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"slug": "california-math-scores-are-far-below-grade-level-this-screener-will-test-students-skills-early",
"title": "California Math Scores Are Far Below Grade Level. This Screener Will Test Students’ Skills Early",
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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>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> schools will test all kindergartners, first- and second-graders in basic math skills and provide them tutoring if they need it, under a bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation, sponsored by Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/akilah-weber-165432\">Akilah Weber Pierson\u003c/a>, a Democrat from San Diego, is expected to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2026/04/math-skills-california/\">boost California’s math scores\u003c/a>, which are significantly \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?sfj=NP&chort=1&sub=MAT&sj=&st=MN&year=2024R3\">below the national average\u003c/a>. Last year, only 37% of students in California met grade-level math standards, an increase from the previous year but still well below the pre-pandemic level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This bill will help more kids so they don’t get stuck at the starting line in math,” said Marshall Tuck, chief executive officer of EdVoice, a nonprofit advocacy group that’s among the bill’s sponsors. “There’s still a lot more to do, but this is an important step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1067\">Senate Bill 1067\u003c/a>, schools will be required to test students for basic math skills and provide individual or small-group tutoring or other support for those who need help catching up to their peers. The tests are expected to be fairly straightforward. Kindergartners, for example, might be asked what order numbers go in, which numbers are bigger or smaller, and what quantities numbers represent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because math is sequential, students who start school not knowing their 1-2-3s sometimes lag behind for years. If they don’t understand addition, for example, they’ll struggle with multiplication and fractions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wooden blocks and tiny jackets rest on the rug during playtime at a transitional kindergarten class at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in East San José, which the school district is converting into an early learning center, on Feb. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If they struggle with fractions, they’ll have a hard time with algebra. By high school, only 30% of students currently meet the state’s math standards, with low-income, Black and Latino students faring much worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many districts in California already use early math assessments. Los Angeles Unified and Compton Unified both assess younger students in basic math skills, and both have seen significant increases in math scores in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Newsom signs the bill, schools would give the first assessments in 2028. He has until the end of September to take action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Teachers union’s waning influence?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and 71-0 in the Assembly with eight abstentions, despite persistent opposition from the powerful California Teachers Association — the state’s largest teachers union — and a handful of other influential education groups. They argued that mandated assessments make students stressed and fatigued, and would do little to improve students’ math performance. Instead, the state should invest in training teachers to improve the way they teach math, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CTA also \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2023/03/dyslexia-screening-2/\">opposed a dyslexia screener\u003c/a> in 2023 as well as a bill that calls for a more \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2026/01/california-education/\">streamlined education governance\u003c/a> system in California. Both bills passed with bipartisan support, suggesting that legislators may be increasingly willing to vote against the powerful union.[aside postID=news_12096557 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081226-SCHOOLTECHBANS-05-MC_QED-1-1.jpg']“I think legislators recognize the issue is urgent,” Tuck said. “The state needs to do more to help students, particularly low-income students, in math.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CTA president David Goldberg said the union takes positions on hundreds of bills every year, and it’s not unusual for some it opposes to pass. Although power dynamics in Sacramento constantly evolve, the union’s influence hasn’t changed, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pointed to the state’s recent investments in special education and community schools — both union priorities — as well as the union’s support for the relatively unknown \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2026/06/primary-election-california-superintendent/\">Richard Barrera\u003c/a> for state superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera defeated several better-known Legislature veterans in the June primary election. In addition, he noted that numerous local teacher unions represented by the CTA successfully \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2026/02/teacher-strikes-california/\">went on strike\u003c/a> this year, resulting in higher pay and improved benefits for thousands of teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That said, sometimes things pass that we oppose, and we have to deal with that,” Goldberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Like ‘a well-baby check-up’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In part because of the opposition, the math bill’s authors added a few amendments since the bill was introduced in February. One allows school districts that are already using assessments to continue using them, as long as they meet certain criteria. Another lets parents know how their children did on the test, something that Yolie Flores, president of the nonprofit Families in Schools, was especially happy to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I tell parents, think of this as a well-baby check-up,” said Flores, whose organization advocates for improving school relationships with marginalized families, mostly in Los Angeles. “You want to know how your kid is doing, so you can get them help if they need it. Sometimes the report card doesn’t tell the whole story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Next: Improved teacher training?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The math assessment joins a few other recent initiatives aimed at improving California’s dismal math scores, which have stagnated as the state focused on boosting students’ literacy skills in the wake of the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the state adopted a new math framework and textbooks, expanded transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds, and greatly increased investments in community schools, which offer an array of social services intended to boost attendance and ultimately, academic achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029848\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029848\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1329\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-1920x1276.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kindergarten students at a school in the San Bruno Park Elementary School District run outside for recess in San Bruno, California, on April 19, 2012. \u003ccite>(Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Next, Tuck would like the state to invest in improving math training for current teachers as well as those still earning their credentials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vince Stewart, vice president of policy and programs for the nonprofit Children Now, said his organization would like the state to take a more comprehensive approach to improving math outcomes, not tackling it bill-by-bill. A broader initiative should also include teacher preparation, professional development, addressing the math teacher shortage and other topics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization did not take a position on SB 1067, but “absolutely believes there’s an issue with math performance in California,” Stewart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2026/09/math-skills-california-2/\">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",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1067\">Senate Bill 1067\u003c/a>, schools will be required to test students for basic math skills and provide individual or small-group tutoring or other support for those who need help catching up to their peers. The tests are expected to be fairly straightforward. Kindergartners, for example, might be asked what order numbers go in, which numbers are bigger or smaller, and what quantities numbers represent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because math is sequential, students who start school not knowing their 1-2-3s sometimes lag behind for years. If they don’t understand addition, for example, they’ll struggle with multiplication and fractions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12072507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12072507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/02172023_ksuzuki_tkprogress-157_qed-1-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wooden blocks and tiny jackets rest on the rug during playtime at a transitional kindergarten class at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in East San José, which the school district is converting into an early learning center, on Feb. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Kori Suzuki/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If they struggle with fractions, they’ll have a hard time with algebra. By high school, only 30% of students currently meet the state’s math standards, with low-income, Black and Latino students faring much worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many districts in California already use early math assessments. Los Angeles Unified and Compton Unified both assess younger students in basic math skills, and both have seen significant increases in math scores in recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Newsom signs the bill, schools would give the first assessments in 2028. He has until the end of September to take action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Teachers union’s waning influence?