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"slug": "california-passed-a-law-to-curb-spikes-in-gas-prices-why-isnt-it-using-those-powers-now",
"title": "California Passed a Law to Curb Spikes in Gas Prices. Why Isn’t It Using Those Powers Now?",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years ago, California built a first-in-the-nation system aimed at protecting drivers when oil \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/economy\">markets turn calamitous\u003c/a>. The Legislature passed it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it. He proclaimed “California took on Big Oil and won.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its author, then-Sen. Nancy Skinner called it a “landmark law” that “will allow us to hold oil companies accountable if they pad their profits at the expense of hard-working families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the law — which gave regulators the power to cap refinery profits and penalize oil companies for price gouging — has never been used. Instead, last year, the California Energy Commission voted to delay the rules for five years. Skinner – who wrote the law as a Senator – was absent when her own commission voted to delay it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, with gas \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/09/california-gas-prices-iran-war\">topping $5.30 a gallon\u003c/a> statewide, that decision is under a new spotlight. The Iran war has sent global oil prices soaring — but the war is only part of the story. California has a structural problem: fewer refineries, a captive market and no easy outside supply options. When prices rise nationally, they can rise even more here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11944934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11944934\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/AP23086788063121-scaled-e1770414780894.jpg\" alt=\"A sign at a gas station shows very high gas prices, approaching $6 a gallon. The Bay Bridge can be scene in the background.\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1319\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bay Bridge rises behind the price board of a gas station in San Francisco on July 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Proponents say this is precisely the moment the 2023 law was designed for. The commissioners last year left the door open to rescind the delay — and move forward with the rule before the five years — if they change their minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the moments we need them, because when the price of a commodity goes through the roof — be it crude oil or refined gasoline — that’s when companies make outrageous profits,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those who backed the delay argue it was a necessary concession — that penalizing refiners risked driving them out of the state entirely. It’s a tension that cuts to the heart of California’s energy predicament: how to protect consumers today from an industry the state can’t yet afford to lose, while still making good on its promise to leave that industry behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>California’s unused gas-price tools\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the California Energy Commission met last August Newsom was already retreating from his confrontation with the oil industry. The question before commissioners was whether to move ahead with aggressive rules targeting refinery profits — or step back, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/08/oil-compromise-california-legislature/\">as the governor was doing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference at the Friendship House Association of American Indians in San Francisco on Jan. 16, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It was a sharp reversal. Newsom had declared \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/08/california-gas-prices-newsom-special-session/\">special legislative sessions\u003c/a> in 2022 and 2024, pushing through sweeping new powers to curb gasoline price spikes — including requirements that refiners store more fuel and replace lost supply during maintenance, and the profit-cap rules now sitting dormant. A new energy commission oversight division created by the law found an unexplained gasoline premium of about 41 cents per gallon between 2015 and 2024, costing drivers \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/CEC-900-2025-001.pdf\">an estimated $59 billion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are critically important laws,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity. “What that information shows is that Californians are at the mercy of a very few refiners with immense power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s oil industry strongly opposed the measures, and some economists remain skeptical of them. UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein warned that capping refinery profits during shortages could backfire.[aside postID=news_12076523 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2264208891-2000x1465.jpg']“The last thing we need is to start trying to regulate refinery margins,” he said. “As much as people don’t like high gasoline prices, they really, really hate gas lines.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By last August, refinery closures were looming and warnings of $8-a-gallon gasoline circulated in Sacramento. Newsom and Democratic leaders were negotiating with the oil industry to boost production in Kern County — talks that produced a law that has since driven an uptick in drilling permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Valero said it would close its Benicia refinery, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Newsom-Gupta-Letter-4.21.pdf\">Newsom directed Siva Gunda\u003c/a>, vice chair of the California Energy Commission, to “redouble the state’s efforts to work closely with refiners on short- and long-term planning” and ensure a “reliable supply of transportation fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gunda responded with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/CEC%27s_Respone_to_Governor_Newsom%27s_Letter_June-27-2025_ada.pdf\">series of recommendations\u003c/a> that aligned largely with industry’s desires — among them a pause in the state’s profit-cap rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Against that backdrop, energy commissioners \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/filebrowser/download/7958?fid=7958\">voted on Aug. 29\u003c/a> to delay the rules for five years. Ahead of the vote, Gunda said the delay would help boost “investor confidence” in the state’s oil refiners, “thereby ensuring a reliable in-state refining capacity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valero refinery in Benicia on Sept. 21, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oil industry representatives say the decision made sense – the profit-cap measures, they argued, miss the real problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The real problem is California is an energy island — we’re losing 17% of our refining capacity,” said Zachary Leary, a lobbyist for the Western States Petroleum Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Court, of Consumer Watchdog, said the governor “panicked,” leaving the state without the “hammer” it now needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you have this type of level of gas run up, you’re going to need those tools,” Court said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The difficult middle of the energy transition\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045 — but it still depends heavily on gasoline, and it is losing the refineries that produce it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phillips 66 last year shut its Los Angeles refinery, citing concerns about the sustainability of the California market. Valero is closing its Benicia refinery next month, pointing to a challenging regulatory environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The silhouettes of several smokestacks emit fumes into the air.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery Wilmington Plant stands beyond a residential street on November 28, 2022 in Wilmington. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you start losing refineries — as we are going to — and you don’t have an alternative source of supply, we’re going to start getting price spikes when there’s any sort of disruption at one of our refineries,” Borenstein said. “Or just during high demand periods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The challenge of reducing fossil fuel use while maintaining adequate supply has created what Gunda — Newsom’s point person in negotiations with the oil industry — calls the “mid-transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not going to be a smooth transition,” Gunda said last month in testimony to a state Senate committee. “Every time you lose a refinery, it’s going to be a double-digit percent of refined fuel lost in California. So that abrupt transition will mean an abrupt increase in imports.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A global oil shock hits California\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The recent jump in gasoline prices reflects a global oil shock tied to the war with Iran — not a policy change unique to California, experts said. But the surge highlights how exposed the state remains to global energy markets as it loses refining capacity and \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65704\">imports more crude\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/112525-californias-gasoline-demand-met-with-increased-global-supply-as-refineries-close\">gasoline\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the conflict began, the international benchmark for crude oil has climbed more than $25 a barrel — a shift that typically translates to about 60 cents per gallon at the pump, in line with the increase in California retail prices, argues Borenstein, of UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12075007\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12075007\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of demonstrators march along Market Street during a “Hands Off Iran” rally on Feb. 28, 2026, in San Francisco. Protesters took over the roadway while calling for an arms embargo and an end to U.S. participation in the strikes. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All of the change we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks is in line with the change in crude oil prices, and therefore is not California specific,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has made a similar argument, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/03/10/governor-newsom-blasts-trump-for-raising-gasoline-prices-on-americans-with-no-plan-and-no-accountability/\">blaming the spike\u003c/a> on global oil markets and the war with Iran rather than California policies. But analysts note that the state’s shrinking refinery base means global shocks land harder here than elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A key concern is the Strait of Hormuz. Before the conflict, the narrow waterway carried \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65504#:~:text=The%20Strait%20of%20Hormuz%2C%20located,of%20global%20petroleum%20liquids%20consumption.\">more than 20 million barrels of oil a day\u003c/a> — roughly one-fifth of global supply. Traffic is now at a standstill, and crude prices topped $100 a barrel again — even after more than 30 countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/news/iea-member-countries-to-carry-out-largest-ever-oil-stock-release-amid-market-disruptions-from-middle-east-conflict\">announced\u003c/a> releases from emergency reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ryan Cummings, chief of staff at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policymaking, said a prolonged closure could push crude prices above $130 or $140 per barrel — driving California prices closer to $7, with a worst-case scenario approaching $10 at some stations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The port city of Gwadar balochistan on the southwestern coast of Pakistan, just outside the Strait of Hormuz near key shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf. \u003ccite>(SM Rafiq Photography via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most analysts consider that outcome unlikely but no longer unthinkable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, this doesn’t appear likely, but it is a worst-case scenario that is growing by the day,” Cummings said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Competing ideas for what comes next\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Siegel, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said California should move forward immediately to implement the profit-cap rules and require companies to hold larger fuel inventories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our leaders shouldn’t rest until the rules are in place to prevent price gouging on top of volatility, and should not rest until people get their money back,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Economists say California’s biggest challenge may be infrastructure. Valero plans to close its Benicia refinery, which produces about 10% of the state’s gasoline, next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12051503\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12051503\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luna Angulo looks at the Chevron Refinery from the Wildcat Marsh Staging Area in Richmond on Aug. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://nealemahoney.substack.com/p/an-analysis-of-the-valero-benicia\">analysis posted last year\u003c/a>, Stanford economist Neale Mahoney and Cummings said California could offset lost refinery production with gasoline imports – if permitting allows refineries like Benicia to convert to fuel import terminals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom said in January his administration is \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/01/06/governor-newsoms-statement-on-valeros-benicia-refinery-update/\">working with the company\u003c/a> to continue importing gasoline into Northern California after its refinery operations close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I was in the Legislature right now, all of my energies and effort would be built on, one, making sure that Benicia gets turned into an import terminal — and two, making sure whoever owns or operates that is not an incumbent,” Cummings said.[aside postID=news_12075522 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP.jpg']Court, of Consumer Watchdog, pointed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.phillips66.com/newsroom/western-gateway-pipeline/\">a proposed Phillips 66 pipeline\u003c/a> that could bring refined gasoline from Midwest refineries into the state – something California has never had, relying instead on in-state refining and marine imports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed the Western Gateway Pipeline, the project would build a new pipeline and reverse an existing one to move gasoline and diesel from central U.S. refineries to Arizona and California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One state lawmaker has \u003ca href=\"https://ransom.asmdc.org/press-releases/20260219-assemblymember-rhodesia-ransom-introduces-bill-gives-access-cheaper\">proposed expanding access to E85\u003c/a>, a cheaper ethanol blend. Both ideas remain proposals without clear timelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27873034-mpc-proposed-cap-and-invest-amendments-concerns-30926/\">some oil companies\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27813814-asm-member-letter-carb-ci-regs-concerns-march-9/\">even some Democrats\u003c/a> are warning California’s climate policies could raise production costs enough that refineries reconsider operating in California — adding another pressure point to an already strained supply picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The profit-cap rules that could penalize oil companies remain on hold until 2029. By then, California may have lost more refineries — and may still be grappling with the problem Newsom once promised to solve: gasoline price shocks in the country’s most unaffordable market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/03/california-iran-oil-profit-spike/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California built a first-in-the-nation system to police refinery profits during price spikes. Regulators delayed it for five years.",
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"title": "California Passed a Law to Curb Spikes in Gas Prices. Why Isn’t It Using Those Powers Now? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years ago, California built a first-in-the-nation system aimed at protecting drivers when oil \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/economy\">markets turn calamitous\u003c/a>. The Legislature passed it. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it. He proclaimed “California took on Big Oil and won.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its author, then-Sen. Nancy Skinner called it a “landmark law” that “will allow us to hold oil companies accountable if they pad their profits at the expense of hard-working families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the law — which gave regulators the power to cap refinery profits and penalize oil companies for price gouging — has never been used. Instead, last year, the California Energy Commission voted to delay the rules for five years. Skinner – who wrote the law as a Senator – was absent when her own commission voted to delay it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, with gas \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/09/california-gas-prices-iran-war\">topping $5.30 a gallon\u003c/a> statewide, that decision is under a new spotlight. The Iran war has sent global oil prices soaring — but the war is only part of the story. California has a structural problem: fewer refineries, a captive market and no easy outside supply options. When prices rise nationally, they can rise even more here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11944934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11944934\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/AP23086788063121-scaled-e1770414780894.jpg\" alt=\"A sign at a gas station shows very high gas prices, approaching $6 a gallon. The Bay Bridge can be scene in the background.\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1319\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bay Bridge rises behind the price board of a gas station in San Francisco on July 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Proponents say this is precisely the moment the 2023 law was designed for. The commissioners last year left the door open to rescind the delay — and move forward with the rule before the five years — if they change their minds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the moments we need them, because when the price of a commodity goes through the roof — be it crude oil or refined gasoline — that’s when companies make outrageous profits,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those who backed the delay argue it was a necessary concession — that penalizing refiners risked driving them out of the state entirely. It’s a tension that cuts to the heart of California’s energy predicament: how to protect consumers today from an industry the state can’t yet afford to lose, while still making good on its promise to leave that industry behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>California’s unused gas-price tools\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the California Energy Commission met last August Newsom was already retreating from his confrontation with the oil industry. The question before commissioners was whether to move ahead with aggressive rules targeting refinery profits — or step back, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/08/oil-compromise-california-legislature/\">as the governor was doing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/260116-NewsomLuriePresser-33-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference at the Friendship House Association of American Indians in San Francisco on Jan. 16, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It was a sharp reversal. Newsom had declared \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/08/california-gas-prices-newsom-special-session/\">special legislative sessions\u003c/a> in 2022 and 2024, pushing through sweeping new powers to curb gasoline price spikes — including requirements that refiners store more fuel and replace lost supply during maintenance, and the profit-cap rules now sitting dormant. A new energy commission oversight division created by the law found an unexplained gasoline premium of about 41 cents per gallon between 2015 and 2024, costing drivers \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/CEC-900-2025-001.pdf\">an estimated $59 billion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are critically important laws,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity. “What that information shows is that Californians are at the mercy of a very few refiners with immense power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s oil industry strongly opposed the measures, and some economists remain skeptical of them. UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein warned that capping refinery profits during shortages could backfire.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The last thing we need is to start trying to regulate refinery margins,” he said. “As much as people don’t like high gasoline prices, they really, really hate gas lines.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By last August, refinery closures were looming and warnings of $8-a-gallon gasoline circulated in Sacramento. Newsom and Democratic leaders were negotiating with the oil industry to boost production in Kern County — talks that produced a law that has since driven an uptick in drilling permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Valero said it would close its Benicia refinery, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Newsom-Gupta-Letter-4.21.pdf\">Newsom directed Siva Gunda\u003c/a>, vice chair of the California Energy Commission, to “redouble the state’s efforts to work closely with refiners on short- and long-term planning” and ensure a “reliable supply of transportation fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gunda responded with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/CEC%27s_Respone_to_Governor_Newsom%27s_Letter_June-27-2025_ada.pdf\">series of recommendations\u003c/a> that aligned largely with industry’s desires — among them a pause in the state’s profit-cap rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Against that backdrop, energy commissioners \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/filebrowser/download/7958?fid=7958\">voted on Aug. 29\u003c/a> to delay the rules for five years. Ahead of the vote, Gunda said the delay would help boost “investor confidence” in the state’s oil refiners, “thereby ensuring a reliable in-state refining capacity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Valero refinery in Benicia on Sept. 21, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oil industry representatives say the decision made sense – the profit-cap measures, they argued, miss the real problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The real problem is California is an energy island — we’re losing 17% of our refining capacity,” said Zachary Leary, a lobbyist for the Western States Petroleum Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Court, of Consumer Watchdog, said the governor “panicked,” leaving the state without the “hammer” it now needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you have this type of level of gas run up, you’re going to need those tools,” Court said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The difficult middle of the energy transition\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has committed to phasing out fossil fuels by 2045 — but it still depends heavily on gasoline, and it is losing the refineries that produce it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phillips 66 last year shut its Los Angeles refinery, citing concerns about the sustainability of the California market. Valero is closing its Benicia refinery next month, pointing to a challenging regulatory environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The silhouettes of several smokestacks emit fumes into the air.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/239011-OIL-AIR-QUALITY-Getty-MT-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery Wilmington Plant stands beyond a residential street on November 28, 2022 in Wilmington. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you start losing refineries — as we are going to — and you don’t have an alternative source of supply, we’re going to start getting price spikes when there’s any sort of disruption at one of our refineries,” Borenstein said. “Or just during high demand periods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The challenge of reducing fossil fuel use while maintaining adequate supply has created what Gunda — Newsom’s point person in negotiations with the oil industry — calls the “mid-transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not going to be a smooth transition,” Gunda said last month in testimony to a state Senate committee. “Every time you lose a refinery, it’s going to be a double-digit percent of refined fuel lost in California. So that abrupt transition will mean an abrupt increase in imports.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A global oil shock hits California\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The recent jump in gasoline prices reflects a global oil shock tied to the war with Iran — not a policy change unique to California, experts said. But the surge highlights how exposed the state remains to global energy markets as it loses refining capacity and \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65704\">imports more crude\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en/news-research/latest-news/crude-oil/112525-californias-gasoline-demand-met-with-increased-global-supply-as-refineries-close\">gasoline\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the conflict began, the international benchmark for crude oil has climbed more than $25 a barrel — a shift that typically translates to about 60 cents per gallon at the pump, in line with the increase in California retail prices, argues Borenstein, of UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12075007\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12075007\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/022826_IRAN-BAY-AREA-RESPONSE_GH_011-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of demonstrators march along Market Street during a “Hands Off Iran” rally on Feb. 28, 2026, in San Francisco. Protesters took over the roadway while calling for an arms embargo and an end to U.S. participation in the strikes. