy-duty trucks, and ports are equipped with some fueling and charging stations, air board officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some companies that operate drayage trucks near disadvantaged communities may qualify for state grants of up to $336,000 toward the cost of a new hydrogen or electric truck. Under the regulation, they are able to keep their diesel trucks until they reach 800,000 miles or 18 years, whichever is earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, based on how many miles are already on his trucks, Alammari expects them to be unusable by 2028 under the mandate. As he sees it, the future of the company he’s worked so hard to build is at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017441\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017441\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg\" alt='Two images, on the left a man appears to be filling up a tank and on the right the words \"Hydrogen Fleet.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Khari Burton of IMC Logistics demonstrates how to charge a zero-emissions big rig. Last: A hydrogen-powered truck at IMC headquarters in Compton. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles area, Sandra Espinioza, a truck driver for IMC Logistics, drives seven miles between Lomita and Torrance several times a day before powering up at the WattEV charging station in Long Beach. It’s a short and easy work route that makes it easy for a battery-powered truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re really quiet, and a really smooth drive,” she said. “You don’t smell the fumes. When it’s (charged) 100%, you’re gonna be able to go through your day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the state’s truck fleets are considered “\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-high-priority-and-federal-fleets-overview\">high priority\u003c/a>” — federal fleets, such as the post office, and companies with at least one vehicle in California and $50 million or more in gross annual revenue or 50 or more vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These large operators have two ways to comply. Most are choosing a phase-in option. Under that option, smaller vehicles, such as UPS or Amazon delivery vans and box trucks, must be 100% zero emissions by 2035. But long-distance, heavy-duty trucks get more time to comply: 10% must be zero emissions by 2030 and 100% by 2042.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dIQue/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jim Gillis, president of Compton-based IMC Logistics’ Pacific region, said the air board’s deadlines are so aggressive that it poses challenges to even large companies like his. His company has 319 diesel trucks, 50 hydrogen fuel cell trucks and six electric trucks in California. Installing a handful of charging stations at its headquarters was an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said trucking companies essentially are conducting research and development with these zero-emission technologies. The new trucks have frequent recalls and can make hauls more expensive. Battery-powered trucks have to be used for shorter trips because of their limited range.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said the federal government’s delay in approving a waiver for California’s truck rule doesn’t help his company, since it already bought the clean trucks and has to compete with other companies. But he said IMC is large enough that it can absorb the costs without much consequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric and hydrogen trucks are the future, Gillis said, adding that large companies like his have a responsibility to show the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to do it now,” Gillis said. “The more we try to delay this, it’s just going to be more painful down the road. Every mile that I put on a hydrogen truck today is going to benefit somebody down the road.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘A literal case of life and death’ in communities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As fleet owners struggle with the transition to clean fuels, families near freeways and ports throughout California suffer the consequences of inhaling toxic fumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa looks out of his bedroom window toward Drumm Avenue in Wilmington and sees diesel trucks hauling cargo from the Port of Los Angeles lined up on his street. To feel any relief, he confines himself in this room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he’s at work in Costa Mesa, his asthma symptoms don’t bother him. But he said his coughing starts as soon as he’s home. Last year, during Thanksgiving dinner, he was hospitalized for three days before his asthma could be stabilized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as I get home from work the smell of diesel fumes and the dirt makes me cough,” Jose said. “I have to lock myself in my room with my air purifier and humidifier on. As soon as I go outside, I start coughing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a hat uses an inhaler while sitting on a bed.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Ulloa inhales from a medical vaporizer at his home in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles where commercial trucks pass by in numbers. Dec. 2, 2024. Photo by Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The family has lived there for almost 30 years, long before the trucks serving the port started coming through their neighborhood. Antonio Ulloa, Jose and Imelda’s son remembers being a child and playing with other kids in the street. They’d play tag, skateboard and shoot basketballs into a hoop set up on the street, without any fear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, at 31, Antonio sees no kids outside. Families keep their children indoors and shut all the windows to keep the pollution and noise out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Antonio’s nephew visits the family home, just a few hours playing in the front yard will give him nosebleeds. “It’s depressing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilmington has long been known as one of the areas most affected by the air pollution. Community members report allergies, nosebleeds and the need for supplemental oxygen. About 12% of children in Wilmington have been diagnosed with asthma as of 2023, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People living near the ports of LA and Long Beach breathe the highest concentrations of diesel exhaust in the Los Angeles basin, which raises their risk of lung cancer. Out of every million people chronically exposed to diesel fumes in West Long Beach, \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">more than 350 people could contract cancer (PDF.)\u003c/a>, according to South Coast Air Quality Management District analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a literal case of life and death for a lot of our community members and our loved ones,” said Paola Vargas, a Carson resident and organizer with nonprofit East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day matters. Every day we don’t have those (truck emissions) rules and they aren’t passed is a day wasted and a day of harmful impacts for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017442\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg\" alt='Two images, the first shows several trucks lined up in a row and the second shows a dog peaking out of a window with bars with a sign underneath saying \"No more trucks, pollution, excessive noise.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Diesel trucks pass in front of homes on Drumm Avenue in Wilmington. Last: A sign under Jose Ulloa’s window in Wilmington protests the truck traffic. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UC Irvine researchers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923000135\">reported last year\u003c/a> that even considering new vehicle technology and the state mandate, heavy-duty drayage trucks will still cause an estimated 2,142 asthma attacks and 106 premature deaths and $1.31 billion in health costs in 2035. That is a dramatic improvement, though, as trucks have gotten cleaner under air board rules: In 2012, they caused an estimated 15,468 asthma attacks, 483 premature deaths and $5.59 billion in health costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the asthma cases and deaths will be in disadvantaged communities along highway routes between the ports and Inland Empire warehouses, according to the study. The researchers concluded that it is worth paying truck companies more than a billion dollars to replace diesels expected to be on the road in 2035 because of the health effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is not going to solve itself,” said Jean-Daniel Saphores, chair of UC Irvine’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an author of the study. “These trucks are still doing a lot of harm and they’re disproportionately harming disadvantaged groups, even with all the regulation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The harm to disadvantaged communities extends to the Inland Empire, where an abundance of land is spurring warehouse development that draws more truck traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Bernardino County’s nearly 2,500 warehouses, for instance, generate 362,000 truck trips a day, according to data by \u003ca href=\"https://radicalresearch.shinyapps.io/WarehouseCITY/\">Warehouse CITY\u003c/a>, a tool created in collaboration with Pitzer College and research agency Radical Research. In Los Angeles County, 16,600 warehouses generate 267,000 daily truck trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MaCarmen Gonzalez, a San Bernardino resident, said she noticed that many young children in her community carry inhalers. After learning about the impacts of diesel pollution, she became an activist for clean air, including the state’s zero-emissions truck rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t see (the exhaust), but it’s killing you,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents struggle to find places for their children to play outdoors in neighborhoods near the Port of LA. On a recent sunny afternoon, Brittany Guevarra played with her three-year-old son at the Wilmington Waterfront Park playground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the background, on Harry Bridges Boulevard, a long line of diesel trucks passed by. The strong smell of diesel exhaust occasionally wafted through the park as children played to the rumble of traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guevarra used to live in San Pedro, but the cost of housing was too high. She was drawn to Wilmington by cheaper rent. At the time, the trucks and port pollution didn’t cross her mind. Now, it’s inescapable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Afterward I thought about it and I was like, ‘dang,’” Guevarra said. “I do worry. That’s why I keep (my son) inside. I know it’s bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the seemingly endless stream of trucks kept coming, Guevarra walked her son home after playing in the park. She doesn’t think she’ll ever return.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "California has an aggressive mandate for zero-emission trucks, which are powered by electricity or hydrogen. But trucking companies face big obstacles — and people are still breathing dangerous diesel exhaust.",
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"title": "Polluted Communities Hold Their Breath as Companies Struggle With California’s Diesel Truck Ban | KQED",
"description": "California has an aggressive mandate for zero-emission trucks, which are powered by electricity or hydrogen. But trucking companies face big obstacles — and people are still breathing dangerous diesel exhaust.",
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"headline": "Polluted Communities Hold Their Breath as Companies Struggle With California’s Diesel Truck Ban",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Standing in his front yard in Wilmington, Jose Ulloa can’t get a sentence out without coughing. Heavy-duty trucks, headed to and from the Port of Los Angeles, pass in front of his home all day, their engines roaring and their exhaust spewing into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa, who was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, suffers frequent breathing problems and was hospitalized after one attack. The truck traffic is likely a trigger since health officials say diesel exhaust is known to cause \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/overview-diesel-exhaust-and-health\">asthma attacks and other respiratory problems\u003c/a>, including lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parade of big rigs in his neighborhood started four years ago after a series of traffic pattern changes altered their route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imelda, his wife, sweeps the yard and cleans the home nonstop, but black dust still collects on every surface of their home within hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you blow your nose, black dust will come out,” she said. “It’s a terrible life living here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, Mashhoor Alammari, who runs a small fleet of drayage trucks that haul cargo to and from the port, wants to do his part to help clean the air of dangerous diesel exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., bought two new zero-emission big rigs at a cost of more than $900,000. But the trucks, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, are expensive to operate and there are few if any fueling stations along their routes. The new trucks have been sitting in the parking lot most of the time since he bought them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to put myself into a financial hole,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experiences of the Wilmington family and the Oakland truck company illustrate the frustrations and obstacles that Californians face as state officials pursue an aggressive and controversial mandate to clean the air by phasing out diesel-powered big rigs and other trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/climate-change/2023/04/california-phases-out-diesel-trucks/\">approved by the Air Resources Board last year\u003c/a>, is the first in the world to ban new diesel trucks and require a switch to zero-emission vehicles, which are powered by electricity or hydrogen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-overview\">face varying deadlines\u003c/a> for ending their use of diesel, which for decades has been an efficient powerhouse fueling the economy and transport of goods. Starting in 2036, no new fossil-fueled medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks can be sold in California, and by 2042, large companies must convert their trucks to zero-emission models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trucking industry said the regulation is unreasonable and will wreak havoc on the economy, making it difficult to make long-haul shipments. The California Trucking Association and a collective of 17 states, including Nebraska, Alabama and New Mexico, \u003ca href=\"https://environmentalenergybrief.sidley.com/2024/05/23/17-states-file-complaint-challenging-constitutionality-of-californias-advanced-clean-fleets-regulation/\">have sued the state\u003c/a>, alleging the rule oversteps state power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg\" alt=\"A large white truck in the foreground with big shipping containers in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commercial trucks pass by a warehouse in front of a residential neighborhood along Drumm Avenue in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From big rigs to garbage trucks and delivery vans, the rules will dramatically change the 1.8 million commercial trucks driven on California’s roads over the next two decades. Sales already are accelerating even though no deadlines have kicked in yet. Last year, one out of every six trucks sold in the state — more than 18,000 — were zero emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate is in flux because the state still needs a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it can start enforcing them. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized California’s electric car mandates and in the past tried to revoke the state’s authority to set its own vehicle standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One deadline already has passed: All new drayage trucks, which are used to haul containers from ports, were supposed to be zero emissions by last October. But that deadline is not yet being enforced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truck companies like Alammari’s that took a risk to be early adopters of clean trucks are now in limbo, swallowing high operating costs and competing with cheaper diesel-only companies in an already struggling industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, California’s most vulnerable residents who live near roads with heavy diesel truck traffic may have to wait longer for a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The dangers of diesel\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Diesel trucks are among the state’s biggest sources of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/02/california-new-soot-standards/\">microscopic particles of soot\u003c/a>, which can damage lungs and trigger asthma attacks and heart attacks. They also play an outsized role in California’s smog: While they make up just 6% of all vehicles on California’s roads, they are responsible for 72% of nitrogen oxides, a key ingredient of smog, emitted by on-road vehicles, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, health officials declared diesel exhaust, which contains dozens of toxic gases, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr213_E.pdf\">human carcinogen (PDF.)\u003c/a> several decades ago because of studies linking it to lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles basin, diesel exhaust is responsible for more than two-thirds of the cancer risk posed by air pollution, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">a risk analysis by the South Coast Air Quality Management District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest dangers from diesels are in communities near high-traffic corridors. People near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles and parts of the Inland Empire are at risk of 350 to 500 cancer cases per million people because of diesel fumes, according to the analysis. That risk has dropped substantially in recent years as trucks get cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PKart/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s clean truck rule is \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/regact/2022/acf22/isor2.pdf\">expected through 2050 to save $26.5 billion (PDF.)\u003c/a> in statewide health costs and save fleet owners $48 billion through reduced fuel and maintenance costs, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The health benefits from eliminating the pollution (from diesel trucks) far exceed any cost the industry will bear,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney for environmental group Earthjustice. “Trucking lobbyists and other folks are super loud and they’re going to focus on the difficulties of the transition. But millions of Californians affected by pollution from the freight industry is not acceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Lots of obstacles for emissions-free trucking\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But a lack of fast, reliable charging stations and the vehicles’ limited ranges makes it difficult, even impossible, for trucks to transport goods long distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric heavy-duty trucks have ranges up to 250 miles, while hydrogen-powered ones can drive about 500 miles on a full tank. They can use the same public fast chargers as cars, but that’s impractical because they take up too much space and charging can take up to six hours. For hydrogen, only 22 fueling stations for large trucks are operating or in development statewide, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery-powered trucks also are heavy, which means they can carry less cargo. As a result, companies have to charge more, which shippers aren’t usually willing to pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry also points to the substantial investment that is needed to expand the electric grid’s capacity to eventually charge thousands of battery-powered trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one’s opposed” to cleaner air, said Matt Schrap head of the Harbor Trucking Association, which represents drayage truck companies. “It is about practical application and implementation of these rules. We have nowhere near enough infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air board’s mandate “is the epitome of ready, fire, aim,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials stress that truck companies have time and flexible options to comply, and the state is working to \u003ca href=\"https://calfleetadvisor.org/who-we-are/\">help them understand and comply with the complex rules\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are worried, I get it. But (the deadline) is not tomorrow,” said Bruce Tuter, who oversees compliance and outreach at the air board. “Charging times, charging speeds, all of that needs to start building up where it gets quicker to charge a truck and where it’s more accessible to charge when you’re traveling long distances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alammari, the truck company owner from Oakland, said he bought his two hydrogen trucks because he had interest from a shipping company that wanted to work with zero-emission vehicles. The profits Alammari would have made working with that company would have justified the added costs of operating a hydrogen fuel cell truck, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the last minute, however, the company chose to work with someone else. Without any customers willing to pay more to ship with his hydrogen trucks, he can’t use them. He’s doing his best to transition his entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles. He had even ordered three more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with help from state grants, Alammari said it’s not enough to help him operate the zero-emission vehicles or buy more of them. He pays substantially more for insuring them, and it costs twice as much to fully fuel them with hydrogen compared to a diesel, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without companies willing to ship goods with zero-emission vehicles, early adopters of the technology, like his company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., are at a disadvantage until the mandate makes everyone comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I don’t get customers to use these trucks, The Crew Transportation is not going to move forward to get the three remaining hydrogen trucks we ordered,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials created the most stringent deadlines for drayage trucks partly because they travel near the most vulnerable communities — the low-income communities of color around the ports. They also tend to make shorter trips compared to other heavy-duty trucks, and ports are equipped with some fueling and charging stations, air board officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some companies that operate drayage trucks near disadvantaged communities may qualify for state grants of up to $336,000 toward the cost of a new hydrogen or electric truck. Under the regulation, they are able to keep their diesel trucks until they reach 800,000 miles or 18 years, whichever is earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, based on how many miles are already on his trucks, Alammari expects them to be unusable by 2028 under the mandate. As he sees it, the future of the company he’s worked so hard to build is at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017441\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017441\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg\" alt='Two images, on the left a man appears to be filling up a tank and on the right the words \"Hydrogen Fleet.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Khari Burton of IMC Logistics demonstrates how to charge a zero-emissions big rig. Last: A hydrogen-powered truck at IMC headquarters in Compton. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles area, Sandra Espinioza, a truck driver for IMC Logistics, drives seven miles between Lomita and Torrance several times a day before powering up at the WattEV charging station in Long Beach. It’s a short and easy work route that makes it easy for a battery-powered truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re really quiet, and a really smooth drive,” she said. “You don’t smell the fumes. When it’s (charged) 100%, you’re gonna be able to go through your day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the state’s truck fleets are considered “\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-high-priority-and-federal-fleets-overview\">high priority\u003c/a>” — federal fleets, such as the post office, and companies with at least one vehicle in California and $50 million or more in gross annual revenue or 50 or more vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These large operators have two ways to comply. Most are choosing a phase-in option. Under that option, smaller vehicles, such as UPS or Amazon delivery vans and box trucks, must be 100% zero emissions by 2035. But long-distance, heavy-duty trucks get more time to comply: 10% must be zero emissions by 2030 and 100% by 2042.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dIQue/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jim Gillis, president of Compton-based IMC Logistics’ Pacific region, said the air board’s deadlines are so aggressive that it poses challenges to even large companies like his. His company has 319 diesel trucks, 50 hydrogen fuel cell trucks and six electric trucks in California. Installing a handful of charging stations at its headquarters was an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said trucking companies essentially are conducting research and development with these zero-emission technologies. The new trucks have frequent recalls and can make hauls more expensive. Battery-powered trucks have to be used for shorter trips because of their limited range.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said the federal government’s delay in approving a waiver for California’s truck rule doesn’t help his company, since it already bought the clean trucks and has to compete with other companies. But he said IMC is large enough that it can absorb the costs without much consequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric and hydrogen trucks are the future, Gillis said, adding that large companies like his have a responsibility to show the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to do it now,” Gillis said. “The more we try to delay this, it’s just going to be more painful down the road. Every mile that I put on a hydrogen truck today is going to benefit somebody down the road.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘A literal case of life and death’ in communities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As fleet owners struggle with the transition to clean fuels, families near freeways and ports throughout California suffer the consequences of inhaling toxic fumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa looks out of his bedroom window toward Drumm Avenue in Wilmington and sees diesel trucks hauling cargo from the Port of Los Angeles lined up on his street. To feel any relief, he confines himself in this room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he’s at work in Costa Mesa, his asthma symptoms don’t bother him. But he said his coughing starts as soon as he’s home. Last year, during Thanksgiving dinner, he was hospitalized for three days before his asthma could be stabilized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as I get home from work the smell of diesel fumes and the dirt makes me cough,” Jose said. “I have to lock myself in my room with my air purifier and humidifier on. As soon as I go outside, I start coughing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a hat uses an inhaler while sitting on a bed.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Ulloa inhales from a medical vaporizer at his home in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles where commercial trucks pass by in numbers. Dec. 2, 2024. Photo by Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The family has lived there for almost 30 years, long before the trucks serving the port started coming through their neighborhood. Antonio Ulloa, Jose and Imelda’s son remembers being a child and playing with other kids in the street. They’d play tag, skateboard and shoot basketballs into a hoop set up on the street, without any fear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, at 31, Antonio sees no kids outside. Families keep their children indoors and shut all the windows to keep the pollution and noise out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Antonio’s nephew visits the family home, just a few hours playing in the front yard will give him nosebleeds. “It’s depressing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilmington has long been known as one of the areas most affected by the air pollution. Community members report allergies, nosebleeds and the need for supplemental oxygen. About 12% of children in Wilmington have been diagnosed with asthma as of 2023, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People living near the ports of LA and Long Beach breathe the highest concentrations of diesel exhaust in the Los Angeles basin, which raises their risk of lung cancer. Out of every million people chronically exposed to diesel fumes in West Long Beach, \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">more than 350 people could contract cancer (PDF.)\u003c/a>, according to South Coast Air Quality Management District analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a literal case of life and death for a lot of our community members and our loved ones,” said Paola Vargas, a Carson resident and organizer with nonprofit East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day matters. Every day we don’t have those (truck emissions) rules and they aren’t passed is a day wasted and a day of harmful impacts for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017442\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg\" alt='Two images, the first shows several trucks lined up in a row and the second shows a dog peaking out of a window with bars with a sign underneath saying \"No more trucks, pollution, excessive noise.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Diesel trucks pass in front of homes on Drumm Avenue in Wilmington. Last: A sign under Jose Ulloa’s window in Wilmington protests the truck traffic. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UC Irvine researchers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923000135\">reported last year\u003c/a> that even considering new vehicle technology and the state mandate, heavy-duty drayage trucks will still cause an estimated 2,142 asthma attacks and 106 premature deaths and $1.31 billion in health costs in 2035. That is a dramatic improvement, though, as trucks have gotten cleaner under air board rules: In 2012, they caused an estimated 15,468 asthma attacks, 483 premature deaths and $5.59 billion in health costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the asthma cases and deaths will be in disadvantaged communities along highway routes between the ports and Inland Empire warehouses, according to the study. The researchers concluded that it is worth paying truck companies more than a billion dollars to replace diesels expected to be on the road in 2035 because of the health effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is not going to solve itself,” said Jean-Daniel Saphores, chair of UC Irvine’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an author of the study. “These trucks are still doing a lot of harm and they’re disproportionately harming disadvantaged groups, even with all the regulation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The harm to disadvantaged communities extends to the Inland Empire, where an abundance of land is spurring warehouse development that draws more truck traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Bernardino County’s nearly 2,500 warehouses, for instance, generate 362,000 truck trips a day, according to data by \u003ca href=\"https://radicalresearch.shinyapps.io/WarehouseCITY/\">Warehouse CITY\u003c/a>, a tool created in collaboration with Pitzer College and research agency Radical Research. In Los Angeles County, 16,600 warehouses generate 267,000 daily truck trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MaCarmen Gonzalez, a San Bernardino resident, said she noticed that many young children in her community carry inhalers. After learning about the impacts of diesel pollution, she became an activist for clean air, including the state’s zero-emissions truck rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t see (the exhaust), but it’s killing you,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents struggle to find places for their children to play outdoors in neighborhoods near the Port of LA. On a recent sunny afternoon, Brittany Guevarra played with her three-year-old son at the Wilmington Waterfront Park playground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the background, on Harry Bridges Boulevard, a long line of diesel trucks passed by. The strong smell of diesel exhaust occasionally wafted through the park as children played to the rumble of traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guevarra used to live in San Pedro, but the cost of housing was too high. She was drawn to Wilmington by cheaper rent. At the time, the trucks and port pollution didn’t cross her mind. Now, it’s inescapable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Afterward I thought about it and I was like, ‘dang,’” Guevarra said. “I do worry. That’s why I keep (my son) inside. I know it’s bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California Banned Bilingual Education for Almost 20 Years. It Still Hasn’t Recovered",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 1953, Bárbara Flores entered kindergarten at Washington Elementary School in Madera, California, a small city in the Central Valley surrounded by farm fields. Her mother and grandmother had talked it up: You’re going to learn a lot. You’re going to like it. She believed them. A little girl who would one day become a teacher, Flores was excited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But only until she got there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I walked out,” Flores recalled recently. She got to her grandmother’s house a few blocks away, furious. “Son mentirosas,” she said. “No entiendo nada. Y jamas voy a regresar.” \u003cem>You’re liars. I don’t understand anything. And I’m never going back\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores only spoke Spanish. As the grandchild of Mexican immigrants, she didn’t find her language or culture welcome in the school. But little Bárbara didn’t get her way. And after depositing her daughter back in the classroom, Flores’ mother asked the teacher a question: \u003cem>Aren’t you paying attention? My daughter walked out\u003c/em>. The answer felt like a slap and became a part of family lore. \u003cem>All these little Mexican girls look alike. I didn’t notice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores returned to her old school this fall; the building she walked out of still stands, but almost everything else has changed. Now, students speak Spanish because their teachers require them to. Little Mexican girls see their culture celebrated on the walls of every classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington students will graduate knowing how to speak, read and write in both Spanish and English, joining a growing number of “dual-language immersion” schools in California. Flores’ eyes open wide as she describes the about-face her alma mater has taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were punished for speaking Spanish,” she said. “We were hit with rulers, pinched, our braids were pulled. Now the whole school is dual-language.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A family photograph of Bárbara Flores and her sister in their backyard in 1953. The path has not been linear. When Flores was a child, California still had an English-only law on the books from the 1800s. As governor, Ronald Reagan signed a bill eliminating it. Then, the Civil Rights Movement ushered in a new era of bilingual education, and the California Legislature went further, requiring the model for students still learning English from 1976 until the anti-immigrant backlash of the 1990s. Voters banned it again in 1998, only reversing the latest prohibition in 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers have found bilingual education helps students learn English faster and can boost their standardized test scores, increase graduation rates, better prepare them for college and much more. California has removed the official barriers to offering this type of instruction since 2016, and the state now champions bilingualism and biliteracy, encouraging all students to strive for both. But eight years after repeal, California schools have yet to recover. A decades-long enrollment slump in bilingual-teacher prep programs has led to a decimated teacher pipeline. And underinvestment by the Legislature, paired with a hamstrung state Education Department, has limited the pace of bilingual education’s comeback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result? A rare case in which Californians can say Texas is inspiring. Both states enroll more than 1 million students still learning English — but last year, the Lone Star State put 40% of them in bilingual classrooms. California managed that for just 10%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1987, Flores didn’t think state policy would go this way. At the time, both states required bilingual education. She was a professor, helping build a bilingual-education teacher prep program at Cal State San Bernardino. Her home state could have kept pace with Texas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The English-only years: 1998 to 2016\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1998, the bilingual-teacher prep program was flourishing. Flores helped aspiring teachers understand how students learn to read and write in two languages, sending them off into classrooms with binders full of instructional tips. Her daughter, then 10, was learning both English and Spanish through bilingual classes in the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Flores was on a parent committee organizing broader support for such programs in the face of a statewide campaign to get rid of them, bankrolled by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ron Unz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017259\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017259\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children’s books in Spanish and English line the wall of a classroom at Washington Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Proposition 227, which passed with 61% of the vote, required schools to teach only in English with students who were still learning the language, something that may sound like a good idea but often ends up unnecessarily putting students’ grade-level learning of other subjects on pause while they master English. Flores saw the impact immediately. Faculty on campus called for the elimination of her program, an effort that ultimately failed but showed, she said, “the intensity of the discrimination and language racism that was prevalent.” Enrollment in bilingual-teacher prep programs across the state plummeted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores also watched local school districts respond. “I was shocked at superintendents in the area,” she said. “They just made everybody throw away their Spanish books. It was horrendous.” As she recalls, every single school district in the Inland Empire got rid of its bilingual programs except San Bernardino City Unified, where parent activism helped ensure the district took advantage of an exception to the new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dual-language students outperform their peers in San Bernardino City Unified\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/AiGqM/5/\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, student achievement data from San Bernardino City Unified had shown that bilingual programs were helping kids succeed. And over the next two decades, researchers studying programs across the United States released a steady stream of evidence about the benefits of bilingual education, especially a version called “dual language.” Traditional bilingual education essentially lets students use their first language while they learn English. Once students become fluent, their schools shift entirely to English instruction, which was the goal all along. Dual-language programs, by contrast, set bilingualism as the goal. Students continue to take courses in Spanish or another language for about half of the school day until they leave the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While dual-language programs often stop after elementary school, the “\u003ca href=\"https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/language-minority-students/bilingual-education-and-americas-future-evidence-and-pathways/bilingual-biliteracy-ed_06132023-082923-copyright.pdf\">bilingual advantage\u003c/a>” stretches through students’ K-12 years and into their working lives. Dual-language students have been found to score higher than their peers on both \u003ca href=\"https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED566267.pdf\">math\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED577026.pdf\">English language arts\u003c/a> exams by middle school. They also get higher scores \u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1229260\">on the ACT\u003c/a> in high school, setting them up to be more competitive in college admissions. And importantly, a team at Stanford found that native Spanish speakers were more likely to test out of English-learner services \u003ca href=\"https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/reclassification-patterns-among-latino-english-learner-students-bilingual-dual-immersion-and-english-immersion-classrooms\">if they took bilingual classes\u003c/a>, a coveted goal because of how well “former English learners” do. University of Chicago researchers just released data showing that Chicago high schoolers in this group had \u003ca href=\"https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/english-learners-in-chicago-public-schools-a-spotlight-on-high-school-students?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=A%20new%20study%20out%20today&utm_campaign=EL%202024%20Report%20Release\">higher-than-average\u003c/a> GPAs and SAT scores, high school graduation rates, and community college enrollment and persistence rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patricia Gándara co-directs the UCLA Civil Rights Project, which has published similar findings and has spent decades of her career cataloging the bilingual advantage. She laments the narrow value placed on bilingual education in the U.S., where it has historically been pursued as a way to help kids who don’t speak English learn the language more quickly and then succeed in English-only classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s a very shortsighted view,” Gándara said, “particularly from the research that we’ve done that shows kids who get a strong bilingual education are more likely to go to college, they’re more likely to complete college, they’re more likely to have better jobs and better opportunities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017260\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017260\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students walk through campus at Madison Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 30, 2024. The school opened a dual language program in 2017. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet while policymakers didn’t catch on right away, well-off and well-educated white parents did, seeing the economic benefits of bilingualism for their children very clearly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glendale Unified School District launched its first Spanish-English dual-language program in 2003, going on to add programs in six other languages while official state policy was to ban them. Last year, 85% of the students enrolled were fluent English speakers, according to program director Nancy Hong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigrant families, weighed down by the pressure to speak English and make sure their children do too, have been hard to recruit. Hong said immigrant parents have long been concerned that letting their children spend half the school day or more hearing their home language will get in the way of learning English, even though research has shown it can make the whole process go faster. “The goal is to dismantle those myths and misperceptions,” she said. However, even though about 20% of students districtwide are English learners, only about 10% of them are in dual-language programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many immigrant families, however, have become strong advocates for the programs. José Sanjas, a Mexican-born father in Madera Unified School District, takes his 6-year-old daughter past her neighborhood school every day en route to one of the district’s dual-language programs. He and his wife want to preserve their native language as their daughter grows up here, but the draw isn’t only personal; Sanjas also sees how bilingualism will benefit his daughter in the workplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She can help more people in the future,” Sanjas said. “Professionally, she’ll be able to serve everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017258\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bárbara Flores stands inside her old kindergarten classroom at Washington Elementary. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spurred on by support like his, a diverse coalition of school leaders in Madera Unified had, by 2016, come to see dual-language education as key to turning around the district’s chronically low performance, especially among the children of immigrants. Flores had helped make the case, inviting school board members to the annual conference of the California Association for Bilingual Education. And in Flores’ hometown, U.S.-born, white families were among those speaking up in support of the programs, knowing even if the immigrant students’ test scores had the most room to grow, their children could benefit too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, public opinion had swung in the other direction; that November, about 74% of California voters said yes to Proposition 58, officially allowing bilingual education back in California classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a relief we [could] finally move forward for our children,” Flores said. “We lost a whole generation of kids — quite a few generations, really — because of English-only.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next generation, however, is still waiting.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A limping recovery: 2016 to 2024\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Flores spent 40 years training future teachers before retiring in 2019. Across three institutions and 32 years at Cal State San Bernardino, she likely taught 10,000 students, many of whom remain sprinkled throughout the state’s bilingual-education system. But if anything defines the legacy of Prop. 227, it is the shattered teacher pipeline it left in its wake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gándara, of the UCLA Civil Rights Project, said the current state of affairs is “one of those stories of ‘I told you so.’ … I could see what the problem was going to be: that when people came back to their senses and realized what a mistake this was, the big fallout was going to be that we didn’t have the teachers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California colleges are not producing nearly enough teachers to meet the state’s bilingual-education goals. During the 2022-23 school year, the state commission on teacher credentialing only authorized 1,011 new bilingual teachers — \u003ca href=\"https://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/reports/data/other-teacher-supply-bilingual-authorizations\">across all languages\u003c/a>. Only seven went to teachers who speak Vietnamese, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/cefelfacts.asp\">second-most-common language\u003c/a> in California schools that year. And it actually gave out fewer credentials to Spanish-speaking teachers that year than in the three years prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature has not ignored this problem entirely. In 2017, it funded six grants, totaling $20 million, to help districts coach up bilingual staffers and prepare them to lead bilingual classrooms. But Edgar Lampkin, CEO of the California Association for Bilingual Education, said seeding such “grow your own” programs falls far short of addressing the statewide need. “That’s not systemic,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, the National Resource Center for Asian Languages, based at Cal State Fullerton, got state money to train 200 teachers over five years. They’re on track, and the center’s director, Natalie Tran, is proud that their programs are not only increasing the number of teachers certified to teach in Asian languages but also diversifying the languages they speak. She expects to certify teachers who speak Tagalog, Hmong and Khmer this school year. Still, she said, the state needs to do more to train additional teachers of Asian languages, including the less common ones. “We’re going to need help from policymakers to make this happen,” Tran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She isn’t the only one calling on lawmakers to be part of the solution. Anya Hurwitz is executive director of SEAL, a nonprofit that got its start as an initiative of the Sobrato Family Foundation to address achievement gaps between immigrant and native-born children in Silicon Valley. She says the state underfunds education, which gets in the way of doing what’s best for kids who don’t speak English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, the last year for which \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/econ/school-finances/secondary-education-finance.html\">federal census data\u003c/a> is available, New York spent almost $30,000 per student. California spent about $17,000. And besides its support for teacher training, the Legislature has only given districts \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r28/dlig21result.asp\">$10 million\u003c/a> extra to start or expand dual-language programs. In Massachusetts, home to about one-tenth the number of kids still learning English, the Legislature disbursed $11.8 million for the same work, kicking off its own recovery from an English-only law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Funding is not the solution to everything in and of itself,” Hurwitz said, “but at the same time, we can’t build capacity without funding and resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017263\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017263\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students pay attention during a class in Spanish at Madison Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 30, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back in Flores’ hometown, Madera administrators have been able to use state and federal money earmarked for their sizable number of immigrant families and those living in poverty to achieve their dual-language goals. However, startup costs for dual-language programs are expensive. Teacher preparation programs, Superintendent Todd Lile said, are not producing graduates who are ready to do this work, leaving districts like his with steep professional development costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A residency program with Cal State Fresno has given Madera a solid pipeline of teachers, but the recent grads have to clear all the usual hurdles of being new to the profession while also adapting to using Spanish in the classroom. While these new hires at Washington Elementary School grew up bilingual, they went to school through the Prop. 227 years, meaning most of them didn’t develop an academic vocabulary in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Viviana Valerio, a kindergarten teacher, said that history made bilingual education an intimidating proposition. “I commonly speak Spanish at home, but then when I was thinking about teaching, I was thinking, ‘OK, academic terms, I don’t know how to translate that,’ or ‘Parents ask me a question and I can’t think of it, I’m going to want to transition into English,’” she said. “For me, that was the scary part.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas, too, lacks bilingual-education teachers, echoing a shortage present in much of the country, but the state is far ahead of California; many districts are able to recruit their own alumni because their programs have been around so long. Texas also continues to invest in bilingual education, helping districts comply with state mandates to offer it. Like California, Texas gives districts more per-pupil funding for every student still learning English; unlike California, Texas offers an additional premium for each of them enrolled in a dual-language program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an extra incentive to start and maintain these programs, Texas has started bumping up funding for the native English speakers enrolled too. Research shows the programs work better when classes are evenly split between native English speakers and speakers of the program’s second language. Then, not only are students learning their second language from the teacher but from their peers as well. Conveniently, this also makes for more integrated classrooms, something Gándara said California needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t been able to take advantage of that, in large part because people don’t pay attention to that as a major issue and also because we don’t have the teachers to pull it off,” Gándara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12017256 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students work on multiplication problems during a Spanish language math class at Madison Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 30, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"background-color: transparent\">Indeed, districts across the state cite staffing as a major barrier to starting or expanding their programs. Some have gone abroad to recruit. Others have been forced to scrap their plans entirely. Newark Unified School District, in the Bay Area, got rid of its dual-language program this year because it couldn’t find teachers to staff it. “We tried everything,” said Karen Allard, assistant superintendent of education services.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than a decade now, the state’s Education Department has tried to champion bilingual programs. Students who can prove their fluency in two languages before graduation get a special seal on their diplomas. The department also implores schools to help the children of immigrants maintain their home language while learning English, building that recommendation into its 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ml/roadmap.asp\">English Learner Roadmap\u003c/a>. By 2030, it wants half of California students on a path to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ml/documents/globalca2030.pdf\">becoming bilingual\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet all of this largely amounts to cheerleading. The department is \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2018/california-department-of-education-limited-in-ability-to-help-districts-improve-report-says/603168\">minimally funded and staffed\u003c/a>, a result of the state’s commitment to sending almost all K-12 funding directly to school districts, and its support for bilingual education has not come with any firm demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conor Williams, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C., recently found himself — a self-described “professional lefty” — in the surprising position of \u003ca href=\"https://tcf.org/content/report/moving-from-vision-to-reality-establishing-california-as-a-national-bilingual-education-and-dual-language-immersion-leader/\">celebrating Texas’ policy over California’s\u003c/a>. Besides following Texas’ lead on funding, he said, California should rethink teacher licensing. The state requires college graduates to pass a suite of tests to become teachers, but Williams points out the tests don’t lead to better instruction and can keep good teachers from classrooms. Getting rid of the requirement could bring more bilingual adults into the profession and expand the teacher pipeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hard to overcome, however, is California’s shift toward more local control over schooling. Williams doesn’t always agree with what the Texas education department does with its power, but the state’s centralized approach means it has “enough power and muscle and will to set rules and hold districts to them,” he said. California’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2024/03/school-finance/\">Local Control Funding Formula\u003c/a> is widely popular and has ensured districts get more state money to serve students still learning English as well as those in foster care and low-income households. However, Williams points out that local control has its limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t win civil rights battles by leaving it up to local school boards,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017264\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12017264 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A native Farsi speaker works on a Spanish language assignment at Washington Elementary School in Madera. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, districts like Madera are moving ahead on their own. In 2020, Flores’ alma mater, Washington Elementary, became Madera Unified’s second dual-language school, welcoming its first class of kindergartners who are expected to leave proficient in both English and Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mateo Diaz Zanjas was one of them. He’s now a fourth-grader and speaks in easy Spanish about the school and his long-term dream of going to Harvard. Upon hearing that he and his peers speak very good Spanish, he eagerly replies: “We also speak good English.” And he proves it, going on to answer questions in English about his favorite subjects and the languages he speaks with certain friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Administrators, however, are still waiting for the data to show that their bet on bilingual education will pay off in student achievement gains. The pandemic interrupted their early years and set them back, and the oldest students aren’t doing as well as district leaders would have hoped. Commitment to the programs, however, has not wavered. Students’ overall test scores remain low, but their growth scores — or how much they learn over the course of the year — are high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is helping students learn English more quickly, too, meaning they are becoming “former English learners” faster with the newer supports and joining the district’s highest-performing student group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Madera teachers are using bilingual education to give Spanish speakers grade-level material, knowing that once they sharpen their English skills, all that information will transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids can learn math in Spanish; it’s still math,” Lile said. “They can learn social studies in Spanish; it’s still history and geography. These subject matters don’t exist only in English.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Flores’ recent visit to Madera Unified, she heard Lile describe his long-term goals for the district, including higher graduation rates and better college readiness for the children of immigrants. She looked on proudly, sure her hometown district was finally getting it right.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An uncertain future: 2024 and beyond\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Flores introduced Lile to Margarita Machado-Casas, a professor at San Diego State’s Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education, which has long been a top producer of the state’s bilingual teachers. Machado-Casas is helping the district figure out what concrete steps teachers and administrators should take to follow the high-level recommendations of the state’s English Learner Roadmap. They started out with “Principle 1,” which asks school and district staffers to see immigrant students’ language and culture as assets rather than seeing their lack of English proficiency as a deficit. Pointing to Madera’s long and painful history of discriminating against immigrant students, including Flores, Machado-Casas said this principle unexpectedly took the entire first year, requiring “courageous conversations” — including asking staffers to think deeply about whether they believed in the work enough to stay in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017267\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12017267 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bárbara Flores sits by a tree at Washington Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 29, 2024. As a child in the 1950s, Flores played Ring Around the Rosie here. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Machado-Casas is helping educators in Madera understand both how to help immigrant students tackle grade-level material and convince them that the students can handle it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores hopes the work ends up being a playbook for the entire state — which could soon need one. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2074?slug=CA_202320240AB2074&_gl=1*1vfy6nl*_gcl_au*Nzk3MzE2MDMuMTczMTAyMjU2Mg..*_ga*Mjk2NjI4MjAxLjE3MzEwMjI1NjI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMzc2NzIyMC4xNS4xLjE3MzM3Njg3MDcuNTYuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMzc2NzIyMC4xNS4xLjE3MzM3Njc5NDAuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMzc2NzIyMC4xNS4xLjE3MzM3Njc5NDAuMC4wLjA.\">signed a bill\u003c/a> this year requiring the Education Department to come up with a statewide plan for helping districts adopt the road map’s guidelines and report on their progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This planning process guarantees California will be over a decade into its recovery from the English-only years before the state even considers holding schools accountable for changing their practices. When New York passed a blueprint for how to serve English learners in 2014, it followed it up with new state regulations that same year, creating stricter policies for serving students who were still learning English, including a broader mandate for bilingual education, which had already been required for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag='education' label='More Education Coverage']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alesha Moreno-Ramirez leads the California Education Department’s multilingual support division. She said state budget limitations have gotten in the way of implementing the English Learner Roadmap and said any call to require bilingual education, like Texas or New York, would have to come from the Legislature, not the department. “That said, we would enthusiastically support the movement toward requiring bilingual education,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates caution such a mandate would have to come with enough funding to help districts create high-quality programs, but many agree it would be a win for California students. Children from immigrant families speak \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/cefelfacts.asp\">108 different languages\u003c/a>, according to the Education Department, but 93% of them speak one of 10. To require bilingual programs, the Legislature would likely tweak the current law, which says if the parents of 30 or more students in a single school request a language acquisition program, the school has to offer it “to the extent possible.” Texas, Illinois and New York have similar laws, but instead of requiring bilingual programs in response to parent advocacy, they do so based solely on enrollment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores thinks the state is at least moving in the right direction. And Madera Unified gives her hope. During her recent visit, she was flooded with memories: She saw the tree she and her friends used to circle while playing “Ring Around the Rosie.” She visited the classroom she walked out of as a 5-year-old, where the walls are now decorated with vocabulary in Spanish as well as English. She suffered in that room 70 years ago. Now, little Mexican girls do not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t stop,” she said. “We keep plugging away. That’s our tenacity. That’s our grit. And our motivation, of course, is for our children.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n 1953, Bárbara Flores entered kindergarten at Washington Elementary School in Madera, California, a small city in the Central Valley surrounded by farm fields. Her mother and grandmother had talked it up: You’re going to learn a lot. You’re going to like it. She believed them. A little girl who would one day become a teacher, Flores was excited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But only until she got there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I walked out,” Flores recalled recently. She got to her grandmother’s house a few blocks away, furious. “Son mentirosas,” she said. “No entiendo nada. Y jamas voy a regresar.” \u003cem>You’re liars. I don’t understand anything. And I’m never going back\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores only spoke Spanish. As the grandchild of Mexican immigrants, she didn’t find her language or culture welcome in the school. But little Bárbara didn’t get her way. And after depositing her daughter back in the classroom, Flores’ mother asked the teacher a question: \u003cem>Aren’t you paying attention? My daughter walked out\u003c/em>. The answer felt like a slap and became a part of family lore. \u003cem>All these little Mexican girls look alike. I didn’t notice\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores returned to her old school this fall; the building she walked out of still stands, but almost everything else has changed. Now, students speak Spanish because their teachers require them to. Little Mexican girls see their culture celebrated on the walls of every classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington students will graduate knowing how to speak, read and write in both Spanish and English, joining a growing number of “dual-language immersion” schools in California. Flores’ eyes open wide as she describes the about-face her alma mater has taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were punished for speaking Spanish,” she said. “We were hit with rulers, pinched, our braids were pulled. Now the whole school is dual-language.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A family photograph of Bárbara Flores and her sister in their backyard in 1953. The path has not been linear. When Flores was a child, California still had an English-only law on the books from the 1800s. As governor, Ronald Reagan signed a bill eliminating it. Then, the Civil Rights Movement ushered in a new era of bilingual education, and the California Legislature went further, requiring the model for students still learning English from 1976 until the anti-immigrant backlash of the 1990s. Voters banned it again in 1998, only reversing the latest prohibition in 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers have found bilingual education helps students learn English faster and can boost their standardized test scores, increase graduation rates, better prepare them for college and much more. California has removed the official barriers to offering this type of instruction since 2016, and the state now champions bilingualism and biliteracy, encouraging all students to strive for both. But eight years after repeal, California schools have yet to recover. A decades-long enrollment slump in bilingual-teacher prep programs has led to a decimated teacher pipeline. And underinvestment by the Legislature, paired with a hamstrung state Education Department, has limited the pace of bilingual education’s comeback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result? A rare case in which Californians can say Texas is inspiring. Both states enroll more than 1 million students still learning English — but last year, the Lone Star State put 40% of them in bilingual classrooms. California managed that for just 10%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1987, Flores didn’t think state policy would go this way. At the time, both states required bilingual education. She was a professor, helping build a bilingual-education teacher prep program at Cal State San Bernardino. Her home state could have kept pace with Texas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The English-only years: 1998 to 2016\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By 1998, the bilingual-teacher prep program was flourishing. Flores helped aspiring teachers understand how students learn to read and write in two languages, sending them off into classrooms with binders full of instructional tips. Her daughter, then 10, was learning both English and Spanish through bilingual classes in the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Flores was on a parent committee organizing broader support for such programs in the face of a statewide campaign to get rid of them, bankrolled by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ron Unz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017259\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017259\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_4-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children’s books in Spanish and English line the wall of a classroom at Washington Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 29, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Proposition 227, which passed with 61% of the vote, required schools to teach only in English with students who were still learning the language, something that may sound like a good idea but often ends up unnecessarily putting students’ grade-level learning of other subjects on pause while they master English. Flores saw the impact immediately. Faculty on campus called for the elimination of her program, an effort that ultimately failed but showed, she said, “the intensity of the discrimination and language racism that was prevalent.” Enrollment in bilingual-teacher prep programs across the state plummeted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores also watched local school districts respond. “I was shocked at superintendents in the area,” she said. “They just made everybody throw away their Spanish books. It was horrendous.” As she recalls, every single school district in the Inland Empire got rid of its bilingual programs except San Bernardino City Unified, where parent activism helped ensure the district took advantage of an exception to the new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dual-language students outperform their peers in San Bernardino City Unified\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/AiGqM/5/\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, student achievement data from San Bernardino City Unified had shown that bilingual programs were helping kids succeed. And over the next two decades, researchers studying programs across the United States released a steady stream of evidence about the benefits of bilingual education, especially a version called “dual language.” Traditional bilingual education essentially lets students use their first language while they learn English. Once students become fluent, their schools shift entirely to English instruction, which was the goal all along. Dual-language programs, by contrast, set bilingualism as the goal. Students continue to take courses in Spanish or another language for about half of the school day until they leave the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While dual-language programs often stop after elementary school, the “\u003ca href=\"https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/language-minority-students/bilingual-education-and-americas-future-evidence-and-pathways/bilingual-biliteracy-ed_06132023-082923-copyright.pdf\">bilingual advantage\u003c/a>” stretches through students’ K-12 years and into their working lives. Dual-language students have been found to score higher than their peers on both \u003ca href=\"https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED566267.pdf\">math\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED577026.pdf\">English language arts\u003c/a> exams by middle school. They also get higher scores \u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1229260\">on the ACT\u003c/a> in high school, setting them up to be more competitive in college admissions. And importantly, a team at Stanford found that native Spanish speakers were more likely to test out of English-learner services \u003ca href=\"https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/reclassification-patterns-among-latino-english-learner-students-bilingual-dual-immersion-and-english-immersion-classrooms\">if they took bilingual classes\u003c/a>, a coveted goal because of how well “former English learners” do. University of Chicago researchers just released data showing that Chicago high schoolers in this group had \u003ca href=\"https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/english-learners-in-chicago-public-schools-a-spotlight-on-high-school-students?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=A%20new%20study%20out%20today&utm_campaign=EL%202024%20Report%20Release\">higher-than-average\u003c/a> GPAs and SAT scores, high school graduation rates, and community college enrollment and persistence rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patricia Gándara co-directs the UCLA Civil Rights Project, which has published similar findings and has spent decades of her career cataloging the bilingual advantage. She laments the narrow value placed on bilingual education in the U.S., where it has historically been pursued as a way to help kids who don’t speak English learn the language more quickly and then succeed in English-only classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s a very shortsighted view,” Gándara said, “particularly from the research that we’ve done that shows kids who get a strong bilingual education are more likely to go to college, they’re more likely to complete college, they’re more likely to have better jobs and better opportunities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017260\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017260\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_5-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students walk through campus at Madison Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 30, 2024. The school opened a dual language program in 2017. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet while policymakers didn’t catch on right away, well-off and well-educated white parents did, seeing the economic benefits of bilingualism for their children very clearly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glendale Unified School District launched its first Spanish-English dual-language program in 2003, going on to add programs in six other languages while official state policy was to ban them. Last year, 85% of the students enrolled were fluent English speakers, according to program director Nancy Hong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigrant families, weighed down by the pressure to speak English and make sure their children do too, have been hard to recruit. Hong said immigrant parents have long been concerned that letting their children spend half the school day or more hearing their home language will get in the way of learning English, even though research has shown it can make the whole process go faster. “The goal is to dismantle those myths and misperceptions,” she said. However, even though about 20% of students districtwide are English learners, only about 10% of them are in dual-language programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many immigrant families, however, have become strong advocates for the programs. José Sanjas, a Mexican-born father in Madera Unified School District, takes his 6-year-old daughter past her neighborhood school every day en route to one of the district’s dual-language programs. He and his wife want to preserve their native language as their daughter grows up here, but the draw isn’t only personal; Sanjas also sees how bilingualism will benefit his daughter in the workplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She can help more people in the future,” Sanjas said. “Professionally, she’ll be able to serve everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017258\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_3-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bárbara Flores stands inside her old kindergarten classroom at Washington Elementary. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Spurred on by support like his, a diverse coalition of school leaders in Madera Unified had, by 2016, come to see dual-language education as key to turning around the district’s chronically low performance, especially among the children of immigrants. Flores had helped make the case, inviting school board members to the annual conference of the California Association for Bilingual Education. And in Flores’ hometown, U.S.-born, white families were among those speaking up in support of the programs, knowing even if the immigrant students’ test scores had the most room to grow, their children could benefit too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, public opinion had swung in the other direction; that November, about 74% of California voters said yes to Proposition 58, officially allowing bilingual education back in California classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a relief we [could] finally move forward for our children,” Flores said. “We lost a whole generation of kids — quite a few generations, really — because of English-only.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next generation, however, is still waiting.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A limping recovery: 2016 to 2024\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Flores spent 40 years training future teachers before retiring in 2019. Across three institutions and 32 years at Cal State San Bernardino, she likely taught 10,000 students, many of whom remain sprinkled throughout the state’s bilingual-education system. But if anything defines the legacy of Prop. 227, it is the shattered teacher pipeline it left in its wake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gándara, of the UCLA Civil Rights Project, said the current state of affairs is “one of those stories of ‘I told you so.’ … I could see what the problem was going to be: that when people came back to their senses and realized what a mistake this was, the big fallout was going to be that we didn’t have the teachers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California colleges are not producing nearly enough teachers to meet the state’s bilingual-education goals. During the 2022-23 school year, the state commission on teacher credentialing only authorized 1,011 new bilingual teachers — \u003ca href=\"https://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/reports/data/other-teacher-supply-bilingual-authorizations\">across all languages\u003c/a>. Only seven went to teachers who speak Vietnamese, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/cefelfacts.asp\">second-most-common language\u003c/a> in California schools that year. And it actually gave out fewer credentials to Spanish-speaking teachers that year than in the three years prior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature has not ignored this problem entirely. In 2017, it funded six grants, totaling $20 million, to help districts coach up bilingual staffers and prepare them to lead bilingual classrooms. But Edgar Lampkin, CEO of the California Association for Bilingual Education, said seeding such “grow your own” programs falls far short of addressing the statewide need. “That’s not systemic,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, the National Resource Center for Asian Languages, based at Cal State Fullerton, got state money to train 200 teachers over five years. They’re on track, and the center’s director, Natalie Tran, is proud that their programs are not only increasing the number of teachers certified to teach in Asian languages but also diversifying the languages they speak. She expects to certify teachers who speak Tagalog, Hmong and Khmer this school year. Still, she said, the state needs to do more to train additional teachers of Asian languages, including the less common ones. “We’re going to need help from policymakers to make this happen,” Tran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She isn’t the only one calling on lawmakers to be part of the solution. Anya Hurwitz is executive director of SEAL, a nonprofit that got its start as an initiative of the Sobrato Family Foundation to address achievement gaps between immigrant and native-born children in Silicon Valley. She says the state underfunds education, which gets in the way of doing what’s best for kids who don’t speak English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, the last year for which \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2022/econ/school-finances/secondary-education-finance.html\">federal census data\u003c/a> is available, New York spent almost $30,000 per student. California spent about $17,000. And besides its support for teacher training, the Legislature has only given districts \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r28/dlig21result.asp\">$10 million\u003c/a> extra to start or expand dual-language programs. In Massachusetts, home to about one-tenth the number of kids still learning English, the Legislature disbursed $11.8 million for the same work, kicking off its own recovery from an English-only law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Funding is not the solution to everything in and of itself,” Hurwitz said, “but at the same time, we can’t build capacity without funding and resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017263\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017263\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_8-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students pay attention during a class in Spanish at Madison Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 30, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back in Flores’ hometown, Madera administrators have been able to use state and federal money earmarked for their sizable number of immigrant families and those living in poverty to achieve their dual-language goals. However, startup costs for dual-language programs are expensive. Teacher preparation programs, Superintendent Todd Lile said, are not producing graduates who are ready to do this work, leaving districts like his with steep professional development costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A residency program with Cal State Fresno has given Madera a solid pipeline of teachers, but the recent grads have to clear all the usual hurdles of being new to the profession while also adapting to using Spanish in the classroom. While these new hires at Washington Elementary School grew up bilingual, they went to school through the Prop. 227 years, meaning most of them didn’t develop an academic vocabulary in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Viviana Valerio, a kindergarten teacher, said that history made bilingual education an intimidating proposition. “I commonly speak Spanish at home, but then when I was thinking about teaching, I was thinking, ‘OK, academic terms, I don’t know how to translate that,’ or ‘Parents ask me a question and I can’t think of it, I’m going to want to transition into English,’” she said. “For me, that was the scary part.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas, too, lacks bilingual-education teachers, echoing a shortage present in much of the country, but the state is far ahead of California; many districts are able to recruit their own alumni because their programs have been around so long. Texas also continues to invest in bilingual education, helping districts comply with state mandates to offer it. Like California, Texas gives districts more per-pupil funding for every student still learning English; unlike California, Texas offers an additional premium for each of them enrolled in a dual-language program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an extra incentive to start and maintain these programs, Texas has started bumping up funding for the native English speakers enrolled too. Research shows the programs work better when classes are evenly split between native English speakers and speakers of the program’s second language. Then, not only are students learning their second language from the teacher but from their peers as well. Conveniently, this also makes for more integrated classrooms, something Gándara said California needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We haven’t been able to take advantage of that, in large part because people don’t pay attention to that as a major issue and also because we don’t have the teachers to pull it off,” Gándara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12017256 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924_BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_CM_9-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students work on multiplication problems during a Spanish language math class at Madison Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 30, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"background-color: transparent\">Indeed, districts across the state cite staffing as a major barrier to starting or expanding their programs. Some have gone abroad to recruit. Others have been forced to scrap their plans entirely. Newark Unified School District, in the Bay Area, got rid of its dual-language program this year because it couldn’t find teachers to staff it. “We tried everything,” said Karen Allard, assistant superintendent of education services.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than a decade now, the state’s Education Department has tried to champion bilingual programs. Students who can prove their fluency in two languages before graduation get a special seal on their diplomas. The department also implores schools to help the children of immigrants maintain their home language while learning English, building that recommendation into its 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ml/roadmap.asp\">English Learner Roadmap\u003c/a>. By 2030, it wants half of California students on a path to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ml/documents/globalca2030.pdf\">becoming bilingual\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet all of this largely amounts to cheerleading. The department is \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2018/california-department-of-education-limited-in-ability-to-help-districts-improve-report-says/603168\">minimally funded and staffed\u003c/a>, a result of the state’s commitment to sending almost all K-12 funding directly to school districts, and its support for bilingual education has not come with any firm demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conor Williams, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C., recently found himself — a self-described “professional lefty” — in the surprising position of \u003ca href=\"https://tcf.org/content/report/moving-from-vision-to-reality-establishing-california-as-a-national-bilingual-education-and-dual-language-immersion-leader/\">celebrating Texas’ policy over California’s\u003c/a>. Besides following Texas’ lead on funding, he said, California should rethink teacher licensing. The state requires college graduates to pass a suite of tests to become teachers, but Williams points out the tests don’t lead to better instruction and can keep good teachers from classrooms. Getting rid of the requirement could bring more bilingual adults into the profession and expand the teacher pipeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hard to overcome, however, is California’s shift toward more local control over schooling. Williams doesn’t always agree with what the Texas education department does with its power, but the state’s centralized approach means it has “enough power and muscle and will to set rules and hold districts to them,” he said. California’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2024/03/school-finance/\">Local Control Funding Formula\u003c/a> is widely popular and has ensured districts get more state money to serve students still learning English as well as those in foster care and low-income households. However, Williams points out that local control has its limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t win civil rights battles by leaving it up to local school boards,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017264\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12017264 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_10-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A native Farsi speaker works on a Spanish language assignment at Washington Elementary School in Madera. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, districts like Madera are moving ahead on their own. In 2020, Flores’ alma mater, Washington Elementary, became Madera Unified’s second dual-language school, welcoming its first class of kindergartners who are expected to leave proficient in both English and Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mateo Diaz Zanjas was one of them. He’s now a fourth-grader and speaks in easy Spanish about the school and his long-term dream of going to Harvard. Upon hearing that he and his peers speak very good Spanish, he eagerly replies: “We also speak good English.” And he proves it, going on to answer questions in English about his favorite subjects and the languages he speaks with certain friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Administrators, however, are still waiting for the data to show that their bet on bilingual education will pay off in student achievement gains. The pandemic interrupted their early years and set them back, and the oldest students aren’t doing as well as district leaders would have hoped. Commitment to the programs, however, has not wavered. Students’ overall test scores remain low, but their growth scores — or how much they learn over the course of the year — are high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is helping students learn English more quickly, too, meaning they are becoming “former English learners” faster with the newer supports and joining the district’s highest-performing student group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Madera teachers are using bilingual education to give Spanish speakers grade-level material, knowing that once they sharpen their English skills, all that information will transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids can learn math in Spanish; it’s still math,” Lile said. “They can learn social studies in Spanish; it’s still history and geography. These subject matters don’t exist only in English.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Flores’ recent visit to Madera Unified, she heard Lile describe his long-term goals for the district, including higher graduation rates and better college readiness for the children of immigrants. She looked on proudly, sure her hometown district was finally getting it right.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An uncertain future: 2024 and beyond\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Flores introduced Lile to Margarita Machado-Casas, a professor at San Diego State’s Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education, which has long been a top producer of the state’s bilingual teachers. Machado-Casas is helping the district figure out what concrete steps teachers and administrators should take to follow the high-level recommendations of the state’s English Learner Roadmap. They started out with “Principle 1,” which asks school and district staffers to see immigrant students’ language and culture as assets rather than seeing their lack of English proficiency as a deficit. Pointing to Madera’s long and painful history of discriminating against immigrant students, including Flores, Machado-Casas said this principle unexpectedly took the entire first year, requiring “courageous conversations” — including asking staffers to think deeply about whether they believed in the work enough to stay in the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017267\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12017267 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102924-BILINGUAL-RECOVERY-LV_12-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bárbara Flores sits by a tree at Washington Elementary School in Madera on Oct. 29, 2024. As a child in the 1950s, Flores played Ring Around the Rosie here. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Machado-Casas is helping educators in Madera understand both how to help immigrant students tackle grade-level material and convince them that the students can handle it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores hopes the work ends up being a playbook for the entire state — which could soon need one. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2074?slug=CA_202320240AB2074&_gl=1*1vfy6nl*_gcl_au*Nzk3MzE2MDMuMTczMTAyMjU2Mg..*_ga*Mjk2NjI4MjAxLjE3MzEwMjI1NjI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMzc2NzIyMC4xNS4xLjE3MzM3Njg3MDcuNTYuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMzc2NzIyMC4xNS4xLjE3MzM3Njc5NDAuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMzc2NzIyMC4xNS4xLjE3MzM3Njc5NDAuMC4wLjA.\">signed a bill\u003c/a> this year requiring the Education Department to come up with a statewide plan for helping districts adopt the road map’s guidelines and report on their progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This planning process guarantees California will be over a decade into its recovery from the English-only years before the state even considers holding schools accountable for changing their practices. When New York passed a blueprint for how to serve English learners in 2014, it followed it up with new state regulations that same year, creating stricter policies for serving students who were still learning English, including a broader mandate for bilingual education, which had already been required for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alesha Moreno-Ramirez leads the California Education Department’s multilingual support division. She said state budget limitations have gotten in the way of implementing the English Learner Roadmap and said any call to require bilingual education, like Texas or New York, would have to come from the Legislature, not the department. “That said, we would enthusiastically support the movement toward requiring bilingual education,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates caution such a mandate would have to come with enough funding to help districts create high-quality programs, but many agree it would be a win for California students. Children from immigrant families speak \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/cefelfacts.asp\">108 different languages\u003c/a>, according to the Education Department, but 93% of them speak one of 10. To require bilingual programs, the Legislature would likely tweak the current law, which says if the parents of 30 or more students in a single school request a language acquisition program, the school has to offer it “to the extent possible.” Texas, Illinois and New York have similar laws, but instead of requiring bilingual programs in response to parent advocacy, they do so based solely on enrollment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flores thinks the state is at least moving in the right direction. And Madera Unified gives her hope. During her recent visit, she was flooded with memories: She saw the tree she and her friends used to circle while playing “Ring Around the Rosie.” She visited the classroom she walked out of as a 5-year-old, where the walls are now decorated with vocabulary in Spanish as well as English. She suffered in that room 70 years ago. Now, little Mexican girls do not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t stop,” she said. “We keep plugging away. That’s our tenacity. That’s our grit. And our motivation, of course, is for our children.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "ICE Plans New Detention Center Near San Francisco. Can California Stop It?",