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and 71-0 in the Assembly with eight abstentions, despite persistent opposition from the powerful California Teachers Association — the state’s largest teachers union — and a handful of other influential education groups. They argued that mandated assessments make students stressed and fatigued, and would do little to improve students’ math performance. Instead, the state should invest in training teachers to improve the way they teach math, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CTA also \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2023/03/dyslexia-screening-2/\">opposed a dyslexia screener\u003c/a> in 2023 as well as a bill that calls for a more \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2026/01/california-education/\">streamlined education governance\u003c/a> system in California. Both bills passed with bipartisan support, suggesting that legislators may be increasingly willing to vote against the powerful union.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think legislators recognize the issue is urgent,” Tuck said. “The state needs to do more to help students, particularly low-income students, in math.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CTA president David Goldberg said the union takes positions on hundreds of bills every year, and it’s not unusual for some it opposes to pass. Although power dynamics in Sacramento constantly evolve, the union’s influence hasn’t changed, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pointed to the state’s recent investments in special education and community schools — both union priorities — as well as the union’s support for the relatively unknown \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2026/06/primary-election-california-superintendent/\">Richard Barrera\u003c/a> for state superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barrera defeated several better-known Legislature veterans in the June primary election. In addition, he noted that numerous local teacher unions represented by the CTA successfully \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2026/02/teacher-strikes-california/\">went on strike\u003c/a> this year, resulting in higher pay and improved benefits for thousands of teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That said, sometimes things pass that we oppose, and we have to deal with that,” Goldberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Like ‘a well-baby check-up’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In part because of the opposition, the math bill’s authors added a few amendments since the bill was introduced in February. One allows school districts that are already using assessments to continue using them, as long as they meet certain criteria. Another lets parents know how their children did on the test, something that Yolie Flores, president of the nonprofit Families in Schools, was especially happy to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I tell parents, think of this as a well-baby check-up,” said Flores, whose organization advocates for improving school relationships with marginalized families, mostly in Los Angeles. “You want to know how your kid is doing, so you can get them help if they need it. Sometimes the report card doesn’t tell the whole story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Next: Improved teacher training?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The math assessment joins a few other recent initiatives aimed at improving California’s dismal math scores, which have stagnated as the state focused on boosting students’ literacy skills in the wake of the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the state adopted a new math framework and textbooks, expanded transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds, and greatly increased investments in community schools, which offer an array of social services intended to boost attendance and ultimately, academic achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029848\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029848\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1329\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/SanBrunoElementaryGetty-1920x1276.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kindergarten students at a school in the San Bruno Park Elementary School District run outside for recess in San Bruno, California, on April 19, 2012. \u003ccite>(Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Next, Tuck would like the state to invest in improving math training for current teachers as well as those still earning their credentials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vince Stewart, vice president of policy and programs for the nonprofit Children Now, said his organization would like the state to take a more comprehensive approach to improving math outcomes, not tackling it bill-by-bill. A broader initiative should also include teacher preparation, professional development, addressing the math teacher shortage and other topics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization did not take a position on SB 1067, but “absolutely believes there’s an issue with math performance in California,” Stewart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2026/09/math-skills-california-2/\">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\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/children\">online child safety bills\u003c/a> Thursday, enacting some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/10/governor-newsom-signs-the-strongest-child-safety-chatbot-and-social-media-laws-in-the-nation/\">strongest protections\u003c/a> for young users in the country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measures include \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1119\">Senate Bill 1119\u003c/a>, co-authored by Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, which requires operators of AI companion chatbots to assess the risks their products pose to children, document what they find and hand the results to an independent auditor. The bill also requires parental controls and in-app crisis support.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2\">Assembly Bill 2\u003c/a>, from Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, raises the damages a large social media company can face when its conduct harms a child. Lowenthal \u003ca href=\"https://lowenthal.asmdc.org/press-releases/20250512-california-assembly-passes-groundbreaking-legislation-hold-social-media\">pursued\u003c/a> the measure across three legislative sessions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1709\">AB 1709\u003c/a> bars social media platforms from serving addictive engagement features to users under 16. It passed the Legislature without a no vote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094819\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Three teenage boys look at their smartphone screens on April 11, 2026. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he will sign a bill that prohibits social media platforms from providing addictive features to users under the age of 16, the first law of its kind in the nation. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re establishing a framework,” Newsom said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WIlU6xZ2JY\">press conference\u003c/a> Thursday announcing the package, “so that we can really enact a more aggressive posture as it relates to enforcement.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom also spoke at the event, reflecting her behind-the-scenes engagement with the policy debate over how best to protect children online. “Today has been a long time in coming,” she said. “And this one is truly for the kids. The kids who are with us, and the kids, like Adam and Owl, who are not.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Standing behind the documentary filmmaker were two mothers of children who died by suicide: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080610/california-mom-who-lost-her-son-to-an-ai-chatbot-is-now-fighting-to-regulate-them\">Maria Raine\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096121/she-died-by-design-meta-on-trial-over-child-safety\">Victoria Hinks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is an incredible moment,” said Jim Steyer, whose group, Common Sense Media, backed all three bills. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Speaking at the same press conference, Steyer called the legislative package “the first step in the United States towards comprehensive regulation and common-sense guardrails around these platforms.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A day earlier, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/09/governor-newsom-signs-first-in-the-nation-ai-safeguards-to-protect-californians-calls-on-the-federal-government-to-do-its-part/\">signed\u003c/a> two bills that set up some of the enforcement infrastructure that would strengthen the hand of state regulators, especially when it comes to AI developers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1405\">AB 1405\u003c/a>, from Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, creates a state registry of independent AI auditors and sets standards for their independence, transparency and integrity.\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb813\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb813\">SB 813\u003c/a>, from Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, establishes a framework for independent verification organizations, expert panels that can set the standards those auditors would uphold.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When you have a financial institution, they have to be audited by a third-party independent source,” Bauer-Kahan told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just as some government procurement contracts already hold AI developers accountable to federal law, Bauer-Kahan said the bills just signed into law would establish an auditing scheme in California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The registry will begin to take shape in January, and Bauer-Kahan said it will expand to include a new category of job with a short history: that of the AI auditor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2291604853-scaled-e1789079469144.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099093\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Media gathers to hear remarks from Victoria Hinks, whose daughter, Alexandra “Owl” Hinks, died in a case that prosecutors allege was related to social media use, outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on Aug. 26, 2026, in Oakland, California. Hinks appeared with First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom at the signing of the new child safety laws on Sept. 10, 2026. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California already has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054490/child-safety-groups-demand-mental-health-guardrails-after-california-teens-suicide-using-chatgpt\">companion chatbot law\u003c/a>, requiring companion chatbots to tell minors they’re talking to a machine and to route users in crisis to help. But California is not alone legislating in this space: New York’s companion chatbot law took effect last November, and Idaho, Oregon and Washington passed their own rules this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It is so great to see SB 1119 signed into law,” Chris Lehane, vice president of global affairs at OpenAI, wrote in a statement. “It both meets the moment for parents and sets teens up for educational success. … Amongst several key elements, the bill treats teens as teens when it comes to making sure AI is both safe and a tool to help contribute to their ability to learn.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Anthropic endorsed SB 813 and AB 1405 in August. In a statement, Cesar Fernandez, Anthropic’s government affairs spokesperson, praised how these bills distinguish between an AI audit, which assesses the controls necessary to comply with the law, and an evaluation, which assesses the risks posed by an AI system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A Meta spokesperson commented specifically on two of the bills, AB 1709 and SB 1119. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regarding AB 1709, the spokesperson defended algorithmic tailoring of content, writing that it’s “how we deliver age-appropriate content for teens that is relevant to them — all with the proper guardrails in place.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regarding SB 1119, the spokesperson wrote Meta is still evaluating the new law, but supports chatbot regulation that “empowers parents to make decisions about how their families use these tools, while making sure key educational and enrichment tools are available to teens.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to YouTube, TikTok and Snap for comment. They have not yet responded.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“While more work is needed to ensure AI developers are required to have safeguards evaluated by independent third-party experts, we commend Sen. McNerney and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan for their leadership on these important issues,” Fernandez wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The signings come on the heels of social media posts from Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic researcher.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Coxon resigned this week over the company’s business practices, warning that both Anthropic and its competitor OpenAI are “racing straight to self-improving super-intelligence and gambling with our lives.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bauer-Kahan was more interested in the public reaction than the warning itself, which she said covered familiar ground. Bigger statements from larger groups of researchers, she said, have come and gone without breaking through — a shift she also sees in the fights over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098559/newsoms-final-months-a-failed-deal-and-regulating-ai\">data centers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What worries her most isn’t the doomsday scenario.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think that the catastrophic risks are sometimes what we talk about, but the everyday impact of these systems are what I really worry about the most,” the Assembly member told KQED. “How do we make sure [Californians] continue to thrive and have meaningful work in their lives, and that these systems aren’t being used to deny them work and healthcare? That it isn’t taking our kids and isolating them and creating a mental health crisis?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measures include \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1119\">Senate Bill 1119\u003c/a>, co-authored by Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, which requires operators of AI companion chatbots to assess the risks their products pose to children, document what they find and hand the results to an independent auditor. The bill also requires parental controls and in-app crisis support.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2\">Assembly Bill 2\u003c/a>, from Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, raises the damages a large social media company can face when its conduct harms a child. Lowenthal \u003ca href=\"https://lowenthal.asmdc.org/press-releases/20250512-california-assembly-passes-groundbreaking-legislation-hold-social-media\">pursued\u003c/a> the measure across three legislative sessions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2\">Assembly Bill 2\u003c/a>, from Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, raises the damages a large social media company can face when its conduct harms a child. Lowenthal \u003ca href=\"https://lowenthal.asmdc.org/press-releases/20250512-california-assembly-passes-groundbreaking-legislation-hold-social-media\">pursued\u003c/a> the measure across three legislative sessions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094819\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Three teenage boys look at their smartphone screens on April 11, 2026. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he will sign a bill that prohibits social media platforms from providing addictive features to users under the age of 16, the first law of its kind in the nation.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re establishing a framework,” Newsom said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WIlU6xZ2JY\">press conference\u003c/a> Thursday announcing the package, “so that we can really enact a more aggressive posture as it relates to enforcement.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom also spoke at the event, reflecting her behind-the-scenes engagement with the policy debate over how best to protect children online. “Today has been a long time in coming,” she said. “And this one is truly for the kids. The kids who are with us, and the kids, like Adam and Owl, who are not.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom also spoke at the event, reflecting her behind-the-scenes engagement with the policy debate over how best to protect children online. “Today has been a long time in coming,” she said. “And this one is truly for the kids. The kids who are with us, and the kids, like Adam and Owl, who are not.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Standing behind the documentary filmmaker were two mothers of children who died by suicide: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080610/california-mom-who-lost-her-son-to-an-ai-chatbot-is-now-fighting-to-regulate-them\">Maria Raine\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096121/she-died-by-design-meta-on-trial-over-child-safety\">Victoria Hinks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is an incredible moment,” said Jim Steyer, whose group, Common Sense Media, backed all three bills. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Speaking at the same press conference, Steyer called the legislative package “the first step in the United States towards comprehensive regulation and common-sense guardrails around these platforms.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A day earlier, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/09/governor-newsom-signs-first-in-the-nation-ai-safeguards-to-protect-californians-calls-on-the-federal-government-to-do-its-part/\">signed\u003c/a> two bills that set up some of the enforcement infrastructure that would strengthen the hand of state regulators, especially when it comes to AI developers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1405\">AB 1405\u003c/a>, from Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, creates a state registry of independent AI auditors and sets standards for their independence, transparency and integrity.\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb813\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb813\">SB 813\u003c/a>, from Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, establishes a framework for independent verification organizations, expert panels that can set the standards those auditors would uphold.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb813\">SB 813\u003c/a>, from Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, establishes a framework for independent verification organizations, expert panels that can set the standards those auditors would uphold.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When you have a financial institution, they have to be audited by a third-party independent source,” Bauer-Kahan told KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“When you have a financial institution, they have to be audited by a third-party independent source,” Bauer-Kahan told KQED.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Just as some government procurement contracts already hold AI developers accountable to federal law, Bauer-Kahan said the bills just signed into law would establish an auditing scheme in California.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Just as some government procurement contracts already hold AI developers accountable to federal law, Bauer-Kahan said the bills just signed into law would establish an auditing scheme in California.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The registry will begin to take shape in January, and Bauer-Kahan said it will expand to include a new category of job with a short history: that of the AI auditor.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The registry will begin to take shape in January, and Bauer-Kahan said it will expand to include a new category of job with a short history: that of the AI auditor.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2291604853-scaled-e1789079469144.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099093\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Media gathers to hear remarks from Victoria Hinks, whose daughter, Alexandra “Owl” Hinks, died in a case that prosecutors allege was related to social media use, outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on Aug. 26, 2026, in Oakland, California. Hinks appeared with First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom at the signing of the new child safety laws on Sept. 10, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2291604853-scaled-e1789079469144.