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All of the change we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks is in line with the change in crude oil prices, and therefore is not California specific,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has made a similar argument, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/03/10/governor-newsom-blasts-trump-for-raising-gasoline-prices-on-americans-with-no-plan-and-no-accountability/\">blaming the spike\u003c/a> on global oil markets and the war with Iran rather than California policies. But analysts note that the state’s shrinking refinery base means global shocks land harder here than elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A key concern is the Strait of Hormuz. Before the conflict, the narrow waterway carried \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65504#:~:text=The%20Strait%20of%20Hormuz%2C%20located,of%20global%20petroleum%20liquids%20consumption.\">more than 20 million barrels of oil a day\u003c/a> — roughly one-fifth of global supply. Traffic is now at a standstill, and crude prices topped $100 a barrel again — even after more than 30 countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/news/iea-member-countries-to-carry-out-largest-ever-oil-stock-release-amid-market-disruptions-from-middle-east-conflict\">announced\u003c/a> releases from emergency reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ryan Cummings, chief of staff at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policymaking, said a prolonged closure could push crude prices above $130 or $140 per barrel — driving California prices closer to $7, with a worst-case scenario approaching $10 at some stations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12076648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12076648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-639787574-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The port city of Gwadar balochistan on the southwestern coast of Pakistan, just outside the Strait of Hormuz near key shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf. \u003ccite>(SM Rafiq Photography via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most analysts consider that outcome unlikely but no longer unthinkable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, this doesn’t appear likely, but it is a worst-case scenario that is growing by the day,” Cummings said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Competing ideas for what comes next\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Siegel, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said California should move forward immediately to implement the profit-cap rules and require companies to hold larger fuel inventories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our leaders shouldn’t rest until the rules are in place to prevent price gouging on top of volatility, and should not rest until people get their money back,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Economists say California’s biggest challenge may be infrastructure. Valero plans to close its Benicia refinery, which produces about 10% of the state’s gasoline, next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12051503\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12051503\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250808-CAP-AND-TRADE-ENVIRO-JUSTICE-MD-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luna Angulo looks at the Chevron Refinery from the Wildcat Marsh Staging Area in Richmond on Aug. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://nealemahoney.substack.com/p/an-analysis-of-the-valero-benicia\">analysis posted last year\u003c/a>, Stanford economist Neale Mahoney and Cummings said California could offset lost refinery production with gasoline imports – if permitting allows refineries like Benicia to convert to fuel import terminals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom said in January his administration is \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/01/06/governor-newsoms-statement-on-valeros-benicia-refinery-update/\">working with the company\u003c/a> to continue importing gasoline into Northern California after its refinery operations close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I was in the Legislature right now, all of my energies and effort would be built on, one, making sure that Benicia gets turned into an import terminal — and two, making sure whoever owns or operates that is not an incumbent,” Cummings said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Court, of Consumer Watchdog, pointed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.phillips66.com/newsroom/western-gateway-pipeline/\">a proposed Phillips 66 pipeline\u003c/a> that could bring refined gasoline from Midwest refineries into the state – something California has never had, relying instead on in-state refining and marine imports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed the Western Gateway Pipeline, the project would build a new pipeline and reverse an existing one to move gasoline and diesel from central U.S. refineries to Arizona and California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One state lawmaker has \u003ca href=\"https://ransom.asmdc.org/press-releases/20260219-assemblymember-rhodesia-ransom-introduces-bill-gives-access-cheaper\">proposed expanding access to E85\u003c/a>, a cheaper ethanol blend. Both ideas remain proposals without clear timelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27873034-mpc-proposed-cap-and-invest-amendments-concerns-30926/\">some oil companies\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27813814-asm-member-letter-carb-ci-regs-concerns-march-9/\">even some Democrats\u003c/a> are warning California’s climate policies could raise production costs enough that refineries reconsider operating in California — adding another pressure point to an already strained supply picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The profit-cap rules that could penalize oil companies remain on hold until 2029. By then, California may have lost more refineries — and may still be grappling with the problem Newsom once promised to solve: gasoline price shocks in the country’s most unaffordable market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/03/california-iran-oil-profit-spike/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-joins-multistate-lawsuit-to-block-trumps-new-global-tariffs",
"title": "California Joins Multistate Lawsuit to Block Trump’s New Global Tariffs",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> and 23 other states sued President \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Donald Trump\u003c/a> on Thursday over his latest tariffs, arguing the administration is using an obscure law to bypass the Supreme Court and create new costs for families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last month, the Supreme Court struck down those tariffs as unlawful, rightfully so,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “Today, we’re back for round two, because instead of accepting the ruling, the president doubled down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit zeroes in on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose temporary tariffs during specific economic emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the tariff is currently set to 10%, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed this week that the rate will rise to 15% within days. The states are asking the U.S. Court of International Trade to declare the tariffs unlawful and refund money already collected, with interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Section 122 was enacted in 1974 to address a specific type of financial crisis tied to a fixed exchange rate system, during a time when currencies were tied to a set value like gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070783\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The U.S. abandoned that system just two years later in favor of today’s floating rate system, where currency values fluctuate freely on global markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is an archaic statute that was never intended for its current purpose as used by the Trump administration,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California, the financial stakes of global trade policy are significant. The state is the fourth largest economy in the world, the nation’s largest importer and its second largest exporter. Previous International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs cost each American between roughly\u003ca href=\"https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/state-us-tariffs-january-19-2026\"> $1,000 and $2,000\u003c/a> over the course of a year, Bonta said — or an estimated $40 billion to $80 billion in costs to Californians alone.[aside postID=news_12074141 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonaldTrumpTariffsAP.jpg']The new Section 122 tariffs, if allowed to stand, are estimated to cost the average American household an additional $200 to $600 per year, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the President of the United States, twice, to act unlawfully to raise prices after promising the American people he would lower prices, I think that tells you all you need to know,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s economy has already shown signs of strain from the administration’s trade policy. Businesses in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036939/san-francisco-chinatown-businesses-survival-mode-trade-war\">San Francisco’s Chinatown\u003c/a> have struggled to stay afloat amid the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/trade-war\">trade war\u003c/a>, and officials at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037649/trumps-tariffs-are-stifling-shipping-demand-at-port-of-oakland-officials-warn\">Port of Oakland\u003c/a> warned that tariffs would stifle shipping demand at one of the West Coast’s busiest trade hubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039333/california-farmers-hit-hard-trumps-trade-war-havent-turned-against-him-yet\">California farmers\u003c/a>, who depend heavily on export relationships with Canada and other trading partners, have also raised alarms about disruptions to long-standing trade ties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit also challenges Trump’s justification for invoking it. To use Section 122, a president must identify a “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficit — but the complaint argues Trump mischaracterized the term by focusing only on the nation’s goods trade deficit while ignoring a financial account surplus of roughly $1.13 trillion in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12048615\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12048615\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Schnitzer Steel manufacturing facility shreds scrap metal at the Port of Oakland on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When all components are properly included, the lawsuit said, the actual U.S. balance of payments position amounted to approximately negative $53 billion, or about 0.2% of GDP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A trade deficit is not a balance of payment deficit,” Bonta said. “The president either doesn’t know the difference, or he doesn’t care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit also marks the 60th time California has sued the White House since Trump took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Attorney General Rob Bonta said the new tax will cost California families an additional $200 to $600 each year. ",
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"title": "California Joins Multistate Lawsuit to Block Trump’s New Global Tariffs | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> and 23 other states sued President \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Donald Trump\u003c/a> on Thursday over his latest tariffs, arguing the administration is using an obscure law to bypass the Supreme Court and create new costs for families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last month, the Supreme Court struck down those tariffs as unlawful, rightfully so,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “Today, we’re back for round two, because instead of accepting the ruling, the president doubled down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit zeroes in on Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose temporary tariffs during specific economic emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the tariff is currently set to 10%, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed this week that the rate will rise to 15% within days. The states are asking the U.S. Court of International Trade to declare the tariffs unlawful and refund money already collected, with interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Section 122 was enacted in 1974 to address a specific type of financial crisis tied to a fixed exchange rate system, during a time when currencies were tied to a set value like gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12070783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12070783\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GettyImages-2256680653-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20, 2026. \u003ccite>(Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The U.S. abandoned that system just two years later in favor of today’s floating rate system, where currency values fluctuate freely on global markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is an archaic statute that was never intended for its current purpose as used by the Trump administration,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For California, the financial stakes of global trade policy are significant. The state is the fourth largest economy in the world, the nation’s largest importer and its second largest exporter. Previous International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs cost each American between roughly\u003ca href=\"https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/state-us-tariffs-january-19-2026\"> $1,000 and $2,000\u003c/a> over the course of a year, Bonta said — or an estimated $40 billion to $80 billion in costs to Californians alone.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The new Section 122 tariffs, if allowed to stand, are estimated to cost the average American household an additional $200 to $600 per year, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the President of the United States, twice, to act unlawfully to raise prices after promising the American people he would lower prices, I think that tells you all you need to know,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s economy has already shown signs of strain from the administration’s trade policy. Businesses in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036939/san-francisco-chinatown-businesses-survival-mode-trade-war\">San Francisco’s Chinatown\u003c/a> have struggled to stay afloat amid the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/trade-war\">trade war\u003c/a>, and officials at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037649/trumps-tariffs-are-stifling-shipping-demand-at-port-of-oakland-officials-warn\">Port of Oakland\u003c/a> warned that tariffs would stifle shipping demand at one of the West Coast’s busiest trade hubs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12039333/california-farmers-hit-hard-trumps-trade-war-havent-turned-against-him-yet\">California farmers\u003c/a>, who depend heavily on export relationships with Canada and other trading partners, have also raised alarms about disruptions to long-standing trade ties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit also challenges Trump’s justification for invoking it. To use Section 122, a president must identify a “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficit — but the complaint argues Trump mischaracterized the term by focusing only on the nation’s goods trade deficit while ignoring a financial account surplus of roughly $1.13 trillion in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12048615\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12048615\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/025_KQED_SchnitzerSteelPortofOakland_03082022_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Schnitzer Steel manufacturing facility shreds scrap metal at the Port of Oakland on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When all components are properly included, the lawsuit said, the actual U.S. balance of payments position amounted to approximately negative $53 billion, or about 0.2% of GDP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A trade deficit is not a balance of payment deficit,” Bonta said. “The president either doesn’t know the difference, or he doesn’t care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit also marks the 60th time California has sued the White House since Trump took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Change How You File Taxes This Year",
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"headTitle": "How Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Change How You File Taxes This Year | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s been over half a year since President Donald Trump \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047824/trump-got-his-tax-bill-over-the-finish-line-now-he-has-to-sell-it-to-voters\">signed into law\u003c/a> the massive spending plan known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” And families are still grappling with the full impact of this legislation, which has brought major changes to the nation’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047647/trumps-health-law-spurs-big-medi-cal-changes-what-californians-need-to-know\">health care sector\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/g-s1-75609/big-beautiful-bill-ice-funding-immigration\">immigration enforcement\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/social-policy/explainer-understanding-snap-program-and-what-cuts\">food assistance benefits\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law also overhauls the federal tax system, leading the White House to \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/president-trump-delivers-largest-tax-refund-season-in-u-s-history/\">claim\u003c/a> that this year will be “the biggest tax refund season ever,” with average refunds increasing by at least $1,000 from the previous year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some taxpayers are already sharing \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/IRS/comments/1qo15nc/for_those_who_successfully_filed_expect_a_refund/\">different experiences online\u003c/a> when it comes to their refunds, noting that they are actually smaller this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OBBB has expanded some existing rebates, like the Child Tax Credit, and created new ones, like a $25,000 deduction on income made from tips. But there are limits on how much these credits can actually reduce what you owe the IRS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And other filers — specifically immigrant families that file with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073445/tax-day-filing-2026-ice-irs-trump-itin-number-no-social-security-number\">Individual Taxpayer Identification Number\u003c/a> — are now blocked from receiving many existing credits, potentially cutting their refunds by thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand who’s able to claim some of the latest federal credits, KQED spoke to tax professionals across California about what taxpayers should know — and some of the restrictions that could impact how much you ultimately end up receiving in your refund.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No taxes on tips (to a point)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re a waiter, bartender, hairstylist or working in \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-guidance-listing-occupations-where-workers-customarily-and-regularly-receive-tips-under-the-one-big-beautiful-bill\">another profession\u003c/a> in which you make tips along with your regular wages, you can now deduct up to $25,000 from tips you made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What this means: When you’re calculating your total income, you can subtract up to $25,000 from the full amount of tips you received in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, if you earned $40,000 in wages and made $30,000 in tips, you can deduct $25,000 from tips, giving you a total income of $45,000 (that is, your wages plus $5,000 in tips). If you earned $40,000 in wages and $10,000 in tips, you can deduct tips entirely — as that tip amount is smaller than $25,000 — and only list $40,000 as your total income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12074099 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1248\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty-1536x958.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Some workers keep a log of all their tips,” said Lindsay Rojas, director of free tax help at United Way Bay Area. “And if they have one, they should bring that with them.” \u003ccite>(Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Don’t remember how much you made in tips last year? Your employer should have listed that amount in your W-2 form, usually in box 14, said Minnie Sage, program director of San Francisco-based Tax-Aid. “The best thing to do when you’re heading to file is to bring your W-2,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you made additional tips besides the amount reported on your W-2, let your tax preparer know, recommended Lindsay Rojas, director of free tax help at \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/what-we-do/free-tax-help/\">United Way Bay Area\u003c/a>. “Some workers keep a log of all their tips,” she said, “and if they have one, they should bring that with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep in mind that this deduction only applies to what the IRS \u003ca href=\"http://irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-guidance-listing-occupations-where-workers-customarily-and-regularly-receive-tips-under-the-one-big-beautiful-bill\">calls “qualified tips,”\u003c/a> which are those customers give directly, or which come from a tip pool organized by workers. If a business charges customers an extra \u003cem>fee \u003c/em>for services — say a service charge at a restaurant for large parties — and then distributes that amount to employees, that is not a qualified tip, given the customer was required to pay that charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No: Taxpayers need to file with a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No taxes on \u003cem>some\u003c/em> overtime payments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You can now deduct up to $12,500 from how much you made in overtime when calculating your total income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most cases, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime\">federal law\u003c/a> requires that hourly wage employees be paid at least 1.5 times their regular pay for each extra hour worked. Overtime is any hour worked over 40 in one week.[aside postID=news_11909786 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/04/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5668869-672x372.jpg']If you’re paid $20 an hour and your boss asks you to work 48 hours in one week, you should be paid at least $30 an hour for those additional eight hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The extra $10 you made each hour is what can be deducted when calculating your total income. In this example, if you only worked eight hours of overtime throughout 2025, you could deduct $80 from your yearly total. The maximum deduction available for overtime is $12,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some employers will mark your extra overtime income on box 14 of your W-2, you can also bring your last pay stub from 2025, said Rojas from United Way Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last pay stub usually states the overtime amount that they worked,” she explained. “From there, the tax preparer can see what amount would qualify.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No. Taxpayers need to file with a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A bigger Child Tax Credit — with restrictions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Parents and guardians will now receive a $2,200 credit for each child who is their dependent — $200 more than what was available for the 2024 tax year. To be eligible for this rebate, a child must have been younger than 17 before the end of 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, only $1,700 of the $2,200 credit is \u003cem>refundable \u003c/em>— meaning that while the total $2,200 can be used to pay off what you owe the IRS, you can only get up to $1,700 per child as part of your actual refund. If you owe $1,000 to the IRS and have one eligible child, only $700 will go to your refund check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, there are credits that are not refundable,” said Sage from Tax-Aid. “You may get the credit to offset your tax liability, but you don’t get the full $2,200 back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No: Both the filer and any child under 17 claimed as a dependent need to have a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit. However, families filing with an ITIN are still eligible for California’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/young-child-tax-credit.html\">Young Child Tax Credit\u003c/a> if they have kids under 6 years old, as the state does not require filers to provide a Social Security number to receive this rebate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Larger deductions for seniors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Filers who are 65 or older can claim a $6,000 deduction for taxable income from 2025, on top of whatever standard deduction they already qualify for. If someone is no longer working, this deduction can apply to money they receive from pension funds or gambling winnings — and even some Social Security benefits if their total annual income \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/faqs/social-security-income\">exceeds certain thresholds\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For couples who are married and filing jointly, the deduction maximum doubles to $12,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12074131 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1251\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty-1536x961.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is seen during an enrollment ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on July 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The bill makes permanent President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, increases spending on defense and immigration enforcement and temporarily cuts taxes on tips, while at the same time cutting funding for Medicaid, food assistance, clean energy and raising the nation’s debt limit by $5 trillion. \u003ccite>(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This credit is not refundable, meaning it won’t contribute to someone’s refund check, Rojas said. “If there’s no taxes owed, then it won’t really affect them,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “if they have other taxable income there, that will potentially bring down what they may owe for taxes,” Rojas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No. Taxpayers need to file with a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit. But many seniors living in California are still eligible for the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/caleitc/eligibility-and-credit-information.html\">Earned Income Tax Credit\u003c/a>, as the state does not require filers to provide a Social Security Number for this rebate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Deductions for car loan interest payments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you purchased a car in 2025, you can deduct the interest paid on any loan you took out to pay for that vehicle. The maximum deduction available is $10,000. If you’re leasing your car, this deduction does not apply.