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"content": "\u003cp>Federal immigration authorities are looking for a potential new detention center in Northern California, an effort that alarms advocates and some Democratic state lawmakers as President-elect Donald Trump gears up to unleash his mass deportation plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a request for information to identify additional detention bed space in the state as other federal agencies intensified border enforcement. The effort began in the wake of the Biden administration’s sweeping asylum ban, implemented in June, for migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border outside designated entry points. Under the ban, border agents can deport such migrants within hours or days without considering their asylum claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates say an expansion of detention space would give Trump a runway to carry out more mass deportations in California. Immigrants in counties with more detention space are more likely to be arrested and detained, according to research by advocacy groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike in Texas, where state officials are offering up land to the Trump administration to facilitate mass deportations, California tried to ban new federal immigrant detention centers from opening during the first Trump administration. The court blocked that, ruling that the state was unconstitutionally overstepping on federal immigration enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CalMatters that the state may be powerless to stop the possibility of a new facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>ICE’s expansion plans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal documents show ICE issued the request for information on Aug. 14. Such requests can pave the way for federal contracts, in this case to obtain “available detention facilities for single adult populations (male and female)” in Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, and California. Its request says the facilities should each have from 850 to 950 detention beds and “may be publicly or privately owned and publicly or privately operated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the facilities should be within a two-hour drive of the San Francisco field office, the documents state. The request also seeks facilities near field offices in Phoenix, El Paso, and Seattle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ICE has identified a need for immigration detention services within the Western U.S. area of responsibility,” ICE spokesman Richard Beam wrote in an email to CalMatters. “The proposed services are part of ICE’s effort to continually review its detention requirements and explore options that will afford ICE the operational flexibility needed to house the full range of detainees in the agency’s custody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='immigration']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, ICE detains roughly 38,000 people every day in about 120 immigration jails across the country. In California, that number is just under 3,000 detainees each day, held in six facilities, according to the most recently available immigration data maintained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the third-largest population of detained immigrants in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While ICE, the federal agency responsible for immigration enforcement, owns and operates a very small number of facilities nationwide, it mostly contracts with private prison operators such as CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp. Their detention facilities house 80% of ICE’s detainees. Stock for CoreCivic and GEO Group soared upon Trump’s win last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, private, for-profit prison companies run all six ICE detention facilities – the Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde detention facilities in Kern County; the Adelanto Detention Facility and Desert View Annex, both in San Bernardino County; the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego County; and the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Imperial County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across all six, the federal government has the capacity to detain up to 7,188 people statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015881\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12015881 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1696\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-1536x1017.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-2048x1357.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-1920x1272.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former US President Donald Trump speaks about immigration and border security near Coronado National Memorial in Montezuma Pass, Arizona, Aug. 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State Sen. María Elena Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said she was concerned about the potential economic impacts of ICE having an increased capacity for detention and, therefore, deportations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The expansion of detention in California concerns everyone in our state. Expanding detention correlates with increased ICE raids and family separation, all of which has devastating social and economic impacts for California,” she said. “In addition, these facilities are run by private for-profit companies that consistently place their bottom-line profit above the health and safety of those who work in or are detained in these facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates argue that detention expansions lead to human rights abuses and undermine community safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“An expansion of ICE detention operations within the Bay Area and Northern California is going to be part of a reign of terror on our communities the Trump administration is threatening,” said Bree Bernwanger, a senior staff attorney on the Immigrants’ Rights team at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. “We already know from existing facilities within California that ICE does not and cannot maintain safe and or healthy standards of confinement for people inside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ACLU is suing to learn more about the federal agency’s expanded detention plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernwanger was referring to issues like complaints of sexually abusive pat downs. Also, in 2023, ICE allegedly retaliated against hunger strikers by storming into their cells, violently dragging them, threatening them with forced feedings, and then providing food that was not appropriate for breaking a 21-day fast, prompting a medical condition in at least one inmate, according to a claim filed by the inmate, who was represented by two advocacy groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, the civil liberties organization released a 34-page report detailing 485 grievances filed by detainees across six immigration detention facilities in California between 2023 and June 2024. Those grievances included allegations of hazardous facilities, inhumane treatment, medical neglect, and retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ICE declined to comment on the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California failed to ban for-profit federal detention centers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In December 2019, California passed a law that would have banned private immigration detention centers. It was part of a wave of resistance by California Democrats to the first Trump administration. It also prohibited the state from using for-profit prisons for any inmates starting in 2028. The for-profit facilities “contribute to over-incarceration” and “do not reflect our values,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement when signing the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days before the law was set to go into effect, ICE signed new contracts for its facilities in California. The federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the state’s ban on private prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013478\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12013478 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks with KQED politics reporters Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer for Political Breakdown at the KQED offices in San Francisco on Nov. 7, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bonta, who wrote the unsuccessful ban as an Oakland Assembly member, told CalMatters in November that the state might not be able to stop ICE from opening another detention facility outside of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a matter of federal jurisdiction,” Bonta said. “It’s federal. I disagree, but my office’s disagreement was considered, and the court determined that it was a federal issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Federal immigration authorities are looking for a potential new detention center in Northern California, an effort that alarms advocates and some Democratic state lawmakers as President-elect Donald Trump gears up to unleash his mass deportation plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a request for information to identify additional detention bed space in the state as other federal agencies intensified border enforcement. The effort began in the wake of the Biden administration’s sweeping asylum ban, implemented in June, for migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border outside designated entry points. Under the ban, border agents can deport such migrants within hours or days without considering their asylum claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates say an expansion of detention space would give Trump a runway to carry out more mass deportations in California. Immigrants in counties with more detention space are more likely to be arrested and detained, according to research by advocacy groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike in Texas, where state officials are offering up land to the Trump administration to facilitate mass deportations, California tried to ban new federal immigrant detention centers from opening during the first Trump administration. The court blocked that, ruling that the state was unconstitutionally overstepping on federal immigration enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CalMatters that the state may be powerless to stop the possibility of a new facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>ICE’s expansion plans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal documents show ICE issued the request for information on Aug. 14. Such requests can pave the way for federal contracts, in this case to obtain “available detention facilities for single adult populations (male and female)” in Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, and California. Its request says the facilities should each have from 850 to 950 detention beds and “may be publicly or privately owned and publicly or privately operated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the facilities should be within a two-hour drive of the San Francisco field office, the documents state. The request also seeks facilities near field offices in Phoenix, El Paso, and Seattle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ICE has identified a need for immigration detention services within the Western U.S. area of responsibility,” ICE spokesman Richard Beam wrote in an email to CalMatters. “The proposed services are part of ICE’s effort to continually review its detention requirements and explore options that will afford ICE the operational flexibility needed to house the full range of detainees in the agency’s custody.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, ICE detains roughly 38,000 people every day in about 120 immigration jails across the country. In California, that number is just under 3,000 detainees each day, held in six facilities, according to the most recently available immigration data maintained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the third-largest population of detained immigrants in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While ICE, the federal agency responsible for immigration enforcement, owns and operates a very small number of facilities nationwide, it mostly contracts with private prison operators such as CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp. Their detention facilities house 80% of ICE’s detainees. Stock for CoreCivic and GEO Group soared upon Trump’s win last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, private, for-profit prison companies run all six ICE detention facilities – the Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde detention facilities in Kern County; the Adelanto Detention Facility and Desert View Annex, both in San Bernardino County; the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego County; and the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Imperial County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across all six, the federal government has the capacity to detain up to 7,188 people statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015881\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12015881 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1696\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-1536x1017.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-2048x1357.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GettyImages-2167160569-1920x1272.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former US President Donald Trump speaks about immigration and border security near Coronado National Memorial in Montezuma Pass, Arizona, Aug. 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State Sen. María Elena Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said she was concerned about the potential economic impacts of ICE having an increased capacity for detention and, therefore, deportations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The expansion of detention in California concerns everyone in our state. Expanding detention correlates with increased ICE raids and family separation, all of which has devastating social and economic impacts for California,” she said. “In addition, these facilities are run by private for-profit companies that consistently place their bottom-line profit above the health and safety of those who work in or are detained in these facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates argue that detention expansions lead to human rights abuses and undermine community safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“An expansion of ICE detention operations within the Bay Area and Northern California is going to be part of a reign of terror on our communities the Trump administration is threatening,” said Bree Bernwanger, a senior staff attorney on the Immigrants’ Rights team at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. “We already know from existing facilities within California that ICE does not and cannot maintain safe and or healthy standards of confinement for people inside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ACLU is suing to learn more about the federal agency’s expanded detention plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernwanger was referring to issues like complaints of sexually abusive pat downs. Also, in 2023, ICE allegedly retaliated against hunger strikers by storming into their cells, violently dragging them, threatening them with forced feedings, and then providing food that was not appropriate for breaking a 21-day fast, prompting a medical condition in at least one inmate, according to a claim filed by the inmate, who was represented by two advocacy groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, the civil liberties organization released a 34-page report detailing 485 grievances filed by detainees across six immigration detention facilities in California between 2023 and June 2024. Those grievances included allegations of hazardous facilities, inhumane treatment, medical neglect, and retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ICE declined to comment on the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California failed to ban for-profit federal detention centers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In December 2019, California passed a law that would have banned private immigration detention centers. It was part of a wave of resistance by California Democrats to the first Trump administration. It also prohibited the state from using for-profit prisons for any inmates starting in 2028. The for-profit facilities “contribute to over-incarceration” and “do not reflect our values,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement when signing the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days before the law was set to go into effect, ICE signed new contracts for its facilities in California. The federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the state’s ban on private prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013478\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12013478 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241107-ATTORNEYGENERALBONTA-09-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks with KQED politics reporters Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer for Political Breakdown at the KQED offices in San Francisco on Nov. 7, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bonta, who wrote the unsuccessful ban as an Oakland Assembly member, told CalMatters in November that the state might not be able to stop ICE from opening another detention facility outside of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a matter of federal jurisdiction,” Bonta said. “It’s federal. I disagree, but my office’s disagreement was considered, and the court determined that it was a federal issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Kim Tanner didn’t expect to become a fraud detective when she filed for disability with the California Employment Development Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in mid-July, $3,161 vanished from her online account with the state’s new debit card contractor, Money Network, according to Tanner’s complaints to government regulators. Someone had gotten access to her online debit card account, added a new bank account and transferred out her money, all without any notifications, she wrote in the complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tanner said Money Network told her it could take 90 days to investigate and that she may or may not get a full refund, leaving her short on rent money. She turned to social media and saw similar horror stories on Reddit and Facebook. “My head exploded,” Tanner said. “This was happening to tons of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, she started filing complaints. First, with Money Network, its parent company Fiserv, and the EDD. Then, with a state senator and a half-dozen financial regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just went on and on and on,” said Tanner, who got her money back via paper check about a month and a half later after a federal agency intervened. “This needs to be investigated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='unemployment-fraud']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A CalMatters investigation a year ago exposed how the EDD’s unemployment system crashed during the pandemic, the result of historic job losses, years of missed warning signs and poor contractor performance. As a result, the system at first failed to stop widespread fraud, then cut off access to millions of real people who used it as a crucial lifeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even with a new payment contractor in place, concerns about fraud linger for people who rely on unemployment and disability programs run by the EDD. Multiple lawsuits and 74 federal consumer complaints about government debit cards have been filed by Californians against Money Network this year alone. The EDD and the company say the debit card fraud is smaller scale than the varied forms of fraud during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of the fraud complaints, a report released Monday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office warns that lawmakers are failing to address a bigger unemployment problem: a “broken” financial model, one that threatens the whole system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s unemployment fund is still $20 billion in debt to the federal government after the state took out loans to cover pandemic benefits, costing taxpayers $1 billion in annual interest — more than the state spends on child welfare. Now, after years of ignoring calls to modernize the state’s 1980s-era unemployment tax code, the system is on track to lose $2 billion a year as it fails to bring in enough revenue to cover unemployment expenses, according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislative Analyst’s Office, which provides fiscal and policy advice to state lawmakers, says the state needs to bring unemployment taxes in line with other states to cover the deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is entirely avoidable,” said LAO policy analyst Chas Alamo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016645\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016645 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04-160x200.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kim Tanner at her home in Carlsbad. \u003ccite>( Adriana Heldiz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The recommendations could force a reckoning for lawmakers caught between business and labor advocates. Business groups have fought tax increases, favoring California’s current lowest-in-the-nation unemployment tax base. Labor groups argue that taxes must go up to stabilize the system. Then, they say, lawmakers should evaluate measures to expand which workers are eligible for unemployment or raise California’s $450-a-week maximum payment, which is also lower than many other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happens next will be one test of how legislative leaders respond to voters’ rebuke of Democratic leadership nationwide, with the Legislature’s Democratic leadership pledging to do more to make California a less expensive place to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the EDD has already secured funding for an unprecedented five-year, $1.2 billion effort called EDDNext to finally modernize the call centers, software and websites that power the state’s job safety net — a more ambitious version of past modernization efforts that crumbled during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not history will repeat itself is complicated by unanswered questions about what went wrong at the EDD during the pandemic and how the state scrambled to recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former California labor chief Julie Su went on to become acting U.S. labor secretary and one of the longest-unconfirmed presidential nominees in history, thanks in part to criticism over unemployment fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has denied CalMatters’ repeated requests for internal records from this period, citing an exemption that allows the governor to keep his communications secret if he chooses.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The fraud factor\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, a wide range of fraud schemes hit the unemployment system at once. Global hackers used large-scale identity theft. Low-level social media scammers and prison inmates adopted fake names to file for benefits under emergency federal programs that waived normal identity checks. Debit card scammers cloned insecure EDD cards then run by Bank of America and drained the accounts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Millions of real California workers got caught up in the mess, state audits found. Some saw their EDD accounts flagged as suspicious due to clerical errors, communication failures or faulty fraud software. Laid-off workers saw EDD debit cards overdrawn by thousands of dollars or cut off as the bank and the state scrambled to rein in fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California and other states were partially let off the hook when the federal government agreed to absorb the bulk of the billions lost to fraud in emergency programs. After Bank of America pulled out of the unemployment business last year, the EDD tried to turn the page on debit card fraud by hiring Georgia finance tech company Money Network to take over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scope and details of the current fraud that workers allege isn’t clear. State auditors and financial regulators haven’t analyzed it; lawsuits and regulatory complaints only show that money disappeared from workers’ accounts, not how it was taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which previously fined Bank of America $100 million over what it called “botched” pandemic unemployment payments, declined to answer questions about new complaints. The bureau’s public records show that Californians have filed 149 complaints against Money Network since 2022, when the company first started running a different state debit card program, with 101 complaints mentioning government cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money Network said in a statement that “only a small percentage of EDD recipients have reported suspected fraud” and that anyone concerned should “call the number listed on the back of their card.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD and Money Network also now allow direct deposit, giving people the option of skipping debit cards altogether. Since direct deposit launched in June, about 15% of new applicants have opted for debit cards, the EDD said in a statement. The agency could not immediately say how many of its hundreds of thousands of existing customers still use debit cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anyone who suspects they are a victim of fraud should take steps to protect themselves and file a fraud report,” the EDD said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016647\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016647 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flyer for identity theft resources and information sits on top of other documentation related to Kim Tanner’s financial fraud case on her desk at her home in Carlsbad on Oct. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>( Adriana Heldiz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lea Bitton was still reeling from a high-risk pregnancy when it happened to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One evening in June, the Orange County resident logged into her Money Network disability account and realized that $4,000 was missing. She relied on the EDD money to cover her family’s costs during parental leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someone Bitton didn’t know had hacked into her account, according to a lawsuit she filed against Money Network. Similar to Tanner’s case in Carlsbad, a new electronic transfer was set up for someone with a different name and bank account, and Bitton was never asked to authorize the change before the money disappeared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Loker, Bitton’s attorney, said the fraud appears similar to some EDD debit card fraud cases that he handled during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s deja vu a little bit,” Loker said. “It’s a difficult problem, but it shouldn’t be the consumers who are left holding the bag.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If fraud occurs once unemployment or disability money has already been transferred from the EDD to Money Network, the state’s contract says that Money Network is responsible for investigating and reimbursing clients if necessary. However, some people with EDD Money Network debit cards say that it isn’t always easy to figure out how to start that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Greg Zekowski filed for unemployment while in between film projects. He hadn’t even used his EDD Money Network debit card yet, he said, when he logged into the online account and saw several unfamiliar charges to Uber and other retailers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He called Money Network. “Their response was, ‘The problem is EDD,’” Zekowski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So he called the EDD: “Their response was, ‘It’s all them.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD and its contractors aren’t alone. The state’s food assistance and college financial aid programs are also among the many financial systems facing mounting fraud risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One broader challenge is how few financial institutions bid on government benefit projects. The lack of options puts more pressure on agencies working to secure debit cards and other payments, according to a 2023 report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Providers may face minimal competitive pressure from program innovation, new entrants, or customer choice,” the report authors wrote, “which may exacerbate or cause the issues with fees and customer service that benefits recipients face.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A financial cliff\u003cbr>\nWhile the EDD and the people who rely on it play whack-a-mole with fraud, California has big decisions to make about the future of the state’s job safety net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the state continues to do nothing, the LAO projected this week, it will have no unemployment reserves and become even more reliant on loans from the federal government to weather future recessions, likely costing taxpayers billions more in interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or the state can bite the bullet, as many others have, and change the way it pays for unemployment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016648\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016648 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The offices of the Employment Development Department in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>First, the LAO recommends that businesses pay a flat 1.9% unemployment tax while digging out of debt. California companies also currently only pay unemployment taxes on the first $7,000 a worker earns each year. Instead, the LAO recommends taxing employers on workers’ first $46,800 in earnings — higher than some neighbors like Nevada but lower than Washington, Idaho and Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand that the scope of the recommendations that we’re putting forward in this report are significant,” said LAO analyst Ann Hollingshead. “This is just an honest reflection of the severity of the underlying problems in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers last revamped unemployment taxes in 1984. And businesses are already voicing opposition to temporary tax hikes to pay down California’s deep federal debt. One bill to recalibrate how the system is paid for — raising unemployment taxes to eventually increase weekly benefits — died in committee this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Moutrie, a policy advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce, said that the business group is still reviewing the details of the LAO proposal. In the past, the Chamber has favored tightening unemployment eligibility to reduce benefit payments, labeling any form of tax increases and proposals to expand the unemployment system “job killers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniela Urban, executive director of the Sacramento Center for Workers’ Rights, said there is broad agreement on how unstable the current situation is but discord on where to go from here. She and other labor advocates say that unemployment is one area where California businesses have long underpaid compared to other states and that the system has not kept up with non-traditional jobs and increasing costs of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a huge hole, and that’s not financially acceptable,” Urban said. “But how and when to make those changes, I think, is what the contention is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the funding hole, the pandemic revealed other problems at EDD. Tech systems buckled: jammed call centers, spotty online accounts and a patchwork behind-the-scenes process for tracking unemployment claims. The agency is currently overhauling these systems with EDDNext.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the agency hired Salesforce to remake the MyEDD online system that workers use to manage their accounts. It brought in Amazon Web Services to update and integrate EDD phone systems that left as many as 40 million calls a month unanswered during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early next year, the state will award a contract for the biggest chunk of the project — a new central system for EDD personnel to manage claims, which comes with more than 600 pages of specifications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are making tremendous investments in modernizing EDD, and the work is going well,” the agency said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kim Tanner didn’t expect to become a fraud detective when she filed for disability with the California Employment Development Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in mid-July, $3,161 vanished from her online account with the state’s new debit card contractor, Money Network, according to Tanner’s complaints to government regulators. Someone had gotten access to her online debit card account, added a new bank account and transferred out her money, all without any notifications, she wrote in the complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tanner said Money Network told her it could take 90 days to investigate and that she may or may not get a full refund, leaving her short on rent money. She turned to social media and saw similar horror stories on Reddit and Facebook. “My head exploded,” Tanner said. “This was happening to tons of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, she started filing complaints. First, with Money Network, its parent company Fiserv, and the EDD. Then, with a state senator and a half-dozen financial regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just went on and on and on,” said Tanner, who got her money back via paper check about a month and a half later after a federal agency intervened. “This needs to be investigated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A CalMatters investigation a year ago exposed how the EDD’s unemployment system crashed during the pandemic, the result of historic job losses, years of missed warning signs and poor contractor performance. As a result, the system at first failed to stop widespread fraud, then cut off access to millions of real people who used it as a crucial lifeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, even with a new payment contractor in place, concerns about fraud linger for people who rely on unemployment and disability programs run by the EDD. Multiple lawsuits and 74 federal consumer complaints about government debit cards have been filed by Californians against Money Network this year alone. The EDD and the company say the debit card fraud is smaller scale than the varied forms of fraud during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of the fraud complaints, a report released Monday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office warns that lawmakers are failing to address a bigger unemployment problem: a “broken” financial model, one that threatens the whole system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s unemployment fund is still $20 billion in debt to the federal government after the state took out loans to cover pandemic benefits, costing taxpayers $1 billion in annual interest — more than the state spends on child welfare. Now, after years of ignoring calls to modernize the state’s 1980s-era unemployment tax code, the system is on track to lose $2 billion a year as it fails to bring in enough revenue to cover unemployment expenses, according to the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislative Analyst’s Office, which provides fiscal and policy advice to state lawmakers, says the state needs to bring unemployment taxes in line with other states to cover the deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is entirely avoidable,” said LAO policy analyst Chas Alamo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016645\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016645 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04-1020x1275.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_04-160x200.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kim Tanner at her home in Carlsbad. \u003ccite>( Adriana Heldiz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The recommendations could force a reckoning for lawmakers caught between business and labor advocates. Business groups have fought tax increases, favoring California’s current lowest-in-the-nation unemployment tax base. Labor groups argue that taxes must go up to stabilize the system. Then, they say, lawmakers should evaluate measures to expand which workers are eligible for unemployment or raise California’s $450-a-week maximum payment, which is also lower than many other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happens next will be one test of how legislative leaders respond to voters’ rebuke of Democratic leadership nationwide, with the Legislature’s Democratic leadership pledging to do more to make California a less expensive place to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the EDD has already secured funding for an unprecedented five-year, $1.2 billion effort called EDDNext to finally modernize the call centers, software and websites that power the state’s job safety net — a more ambitious version of past modernization efforts that crumbled during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not history will repeat itself is complicated by unanswered questions about what went wrong at the EDD during the pandemic and how the state scrambled to recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former California labor chief Julie Su went on to become acting U.S. labor secretary and one of the longest-unconfirmed presidential nominees in history, thanks in part to criticism over unemployment fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has denied CalMatters’ repeated requests for internal records from this period, citing an exemption that allows the governor to keep his communications secret if he chooses.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The fraud factor\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, a wide range of fraud schemes hit the unemployment system at once. Global hackers used large-scale identity theft. Low-level social media scammers and prison inmates adopted fake names to file for benefits under emergency federal programs that waived normal identity checks. Debit card scammers cloned insecure EDD cards then run by Bank of America and drained the accounts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Millions of real California workers got caught up in the mess, state audits found. Some saw their EDD accounts flagged as suspicious due to clerical errors, communication failures or faulty fraud software. Laid-off workers saw EDD debit cards overdrawn by thousands of dollars or cut off as the bank and the state scrambled to rein in fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California and other states were partially let off the hook when the federal government agreed to absorb the bulk of the billions lost to fraud in emergency programs. After Bank of America pulled out of the unemployment business last year, the EDD tried to turn the page on debit card fraud by hiring Georgia finance tech company Money Network to take over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scope and details of the current fraud that workers allege isn’t clear. State auditors and financial regulators haven’t analyzed it; lawsuits and regulatory complaints only show that money disappeared from workers’ accounts, not how it was taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which previously fined Bank of America $100 million over what it called “botched” pandemic unemployment payments, declined to answer questions about new complaints. The bureau’s public records show that Californians have filed 149 complaints against Money Network since 2022, when the company first started running a different state debit card program, with 101 complaints mentioning government cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money Network said in a statement that “only a small percentage of EDD recipients have reported suspected fraud” and that anyone concerned should “call the number listed on the back of their card.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD and Money Network also now allow direct deposit, giving people the option of skipping debit cards altogether. Since direct deposit launched in June, about 15% of new applicants have opted for debit cards, the EDD said in a statement. The agency could not immediately say how many of its hundreds of thousands of existing customers still use debit cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anyone who suspects they are a victim of fraud should take steps to protect themselves and file a fraud report,” the EDD said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016647\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016647 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101124_Kim-Tanner-EDD_AH_CM_17-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A flyer for identity theft resources and information sits on top of other documentation related to Kim Tanner’s financial fraud case on her desk at her home in Carlsbad on Oct. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>( Adriana Heldiz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lea Bitton was still reeling from a high-risk pregnancy when it happened to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One evening in June, the Orange County resident logged into her Money Network disability account and realized that $4,000 was missing. She relied on the EDD money to cover her family’s costs during parental leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someone Bitton didn’t know had hacked into her account, according to a lawsuit she filed against Money Network. Similar to Tanner’s case in Carlsbad, a new electronic transfer was set up for someone with a different name and bank account, and Bitton was never asked to authorize the change before the money disappeared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Loker, Bitton’s attorney, said the fraud appears similar to some EDD debit card fraud cases that he handled during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s deja vu a little bit,” Loker said. “It’s a difficult problem, but it shouldn’t be the consumers who are left holding the bag.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If fraud occurs once unemployment or disability money has already been transferred from the EDD to Money Network, the state’s contract says that Money Network is responsible for investigating and reimbursing clients if necessary. However, some people with EDD Money Network debit cards say that it isn’t always easy to figure out how to start that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Greg Zekowski filed for unemployment while in between film projects. He hadn’t even used his EDD Money Network debit card yet, he said, when he logged into the online account and saw several unfamiliar charges to Uber and other retailers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He called Money Network. “Their response was, ‘The problem is EDD,’” Zekowski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So he called the EDD: “Their response was, ‘It’s all them.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD and its contractors aren’t alone. The state’s food assistance and college financial aid programs are also among the many financial systems facing mounting fraud risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One broader challenge is how few financial institutions bid on government benefit projects. The lack of options puts more pressure on agencies working to secure debit cards and other payments, according to a 2023 report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Providers may face minimal competitive pressure from program innovation, new entrants, or customer choice,” the report authors wrote, “which may exacerbate or cause the issues with fees and customer service that benefits recipients face.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A financial cliff\u003cbr>\nWhile the EDD and the people who rely on it play whack-a-mole with fraud, California has big decisions to make about the future of the state’s job safety net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the state continues to do nothing, the LAO projected this week, it will have no unemployment reserves and become even more reliant on loans from the federal government to weather future recessions, likely costing taxpayers billions more in interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or the state can bite the bullet, as many others have, and change the way it pays for unemployment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016648\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016648 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/011022-EDD-Sacramento-MG-CM-03-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The offices of the Employment Development Department in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>First, the LAO recommends that businesses pay a flat 1.9% unemployment tax while digging out of debt. California companies also currently only pay unemployment taxes on the first $7,000 a worker earns each year. Instead, the LAO recommends taxing employers on workers’ first $46,800 in earnings — higher than some neighbors like Nevada but lower than Washington, Idaho and Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand that the scope of the recommendations that we’re putting forward in this report are significant,” said LAO analyst Ann Hollingshead. “This is just an honest reflection of the severity of the underlying problems in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers last revamped unemployment taxes in 1984. And businesses are already voicing opposition to temporary tax hikes to pay down California’s deep federal debt. One bill to recalibrate how the system is paid for — raising unemployment taxes to eventually increase weekly benefits — died in committee this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robert Moutrie, a policy advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce, said that the business group is still reviewing the details of the LAO proposal. In the past, the Chamber has favored tightening unemployment eligibility to reduce benefit payments, labeling any form of tax increases and proposals to expand the unemployment system “job killers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Daniela Urban, executive director of the Sacramento Center for Workers’ Rights, said there is broad agreement on how unstable the current situation is but discord on where to go from here. She and other labor advocates say that unemployment is one area where California businesses have long underpaid compared to other states and that the system has not kept up with non-traditional jobs and increasing costs of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a huge hole, and that’s not financially acceptable,” Urban said. “But how and when to make those changes, I think, is what the contention is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the funding hole, the pandemic revealed other problems at EDD. Tech systems buckled: jammed call centers, spotty online accounts and a patchwork behind-the-scenes process for tracking unemployment claims. The agency is currently overhauling these systems with EDDNext.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the agency hired Salesforce to remake the MyEDD online system that workers use to manage their accounts. It brought in Amazon Web Services to update and integrate EDD phone systems that left as many as 40 million calls a month unanswered during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early next year, the state will award a contract for the biggest chunk of the project — a new central system for EDD personnel to manage claims, which comes with more than 600 pages of specifications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are making tremendous investments in modernizing EDD, and the work is going well,” the agency said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "californians-pay-billions-for-power-companies-wildfire-prevention-efforts-are-they-cost-effective",
"title": "Californians Pay Billions for Power Companies’ Wildfire Prevention Efforts. Are They Cost-Effective?",