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099093\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Media gathers to hear remarks from Victoria Hinks, whose daughter, Alexandra “Owl” Hinks, died in a case that prosecutors allege was related to social media use, outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on Aug. 26, 2026, in Oakland, California. Hinks appeared with First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom at the signing of the new child safety laws on Sept. 10, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California already has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054490/child-safety-groups-demand-mental-health-guardrails-after-california-teens-suicide-using-chatgpt\">companion chatbot law\u003c/a>, requiring companion chatbots to tell minors they’re talking to a machine and to route users in crisis to help. But California is not alone legislating in this space: New York’s companion chatbot law took effect last November, and Idaho, Oregon and Washington passed their own rules this year.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California already has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054490/child-safety-groups-demand-mental-health-guardrails-after-california-teens-suicide-using-chatgpt\">companion chatbot law\u003c/a>, requiring companion chatbots to tell minors they’re talking to a machine and to route users in crisis to help. But California is not alone legislating in this space: New York’s companion chatbot law took effect last November, and Idaho, Oregon and Washington passed their own rules this year.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It is so great to see SB 1119 signed into law,” Chris Lehane, vice president of global affairs at OpenAI, wrote in a statement. “It both meets the moment for parents and sets teens up for educational success. … Amongst several key elements, the bill treats teens as teens when it comes to making sure AI is both safe and a tool to help contribute to their ability to learn.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It is so great to see SB 1119 signed into law,” Chris Lehane, vice president of global affairs at OpenAI, wrote in a statement. “It both meets the moment for parents and sets teens up for educational success. … Amongst several key elements, the bill treats teens as teens when it comes to making sure AI is both safe and a tool to help contribute to their ability to learn.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Anthropic endorsed SB 813 and AB 1405 in August. In a statement, Cesar Fernandez, Anthropic’s government affairs spokesperson, praised how these bills distinguish between an AI audit, which assesses the controls necessary to comply with the law, and an evaluation, which assesses the risks posed by an AI system.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Anthropic endorsed SB 813 and AB 1405 in August. In a statement, Cesar Fernandez, Anthropic’s government affairs spokesperson, praised how these bills distinguish between an AI audit, which assesses the controls necessary to comply with the law, and an evaluation, which assesses the risks posed by an AI system.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A Meta spokesperson commented specifically on two of the bills, AB 1709 and SB 1119. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Regarding AB 1709, the spokesperson defended algorithmic tailoring of content, writing that it’s “how we deliver age-appropriate content for teens that is relevant to them — all with the proper guardrails in place.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Regarding AB 1709, the spokesperson defended algorithmic tailoring of content, writing that it’s “how we deliver age-appropriate content for teens that is relevant to them — all with the proper guardrails in place.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Regarding SB 1119, the spokesperson wrote Meta is still evaluating the new law, but supports chatbot regulation that “empowers parents to make decisions about how their families use these tools, while making sure key educational and enrichment tools are available to teens.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Regarding SB 1119, the spokesperson wrote Meta is still evaluating the new law, but supports chatbot regulation that “empowers parents to make decisions about how their families use these tools, while making sure key educational and enrichment tools are available to teens.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to YouTube, TikTok and Snap for comment. They have not yet responded.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“While more work is needed to ensure AI developers are required to have safeguards evaluated by independent third-party experts, we commend Sen. McNerney and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan for their leadership on these important issues,” Fernandez wrote.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“While more work is needed to ensure AI developers are required to have safeguards evaluated by independent third-party experts, we commend Sen. McNerney and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan for their leadership on these important issues,” Fernandez wrote.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The signings come on the heels of social media posts from Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic researcher.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Coxon resigned this week over the company’s business practices, warning that both Anthropic and its competitor OpenAI are “racing straight to self-improving super-intelligence and gambling with our lives.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Coxon resigned this week over the company’s business practices, warning that both Anthropic and its competitor OpenAI are “racing straight to self-improving super-intelligence and gambling with our lives.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bauer-Kahan was more interested in the public reaction than the warning itself, which she said covered familiar ground. Bigger statements from larger groups of researchers, she said, have come and gone without breaking through — a shift she also sees in the fights over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098559/newsoms-final-months-a-failed-deal-and-regulating-ai\">data centers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bauer-Kahan was more interested in the public reaction than the warning itself, which she said covered familiar ground. Bigger statements from larger groups of researchers, she said, have come and gone without breaking through — a shift she also sees in the fights over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098559/newsoms-final-months-a-failed-deal-and-regulating-ai\">data centers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What worries her most isn’t the doomsday scenario.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I think that the catastrophic risks are sometimes what we talk about, but the everyday impact of these systems are what I really worry about the most,” the Assembly member told KQED. “How do we make sure [Californians] continue to thrive and have meaningful work in their lives, and that these systems aren’t being used to deny them work and healthcare? That it isn’t taking our kids and isolating them and creating a mental health crisis?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I think that the catastrophic risks are sometimes what we talk about, but the everyday impact of these systems are what I really worry about the most,” the Assembly member told KQED. “How do we make sure [Californians] continue to thrive and have meaningful work in their lives, and that these systems aren’t being used to deny them work and healthcare? That it isn’t taking our kids and isolating them and creating a mental health crisis?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/children\">online child safety bills\u003c/a> Thursday, enacting some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/10/governor-newsom-signs-the-strongest-child-safety-chatbot-and-social-media-laws-in-the-nation/\">strongest protections\u003c/a> for young users in the country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measures include \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1119\">Senate Bill 1119\u003c/a>, co-authored by Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, which requires operators of AI companion chatbots to assess the risks their products pose to children, document what they find and hand the results to an independent auditor. The bill also requires parental controls and in-app crisis support.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2\">Assembly Bill 2\u003c/a>, from Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, raises the damages a large social media company can face when its conduct harms a child. Lowenthal \u003ca href=\"https://lowenthal.asmdc.org/press-releases/20250512-california-assembly-passes-groundbreaking-legislation-hold-social-media\">pursued\u003c/a> the measure across three legislative sessions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1709\">AB 1709\u003c/a> bars social media platforms from serving addictive engagement features to users under 16. It passed the Legislature without a no vote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094819\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/MetaTeensGetty-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Three teenage boys look at their smartphone screens on April 11, 2026. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he will sign a bill that prohibits social media platforms from providing addictive features to users under the age of 16, the first law of its kind in the nation. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We’re establishing a framework,” Newsom said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WIlU6xZ2JY\">press conference\u003c/a> Thursday announcing the package, “so that we can really enact a more aggressive posture as it relates to enforcement.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>First partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom also spoke at the event, reflecting her behind-the-scenes engagement with the policy debate over how best to protect children online. “Today has been a long time in coming,” she said. “And this one is truly for the kids. The kids who are with us, and the kids, like Adam and Owl, who are not.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Standing behind the documentary filmmaker were two mothers of children who died by suicide: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080610/california-mom-who-lost-her-son-to-an-ai-chatbot-is-now-fighting-to-regulate-them\">Maria Raine\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096121/she-died-by-design-meta-on-trial-over-child-safety\">Victoria Hinks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is an incredible moment,” said Jim Steyer, whose group, Common Sense Media, backed all three bills. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Speaking at the same press conference, Steyer called the legislative package “the first step in the United States towards comprehensive regulation and common-sense guardrails around these platforms.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A day earlier, Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/09/governor-newsom-signs-first-in-the-nation-ai-safeguards-to-protect-californians-calls-on-the-federal-government-to-do-its-part/\">signed\u003c/a> two bills that set up some of the enforcement infrastructure that would strengthen the hand of state regulators, especially when it comes to AI developers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1405\">AB 1405\u003c/a>, from Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, creates a state registry of independent AI auditors and sets standards for their independence, transparency and integrity.\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb813\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb813\">SB 813\u003c/a>, from Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, establishes a framework for independent verification organizations, expert panels that can set the standards those auditors would uphold.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When you have a financial institution, they have to be audited by a third-party independent source,” Bauer-Kahan told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just as some government procurement contracts already hold AI developers accountable to federal law, Bauer-Kahan said the bills just signed into law would establish an auditing scheme in California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The registry will begin to take shape in January, and Bauer-Kahan said it will expand to include a new category of job with a short history: that of the AI auditor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/GettyImages-2291604853-scaled-e1789079469144.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12099093\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Media gathers to hear remarks from Victoria Hinks, whose daughter, Alexandra “Owl” Hinks, died in a case that prosecutors allege was related to social media use, outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on Aug. 26, 2026, in Oakland, California. Hinks appeared with First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom at the signing of the new child safety laws on Sept. 10, 2026. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California already has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12054490/child-safety-groups-demand-mental-health-guardrails-after-california-teens-suicide-using-chatgpt\">companion chatbot law\u003c/a>, requiring companion chatbots to tell minors they’re talking to a machine and to route users in crisis to help. But California is not alone legislating in this space: New York’s companion chatbot law took effect last November, and Idaho, Oregon and Washington passed their own rules this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It is so great to see SB 1119 signed into law,” Chris Lehane, vice president of global affairs at OpenAI, wrote in a statement. “It both meets the moment for parents and sets teens up for educational success. … Amongst several key elements, the bill treats teens as teens when it comes to making sure AI is both safe and a tool to help contribute to their ability to learn.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Anthropic endorsed SB 813 and AB 1405 in August. In a statement, Cesar Fernandez, Anthropic’s government affairs spokesperson, praised how these bills distinguish between an AI audit, which assesses the controls necessary to comply with the law, and an evaluation, which assesses the risks posed by an AI system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A Meta spokesperson commented specifically on two of the bills, AB 1709 and SB 1119. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regarding AB 1709, the spokesperson defended algorithmic tailoring of content, writing that it’s “how we deliver age-appropriate content for teens that is relevant to them — all with the proper guardrails in place.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Regarding SB 1119, the spokesperson wrote Meta is still evaluating the new law, but supports chatbot regulation that “empowers parents to make decisions about how their families use these tools, while making sure key educational and enrichment tools are available to teens.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to YouTube, TikTok and Snap for comment. They have not yet responded.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“While more work is needed to ensure AI developers are required to have safeguards evaluated by independent third-party experts, we commend Sen. McNerney and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan for their leadership on these important issues,” Fernandez wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The signings come on the heels of social media posts from Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic researcher.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Coxon resigned this week over the company’s business practices, warning that both Anthropic and its competitor OpenAI are “racing straight to self-improving super-intelligence and gambling with our lives.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bauer-Kahan was more interested in the public reaction than the warning itself, which she said covered familiar ground. Bigger statements from larger groups of researchers, she said, have come and gone without breaking through — a shift she also sees in the fights over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12098559/newsoms-final-months-a-failed-deal-and-regulating-ai\">data centers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What worries her most isn’t the doomsday scenario.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think that the catastrophic risks are sometimes what we talk about, but the everyday impact of these systems are what I really worry about the most,” the Assembly member told KQED. “How do we make sure [Californians] continue to thrive and have meaningful work in their lives, and that these systems aren’t being used to deny them work and healthcare? That it isn’t taking our kids and isolating them and creating a mental health crisis?”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Governor Gavin Newsom failed to strike a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097752/deal-on-california-wildfire-liability-collapses-in-legislature\">deal on wildfire liability\u003c/a> with lawmakers in the state legislature this week after months of negotiations that pitted California utilities against insurance companies. Marisa and Guy break down how the deal collapsed and what it means for Newsom as he enters his final months in office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Then, they turn to the few dozen bill on the governor’s desk aiming to regulate the state’s burgeoning Artificial Intelligence industry. The sector has cozied up to politicians like Newsom, but its products and plans are increasingly facing voter backlash. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Political Breakdown’s weekly newsletter\u003c/a>, delivered straight to your inbox.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Governor Gavin Newsom failed to strike a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097752/deal-on-california-wildfire-liability-collapses-in-legislature\">deal on wildfire liability\u003c/a> with lawmakers in the state legislature this week after months of negotiations that pitted California utilities against insurance companies. Marisa and Guy break down how the deal collapsed and what it means for Newsom as he enters his final months in office. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Then, they turn to the few dozen bill on the governor’s desk aiming to regulate the state’s burgeoning Artificial Intelligence industry. The sector has cozied up to politicians like Newsom, but its products and plans are increasingly facing voter backlash. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Check out \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Political Breakdown’s weekly newsletter\u003c/a>, delivered straight to your inbox.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Lawmakers Send Immigration Detention Bills to Gov. Newsom",
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"headTitle": "Lawmakers Send Immigration Detention Bills to Gov. Newsom | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>California’s Legislature this week sent a slew of bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk that aim to increase \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096334/as-ice-custody-deaths-rise-state-bill-would-force-release-of-911-call-data\">oversight\u003c/a> of federal immigration detention in the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097313/northern-california-ice-arrests-surged-this-summer\">record number of Californians\u003c/a>, and six people have died at ICE facilities in the state — among at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting\">56 nationwide\u003c/a> — since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bills, all authored by Democrats, include measures to increase transparency into the conditions inside immigration jails, expand the state’s power to enforce detention standards and restrict construction of new detention facilities. One bill would impose a tax on for-profit detention companies. Another would cap the profits companies can make from marking up items sold in commissaries.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Four of the bills have the backing of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the measures are a response to the Trump administration’s push for mass detention and deportation of immigrants. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2290506003-1-scaled-e1787755545663.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096824\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters at a press conference after opening arguments took place in the Meta trial over a lawsuit brought by U.S. states about social media addiction, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, California, on Aug. 18, 2026. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These all help address the cruel and inhumane approach, and sometimes the unlawful conduct in terms of treatment, that’s been directed toward immigrants in California,” Bonta said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new legislation builds on a series of laws California lawmakers passed during the first Trump administration, said Hamid Yazdan Panah, co-director of the Sacramento-based Immigrant Defense Advocates, which helped craft several of the bills.