[aside postID=news_12073445 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/internal-revenue-service_qed-1020x680.jpg']In addition to only being for cars that are for personal use, there’s another requirement: Your vehicle’s “last assembly has to be completed in the United States,” Rojas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging that it may be confusing for some folks to figure out where their car was last assembled, she recommended that tax filers “should bring whatever documentation they received at the time of the purchase” to their tax preparation appointment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The IRS requires that filers also include their car’s vehicle identification number, a 17-character number marked “VIN” that you can usually find on the interior of the driver’s door or on the closest dashboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> Potentially, as the IRS does not require having a Social Security number to claim this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No e-file and longer wait times to receive refunds without direct deposit\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last November, the IRS announced that it would \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/irs-ends-free-direct-file-tax-program-best-alternatives/\">end its Direct File Tool\u003c/a>, which allowed taxpayers to file directly for free without needing the help of a tax professional or an online tax service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can still \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11909786/how-to-find-free-tax-help-near-you-and-prepare-everything-you-need-for-your-appointment\">find free tax help from a community organization\u003c/a> certified by the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Many VITA sites offer assistance in Spanish, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and other languages, and some also offer unscheduled walk-in appointments. Find the VITA site closest to you using United Way Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/what-we-do/free-tax-help/#fthMap\">interactive map\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The IRS is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/refunds/get-your-refund-faster-tell-irs-to-direct-deposit-your-refund-to-one-two-or-three-accounts\">strongly encouraging filers\u003c/a> to sign up for direct deposit to receive their refund. Taxpayers can still request to receive their refund in the mail as a check, but that may end up taking a lot longer, Sage said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really encouraging people who don’t have a bank account to sign up for one,” she said, “so they can get direct deposit and access that money quicker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "How Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Change How You File Taxes This Year",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s been over half a year since President Donald Trump \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047824/trump-got-his-tax-bill-over-the-finish-line-now-he-has-to-sell-it-to-voters\">signed into law\u003c/a> the massive spending plan known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” And families are still grappling with the full impact of this legislation, which has brought major changes to the nation’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047647/trumps-health-law-spurs-big-medi-cal-changes-what-californians-need-to-know\">health care sector\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/g-s1-75609/big-beautiful-bill-ice-funding-immigration\">immigration enforcement\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/social-policy/explainer-understanding-snap-program-and-what-cuts\">food assistance benefits\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law also overhauls the federal tax system, leading the White House to \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/president-trump-delivers-largest-tax-refund-season-in-u-s-history/\">claim\u003c/a> that this year will be “the biggest tax refund season ever,” with average refunds increasing by at least $1,000 from the previous year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some taxpayers are already sharing \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/IRS/comments/1qo15nc/for_those_who_successfully_filed_expect_a_refund/\">different experiences online\u003c/a> when it comes to their refunds, noting that they are actually smaller this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OBBB has expanded some existing rebates, like the Child Tax Credit, and created new ones, like a $25,000 deduction on income made from tips. But there are limits on how much these credits can actually reduce what you owe the IRS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And other filers — specifically immigrant families that file with an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073445/tax-day-filing-2026-ice-irs-trump-itin-number-no-social-security-number\">Individual Taxpayer Identification Number\u003c/a> — are now blocked from receiving many existing credits, potentially cutting their refunds by thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand who’s able to claim some of the latest federal credits, KQED spoke to tax professionals across California about what taxpayers should know — and some of the restrictions that could impact how much you ultimately end up receiving in your refund.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No taxes on tips (to a point)\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re a waiter, bartender, hairstylist or working in \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-guidance-listing-occupations-where-workers-customarily-and-regularly-receive-tips-under-the-one-big-beautiful-bill\">another profession\u003c/a> in which you make tips along with your regular wages, you can now deduct up to $25,000 from tips you made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What this means: When you’re calculating your total income, you can subtract up to $25,000 from the full amount of tips you received in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, if you earned $40,000 in wages and made $30,000 in tips, you can deduct $25,000 from tips, giving you a total income of $45,000 (that is, your wages plus $5,000 in tips). If you earned $40,000 in wages and $10,000 in tips, you can deduct tips entirely — as that tip amount is smaller than $25,000 — and only list $40,000 as your total income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12074099 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1248\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/TaxonTipsGetty-1536x958.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Some workers keep a log of all their tips,” said Lindsay Rojas, director of free tax help at United Way Bay Area. “And if they have one, they should bring that with them.” \u003ccite>(Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Don’t remember how much you made in tips last year? Your employer should have listed that amount in your W-2 form, usually in box 14, said Minnie Sage, program director of San Francisco-based Tax-Aid. “The best thing to do when you’re heading to file is to bring your W-2,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you made additional tips besides the amount reported on your W-2, let your tax preparer know, recommended Lindsay Rojas, director of free tax help at \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/what-we-do/free-tax-help/\">United Way Bay Area\u003c/a>. “Some workers keep a log of all their tips,” she said, “and if they have one, they should bring that with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep in mind that this deduction only applies to what the IRS \u003ca href=\"http://irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-guidance-listing-occupations-where-workers-customarily-and-regularly-receive-tips-under-the-one-big-beautiful-bill\">calls “qualified tips,”\u003c/a> which are those customers give directly, or which come from a tip pool organized by workers. If a business charges customers an extra \u003cem>fee \u003c/em>for services — say a service charge at a restaurant for large parties — and then distributes that amount to employees, that is not a qualified tip, given the customer was required to pay that charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No: Taxpayers need to file with a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No taxes on \u003cem>some\u003c/em> overtime payments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You can now deduct up to $12,500 from how much you made in overtime when calculating your total income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In most cases, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime\">federal law\u003c/a> requires that hourly wage employees be paid at least 1.5 times their regular pay for each extra hour worked. Overtime is any hour worked over 40 in one week.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If you’re paid $20 an hour and your boss asks you to work 48 hours in one week, you should be paid at least $30 an hour for those additional eight hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The extra $10 you made each hour is what can be deducted when calculating your total income. In this example, if you only worked eight hours of overtime throughout 2025, you could deduct $80 from your yearly total. The maximum deduction available for overtime is $12,500.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some employers will mark your extra overtime income on box 14 of your W-2, you can also bring your last pay stub from 2025, said Rojas from United Way Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The last pay stub usually states the overtime amount that they worked,” she explained. “From there, the tax preparer can see what amount would qualify.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No. Taxpayers need to file with a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A bigger Child Tax Credit — with restrictions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Parents and guardians will now receive a $2,200 credit for each child who is their dependent — $200 more than what was available for the 2024 tax year. To be eligible for this rebate, a child must have been younger than 17 before the end of 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, only $1,700 of the $2,200 credit is \u003cem>refundable \u003c/em>— meaning that while the total $2,200 can be used to pay off what you owe the IRS, you can only get up to $1,700 per child as part of your actual refund. If you owe $1,000 to the IRS and have one eligible child, only $700 will go to your refund check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, there are credits that are not refundable,” said Sage from Tax-Aid. “You may get the credit to offset your tax liability, but you don’t get the full $2,200 back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No: Both the filer and any child under 17 claimed as a dependent need to have a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit. However, families filing with an ITIN are still eligible for California’s own \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/young-child-tax-credit.html\">Young Child Tax Credit\u003c/a> if they have kids under 6 years old, as the state does not require filers to provide a Social Security number to receive this rebate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Larger deductions for seniors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Filers who are 65 or older can claim a $6,000 deduction for taxable income from 2025, on top of whatever standard deduction they already qualify for. If someone is no longer working, this deduction can apply to money they receive from pension funds or gambling winnings — and even some Social Security benefits if their total annual income \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/faqs/social-security-income\">exceeds certain thresholds\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For couples who are married and filing jointly, the deduction maximum doubles to $12,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12074131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12074131 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1251\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/OneBigBeautifulBillGetty-1536x961.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is seen during an enrollment ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on July 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The bill makes permanent President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, increases spending on defense and immigration enforcement and temporarily cuts taxes on tips, while at the same time cutting funding for Medicaid, food assistance, clean energy and raising the nation’s debt limit by $5 trillion. \u003ccite>(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This credit is not refundable, meaning it won’t contribute to someone’s refund check, Rojas said. “If there’s no taxes owed, then it won’t really affect them,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “if they have other taxable income there, that will potentially bring down what they may owe for taxes,” Rojas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> No. Taxpayers need to file with a Social Security number to be eligible for this credit. But many seniors living in California are still eligible for the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/caleitc/eligibility-and-credit-information.html\">Earned Income Tax Credit\u003c/a>, as the state does not require filers to provide a Social Security Number for this rebate.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Deductions for car loan interest payments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you purchased a car in 2025, you can deduct the interest paid on any loan you took out to pay for that vehicle. The maximum deduction available is $10,000. If you’re leasing your car, this deduction does not apply.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In addition to only being for cars that are for personal use, there’s another requirement: Your vehicle’s “last assembly has to be completed in the United States,” Rojas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acknowledging that it may be confusing for some folks to figure out where their car was last assembled, she recommended that tax filers “should bring whatever documentation they received at the time of the purchase” to their tax preparation appointment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The IRS requires that filers also include their car’s vehicle identification number, a 17-character number marked “VIN” that you can usually find on the interior of the driver’s door or on the closest dashboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do ITIN holders qualify?\u003c/strong> Potentially, as the IRS does not require having a Social Security number to claim this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No e-file and longer wait times to receive refunds without direct deposit\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last November, the IRS announced that it would \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/irs-ends-free-direct-file-tax-program-best-alternatives/\">end its Direct File Tool\u003c/a>, which allowed taxpayers to file directly for free without needing the help of a tax professional or an online tax service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can still \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11909786/how-to-find-free-tax-help-near-you-and-prepare-everything-you-need-for-your-appointment\">find free tax help from a community organization\u003c/a> certified by the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Many VITA sites offer assistance in Spanish, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and other languages, and some also offer unscheduled walk-in appointments. Find the VITA site closest to you using United Way Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/what-we-do/free-tax-help/#fthMap\">interactive map\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The IRS is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/refunds/get-your-refund-faster-tell-irs-to-direct-deposit-your-refund-to-one-two-or-three-accounts\">strongly encouraging filers\u003c/a> to sign up for direct deposit to receive their refund. Taxpayers can still request to receive their refund in the mail as a check, but that may end up taking a lot longer, Sage said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really encouraging people who don’t have a bank account to sign up for one,” she said, “so they can get direct deposit and access that money quicker.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> government officials are calling for refund checks following Friday’s Supreme Court ruling slapping down President \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Donald Trump\u003c/a>’s unilateral tariffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court’s 6-3 decision found that Trump’s imposition of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was illegal. The decision followed a year of market anxiety and global tensions over the sweeping economic changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump was quick to attack the ruling, saying on Friday that he was “absolutely ashamed” of the court’s decision, and has dismissed calls for refunds. The president said he is seeking to reimpose a global 10% tariff through other means.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These tariffs were nothing more than an illegal cash grab that drove up prices and hurt working families, so you could wreck longstanding alliances and extort them,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Friday after the ruling. “Every dollar unlawfully taken must be refunded immediately — with interest. Cough up!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court ruling did not say whether or how businesses are entitled to refunds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a press conference on Friday, Attorney General Rob Bonta said that those seeking claims could attempt to go through the Court of International Trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12063671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12063671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters as Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, left, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, right, listen outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. \u003ccite>(Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“California is going to remain vigilant as the refund process moves forward to ensure that businesses harmed by these illegal tariffs receive the relief that they’re owed,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent report from a U.S. Senate committee found that American consumers have paid tens of billions of dollars in tariff costs over the past year, averaging more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/press-releases?ID=9E4D02A7-A9B3-4307-A11D-D44F6C1A60F8\">$1,700 per family\u003c/a>. Businesses across the Bay Area and the country have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034827/bay-area-business-already-tough-trumps-tariffs-preparing-pain\">struggled\u003c/a> to shoulder the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025963/bay-area-businesses-brace-higher-import-costs-trumps-new-tariffs\"> rising costs of international goods\u003c/a>, from construction materials to toilet paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got the largest port infrastructure in the nation. We are the fourth-largest economy in the world. We do trade with pretty much every major region of the world that you can think of. This is big,” Xavier Becerra, a former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, who is now running for California governor, told KQED. “Thank god we now have a ruling that at least tells us that Donald Trump can’t cause this chaos with his tariff mania.”[aside postID=news_12064613 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/GettyImages-2209401664-1020x718.jpg']But officials at the Port of Oakland, one of the biggest import and export hubs on the West Coast, took a cautious view of Friday’s ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We expect this will not be the final word on trade and tariffs,” said Bryan Brandes, maritime director at the Port of Oakland. “Our trade community seeks stability and certainty, as increased volume at the Port of Oakland means increased prosperity across the region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Total imports at the Port of Oakland were down in some months in 2025, but overall, the terminal had a slight increase from September 2024 to September 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In last month’s State of the Port address, Executive Director Kristi McKenney said maritime operations remained steady despite short-term dips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariffs imposed under IEEPA were projected to cost California’s economy $25 billion and result in the loss of over 64,000 jobs, according to data from the Attorney General’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order comes after several states, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036199/trumps-tariffs-could-wreck-californias-economy-the-state-is-suing\">California, sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> in April 2025 for abuse of power by issuing the tariffs without congressional approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariffs “have been creating chaos and uncertainty. They have been raising costs for Americans, everyday consumers, as well as businesses,” Bonta said. “Today is a day for affordability, something that Americans and Californians have been screaming for, for months now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/scottshafer\">\u003cem>Scott Shafer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> government officials are calling for refund checks following Friday’s Supreme Court ruling slapping down President \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Donald Trump\u003c/a>’s unilateral tariffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court’s 6-3 decision found that Trump’s imposition of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was illegal. The decision followed a year of market anxiety and global tensions over the sweeping economic changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump was quick to attack the ruling, saying on Friday that he was “absolutely ashamed” of the court’s decision, and has dismissed calls for refunds. The president said he is seeking to reimpose a global 10% tariff through other means.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These tariffs were nothing more than an illegal cash grab that drove up prices and hurt working families, so you could wreck longstanding alliances and extort them,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Friday after the ruling. “Every dollar unlawfully taken must be refunded immediately — with interest. Cough up!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court ruling did not say whether or how businesses are entitled to refunds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a press conference on Friday, Attorney General Rob Bonta said that those seeking claims could attempt to go through the Court of International Trade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12063671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12063671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/RobBontaAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters as Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, left, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, right, listen outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. \u003ccite>(Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“California is going to remain vigilant as the refund process moves forward to ensure that businesses harmed by these illegal tariffs receive the relief that they’re owed,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent report from a U.S. Senate committee found that American consumers have paid tens of billions of dollars in tariff costs over the past year, averaging more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/press-releases?ID=9E4D02A7-A9B3-4307-A11D-D44F6C1A60F8\">$1,700 per family\u003c/a>. Businesses across the Bay Area and the country have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034827/bay-area-business-already-tough-trumps-tariffs-preparing-pain\">struggled\u003c/a> to shoulder the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025963/bay-area-businesses-brace-higher-import-costs-trumps-new-tariffs\"> rising costs of international goods\u003c/a>, from construction materials to toilet paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got the largest port infrastructure in the nation. We are the fourth-largest economy in the world. We do trade with pretty much every major region of the world that you can think of. This is big,” Xavier Becerra, a former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, who is now running for California governor, told KQED. “Thank god we now have a ruling that at least tells us that Donald Trump can’t cause this chaos with his tariff mania.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But officials at the Port of Oakland, one of the biggest import and export hubs on the West Coast, took a cautious view of Friday’s ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We expect this will not be the final word on trade and tariffs,” said Bryan Brandes, maritime director at the Port of Oakland. “Our trade community seeks stability and certainty, as increased volume at the Port of Oakland means increased prosperity across the region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Total imports at the Port of Oakland were down in some months in 2025, but overall, the terminal had a slight increase from September 2024 to September 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In last month’s State of the Port address, Executive Director Kristi McKenney said maritime operations remained steady despite short-term dips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariffs imposed under IEEPA were projected to cost California’s economy $25 billion and result in the loss of over 64,000 jobs, according to data from the Attorney General’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The order comes after several states, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036199/trumps-tariffs-could-wreck-californias-economy-the-state-is-suing\">California, sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> in April 2025 for abuse of power by issuing the tariffs without congressional approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariffs “have been creating chaos and uncertainty. They have been raising costs for Americans, everyday consumers, as well as businesses,” Bonta said. “Today is a day for affordability, something that Americans and Californians have been screaming for, for months now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/scottshafer\">\u003cem>Scott Shafer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>This year, Tax Day is Wednesday, April 15. And if you’re in need of advice (or running low on time before the deadline), a great option might be to seek the help of a free tax clinic to file your taxes. Skip to \u003ca href=\"#find\">where to find free tax help near you.