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"headTitle": "Californians Pay Billions for Power Companies’ Wildfire Prevention Efforts. Are They Cost-Effective? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Diane Moss lost her home in the Santa Monica Mountains after power lines ignited the apocalyptic Woolsey Fire in 2018. Since then, she’s pressed for a safer electric grid in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so easy to forget the risk that we live in — until it happens to you,” said Moss, a longtime clean energy advocate. “All of us in California have to think about how we better prepare to survive disaster, which is only going to be more of a problem as the climate changes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, California’s power companies have been doing just that: insulating power lines and burying lines underground, trimming trees, deploying drones and using risk-detection technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abc0020\">wildfires across the U.S. intensify\u003c/a>, California is on the leading edge of efforts to prevent more deadly and destructive fires ignited by downed power lines and malfunctioning equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Customers have shouldered a hefty price for wildfire safety measures. From 2019 through 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission authorized the three largest utilities to collect $27 billion in wildfire prevention and insurance costs from ratepayers, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/office-of-governmental-affairs-division/reports/2024/2024-sb-695-report.pdf#page=56\">report\u003c/a> to the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the costs are projected to keep rising: The three companies — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — continue to seek billions more from customers for wildfire prevention spending. Rates are expected to continue outpacing inflation\u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/office-of-governmental-affairs-division/reports/2024/2024-sb-695-report.pdf#page=17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> through 2027\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire safety projects are a big part of the reason that Californians pay the\u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a\"> highest electric bills\u003c/a> in the nation outside of Hawaii. Other reasons include rooftop solar incentives, new transmission systems and upgrades for electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Higher electric bills have helped fuel a\u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/766\"> statewide affordability crisis\u003c/a> alongside soaring housing prices, expensive groceries and costly gasoline. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2024/02/utility-rate-hikes-california/\">Small businesses\u003c/a> are feeling the burden, along with the state’s poorest residents:\u003ca href=\"https://www.publicadvocates.cpuc.ca.gov/press-room/commentary/240311-setting-the-record-straight-fixed-charge\"> One in three\u003c/a> low-income households served by the three utilities fell behind in paying their power bills this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s three investor-owned utilities are regulated monopolies, so when they spend money on costs related to wildfires, they recover it through customers’ bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The price of electricity has ignited debate about how much California families should bear for the cost of wildfire prevention, whether utilities are balancing risk and affordability and whether the money is being spent wisely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9wC3J/29/\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loretta Lynch, a former head of the state utilities commission, said lack of oversight is a problem, with the commission “rubber-stamping outrageous costs” and allowing the companies to “address wildfires in the most expensive, least effective way possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest controversies is whether the utilities should be spending so much on burying power lines, an extremely costly and slow process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://information.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2022-115/index.html\">a state audit\u003c/a> concluded that the utilities commission and the state’s advocates office must do more to verify whether utilities were completing the work they sought payment for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three companies say the billions of dollars in spending is necessary as climate change worsens \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-wildfire-map-tracker/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADM7b5fFuSe1NT8oR5odtxgzBtp-K&gclid=CjwKCAiA0rW6BhAcEiwAQH28IjlGhALav1D1122TKnYxkFmzscYW2x42CGExP5nWM4kziIahkVFJ6hoCkmAQAvD_BwE\">wildfires across the state\u003c/a>. Utility equipment has caused less than 10% of the state’s fires but nearly half of its most destructive fires, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/wildfires\">according to the utilities commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E, which \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M338/K725/338725560.PDF\">a few years ago came out of bankruptcy\u003c/a> triggered by its liability for several deadly, destructive fires, has adopted the stance that \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/assets/pge/docs/outages-and-safety/outage-preparedness-and-support/wildfire-mitigation-plan-executive-summary.pdf#page=2\">“catastrophic wildfires shall stop.”\u003c/a> The company, which serves the most high-risk areas in California, is the state’s largest spender on wildfire prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E plans to bury 10,000 miles of power lines in its highest-risk areas — work that is highly contentious because it is costly and slow. The company has buried \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/newsroom/press-release-details.5943ff56-7c74-4c60-ab87-602de41c5054.html\">800 miles since 2021\u003c/a>, with each mile costing between $3 and $4 million. Last year, the commission approved a $3.7 billion plan for PG&E to \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M520/K799/520799852.pdf#page=289\">bury 1,230 miles\u003c/a> of lines through 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sumeet Singh, PG&E’s chief operating officer, told CalMatters that the utility is concerned about rates, too. He said the company is “very committed to stabilizing our customer rates as we go forward without compromising safety. I think that’s clear that it’s a non-negotiable….There’s a pretty robust process and oversight that we are under.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Geraghty, chief operating officer of SDG&E, called the wildfire spending process “the most highly-scrutinized, regulatory utility process I have ever been involved in, in my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/10/30/governor-newsom-issues-executive-order-tackling-rising-electric-bills/\"> issued an executive order\u003c/a> in October aimed at tackling the high costs of electricity, asking state agencies to evaluate their oversight of wildfire projects and ensure that the utilities are focused on “cost-effective” measures. He is seeking proposals for changes in rules or laws by Jan. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-reduced-to-ash\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reduced to ash\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The spark for the increased spending came seven years ago \u003ca href=\"https://ca.water.usgs.gov/california-drought/california-drought-comparisons.html\">after California suffered one of its worst droughts\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/families-scour-burnt-ruins-for-missing-in-california-1507936103?mod=article_inline\">a series of devastating wildfires\u003c/a> in 2017 and 2018, many ignited by utility equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sixteen fires were caused by \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/safety-policy-division/reports/root-cause-analyses-of-the-2017-18-wildfires.pdf\">PG&E equipment\u003c/a> during a rash of \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/wildfires/october-2017-wildfires\">October 2017\u003c/a> fires that decimated Napa, Sonoma and other Northern California counties. That December, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017/12/4/thomas-fire/\">Thomas Fire\u003c/a>, sparked by Southern California Edison equipment, engulfed parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the devastation of 2017 was only a prelude to an even graver year. On Nov. 8, 2018, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2018/11/8/camp-fire/\">Camp Fire\u003c/a> leveled the town of Paradise, killing 85 people, making it the deadliest wildfire in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Camp Fire was caused by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.buttecounty.net/342/Camp-Fire\">failure of an old metal hook\u003c/a> attached to a PG&E transmission tower. An intense wind event pushed the fire at a rate of roughly 80 football fields per minute at its peak. The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for its role in the disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same day as the destruction in Paradise, another fire ignited some 470 miles south. In the Simi Hills of Ventura County, Southern California, Edison \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/safety-and-enforcement-division/investigations-wildfires/sed-investigation-report---woolsey-fire---redacted.pdf\">wires in two separate locations\u003c/a> made contact with others, triggering “arc” flashes that rained hot metal fragments and sparks onto the dry brush below. These triggered two blazes, which soon merged to form the Woolsey Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Ana winds spread the conflagration across parched terrain, with swaths of the nationally protected Santa Monica Mountains reduced to ash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11953264\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11953264 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"A burning structure with a firefighter in the foreground.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise on Nov. 8, 2018. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/The Associated Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moss, the clean energy advocate, evacuated her home with her son that day. Her husband, clinging to hope, stayed until the blaze threatened to swallow him whole. Their neighborhood near Malibu, with its heavily wooded surroundings, was no match for the inferno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My husband stayed until the last minute when it just — it looked like it could cost him his life,” Moss said. “Everybody else left, and just about all of us lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three people died. Moss’ home was gone, reduced to a hollowed-out structure and charred rubble, along with about 100,000 acres of\u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/management/2018-woolsey-fire.htm\"> parkland and wilderness\u003c/a>, more than any other fire in recorded history for that area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, downed PG&E lines ignited Sonoma County’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-fight-california-fires-firefighters-seek-to-hold-the-line-in-sonoma-11572464115\">Kincade Fire\u003c/a>. Then, two years later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2021/7/13/dixie-fire/\">the Dixie Fire\u003c/a>, also caused by PG&E equipment, became the \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/our-impact/fire-statistics/top-20-largest-ca-wildfires.pdf?rev=097f901c128347149e2614f2fca4f546&hash=27DDE83DFEF9A69E67C73765892A2B75\">second-largest wildfire\u003c/a> in California history, burning 963,000 acres north of Chico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2021 Dixie Fire, which claimed one life and destroyed 1,311 structures, was the last catastrophic wildfire in California confirmed to be caused by utility equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-it-just-takes-the-wrong-ignition\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>‘It just takes the wrong ignition’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The number of fires triggered by the companies’ equipment fluctuates from year to year, driven by the huge variability in California’s weather. However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/wildfires\">data from 2014 through 2023\u003c/a> indicate there were substantially fewer fires last year than in other recent years. SDG&E equipment caused 16 fires after its high of 32 fires in 2015, Southern California Edison had 90 fires, compared to a 2021 high of 173, and PG&E reported 374 fires after a high of 510 in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25355999/pges-2023-annual-report-on-compliance-revision-1-r1.pdf#page=6\">PG&E also reported\u003c/a> that fires in its highest-risk areas trended down every month of 2023 compared to the same months in previous years. But that progress reversed this year, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/pg-e-is-racing-to-stem-increasing-fires-ignited-by-its-power-lines-0228c556\">62 fires\u003c/a> reported by August in high-risk areas, compared to 65 in all of 2023. (PG&E would not provide 2024 fire data to CalMatters.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11705327\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11705327 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn.jpg\" alt=\"The Woolsey Fire burns along the ridgeline off Cornell Road near Paramount Ranch on the morning of Nov. 9, 2018 in Agoura Hills.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1274\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-1200x796.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-1180x783.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-960x637.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-240x159.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Woolsey Fire burns along the ridgeline off Cornell Road near Paramount Ranch on the morning of Nov. 9, 2018, in Agoura Hills. \u003ccite>(Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caroline Thomas Jacobs, inaugural director of the state Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, established in 2021 to oversee utility safety, said progress can be hard to measure. Nevertheless, she said she has seen a cultural shift at electric companies in recent years, with a more focused approach in high-risk areas and an environment that empowers workers to prioritize safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"datawrapper-vis-Va70l\" class=\"datawrapper-script-embed vis-height-fixed vis-d3-area\">\n\u003cp>“It just takes the wrong ignition … under the right conditions, to have a catastrophic fire,” Thomas Jacobs said. “But are we in a better place? The numbers seem to indicate we’re moving in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has installed more than 1,500 weather stations and 600 AI-enabled cameras to detect severe weather and ignitions, Singh said. Enhanced safety systems now cut power to lines within a tenth of a second. The utility has also cleared vegetation, ordered power shutoffs during high-risk times, insulated lines and buried some lines underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where do we see the greatest risk?” Singh said the company asks itself, and “What is the most cost-effective way to be able to reduce that risk for every dollar that’s spent?”\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Va70l/17/\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California Edison said since its investments began in 2019, the risk of catastrophic wildfire in its system has dropped between 85% and 90%. The company plans to bury 600 miles of lines in high-risk areas but it is relying much more on less-expensive insulating technology, which has already been used on more than 6,000 miles of lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SDG&E began prioritizing wildfire prevention, including underground and insulated lines, a decade ahead of the other two utilities after its lines sparked three major fires in 2007. The company has avoided a catastrophic fire since 2007 despite operating in one of the nation’s most fire-prone regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We continue to double down and do and do more tomorrow than we did yesterday,” said Brian D’Agostino, the utility’s vice president of wildfire and climate science. “We don’t take a single day without a fire for granted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wildfire spending — ‘an odd system’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Critics say the scramble to address the wildfire crisis has left the state vulnerable to overspending by utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About two months before the Camp and Woolsey fires, outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 signed a $1 billion plan to thin forests and clear out the tinderbox of California’s dead and dying trees. That measure came too late to prevent the devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, it opened the door to increased spending by utilities beyond limits set in the highly deliberative process known as their general rate cases, which determine what Californians pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom and the Legislature in 2019 created a $21 billion wildfire fund paid for by Wall Street investors and California ratepayers to help PG&E exit bankruptcy and protect utilities from being financially threatened by the wildfires they cause. The utilities cannot access the state’s $21 billion fund unless the energy safety office approves their wildfire plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/H4pTN/16/\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One problem, critics say, is that the safety plans are approved by one government entity while the spending to carry them out is approved by another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now have this very odd system,” said Lynch, who served on the utilities commission from 2000 through 2004. “The Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety reviews the plans, puts out guidelines, but then the (commission) still has to ratify the plans so that the utilities can take money from their ratepayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wildfire safety goes underground\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a temperate, clear morning in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Placerville in October, a PG&E construction crew donned yellow jackets and safety helmets and went about the work of burying power lines along a narrow, wooded road. Overhead lines snaked through thick trees in this area — prime fire risk territory. The workers buried the lines in a trench that had been dug using a heavy piece of equipment designed to cut hard concrete and soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once those power lines are buried and activated, their risk of fires is all but eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016434\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016434 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marking tape covers a layer of sand in the trench. Photos by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Burying lines in high-risk areas improves reliability amid rising wildfire risks and extreme weather, PG&E’s Singh said. Though it’s pricier up front, it eliminates the yearly expense of trimming trees and vegetation, which makes it a better, long-run value for customers, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Underground is a no-brainer when you look at it from that lens,” Singh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the high cost and the time it takes to do the work have left some skeptical. The company has buried 800 miles of wires underground since 2021 and plans to bury more than 1,600 by the end of 2026. It aims to get the cost per mile down to $2.8 million by the end of 2026 from $3 million at the end of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Campbell, assistant deputy director of energy for the public advocates office, a state entity that represents utility customers, said PG&E should consider other means of preventing wildfire, like insulated wires, otherwise known as “covered conductors.” This can be deployed more quickly and at a lower cost, he said and is effective when combined with operational techniques like fast trip settings and power safety shutoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some areas, (burying power lines) really is the correct approach to minimize risk. But it’s also very slow and very expensive, and so there’s a need to address safety in as many miles as quickly as possible, to reduce overall risk,” Campbell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utilities commission has taken a proof-of-concept approach: The commission scaled back PG&E’s plan to bury 2,000 miles through 2026 to 1,230. The commission approved installing covered conductors, or insulated power lines, over 778 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lynch is skeptical of utilities and their big projects because they can profit from them, and Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, says too much spending is going unchecked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sense of urgency following fires paved the way for the multi-billion surge in spending. The commission authorized PG&E, for instance, to spend $4.66 billion on wildfire costs from 2020 through 2022, but the company ultimately spent $11.7 billion and is seeking payment through utility bills, according to The Utility Reform Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016435\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12016435\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E employees and contractors stand next to a trench that was dug in Placer County so that electric cables can be buried to prevent wildfires. Burying lines costs PG&E ratepayers between $3 million and $4 million per mile. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Audits of nearly $2.5 billion in 2019 and 2020 wildfire spending found some costs from PG&E, Southern California Edison and SDG&E may already have been covered by previously approved rates, or more documentation was needed to confirm they had not been covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utilities challenged many of the findings, saying they didn’t plan to claim some of the costs, and disputed the auditor’s conclusions as well as some of their calculations. In interviews with CalMatters, representatives for all three utilities said the process in place to oversee wildfire spending at the utilities commission was robust and thorough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Geraghty, of SDG&E, said the process is transparent, with public comment periods and hearings. Regarding critics who say wildfire prevention should be cheaper and faster, “every one of them had that voice, had that say, had that transparency through this entire process,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some expenses, such as operating costs, have an immediate impact on how much people pay in their bills. But other costs, such as long-term investments in insulating or burying power lines, are stretched out over years, meaning they add to bills for decades to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, these capital costs are growing due to factors like depreciation and the returns utilities are allowed to generate. This creates a compounding effect, meaning wildfire-related capital costs will take up an increasing share of what California customers are charged in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Feeling the pinch in Oakland, the fear near Malibu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The burden of the rising bills is hitting many Californians hard. Roshonda Wilson, of Oakland, couldn’t afford to pay her power bill even though she said she watches television only after sunset, refrains from running unnecessary appliances and is hyper-aware of every energy-consuming action in her household. At one point, PG&E turned her power off this year. “I couldn’t catch up,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Moss — who has weathered not just the trauma of losing her home near Malibu but also the difficult process of rebuilding — says the expensive wildfire prevention work is critical to prevent more tragedies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though (burying power lines) is costly and time-consuming, the cost and time of not doing it is starting to seem more devastating to a broader swath of people,” Moss said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, the rate hikes have alarmed climate activists who fear rising power bills in California may trigger a backlash against the state’s effort to switch to renewable energy and influence other states, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state, we fear, will start to lose the political will to keep pushing on,” said Mohit Chhabra, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The problem with that is not that California will be a few years late — we can handle that. But the impact on all the other states who are looking at California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett and Miguel Gutierrez Jr. contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "After utility equipment sparked tragic wildfires, PG&E, SCE and SDG&E received state approval to collect $27 billion from ratepayers. As California electric bills soar, questions have emerged about oversight and costs.\r\n\r\n",
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"title": "Californians Pay Billions for Power Companies’ Wildfire Prevention Efforts. Are They Cost-Effective? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Diane Moss lost her home in the Santa Monica Mountains after power lines ignited the apocalyptic Woolsey Fire in 2018. Since then, she’s pressed for a safer electric grid in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so easy to forget the risk that we live in — until it happens to you,” said Moss, a longtime clean energy advocate. “All of us in California have to think about how we better prepare to survive disaster, which is only going to be more of a problem as the climate changes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, California’s power companies have been doing just that: insulating power lines and burying lines underground, trimming trees, deploying drones and using risk-detection technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abc0020\">wildfires across the U.S. intensify\u003c/a>, California is on the leading edge of efforts to prevent more deadly and destructive fires ignited by downed power lines and malfunctioning equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Customers have shouldered a hefty price for wildfire safety measures. From 2019 through 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission authorized the three largest utilities to collect $27 billion in wildfire prevention and insurance costs from ratepayers, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/office-of-governmental-affairs-division/reports/2024/2024-sb-695-report.pdf#page=56\">report\u003c/a> to the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the costs are projected to keep rising: The three companies — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — continue to seek billions more from customers for wildfire prevention spending. Rates are expected to continue outpacing inflation\u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/office-of-governmental-affairs-division/reports/2024/2024-sb-695-report.pdf#page=17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> through 2027\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire safety projects are a big part of the reason that Californians pay the\u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a\"> highest electric bills\u003c/a> in the nation outside of Hawaii. Other reasons include rooftop solar incentives, new transmission systems and upgrades for electric vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Higher electric bills have helped fuel a\u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/766\"> statewide affordability crisis\u003c/a> alongside soaring housing prices, expensive groceries and costly gasoline. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2024/02/utility-rate-hikes-california/\">Small businesses\u003c/a> are feeling the burden, along with the state’s poorest residents:\u003ca href=\"https://www.publicadvocates.cpuc.ca.gov/press-room/commentary/240311-setting-the-record-straight-fixed-charge\"> One in three\u003c/a> low-income households served by the three utilities fell behind in paying their power bills this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s three investor-owned utilities are regulated monopolies, so when they spend money on costs related to wildfires, they recover it through customers’ bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The price of electricity has ignited debate about how much California families should bear for the cost of wildfire prevention, whether utilities are balancing risk and affordability and whether the money is being spent wisely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9wC3J/29/\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loretta Lynch, a former head of the state utilities commission, said lack of oversight is a problem, with the commission “rubber-stamping outrageous costs” and allowing the companies to “address wildfires in the most expensive, least effective way possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest controversies is whether the utilities should be spending so much on burying power lines, an extremely costly and slow process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://information.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2022-115/index.html\">a state audit\u003c/a> concluded that the utilities commission and the state’s advocates office must do more to verify whether utilities were completing the work they sought payment for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three companies say the billions of dollars in spending is necessary as climate change worsens \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-wildfire-map-tracker/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADM7b5fFuSe1NT8oR5odtxgzBtp-K&gclid=CjwKCAiA0rW6BhAcEiwAQH28IjlGhALav1D1122TKnYxkFmzscYW2x42CGExP5nWM4kziIahkVFJ6hoCkmAQAvD_BwE\">wildfires across the state\u003c/a>. Utility equipment has caused less than 10% of the state’s fires but nearly half of its most destructive fires, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/wildfires\">according to the utilities commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E, which \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M338/K725/338725560.PDF\">a few years ago came out of bankruptcy\u003c/a> triggered by its liability for several deadly, destructive fires, has adopted the stance that \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/assets/pge/docs/outages-and-safety/outage-preparedness-and-support/wildfire-mitigation-plan-executive-summary.pdf#page=2\">“catastrophic wildfires shall stop.”\u003c/a> The company, which serves the most high-risk areas in California, is the state’s largest spender on wildfire prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E plans to bury 10,000 miles of power lines in its highest-risk areas — work that is highly contentious because it is costly and slow. The company has buried \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/newsroom/press-release-details.5943ff56-7c74-4c60-ab87-602de41c5054.html\">800 miles since 2021\u003c/a>, with each mile costing between $3 and $4 million. Last year, the commission approved a $3.7 billion plan for PG&E to \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M520/K799/520799852.pdf#page=289\">bury 1,230 miles\u003c/a> of lines through 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sumeet Singh, PG&E’s chief operating officer, told CalMatters that the utility is concerned about rates, too. He said the company is “very committed to stabilizing our customer rates as we go forward without compromising safety. I think that’s clear that it’s a non-negotiable….There’s a pretty robust process and oversight that we are under.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Geraghty, chief operating officer of SDG&E, called the wildfire spending process “the most highly-scrutinized, regulatory utility process I have ever been involved in, in my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/10/30/governor-newsom-issues-executive-order-tackling-rising-electric-bills/\"> issued an executive order\u003c/a> in October aimed at tackling the high costs of electricity, asking state agencies to evaluate their oversight of wildfire projects and ensure that the utilities are focused on “cost-effective” measures. He is seeking proposals for changes in rules or laws by Jan. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-reduced-to-ash\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reduced to ash\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The spark for the increased spending came seven years ago \u003ca href=\"https://ca.water.usgs.gov/california-drought/california-drought-comparisons.html\">after California suffered one of its worst droughts\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/families-scour-burnt-ruins-for-missing-in-california-1507936103?mod=article_inline\">a series of devastating wildfires\u003c/a> in 2017 and 2018, many ignited by utility equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sixteen fires were caused by \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/safety-policy-division/reports/root-cause-analyses-of-the-2017-18-wildfires.pdf\">PG&E equipment\u003c/a> during a rash of \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/wildfires/october-2017-wildfires\">October 2017\u003c/a> fires that decimated Napa, Sonoma and other Northern California counties. That December, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2017/12/4/thomas-fire/\">Thomas Fire\u003c/a>, sparked by Southern California Edison equipment, engulfed parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the devastation of 2017 was only a prelude to an even graver year. On Nov. 8, 2018, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2018/11/8/camp-fire/\">Camp Fire\u003c/a> leveled the town of Paradise, killing 85 people, making it the deadliest wildfire in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Camp Fire was caused by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.buttecounty.net/342/Camp-Fire\">failure of an old metal hook\u003c/a> attached to a PG&E transmission tower. An intense wind event pushed the fire at a rate of roughly 80 football fields per minute at its peak. The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for its role in the disaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same day as the destruction in Paradise, another fire ignited some 470 miles south. In the Simi Hills of Ventura County, Southern California, Edison \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/safety-and-enforcement-division/investigations-wildfires/sed-investigation-report---woolsey-fire---redacted.pdf\">wires in two separate locations\u003c/a> made contact with others, triggering “arc” flashes that rained hot metal fragments and sparks onto the dry brush below. These triggered two blazes, which soon merged to form the Woolsey Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Ana winds spread the conflagration across parched terrain, with swaths of the nationally protected Santa Monica Mountains reduced to ash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11953264\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11953264 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"A burning structure with a firefighter in the foreground.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/110818-Paradise-Fire-AP-CM-01-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise on Nov. 8, 2018. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/The Associated Press)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Moss, the clean energy advocate, evacuated her home with her son that day. Her husband, clinging to hope, stayed until the blaze threatened to swallow him whole. Their neighborhood near Malibu, with its heavily wooded surroundings, was no match for the inferno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My husband stayed until the last minute when it just — it looked like it could cost him his life,” Moss said. “Everybody else left, and just about all of us lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three people died. Moss’ home was gone, reduced to a hollowed-out structure and charred rubble, along with about 100,000 acres of\u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/management/2018-woolsey-fire.htm\"> parkland and wilderness\u003c/a>, more than any other fire in recorded history for that area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, downed PG&E lines ignited Sonoma County’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-fight-california-fires-firefighters-seek-to-hold-the-line-in-sonoma-11572464115\">Kincade Fire\u003c/a>. Then, two years later, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2021/7/13/dixie-fire/\">the Dixie Fire\u003c/a>, also caused by PG&E equipment, became the \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/our-impact/fire-statistics/top-20-largest-ca-wildfires.pdf?rev=097f901c128347149e2614f2fca4f546&hash=27DDE83DFEF9A69E67C73765892A2B75\">second-largest wildfire\u003c/a> in California history, burning 963,000 acres north of Chico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2021 Dixie Fire, which claimed one life and destroyed 1,311 structures, was the last catastrophic wildfire in California confirmed to be caused by utility equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"h-it-just-takes-the-wrong-ignition\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>‘It just takes the wrong ignition’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The number of fires triggered by the companies’ equipment fluctuates from year to year, driven by the huge variability in California’s weather. However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/wildfires\">data from 2014 through 2023\u003c/a> indicate there were substantially fewer fires last year than in other recent years. SDG&E equipment caused 16 fires after its high of 32 fires in 2015, Southern California Edison had 90 fires, compared to a 2021 high of 173, and PG&E reported 374 fires after a high of 510 in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25355999/pges-2023-annual-report-on-compliance-revision-1-r1.pdf#page=6\">PG&E also reported\u003c/a> that fires in its highest-risk areas trended down every month of 2023 compared to the same months in previous years. But that progress reversed this year, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/pg-e-is-racing-to-stem-increasing-fires-ignited-by-its-power-lines-0228c556\">62 fires\u003c/a> reported by August in high-risk areas, compared to 65 in all of 2023. (PG&E would not provide 2024 fire data to CalMatters.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11705327\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11705327 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn.jpg\" alt=\"The Woolsey Fire burns along the ridgeline off Cornell Road near Paramount Ranch on the morning of Nov. 9, 2018 in Agoura Hills.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1274\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-1200x796.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-1180x783.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-960x637.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-240x159.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/WoolseyBurn-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Woolsey Fire burns along the ridgeline off Cornell Road near Paramount Ranch on the morning of Nov. 9, 2018, in Agoura Hills. \u003ccite>(Matthew Simmons/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caroline Thomas Jacobs, inaugural director of the state Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, established in 2021 to oversee utility safety, said progress can be hard to measure. Nevertheless, she said she has seen a cultural shift at electric companies in recent years, with a more focused approach in high-risk areas and an environment that empowers workers to prioritize safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv id=\"datawrapper-vis-Va70l\" class=\"datawrapper-script-embed vis-height-fixed vis-d3-area\">\n\u003cp>“It just takes the wrong ignition … under the right conditions, to have a catastrophic fire,” Thomas Jacobs said. “But are we in a better place? The numbers seem to indicate we’re moving in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has installed more than 1,500 weather stations and 600 AI-enabled cameras to detect severe weather and ignitions, Singh said. Enhanced safety systems now cut power to lines within a tenth of a second. The utility has also cleared vegetation, ordered power shutoffs during high-risk times, insulated lines and buried some lines underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where do we see the greatest risk?” Singh said the company asks itself, and “What is the most cost-effective way to be able to reduce that risk for every dollar that’s spent?”\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Va70l/17/\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California Edison said since its investments began in 2019, the risk of catastrophic wildfire in its system has dropped between 85% and 90%. The company plans to bury 600 miles of lines in high-risk areas but it is relying much more on less-expensive insulating technology, which has already been used on more than 6,000 miles of lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SDG&E began prioritizing wildfire prevention, including underground and insulated lines, a decade ahead of the other two utilities after its lines sparked three major fires in 2007. The company has avoided a catastrophic fire since 2007 despite operating in one of the nation’s most fire-prone regions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We continue to double down and do and do more tomorrow than we did yesterday,” said Brian D’Agostino, the utility’s vice president of wildfire and climate science. “We don’t take a single day without a fire for granted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wildfire spending — ‘an odd system’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Critics say the scramble to address the wildfire crisis has left the state vulnerable to overspending by utilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About two months before the Camp and Woolsey fires, outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 signed a $1 billion plan to thin forests and clear out the tinderbox of California’s dead and dying trees. That measure came too late to prevent the devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, it opened the door to increased spending by utilities beyond limits set in the highly deliberative process known as their general rate cases, which determine what Californians pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom and the Legislature in 2019 created a $21 billion wildfire fund paid for by Wall Street investors and California ratepayers to help PG&E exit bankruptcy and protect utilities from being financially threatened by the wildfires they cause. The utilities cannot access the state’s $21 billion fund unless the energy safety office approves their wildfire plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/H4pTN/16/\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One problem, critics say, is that the safety plans are approved by one government entity while the spending to carry them out is approved by another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now have this very odd system,” said Lynch, who served on the utilities commission from 2000 through 2004. “The Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety reviews the plans, puts out guidelines, but then the (commission) still has to ratify the plans so that the utilities can take money from their ratepayers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wildfire safety goes underground\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On a temperate, clear morning in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Placerville in October, a PG&E construction crew donned yellow jackets and safety helmets and went about the work of burying power lines along a narrow, wooded road. Overhead lines snaked through thick trees in this area — prime fire risk territory. The workers buried the lines in a trench that had been dug using a heavy piece of equipment designed to cut hard concrete and soil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once those power lines are buried and activated, their risk of fires is all but eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016434\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016434 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_07-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marking tape covers a layer of sand in the trench. Photos by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Burying lines in high-risk areas improves reliability amid rising wildfire risks and extreme weather, PG&E’s Singh said. Though it’s pricier up front, it eliminates the yearly expense of trimming trees and vegetation, which makes it a better, long-run value for customers, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Underground is a no-brainer when you look at it from that lens,” Singh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the high cost and the time it takes to do the work have left some skeptical. The company has buried 800 miles of wires underground since 2021 and plans to bury more than 1,600 by the end of 2026. It aims to get the cost per mile down to $2.8 million by the end of 2026 from $3 million at the end of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Campbell, assistant deputy director of energy for the public advocates office, a state entity that represents utility customers, said PG&E should consider other means of preventing wildfire, like insulated wires, otherwise known as “covered conductors.” This can be deployed more quickly and at a lower cost, he said and is effective when combined with operational techniques like fast trip settings and power safety shutoffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some areas, (burying power lines) really is the correct approach to minimize risk. But it’s also very slow and very expensive, and so there’s a need to address safety in as many miles as quickly as possible, to reduce overall risk,” Campbell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utilities commission has taken a proof-of-concept approach: The commission scaled back PG&E’s plan to bury 2,000 miles through 2026 to 1,230. The commission approved installing covered conductors, or insulated power lines, over 778 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lynch is skeptical of utilities and their big projects because they can profit from them, and Mark Toney, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, says too much spending is going unchecked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sense of urgency following fires paved the way for the multi-billion surge in spending. The commission authorized PG&E, for instance, to spend $4.66 billion on wildfire costs from 2020 through 2022, but the company ultimately spent $11.7 billion and is seeking payment through utility bills, according to The Utility Reform Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016435\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12016435\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/101724_PGE-Underground-Cables_MG_CM_09-160x240.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PG&E employees and contractors stand next to a trench that was dug in Placer County so that electric cables can be buried to prevent wildfires. Burying lines costs PG&E ratepayers between $3 million and $4 million per mile. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Audits of nearly $2.5 billion in 2019 and 2020 wildfire spending found some costs from PG&E, Southern California Edison and SDG&E may already have been covered by previously approved rates, or more documentation was needed to confirm they had not been covered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The utilities challenged many of the findings, saying they didn’t plan to claim some of the costs, and disputed the auditor’s conclusions as well as some of their calculations. In interviews with CalMatters, representatives for all three utilities said the process in place to oversee wildfire spending at the utilities commission was robust and thorough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Geraghty, of SDG&E, said the process is transparent, with public comment periods and hearings. Regarding critics who say wildfire prevention should be cheaper and faster, “every one of them had that voice, had that say, had that transparency through this entire process,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some expenses, such as operating costs, have an immediate impact on how much people pay in their bills. But other costs, such as long-term investments in insulating or burying power lines, are stretched out over years, meaning they add to bills for decades to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over time, these capital costs are growing due to factors like depreciation and the returns utilities are allowed to generate. This creates a compounding effect, meaning wildfire-related capital costs will take up an increasing share of what California customers are charged in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Feeling the pinch in Oakland, the fear near Malibu\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The burden of the rising bills is hitting many Californians hard. Roshonda Wilson, of Oakland, couldn’t afford to pay her power bill even though she said she watches television only after sunset, refrains from running unnecessary appliances and is hyper-aware of every energy-consuming action in her household. At one point, PG&E turned her power off this year. “I couldn’t catch up,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, Moss — who has weathered not just the trauma of losing her home near Malibu but also the difficult process of rebuilding — says the expensive wildfire prevention work is critical to prevent more tragedies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though (burying power lines) is costly and time-consuming, the cost and time of not doing it is starting to seem more devastating to a broader swath of people,” Moss said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, the rate hikes have alarmed climate activists who fear rising power bills in California may trigger a backlash against the state’s effort to switch to renewable energy and influence other states, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state, we fear, will start to lose the political will to keep pushing on,” said Mohit Chhabra, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The problem with that is not that California will be a few years late — we can handle that. But the impact on all the other states who are looking at California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett and Miguel Gutierrez Jr. contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "more-california-cities-are-banning-landlords-from-using-ai-software-to-raise-rents",