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California has really led the nation now for more than a decade with respect to providing meaningful avenues to try to push back on the expansion of immigration detention and also to try to find ways to support immigrant communities that are targeted by ICE enforcement,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In July, the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">arrested nearly 50,000 immigrants\u003c/a> across the country, including close to 4,300 in California, according to ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley. Both figures broke records dating back to at least the Obama era, analysts say. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>ICE is currently holding nearly 66,000 people in custody. Fewer than 30% of them have a criminal record. \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">More than 6,800\u003c/a> people are housed in detention centers in California. Three corrections companies — GEO Group, CoreCivic, and Management & Training Corp. — operate all eight ICE facilities in California, most of them former prisons. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yazdan Panah highlighted one bill that would create a “bill of rights,” setting basic standards for humane treatment for all people in civil detention in California and empowering the attorney general power to enforce it with penalties and legal action.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Trump administration says that conditions in detention are already humane. In an emailed statement, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who did not identify themself said “California sanctuary politicians” are unfairly villainizing federal law enforcement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the spokesperson said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bonta called that “an outright lie,” and said state inspections have found conditions that are both cruel and unsafe.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12046564\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The CoreCivic detention facility in California City, California, on June 28, 2025. (Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That’s why these bills are important because we know what the reality is,” he said. “We know what immigrants who are in detention centers are experiencing because we went in there and talked to them. … And we know that they need a bill of rights to keep them safe.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When asked for comment on the legislation, CoreCivic’s public affairs director Ryan Gustin said his company is aware of the bills and is reviewing them. Management & Training Corp. declined to comment, saying ICE wanted to handle media inquiries. GEO Group did not respond to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here are some of the bills:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1399\">\u003cstrong>SB 1399\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Oversight\u003c/strong>, from Los Angeles Sen. María Elena Durazo, would extend the existing power of the state Department of Justice to inspect immigration detention facilities in California beyond 2027, when the inspection program established by an earlier law, AB 103, was due to sunset. The bill is co-sponsored by Attorney General Bonta.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB942\">\u003cstrong>SB 942\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Civil Detainees’ Bill of Rights\u003c/strong>, from Central Valley Sen. Anna Caballero, would establish a bill of rights for people held for civil immigration proceedings in any state, local or private detention facility in California. For other civilly detained people in the state, it would extend protections that are already recognized, including the rights to dignity, privacy, prompt medical and mental health treatment, freedom from unnecessary restraint and isolation, access to religious practice, exercise, clean water and sanitary facilities, and good-quality food. The attorney general would be authorized to investigate and enforce violations through civil legal actions and penalties. Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1403\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12060144\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2-1536x1078.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Protesters stand outside the James A. Musick Facility, a detention center that houses unauthorized immigrants, to protest President Trump’s immigration policies and demand children be reunited with their families in Irvine, California, on June 30, 2018. (Kevin Sullivan/Orange County Register via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Caballero pointed to the mounting deaths in detention and the fact that immigrants can be held for months or years as their cases play out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I oppose mass detention, and no amount of oversight makes family separation and incarceration for civil violations justifiable,” she said. “These people are our neighbors, workers, parents, grandparents, coaches, churchgoers and volunteers. They deserve better.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB941\">\u003cstrong>SB 941\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Commissary Protection, \u003c/strong>from San Diego Sen. Steve Padilla, would bar for-profit detention facilities from marking up commissary items by more than 35% above the vendor price. That would mirror the cap that applies in state-run correctional facilities. Advocates say it would address what they consider price gouging on essential goods like sanitary items and supplemental food. It has Bonta’s backing.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB957\">\u003cstrong>SB 957\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees\u003c/strong>, from Pasadena Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, would require the California attorney general to submit an annual health and safety oversight plan for private civil detention facilities. It would align oversight of private detention with the state’s existing authority to monitor health and safety at state and local facilities.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB423\">\u003cstrong>SB 423\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Transparency, \u003c/strong>from Long Beach Sen. Lena Gonzalez, would require state and local agencies to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096334/as-ice-custody-deaths-rise-state-bill-would-force-release-of-911-call-data\">disclose records related to 911 calls\u003c/a> from private detention facilities. She said increasing public access to emergency call records would improve accountability, in the face of concerns over medical neglect and violence inside detention centers. The bill is supported by press-freedom groups, including the First Amendment Coalition. \u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-450371215-scaled-e1769711263847.jpg\" alt=\"On a modern, low-slung building with no windows, a big sign reading 'GEO' hangs on an exterior wall.\" class=\"wp-image-11891235\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This U.S. immigration processing center in Adelanto, California, is operated by GEO Group, a Florida-based company specializing in privatized corrections. (John Moore/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Several other bills seek to restrict ICE’s operations in California in other ways.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1633\">\u003cstrong>AB 1633\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Private Detention Facility Tax\u003c/strong>, from San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, would impose an annual 25% tax on the gross income of private detention facility operators in California. \u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some analysts question whether the courts would consider such a tax legal or an “undue burden” on the federal government, which contracts with the companies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“States do have autonomy to tax what’s going on in their borders. But states can’t tax the federal government,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar who is dean at UC Berkeley Law School. “It’ll certainly get challenged. The question is, is it unduly interfering with federal activity?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1801\">\u003cstrong>AB 1801\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Public Agency Detention Permitting\u003c/strong>, from South Bay Assemblymember Alex Lee, would stiffen the requirements in an existing California law, called SB 29, that requires notice and public hearings before local governments can permit a private detention facility or transfer land for one. Advocates say it would strengthen transparency in the permitting process.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1367\">\u003cstrong>SB 1367\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Planning and Zoning\u003c/strong>, from Inland Empire Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, would prohibit cities and counties from approving new land uses that allow constructing detention facilities or converting existing buildings into detention centers. It would target structures not built for human habitation, such as warehouses and industrial buildings.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In addition, a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1194\">bill\u003c/a> from Sen. Caballero would build on a legal fellowship program that trains new attorneys in immigration law and places them in nonprofits located in rural areas of the state that lack sufficient immigration legal services. Attorney General Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener has authored a bill, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB747\">No Kings Act\u003c/a>, that would allow people to sue local, state and federal officers, including immigration agents, in state court if they believe their rights have been violated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1760\" height=\"1174\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12074725\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5.jpg 1760w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge on June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chemerinsky said he believes the bill would stand up in court: “I think that is clearly constitutional because it’s not targeting just the federal government.