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to community tax sites across the Bay Area to ask what information they wish their clients knew before using their services — and what’s new about filing this year. Keep reading for their advice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Skip to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#prep\">What to have ready before filing\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#remember\">Things to keep in mind when talking to a tax filer\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#time\">Running out of time and thinking about not filing this year?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"find\">\u003c/a>Where to find free tax help near you\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Across the Bay Area, dozens of nonprofit organizations and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites are offering you free tax filing services, both in person and virtually — often right up until April 15.[aside postID=news_12030754 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/iStock-915488206_qed-1020x538.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these sites offer assistance in Spanish, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and other languages. Some also offer unscheduled walk-in appointments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Find free tax help near you online:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.myfreetaxes.org/\">myfreetaxes.org \u003c/a>to schedule an in-person or virtual appointment (or to file on your own for free)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Use \u003ca href=\"https://earnitkeepitsaveit.org/\">United Way Bay Area’s map\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Find free tax help near you by phone:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Call 211\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Text “taxes” to 211-211 (a text help line from United Ways of California and 211) to find a free tax filing site near you.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"prep\">\u003c/a>What to have ready before filing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last two weeks before Tax Day tend to be the busiest period for free tax clinics, with many seeing up to hundreds of people each week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this reason, the tax aid groups KQED spoke to stressed just how important it is for filers to have \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> ready ahead of time — to make the process as easy and fast as possible. So, a few days before your filing appointment, start getting all your documents together in a “filing kit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make sure your kit includes the following:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Your photo ID\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Your Social Security card, or a letter from the Social Security Administration that verifies your SSN\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If you do not have a Social Security number, bring your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) provided by the IRS instead. An ITIN is a number created by the IRS for taxpayers who don’t have a Social Security number due to their immigration status.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>As of Feb. 5, a federal judge has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073445/tax-day-filing-2026-ice-irs-trump-itin-number-no-social-security-number\">temporarily blocked\u003c/a> the IRS from sharing with the Department of Homeland Security the personal information of taxpayers filing with an ITIN for immigration enforcement purposes. The courts have not yet reached a final decision on whether federal agencies can share tax data with each other, but in the meantime, the IRS cannot share personal information, like a taxpayer’s address, with agencies like ICE.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin\">Get more information on how to request an ITIN.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. The Social Security numbers and/or ITIN numbers of everyone you’ll be claiming in your taxes this year\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Income statement forms from your employer such as a W-2, 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC or 1099-K.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Starting this year, you should receive in the mail a 1099-K form if you use online payment systems like Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, and received over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions. You may still receive a 1099-K form if you made less than this amount. The IRS stated this year that “you must report all income on your tax return,” no matter the amount of reported payments.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you did not receive a 1099-K form — but made over $20,000 through online platforms — let your filer know to prevent the risk of a potential audit from the IRS.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you claimed unemployment benefits in 2025, the EDD also should have sent you a 1099-G form.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. Proof of health care coverage\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>This will be a 1095-B form, or 1095-A form if you’re insured through Covered California.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you didn’t receive a 1095-B or 1095-A in the mail, and you were enrolled in a health care plan in 2025, contact your care provider or access your online health care account to have it ready before you visit a tax clinic.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11864604\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11864604 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433.jpg\" alt=\"A person's hands touching money in a wallet\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even if you’re worried about filing your taxes last-minute, don’t put it off. \u003ccite>(Karolina Grabowska/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"remember\">\u003c/a>Things to keep in mind when talking to a tax filer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Once you have your filing kit assembled, make sure you share \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> with your tax filer. And even if you misplaced a form, let your filer know which benefits you received in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s common for filers to go to a tax clinic believing they qualify for certain credits, when that may not be the case. For example, some think that everyone is eligible to receive the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, regardless of income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in reality, this cash rebate depends on how much income you receive and how many dependents you claim in your tax return. For example, if you are filing jointly with your spouse and only have one child, your 2025 income must have been less than $57,554. If you’re filing by yourself and have no dependents, your income last year must have been under $19,104 to qualify for this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/earned-income-and-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc-tables#eitctables\">\u003cstrong>The IRS has a complete list of income limits \u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>for families to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has its own state version of this rebate, called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/caleitc/eligibility-and-credit-information.html\">California Earned Income Tax Credit\u003c/a>. But only families that made up to $32,900 in 2025 are eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have proof of health care coverage (like a 1095-B or 1095-A form) because you don’t have health insurance, you should make that very clear to your tax preparer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may very likely be penalized by the state of California for being uninsured. You can use the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/filing-situations/healthcare/estimator/\">penalty estimator tool on the state’s Franchise Tax Board website\u003c/a> to calculate how big this penalty could be for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"time\">\u003c/a>Running out of time and thinking about not filing this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Getting all your documents together and finding a place that can help you file can sometimes be overwhelming. And while catching up with Uncle Sam may feel stressful, there’s consequences if you don’t file, said Minnie Sage, program director of San Francisco-based \u003ca href=\"https://tax-aid.org/\">Tax-Aid\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s never a good idea to not pay your taxes. It’s going to cost you in the long run,” she said, adding that the IRS has set \u003ca href=\"http://irs.gov/payments/quarterly-interest-rates\">the interest rate\u003c/a> for unpaid taxes by individuals at 7%, and there are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/payments/failure-to-pay-penalty\">additional monthly penalties\u003c/a> for failing to file and pay taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Regardless to how much you owe, that’s going to add up,” Sage explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on your financial situation, you may be eligible to receive a refund or certain credits from years past, but you only have \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/filing-past-due-tax-returns\">up to three years\u003c/a> from that tax year to claim this money. Once that time is up, these funds become property of the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what if you’re unable to pay everything you owe up front when you file? Ask whoever is helping you file about setting up a payment. You can do this at the time you file, or later on the IRS website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Mary Franklin Harvin contributed to this story. \u003c/em>\u003cem>A version of this story originally published on April 1, 2022.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these sites offer assistance in Spanish, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and other languages. Some also offer unscheduled walk-in appointments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Find free tax help near you online:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.myfreetaxes.org/\">myfreetaxes.org \u003c/a>to schedule an in-person or virtual appointment (or to file on your own for free)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Use \u003ca href=\"https://earnitkeepitsaveit.org/\">United Way Bay Area’s map\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Find free tax help near you by phone:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Call 211\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Text “taxes” to 211-211 (a text help line from United Ways of California and 211) to find a free tax filing site near you.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"prep\">\u003c/a>What to have ready before filing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The last two weeks before Tax Day tend to be the busiest period for free tax clinics, with many seeing up to hundreds of people each week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For this reason, the tax aid groups KQED spoke to stressed just how important it is for filers to have \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> ready ahead of time — to make the process as easy and fast as possible. So, a few days before your filing appointment, start getting all your documents together in a “filing kit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make sure your kit includes the following:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Your photo ID\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Your Social Security card, or a letter from the Social Security Administration that verifies your SSN\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If you do not have a Social Security number, bring your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) provided by the IRS instead. An ITIN is a number created by the IRS for taxpayers who don’t have a Social Security number due to their immigration status.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>As of Feb. 5, a federal judge has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073445/tax-day-filing-2026-ice-irs-trump-itin-number-no-social-security-number\">temporarily blocked\u003c/a> the IRS from sharing with the Department of Homeland Security the personal information of taxpayers filing with an ITIN for immigration enforcement purposes. The courts have not yet reached a final decision on whether federal agencies can share tax data with each other, but in the meantime, the IRS cannot share personal information, like a taxpayer’s address, with agencies like ICE.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin\">Get more information on how to request an ITIN.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. The Social Security numbers and/or ITIN numbers of everyone you’ll be claiming in your taxes this year\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Income statement forms from your employer such as a W-2, 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC or 1099-K.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Starting this year, you should receive in the mail a 1099-K form if you use online payment systems like Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, and received over $20,000 in more than 200 transactions. You may still receive a 1099-K form if you made less than this amount. The IRS stated this year that “you must report all income on your tax return,” no matter the amount of reported payments.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you did not receive a 1099-K form — but made over $20,000 through online platforms — let your filer know to prevent the risk of a potential audit from the IRS.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you claimed unemployment benefits in 2025, the EDD also should have sent you a 1099-G form.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. Proof of health care coverage\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>This will be a 1095-B form, or 1095-A form if you’re insured through Covered California.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you didn’t receive a 1095-B or 1095-A in the mail, and you were enrolled in a health care plan in 2025, contact your care provider or access your online health care account to have it ready before you visit a tax clinic.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11864604\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11864604 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433.jpg\" alt=\"A person's hands touching money in a wallet\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-800x500.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-1020x638.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/03/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4386433-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Even if you’re worried about filing your taxes last-minute, don’t put it off. \u003ccite>(Karolina Grabowska/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"remember\">\u003c/a>Things to keep in mind when talking to a tax filer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Once you have your filing kit assembled, make sure you share \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> with your tax filer. And even if you misplaced a form, let your filer know which benefits you received in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s common for filers to go to a tax clinic believing they qualify for certain credits, when that may not be the case. For example, some think that everyone is eligible to receive the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, regardless of income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in reality, this cash rebate depends on how much income you receive and how many dependents you claim in your tax return. For example, if you are filing jointly with your spouse and only have one child, your 2025 income must have been less than $57,554. If you’re filing by yourself and have no dependents, your income last year must have been under $19,104 to qualify for this credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/earned-income-and-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc-tables#eitctables\">\u003cstrong>The IRS has a complete list of income limits \u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>for families to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has its own state version of this rebate, called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/caleitc/eligibility-and-credit-information.html\">California Earned Income Tax Credit\u003c/a>. But only families that made up to $32,900 in 2025 are eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don’t have proof of health care coverage (like a 1095-B or 1095-A form) because you don’t have health insurance, you should make that very clear to your tax preparer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may very likely be penalized by the state of California for being uninsured. You can use the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/filing-situations/healthcare/estimator/\">penalty estimator tool on the state’s Franchise Tax Board website\u003c/a> to calculate how big this penalty could be for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"time\">\u003c/a>Running out of time and thinking about not filing this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Getting all your documents together and finding a place that can help you file can sometimes be overwhelming. And while catching up with Uncle Sam may feel stressful, there’s consequences if you don’t file, said Minnie Sage, program director of San Francisco-based \u003ca href=\"https://tax-aid.org/\">Tax-Aid\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s never a good idea to not pay your taxes. It’s going to cost you in the long run,” she said, adding that the IRS has set \u003ca href=\"http://irs.gov/payments/quarterly-interest-rates\">the interest rate\u003c/a> for unpaid taxes by individuals at 7%, and there are also \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/payments/failure-to-pay-penalty\">additional monthly penalties\u003c/a> for failing to file and pay taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Regardless to how much you owe, that’s going to add up,” Sage explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on your financial situation, you may be eligible to receive a refund or certain credits from years past, but you only have \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/filing-past-due-tax-returns\">up to three years\u003c/a> from that tax year to claim this money. Once that time is up, these funds become property of the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what if you’re unable to pay everything you owe up front when you file? Ask whoever is helping you file about setting up a payment. You can do this at the time you file, or later on the IRS website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Mary Franklin Harvin contributed to this story. \u003c/em>\u003cem>A version of this story originally published on April 1, 2022.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "factory-built-housing-hasnt-taken-off-in-california-yet-but-this-year-might-be-different",
"title": "Factory-Built Housing Hasn’t Taken Off in California Yet, but This Year Might Be Different",
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"headTitle": "Factory-Built Housing Hasn’t Taken Off in California Yet, but This Year Might Be Different | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the first home rolled off the factory floor in Kalamazoo, Michigan — “like a boxcar with picture windows,” according to a journalist on the scene — the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development proclaimed it “the coming of a real revolution in housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades engineers, architects, futurists, industrialists, investors and politicians have been pining for a better, faster and cheaper way to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068746/2025-was-a-blockbuster-year-for-housing-laws-what-does-that-mean-for-2026\">build homes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, amid a national housing shortage, the question felt as pressing as ever: What if construction could harness the speed, efficiency, quality control and cost-savings of the assembly line?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if, rather than building homes on-site from the ground up, they were cranked out of factories, one unit after another, shipped to where they were needed and dropped into place? What if the United States could mass-produce its way out of a housing crisis?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/20/archives/first-unit-built-in-housing-plan-button-pushed-by-romney-at-factory.html\">In Kalamazoo\u003c/a>, that vision finally seemed a reality. The HUD chief predicted that within a decade two-thirds of all \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/HUD-Challenge-November-December-1969.pdf#page=6\">housing construction\u003c/a> across the United States “would be industrialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year was 1971, the HUD Secretary was George Romney (father of future Utah senator, Mitt), and the prediction was wildly off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073550\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Factory-built housing Drake Avenue Apartments sits under construction at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within five years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/Operation-Breakthrough.html\">Operation Breakthrough\u003c/a>, the ambitious, but ultimately costly, delay-ridden and politically unpopular federal initiative that had propped up the Kalamazoo factory and eight others like it across the country, ran out of money. The dream of the factory-built house was dead — not for the first time, nor the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some definitions, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.survivorlibrary.com/library/the_prefabrication_of_houses_1951.pdf#page=35\">first prefabricated house\u003c/a> was built, shipped and re-assembled in the 1620s. Factory-built homes made of wood and iron were a mainstay of the \u003ca href=\"http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/66817\">colonial\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/details/SkillingsFlintCCA196560/page/n9/mode/2up\">enterprises\u003c/a> of the 19th Century. Housing and construction-worker shortages during the Second World War prompted a wave of (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts to mass-produce starter homes in the United States. The modern era is full of those predicting that the industrialization of the housing industry is just a few years away, only to be proven wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, state legislators in California believe the turning-point might actually be here. With a little state assistance, they want to make 2026 the Year of the Housing Factory. At long last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California gets ‘modular-curious’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and one of the legislature’s most influential policy makers on housing issues, is leading the charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the beginning of the year, she has organized two select committee hearings under the general banner of “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/committees/1700\">housing construction innovation\u003c/a>.” The bulk of the committee’s attention has been on factory-based building — why it might be a fix worth promoting and what the state could do to actually make it work this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearings are ostensibly intended to gather information, all of which will be summarized in a white paper being written by researchers at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving Street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But they’re also meant to build political momentum and legislative buy-in for a coming package of bills. Both the paper and bills are due to be released in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has “select committee’d” her way to major policy change before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2024, she cobbled together a series of state-spanning meetings on “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/california-construction-permitting-wicks/\">permitting reform\u003c/a>.” Those provided the fodder for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/ceqa-infill-housing-wicks/\">nearly two dozen bills\u003c/a> the following year, all written with the goal of making it easier to build things in California, especially homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most significant of the bunch: Legislation \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/ceqa-urban-development-infill-budget/\">exempting most urban apartment buildings\u003c/a> from environmental litigation. Gov. Gavin Newsom enthusiastically signed it into law last summer.[aside postID=news_12073193 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg']Now comes phase two. Last year’s blitz of bills, capping off years of gradual legislative efforts to remove regulatory barriers to building dense housing across California, has, in Wicks’ view, teed up this next big swing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over the last eight to 10 years or so the Legislature and the governor have really taken a bulldozer to a lot of the bureaucratic hurdles when it comes to housing,” said Wicks. “But one of the issues that we haven’t fundamentally tackled is the cost of construction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Factory-built housing can arrive on a construction site in varying levels of completeness. There are prefabricated panels (imagine the baked slabs of a gingerbread house) and fully three-dimensional modules (think, Legos).