"title": "More California Cities Are Banning Landlords From Using AI Software to Raise Rents",
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"headTitle": "More California Cities Are Banning Landlords From Using AI Software to Raise Rents | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>If you’ve hunted for apartments recently and felt like all the rents were equally high, you’re not crazy: Many landlords now use a single company’s software — which uses an algorithm based on proprietary lease information — to help set rent prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors say the practice amounts to “an unlawful information-sharing scheme,” and some lawmakers throughout California are moving to curb it. San Diego’s city council president is the latest to do so, proposing to prevent local apartment owners from using the pricing software, which he maintains is driving up housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego’s proposed ordinance, now being drafted by the city attorney, comes after San Francisco supervisors in July enacted a similar, \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13157163&GUID=BC67A1E5-F3C7-4EF9-929A-46203D6E63B1\">first-in-the-nation ban\u003c/a> on “the sale or use of algorithmic devices to set rents or manage occupancy levels” for residences. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/05/san-jose-may-consider-ban-on-rent-setting-software-after-antitrust-suit/\">San Jose is considering\u003c/a> a similar approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And California and seven other states have also joined the federal prosecutors’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1364976/dl?inline\">antitrust suit\u003c/a>, which targets the leading rental pricing platform, Texas-based RealPage. The complaint alleges that “RealPage is an algorithmic intermediary that collects, combines, and exploits landlords’ competitively sensitive information. And in so doing, it enriches itself and compliant landlords at the expense of renters who pay inflated prices…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, state lawmakers, this year, failed to advance \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1154?_gl=1*skqse8*_gcl_au*Nzk3MzE2MDMuMTczMTAyMjU2Mg..*_ga*Mjk2NjI4MjAxLjE3MzEwMjI1NjI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4xLjE3MzMxNjM1NDYuNjAuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.\">legislation\u003c/a> by Bakersfield Democratic \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/melissa-hurtado-165039?_gl=1*skqse8*_gcl_au*Nzk3MzE2MDMuMTczMTAyMjU2Mg..*_ga*Mjk2NjI4MjAxLjE3MzEwMjI1NjI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4xLjE3MzMxNjM1NDYuNjAuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.\">Sen. Melissa Hurtado\u003c/a> that would have banned the use of any pricing algorithms based on nonpublic data provided by competing companies. She said she plans to bring the bill back during the next legislative session because of what she described as ongoing harms from such algorithms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to make sure the economy is fair and … that every individual who wants a shot at creating a business has a shot without being destroyed along the way, and that we’re also protecting consumers because it is hurting the pocketbooks of everybody in one way or another,” Hurtado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RealPage has been a major impetus for all of the actions. The company counts as its customers landlords with thousands of apartment units across California. Some officials accused the company of thwarting competition that would otherwise drive rents down, exacerbating the state’s housing shortage and driving up rents in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day, millions of Californians worry about keeping a roof over their head and RealPage has directly made it more difficult to do so,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a written statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A RealPage spokesperson, Jennifer Bowcock, told CalMatters that a lack of housing supply, not the company’s technology, is the real problem — and that its technology benefits residents, property managers, and others associated with the rental market. The spokesperson later wrote that a “misplaced focus on nonpublic information is a distraction… that will only make San Francisco and San Diego’s historical problems worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the federal lawsuit, the company called the claims in it “devoid of merit” and said it plans to “vigorously defend ourselves against these accusations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are disappointed that, after multiple years of education and cooperation on the antitrust matters concerning RealPage, the (Justice Department) has chosen this moment to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years,” the company’s statement read in part. “RealPage’s revenue management software is purposely built to be legally compliant, and we have a long history of working constructively with the (department) to show that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s challenges will only grow if pricing software becomes another instance in which California lawmakers lead the nation. Following San Francisco’s ban, the Philadelphia City Council \u003ca href=\"https://phlcouncil.com/weekly-report-democracy-in-action-during-this-weeks-philadelphia-city-council-session/\">passed a ban on algorithmic rental price-fixing\u003c/a> with a veto-proof vote last month. \u003ca href=\"https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/10/24/lawmakers-advance-bill-to-ban-landlords-use-of-rent-setting-software/\">New Jersey has been considering\u003c/a> its own ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12006179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12006179\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign hangs in the window of an apartment building in San Francisco on July 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Is it price fixing — or coaching landlords?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to federal prosecutors, RealPage controls 80% of the market for commercial revenue management software. Its product is called YieldStar, and its successor is AI Revenue Management, which uses much of the same codebase as YieldStar but has more precise forecasting. RealPage told CalMatters it serves only 10% of the rental markets in both San Francisco and San Diego across its three revenue management software products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how it works:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to use YieldStar and AIRM, landlords have historically provided RealPage with their own private data from their rental applications, rent prices, executed new leases, renewal offers and acceptances, and estimates of future occupancy, although a recent change allows landlords to choose to share only public data. This information from all participating landlords in an area is then pooled and run through mathematical forecasting to generate pricing recommendations for the landlords and their competitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Diego council president, Sean Elo-Rivera, explained it like this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the simplest terms, what this platform is doing is providing what we think of as that dark, smoky room for big companies to get together and set prices,” he said. “The technology is being used as a way of keeping an arm’s length from one big company to the other. But that’s an illusion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the company’s own words, from company documents included in the lawsuit, RealPage “ensures that (landlords) are driving every possible opportunity to increase price even in the most downward trending or unexpected conditions.” The company also said in the documents that it “helps curb (landlords’) instincts to respond to down-market conditions by either dramatically lowering price or by holding price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providing rent guidance isn’t the only service RealPage has offered landlords. In 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://themarkup.org/locked-out/2020/05/28/access-denied-faulty-automated-background-checks-freeze-out-renters\">a Markup and \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> investigation\u003c/a> found that RealPage, alongside other companies, used faulty computer algorithms to do automated background checks on tenants. As a result, tenants were associated with criminal charges they never faced and denied homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impact on tenants\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thirty-one-year-old Navy veteran Alan Pickens and his wife move nearly every year, “Because the rent goes up, it gets unaffordable, so we look for a new place to stay,” he said. The northeastern San Diego apartment complex where they just relocated has two-bedroom apartments advertised for between $2,995 and $3,215.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They live in an area of San Diego where the U.S. Justice Department said information-sharing agreements between landlords and RealPage have harmed or are likely to harm renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department in August filed its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, alleging the company, through its legacy YieldStar software, engaged in an “\u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-realpage-algorithmic-pricing-scheme-harms-millions-american-renters\">unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing.\u003c/a>” The complaint names specific areas where rents are artificially high. Beyond the part of San Diego where Pickens lives, those areas include South Orange County, Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, and Murrieta and northeastern San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second quarter of 2020, the average rent in San Diego County was $1,926, reflecting a 26% increase over three years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2023/09/11/san-diego-rents-are-cooling-off-heres-how-changes-break-down-by-area/#:~:text=In%20the%20second%20quarter%20of,was%20a%20few%20years%20ago.\">according to the \u003cem>San Diego Union-Tribune\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Rents have since risen even more in the city of San Diego, to $2,336 per month as of November 2024 – up 21% from 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/san-diego/\">according to RentCafe\u003c/a> and the \u003cem>Tribune\u003c/em>. That’s 50% higher than the national average rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attorneys general of eight states, including California, joined the Justice Department’s antitrust suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Justice Department contends RealPage artificially inflated prices to keep them above a certain minimum level, department spokesperson Elissa Perez said. This was particularly harmful given the high cost of housing in the state, she added. “The illegally maintained profits that result from these price alignment schemes come out of the pockets of the people that can least afford it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renters \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-renters/\">make up a larger share of households\u003c/a> in California than in the rest of the country — 44% here compared to 35% nationwide. The Golden State also has a higher percentage of renters than any state other than New York, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2023.S1901?q=rent&g=010XX00US%240400000\">latest U.S. Census data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego has the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/11/07/a-city-of-renters-san-diego-has-fourth-highest-percentage-of-renters-in-the-u-s/\">fourth-highest percentage of renters of any major city in the nation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside label='More Housing Coverage' tag='housing']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recent ranks of California legislators, however, have included few renters: As of 2019, CalMatters could \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2019/04/california-legislature-lawmakers-who-are-landlords/\">find only one state lawmaker who did not own a home\u003c/a> — and found that more than a quarter of legislators at the time were landlords.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies show that rising rents impact low-income residents more heavily. Nationally, between 2000 and 2017, Americans without a college degree spent a higher percentage of their income on rent. That percentage ballooned from 30% to 42%. For college graduates, that percentage increased from 26% to 34%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In my estimation, the only winners in this situation are the richest companies who are either using this technology or creating this technology,” Elo-Rivera said. “There couldn’t be a more clear example of the rich getting richer while the rest of us are struggling to get by.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The state has invested in RealPage\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Private equity giant Thoma Bravo \u003ca href=\"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1286225/000119312521011569/d52613dprem14a.htm\">acquired RealPage in January 2021\u003c/a> through two funds that have hundreds of millions of dollars in investments from California public pension funds, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the Regents of the University of California and the Los Angeles police and fire pension funds, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re invested in things that are directly hurting their pensioners,” said K Agbebiyi, a senior housing campaign coordinator with the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit private equity watchdog that \u003ca href=\"https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/PESP_Report_Helter_Shelter_2024.pdf\">produced a report about corporate landlords’\u003c/a> impact on rental hikes in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RealPage argues that landlords are free to reject the price recommendations generated by its software. However, the U.S. Justice Department alleges that trying to do so requires a series of steps, including a conversation with a RealPage pricing adviser. The advisers try to “stop property managers from acting on emotions,” according to the department’s lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a property manager disagrees with the price the algorithm suggests and wants to decrease rent rather than increase it, a pricing adviser will “escalate the dispute to the manager’s superior,” prosecutors allege in the suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Diego, the Pickenses, who are expecting their first child, have given up their gym memberships and downsized their cars to remain in the area. They’ve considered moving to Denver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the extras pretty much have to go,” Pickens said. “I mean, we love San Diego, but it’s getting hard to live here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My wife is an attorney, and I served in the Navy for 10 years and now work at Qualcomm,” he said. “Why are we struggling? Why are we struggling?”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "More California Cities Are Banning Landlords From Using AI Software to Raise Rents | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you’ve hunted for apartments recently and felt like all the rents were equally high, you’re not crazy: Many landlords now use a single company’s software — which uses an algorithm based on proprietary lease information — to help set rent prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors say the practice amounts to “an unlawful information-sharing scheme,” and some lawmakers throughout California are moving to curb it. San Diego’s city council president is the latest to do so, proposing to prevent local apartment owners from using the pricing software, which he maintains is driving up housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego’s proposed ordinance, now being drafted by the city attorney, comes after San Francisco supervisors in July enacted a similar, \u003ca href=\"https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13157163&GUID=BC67A1E5-F3C7-4EF9-929A-46203D6E63B1\">first-in-the-nation ban\u003c/a> on “the sale or use of algorithmic devices to set rents or manage occupancy levels” for residences. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/05/san-jose-may-consider-ban-on-rent-setting-software-after-antitrust-suit/\">San Jose is considering\u003c/a> a similar approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And California and seven other states have also joined the federal prosecutors’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1364976/dl?inline\">antitrust suit\u003c/a>, which targets the leading rental pricing platform, Texas-based RealPage. The complaint alleges that “RealPage is an algorithmic intermediary that collects, combines, and exploits landlords’ competitively sensitive information. And in so doing, it enriches itself and compliant landlords at the expense of renters who pay inflated prices…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, state lawmakers, this year, failed to advance \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240sb1154?_gl=1*skqse8*_gcl_au*Nzk3MzE2MDMuMTczMTAyMjU2Mg..*_ga*Mjk2NjI4MjAxLjE3MzEwMjI1NjI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4xLjE3MzMxNjM1NDYuNjAuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.\">legislation\u003c/a> by Bakersfield Democratic \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/melissa-hurtado-165039?_gl=1*skqse8*_gcl_au*Nzk3MzE2MDMuMTczMTAyMjU2Mg..*_ga*Mjk2NjI4MjAxLjE3MzEwMjI1NjI.*_ga_5TKXNLE5NK*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4xLjE3MzMxNjM1NDYuNjAuMC4w*_ga_DX0K9PCWYH*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.*_ga_GNY4L81DZE*MTczMzE2MjY3Ny4xMy4wLjE3MzMxNjI2NzcuMC4wLjA.\">Sen. Melissa Hurtado\u003c/a> that would have banned the use of any pricing algorithms based on nonpublic data provided by competing companies. She said she plans to bring the bill back during the next legislative session because of what she described as ongoing harms from such algorithms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to make sure the economy is fair and … that every individual who wants a shot at creating a business has a shot without being destroyed along the way, and that we’re also protecting consumers because it is hurting the pocketbooks of everybody in one way or another,” Hurtado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RealPage has been a major impetus for all of the actions. The company counts as its customers landlords with thousands of apartment units across California. Some officials accused the company of thwarting competition that would otherwise drive rents down, exacerbating the state’s housing shortage and driving up rents in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day, millions of Californians worry about keeping a roof over their head and RealPage has directly made it more difficult to do so,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a written statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A RealPage spokesperson, Jennifer Bowcock, told CalMatters that a lack of housing supply, not the company’s technology, is the real problem — and that its technology benefits residents, property managers, and others associated with the rental market. The spokesperson later wrote that a “misplaced focus on nonpublic information is a distraction… that will only make San Francisco and San Diego’s historical problems worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the federal lawsuit, the company called the claims in it “devoid of merit” and said it plans to “vigorously defend ourselves against these accusations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are disappointed that, after multiple years of education and cooperation on the antitrust matters concerning RealPage, the (Justice Department) has chosen this moment to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years,” the company’s statement read in part. “RealPage’s revenue management software is purposely built to be legally compliant, and we have a long history of working constructively with the (department) to show that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s challenges will only grow if pricing software becomes another instance in which California lawmakers lead the nation. Following San Francisco’s ban, the Philadelphia City Council \u003ca href=\"https://phlcouncil.com/weekly-report-democracy-in-action-during-this-weeks-philadelphia-city-council-session/\">passed a ban on algorithmic rental price-fixing\u003c/a> with a veto-proof vote last month. \u003ca href=\"https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/10/24/lawmakers-advance-bill-to-ban-landlords-use-of-rent-setting-software/\">New Jersey has been considering\u003c/a> its own ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12006179\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12006179\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/011_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign hangs in the window of an apartment building in San Francisco on July 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Is it price fixing — or coaching landlords?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to federal prosecutors, RealPage controls 80% of the market for commercial revenue management software. Its product is called YieldStar, and its successor is AI Revenue Management, which uses much of the same codebase as YieldStar but has more precise forecasting. RealPage told CalMatters it serves only 10% of the rental markets in both San Francisco and San Diego across its three revenue management software products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s how it works:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to use YieldStar and AIRM, landlords have historically provided RealPage with their own private data from their rental applications, rent prices, executed new leases, renewal offers and acceptances, and estimates of future occupancy, although a recent change allows landlords to choose to share only public data. This information from all participating landlords in an area is then pooled and run through mathematical forecasting to generate pricing recommendations for the landlords and their competitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Diego council president, Sean Elo-Rivera, explained it like this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the simplest terms, what this platform is doing is providing what we think of as that dark, smoky room for big companies to get together and set prices,” he said. “The technology is being used as a way of keeping an arm’s length from one big company to the other. But that’s an illusion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the company’s own words, from company documents included in the lawsuit, RealPage “ensures that (landlords) are driving every possible opportunity to increase price even in the most downward trending or unexpected conditions.” The company also said in the documents that it “helps curb (landlords’) instincts to respond to down-market conditions by either dramatically lowering price or by holding price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providing rent guidance isn’t the only service RealPage has offered landlords. In 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://themarkup.org/locked-out/2020/05/28/access-denied-faulty-automated-background-checks-freeze-out-renters\">a Markup and \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> investigation\u003c/a> found that RealPage, alongside other companies, used faulty computer algorithms to do automated background checks on tenants. As a result, tenants were associated with criminal charges they never faced and denied homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Impact on tenants\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Thirty-one-year-old Navy veteran Alan Pickens and his wife move nearly every year, “Because the rent goes up, it gets unaffordable, so we look for a new place to stay,” he said. The northeastern San Diego apartment complex where they just relocated has two-bedroom apartments advertised for between $2,995 and $3,215.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They live in an area of San Diego where the U.S. Justice Department said information-sharing agreements between landlords and RealPage have harmed or are likely to harm renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department in August filed its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, alleging the company, through its legacy YieldStar software, engaged in an “\u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-realpage-algorithmic-pricing-scheme-harms-millions-american-renters\">unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing.\u003c/a>” The complaint names specific areas where rents are artificially high. Beyond the part of San Diego where Pickens lives, those areas include South Orange County, Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, and Murrieta and northeastern San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second quarter of 2020, the average rent in San Diego County was $1,926, reflecting a 26% increase over three years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2023/09/11/san-diego-rents-are-cooling-off-heres-how-changes-break-down-by-area/#:~:text=In%20the%20second%20quarter%20of,was%20a%20few%20years%20ago.\">according to the \u003cem>San Diego Union-Tribune\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. Rents have since risen even more in the city of San Diego, to $2,336 per month as of November 2024 – up 21% from 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/san-diego/\">according to RentCafe\u003c/a> and the \u003cem>Tribune\u003c/em>. That’s 50% higher than the national average rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attorneys general of eight states, including California, joined the Justice Department’s antitrust suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Justice Department contends RealPage artificially inflated prices to keep them above a certain minimum level, department spokesperson Elissa Perez said. This was particularly harmful given the high cost of housing in the state, she added. “The illegally maintained profits that result from these price alignment schemes come out of the pockets of the people that can least afford it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renters \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-renters/\">make up a larger share of households\u003c/a> in California than in the rest of the country — 44% here compared to 35% nationwide. The Golden State also has a higher percentage of renters than any state other than New York, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST1Y2023.S1901?q=rent&g=010XX00US%240400000\">latest U.S. Census data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego has the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/11/07/a-city-of-renters-san-diego-has-fourth-highest-percentage-of-renters-in-the-u-s/\">fourth-highest percentage of renters of any major city in the nation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recent ranks of California legislators, however, have included few renters: As of 2019, CalMatters could \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2019/04/california-legislature-lawmakers-who-are-landlords/\">find only one state lawmaker who did not own a home\u003c/a> — and found that more than a quarter of legislators at the time were landlords.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies show that rising rents impact low-income residents more heavily. Nationally, between 2000 and 2017, Americans without a college degree spent a higher percentage of their income on rent. That percentage ballooned from 30% to 42%. For college graduates, that percentage increased from 26% to 34%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In my estimation, the only winners in this situation are the richest companies who are either using this technology or creating this technology,” Elo-Rivera said. “There couldn’t be a more clear example of the rich getting richer while the rest of us are struggling to get by.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The state has invested in RealPage\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Private equity giant Thoma Bravo \u003ca href=\"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1286225/000119312521011569/d52613dprem14a.htm\">acquired RealPage in January 2021\u003c/a> through two funds that have hundreds of millions of dollars in investments from California public pension funds, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the Regents of the University of California and the Los Angeles police and fire pension funds, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re invested in things that are directly hurting their pensioners,” said K Agbebiyi, a senior housing campaign coordinator with the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit private equity watchdog that \u003ca href=\"https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/PESP_Report_Helter_Shelter_2024.pdf\">produced a report about corporate landlords’\u003c/a> impact on rental hikes in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RealPage argues that landlords are free to reject the price recommendations generated by its software. However, the U.S. Justice Department alleges that trying to do so requires a series of steps, including a conversation with a RealPage pricing adviser. The advisers try to “stop property managers from acting on emotions,” according to the department’s lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a property manager disagrees with the price the algorithm suggests and wants to decrease rent rather than increase it, a pricing adviser will “escalate the dispute to the manager’s superior,” prosecutors allege in the suit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Diego, the Pickenses, who are expecting their first child, have given up their gym memberships and downsized their cars to remain in the area. They’ve considered moving to Denver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the extras pretty much have to go,” Pickens said. “I mean, we love San Diego, but it’s getting hard to live here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My wife is an attorney, and I served in the Navy for 10 years and now work at Qualcomm,” he said. “Why are we struggling? Why are we struggling?”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Mayor London Breed, outgoing mayor of San Francisco, made waves recently with a major policy shift: Before providing a shelter bed or any other services, city workers must first offer every homeless person they encounter a bus or train ticket to somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while San Francisco has gotten an outsized amount of attention for putting its busing program at the forefront of its homelessness strategy, other California cities and nonprofits continue to quietly send small numbers of unhoused people all over the country. At least one new program is set to launch early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For an unhoused person who wants to move in with family in another city or state or who got stuck somewhere after a job or housing prospect fell through and needs help getting home, these types of programs can be a game changer. But some activists worry they can be used coercively to move unhoused people out of sight instead of helping them. And once someone is bused away, it’s hard to tell what happens to them — whether they successfully reunite with family or become homeless on another city’s sidewalks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general, the ability to travel back to a place where you have a home is really important and can be a lifesaving service, in fact, and can help to reunite families,” said Niki Jones, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness. “When done in good faith, it can be an important and powerful intervention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many programs do some homework before sending their clients off on a bus, but the amount of effort they put in varies. One nonprofit serving homeless young people in Los Angeles has a therapist call the client’s family in the destination city to make sure the client is going into a safe, welcoming environment. One of San Francisco’s relocation programs requires the client only to have a vague connection to their destination city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These programs are garnering attention at a time when city leaders are facing pressure from all sides, including \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/07/newsom-homeless-encampments-order/\">from Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>, to get rid of homeless encampments, but lack the resources to give everyone a home or shelter bed. Buying someone a one-way ticket out of town is a much cheaper alternative. However, the number of people who can benefit from these programs tends to be small. Data from throughout California consistently shows that most people who are homeless are from the county they’re in. And homelessness, addiction and other traumas have marred many people’s relationships, leaving them with no one to help them in another city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>San Francisco offers bus tickets before shelter\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shortly after beginning an aggressive crackdown on tent encampments in San Francisco, Mayor Breed \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/sites/default/files/2024-08/Executive%20Directive%2024-02_Journey_Home_0.pdf\">ordered (PDF)\u003c/a> all city agencies to “offer and incentivize” the city’s busing program before other services. Those who decline any help may be at risk of being arrested for illegally camping in a public place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providing free bus tickets to unhoused people is nothing new in San Francisco, which has been offering some form of this program for about two decades, said Emily Cohen, deputy director of communications and legislative affairs for the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. But usage declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel was restricted, and it didn’t pick back up, she said. The mayor’s directive was intended to fix that, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The increased emphasis on busing also comes as the demographics of San Francisco’s homeless population are shifting. This year, 41% of the people surveyed in San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://hsh.sfgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-San-Francisco-Point-in-Time-Count-Report-8_13_24-1.pdf\">point-in-time count (PDF)\u003c/a> reported they were living in another city or state when they lost their housing. That’s up from 29% two years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are definitely an increasing number of people who are experiencing homelessness in San Francisco who aren’t originally from San Francisco,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco offers three programs to help unhoused people relocate outside of the city. Journey Home, launched in September 2023, has the lowest barrier to entry. While other programs require clients to work with a case manager on a detailed plan to find and hold onto housing when they arrive in their new city, Journey Home requires only that someone be healthy enough to travel and prove they have some connection to their destination city. That proof could be a phone call to a friend or relative in the city, a receipt showing the client once got food stamps there, or an ID with an address in that city. Clients do not need to prove they have housing in the destination city, and the whole process, from intake to sitting on a bus, can take a day or two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since July 2022, San Francisco has relocated a total of 1,039 unhoused clients via Journey Home and other programs, \u003ca href=\"https://hsh.sfgov.org/services/the-homelessness-response-system/problem-solving/relocation-assistance-programs/\">according to city data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of clients relocated via Journey Home spiked in August of this year (the month Breed issued her order) — 25 people were moved, up from nine the month before. The city relocated another 32 people through other programs. That same month, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data/healthy-streets-data-and-information\">placed 120 people\u003c/a> from encampments into shelters, and another 429 people on the street declined help, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Lukas Illa, a human rights organizer with the San Francisco-based Coalition on Homelessness, supports programs that help unhoused people who want to relocate, he’s skeptical of Journey Home. The choice to leave San Francisco should be the unhoused person’s to freely make, he said. And he said that’s not the case when police, who have the power to cite and arrest people, offer bus tickets as a first resort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Journey Home needs to be so deliberate and to really center the agency and the autonomy of the person it is offered to, and not used as a cudgel to threaten arrest or jail time,” Illa said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen said no one is being forced to leave San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The intention is to facilitate connections with loved ones and home communities if that is a safe and healthy option for you,” she said. “But no one is required to take that option.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Other cities that use homeless busing programs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>San José has budgeted $200,000 to launch a relocation program called Homeward Bound, which is expected to start in February. That money can go toward a client’s bus or plane ticket or to help with utility bills or other expenses for the friend or family member taking them in. The city will make sure clients have friends or family to help them in their destination city, but staff are still ironing out the specifics, said Tasha Dean, spokesperson for Mayor Matt Mahan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Reconnecting people living on the streets with family members or loved ones who want to care for them is just common sense,” Mahan said in a statement. “It’s the least expensive, most impactful program we could launch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento County also offers those services, but they aren’t widely used, said county spokesperson Janna Haynes. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, 17 people used the county’s Return to Residency Program to leave the county. That program has since dissolved, and now, social workers in various county programs offer the service on a case-by-case basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Los Angeles doesn’t run a busing program, but multiple nonprofits within the city offer similar services. PATH helped 313 clients reunite with family in the last fiscal year, and a little more than half of those clients left LA County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Safe Place for Youth also helps young people reunite with friends and family outside LA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and nonprofits in other states also run busing programs — and sometimes send people to California. Haven for Hope, which operates a large homeless shelter and service center in San Antonio, Texas, gave about 60 people one-way bus tickets out of the city last year, said Alberto Rodriguez, vice president of operations. Before they send a client on their way, Haven for Hope calls the family or friend they are going to live with and confirms the client can stay there, Rodriguez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re never just going to send someone back to homelessness in another city or another state. In the same way, we don’t want other cities or other states to send their homeless clients to San Antonio without connecting with us,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where do people who are bused end up?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of the 151 people relocated from San Francisco since August, at least 29 went to other cities within California. At least another 12 went to Texas, six went to Florida and seven went to Georgia. Due to a data processing error, the city couldn’t provide information on where 34 people went.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12011525,news_12015125,news_12013909\"]It’s harder to tell what happens to those people once they reach their destination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco only recently started requiring staff to check in with clients 90 days after they leave, but staff often can’t get a hold of them in their new city, Cohen said. The city didn’t provide data on the outcomes of those 90-day calls, which started in July, in time for publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 15% of people who left San Francisco through the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s relocation program between July 2022 and July 2023 ended up back in San Francisco, using the city’s homeless services, within a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen called that an 85% “success rate,” despite the fact that even though someone didn’t return to San Francisco, they might have ended up homeless in their new city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is fantastic,” Cohen said, “in terms of the amount of investment for the outcome we are able to achieve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mayor London Breed, outgoing mayor of San Francisco, made waves recently with a major policy shift: Before providing a shelter bed or any other services, city workers must first offer every homeless person they encounter a bus or train ticket to somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while San Francisco has gotten an outsized amount of attention for putting its busing program at the forefront of its homelessness strategy, other California cities and nonprofits continue to quietly send small numbers of unhoused people all over the country. At least one new program is set to launch early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For an unhoused person who wants to move in with family in another city or state or who got stuck somewhere after a job or housing prospect fell through and needs help getting home, these types of programs can be a game changer. But some activists worry they can be used coercively to move unhoused people out of sight instead of helping them. And once someone is bused away, it’s hard to tell what happens to them — whether they successfully reunite with family or become homeless on another city’s sidewalks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In general, the ability to travel back to a place where you have a home is really important and can be a lifesaving service, in fact, and can help to reunite families,” said Niki Jones, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness. “When done in good faith, it can be an important and powerful intervention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many programs do some homework before sending their clients off on a bus, but the amount of effort they put in varies. One nonprofit serving homeless young people in Los Angeles has a therapist call the client’s family in the destination city to make sure the client is going into a safe, welcoming environment. One of San Francisco’s relocation programs requires the client only to have a vague connection to their destination city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These programs are garnering attention at a time when city leaders are facing pressure from all sides, including \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/07/newsom-homeless-encampments-order/\">from Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>, to get rid of homeless encampments, but lack the resources to give everyone a home or shelter bed. Buying someone a one-way ticket out of town is a much cheaper alternative. However, the number of people who can benefit from these programs tends to be small. Data from throughout California consistently shows that most people who are homeless are from the county they’re in. And homelessness, addiction and other traumas have marred many people’s relationships, leaving them with no one to help them in another city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>San Francisco offers bus tickets before shelter\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shortly after beginning an aggressive crackdown on tent encampments in San Francisco, Mayor Breed \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/sites/default/files/2024-08/Executive%20Directive%2024-02_Journey_Home_0.pdf\">ordered (PDF)\u003c/a> all city agencies to “offer and incentivize” the city’s busing program before other services. Those who decline any help may be at risk of being arrested for illegally camping in a public place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providing free bus tickets to unhoused people is nothing new in San Francisco, which has been offering some form of this program for about two decades, said Emily Cohen, deputy director of communications and legislative affairs for the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. But usage declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel was restricted, and it didn’t pick back up, she said. The mayor’s directive was intended to fix that, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The increased emphasis on busing also comes as the demographics of San Francisco’s homeless population are shifting. This year, 41% of the people surveyed in San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://hsh.sfgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-San-Francisco-Point-in-Time-Count-Report-8_13_24-1.pdf\">point-in-time count (PDF)\u003c/a> reported they were living in another city or state when they lost their housing. That’s up from 29% two years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are definitely an increasing number of people who are experiencing homelessness in San Francisco who aren’t originally from San Francisco,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco offers three programs to help unhoused people relocate outside of the city. Journey Home, launched in September 2023, has the lowest barrier to entry. While other programs require clients to work with a case manager on a detailed plan to find and hold onto housing when they arrive in their new city, Journey Home requires only that someone be healthy enough to travel and prove they have some connection to their destination city. That proof could be a phone call to a friend or relative in the city, a receipt showing the client once got food stamps there, or an ID with an address in that city. Clients do not need to prove they have housing in the destination city, and the whole process, from intake to sitting on a bus, can take a day or two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since July 2022, San Francisco has relocated a total of 1,039 unhoused clients via Journey Home and other programs, \u003ca href=\"https://hsh.sfgov.org/services/the-homelessness-response-system/problem-solving/relocation-assistance-programs/\">according to city data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of clients relocated via Journey Home spiked in August of this year (the month Breed issued her order) — 25 people were moved, up from nine the month before. The city relocated another 32 people through other programs. That same month, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/data/healthy-streets-data-and-information\">placed 120 people\u003c/a> from encampments into shelters, and another 429 people on the street declined help, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Lukas Illa, a human rights organizer with the San Francisco-based Coalition on Homelessness, supports programs that help unhoused people who want to relocate, he’s skeptical of Journey Home. The choice to leave San Francisco should be the unhoused person’s to freely make, he said. And he said that’s not the case when police, who have the power to cite and arrest people, offer bus tickets as a first resort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Journey Home needs to be so deliberate and to really center the agency and the autonomy of the person it is offered to, and not used as a cudgel to threaten arrest or jail time,” Illa said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen said no one is being forced to leave San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The intention is to facilitate connections with loved ones and home communities if that is a safe and healthy option for you,” she said. “But no one is required to take that option.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Other cities that use homeless busing programs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>San José has budgeted $200,000 to launch a relocation program called Homeward Bound, which is expected to start in February. That money can go toward a client’s bus or plane ticket or to help with utility bills or other expenses for the friend or family member taking them in. The city will make sure clients have friends or family to help them in their destination city, but staff are still ironing out the specifics, said Tasha Dean, spokesperson for Mayor Matt Mahan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Reconnecting people living on the streets with family members or loved ones who want to care for them is just common sense,” Mahan said in a statement. “It’s the least expensive, most impactful program we could launch.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento County also offers those services, but they aren’t widely used, said county spokesperson Janna Haynes. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, 17 people used the county’s Return to Residency Program to leave the county. That program has since dissolved, and now, social workers in various county programs offer the service on a case-by-case basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Los Angeles doesn’t run a busing program, but multiple nonprofits within the city offer similar services. PATH helped 313 clients reunite with family in the last fiscal year, and a little more than half of those clients left LA County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Safe Place for Youth also helps young people reunite with friends and family outside LA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and nonprofits in other states also run busing programs — and sometimes send people to California. Haven for Hope, which operates a large homeless shelter and service center in San Antonio, Texas, gave about 60 people one-way bus tickets out of the city last year, said Alberto Rodriguez, vice president of operations. Before they send a client on their way, Haven for Hope calls the family or friend they are going to live with and confirms the client can stay there, Rodriguez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re never just going to send someone back to homelessness in another city or another state. In the same way, we don’t want other cities or other states to send their homeless clients to San Antonio without connecting with us,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where do people who are bused end up?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of the 151 people relocated from San Francisco since August, at least 29 went to other cities within California. At least another 12 went to Texas, six went to Florida and seven went to Georgia. Due to a data processing error, the city couldn’t provide information on where 34 people went.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s harder to tell what happens to those people once they reach their destination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco only recently started requiring staff to check in with clients 90 days after they leave, but staff often can’t get a hold of them in their new city, Cohen said. The city didn’t provide data on the outcomes of those 90-day calls, which started in July, in time for publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 15% of people who left San Francisco through the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s relocation program between July 2022 and July 2023 ended up back in San Francisco, using the city’s homeless services, within a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen called that an 85% “success rate,” despite the fact that even though someone didn’t return to San Francisco, they might have ended up homeless in their new city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is fantastic,” Cohen said, “in terms of the amount of investment for the outcome we are able to achieve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "unstoppable-invasion-how-did-mussels-sneak-into-california-despite-decades-of-state-shipping-rules",