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2760\">bill\u003c/a> from San Diego Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins would bar law enforcement officers from using any wearable device that can deliver electric shocks, and it would block the use of state funds to purchase them. That comes in response to recent news that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097332/california-democrats-race-to-ban-electric-shock-gloves-before-ice-buys-them\">ICE was planning to buy thousands\u003c/a> of Taser-like gloves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The governor has until the end of September to sign or veto the bills on his desk.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bonta said he had not spoken directly with the governor about the bills he has sponsored, but was optimistic that Newsom would sign them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If the bills become law, Chemerinsky said he expects swift legal challenges by the Trump administration and the private prison companies. The Berkeley dean called state legislation an important tool at a time when, as he sees it, the Trump administration is violating constitutional laws to a degree that’s never been seen in U.S. history. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the genius aspects of the American system of government, of federalism, is that, if one level of government fails, another can step in,” he said. “What California is trying to do is to step in so as to protect the rights of people in the state where the federal government is infringing them.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The legislation comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097313/northern-california-ice-arrests-surged-this-summer\">record number of Californians\u003c/a>, and six people have died at ICE facilities in the state — among at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting\">56 nationwide\u003c/a> — since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The bills, all authored by Democrats, include measures to increase transparency into the conditions inside immigration jails, expand the state’s power to enforce detention standards and restrict construction of new detention facilities. One bill would impose a tax on for-profit detention companies. Another would cap the profits companies can make from marking up items sold in commissaries.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The bills, all authored by Democrats, include measures to increase transparency into the conditions inside immigration jails, expand the state’s power to enforce detention standards and restrict construction of new detention facilities. One bill would impose a tax on for-profit detention companies. Another would cap the profits companies can make from marking up items sold in commissaries.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Four of the bills have the backing of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the measures are a response to the Trump administration’s push for mass detention and deportation of immigrants. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Four of the bills have the backing of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the measures are a response to the Trump administration’s push for mass detention and deportation of immigrants. \u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2290506003-1-scaled-e1787755545663.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096824\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters at a press conference after opening arguments took place in the Meta trial over a lawsuit brought by U.S. states about social media addiction, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, California, on Aug. 18, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Godofredo A. Vasquez/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“These all help address the cruel and inhumane approach, and sometimes the unlawful conduct in terms of treatment, that’s been directed toward immigrants in California,” Bonta said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The new legislation builds on a series of laws California lawmakers passed during the first Trump administration, said Hamid Yazdan Panah, co-director of the Sacramento-based Immigrant Defense Advocates, which helped craft several of the bills.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The new legislation builds on a series of laws California lawmakers passed during the first Trump administration, said Hamid Yazdan Panah, co-director of the Sacramento-based Immigrant Defense Advocates, which helped craft several of the bills.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“California has really led the nation now for more than a decade with respect to providing meaningful avenues to try to push back on the expansion of immigration detention and also to try to find ways to support immigrant communities that are targeted by ICE enforcement,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“California has really led the nation now for more than a decade with respect to providing meaningful avenues to try to push back on the expansion of immigration detention and also to try to find ways to support immigrant communities that are targeted by ICE enforcement,” he said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In July, the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">arrested nearly 50,000 immigrants\u003c/a> across the country, including close to 4,300 in California, according to ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley. Both figures broke records dating back to at least the Obama era, analysts say. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In July, the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">arrested nearly 50,000 immigrants\u003c/a> across the country, including close to 4,300 in California, according to ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley. Both figures broke records dating back to at least the Obama era, analysts say. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>ICE is currently holding nearly 66,000 people in custody. Fewer than 30% of them have a criminal record. \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">More than 6,800\u003c/a> people are housed in detention centers in California. Three corrections companies — GEO Group, CoreCivic, and Management & Training Corp. — operate all eight ICE facilities in California, most of them former prisons. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>ICE is currently holding nearly 66,000 people in custody. Fewer than 30% of them have a criminal record. \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">More than 6,800\u003c/a> people are housed in detention centers in California. Three corrections companies — GEO Group, CoreCivic, and Management & Training Corp. — operate all eight ICE facilities in California, most of them former prisons. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Yazdan Panah highlighted one bill that would create a “bill of rights,” setting basic standards for humane treatment for all people in civil detention in California and empowering the attorney general power to enforce it with penalties and legal action.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Yazdan Panah highlighted one bill that would create a “bill of rights,” setting basic standards for humane treatment for all people in civil detention in California and empowering the attorney general power to enforce it with penalties and legal action.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Trump administration says that conditions in detention are already humane. In an emailed statement, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who did not identify themself said “California sanctuary politicians” are unfairly villainizing federal law enforcement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Trump administration says that conditions in detention are already humane. In an emailed statement, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who did not identify themself said “California sanctuary politicians” are unfairly villainizing federal law enforcement. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the spokesperson said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bonta called that “an outright lie,” and said state inspections have found conditions that are both cruel and unsafe.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bonta called that “an outright lie,” and said state inspections have found conditions that are both cruel and unsafe.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12046564\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The CoreCivic detention facility in California City, California, on June 28, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12046564\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The CoreCivic detention facility in California City, California, on June 28, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That’s why these bills are important because we know what the reality is,” he said. “We know what immigrants who are in detention centers are experiencing because we went in there and talked to them. … And we know that they need a bill of rights to keep them safe.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“That’s why these bills are important because we know what the reality is,” he said. “We know what immigrants who are in detention centers are experiencing because we went in there and talked to them. … And we know that they need a bill of rights to keep them safe.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When asked for comment on the legislation, CoreCivic’s public affairs director Ryan Gustin said his company is aware of the bills and is reviewing them. Management & Training Corp. declined to comment, saying ICE wanted to handle media inquiries. GEO Group did not respond to KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When asked for comment on the legislation, CoreCivic’s public affairs director Ryan Gustin said his company is aware of the bills and is reviewing them. Management & Training Corp. declined to comment, saying ICE wanted to handle media inquiries. GEO Group did not respond to KQED.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Here are some of the bills:\u003c/p>\n",
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"SB 1399 Detention Facility Oversight, from Los Angeles Sen. María Elena Durazo, would extend the existing power of the state Department of Justice to inspect immigration detention facilities in California beyond 2027, when the inspection program established by an earlier law, AB 103, was due to sunset. The bill is co-sponsored by Attorney General Bonta.",