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interest in the use of both for apartment buildings has been steadily growing in California over the last decade. Investors have poured billions of dollars into the nascent sector, albeit with \u003ca href=\"https://www.fastcompany.com/90643381/this-prefab-builder-raised-more-than-2-billion-why-did-it-crash\">famously mixed results\u003c/a>. In California’s major urban areas, but especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, cranes delicately assembling factory-built modules into apartment blocks has become a more familiar feature of the skyline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randall Thompson, who runs the prefabrication division of Nibbi Brothers General Contractors, said he’s seen attitudes shift radically just in the last couple of years. Not long ago, pitching a developer on factory-built construction was a tough sell. But a few years ago he noted a growing number of “modular-curious” clients willing to run the numbers. Now many are coming to him committed to the idea from the get-go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Ave., in San Francisco, on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Policymakers are interested too, debating whether public policy and taxpayer money should be used to propel off-site construction from niche application to a regular, if not dominant, feature of the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence from abroad is fueling that optimism: In Sweden, where Wicks and a gaggle of other lawmakers visited last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/headway/how-an-american-dream-of-housing-became-a-reality-in-sweden.html\">nearly half of residential construction\u003c/a> takes place in a factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The renewed national interest is part of a “back to the drawingboard” energy that has pervaded policy circles at every level of government in the face of a national affordability crisis, said Chad Maisel, a Center for American Progress fellow and a former Biden administration housing policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, the country has tried and failed at this before, most notably with Operation Breakthrough. Yes, individual companies have gone bust trying to make off-site happen at scale. “But we haven’t really given it our all,” Maisel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Henry Ford, but for housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If the goal is to bring down building costs, rethinking the basics of the construction process is an obvious place to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last century, economic sectors across the United States have seen explosions in labor productivity, with industries using technological innovation, fine-tuned production processes and globe-spanning supply chains to squeeze ever more stuff out of the same number of workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction has been a stagnant outlier. Since the 1970s, labor productivity has actually declined sector-wide, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/economic_brief/2025/eb_25-31\">official government statistics\u003c/a>. In 2023 the average American construction worker added about as much value on a construction site as one in 1948.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you go to buy a car, you don’t get 6,000 parts shipped to your house and then someone comes and builds it for you,” said Ryan Cassidy, vice president of real estate development at Mutual Housing California, an affordable housing developer based in Sacramento that committed last year to build its next five projects with factory-built units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A truck is piled with planks salvaged by Perks Deconstruction from an old farmhouse in Aurora. The wood will be transported to the company’s warehouse, where it will be sorted and priced for sale. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In theory, breaking down the building process into a series of discrete, repeatable tasks can mean fewer highly trained workers are needed per unit. Standardized panels and modules allow factories to buy materials in bulk at discount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work can be done faster, because it’s centralized, tightly choreographed, closely monitored and possibly automated — but also because multiple things can happen at the same time. Framers don’t have to wait for a foundation to set before getting started on the bedrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Off-site construction reliably cuts construction timelines by \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Southern-California-Off-Site-Construction-February-2022.pdf\">10 to 30 percent\u003c/a>, according to an analysis by the Terner Center. Some even rosier \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/modular-construction-from-projects-to-products\">estimates\u003c/a> have put the figure closer to 50%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That can translate into real savings. “Factory-built housing has the potential to reduce hard (labor, material and equipment) costs by 10 to 25% — at least under the right conditions,” Terner’s director, Ben Metcalf, said at the select committee’s first \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/278391?t=1525&f=f7440a2ebdd25e14a09f1f72e544107e\">hearing\u003c/a> in early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But historically, it’s been very hard to get those conditions right.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The ghost of Katerra\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The main hitch is an obvious one: Factories are hugely expensive to set up and run. Off-site construction companies only stand to make up those costs if they can run continuously and at full capacity. Mass production only pencils out if it massively produces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means factory production isn’t especially well-suited to industries that boom and bust, in which surplus production can’t be stockpiled in a warehouse and everything is made to order and where local variations in climate, topography and regulation require bespoke products of varying materials, designs, configurations and sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which describes the current real estate sector.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a world in which housing projects are approved one at a time under various local rules and designs and sometimes after years of piecing together financing sources, it’s hard to build out that pipeline for a factory,” said Metcalf at the early January hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker operates machinery to move dirt at the site of new middle housing units at 2824 D Street in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The particular financial needs of a factory also upend business as usual for developers and real estate funders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industrial construction “costs less overall but costs more in the short term. Everything is frontloaded,” said Jan Lindenthal-Cox, chief investment officer at the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund. All design, engineering and material decisions have to be finalized long before the factory gears start turning. Real estate investors and lenders tend to be wary of putting up quite so much money so early in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Accelerator Fund, a privately-backed non-profit, is hoping to ease some of those concerns by providing short-term, low-cost loans to developers in order to cover those higher-than-usual early costs. The hope is that traditional funders — namely, banks and investors — will eventually feel confident enough to take over that role “once this is a more proven approach,” said Lindenthal-Cox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such skittishness pervades every step of the off-site development process, said Apoorva Pasricha, chief operation officer at Cloud Apartments, a San Francisco-based start-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073551\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073551\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of Drake Avenue Apartments at the site of the factory housing complex at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of factory-built housing, Drake Avenue Apartments, at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A subcontractor unfamiliar with modular construction might bid a project higher than they otherwise would to compensate for the uncertainty. Building code officials might be extra cautious or extra slow in approving a project for the same reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the industry grows, “creating familiarity with the process helps drive that risk down,” said Pasricha. “The question is, who is going to be willing to pay the price to learn?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some would-be pioneers have paid it. In 2021, the Silicon Valley-based modular start up Katerra went \u003ca href=\"https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/katerras-2-billion-legacy_o\">spectacularly bankrupt\u003c/a> after spending $2 billion in a hyperambitious gambit to disrupt the building industry. Katerra still hangs over the industry like a specter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Potter, a former Katerra engineer who now writes the widely-read \u003ca href=\"https://www.construction-physics.com/\">Construction Physics\u003c/a> newsletter, said he too was once wooed by the idea that “‘we’ll just move this into a factory and we will yield enormous improvements.’”[aside postID=news_12072999 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED.jpg']These days, he strenuously avoids terms like “impossible” and “doomed to fail” when asked about the potential of off-site construction. But he does stress that it’s a very hard nut to crack with limited upside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Beyond just the regulatory issues, which are real, there are just fundamental nature of the market, nature of the process, things that you have to cope with,” said Potter, whose recent book, \u003cem>The Origins of Efficiency\u003c/em>, digs into how and why modern society has succeeded at making certain things much faster and cheaper — and not others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certain markets in California could be a good fit for factory-built construction, he added, but not for the reasons that off-site boosters typically lead with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction costs in the Bay Area, specifically, are notoriously expensive. Many of the region’s most productive housing factories are located in Idaho. That arrangement might make financial sense, said Potter, not because of anything inherently cost-saving in the industrialized process, but because wages in the Boise area are just \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_sanfrancisco.htm\">a lot\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_boisecity.htm\">lower\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That raises another potential impediment for state lawmakers hoping to goose the factory-built model: Organized labor. In a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/07/california-construction-unions-housing/\">familiar political split\u003c/a>, while California’s carpenters union has historically been open to the idea of off-site construction, the influential State Building & Construction Trades Council has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-trade-unions-at-odds-over-modular-15755264.php\">hostile\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will the state step in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Neither Wicks, nor any other legislator, has released legislative language yet aimed at supporting the industry. But in committee hearings, developers, labor leaders, academics and other off-site construction supporters have repeatedly pitched lawmakers on the same three themes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building out the pipeline is one. The state, supporters say, could keep the factories humming either by nudging affordable developers that way when they apply for state subsidies or by out-and-out requiring public entities, like state universities, to at least consider off-site when they build, say, student housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Insuring factories against the risk of a developer going bankrupt (and vice versa) is another common proposal. Developers and investors are hesitant to schedule a spot on a factory line if that factory’s bankruptcy will leave them in the lurch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, factories tend to charge high deposits to make up for the fact that developers go out of business or get hit with months-long delays. One solution could involve the taxpayer playing the role of insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: Standardizing building code requirements. The state’s Housing and Community Development department already regulates factory-built housing units. But once a module is shipped to a site, local inspectors will often do their own once-over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these proposed fixes are specific to the industry. But some are regulatory changes that would make it easier to build more generally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That might suggest that policy should ideally focus on making it easier to build stuff more generally, “not on a specific goal,” said Stephen Smith, director of the Center for Building in North America, which advocates for cost-cutting changes to building codes. For all the emphasis on building entire studio apartments inside factories, he noted that plenty of steps in the construction process have entered the modern era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023647\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line of old factory buildings on Mare Island in the city of Vallejo, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You find walls built in factories, you see elevators, you see escalators,” said Smith. “You need to consider the small victories and think of it as a general process of (regulatory) hygiene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has heard all of the arguments for why emphasizing factory-based construction won’t work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think factory-built housing is going to solve all of our problems. I think it’s a piece of the solution,” she said. “We’re not talking about actually funding the building of factories. We’re talking about creating a streamlined environment for these types of housing units to be built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, it can’t hurt to try again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/02/factory-built-housing-california-wicks/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Building homes inside a factory has long been seen as a way to revolutionize the American housing industry, ushering in a new era of higher quality homes at lower price. That dream has never quite panned out. Can California finally make it happen?",
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"title": "Factory-Built Housing Hasn’t Taken Off in California Yet, but This Year Might Be Different | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the first home rolled off the factory floor in Kalamazoo, Michigan — “like a boxcar with picture windows,” according to a journalist on the scene — the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development proclaimed it “the coming of a real revolution in housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades engineers, architects, futurists, industrialists, investors and politicians have been pining for a better, faster and cheaper way to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068746/2025-was-a-blockbuster-year-for-housing-laws-what-does-that-mean-for-2026\">build homes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, amid a national housing shortage, the question felt as pressing as ever: What if construction could harness the speed, efficiency, quality control and cost-savings of the assembly line?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if, rather than building homes on-site from the ground up, they were cranked out of factories, one unit after another, shipped to where they were needed and dropped into place? What if the United States could mass-produce its way out of a housing crisis?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/20/archives/first-unit-built-in-housing-plan-button-pushed-by-romney-at-factory.html\">In Kalamazoo\u003c/a>, that vision finally seemed a reality. The HUD chief predicted that within a decade two-thirds of all \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/HUD-Challenge-November-December-1969.pdf#page=6\">housing construction\u003c/a> across the United States “would be industrialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year was 1971, the HUD Secretary was George Romney (father of future Utah senator, Mitt), and the prediction was wildly off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073550\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Factory-built housing Drake Avenue Apartments sits under construction at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within five years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/Operation-Breakthrough.html\">Operation Breakthrough\u003c/a>, the ambitious, but ultimately costly, delay-ridden and politically unpopular federal initiative that had propped up the Kalamazoo factory and eight others like it across the country, ran out of money. The dream of the factory-built house was dead — not for the first time, nor the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some definitions, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.survivorlibrary.com/library/the_prefabrication_of_houses_1951.pdf#page=35\">first prefabricated house\u003c/a> was built, shipped and re-assembled in the 1620s. Factory-built homes made of wood and iron were a mainstay of the \u003ca href=\"http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/66817\">colonial\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/details/SkillingsFlintCCA196560/page/n9/mode/2up\">enterprises\u003c/a> of the 19th Century. Housing and construction-worker shortages during the Second World War prompted a wave of (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts to mass-produce starter homes in the United States. The modern era is full of those predicting that the industrialization of the housing industry is just a few years away, only to be proven wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, state legislators in California believe the turning-point might actually be here. With a little state assistance, they want to make 2026 the Year of the Housing Factory. At long last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California gets ‘modular-curious’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and one of the legislature’s most influential policy makers on housing issues, is leading the charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the beginning of the year, she has organized two select committee hearings under the general banner of “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/committees/1700\">housing construction innovation\u003c/a>.” The bulk of the committee’s attention has been on factory-based building — why it might be a fix worth promoting and what the state could do to actually make it work this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearings are ostensibly intended to gather information, all of which will be summarized in a white paper being written by researchers at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving Street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But they’re also meant to build political momentum and legislative buy-in for a coming package of bills. Both the paper and bills are due to be released in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has “select committee’d” her way to major policy change before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2024, she cobbled together a series of state-spanning meetings on “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/california-construction-permitting-wicks/\">permitting reform\u003c/a>.” Those provided the fodder for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/ceqa-infill-housing-wicks/\">nearly two dozen bills\u003c/a> the following year, all written with the goal of making it easier to build things in California, especially homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most significant of the bunch: Legislation \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/ceqa-urban-development-infill-budget/\">exempting most urban apartment buildings\u003c/a> from environmental litigation. Gov. Gavin Newsom enthusiastically signed it into law last summer.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now comes phase two. Last year’s blitz of bills, capping off years of gradual legislative efforts to remove regulatory barriers to building dense housing across California, has, in Wicks’ view, teed up this next big swing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over the last eight to 10 years or so the Legislature and the governor have really taken a bulldozer to a lot of the bureaucratic hurdles when it comes to housing,” said Wicks. “But one of the issues that we haven’t fundamentally tackled is the cost of construction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Factory-built housing can arrive on a construction site in varying levels of completeness. There are prefabricated panels (imagine the baked slabs of a gingerbread house) and fully three-dimensional modules (think, Legos).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interest in the use of both for apartment buildings has been steadily growing in California over the last decade. Investors have poured billions of dollars into the nascent sector, albeit with \u003ca href=\"https://www.fastcompany.com/90643381/this-prefab-builder-raised-more-than-2-billion-why-did-it-crash\">famously mixed results\u003c/a>. In California’s major urban areas, but especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, cranes delicately assembling factory-built modules into apartment blocks has become a more familiar feature of the skyline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randall Thompson, who runs the prefabrication division of Nibbi Brothers General Contractors, said he’s seen attitudes shift radically just in the last couple of years. Not long ago, pitching a developer on factory-built construction was a tough sell. But a few years ago he noted a growing number of “modular-curious” clients willing to run the numbers. Now many are coming to him committed to the idea from the get-go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Ave., in San Francisco, on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Policymakers are interested too, debating whether public policy and taxpayer money should be used to propel off-site construction from niche application to a regular, if not dominant, feature of the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence from abroad is fueling that optimism: In Sweden, where Wicks and a gaggle of other lawmakers visited last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/headway/how-an-american-dream-of-housing-became-a-reality-in-sweden.html\">nearly half of residential construction\u003c/a> takes place in a factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The renewed national interest is part of a “back to the drawingboard” energy that has pervaded policy circles at every level of government in the face of a national affordability crisis, said Chad Maisel, a Center for American Progress fellow and a former Biden administration housing policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, the country has tried and failed at this before, most notably with Operation Breakthrough. Yes, individual companies have gone bust trying to make off-site happen at scale. “But we haven’t really given it our all,” Maisel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Henry Ford, but for housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If the goal is to bring down building costs, rethinking the basics of the construction process is an obvious place to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last century, economic sectors across the United States have seen explosions in labor productivity, with industries using technological innovation, fine-tuned production processes and globe-spanning supply chains to squeeze ever more stuff out of the same number of workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction has been a stagnant outlier. Since the 1970s, labor productivity has actually declined sector-wide, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/economic_brief/2025/eb_25-31\">official government statistics\u003c/a>. In 2023 the average American construction worker added about as much value on a construction site as one in 1948.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you go to buy a car, you don’t get 6,000 parts shipped to your house and then someone comes and builds it for you,” said Ryan Cassidy, vice president of real estate development at Mutual Housing California, an affordable housing developer based in Sacramento that committed last year to build its next five projects with factory-built units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A truck is piled with planks salvaged by Perks Deconstruction from an old farmhouse in Aurora. The wood will be transported to the company’s warehouse, where it will be sorted and priced for sale. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In theory, breaking down the building process into a series of discrete, repeatable tasks can mean fewer highly trained workers are needed per unit. Standardized panels and modules allow factories to buy materials in bulk at discount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work can be done faster, because it’s centralized, tightly choreographed, closely monitored and possibly automated — but also because multiple things can happen at the same time. Framers don’t have to wait for a foundation to set before getting started on the bedrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Off-site construction reliably cuts construction timelines by \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Southern-California-Off-Site-Construction-February-2022.pdf\">10 to 30 percent\u003c/a>, according to an analysis by the Terner Center. Some even rosier \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/modular-construction-from-projects-to-products\">estimates\u003c/a> have put the figure closer to 50%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That can translate into real savings. “Factory-built housing has the potential to reduce hard (labor, material and equipment) costs by 10 to 25% — at least under the right conditions,” Terner’s director, Ben Metcalf, said at the select committee’s first \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/278391?t=1525&f=f7440a2ebdd25e14a09f1f72e544107e\">hearing\u003c/a> in early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But historically, it’s been very hard to get those conditions right.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The ghost of Katerra\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The main hitch is an obvious one: Factories are hugely expensive to set up and run. Off-site construction companies only stand to make up those costs if they can run continuously and at full capacity. Mass production only pencils out if it massively produces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means factory production isn’t especially well-suited to industries that boom and bust, in which surplus production can’t be stockpiled in a warehouse and everything is made to order and where local variations in climate, topography and regulation require bespoke products of varying materials, designs, configurations and sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which describes the current real estate sector.