"title": "Mussels Get a Free Ride, Despite Decades of California Regulations",
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"headTitle": "Mussels Get a Free Ride, Despite Decades of California Regulations | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After the recent \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/10/california-delta-invasive-mussel/\">discovery of a destructive mussel\u003c/a> in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, some experts say California officials have failed to effectively enforce laws designed to protect waterways from invaders carried in ships’ ballast water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PRC§ionNum=71206.\">state law enacted 20 years ago\u003c/a> has required California officials to inspect 25% of incoming ships and sample their ballast water before it’s discharged into waterways. But the tests didn’t begin until two years ago — after standards for conducting them were finally set — and testing remains rare. State officials have sampled the ballast water of only 16 vessels out of the roughly 3,000 likely to have emptied their tanks nearshore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say stronger regulations are needed, as well as better enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not really a surprise that another invasive species showed up in the Delta,” said Karrigan Börk, a law professor and the interim director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “It’s likely to continue happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Native to eastern Asia, the mussels — detected near the Port of Stockton, in a small San Joaquin Valley reservoir and several other Delta locations — were the first to be detected in North America. If the mollusc evades eradication efforts, it could spread over vast areas of California and beyond, crowd out native species and clog parts of the massive projects that export Delta water to cities and farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012284\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12012284\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GoldenMussel1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GoldenMussel1.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GoldenMussel1-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei), an invasive, non-native freshwater bivalve, was recently discovered in the Port of Stockton by California Department of Water Resources staff while conducting routine operations. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Department of Fish and Wildlife)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ted Lempert, a former Bay Area assembly member who authored a 1999 state law aimed at preventing ships from bringing invasive species into California, said state officials “apparently took their eyes off the ball.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were trying to get ahead of the game, so I’m really frustrated that after all these years, some of the events we were trying to prevent have come to pass,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the prospect of an invasive species colonizing a new region frequented by ships “is a numbers game” that can happen even under the most rigorous regulations and enforcement, said Greg Ruiz, a marine ecologist with the Marine Invasions Research Laboratory at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. “This is not a failure in the system,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ballast water is stored in tanks to stabilize vessels at sea. Often taken on at the port of departure and released at the port of arrival, it is a global vector of invasive species, including pathogens that cause human diseases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To address the threat to ecosystems and water supplies, the State Lands Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard enforce a suite of overlapping regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal of these state and federal rules is to reduce as much as possible the number of living organisms in discharged ballast water. Vessel operators can achieve this by exposing their ballast water to ultraviolet light, filtering it and treating it with chlorine, which is then removed before discharge.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Highest standards in the world.’ But are they enforced?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About 1,500 ships a year entering California waters release ballast water, according to Chris Scianni, environmental program manager of the State Lands Commission’s Marine Invasive Species Program. To check for compliance, officials board and inspect nearly all of them, plus another thousand vessels prioritized for inspection for other reasons, Scianni said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During these inspections, officers review ballast water logbooks and reporting forms, interview crew members, inspect water treatment equipment, and occasionally take water samples for testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re the only entity in the world that’s doing this right now,” Scianni said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2003 state law declares that the State Lands Commission “shall take samples of ballast water, sediment, and biofouling from at least 25% of vessels” subject to invasive species regulations. But commission officials told CalMatters they interpret it to mean that 25% of ships must be inspected, with no specific requirements for sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sampling for some ships began in 2023 after the commission enacted standards for how the tests are conducted. It’s a considerable endeavor: A cubic meter of water — which weighs a metric ton — must be collected from a ship. It can take an hour to draw, and it must be done while the vessel is actively discharging. Hours more may pass before results are ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal officials have their own ballast oversight program. It leans on a system of self-reporting by vessel operators — which critics consider a weak tool for ensuring compliance. An EPA spokesperson said the agency “can assess compliance with (the rules) either through a desk audit or an on-site inspection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='environment']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many experts told CalMatters that the state and federal limits on how many organisms are allowed in discharged water are adequate, but that enforcement is lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had the highest (ballast water management) standards in the world, but they were never actually enforced because the state couldn’t come up with a set of technologies to implement them,” said Ben Eichenberg, a staff attorney with the group SF Baykeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ted Grosholz, a professor emeritus with the UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, said, “The standards are very exacting … The problem we have is compliance. How many ships coming in with ballast water can we really sample and verify? Enforcement officials can’t watch everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smithsonian’s Ruiz said state records show that all documented ballast discharges at the Port of Stockton since 2008 have followed state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ships that discharge, however, occasionally remain uninspected as they enter a port. And some vessel operators may cheat, filling their ballast tanks with clean ocean water to pass off a faulty water treatment system as functional. Moreover, even treated ballast water can contain high levels of zooplankton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruiz, who has studied California’s data on ship arrival and locations of the mussels, said it’s probable the golden mussel entered the Delta at least a year ago and even possible that it’s been there for a decade or more, adding that “it could even have happened in the pre-treatment (of ballast water) era.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Somehow, the creature slipped through the cracks and made itself a new home in what has been called one of the most invaded estuaries on the planet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008481\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008481\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/060124_Delta-Fishers_LE_CM-03.jpg\" alt=\"Three people sitting on a fishing boat in the middle of a body of water.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anglers begin a morning of fishing on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Stockton on June 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s an outcome that Lempert, as an assembly member, tried to prevent a quarter-century ago when he authored the Ballast Water Management for Control of Non-indigenous Species Act. The law required incoming vessels to either retain their ballast water, drain it while simultaneously refilling with new water hundreds of miles out at sea or use an “environmentally sound” treatment system. It tasked the California State Lands Commission with monitoring vessels for compliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has since enacted a complex system of regulations: In 2003, the Marine Invasive Species Act expanded the scope of Lempert’s legislation. Three years later, the Legislature required the commission to set limits on organism concentrations in ballast water; these “standards of performance” were implemented in 2022. While the standards allow minute levels of organisms in the water, the goal is “zero detectable living organisms” by 2040.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several federal laws also aim to protect U.S. waters from creatures like the golden mussel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Penalties for breaking ballast management rules have been modest. At the state level, violations have resulted in 24 fines in the past six years, totaling just over $1 million. Federal fines are rare, with just nine penalties issued amounting to about $714,000 in the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region since 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commission officials said, “The frequency of noncompliant discharges … has dropped dramatically since our enforcement regulations (with penalties) were adopted in 2017.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can ballast water be sterilized?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California officials say achieving the law’s goal of zero organisms in ballast water discharged into waterways is infeasible. It would require a network of treatment plants at coastal ports, costing $1.45 billion over 30 years. The shipping industry would face another $2.17 billion in costs for installing systems capable of transferring ballast water to the floating treatment plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Eichenberg said some ships already use commercially available systems that consistently, and by a wide margin, outperform industry standards. He said the state’s failure to require that vessels use the most advanced treatment systems available — technology capable of nearly sterilizing ballast water — has culminated in the golden mussel’s arrival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something like this was bound to happen eventually,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and federal performance standards — modeled after international standards — limit the concentration of living zooplankton-sized organisms, like mussel larvae, in ballast water before discharge to 10 per cubic meter. For smaller organisms, allowances are higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even in ballast water that has undergone treatment in approved systems, zooplankton concentrations can be off-the-charts for reasons not always clear, according to Hugh MacIsaac, an aquatic invasive species researcher at the University of Windsor in Ontario, who has studied the spread of the golden mussel in South America and central China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Treating ballast water doesn’t necessarily work. A study in Shanghai found up to 23,000 zooplankton-sized organisms per cubic meter in the ballast water of half of ships sampled, MacIsaac said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruiz, at the Smithsonian research center, said the study’s sample size of 17 ships is too small to be representative and that such high concentrations are abnormal in the United States. “We sample vessels here, and that’s not what we see coming into the U.S.,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ship operators have shifted radically in the past 20 years “from no management to a nearly complete use of open-ocean exchange to, now, an almost complete transition to ballast treatment technology,” Ruiz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-attention-turns-to-federal-rules\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Attention turns to federal rules\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The federal government, not state agencies, will soon become the key player in ballast management. That’s because new EPA rules, which are likely at least 18 months away from full implementation, will preempt state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/09/2024-22013/vessel-incidental-discharge-national-standards-of-performance\">rules\u003c/a> — which state officials will help enforce — will keep the existing standards for organism concentrations but prevent states from implementing their own rules that exceed federal standards. For example, California’s goal of zero detectable organisms in ballast discharge will be nixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Dobroski, the State Lands Commission’s chief of environmental science, planning and management, said states can petition the federal government for changes to the rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shippers welcome the shift to national rules that align with international standards, said Jacqueline Moore, Long Beach-based vice president of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmsaship.com/our-association\">Pacific Merchant Shipping Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“An international industry by nature, the maritime community always appreciates consistent standards across the board, and across the ocean in this case,” Moore said. “It’s much easier for everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the change of regulatory oversight concerns Marcie Keever, the oceans and vessels program director with Friends of the Earth. She said that, to date, the State Lands Commission has been the more active enforcer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preempting state laws with federal standards that she said are too weak “will essentially give the shipping industry a free pass to pollute…These shipping companies are self-reporting pollution instances, and no one is doing anything about it except for the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1973, the EPA exempted ballast water from the Clean Water Act.\u003cem> \u003c/em>Eventually forced by \u003ca href=\"https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/13-1745/13-1745-2015-10-05.html\">court rulings\u003c/a> to comply with the act, the agency released its newest \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/09/2024-22013/vessel-incidental-discharge-national-standards-of-performance\">standards\u003c/a> in October for limiting organism concentrations in ballast water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keever said the EPA is not setting the bar as high as it should.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re still basically at the same place we were at 20 years ago,” Keever said. “The EPA has never set what we see as the best available technology for ballast water discharges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 150 environmental groups made similar claims in a 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/White-House-letter-10.2022.pdf\">letter\u003c/a> to President Joe Biden, arguing that the technology exists now to almost entirely sterilize ballast water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[W]e have the technical ability to efficiently remove or kill organisms that are trapped in a tank of water,” they wrote. “For half a century, federal law has required EPA to use that ability to protect the environment and public health — yet EPA still refuses to do so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA disagrees with the criticism. Joshua Alexander, a press officer with the agency’s Region 9 San Francisco office, told CalMatters that “the EPA concluded that these standards (in the new rules) are the most stringent ones that the available ballast water test data can support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016009\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016009 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invasive golden mussels, shown at a California Department of Water Resources lab, might crowd out native species in waterways and clog parts of the state’s massive water projects. Photo by Xavier Mascareñas, California Department of Water Resources\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-can-anything-stop-the-mussel-invasion\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Can anything stop the mussel invasion?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>October’s discovery of the golden mussel in California is being treated urgently by state and federal officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The creatures have wreaked havoc on water supply and hydroelectric facilities in South America, and they are spreading rapidly through central China. In the Great Lakes, invasive zebra mussels cause \u003ca href=\"https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/62012\">$300 million to $500 million\u003c/a> in damages annually to power plants and other water infrastructure — the types of impacts officials in California hope to avoid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tanya Veldhuizen, the Department of Water Resources’ special projects section manager, said officials are considering the use of chemicals to remove the creatures from pumps, intakes and pipelines of the massive State Water Project, which transports water to farms and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several scientists told CalMatters that with most non-native species, eradication is only possible early in the game — meaning management officials often have one shot at success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologist Andrew Chang, who works at the Smithsonian research center’s Marin County field lab, noted an old adage in invasion ecology — containing the spread of a non-native species is like trying to put toothpaste back into a tube. “The more time that passes, the process of putting the toothpaste back in the tube gets messier and messier,” Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Windsor’s MacIsaac thinks California may be on the cusp of an unstoppable mussel invasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an enormous problem for your state,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Most ships discharging ballast water into California waters are inspected, but state officials have tested the water of only 16 ships. Experts say invaders like mussels are inevitable under current rules and enforcement.\r\n\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After the recent \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/10/california-delta-invasive-mussel/\">discovery of a destructive mussel\u003c/a> in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, some experts say California officials have failed to effectively enforce laws designed to protect waterways from invaders carried in ships’ ballast water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PRC§ionNum=71206.\">state law enacted 20 years ago\u003c/a> has required California officials to inspect 25% of incoming ships and sample their ballast water before it’s discharged into waterways. But the tests didn’t begin until two years ago — after standards for conducting them were finally set — and testing remains rare. State officials have sampled the ballast water of only 16 vessels out of the roughly 3,000 likely to have emptied their tanks nearshore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say stronger regulations are needed, as well as better enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not really a surprise that another invasive species showed up in the Delta,” said Karrigan Börk, a law professor and the interim director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “It’s likely to continue happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Native to eastern Asia, the mussels — detected near the Port of Stockton, in a small San Joaquin Valley reservoir and several other Delta locations — were the first to be detected in North America. If the mollusc evades eradication efforts, it could spread over vast areas of California and beyond, crowd out native species and clog parts of the massive projects that export Delta water to cities and farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012284\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12012284\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GoldenMussel1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GoldenMussel1.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/GoldenMussel1-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei), an invasive, non-native freshwater bivalve, was recently discovered in the Port of Stockton by California Department of Water Resources staff while conducting routine operations. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California Department of Fish and Wildlife)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ted Lempert, a former Bay Area assembly member who authored a 1999 state law aimed at preventing ships from bringing invasive species into California, said state officials “apparently took their eyes off the ball.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were trying to get ahead of the game, so I’m really frustrated that after all these years, some of the events we were trying to prevent have come to pass,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the prospect of an invasive species colonizing a new region frequented by ships “is a numbers game” that can happen even under the most rigorous regulations and enforcement, said Greg Ruiz, a marine ecologist with the Marine Invasions Research Laboratory at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. “This is not a failure in the system,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ballast water is stored in tanks to stabilize vessels at sea. Often taken on at the port of departure and released at the port of arrival, it is a global vector of invasive species, including pathogens that cause human diseases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To address the threat to ecosystems and water supplies, the State Lands Commission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard enforce a suite of overlapping regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal of these state and federal rules is to reduce as much as possible the number of living organisms in discharged ballast water. Vessel operators can achieve this by exposing their ballast water to ultraviolet light, filtering it and treating it with chlorine, which is then removed before discharge.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Highest standards in the world.’ But are they enforced?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About 1,500 ships a year entering California waters release ballast water, according to Chris Scianni, environmental program manager of the State Lands Commission’s Marine Invasive Species Program. To check for compliance, officials board and inspect nearly all of them, plus another thousand vessels prioritized for inspection for other reasons, Scianni said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During these inspections, officers review ballast water logbooks and reporting forms, interview crew members, inspect water treatment equipment, and occasionally take water samples for testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re the only entity in the world that’s doing this right now,” Scianni said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2003 state law declares that the State Lands Commission “shall take samples of ballast water, sediment, and biofouling from at least 25% of vessels” subject to invasive species regulations. But commission officials told CalMatters they interpret it to mean that 25% of ships must be inspected, with no specific requirements for sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sampling for some ships began in 2023 after the commission enacted standards for how the tests are conducted. It’s a considerable endeavor: A cubic meter of water — which weighs a metric ton — must be collected from a ship. It can take an hour to draw, and it must be done while the vessel is actively discharging. Hours more may pass before results are ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal officials have their own ballast oversight program. It leans on a system of self-reporting by vessel operators — which critics consider a weak tool for ensuring compliance. An EPA spokesperson said the agency “can assess compliance with (the rules) either through a desk audit or an on-site inspection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many experts told CalMatters that the state and federal limits on how many organisms are allowed in discharged water are adequate, but that enforcement is lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had the highest (ballast water management) standards in the world, but they were never actually enforced because the state couldn’t come up with a set of technologies to implement them,” said Ben Eichenberg, a staff attorney with the group SF Baykeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ted Grosholz, a professor emeritus with the UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, said, “The standards are very exacting … The problem we have is compliance. How many ships coming in with ballast water can we really sample and verify? Enforcement officials can’t watch everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smithsonian’s Ruiz said state records show that all documented ballast discharges at the Port of Stockton since 2008 have followed state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ships that discharge, however, occasionally remain uninspected as they enter a port. And some vessel operators may cheat, filling their ballast tanks with clean ocean water to pass off a faulty water treatment system as functional. Moreover, even treated ballast water can contain high levels of zooplankton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruiz, who has studied California’s data on ship arrival and locations of the mussels, said it’s probable the golden mussel entered the Delta at least a year ago and even possible that it’s been there for a decade or more, adding that “it could even have happened in the pre-treatment (of ballast water) era.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Somehow, the creature slipped through the cracks and made itself a new home in what has been called one of the most invaded estuaries on the planet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008481\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008481\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/060124_Delta-Fishers_LE_CM-03.jpg\" alt=\"Three people sitting on a fishing boat in the middle of a body of water.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anglers begin a morning of fishing on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Stockton on June 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Loren Elliott/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s an outcome that Lempert, as an assembly member, tried to prevent a quarter-century ago when he authored the Ballast Water Management for Control of Non-indigenous Species Act. The law required incoming vessels to either retain their ballast water, drain it while simultaneously refilling with new water hundreds of miles out at sea or use an “environmentally sound” treatment system. It tasked the California State Lands Commission with monitoring vessels for compliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has since enacted a complex system of regulations: In 2003, the Marine Invasive Species Act expanded the scope of Lempert’s legislation. Three years later, the Legislature required the commission to set limits on organism concentrations in ballast water; these “standards of performance” were implemented in 2022. While the standards allow minute levels of organisms in the water, the goal is “zero detectable living organisms” by 2040.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several federal laws also aim to protect U.S. waters from creatures like the golden mussel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Penalties for breaking ballast management rules have been modest. At the state level, violations have resulted in 24 fines in the past six years, totaling just over $1 million. Federal fines are rare, with just nine penalties issued amounting to about $714,000 in the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region since 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Commission officials said, “The frequency of noncompliant discharges … has dropped dramatically since our enforcement regulations (with penalties) were adopted in 2017.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Can ballast water be sterilized?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California officials say achieving the law’s goal of zero organisms in ballast water discharged into waterways is infeasible. It would require a network of treatment plants at coastal ports, costing $1.45 billion over 30 years. The shipping industry would face another $2.17 billion in costs for installing systems capable of transferring ballast water to the floating treatment plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Eichenberg said some ships already use commercially available systems that consistently, and by a wide margin, outperform industry standards. He said the state’s failure to require that vessels use the most advanced treatment systems available — technology capable of nearly sterilizing ballast water — has culminated in the golden mussel’s arrival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something like this was bound to happen eventually,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State and federal performance standards — modeled after international standards — limit the concentration of living zooplankton-sized organisms, like mussel larvae, in ballast water before discharge to 10 per cubic meter. For smaller organisms, allowances are higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even in ballast water that has undergone treatment in approved systems, zooplankton concentrations can be off-the-charts for reasons not always clear, according to Hugh MacIsaac, an aquatic invasive species researcher at the University of Windsor in Ontario, who has studied the spread of the golden mussel in South America and central China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Treating ballast water doesn’t necessarily work. A study in Shanghai found up to 23,000 zooplankton-sized organisms per cubic meter in the ballast water of half of ships sampled, MacIsaac said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruiz, at the Smithsonian research center, said the study’s sample size of 17 ships is too small to be representative and that such high concentrations are abnormal in the United States. “We sample vessels here, and that’s not what we see coming into the U.S.,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ship operators have shifted radically in the past 20 years “from no management to a nearly complete use of open-ocean exchange to, now, an almost complete transition to ballast treatment technology,” Ruiz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-attention-turns-to-federal-rules\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Attention turns to federal rules\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The federal government, not state agencies, will soon become the key player in ballast management. That’s because new EPA rules, which are likely at least 18 months away from full implementation, will preempt state regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/09/2024-22013/vessel-incidental-discharge-national-standards-of-performance\">rules\u003c/a> — which state officials will help enforce — will keep the existing standards for organism concentrations but prevent states from implementing their own rules that exceed federal standards. For example, California’s goal of zero detectable organisms in ballast discharge will be nixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Dobroski, the State Lands Commission’s chief of environmental science, planning and management, said states can petition the federal government for changes to the rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shippers welcome the shift to national rules that align with international standards, said Jacqueline Moore, Long Beach-based vice president of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmsaship.com/our-association\">Pacific Merchant Shipping Association\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“An international industry by nature, the maritime community always appreciates consistent standards across the board, and across the ocean in this case,” Moore said. “It’s much easier for everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the change of regulatory oversight concerns Marcie Keever, the oceans and vessels program director with Friends of the Earth. She said that, to date, the State Lands Commission has been the more active enforcer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Preempting state laws with federal standards that she said are too weak “will essentially give the shipping industry a free pass to pollute…These shipping companies are self-reporting pollution instances, and no one is doing anything about it except for the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1973, the EPA exempted ballast water from the Clean Water Act.\u003cem> \u003c/em>Eventually forced by \u003ca href=\"https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/13-1745/13-1745-2015-10-05.html\">court rulings\u003c/a> to comply with the act, the agency released its newest \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/09/2024-22013/vessel-incidental-discharge-national-standards-of-performance\">standards\u003c/a> in October for limiting organism concentrations in ballast water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keever said the EPA is not setting the bar as high as it should.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re still basically at the same place we were at 20 years ago,” Keever said. “The EPA has never set what we see as the best available technology for ballast water discharges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 150 environmental groups made similar claims in a 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/White-House-letter-10.2022.pdf\">letter\u003c/a> to President Joe Biden, arguing that the technology exists now to almost entirely sterilize ballast water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[W]e have the technical ability to efficiently remove or kill organisms that are trapped in a tank of water,” they wrote. “For half a century, federal law has required EPA to use that ability to protect the environment and public health — yet EPA still refuses to do so.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA disagrees with the criticism. Joshua Alexander, a press officer with the agency’s Region 9 San Francisco office, told CalMatters that “the EPA concluded that these standards (in the new rules) are the most stringent ones that the available ballast water test data can support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016009\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12016009 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/110624-Golden-Mussel-DWR-CM-02.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Invasive golden mussels, shown at a California Department of Water Resources lab, might crowd out native species in waterways and clog parts of the state’s massive water projects. Photo by Xavier Mascareñas, California Department of Water Resources\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-can-anything-stop-the-mussel-invasion\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Can anything stop the mussel invasion?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>October’s discovery of the golden mussel in California is being treated urgently by state and federal officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The creatures have wreaked havoc on water supply and hydroelectric facilities in South America, and they are spreading rapidly through central China. In the Great Lakes, invasive zebra mussels cause \u003ca href=\"https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/62012\">$300 million to $500 million\u003c/a> in damages annually to power plants and other water infrastructure — the types of impacts officials in California hope to avoid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tanya Veldhuizen, the Department of Water Resources’ special projects section manager, said officials are considering the use of chemicals to remove the creatures from pumps, intakes and pipelines of the massive State Water Project, which transports water to farms and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several scientists told CalMatters that with most non-native species, eradication is only possible early in the game — meaning management officials often have one shot at success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologist Andrew Chang, who works at the Smithsonian research center’s Marin County field lab, noted an old adage in invasion ecology — containing the spread of a non-native species is like trying to put toothpaste back into a tube. “The more time that passes, the process of putting the toothpaste back in the tube gets messier and messier,” Chang said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>University of Windsor’s MacIsaac thinks California may be on the cusp of an unstoppable mussel invasion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an enormous problem for your state,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California Could Lose $300 Million in Medi-Cal Funding Under Project 2025's Abortion Plan",
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"content": "\u003cp>If President-elect Donald Trump goes forward with Project 2025, California could lose out on at least $300 million a year in funding for abortions, family planning and contraception for millions of lower-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for the next president, targeted the state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/09/project2025-trump-california-abortion-surveillance/\">with an ultimatum\u003c/a> that would require California to start reporting abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control or risk losing critical Medicaid funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite Trump’s attempts to distance himself from the plan during the campaign, at least 140 of his allies produced the report, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/20/trump-project-2025-second-administration/\">he’s appointing key figures\u003c/a> from the project to his administration. As California leaders rush to shield the state from a Trump agenda, preserving reproductive freedoms stands as a top priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom called \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/11/gavin-newsom-special-session-trump-resistance/\">a special session for next month\u003c/a> to “Trump-proof” California, and he’s hiring lawyers to prepare for Day 1 of the Trump presidency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” Newsom said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When CalMatters first reported on the ultimatum in September, the California Department of Health Care Services didn’t provide specific figures detailing how much the state receives in federal reimbursements for reproductive health care provided through \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/medi-cal/\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a>. The department now says the federal government reimbursed California about $310.7 million for reproductive health care last year, according to California Department of Health Care Services figures. In the previous year, the state received $334.5 million. That funding supports Medi-Cal, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.acog.org/advocacy/policy-priorities/medicaid#:~:text=Medicaid%20is%20the%20largest%20single,ensuring%20healthy%20moms%20and%20babies.\">single largest payer\u003c/a> of maternity care in the country. Medi-Cal covers about 14.2 million Californians. All told, the federal government reimbursed the state $90.9 billion for Medi-Cal last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Project 2025, all 50 states would be mandated to report detailed abortion-related data to the federal government, including information such as the reason for the abortion, the fetus’ gestational age, the birthing parent’s state of residence, whether the procedure was surgical or medication-induced, and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not require abortion providers to share patient data with the federal government. Shortly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the California Department of Public Health said that it does not report abortion data federally because\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/06/abortion-data-california/\"> it is not legally obligated to do so\u003c/a>. States that do collect abortion data typically use it for public health analyses, which can help identify gaps in care and improve access to services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not provide details on the projected costs of lawyering up but said the governor plans for legislation to give additional resources to the California Department of Justice and other state agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These resources are intended “to pursue robust affirmative litigation against any unlawful actions by the incoming Trump administration, as well as defend against federal lawsuits aimed at undermining California’s laws and policies,” the governor’s office said. “The funding will support the ability to immediately file litigation and seek injunctive relief against unlawful federal actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 779px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015950\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/081423-Project-2025-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"779\" height=\"519\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/081423-Project-2025-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg 779w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/081423-Project-2025-AP-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 779px) 100vw, 779px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kristen Eichamer, center, talks to fairgoers at the Project 2025 tent at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 14, 2023. \u003ccite>(Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Trump tapped two individuals associated with Project 2025 for roles in his administration. Brendan Carr, who authored Project 2025’s section on the Federal Communications Commission, will lead the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tom Homan, an immigration hawk who’s listed in Project 2025’s credits as having assisted in developing and writing the playbook, will serve as the border czar, overseeing immigration policies and implementing mass deportation strategies. The spot is not an official cabinet position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer who \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/11/robert-f-kennedy-jr-california-vaccine/\">previously fought California\u003c/a> over vaccine mandates. The department controls oversight of Medicaid spending and plays a critical role in abortion reporting by setting federal guidelines and enforcing privacy protections under HIPAA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy does not appear to have endorsed Project 2025. His stance on abortion has been notably inconsistent over time. In May, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovu7Hu1oEiQ&t=1s\">he expressed\u003c/a> support for unrestricted abortion access, stating he opposed any government restrictions, “even if it’s full term.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, he later revised his position, advocating for legal \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/abortion/\">abortion\u003c/a> up to the point of \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3000858/rfk-jr-walks-back-stance-abortion/\">fetal viability\u003c/a>, the stage at which a fetus can potentially survive outside the womb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roger Severino, who served as the Department of Health and Human Services director of the Office for Civil Rights under Trump, authored Project 2025’s abortion surveillance plan. He is now the vice president of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025. He declined an interview request.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12015752,news_12013882,forum_2010101906159\"]Severino’s vision for remaking the department is a cornerstone of Project 2025’s effort to impose stricter federal oversight on abortion practices, particularly targeting states like California, which offers greater access to abortion services than most other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, [the Department of Health and Human Services] should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method,” reads \u003ca href=\"https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_CHAPTER-14.pdf\">the chapter (PDF)\u003c/a> on abortion reporting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The potential fallout isn’t limited to California. Experts \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/09/project2025-trump-california-abortion-surveillance/\">have warned\u003c/a> that other states with progressive abortion policies may face similar funding threats, amplifying the national debate over reproductive rights under Trump’s second term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Election Day, Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., for meetings with the Biden administration and congressional leaders to “discuss strategies for safeguarding health care access,” said Anthony Cava, a spokesperson for the California Department of Health Care Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cava would not elaborate on those strategies. He said the department “cannot speculate on the future of these programs under a new federal administration, but the Newsom administration is working to protect the health and well-being of all Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has long positioned itself as a national leader in reproductive rights, actively opposing federal restrictions on abortion access. The state’s proactive policies, such as safeguarding providers who serve out-of-state patients, stand in stark contrast to the goals of Project 2025. As policymakers and advocates brace for how Trump plans to “\u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113448443776000306\">Make California Great Again\u003c/a>,” they’re treating Project 2025 as a looming possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Planned Parenthood, one of California’s leading providers of reproductive health care services for lower-income communities, said the organization is preparing for “a variety of scenarios.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelby McMichael, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said “while specifics remain under wraps,” the group is prioritizing expanding California’s abortion provider workforce, increasing investments in abortion funds and infrastructure as well as analyzing data to “improve abortion care access and education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Under Project 2025, all 50 states would be mandated to report detailed abortion-related data to the federal government or risk funding cuts. California is one of three states that currently does not report.",
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"title": "California Could Lose $300 Million in Medi-Cal Funding Under Project 2025's Abortion Plan | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If President-elect Donald Trump goes forward with Project 2025, California could lose out on at least $300 million a year in funding for abortions, family planning and contraception for millions of lower-income residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for the next president, targeted the state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/09/project2025-trump-california-abortion-surveillance/\">with an ultimatum\u003c/a> that would require California to start reporting abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control or risk losing critical Medicaid funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite Trump’s attempts to distance himself from the plan during the campaign, at least 140 of his allies produced the report, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/20/trump-project-2025-second-administration/\">he’s appointing key figures\u003c/a> from the project to his administration. As California leaders rush to shield the state from a Trump agenda, preserving reproductive freedoms stands as a top priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom called \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/11/gavin-newsom-special-session-trump-resistance/\">a special session for next month\u003c/a> to “Trump-proof” California, and he’s hiring lawyers to prepare for Day 1 of the Trump presidency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” Newsom said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When CalMatters first reported on the ultimatum in September, the California Department of Health Care Services didn’t provide specific figures detailing how much the state receives in federal reimbursements for reproductive health care provided through \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/medi-cal/\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a>. The department now says the federal government reimbursed California about $310.7 million for reproductive health care last year, according to California Department of Health Care Services figures. In the previous year, the state received $334.5 million. That funding supports Medi-Cal, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.acog.org/advocacy/policy-priorities/medicaid#:~:text=Medicaid%20is%20the%20largest%20single,ensuring%20healthy%20moms%20and%20babies.\">single largest payer\u003c/a> of maternity care in the country. Medi-Cal covers about 14.2 million Californians. All told, the federal government reimbursed the state $90.9 billion for Medi-Cal last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Project 2025, all 50 states would be mandated to report detailed abortion-related data to the federal government, including information such as the reason for the abortion, the fetus’ gestational age, the birthing parent’s state of residence, whether the procedure was surgical or medication-induced, and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not require abortion providers to share patient data with the federal government. Shortly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the California Department of Public Health said that it does not report abortion data federally because\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/06/abortion-data-california/\"> it is not legally obligated to do so\u003c/a>. States that do collect abortion data typically use it for public health analyses, which can help identify gaps in care and improve access to services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not provide details on the projected costs of lawyering up but said the governor plans for legislation to give additional resources to the California Department of Justice and other state agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These resources are intended “to pursue robust affirmative litigation against any unlawful actions by the incoming Trump administration, as well as defend against federal lawsuits aimed at undermining California’s laws and policies,” the governor’s office said. “The funding will support the ability to immediately file litigation and seek injunctive relief against unlawful federal actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 779px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015950\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/081423-Project-2025-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"779\" height=\"519\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/081423-Project-2025-AP-CM-01-copy.jpg 779w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/081423-Project-2025-AP-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 779px) 100vw, 779px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kristen Eichamer, center, talks to fairgoers at the Project 2025 tent at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 14, 2023. \u003ccite>(Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Trump tapped two individuals associated with Project 2025 for roles in his administration. Brendan Carr, who authored Project 2025’s section on the Federal Communications Commission, will lead the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tom Homan, an immigration hawk who’s listed in Project 2025’s credits as having assisted in developing and writing the playbook, will serve as the border czar, overseeing immigration policies and implementing mass deportation strategies. The spot is not an official cabinet position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer who \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2024/11/robert-f-kennedy-jr-california-vaccine/\">previously fought California\u003c/a> over vaccine mandates. The department controls oversight of Medicaid spending and plays a critical role in abortion reporting by setting federal guidelines and enforcing privacy protections under HIPAA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy does not appear to have endorsed Project 2025. His stance on abortion has been notably inconsistent over time. In May, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovu7Hu1oEiQ&t=1s\">he expressed\u003c/a> support for unrestricted abortion access, stating he opposed any government restrictions, “even if it’s full term.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, he later revised his position, advocating for legal \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/abortion/\">abortion\u003c/a> up to the point of \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3000858/rfk-jr-walks-back-stance-abortion/\">fetal viability\u003c/a>, the stage at which a fetus can potentially survive outside the womb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roger Severino, who served as the Department of Health and Human Services director of the Office for Civil Rights under Trump, authored Project 2025’s abortion surveillance plan. He is now the vice president of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025. He declined an interview request.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Severino’s vision for remaking the department is a cornerstone of Project 2025’s effort to impose stricter federal oversight on abortion practices, particularly targeting states like California, which offers greater access to abortion services than most other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, [the Department of Health and Human Services] should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method,” reads \u003ca href=\"https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_CHAPTER-14.pdf\">the chapter (PDF)\u003c/a> on abortion reporting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The potential fallout isn’t limited to California. Experts \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/09/project2025-trump-california-abortion-surveillance/\">have warned\u003c/a> that other states with progressive abortion policies may face similar funding threats, amplifying the national debate over reproductive rights under Trump’s second term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Election Day, Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., for meetings with the Biden administration and congressional leaders to “discuss strategies for safeguarding health care access,” said Anthony Cava, a spokesperson for the California Department of Health Care Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cava would not elaborate on those strategies. He said the department “cannot speculate on the future of these programs under a new federal administration, but the Newsom administration is working to protect the health and well-being of all Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has long positioned itself as a national leader in reproductive rights, actively opposing federal restrictions on abortion access. The state’s proactive policies, such as safeguarding providers who serve out-of-state patients, stand in stark contrast to the goals of Project 2025. As policymakers and advocates brace for how Trump plans to “\u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113448443776000306\">Make California Great Again\u003c/a>,” they’re treating Project 2025 as a looming possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Planned Parenthood, one of California’s leading providers of reproductive health care services for lower-income communities, said the organization is preparing for “a variety of scenarios.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shelby McMichael, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said “while specifics remain under wraps,” the group is prioritizing expanding California’s abortion provider workforce, increasing investments in abortion funds and infrastructure as well as analyzing data to “improve abortion care access and education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "2-california-prosecutors-promised-a-different-kind-of-justice-voters-turned-on-them",
"title": "2 California Prosecutors Promised a Different Kind of Justice. Voters Turned on Them",
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"headTitle": "2 California Prosecutors Promised a Different Kind of Justice. Voters Turned on Them | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s two best-known “progressive” prosecutors were doing what they promised the voters who elected them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pamela-price\">Pamela Price\u003c/a>, elected as Alameda County District Attorney in 2022, implemented a policy to guard against racial biases in sentencing enhancements and exposed the exclusion of Black and Jewish people from death penalty juries. A court order to review those biases is currently underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/george-gascon\">George Gascón\u003c/a>, a former San Francisco police chief first elected as Los Angeles County District Attorney in 2020, established policies that prohibited his prosecutors from pursuing exorbitant sentencing enhancements, transferring juvenile cases into adult courts and advocating against offender reentry at parole board hearings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their movement suffered a serious setback in this month’s election when Price failed to defeat a recall, and Gascón lost his bid for reelection in a landslide to Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who ran for attorney general as a Republican two years ago. Those defeats followed on the heels of San Francisco’s former progressive district attorney, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chesa-boudin\">Chesa Boudin\u003c/a>, who was recalled in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ousting of the two district attorneys punctuates a change in statewide views on law enforcement and public safety approaches. California voters this election overwhelmingly approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012656/proposition-36-californias-newest-tough-on-crime-measure-appears-headed-for-victory\">Proposition 36\u003c/a>, a tough-on-crime measure that stiffened penalties for some drug and theft crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t just burn the system down,” said Anne Marie Schubert, former Sacramento County District Attorney, who battled former Gov. Jerry Brown over his criminal justice policies. “They get elected, and then all of a sudden, they implement policies that are so far removed from being a real prosecutor who is seeking balance and accountability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a sobering moment for criminal justice advocates who backed progressive prosecutors around the nation over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All successful movements experience setbacks, and the movement to course correct the criminal justice system is no different,” said Anne Irwin, founder and director of the criminal justice advocacy group Smart Justice California. “We will regroup and continue to fight for the values that animate our work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Roots of the progressive prosecutor movement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nearly a decade ago, criminal justice advocates looked to who they saw as the most important decision-makers in the state’s criminal justice ecosystem — prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an attempt to counteract the over-incarceration of Black and brown people that resulted from decades of tough-on-crime prosecution, leaders of the movement encouraged prosecutors to use tools that weren’t entirely dependent on incarceration as a way to address harm in a community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cynthia Chandler, policy director for Price, that has meant addressing the root causes of violence and giving prosecutors flexibility in how they respond to crime, such as sending more people to diversion programs as an alternative to incarceration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011912\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12011912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A middle-aged Black woman in a suit jacket speaks at a podium, with a 'Alameda County District Attorney's Office banner behind her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price speaks to reporters during a briefing in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately, what’s behind the vision of a progressive prosecutor is a prosecutor who is committed to the ethical mandate placed on prosecutors to search for truth and justice,” Chandler said. “And the search for truth is not furthered by seeking out a pound of flesh.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The movement picked up in 2016 \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/george-soros-criminal-justice-reform-227519\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with funding from Democratic mega-donor George Soros\u003c/a>. For the most part, progressive prosecutors have been on the rise since then, with candidates finding success in places such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This election, two progressive prosecutors won their races in Orlando, Florida and Austin, Texas. However, UC Berkeley political science professor Eric Schickler said progressive defeats in California suggest the need for recalibration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Social movements often come onto the scene with a very big, bold kind of vision,” Schickler said. “And to the extent that they’re successful and then get involved in actual governance, there tend to be forces that push back. It’s hard to change everything all at once. There’s built-in resistance both bureaucratically and also in public opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, these district attorneys faced an additional hurdle because the state allows voters to recall prosecutors before their term is up. Price lost her office just two years into a six-year term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of these prosecutors have been put in really tricky positions, and particularly with the ones who faced a recall, (they) were barely able to implement anything in office before wealthy interests had mobilized to gather enough signatures to try to drive them out,” said Becca Goldstein, assistant professor of law at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Schnur, a political analyst and professor at the University of Southern California, attributes the defeat of Price and Gascón to ideological and management factors. When voters expressed growing concern over what they viewed as a lenient response to public safety and criminal justice, Schnur said the DAs failed to recognize them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The best politicians are those who are able to adjust to and address those changes in public opinion,” Schnur said. “Those who aren’t able to adjust become former elected officials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s next in LA, Alameda County?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the wake of their defeats, criminal justice reform advocates are taking a closer look at their strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boudin, now executive director of UC Berkeley’s Criminal Law & Justice Center, said criminal justice reform advocates have to do a better job of messaging the vision for their policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t expect elected prosecutors to do the work of solving homelessness and substance use. They don’t have the tools (or) the mandate … so how can we, as a movement, make sure that we’re not just electing progressive prosecutors, but we’re electing mayors and boards of supervisors and city councils who are willing to do the policy work of solving these problems?” he said. “Because if we keep dumping them on the criminal justice system, it’s not going to work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District attorneys, he said, cannot and should not be expected to solve all of the world’s problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11978017\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11978017\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón addresses police accountability and the actions taken by his office to restore trust in the community during a press conference on May 25, 2022, in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“To think that it is the DA’s job to clean up Skid Row, it’s absurd,” said Garrett Miller, president of the Los Angeles Public Defenders Union. “That is a societal failure … it’s not just the DA, nor is it really his responsibility — even though he may claim it is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear who will succeed Price. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will appoint an interim replacement to lead the office until 2026. In Los Angeles County, the choice is definitive, with Hochman expected to make sweeping changes as soon as he replaces Gascon on Dec. 2.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"forum_2010101907838,news_12013442,news_12008948\"]“We’re definitely afraid for our clients,” Miller said. “It’s a drastic change. Many more will do significantly more time. That’s the reality of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys of Los Angeles, said “everyone’s really excited” to see Hochman take over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re immediately going to see the highly trained professionals of this office use their experience and knowledge to make decisions about the best outcomes for cases based upon the facts — rather than on blanket policies,” she said. “Which is the best thing for the defendants, for the victims, and for public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods said district attorneys in the mold of Gascón and Price “moved prosecution in the right direction, but it really is the direction it should have been moving in all along.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s a space for prosecutors to do the right thing, independent of your label,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What do voters want?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Alameda County, Price was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014858/alameda-county-da-pamela-price-concedes-recall-defeat-after-long-holdout\">recalled with roughly 65%\u003c/a> of votes. Nathan Hochman defeated Gascón with roughly 60% of votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be truthful, I would like to believe it’s the end of (the progressive prosecutor movement),” Schubert said. “Any mainstream career prosecutor is going to tell you, yes, we support reforms. But at the end of it all, it cannot be extreme. It must be driven by the facts in the law. Every case is unique.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those concerns were echoed by Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley, who backed Proposition 36.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008952\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nathan Hochman speaks at the KNX News 97.1 FM and The Los Angeles Times District Attorney debate between former incumbent George Gascon and Nathan Hochman on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There seems to be this sort of sentiment that everyone, if they just took a class, would get better and engage in no more criminal activities. That kind of naivete is harmful,” Haley said. “That can be true for many of the people we see through the criminal justice system. But we’ve done too good of a job of sanitizing what we do because I believe that there exists cruelty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Groups that supported Gascón and Price say their defeats don’t necessarily signal a far departure from voters’ investment in criminal justice reform. Proponents of Proposition 36, for example, talked about steering more \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2024/10/prop-36-mass-treatment/\">people convicted of drug crimes to treatment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hochman changed his political affiliation from a lifelong Republican to an independent before his run for district attorney. During his candidacy, he cited the need for more rehabilitation opportunities for incarcerated people and more community service programs for first-time, nonviolent offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That tells some who supported progressive prosecutors that voters have not walked away from those values, but they’ve expressed frustration that things aren’t changing quickly enough, said Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of a nationwide organization that supports reform-oriented approaches to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is a need and an eagerness from voters and residents in California to see a justice system that actually works — that’s not just a revolving door or a dungeon — and that we can find ways to problem solve, that we can find ways to rehabilitate people, that we can find better ways to help victims heal,” Soto DeBerry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Irwin said California prosecutors who are “repudiating” their tough-on-crime identity signal a shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s really the story of the progressive prosecution’s evolution in California — that now, it’s become mainstream for candidates in prosecutor races up and down the state to actually embrace reform,” Irwin said. “They know that the approach they have taken for the last 30 years is no longer palpable for Californians. I really hope that they genuinely do the work of reform-minded prosecution rather than just paying it lip service at election time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters reporter Joe Garcia contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich and Joe Garcia are California Local News fellows.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "George Gascón and Pamela Price were California’s best-known ‘progressive’ district attorneys. They lost their offices in 2024 when voters backed a more traditional approach.\r\n\r\n",
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"title": "2 California Prosecutors Promised a Different Kind of Justice. Voters Turned on Them | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s two best-known “progressive” prosecutors were doing what they promised the voters who elected them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/pamela-price\">Pamela Price\u003c/a>, elected as Alameda County District Attorney in 2022, implemented a policy to guard against racial biases in sentencing enhancements and exposed the exclusion of Black and Jewish people from death penalty juries. A court order to review those biases is currently underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/george-gascon\">George Gascón\u003c/a>, a former San Francisco police chief first elected as Los Angeles County District Attorney in 2020, established policies that prohibited his prosecutors from pursuing exorbitant sentencing enhancements, transferring juvenile cases into adult courts and advocating against offender reentry at parole board hearings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their movement suffered a serious setback in this month’s election when Price failed to defeat a recall, and Gascón lost his bid for reelection in a landslide to Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who ran for attorney general as a Republican two years ago. Those defeats followed on the heels of San Francisco’s former progressive district attorney, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/chesa-boudin\">Chesa Boudin\u003c/a>, who was recalled in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ousting of the two district attorneys punctuates a change in statewide views on law enforcement and public safety approaches. California voters this election overwhelmingly approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012656/proposition-36-californias-newest-tough-on-crime-measure-appears-headed-for-victory\">Proposition 36\u003c/a>, a tough-on-crime measure that stiffened penalties for some drug and theft crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t just burn the system down,” said Anne Marie Schubert, former Sacramento County District Attorney, who battled former Gov. Jerry Brown over his criminal justice policies. “They get elected, and then all of a sudden, they implement policies that are so far removed from being a real prosecutor who is seeking balance and accountability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a sobering moment for criminal justice advocates who backed progressive prosecutors around the nation over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All successful movements experience setbacks, and the movement to course correct the criminal justice system is no different,” said Anne Irwin, founder and director of the criminal justice advocacy group Smart Justice California. “We will regroup and continue to fight for the values that animate our work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Roots of the progressive prosecutor movement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nearly a decade ago, criminal justice advocates looked to who they saw as the most important decision-makers in the state’s criminal justice ecosystem — prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an attempt to counteract the over-incarceration of Black and brown people that resulted from decades of tough-on-crime prosecution, leaders of the movement encouraged prosecutors to use tools that weren’t entirely dependent on incarceration as a way to address harm in a community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cynthia Chandler, policy director for Price, that has meant addressing the root causes of violence and giving prosecutors flexibility in how they respond to crime, such as sending more people to diversion programs as an alternative to incarceration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011912\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12011912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A middle-aged Black woman in a suit jacket speaks at a podium, with a 'Alameda County District Attorney's Office banner behind her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price speaks to reporters during a briefing in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately, what’s behind the vision of a progressive prosecutor is a prosecutor who is committed to the ethical mandate placed on prosecutors to search for truth and justice,” Chandler said. “And the search for truth is not furthered by seeking out a pound of flesh.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The movement picked up in 2016 \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/george-soros-criminal-justice-reform-227519\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with funding from Democratic mega-donor George Soros\u003c/a>. For the most part, progressive prosecutors have been on the rise since then, with candidates finding success in places such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This election, two progressive prosecutors won their races in Orlando, Florida and Austin, Texas. However, UC Berkeley political science professor Eric Schickler said progressive defeats in California suggest the need for recalibration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Social movements often come onto the scene with a very big, bold kind of vision,” Schickler said. “And to the extent that they’re successful and then get involved in actual governance, there tend to be forces that push back. It’s hard to change everything all at once. There’s built-in resistance both bureaucratically and also in public opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, these district attorneys faced an additional hurdle because the state allows voters to recall prosecutors before their term is up. Price lost her office just two years into a six-year term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of these prosecutors have been put in really tricky positions, and particularly with the ones who faced a recall, (they) were barely able to implement anything in office before wealthy interests had mobilized to gather enough signatures to try to drive them out,” said Becca Goldstein, assistant professor of law at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Schnur, a political analyst and professor at the University of Southern California, attributes the defeat of Price and Gascón to ideological and management factors. When voters expressed growing concern over what they viewed as a lenient response to public safety and criminal justice, Schnur said the DAs failed to recognize them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The best politicians are those who are able to adjust to and address those changes in public opinion,” Schnur said. “Those who aren’t able to adjust become former elected officials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s next in LA, Alameda County?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the wake of their defeats, criminal justice reform advocates are taking a closer look at their strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boudin, now executive director of UC Berkeley’s Criminal Law & Justice Center, said criminal justice reform advocates have to do a better job of messaging the vision for their policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t expect elected prosecutors to do the work of solving homelessness and substance use. They don’t have the tools (or) the mandate … so how can we, as a movement, make sure that we’re not just electing progressive prosecutors, but we’re electing mayors and boards of supervisors and city councils who are willing to do the policy work of solving these problems?” he said. “Because if we keep dumping them on the criminal justice system, it’s not going to work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District attorneys, he said, cannot and should not be expected to solve all of the world’s problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11978017\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11978017\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GettyImages-1240914819-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón addresses police accountability and the actions taken by his office to restore trust in the community during a press conference on May 25, 2022, in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“To think that it is the DA’s job to clean up Skid Row, it’s absurd,” said Garrett Miller, president of the Los Angeles Public Defenders Union. “That is a societal failure … it’s not just the DA, nor is it really his responsibility — even though he may claim it is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unclear who will succeed Price. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will appoint an interim replacement to lead the office until 2026. In Los Angeles County, the choice is definitive, with Hochman expected to make sweeping changes as soon as he replaces Gascon on Dec. 2.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’re definitely afraid for our clients,” Miller said. “It’s a drastic change. Many more will do significantly more time. That’s the reality of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys of Los Angeles, said “everyone’s really excited” to see Hochman take over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re immediately going to see the highly trained professionals of this office use their experience and knowledge to make decisions about the best outcomes for cases based upon the facts — rather than on blanket policies,” she said. “Which is the best thing for the defendants, for the victims, and for public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alameda County Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods said district attorneys in the mold of Gascón and Price “moved prosecution in the right direction, but it really is the direction it should have been moving in all along.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s a space for prosecutors to do the right thing, independent of your label,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What do voters want?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Alameda County, Price was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014858/alameda-county-da-pamela-price-concedes-recall-defeat-after-long-holdout\">recalled with roughly 65%\u003c/a> of votes. Nathan Hochman defeated Gascón with roughly 60% of votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be truthful, I would like to believe it’s the end of (the progressive prosecutor movement),” Schubert said. “Any mainstream career prosecutor is going to tell you, yes, we support reforms. But at the end of it all, it cannot be extreme. It must be driven by the facts in the law. Every case is unique.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those concerns were echoed by Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley, who backed Proposition 36.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12008952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12008952\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-2176815987-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nathan Hochman speaks at the KNX News 97.1 FM and The Los Angeles Times District Attorney debate between former incumbent George Gascon and Nathan Hochman on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There seems to be this sort of sentiment that everyone, if they just took a class, would get better and engage in no more criminal activities. That kind of naivete is harmful,” Haley said. “That can be true for many of the people we see through the criminal justice system. But we’ve done too good of a job of sanitizing what we do because I believe that there exists cruelty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Groups that supported Gascón and Price say their defeats don’t necessarily signal a far departure from voters’ investment in criminal justice reform. Proponents of Proposition 36, for example, talked about steering more \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2024/10/prop-36-mass-treatment/\">people convicted of drug crimes to treatment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hochman changed his political affiliation from a lifelong Republican to an independent before his run for district attorney. During his candidacy, he cited the need for more rehabilitation opportunities for incarcerated people and more community service programs for first-time, nonviolent offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That tells some who supported progressive prosecutors that voters have not walked away from those values, but they’ve expressed frustration that things aren’t changing quickly enough, said Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of a nationwide organization that supports reform-oriented approaches to public safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is a need and an eagerness from voters and residents in California to see a justice system that actually works — that’s not just a revolving door or a dungeon — and that we can find ways to problem solve, that we can find ways to rehabilitate people, that we can find better ways to help victims heal,” Soto DeBerry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Irwin said California prosecutors who are “repudiating” their tough-on-crime identity signal a shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s really the story of the progressive prosecution’s evolution in California — that now, it’s become mainstream for candidates in prosecutor races up and down the state to actually embrace reform,” Irwin said. “They know that the approach they have taken for the last 30 years is no longer palpable for Californians. I really hope that they genuinely do the work of reform-minded prosecution rather than just paying it lip service at election time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters reporter Joe Garcia contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich and Joe Garcia are California Local News fellows.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "rfk-jr-fought-californias-vaccine-mandates-and-lost-now-he-could-set-us-health-policy",
"title": "RFK Jr. Fought California's Vaccine Mandates — and Lost. Now, He Could Set US Health Policy",
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"content": "\u003cp>Five years ago, hundreds of people crowded the halls of the state Capitol, protesting legislation that sought to tighten California’s vaccine rules. Outside, music blasted something about a revolution, and people carried signs that read, “Vaccine mandates violate bodily autonomy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the sea of red-clad protesters emerged a familiar face idolized \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-QfrVFUoD8\">by the anti-vaccine activists\u003c/a>: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was the guest of honor in one of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2019/09/california-legislature-protest-menstrual-blood-ani-vaccine/\">biggest public health showdowns\u003c/a> the state has seen in recent years. Ultimately, he and his followers lost — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB276\">the Legislature passed a law\u003c/a> to clamp down on fraudulent or inappropriate medical exemptions for required childhood vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Kennedy finds himself on a bigger stage with potentially far more influence and power. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated the former environmental lawyer turned controversial vaccine critic to oversee the nation’s health policy as secretary of health and human services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has been known to make false, and at times dangerous, claims about medicine and public health. Perhaps most infamously, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/robert-kennedy-jrs-belief-in-autism-vaccine-connection-and-its-political-peril/2014/07/16/f21c01ee-f70b-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html\">linked vaccines to autism\u003c/a> — a claim that has been debunked over and over again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, with Kennedy in the running to lead the federal health department, health leaders and advocates in California and across the country are voicing their concerns and preparing to combat a potential wave of medical disinformation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having a vaccine skeptic at the helm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, some say, could lead to more Americans refusing to be vaccinated and potentially putting lives at risk. It could also embolden the anti-vaccine movement in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/richard-pan/\">Dr. Richard Pan\u003c/a>, a pediatrician who, as a state senator, authored the 2019 medical exemption law and a separate law that eliminated personal belief exemptions for childhood vaccines, said having a health secretary who casts doubt on vaccines is “a danger” and “disturbing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I imagine we’re going to see a lot more direct attacks on individual scientists, individual people. I’m anticipating that I’m probably gonna be hoisted somewhere by those guys as well. I don’t think RFK Jr. has forgotten about me yet,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pan said he met Kennedy twice when Kennedy traveled to Sacramento to oppose his bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carrying those laws made Pan the subject of harassment and attacks, and at one point, an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article234231737.html\">anti-vaccine activist shoved him\u003c/a> while Pan was walking in a Sacramento street. At protests, anti-vaccine activists plastered Pan’s face on posters with the word “LIAR” in red letters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, people who rallied against his vaccine bills are celebrating Kennedy’s potential spot in Trump’s cabinet and calling for “justice” via social media posts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one of their last quarrels, Pan publicly called for Kennedy to be banned from social media platforms when Kennedy promoted COVID-19 disinformation. In response, Kennedy \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article249557493.html\">told the Sacramento Bee\u003c/a> that Pan’s request for censorship was anti-American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More recently, Kennedy has taken a more measured approach when responding to questions about vaccines. Following Trump’s win, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fMfOnKUfik\">he told NBC News\u003c/a> that he isn’t looking to take vaccines off the market but rather is advocating for informed choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can RFK Jr. do as health secretary?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If Kennedy is confirmed as head of health and human services, he would oversee a $1.7 trillion budget and about a dozen agencies. He would be responsible for managing pandemic preparedness and would be in charge of issues ranging from health insurance to food safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that any controversial changes would likely be met with litigation that could slow or derail Kennedy’s proposals. Still, there are several ways anti-vaccine sentiment in the federal government could undermine public health gains in states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, school immunization mandates are issued by states, and while the federal government cannot directly change those, it could decide to withhold public health funding, such as grants sent to states to help fund vaccination efforts, said Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As health secretary, Kennedy would also have the power to appoint members of an advisory committee that makes recommendations on immunization practices to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reiss added that the health secretary also has the power to expedite or limit access to new vaccines, which would become especially important in the case of another pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is the secretary of health and human services who declares a public health emergency and \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-legal-regulatory-and-policy-framework/emergency-use-authorization\">issues emergency use authorization\u003c/a> for unapproved vaccines. When COVID-19 shots were first made available to the public in December 2020, they were allowed under this emergency designation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approved the vaccine for people 16 and older nine months later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A secretary hostile to vaccines could block or remove the emergency use authorization. That means the vaccine manufacturer “would have to either apply for full approval at the moment or not sell the vaccine,” Reiss said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy told NBC that he wouldn’t have “directly blocked” the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines had he been secretary at the time but rather would have made sure that “we have the best science.