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a world in which housing projects are approved one at a time under various local rules and designs and sometimes after years of piecing together financing sources, it’s hard to build out that pipeline for a factory,” said Metcalf at the early January hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker operates machinery to move dirt at the site of new middle housing units at 2824 D Street in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The particular financial needs of a factory also upend business as usual for developers and real estate funders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industrial construction “costs less overall but costs more in the short term. Everything is frontloaded,” said Jan Lindenthal-Cox, chief investment officer at the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund. All design, engineering and material decisions have to be finalized long before the factory gears start turning. Real estate investors and lenders tend to be wary of putting up quite so much money so early in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Accelerator Fund, a privately-backed non-profit, is hoping to ease some of those concerns by providing short-term, low-cost loans to developers in order to cover those higher-than-usual early costs. The hope is that traditional funders — namely, banks and investors — will eventually feel confident enough to take over that role “once this is a more proven approach,” said Lindenthal-Cox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such skittishness pervades every step of the off-site development process, said Apoorva Pasricha, chief operation officer at Cloud Apartments, a San Francisco-based start-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073551\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073551\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of Drake Avenue Apartments at the site of the factory housing complex at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of factory-built housing, Drake Avenue Apartments, at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A subcontractor unfamiliar with modular construction might bid a project higher than they otherwise would to compensate for the uncertainty. Building code officials might be extra cautious or extra slow in approving a project for the same reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the industry grows, “creating familiarity with the process helps drive that risk down,” said Pasricha. “The question is, who is going to be willing to pay the price to learn?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some would-be pioneers have paid it. In 2021, the Silicon Valley-based modular start up Katerra went \u003ca href=\"https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/katerras-2-billion-legacy_o\">spectacularly bankrupt\u003c/a> after spending $2 billion in a hyperambitious gambit to disrupt the building industry. Katerra still hangs over the industry like a specter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Potter, a former Katerra engineer who now writes the widely-read \u003ca href=\"https://www.construction-physics.com/\">Construction Physics\u003c/a> newsletter, said he too was once wooed by the idea that “‘we’ll just move this into a factory and we will yield enormous improvements.’”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>These days, he strenuously avoids terms like “impossible” and “doomed to fail” when asked about the potential of off-site construction. But he does stress that it’s a very hard nut to crack with limited upside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Beyond just the regulatory issues, which are real, there are just fundamental nature of the market, nature of the process, things that you have to cope with,” said Potter, whose recent book, \u003cem>The Origins of Efficiency\u003c/em>, digs into how and why modern society has succeeded at making certain things much faster and cheaper — and not others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certain markets in California could be a good fit for factory-built construction, he added, but not for the reasons that off-site boosters typically lead with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction costs in the Bay Area, specifically, are notoriously expensive. Many of the region’s most productive housing factories are located in Idaho. That arrangement might make financial sense, said Potter, not because of anything inherently cost-saving in the industrialized process, but because wages in the Boise area are just \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_sanfrancisco.htm\">a lot\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_boisecity.htm\">lower\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That raises another potential impediment for state lawmakers hoping to goose the factory-built model: Organized labor. In a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/07/california-construction-unions-housing/\">familiar political split\u003c/a>, while California’s carpenters union has historically been open to the idea of off-site construction, the influential State Building & Construction Trades Council has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-trade-unions-at-odds-over-modular-15755264.php\">hostile\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will the state step in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Neither Wicks, nor any other legislator, has released legislative language yet aimed at supporting the industry. But in committee hearings, developers, labor leaders, academics and other off-site construction supporters have repeatedly pitched lawmakers on the same three themes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building out the pipeline is one. The state, supporters say, could keep the factories humming either by nudging affordable developers that way when they apply for state subsidies or by out-and-out requiring public entities, like state universities, to at least consider off-site when they build, say, student housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Insuring factories against the risk of a developer going bankrupt (and vice versa) is another common proposal. Developers and investors are hesitant to schedule a spot on a factory line if that factory’s bankruptcy will leave them in the lurch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, factories tend to charge high deposits to make up for the fact that developers go out of business or get hit with months-long delays. One solution could involve the taxpayer playing the role of insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: Standardizing building code requirements. The state’s Housing and Community Development department already regulates factory-built housing units. But once a module is shipped to a site, local inspectors will often do their own once-over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these proposed fixes are specific to the industry. But some are regulatory changes that would make it easier to build more generally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That might suggest that policy should ideally focus on making it easier to build stuff more generally, “not on a specific goal,” said Stephen Smith, director of the Center for Building in North America, which advocates for cost-cutting changes to building codes. For all the emphasis on building entire studio apartments inside factories, he noted that plenty of steps in the construction process have entered the modern era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023647\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line of old factory buildings on Mare Island in the city of Vallejo, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You find walls built in factories, you see elevators, you see escalators,” said Smith. “You need to consider the small victories and think of it as a general process of (regulatory) hygiene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has heard all of the arguments for why emphasizing factory-based construction won’t work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think factory-built housing is going to solve all of our problems. I think it’s a piece of the solution,” she said. “We’re not talking about actually funding the building of factories. We’re talking about creating a streamlined environment for these types of housing units to be built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, it can’t hurt to try again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/02/factory-built-housing-california-wicks/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Lack of Approved Child Care Providers May Slow Rollout of San Francisco’s Expanded Subsidies",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Daniel Zimmerman heard that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> would offer free or low-cost child care to more families, he went online to make sure he and his wife qualify for a discount and started dreaming about having another baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the last few years, the couple has been paying about $3,500 per month to send their children, ages 2 and 5, to a Spanish immersion preschool. Zimmerman said even though they earn six figures — he’s a nurse, and she’s a dietician — keeping up with the high cost of child care leaves them “basically in the red every month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not saving money, but we figured, especially when they’re young, we’ll just weather the storm until they get into public school,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of getting financial aid made him think they could raise three kids in the city. But he may need to brace for some snags when he starts looking for child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under guidelines set by the city Department of Early Childhood, income-eligible families can only select from nearly 600 child care programs within a pre-approved network. That might limit parents’ choices at a time when San Francisco is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069711/san-francisco-expands-child-care-subsidies-to-tackle-affordability-issues\">expanding child care subsidies\u003c/a> to middle-income earners as part of a broader push to make the city affordable for families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that a family of four making less than $234,000 a year can get free child care, and starting in July, those earning up to $312,000 annually will qualify for a \u003ca href=\"https://provider.sfdec.org/wp-content/uploads/ELFA-Center-FCC-Rates-FY25-26.pdf\">50% discount\u003c/a>. The changes put San Francisco ahead of other major cities in offering nearly universal access to child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at an in-home child care business called Daycare Bumblebee in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Up to 12,000 kids under age 5 will be eligible for the newly expanded subsidies — though fewer than half are expected to enroll — paid by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948690/business-tax-provides-crucial-funding-for-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-san-francisco\">funds from Baby Prop C, a 3.5% tax on commercial property leases\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people are excited and have a lot of questions,” said Mark Ryle, CEO of Wu Yee Children’s Services, an agency contracted by the city to refer families who qualify for subsidies to child care providers with available spaces. “We’ve seen a pretty significant uptick in inquiries around the tuition credit program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some families are discovering, though, that getting public funding for child care comes with a catch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The early years matter. Tell us what you want to learn about early childhood education and care by \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8658266/ChildhoodAudience\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>clicking here\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>When Danielle Eichenbaum learned she qualified for the city’s subsidized child care, her toddler was already enrolled in Daycare Bumblebee in the West Portal neighborhood. She wanted him to stay — not only with the caregivers he already bonded with, but because they were teaching him Russian and exposing him to music, karate and other enriching activities.[aside postID=news_12069711 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260115-SFCHILDCARESUBSIDIES00057_TV-KQED.jpg']But the day care wasn’t part of the city-funded network, called Early Learning for All, or ELFA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I cried when we left. It was such a wonderful program,” she said. “His program now is great, too, but I miss the other one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bumblebee’s owner, Lyuba Schkolnik, decided to join ELFA to help Eichenbaum. But she soon discovered the process could take more than a year, requiring her to complete several early childhood education classes and undergo evaluations to determine if her program meets the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://provider.sfdec.org/wp-content/uploads/Quality-Standard_Updated_052125.pdf\">quality standards\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schkolnik, who left a marketing career to open her day care, didn’t mind taking the classes and hopes to get in. Joining the network comes with perks: Last year, in-home day care owners like her got $16,000 stipends to help them earn a living wage, and $12,000 to boost their assistants’ pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But the fact it takes so long for someone to become a provider within the system is a little bit disheartening because the [expanded subsidies] are supposed to launch shortly, and we want to help families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other parents expressed frustration over a policy that prohibits placing a deposit to hold space at their preferred day care, which is a standard practice in private-pay programs, where families often compete for scarce infant-care slots. Ryle said this assures fair access for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eichenbaum said that while she understood the system’s equitable goals, she worries the high standards to join ELFA are making it too hard for providers like Schkolnik to participate in the system and for parents like her to get the child care that works for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lyuba Shkolnik teaches children how to bake muffins at her in-home child care business called Daycare Bumblebee in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Their goals are so lofty that they don’t look at the real-world impact,” she said. “They are letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside City Hall, two members of the Board of Supervisors want the early childhood department to speed things up for providers who want to join ELFA. They worry that when the subsidies expand, the waitlist for child care will grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do I want to go faster than they probably feel comfortable with? Of course I do,” Supervisor Stephen Sherrill said. “I think we can expand the system without sacrificing quality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Myrna Melgar said she’d like to see a simpler and more accessible system.[aside postID=news_12070762 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/240911-CHILDCARE-REAX-MD-01_qed.jpg']“There are multiple things that go into the decision to pick a provider. It’s how you feel. Sometimes it’s cultural and language competence, sometimes it is proximity to your home or work. And so on top of it, to layer a bunch of other things for eligibility, it makes it difficult and complicated,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ingrid Mezquita, director of the Department of Early Childhood, said the city is carefully building out the system, adding more ELFA sites and infant and toddler care slots in neighborhoods that need them most. Depending on their qualifications, she said, some providers can “easily whisk through in less than three months and some programs may take a little longer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to have those kinds of quality assurances because, at the end of the day, our accountability and our responsibility is to that child and to that family and the programs that do come on board and do enroll in this public funding support also prescribe to that and have that shared accountability with us,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past three years, the city used unspent funds that accrued when it was fighting a taxpayer group’s lawsuit over Baby Prop C to clear the waitlist for lower-income families who needed child care, boost wages for more than 3,000 early educators, who have historically been underpaid, and support their professional development. Those funds are expected to run out in six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the city-funded child care programs are serving more than 9,000 kids, have a lower staff turnover rate than the state average, and children’s kindergarten readiness has gone up, Mezquita said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071947\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shoes line a cubby at Daycare Bumblebee in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>About 700 children are currently on the wait list for care, though there are about 1,000 available spaces. One reason for the discrepancy is that there aren’t enough infant- and toddler-care slots to meet demand, or the open slots don’t match families’ preferred schedule, location or language, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have expanded access, but the only thing that is a little bit of an art and a science — mostly art — to pinpoint is the preferences of families,” she said at a recent Board of Supervisors hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Early Childhood estimates that ongoing revenue from the commercial rent tax can pay for the expanded subsidies. But the department cautions that it may not cover the program’s full cost down the road if the commercial real estate market softens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezquita said she’s hopeful San Francisco’s experiment will demonstrate that it can be scaled up and funded with state dollars. The city was first to offer free preschool for 4-year-olds in 2005, and this year, California expanded transitional kindergarten for all children who turn 4 by Sept. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are building a universal system. How we’re designing it is also taking into account that eventually, yes, we also need the partnership with the state to be able to not only expand it, but also make it widely available,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Daniel Zimmerman heard that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> would offer free or low-cost child care to more families, he went online to make sure he and his wife qualify for a discount and started dreaming about having another baby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the last few years, the couple has been paying about $3,500 per month to send their children, ages 2 and 5, to a Spanish immersion preschool. Zimmerman said even though they earn six figures — he’s a nurse, and she’s a dietician — keeping up with the high cost of child care leaves them “basically in the red every month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not saving money, but we figured, especially when they’re young, we’ll just weather the storm until they get into public school,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of getting financial aid made him think they could raise three kids in the city. But he may need to brace for some snags when he starts looking for child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under guidelines set by the city Department of Early Childhood, income-eligible families can only select from nearly 600 child care programs within a pre-approved network. That might limit parents’ choices at a time when San Francisco is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069711/san-francisco-expands-child-care-subsidies-to-tackle-affordability-issues\">expanding child care subsidies\u003c/a> to middle-income earners as part of a broader push to make the city affordable for families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced that a family of four making less than $234,000 a year can get free child care, and starting in July, those earning up to $312,000 annually will qualify for a \u003ca href=\"https://provider.sfdec.org/wp-content/uploads/ELFA-Center-FCC-Rates-FY25-26.pdf\">50% discount\u003c/a>. The changes put San Francisco ahead of other major cities in offering nearly universal access to child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00075_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at an in-home child care business called Daycare Bumblebee in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Up to 12,000 kids under age 5 will be eligible for the newly expanded subsidies — though fewer than half are expected to enroll — paid by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948690/business-tax-provides-crucial-funding-for-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-san-francisco\">funds from Baby Prop C, a 3.5% tax on commercial property leases\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people are excited and have a lot of questions,” said Mark Ryle, CEO of Wu Yee Children’s Services, an agency contracted by the city to refer families who qualify for subsidies to child care providers with available spaces. “We’ve seen a pretty significant uptick in inquiries around the tuition credit program.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some families are discovering, though, that getting public funding for child care comes with a catch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The early years matter. Tell us what you want to learn about early childhood education and care by \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8658266/ChildhoodAudience\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>clicking here\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>When Danielle Eichenbaum learned she qualified for the city’s subsidized child care, her toddler was already enrolled in Daycare Bumblebee in the West Portal neighborhood. She wanted him to stay — not only with the caregivers he already bonded with, but because they were teaching him Russian and exposing him to music, karate and other enriching activities.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But the day care wasn’t part of the city-funded network, called Early Learning for All, or ELFA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I cried when we left. It was such a wonderful program,” she said. “His program now is great, too, but I miss the other one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bumblebee’s owner, Lyuba Schkolnik, decided to join ELFA to help Eichenbaum. But she soon discovered the process could take more than a year, requiring her to complete several early childhood education classes and undergo evaluations to determine if her program meets the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://provider.sfdec.org/wp-content/uploads/Quality-Standard_Updated_052125.pdf\">quality standards\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schkolnik, who left a marketing career to open her day care, didn’t mind taking the classes and hopes to get in. Joining the network comes with perks: Last year, in-home day care owners like her got $16,000 stipends to help them earn a living wage, and $12,000 to boost their assistants’ pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But the fact it takes so long for someone to become a provider within the system is a little bit disheartening because the [expanded subsidies] are supposed to launch shortly, and we want to help families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other parents expressed frustration over a policy that prohibits placing a deposit to hold space at their preferred day care, which is a standard practice in private-pay programs, where families often compete for scarce infant-care slots. Ryle said this assures fair access for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eichenbaum said that while she understood the system’s equitable goals, she worries the high standards to join ELFA are making it too hard for providers like Schkolnik to participate in the system and for parents like her to get the child care that works for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00137_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lyuba Shkolnik teaches children how to bake muffins at her in-home child care business called Daycare Bumblebee in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Their goals are so lofty that they don’t look at the real-world impact,” she said. “They are letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside City Hall, two members of the Board of Supervisors want the early childhood department to speed things up for providers who want to join ELFA. They worry that when the subsidies expand, the waitlist for child care will grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Do I want to go faster than they probably feel comfortable with? Of course I do,” Supervisor Stephen Sherrill said. “I think we can expand the system without sacrificing quality.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Myrna Melgar said she’d like to see a simpler and more accessible system.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“There are multiple things that go into the decision to pick a provider. It’s how you feel. Sometimes it’s cultural and language competence, sometimes it is proximity to your home or work. And so on top of it, to layer a bunch of other things for eligibility, it makes it difficult and complicated,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ingrid Mezquita, director of the Department of Early Childhood, said the city is carefully building out the system, adding more ELFA sites and infant and toddler care slots in neighborhoods that need them most. Depending on their qualifications, she said, some providers can “easily whisk through in less than three months and some programs may take a little longer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to have those kinds of quality assurances because, at the end of the day, our accountability and our responsibility is to that child and to that family and the programs that do come on board and do enroll in this public funding support also prescribe to that and have that shared accountability with us,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past three years, the city used unspent funds that accrued when it was fighting a taxpayer group’s lawsuit over Baby Prop C to clear the waitlist for lower-income families who needed child care, boost wages for more than 3,000 early educators, who have historically been underpaid, and support their professional development. Those funds are expected to run out in six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, the city-funded child care programs are serving more than 9,000 kids, have a lower staff turnover rate than the state average, and children’s kindergarten readiness has gone up, Mezquita said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071947\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260130-SFCHILDCAREACCESS00152_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shoes line a cubby at Daycare Bumblebee in San Francisco on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>About 700 children are currently on the wait list for care, though there are about 1,000 available spaces. One reason for the discrepancy is that there aren’t enough infant- and toddler-care slots to meet demand, or the open slots don’t match families’ preferred schedule, location or language, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have expanded access, but the only thing that is a little bit of an art and a science — mostly art — to pinpoint is the preferences of families,” she said at a recent Board of Supervisors hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Early Childhood estimates that ongoing revenue from the commercial rent tax can pay for the expanded subsidies. But the department cautions that it may not cover the program’s full cost down the road if the commercial real estate market softens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezquita said she’s hopeful San Francisco’s experiment will demonstrate that it can be scaled up and funded with state dollars. The city was first to offer free preschool for 4-year-olds in 2005, and this year, California expanded transitional kindergarten for all children who turn 4 by Sept. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are building a universal system. How we’re designing it is also taking into account that eventually, yes, we also need the partnership with the state to be able to not only expand it, but also make it widely available,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "san-joses-downtown-has-had-a-strong-recovery-is-it-ready-for-the-super-bowl-surge",
"title": "San José’s Downtown Has Had a Strong Recovery. Is It Ready for the Super Bowl Surge?",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the narrow street of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>’s San Pedro Square, the rhythmic thud of beer kegs hitting the pavement serves as the unofficial countdown to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/super-bowl\">Super Bowl\u003c/a> weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For San José, the coming days are about more than just the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071931/the-super-bowl-\">big game\u003c/a>; they’re a high-stakes test of downtown’s post-pandemic recovery — which outpaced San Francisco and Oakland — and its ability to host a national event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From local kitchens to regional transit command centers, the South Bay is on an emergency operational footing to welcome a massive influx of out-of-town visitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scale of preparation is visible across downtown, where security and barricades now mark \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12072093/how-the-super-bowl-will-affect-the-south-bay\">street closures\u003c/a> and game-day decorations line bar windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of \u003ca href=\"https://sj26.sanjose.org/the-big-game\">three major events\u003c/a> downtown will be the San Pedro Superfest, a three-day massive street activation for fans to enjoy music, vendors and drink throughout a designated “entertainment zone” that allows businesses to sell to-go alcoholic beverages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the dozens of eateries at the San Pedro Square Market, such as the Old Wagon Saloon and Grill, which has anchored a corner of San Pedro Street for nearly two decades, the weekend requires a doubling of resources. Sonny Walters, the saloon’s owner, said he is preparing for up to a thousand people to pass through his doors each day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072764\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072764 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Walters noted that successful management of such a crowd starts in the kitchen, particularly when the menu relies on labor-intensive smoked meats. To keep up with demand for ribs, brisket and pulled pork, Walters plans to start ramping up his smokers early Saturday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has also increased his food and beverage orders to nearly three times his normal weekend volume, and his patio has already been booked for a private event by a massive Seahawks fan club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, the block party is pretty exciting,” Walters said. “It’s going to be foot traffic, a lot of out-of-towners, we get to showcase what we do. We’re hoping that San José is a hub and we get the traffic from Santa Clara to here.”[aside postID=news_12072256 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260128-SUPERBOWLVENDORS00339_TV-KQED.jpg']A few doors down at Pizza Bocca Lupo, shift lead Charlotte Tavernise said that because the small pizzeria makes every pie to order, there is no way to pre-cook the inventory. Instead, the strategy involves filling every available storage container and ensuring the wood-fired ovens are at peak temperature from open to close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shop expected its heaviest crowds on Friday and Saturday as tourists explore the downtown core before heading toward Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just telling one of my co-workers, let’s prep as though we’re going to get hit by a hurricane, and make sure we use all of the containers, fill everything. Expect it to be just busy, open to close,” Tavernise said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that the shop has doubled its typical staffing levels, even during the mid-afternoon hours that are usually quiet, to ensure a sudden wave of fans doesn’t catch them off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Burroughs, operations manager at San Pedro Square Market, said this is the first time the area has experimented with an entertainment zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re excited for the potential for that, and allowing guests to go into the activation with their beverage,” Burroughs said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072763 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jaxon Moreno prepares pizzas at Pizza Bocca Lupo in San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With over 20 screens dedicated to the game and many entry points to the market, Burroughs has hired extra security and staff. He noted that while the market is used to large crowds because of the nearby SAP Center, the Super Bowl brings a different level of logistical challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is kind of where the market shines, and our merchants here are very, very adept at handling this kind of crowd flow,” Burroughs said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The market will also be hosting several private corporate activations throughout the weekend. Burroughs, who has watched the downtown area change over the last 11 years, said the current trajectory of foot traffic suggests the neighborhood is finally reclaiming its pre-pandemic vibrancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072749 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Our foot traffic is still increasing year over year,” Burroughs said. “Everything’s going in the right direction as we have seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managing the movement of these crowds falls largely on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. VTA spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said the agency expects to transport roughly 25,000 fans to and from the stadium on Sunday alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To meet that demand, VTA is adding 22 extra three-car trains to its regular service. Hendler Ross said this represents a significant increase from 2016, when the region hosted Super Bowl 50 and saw roughly half that number of riders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072762 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People in the patio at the San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be so much easier this time than it was 10 years ago,” Hendler Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the stadium is the primary destination, Hendler Ross noted the plan is designed to support the entire system, especially those traveling to downtown events or connecting to other parts of the Bay Area. She added that the agency is also facilitating travel for fans heading up to San Francisco, as VTA connects with Caltrain in Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VTA will also have 130 “game-day ambassadors” in blue vests stationed at strategic hubs to help out-of-towners navigate the Transit app and the Clipper card system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The one thing that we always remind people about when they’re going to big events anywhere in the city or to the stadium is to try and plan early,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlos Velazquez, a spokesperson for the city’s Office of Economic Development, noted that while there are over 108,000 public and private parking spots available in the downtown area, with some street closures, the city is encouraging use of public transit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the narrow street of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-jose\">San José\u003c/a>’s San Pedro Square, the rhythmic thud of beer kegs hitting the pavement serves as the unofficial countdown to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/super-bowl\">Super Bowl\u003c/a> weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For San José, the coming days are about more than just the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071931/the-super-bowl-\">big game\u003c/a>; they’re a high-stakes test of downtown’s post-pandemic recovery — which outpaced San Francisco and Oakland — and its ability to host a national event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From local kitchens to regional transit command centers, the South Bay is on an emergency operational footing to welcome a massive influx of out-of-town visitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scale of preparation is visible across downtown, where security and barricades now mark \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12072093/how-the-super-bowl-will-affect-the-south-bay\">street closures\u003c/a> and game-day decorations line bar windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of \u003ca href=\"https://sj26.sanjose.org/the-big-game\">three major events\u003c/a> downtown will be the San Pedro Superfest, a three-day massive street activation for fans to enjoy music, vendors and drink throughout a designated “entertainment zone” that allows businesses to sell to-go alcoholic beverages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the dozens of eateries at the San Pedro Square Market, such as the Old Wagon Saloon and Grill, which has anchored a corner of San Pedro Street for nearly two decades, the weekend requires a doubling of resources. Sonny Walters, the saloon’s owner, said he is preparing for up to a thousand people to pass through his doors each day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072764\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072764 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2820-KQED-2-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Walters noted that successful management of such a crowd starts in the kitchen, particularly when the menu relies on labor-intensive smoked meats. To keep up with demand for ribs, brisket and pulled pork, Walters plans to start ramping up his smokers early Saturday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has also increased his food and beverage orders to nearly three times his normal weekend volume, and his patio has already been booked for a private event by a massive Seahawks fan club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honestly, the block party is pretty exciting,” Walters said. “It’s going to be foot traffic, a lot of out-of-towners, we get to showcase what we do. We’re hoping that San José is a hub and we get the traffic from Santa Clara to here.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A few doors down at Pizza Bocca Lupo, shift lead Charlotte Tavernise said that because the small pizzeria makes every pie to order, there is no way to pre-cook the inventory. Instead, the strategy involves filling every available storage container and ensuring the wood-fired ovens are at peak temperature from open to close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The shop expected its heaviest crowds on Friday and Saturday as tourists explore the downtown core before heading toward Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just telling one of my co-workers, let’s prep as though we’re going to get hit by a hurricane, and make sure we use all of the containers, fill everything. Expect it to be just busy, open to close,” Tavernise said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that the shop has doubled its typical staffing levels, even during the mid-afternoon hours that are usually quiet, to ensure a sudden wave of fans doesn’t catch them off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Burroughs, operations manager at San Pedro Square Market, said this is the first time the area has experimented with an entertainment zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re excited for the potential for that, and allowing guests to go into the activation with their beverage,” Burroughs said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072763\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072763 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A79A2670-KQED-2_1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jaxon Moreno prepares pizzas at Pizza Bocca Lupo in San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With over 20 screens dedicated to the game and many entry points to the market, Burroughs has hired extra security and staff. He noted that while the market is used to large crowds because of the nearby SAP Center, the Super Bowl brings a different level of logistical challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is kind of where the market shines, and our merchants here are very, very adept at handling this kind of crowd flow,” Burroughs said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The market will also be hosting several private corporate activations throughout the weekend. Burroughs, who has watched the downtown area change over the last 11 years, said the current trajectory of foot traffic suggests the neighborhood is finally reclaiming its pre-pandemic vibrancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072749 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-SOUTH-BAY-VENDORS-MD-04-KQED-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Our foot traffic is still increasing year over year,” Burroughs said. “Everything’s going in the right direction as we have seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managing the movement of these crowds falls largely on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. VTA spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said the agency expects to transport roughly 25,000 fans to and from the stadium on Sunday alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To meet that demand, VTA is adding 22 extra three-car trains to its regular service. Hendler Ross said this represents a significant increase from 2016, when the region hosted Super Bowl 50 and saw roughly half that number of riders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072762\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072762 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260206-South-Bay-Vendors-MD-08-KQED-1-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People in the patio at the San Pedro Square Market in San José on Feb. 6, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be so much easier this time than it was 10 years ago,” Hendler Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the stadium is the primary destination, Hendler Ross noted the plan is designed to support the entire system, especially those traveling to downtown events or connecting to other parts of the Bay Area. She added that the agency is also facilitating travel for fans heading up to San Francisco, as VTA connects with Caltrain in Mountain View.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VTA will also have 130 “game-day ambassadors” in blue vests stationed at strategic hubs to help out-of-towners navigate the Transit app and the Clipper card system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The one thing that we always remind people about when they’re going to big events anywhere in the city or to the stadium is to try and plan early,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlos Velazquez, a spokesperson for the city’s Office of Economic Development, noted that while there are over 108,000 public and private parking spots available in the downtown area, with some street closures, the city is encouraging use of public transit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "a-decade-on-the-bay-area-is-hosting-another-super-bowl-how-have-prices-changed-since-2016",
"title": "A Decade on, the Bay Area Is Hosting Another Super Bowl. How Have Prices Changed Since 2016?",
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"headTitle": "A Decade on, the Bay Area Is Hosting Another Super Bowl. How Have Prices Changed Since 2016? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Alongside \u003cem>Heated Rivalry\u003c/em> rewatches and furious posts about \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/harry-styles-tour-blood-tickets-1235505811/\">the price of Harry Styles tickets\u003c/a>, you may have noticed a nostalgic \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/16/nx-s1-5680084/why-reliving-2016-is-the-new-social-media-trend\">“me in 2016” micro-trend\u003c/a> while scrolling social media in the last few weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From your friends’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecut.com/article/what-do-we-really-miss-about-2016-photos.html\">VSCO-filtered throwback photos\u003c/a> featuring leggings and black mesh tops to \u003ca href=\"https://www.teenvogue.com/story/best-evil-kermit-memes\">“evil Kermit” memes\u003c/a> and Vine compilations, many of our feeds were briefly overtaken by odes to a so-called simpler time a decade ago (This reporter remains baffled by the longing: This was the year Carrie Fisher died, after all).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2016 was also the year the Bay Area \u003cem>last \u003c/em>hosted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfl.com/photos/super-bowl-50-0ap3000000633830#f7085554-9f49-43cf-b017-aba23ab28a01\">Super Bowl\u003c/a>, which saw the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers and Coldplay as the halftime show with Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This Sunday, the NFL’s biggest game is returning to our region once again with Super Bowl LX at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, featuring the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986280/bad-bunny-bay-area-imoact-sol-food-mural-pinatas-super-bowl-mission-district\">a halftime show by Bad Bunny\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the universe seemingly insisting in this moment on us casting our minds back a decade earlier, there’s one aspect that’s hard to ignore: the affordability crisis that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">hit the Bay Area particularly hard\u003c/a>, and just how much prices have risen since 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/spaceashes/status/2015670842106003680?s=46&t=7BBzFwo6eYLzJIVfAlumEQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how simple \u003cem>is \u003c/em>it to compare how much cheaper — or not — everyday items were back then, and how much prices have actually changed?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spirit of \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_is_the_new_2016\">2026 being the new 2016\u003c/a>, let’s take a deep dive.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>First off, what’s the best way to look at changing prices over the years?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To get an accurate impression of whether something has become more expensive, beyond the changing numbers, it’s important to account for inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And according to Ricky Volpe, professor of Agribusiness at California Polytechnic State University, this makes the \u003ca href=\"https://www.irp.wisc.edu/resources/what-is-the-consumer-price-index-and-how-is-it-used/\">Consumer Price Index\u003c/a> (CPI) — which measures price changes over time and serves as a key indicator of inflation — a good baseline for assessing increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067357\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067357\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A commuter holds her groceries from the Alameda Food Bank at the 12th Street BART Station in Oakland on Nov. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All Items” is \u003ca href=\"https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL\">an index category\u003c/a> that encompasses a huge variety of U.S. consumer spending, from groceries to education to entertainment — and CPI “is grounded in the value of the U.S. Dollar,” said Volpe. “And that can serve as a benchmark for saying, ‘Okay, this is what’s been going on economy-wide.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 2016 to 2025 (the most recent year for which data is available), the CPI has gone up 34.14%, said Volpe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meaning that relative to the value of the dollar, “anything that’s gone up faster than that has become less affordable,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What about the price of groceries?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“The last 10 years encapsulate quite a roller coaster ride in food prices in the US,” Volpe said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, food prices actually \u003cem>decreased \u003c/em>— something “we do not see that often in the U.S.,” he said. “Inflation is the name of the game.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 2016, food prices “started to tip up,” said Volpe — and then came COVID-19. The pandemic ushered in record food price inflation in 2021 and 2022, which remains top of mind for many U.S. consumers, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12030659 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Besan’s International Market in San Bruno on March 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The current administration has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/business/food-prices-tariffs-trump.html\">a talking point that grocery prices are going down\u003c/a>. That is not true,” Volpe said. “But what \u003cem>is \u003c/em>true is that food prices are behaving largely normally right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regardless, because food prices have never outright dropped since then, “any increases we see now, even modest ones, are on top of the food price inflation that hit Americans so hard over the last few years,” said Volpe. “So \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036654/2025-recession-indicator-meme-us-economy\">consumer sentiment\u003c/a> is very much down on food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s look at the classic — and increasingly political — example of eggs: specifically, a dozen large grade A eggs. In 2016, the average cost nationwide was $1.68, according to data provided by Volpe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl_Qyk9DSUw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2025 average was $4.41 — a 161.59% increase, meaning these types of eggs have become \u003cem>less \u003c/em>affordable for Americans over this time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An increase more in line with the consumer price index would have seen 2025 eggs costing around $2.25 on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere in the grocery aisles, white rice went from 72 cents per pound in 2016 to $1.05 in 2025 — a 46.43% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072676\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072676 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eggs sit in a container at Chip-In Farm in Bedford, Massachusetts, on Jan. 7, 2016. \u003ccite>(Dina Rudick/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And how about a snack you’re likely to see at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071772/where-to-watch-super-bowl-2026-san-francisco-bay-area-levis-stadium-bad-bunny-green-day-larussell-santa-clara\">a Super Bowl watch party\u003c/a>, like potato chips? In 2016, the average price for 16 ounces of chips was $4.46, according to CPI data provided by Volpe. By 2025, those chips were $6.70 — a 50.12% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By comparison, a price more aligned with the CPI would be around $5.98. But something that might surprise you: A gallon of fresh whole milk has actually become somewhat \u003cem>more \u003c/em>affordable for Americans in this time period, relative to the U.S. dollar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2016 average was $3.20, and the 2025 average was $4.07: a 26.97% increase, compared to the 34.14% rise in the Consumer Price Index.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What about local prices here in the Bay Area?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To look at more local examples here in the Bay Area, a few caveats are needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, more localized data like this comes from different sources — meaning that because it may not match the exact timeline of the CPI increase, it won’t be an apples-to-apples comparison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11944934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11944934\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/AP23086788063121-scaled-e1770414780894.jpg\" alt=\"A sign at a gas station shows very high gas prices, approaching $6 a gallon. The Bay Bridge can be scene in the background.