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, at the height of the pandemic, Kennedy helped fuel mistrust of the coronavirus vaccine. In 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/10/robert-f-kennedy-jr/no-covid-19-vaccine-not-deadliest-vaccine-ever-mad/\">he called it the “deadliest vaccine ever made”\u003c/a> in opposition to a Louisiana proposal that would have required school children to be vaccinated against the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California vaccine mandates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2010, the California Legislature passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/pertussis.asp\">a law that added a booster of the pertussis vaccine\u003c/a>, which protects against whooping cough, to the immunization schedule for teens to attend school. Catherine Flores Martin, the executive director of California Immunization Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for vaccines, remembers when lawmakers were considering this bill, roughly about 18 people or so showed up in opposition, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fast-forward to 2015 and 2019, opposition to vaccine legislation evolved into mass protests of hundreds of people. “It’s gotten wild,” Flores Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The vast majority of parents still vaccinate their children,” she said. “We hear a lot about hesitancy, but hesitancy doesn’t convert into not vaccinating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015843\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015843\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Pan, former state senator, speaks in a news conference after visiting a Kaiser Permanente warehouse in Downey on Saturday, March 18, 2023. He wrote California laws that tightened childhood vaccine mandates. \u003ccite>(Ringo Chiu, AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the 2021–22 school year, 94% of California’s kindergarteners had received the required vaccines, the state’s public health department reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Flores Martin acknowledges that it has become more challenging to pass vaccine legislation as opposition has become louder in California. She attributes this in part to the growing role of misinformation shared on social media platforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State public health officials did not respond to an interview request by deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More Health News' tag='health']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year 2014 was notable in public health for a couple of reasons. That year, whooping cough infections peaked, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/pages/immunization/pertussis.aspx\">with more than 11,000 cases reported in the state\u003c/a>, the most ever. Also, in December of that year, a measles outbreak at Disneyland contributed to \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8828106/\">the highest number of measles cases reported in the U.S.\u003c/a> in two decades. Most of the cases were among unvaccinated children. The outbreak resulted in hospitalizations, but no deaths were reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, the vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Immunization/IMM-231.pdf\">among the required doses for kids (PDF)\u003c/a> to attend school. So are the polio vaccine and the Hepatitis B vaccine, among others. It was this measles outbreak that led the Legislature in 2015 to remove personal belief and religious exemptions for required shots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in 2019, lawmakers came back and approved a second law that allowed the state’s Department of Public Health \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-rejected-6-of-medical-exemptions-for-16556125.php\">to review and revoke inappropriate medical exemptions\u003c/a>. Medical exemptions have to be made by a physician and are reserved for small groups of people, such as those who are allergic to vaccine ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the 2019 law, the rate of kindergarteners with medical exemptions \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Immunization/2021-22KindergartenSummaryReport.pdf\">decreased to the lowest levels since 2015–16 (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to the state’s public health department. However, research shows that because of disruption in routine doctor visits during the pandemic, the number of \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2810396\">kindergarteners who were not up to date\u003c/a> on their immunizations ticked up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health advocates and experts say that it is now more important than ever to instill confidence in vaccines and proven public health measures. Flores Martin said doctors and health advocates will have to band together and push vaccine education to maintain high immunization rates. The messaging matters, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Five years ago, hundreds of people crowded the halls of the state Capitol, protesting legislation that sought to tighten California’s vaccine rules. Outside, music blasted something about a revolution, and people carried signs that read, “Vaccine mandates violate bodily autonomy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the sea of red-clad protesters emerged a familiar face idolized \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-QfrVFUoD8\">by the anti-vaccine activists\u003c/a>: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was the guest of honor in one of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2019/09/california-legislature-protest-menstrual-blood-ani-vaccine/\">biggest public health showdowns\u003c/a> the state has seen in recent years. Ultimately, he and his followers lost — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB276\">the Legislature passed a law\u003c/a> to clamp down on fraudulent or inappropriate medical exemptions for required childhood vaccines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Kennedy finds himself on a bigger stage with potentially far more influence and power. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated the former environmental lawyer turned controversial vaccine critic to oversee the nation’s health policy as secretary of health and human services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has been known to make false, and at times dangerous, claims about medicine and public health. Perhaps most infamously, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/robert-kennedy-jrs-belief-in-autism-vaccine-connection-and-its-political-peril/2014/07/16/f21c01ee-f70b-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html\">linked vaccines to autism\u003c/a> — a claim that has been debunked over and over again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, with Kennedy in the running to lead the federal health department, health leaders and advocates in California and across the country are voicing their concerns and preparing to combat a potential wave of medical disinformation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having a vaccine skeptic at the helm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, some say, could lead to more Americans refusing to be vaccinated and potentially putting lives at risk. It could also embolden the anti-vaccine movement in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/richard-pan/\">Dr. Richard Pan\u003c/a>, a pediatrician who, as a state senator, authored the 2019 medical exemption law and a separate law that eliminated personal belief exemptions for childhood vaccines, said having a health secretary who casts doubt on vaccines is “a danger” and “disturbing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I imagine we’re going to see a lot more direct attacks on individual scientists, individual people. I’m anticipating that I’m probably gonna be hoisted somewhere by those guys as well. I don’t think RFK Jr. has forgotten about me yet,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pan said he met Kennedy twice when Kennedy traveled to Sacramento to oppose his bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carrying those laws made Pan the subject of harassment and attacks, and at one point, an \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article234231737.html\">anti-vaccine activist shoved him\u003c/a> while Pan was walking in a Sacramento street. At protests, anti-vaccine activists plastered Pan’s face on posters with the word “LIAR” in red letters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, people who rallied against his vaccine bills are celebrating Kennedy’s potential spot in Trump’s cabinet and calling for “justice” via social media posts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one of their last quarrels, Pan publicly called for Kennedy to be banned from social media platforms when Kennedy promoted COVID-19 disinformation. In response, Kennedy \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article249557493.html\">told the Sacramento Bee\u003c/a> that Pan’s request for censorship was anti-American.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More recently, Kennedy has taken a more measured approach when responding to questions about vaccines. Following Trump’s win, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fMfOnKUfik\">he told NBC News\u003c/a> that he isn’t looking to take vaccines off the market but rather is advocating for informed choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can RFK Jr. do as health secretary?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If Kennedy is confirmed as head of health and human services, he would oversee a $1.7 trillion budget and about a dozen agencies. He would be responsible for managing pandemic preparedness and would be in charge of issues ranging from health insurance to food safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that any controversial changes would likely be met with litigation that could slow or derail Kennedy’s proposals. Still, there are several ways anti-vaccine sentiment in the federal government could undermine public health gains in states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, school immunization mandates are issued by states, and while the federal government cannot directly change those, it could decide to withhold public health funding, such as grants sent to states to help fund vaccination efforts, said Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As health secretary, Kennedy would also have the power to appoint members of an advisory committee that makes recommendations on immunization practices to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reiss added that the health secretary also has the power to expedite or limit access to new vaccines, which would become especially important in the case of another pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is the secretary of health and human services who declares a public health emergency and \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-legal-regulatory-and-policy-framework/emergency-use-authorization\">issues emergency use authorization\u003c/a> for unapproved vaccines. When COVID-19 shots were first made available to the public in December 2020, they were allowed under this emergency designation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approved the vaccine for people 16 and older nine months later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A secretary hostile to vaccines could block or remove the emergency use authorization. That means the vaccine manufacturer “would have to either apply for full approval at the moment or not sell the vaccine,” Reiss said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kennedy told NBC that he wouldn’t have “directly blocked” the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines had he been secretary at the time but rather would have made sure that “we have the best science.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet, at the height of the pandemic, Kennedy helped fuel mistrust of the coronavirus vaccine. In 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/10/robert-f-kennedy-jr/no-covid-19-vaccine-not-deadliest-vaccine-ever-mad/\">he called it the “deadliest vaccine ever made”\u003c/a> in opposition to a Louisiana proposal that would have required school children to be vaccinated against the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California vaccine mandates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2010, the California Legislature passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/pertussis.asp\">a law that added a booster of the pertussis vaccine\u003c/a>, which protects against whooping cough, to the immunization schedule for teens to attend school. Catherine Flores Martin, the executive director of California Immunization Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for vaccines, remembers when lawmakers were considering this bill, roughly about 18 people or so showed up in opposition, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fast-forward to 2015 and 2019, opposition to vaccine legislation evolved into mass protests of hundreds of people. “It’s gotten wild,” Flores Martin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The vast majority of parents still vaccinate their children,” she said. “We hear a lot about hesitancy, but hesitancy doesn’t convert into not vaccinating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015843\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015843\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Richard-Pan-RC-AP-01-CM-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Richard Pan, former state senator, speaks in a news conference after visiting a Kaiser Permanente warehouse in Downey on Saturday, March 18, 2023. He wrote California laws that tightened childhood vaccine mandates. \u003ccite>(Ringo Chiu, AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the 2021–22 school year, 94% of California’s kindergarteners had received the required vaccines, the state’s public health department reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Flores Martin acknowledges that it has become more challenging to pass vaccine legislation as opposition has become louder in California. She attributes this in part to the growing role of misinformation shared on social media platforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State public health officials did not respond to an interview request by deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year 2014 was notable in public health for a couple of reasons. That year, whooping cough infections peaked, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/pages/immunization/pertussis.aspx\">with more than 11,000 cases reported in the state\u003c/a>, the most ever. Also, in December of that year, a measles outbreak at Disneyland contributed to \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8828106/\">the highest number of measles cases reported in the U.S.\u003c/a> in two decades. Most of the cases were among unvaccinated children. The outbreak resulted in hospitalizations, but no deaths were reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, the vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella is \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Immunization/IMM-231.pdf\">among the required doses for kids (PDF)\u003c/a> to attend school. So are the polio vaccine and the Hepatitis B vaccine, among others. It was this measles outbreak that led the Legislature in 2015 to remove personal belief and religious exemptions for required shots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in 2019, lawmakers came back and approved a second law that allowed the state’s Department of Public Health \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-rejected-6-of-medical-exemptions-for-16556125.php\">to review and revoke inappropriate medical exemptions\u003c/a>. Medical exemptions have to be made by a physician and are reserved for small groups of people, such as those who are allergic to vaccine ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following the 2019 law, the rate of kindergarteners with medical exemptions \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Immunization/2021-22KindergartenSummaryReport.pdf\">decreased to the lowest levels since 2015–16 (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to the state’s public health department. However, research shows that because of disruption in routine doctor visits during the pandemic, the number of \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2810396\">kindergarteners who were not up to date\u003c/a> on their immunizations ticked up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health advocates and experts say that it is now more important than ever to instill confidence in vaccines and proven public health measures. Flores Martin said doctors and health advocates will have to band together and push vaccine education to maintain high immunization rates. The messaging matters, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "whats-going-to-happen-to-my-kids-california-prepares-to-resist-trump-deportations",
"title": "'What's Going to Happen to My Kids?': California Prepares to Resist Trump Deportations",
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"headTitle": "‘What’s Going to Happen to My Kids?’: California Prepares to Resist Trump Deportations | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>When he was 18, Chanthon Bun recalled, he was the lookout during a Los Angeles robbery in which no one was hurt. He was sentenced to 50 years in state prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Incarcerated for 23 years, he was paroled in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bun had come to the United States as a refugee at age 6. He was born during the \u003ca href=\"https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/cambodia\">Cambodian Genocide\u003c/a> when millions of people were put into work camps, separated from their families and killed by the communist group Khmer Rouge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he’s a legal permanent resident of the United States, the 46-year-old is among the thousands of Californians who live in constant fear of deportation because of a past criminal conviction. That threat became even more serious earlier this month when Donald Trump was reelected. The president-elect has vowed to launch the biggest militarized mass deportation in U.S. history, and his team has since doubled down on those threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I worry about what’s going to happen to my kids,” Bun said. “It’s like you’re not even here. Your mind is in such fear that you can’t even enjoy breathing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigration experts warn of an indiscriminate dragnet that could put almost anyone at risk, but some are in more immediate jeopardy than others. Those include noncitizens who have had contact with the criminal justice system, some 1.3 million people nationwide who have already received final orders of removal, and undocumented people who may live or work close to the other two groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks who have had contact with the criminal legal system will be of high priority,” said Nayna Gupta, the policy director at the left-leaning Washington think tank American Immigration Council. “Under current immigration law, that includes people who might have convictions from decades prior. There’s no statute of limitations on when the government can remove someone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Communities closer to the border may be at greater risk early in the next Trump administration because that’s where more Customs and Border Protection agents and Border Patrol officials are located. Trump has said he plans to use those agencies to carry out his mass deportation plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For months, advocates have been planning ways to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He doesn’t own our states,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/bio/naureen-shah\">Naureen Shah\u003c/a>, deputy director of government affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union. “And our states will be the frontline in the defense of our civil liberties and our civil rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, which has the country’s largest immigrant population, already has strong state laws to protect immigrant communities from mass deportations, although not as strong as Oregon and Illinois, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ilrc.org/state-map-immigration-enforcement-2024\">Immigrant Legal Resource Center\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those two states have comprehensive laws restricting transfers of people to ICE, whereas California state prison employees regularly contact the federal immigration enforcement agency about inmates in their custody, including United States citizens, public records show. Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a national nonprofit that provides legal training and does pro-immigrant policy work in California and Texas, estimates 70% to 75% of ICE arrests in the interior of the U.S. are handoffs from another law enforcement agency, such as local jails or state or federal prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Trump’s first term, California led in resisting federal deportation of undocumented immigrants by becoming the first “sanctuary state” that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2018/03/how-california-went-from-anti-immigration-to-sanctuary-state/\">curbed local agencies’ cooperation\u003c/a> with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But before that law was signed, it was weakened to allow state prisons to continue their coordination with ICE and to give federal immigration agents access to interview people in prisons and jails. Protections that limited police agencies sharing data with ICE were also weakened \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-s-sanctuary-state-bill-protecting-immigrants-closer-approval-n801976\">to allow for information to be provided\u003c/a> if a person has been convicted of one of some 800 crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after Trump’s second election, Gov. Gavin Newsom summoned the Legislature, dominated by his fellow Democrats, to a special session starting Dec. 2 — vowing to “protect California values” as the state braces for renewed clashes with the incoming administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘There is no price tag’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump’s political ascent was fueled by racist and xenophobic rhetoric about immigrants: At a December 2023 campaign rally in New Hampshire, for instance, he said they were “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-immigrants-are-poisoning-blood-country-biden-campaign-liken-rcna130141\">poisoning the blood of our country\u003c/a>.” He’s promised to expend massive federal resources on raids and sweeps in immigrant communities, especially in ‘sanctuary cities.’ One goal is to discourage future illegal immigration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-no-price-tag-mass-deportation-plan-rcna179178\">he recently told NBC\u003c/a>. “When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A majority of registered voters — 56% — agree with \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/RE_2024.09.27_Voters-on-Immigration_REPORT.pdf\">enforcing mass deportations (PDF)\u003c/a> of immigrants living in the country illegally, according to the Pew Research Center. In a separate survey by Data for Progress, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/10/25/mass-deportation-is-actually-very-unpopular\">67% of voters say they supported\u003c/a> deporting an undocumented person who has a criminal record for a non-violent offense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, immigrant advocates want the state to step up again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking to California to provide leadership,” said Alex Mensing with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. “We fully expect California to stand up to ICE’s terror as a state. We fully expect the state to put as much creativity and as many resources as possible toward supporting a response that defends immigrants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview with CalMatters, Attorney General Rob Bonta said Friday his office is preparing legal challenges and bracing for “a full frontal assault on our immigrant communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are ready to file,” he added. “We have been thinking about and preparing and readying ourselves for the possibility of this moment for months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta said his office has been carefully watching and listening to what the president-elect and his team say they are planning, “and, thankfully, he’s telling us what he’s going to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Trump administration 1.0 told us one thing: that Trump is unable to not break the law. It’s his brand. He does what he wants to do, when he wants to and how he wants to, regardless of the Constitution or federal law. And by doing that, he breaks the law,” Bonta said. “That’s why our job is so important to be there when he does and to stop him from doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s attorney general office spent about $10 million a year in legal expenses fighting Trump during the last administration, Bonta acknowledged, but “you can’t put a price on freedom, on rights, on democracy. It is always the right time and the right thing to protect those rights.” During the last Trump administration, California’s attorneys successfully defended protections for people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, for example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, the Golden State has been increasing protections for immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, California passed a law that will allow county health workers to inspect inside federal immigration detention centers where there has been a long documented history of medical neglect and worker safety violations. In 2023, the state fined the for-profit prison operator Geo Group \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1609228.015\">$100,000 for six workplace violations\u003c/a>, including lacking a plan to control COVID-19 spread and failure to provide information and training on hazardous chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015794\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015794\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Detainees exercise at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto on Aug. 28, 2019. The expansion of such facilities would be necessary for President-elect Donald Trump to carry out his immigrant deportation plans. \u003ccite>(Chris Carlson, AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Advocates say more could be done, such as strengthening data protections in local police agencies and preventing state prison staff from coordinating with ICE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor could pardon immigrants with old criminal records, shielding them from deportation. Newsom has done it when certain refugees faced removal due to old cases, like Bun’s, but Newsom’s clemency rate has been lower than that of other governors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gov. Newsom has pardoned far fewer people than Gov. Brown,” said Angela Chan, assistant chief attorney of the San Francisco public defender’s office. “Thus far, in his six years in office, Gov. Newsom has granted \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/11/11/governor-newsom-grants-executive-clemency-11-11-24/\">186 pardons\u003c/a>, an average of 31 per year. By contrast, Gov. Brown issued \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2018/12/governor-jerrry-brown-pardon-record-number/\">1,332 pardons\u003c/a> during his third and fourth terms as governor, an average of 166 pardons per year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are limits to what California can do. Lots of legal issues remain unresolved and will be battled out in court. Most sanctuary laws have a caveat that says local law enforcement cannot cooperate with immigration authorities “unless required by a valid court order.” Experts said what constitutes a valid court order might become an issue for the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court let California’s sanctuary law stand in 2020 by not hearing a Trump challenge to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also can’t do much about military troops entering California. The president can \u003ca href=\"https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10121\">federalize the National Guard\u003c/a>. In 2018, Trump sent nearly 6,000 active-duty service members to the border, authorizing them to perform “military protective activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to have to be fought out in the courts,” said Shawn VanDiver, a national security expert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the avenues Trump is exploring to deploy the military, such as the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, would require an invasion by a foreign government, some lawyers say. Lee Gelernt, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union who argued challenges to immigration restrictions during Trump’s first term, said the president-elect’s plan to use the military is illegal, and the civil liberties organization was already preparing legal challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More Immigration Coverage' tag='immigration']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trump is going to do everything that he can get away with,” Mensing said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, there are limits to what Trump can do, too, particularly based on the resources he’d need to deliver on some of his campaign promises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The president-elect has said he plans to carry out a million deportations a year. The highest number of deportations in a single fiscal year in recent history was fiscal year 2012 — during the Obama administration — with 407,821 deportations across the United States. During Trump’s first term, he was only able to carry out several hundred thousand removals a year, about on par with other presidents, at least partly because of California and other states’ new sanctuary laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the American Immigration Council, the long-term cost of deporting one million people annually could average $88 billion annually, which would be higher than the Department of Homeland Security’s $62 billion budget in fiscal year 2025. It would also require massive expansions of federal immigration court systems and detention facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deportations from California have reached record lows in recent years following the changes in state law and policy about ICE pick-ups and new federal regulations about COVID-19 testing before pick-ups at state prisons, public records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Power not panic’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates are emphasizing the need for community preparedness and organization to combat the anticipated crackdown on immigrants in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of people actively preparing, and I think community members should take heart in that and also participate,” Mensing said. “Ultimately, that is what is going to prevent Trump from getting what he wants, which is to terrorize people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In immigrant communities across the state, advocates are helping those at risk of detention and deportation make emergency plans, including who will pick up their children from school and how to protect their assets in the United States. “Know your rights” workshops are being organized, and neighbors are helping each other get informed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Power not panic” is a mantra Mensing and others often repeat. “Trump is going to attack sanctuary cities and sanctuary states because he is vindictive. Our main tools are to be organized and to be informed,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program, a Quaker organization, said even people with some form of legal status and protection are concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The amount of worry and the amount of uncertainty that people have is just tremendous, and what I tell people is to find a supportive community and to not be alone at this time,” Rios said. He said he was asked to talk to a 6-year-old child “because what he had been hearing in his school terrified him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bun said his phone has also been ringing nonstop with urgent calls from fellow Cambodian refugees across the country. Meanwhile, he’s been trying to figure out how to tell his own 3-year-old son that there might be a knock on the door, and he’ll be gone forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is like planning a life sentence,” he said. “How could you plan for that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Journalism engineer \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/mohamed-al-elew/\">Mohamed Al Elew\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When he was 18, Chanthon Bun recalled, he was the lookout during a Los Angeles robbery in which no one was hurt. He was sentenced to 50 years in state prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Incarcerated for 23 years, he was paroled in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bun had come to the United States as a refugee at age 6. He was born during the \u003ca href=\"https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/cambodia\">Cambodian Genocide\u003c/a> when millions of people were put into work camps, separated from their families and killed by the communist group Khmer Rouge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although he’s a legal permanent resident of the United States, the 46-year-old is among the thousands of Californians who live in constant fear of deportation because of a past criminal conviction. That threat became even more serious earlier this month when Donald Trump was reelected. The president-elect has vowed to launch the biggest militarized mass deportation in U.S. history, and his team has since doubled down on those threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I worry about what’s going to happen to my kids,” Bun said. “It’s like you’re not even here. Your mind is in such fear that you can’t even enjoy breathing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immigration experts warn of an indiscriminate dragnet that could put almost anyone at risk, but some are in more immediate jeopardy than others. Those include noncitizens who have had contact with the criminal justice system, some 1.3 million people nationwide who have already received final orders of removal, and undocumented people who may live or work close to the other two groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks who have had contact with the criminal legal system will be of high priority,” said Nayna Gupta, the policy director at the left-leaning Washington think tank American Immigration Council. “Under current immigration law, that includes people who might have convictions from decades prior. There’s no statute of limitations on when the government can remove someone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Communities closer to the border may be at greater risk early in the next Trump administration because that’s where more Customs and Border Protection agents and Border Patrol officials are located. Trump has said he plans to use those agencies to carry out his mass deportation plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For months, advocates have been planning ways to fight back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He doesn’t own our states,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/bio/naureen-shah\">Naureen Shah\u003c/a>, deputy director of government affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union. “And our states will be the frontline in the defense of our civil liberties and our civil rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, which has the country’s largest immigrant population, already has strong state laws to protect immigrant communities from mass deportations, although not as strong as Oregon and Illinois, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ilrc.org/state-map-immigration-enforcement-2024\">Immigrant Legal Resource Center\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those two states have comprehensive laws restricting transfers of people to ICE, whereas California state prison employees regularly contact the federal immigration enforcement agency about inmates in their custody, including United States citizens, public records show. Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a national nonprofit that provides legal training and does pro-immigrant policy work in California and Texas, estimates 70% to 75% of ICE arrests in the interior of the U.S. are handoffs from another law enforcement agency, such as local jails or state or federal prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Trump’s first term, California led in resisting federal deportation of undocumented immigrants by becoming the first “sanctuary state” that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2018/03/how-california-went-from-anti-immigration-to-sanctuary-state/\">curbed local agencies’ cooperation\u003c/a> with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But before that law was signed, it was weakened to allow state prisons to continue their coordination with ICE and to give federal immigration agents access to interview people in prisons and jails. Protections that limited police agencies sharing data with ICE were also weakened \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-s-sanctuary-state-bill-protecting-immigrants-closer-approval-n801976\">to allow for information to be provided\u003c/a> if a person has been convicted of one of some 800 crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after Trump’s second election, Gov. Gavin Newsom summoned the Legislature, dominated by his fellow Democrats, to a special session starting Dec. 2 — vowing to “protect California values” as the state braces for renewed clashes with the incoming administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘There is no price tag’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump’s political ascent was fueled by racist and xenophobic rhetoric about immigrants: At a December 2023 campaign rally in New Hampshire, for instance, he said they were “\u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-immigrants-are-poisoning-blood-country-biden-campaign-liken-rcna130141\">poisoning the blood of our country\u003c/a>.” He’s promised to expend massive federal resources on raids and sweeps in immigrant communities, especially in ‘sanctuary cities.’ One goal is to discourage future illegal immigration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-no-price-tag-mass-deportation-plan-rcna179178\">he recently told NBC\u003c/a>. “When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A majority of registered voters — 56% — agree with \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/RE_2024.09.27_Voters-on-Immigration_REPORT.pdf\">enforcing mass deportations (PDF)\u003c/a> of immigrants living in the country illegally, according to the Pew Research Center. In a separate survey by Data for Progress, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/10/25/mass-deportation-is-actually-very-unpopular\">67% of voters say they supported\u003c/a> deporting an undocumented person who has a criminal record for a non-violent offense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, immigrant advocates want the state to step up again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking to California to provide leadership,” said Alex Mensing with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. “We fully expect California to stand up to ICE’s terror as a state. We fully expect the state to put as much creativity and as many resources as possible toward supporting a response that defends immigrants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview with CalMatters, Attorney General Rob Bonta said Friday his office is preparing legal challenges and bracing for “a full frontal assault on our immigrant communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are ready to file,” he added. “We have been thinking about and preparing and readying ourselves for the possibility of this moment for months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta said his office has been carefully watching and listening to what the president-elect and his team say they are planning, “and, thankfully, he’s telling us what he’s going to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Trump administration 1.0 told us one thing: that Trump is unable to not break the law. It’s his brand. He does what he wants to do, when he wants to and how he wants to, regardless of the Constitution or federal law. And by doing that, he breaks the law,” Bonta said. “That’s why our job is so important to be there when he does and to stop him from doing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s attorney general office spent about $10 million a year in legal expenses fighting Trump during the last administration, Bonta acknowledged, but “you can’t put a price on freedom, on rights, on democracy. It is always the right time and the right thing to protect those rights.” During the last Trump administration, California’s attorneys successfully defended protections for people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, for example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, the Golden State has been increasing protections for immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, California passed a law that will allow county health workers to inspect inside federal immigration detention centers where there has been a long documented history of medical neglect and worker safety violations. In 2023, the state fined the for-profit prison operator Geo Group \u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1609228.015\">$100,000 for six workplace violations\u003c/a>, including lacking a plan to control COVID-19 spread and failure to provide information and training on hazardous chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015794\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015794\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/112224-Immigration-Detention-Center-CC-AP-02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Detainees exercise at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto on Aug. 28, 2019. The expansion of such facilities would be necessary for President-elect Donald Trump to carry out his immigrant deportation plans. \u003ccite>(Chris Carlson, AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Advocates say more could be done, such as strengthening data protections in local police agencies and preventing state prison staff from coordinating with ICE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor could pardon immigrants with old criminal records, shielding them from deportation. Newsom has done it when certain refugees faced removal due to old cases, like Bun’s, but Newsom’s clemency rate has been lower than that of other governors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gov. Newsom has pardoned far fewer people than Gov. Brown,” said Angela Chan, assistant chief attorney of the San Francisco public defender’s office. “Thus far, in his six years in office, Gov. Newsom has granted \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/11/11/governor-newsom-grants-executive-clemency-11-11-24/\">186 pardons\u003c/a>, an average of 31 per year. By contrast, Gov. Brown issued \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2018/12/governor-jerrry-brown-pardon-record-number/\">1,332 pardons\u003c/a> during his third and fourth terms as governor, an average of 166 pardons per year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are limits to what California can do. Lots of legal issues remain unresolved and will be battled out in court. Most sanctuary laws have a caveat that says local law enforcement cannot cooperate with immigration authorities “unless required by a valid court order.” Experts said what constitutes a valid court order might become an issue for the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court let California’s sanctuary law stand in 2020 by not hearing a Trump challenge to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also can’t do much about military troops entering California. The president can \u003ca href=\"https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10121\">federalize the National Guard\u003c/a>. In 2018, Trump sent nearly 6,000 active-duty service members to the border, authorizing them to perform “military protective activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to have to be fought out in the courts,” said Shawn VanDiver, a national security expert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the avenues Trump is exploring to deploy the military, such as the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, would require an invasion by a foreign government, some lawyers say. Lee Gelernt, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union who argued challenges to immigration restrictions during Trump’s first term, said the president-elect’s plan to use the military is illegal, and the civil liberties organization was already preparing legal challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Trump is going to do everything that he can get away with,” Mensing said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, there are limits to what Trump can do, too, particularly based on the resources he’d need to deliver on some of his campaign promises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The president-elect has said he plans to carry out a million deportations a year. The highest number of deportations in a single fiscal year in recent history was fiscal year 2012 — during the Obama administration — with 407,821 deportations across the United States. During Trump’s first term, he was only able to carry out several hundred thousand removals a year, about on par with other presidents, at least partly because of California and other states’ new sanctuary laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the American Immigration Council, the long-term cost of deporting one million people annually could average $88 billion annually, which would be higher than the Department of Homeland Security’s $62 billion budget in fiscal year 2025. It would also require massive expansions of federal immigration court systems and detention facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deportations from California have reached record lows in recent years following the changes in state law and policy about ICE pick-ups and new federal regulations about COVID-19 testing before pick-ups at state prisons, public records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Power not panic’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates are emphasizing the need for community preparedness and organization to combat the anticipated crackdown on immigrants in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of people actively preparing, and I think community members should take heart in that and also participate,” Mensing said. “Ultimately, that is what is going to prevent Trump from getting what he wants, which is to terrorize people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In immigrant communities across the state, advocates are helping those at risk of detention and deportation make emergency plans, including who will pick up their children from school and how to protect their assets in the United States. “Know your rights” workshops are being organized, and neighbors are helping each other get informed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Power not panic” is a mantra Mensing and others often repeat. “Trump is going to attack sanctuary cities and sanctuary states because he is vindictive. Our main tools are to be organized and to be informed,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program, a Quaker organization, said even people with some form of legal status and protection are concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The amount of worry and the amount of uncertainty that people have is just tremendous, and what I tell people is to find a supportive community and to not be alone at this time,” Rios said. He said he was asked to talk to a 6-year-old child “because what he had been hearing in his school terrified him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bun said his phone has also been ringing nonstop with urgent calls from fellow Cambodian refugees across the country. Meanwhile, he’s been trying to figure out how to tell his own 3-year-old son that there might be a knock on the door, and he’ll be gone forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is like planning a life sentence,” he said. “How could you plan for that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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},
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"order": 10
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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},
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"order": 1
},
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"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 />",
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"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.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"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.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
},
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
},
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. 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": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"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. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. 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. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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