\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1319\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bay Bridge rises behind the price board of a gas station in San Francisco on July 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another thing to know: From 2016 to 2025, the Bay Area — measured as the San Francisco, Oakland and Hayward region — saw a \u003cem>slightly \u003c/em>lower increase in CPI than the national average, of 33.66% compared to that 34.14% increase nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Volpe stressed that this “does not mean that costs or prices are comparable” between the Bay Area and the rest of the country. “It just means that the rate of change in prices or affordability has been \u003cem>comparable \u003c/em>between the Bay Area and the rest of the country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With that, let’s look at …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The price of a Golden Gate Bridge toll\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current \u003ca href=\"https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/tolls-payment/\">price of crossing the Golden Gate Bridge using FasTrak\u003c/a> with a car or a motorcycle, as of the most recent price increase in 2025, is $9.75. Back on \u003ca href=\"https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-research/statistics-data/traffic-toll-data/\">July 1, 2016\u003c/a>, the FasTrak toll price was $6.50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072677\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114-1536x1002.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A container ship under the Golden Gate Bridge. \u003ccite>(Andia/Universal Images via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s a 50% increase, very much above the CPI increase — as a 2025 toll fare matching the CPI would be something more like $8.68.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The price of a BART fare\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By now, you’re probably used to seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2024/news20241126\">annual \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2023/news20231211-0\">announcements \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2022/news20220614\">from BART\u003c/a> about fare increases, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2025/news20251120\">the most recent arriving Jan. 1\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to BART, the agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2025/news20251120\">“current funding model relies on passenger fares to pay for operations”\u003c/a> (which BART also described last month as “an outdated model that is no longer feasible due to remote work.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2016 and 2026, there’s been a 36% increase in the average BART fare (which, remember, encompasses more time than the CPI). In January 2016, the average fare was $3.67, with a minimum fare of $1.95 and a maximum of $15.70.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044953\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044953\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Passengers wait to board BART at Daly City Station in Daly City, on Dec. 4, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040951/bart-raise-fares-again-deficit-looms\">current average fare\u003c/a> in 2026 has officially been updated to $4.98, according to a BART spokesperson in an email to KQED. This makes the latest price range of a journey on BART between $2.55 and $17.25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an aside, remember that in 2016, we had physical BART tickets made of paper, which were \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2023/news20230911\">phased out in late 2023\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The average rent in the Bay Area\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a thornier example, since housing markets are more granular, and rental data has always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/The-S-F-Chronicle-s-guide-to-Bay-Area-housing-16441648.php\">somewhat tricky to get ahold of\u003c/a>. But you can’t talk about Bay Area prices without getting into rent, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the purposes of our task, we’ll be referring to real-estate website Zillow’s metric called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/research/methodology-zori-repeat-rent-27092/\">“Zillow Observed Rent Index”\u003c/a> — which a Zillow spokesperson told KQED is used by the company to assess “typical rent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072679\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072679\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three Victorian homes in a row on a steep hill on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, California, on Aug. 28, 2016. \u003ccite>(Photo via Smith Collection/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rather than reflecting a home’s number of beds or baths, this metric instead “looks at all available rentals, narrows into the middle third, then takes the average of just those units,” according to the spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zillow’s most recently available data is from a few months ago, for December 2025 — so let’s compare our rents with December 2015 this time. In 2025, in Santa Clara, where the Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, the typical rent was $3,578. Ten years ago, that number was $2,745: a rise of just over 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in San Francisco, a different picture emerges. According to Zillow’s metric, the typical rent in San Francisco in December 2025 was $3,666 — and in December 2015, it was $3,190.[aside postID=news_12071211 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/013026_SUPERBOWLECONOMICDEV_GH_010_QED-KQED.jpg']This 10-year rise of just under 15% might strike you as lower than you’d expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Lacter, a spokesperson for Zillow, told KQED that among the U.S.’s biggest 50 cities, the city’s growth in rent has actually “been by far the lowest over that period” — with the next lowest being Washington, D.C’s rent, at just under 26%. By comparison, he said, Fresno’s rents went up 90% in the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for context, it’s important to remember how rent “\u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/research/2020-urban-suburban-report-28802/\">fell significantly \u003c/a>in urban areas of San Francisco” during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Lacter, which put the city “behind many other markets when it comes to rent growth over this 10-year period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ted Egan, chief economist with San Francisco’s Office of Economic Analysis, echoed this take: “Because of economic changes that happened to the city during COVID, housing is actually cheaper than it was 10 years ago,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, in a city as expensive as San Francisco, “there’s only so high [rents] can climb where enough people can still afford them to keep units filled,” speculated Lacter.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The cost of season tickets for a 49ers game\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The fact that Levi’s Stadium has changed the way it structures its seating since the last time it hosted a Super Bowl — almost tripling the number of pricing tiers on sale — makes this one slightly trickier to find an apples-to-apples ticket comparison, said Keith Pagello, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ticketdata.com/super-bowl-ticket-prices\">founder of TicketData\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2015-16 season, there were only 11 pricing tiers at Levi’s — but now the stadium is broken into 30 tiers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072682 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 7, 2016, in Santa Clara, California. \u003ccite>(Ezra Shaw via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, even with that in mind, “the overall increase is still very clear,” said Pagello. For example, according to \u003ca href=\"https://levisstadium.com/seats-pricing/\">a 2026 ticketing season map\u003c/a>, Section 101’s first 10 rows are priced at $315. The same section during the 2015-16 season was $125 — a 152% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite a jump!” Pagello said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Alongside \u003cem>Heated Rivalry\u003c/em> rewatches and furious posts about \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/harry-styles-tour-blood-tickets-1235505811/\">the price of Harry Styles tickets\u003c/a>, you may have noticed a nostalgic \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/16/nx-s1-5680084/why-reliving-2016-is-the-new-social-media-trend\">“me in 2016” micro-trend\u003c/a> while scrolling social media in the last few weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From your friends’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.thecut.com/article/what-do-we-really-miss-about-2016-photos.html\">VSCO-filtered throwback photos\u003c/a> featuring leggings and black mesh tops to \u003ca href=\"https://www.teenvogue.com/story/best-evil-kermit-memes\">“evil Kermit” memes\u003c/a> and Vine compilations, many of our feeds were briefly overtaken by odes to a so-called simpler time a decade ago (This reporter remains baffled by the longing: This was the year Carrie Fisher died, after all).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>2016 was also the year the Bay Area \u003cem>last \u003c/em>hosted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfl.com/photos/super-bowl-50-0ap3000000633830#f7085554-9f49-43cf-b017-aba23ab28a01\">Super Bowl\u003c/a>, which saw the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers and Coldplay as the halftime show with Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This Sunday, the NFL’s biggest game is returning to our region once again with Super Bowl LX at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, featuring the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13986280/bad-bunny-bay-area-imoact-sol-food-mural-pinatas-super-bowl-mission-district\">a halftime show by Bad Bunny\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the universe seemingly insisting in this moment on us casting our minds back a decade earlier, there’s one aspect that’s hard to ignore: the affordability crisis that’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/affordability\">hit the Bay Area particularly hard\u003c/a>, and just how much prices have risen since 2016.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>But how simple \u003cem>is \u003c/em>it to compare how much cheaper — or not — everyday items were back then, and how much prices have actually changed?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spirit of \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_is_the_new_2016\">2026 being the new 2016\u003c/a>, let’s take a deep dive.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>First off, what’s the best way to look at changing prices over the years?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To get an accurate impression of whether something has become more expensive, beyond the changing numbers, it’s important to account for inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And according to Ricky Volpe, professor of Agribusiness at California Polytechnic State University, this makes the \u003ca href=\"https://www.irp.wisc.edu/resources/what-is-the-consumer-price-index-and-how-is-it-used/\">Consumer Price Index\u003c/a> (CPI) — which measures price changes over time and serves as a key indicator of inflation — a good baseline for assessing increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12067357\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12067357\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251113-SNAPDELAYSFEATURE01284_TV-KQED_1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A commuter holds her groceries from the Alameda Food Bank at the 12th Street BART Station in Oakland on Nov. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All Items” is \u003ca href=\"https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL\">an index category\u003c/a> that encompasses a huge variety of U.S. consumer spending, from groceries to education to entertainment — and CPI “is grounded in the value of the U.S. Dollar,” said Volpe. “And that can serve as a benchmark for saying, ‘Okay, this is what’s been going on economy-wide.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From 2016 to 2025 (the most recent year for which data is available), the CPI has gone up 34.14%, said Volpe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meaning that relative to the value of the dollar, “anything that’s gone up faster than that has become less affordable,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What about the price of groceries?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“The last 10 years encapsulate quite a roller coaster ride in food prices in the US,” Volpe said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, food prices actually \u003cem>decreased \u003c/em>— something “we do not see that often in the U.S.,” he said. “Inflation is the name of the game.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 2016, food prices “started to tip up,” said Volpe — and then came COVID-19. The pandemic ushered in record food price inflation in 2021 and 2022, which remains top of mind for many U.S. consumers, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12030659 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250308_BESANS-MARKET_DMB_00903-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Besan’s International Market in San Bruno on March 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The current administration has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/business/food-prices-tariffs-trump.html\">a talking point that grocery prices are going down\u003c/a>. That is not true,” Volpe said. “But what \u003cem>is \u003c/em>true is that food prices are behaving largely normally right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regardless, because food prices have never outright dropped since then, “any increases we see now, even modest ones, are on top of the food price inflation that hit Americans so hard over the last few years,” said Volpe. “So \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036654/2025-recession-indicator-meme-us-economy\">consumer sentiment\u003c/a> is very much down on food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s look at the classic — and increasingly political — example of eggs: specifically, a dozen large grade A eggs. In 2016, the average cost nationwide was $1.68, according to data provided by Volpe.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Nl_Qyk9DSUw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Nl_Qyk9DSUw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The 2025 average was $4.41 — a 161.59% increase, meaning these types of eggs have become \u003cem>less \u003c/em>affordable for Americans over this time period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An increase more in line with the consumer price index would have seen 2025 eggs costing around $2.25 on average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere in the grocery aisles, white rice went from 72 cents per pound in 2016 to $1.05 in 2025 — a 46.43% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072676\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072676 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-524459278-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eggs sit in a container at Chip-In Farm in Bedford, Massachusetts, on Jan. 7, 2016. \u003ccite>(Dina Rudick/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And how about a snack you’re likely to see at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071772/where-to-watch-super-bowl-2026-san-francisco-bay-area-levis-stadium-bad-bunny-green-day-larussell-santa-clara\">a Super Bowl watch party\u003c/a>, like potato chips? In 2016, the average price for 16 ounces of chips was $4.46, according to CPI data provided by Volpe. By 2025, those chips were $6.70 — a 50.12% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By comparison, a price more aligned with the CPI would be around $5.98. But something that might surprise you: A gallon of fresh whole milk has actually become somewhat \u003cem>more \u003c/em>affordable for Americans in this time period, relative to the U.S. dollar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2016 average was $3.20, and the 2025 average was $4.07: a 26.97% increase, compared to the 34.14% rise in the Consumer Price Index.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What about local prices here in the Bay Area?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To look at more local examples here in the Bay Area, a few caveats are needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, more localized data like this comes from different sources — meaning that because it may not match the exact timeline of the CPI increase, it won’t be an apples-to-apples comparison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11944934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11944934\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/AP23086788063121-scaled-e1770414780894.jpg\" alt=\"A sign at a gas station shows very high gas prices, approaching $6 a gallon. The Bay Bridge can be scene in the background.\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1319\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bay Bridge rises behind the price board of a gas station in San Francisco on July 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another thing to know: From 2016 to 2025, the Bay Area — measured as the San Francisco, Oakland and Hayward region — saw a \u003cem>slightly \u003c/em>lower increase in CPI than the national average, of 33.66% compared to that 34.14% increase nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Volpe stressed that this “does not mean that costs or prices are comparable” between the Bay Area and the rest of the country. “It just means that the rate of change in prices or affordability has been \u003cem>comparable \u003c/em>between the Bay Area and the rest of the country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With that, let’s look at …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The price of a Golden Gate Bridge toll\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current \u003ca href=\"https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/tolls-payment/\">price of crossing the Golden Gate Bridge using FasTrak\u003c/a> with a car or a motorcycle, as of the most recent price increase in 2025, is $9.75. Back on \u003ca href=\"https://www.goldengate.org/bridge/history-research/statistics-data/traffic-toll-data/\">July 1, 2016\u003c/a>, the FasTrak toll price was $6.50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072677\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114-160x104.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-1036068114-1536x1002.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A container ship under the Golden Gate Bridge. \u003ccite>(Andia/Universal Images via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s a 50% increase, very much above the CPI increase — as a 2025 toll fare matching the CPI would be something more like $8.68.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The price of a BART fare\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By now, you’re probably used to seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2024/news20241126\">annual \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2023/news20231211-0\">announcements \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2022/news20220614\">from BART\u003c/a> about fare increases, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2025/news20251120\">the most recent arriving Jan. 1\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to BART, the agency’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2025/news20251120\">“current funding model relies on passenger fares to pay for operations”\u003c/a> (which BART also described last month as “an outdated model that is no longer feasible due to remote work.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between 2016 and 2026, there’s been a 36% increase in the average BART fare (which, remember, encompasses more time than the CPI). In January 2016, the average fare was $3.67, with a minimum fare of $1.95 and a maximum of $15.70.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044953\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044953\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20241204-BART-JY-009_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Passengers wait to board BART at Daly City Station in Daly City, on Dec. 4, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040951/bart-raise-fares-again-deficit-looms\">current average fare\u003c/a> in 2026 has officially been updated to $4.98, according to a BART spokesperson in an email to KQED. This makes the latest price range of a journey on BART between $2.55 and $17.25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an aside, remember that in 2016, we had physical BART tickets made of paper, which were \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2023/news20230911\">phased out in late 2023\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The average rent in the Bay Area\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a thornier example, since housing markets are more granular, and rental data has always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/The-S-F-Chronicle-s-guide-to-Bay-Area-housing-16441648.php\">somewhat tricky to get ahold of\u003c/a>. But you can’t talk about Bay Area prices without getting into rent, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the purposes of our task, we’ll be referring to real-estate website Zillow’s metric called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/research/methodology-zori-repeat-rent-27092/\">“Zillow Observed Rent Index”\u003c/a> — which a Zillow spokesperson told KQED is used by the company to assess “typical rent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072679\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072679\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-600766444-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three Victorian homes in a row on a steep hill on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, California, on Aug. 28, 2016. \u003ccite>(Photo via Smith Collection/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rather than reflecting a home’s number of beds or baths, this metric instead “looks at all available rentals, narrows into the middle third, then takes the average of just those units,” according to the spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zillow’s most recently available data is from a few months ago, for December 2025 — so let’s compare our rents with December 2015 this time. In 2025, in Santa Clara, where the Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, the typical rent was $3,578. Ten years ago, that number was $2,745: a rise of just over 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in San Francisco, a different picture emerges. According to Zillow’s metric, the typical rent in San Francisco in December 2025 was $3,666 — and in December 2015, it was $3,190.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This 10-year rise of just under 15% might strike you as lower than you’d expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Lacter, a spokesperson for Zillow, told KQED that among the U.S.’s biggest 50 cities, the city’s growth in rent has actually “been by far the lowest over that period” — with the next lowest being Washington, D.C’s rent, at just under 26%. By comparison, he said, Fresno’s rents went up 90% in the same period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for context, it’s important to remember how rent “\u003ca href=\"https://www.zillow.com/research/2020-urban-suburban-report-28802/\">fell significantly \u003c/a>in urban areas of San Francisco” during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Lacter, which put the city “behind many other markets when it comes to rent growth over this 10-year period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ted Egan, chief economist with San Francisco’s Office of Economic Analysis, echoed this take: “Because of economic changes that happened to the city during COVID, housing is actually cheaper than it was 10 years ago,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, in a city as expensive as San Francisco, “there’s only so high [rents] can climb where enough people can still afford them to keep units filled,” speculated Lacter.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The cost of season tickets for a 49ers game\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The fact that Levi’s Stadium has changed the way it structures its seating since the last time it hosted a Super Bowl — almost tripling the number of pricing tiers on sale — makes this one slightly trickier to find an apples-to-apples ticket comparison, said Keith Pagello, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ticketdata.com/super-bowl-ticket-prices\">founder of TicketData\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2015-16 season, there were only 11 pricing tiers at Levi’s — but now the stadium is broken into 30 tiers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12072682 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-508989690-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 7, 2016, in Santa Clara, California. \u003ccite>(Ezra Shaw via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, even with that in mind, “the overall increase is still very clear,” said Pagello. For example, according to \u003ca href=\"https://levisstadium.com/seats-pricing/\">a 2026 ticketing season map\u003c/a>, Section 101’s first 10 rows are priced at $315. The same section during the 2015-16 season was $125 — a 152% increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite a jump!” Pagello said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"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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"order": 9
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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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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"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. ",
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"order": 18
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"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",
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"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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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
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"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>",
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
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"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.",
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"onourwatch": {
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"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?",
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"order": 11
},
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"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
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},
"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
},
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"planet-money": {
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"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5Nzk2MzI2MTEx",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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