"SB 942 Civil Detainees’ Bill of Rights, from Central Valley Sen. Anna Caballero, would establish a bill of rights for people held for civil immigration proceedings in any state, local or private detention facility in California. For other civilly detained people in the state, it would extend protections that are already recognized, including the rights to dignity, privacy, prompt medical and mental health treatment, freedom from unnecessary restraint and isolation, access to religious practice, exercise, clean water and sanitary facilities, and good-quality food. The attorney general would be authorized to investigate and enforce violations through civil legal actions and penalties. Bonta is a co-sponsor."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1399\">\u003cstrong>SB 1399\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Oversight\u003c/strong>, from Los Angeles Sen. María Elena Durazo, would extend the existing power of the state Department of Justice to inspect immigration detention facilities in California beyond 2027, when the inspection program established by an earlier law, AB 103, was due to sunset. The bill is co-sponsored by Attorney General Bonta.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1399\">\u003cstrong>SB 1399\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Oversight\u003c/strong>, from Los Angeles Sen. María Elena Durazo, would extend the existing power of the state Department of Justice to inspect immigration detention facilities in California beyond 2027, when the inspection program established by an earlier law, AB 103, was due to sunset. The bill is co-sponsored by Attorney General Bonta.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB942\">\u003cstrong>SB 942\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Civil Detainees’ Bill of Rights\u003c/strong>, from Central Valley Sen. Anna Caballero, would establish a bill of rights for people held for civil immigration proceedings in any state, local or private detention facility in California. For other civilly detained people in the state, it would extend protections that are already recognized, including the rights to dignity, privacy, prompt medical and mental health treatment, freedom from unnecessary restraint and isolation, access to religious practice, exercise, clean water and sanitary facilities, and good-quality food. The attorney general would be authorized to investigate and enforce violations through civil legal actions and penalties. Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB942\">\u003cstrong>SB 942\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Civil Detainees’ Bill of Rights\u003c/strong>, from Central Valley Sen. Anna Caballero, would establish a bill of rights for people held for civil immigration proceedings in any state, local or private detention facility in California. For other civilly detained people in the state, it would extend protections that are already recognized, including the rights to dignity, privacy, prompt medical and mental health treatment, freedom from unnecessary restraint and isolation, access to religious practice, exercise, clean water and sanitary facilities, and good-quality food. The attorney general would be authorized to investigate and enforce violations through civil legal actions and penalties. Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12060144\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2-1536x1078.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Protesters stand outside the James A. Musick Facility, a detention center that houses unauthorized immigrants, to protest President Trump’s immigration policies and demand children be reunited with their families in Irvine, California, on June 30, 2018. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Kevin Sullivan/Orange County Register via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12060144\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Protesters stand outside the James A. Musick Facility, a detention center that houses unauthorized immigrants, to protest President Trump’s immigration policies and demand children be reunited with their families in Irvine, California, on June 30, 2018. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Kevin Sullivan/Orange County Register via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Caballero pointed to the mounting deaths in detention and the fact that immigrants can be held for months or years as their cases play out. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I oppose mass detention, and no amount of oversight makes family separation and incarceration for civil violations justifiable,” she said. “These people are our neighbors, workers, parents, grandparents, coaches, churchgoers and volunteers. They deserve better.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I oppose mass detention, and no amount of oversight makes family separation and incarceration for civil violations justifiable,” she said. “These people are our neighbors, workers, parents, grandparents, coaches, churchgoers and volunteers. They deserve better.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"SB 941 Commissary Protection, from San Diego Sen. Steve Padilla, would bar for-profit detention facilities from marking up commissary items by more than 35% above the vendor price. That would mirror the cap that applies in state-run correctional facilities. Advocates say it would address what they consider price gouging on essential goods like sanitary items and supplemental food. It has Bonta’s backing.",
"SB 957 Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees, from Pasadena Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, would require the California attorney general to submit an annual health and safety oversight plan for private civil detention facilities. It would align oversight of private detention with the state’s existing authority to monitor health and safety at state and local facilities.",
"SB 423 Detention Facility Transparency, from Long Beach Sen. Lena Gonzalez, would require state and local agencies to disclose records related to 911 calls from private detention facilities. She said increasing public access to emergency call records would improve accountability, in the face of concerns over medical neglect and violence inside detention centers. The bill is supported by press-freedom groups, including the First Amendment Coalition. "
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB941\">\u003cstrong>SB 941\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Commissary Protection, \u003c/strong>from San Diego Sen. Steve Padilla, would bar for-profit detention facilities from marking up commissary items by more than 35% above the vendor price. That would mirror the cap that applies in state-run correctional facilities. Advocates say it would address what they consider price gouging on essential goods like sanitary items and supplemental food. It has Bonta’s backing.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB941\">\u003cstrong>SB 941\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Commissary Protection, \u003c/strong>from San Diego Sen. Steve Padilla, would bar for-profit detention facilities from marking up commissary items by more than 35% above the vendor price. That would mirror the cap that applies in state-run correctional facilities. Advocates say it would address what they consider price gouging on essential goods like sanitary items and supplemental food. It has Bonta’s backing.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB957\">\u003cstrong>SB 957\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees\u003c/strong>, from Pasadena Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, would require the California attorney general to submit an annual health and safety oversight plan for private civil detention facilities. It would align oversight of private detention with the state’s existing authority to monitor health and safety at state and local facilities.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB957\">\u003cstrong>SB 957\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees\u003c/strong>, from Pasadena Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, would require the California attorney general to submit an annual health and safety oversight plan for private civil detention facilities. It would align oversight of private detention with the state’s existing authority to monitor health and safety at state and local facilities.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB423\">\u003cstrong>SB 423\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Transparency, \u003c/strong>from Long Beach Sen. Lena Gonzalez, would require state and local agencies to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096334/as-ice-custody-deaths-rise-state-bill-would-force-release-of-911-call-data\">disclose records related to 911 calls\u003c/a> from private detention facilities. She said increasing public access to emergency call records would improve accountability, in the face of concerns over medical neglect and violence inside detention centers. The bill is supported by press-freedom groups, including the First Amendment Coalition. \u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB423\">\u003cstrong>SB 423\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Transparency, \u003c/strong>from Long Beach Sen. Lena Gonzalez, would require state and local agencies to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096334/as-ice-custody-deaths-rise-state-bill-would-force-release-of-911-call-data\">disclose records related to 911 calls\u003c/a> from private detention facilities. She said increasing public access to emergency call records would improve accountability, in the face of concerns over medical neglect and violence inside detention centers. The bill is supported by press-freedom groups, including the First Amendment Coalition. \u003c/li>\n"
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"alt": "On a modern, low-slung building with no windows, a big sign reading 'GEO' hangs on an exterior wall."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-450371215-scaled-e1769711263847.jpg\" alt=\"On a modern, low-slung building with no windows, a big sign reading 'GEO' hangs on an exterior wall.\" class=\"wp-image-11891235\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This U.S. immigration processing center in Adelanto, California, is operated by GEO Group, a Florida-based company specializing in privatized corrections.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (John Moore/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-450371215-scaled-e1769711263847.jpg\" alt=\"On a modern, low-slung building with no windows, a big sign reading 'GEO' hangs on an exterior wall.\" class=\"wp-image-11891235\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This U.S. immigration processing center in Adelanto, California, is operated by GEO Group, a Florida-based company specializing in privatized corrections.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (John Moore/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Several other bills seek to restrict ICE’s operations in California in other ways.\u003c/p>\n",
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"AB 1633 Private Detention Facility Tax, from San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, would impose an annual 25% tax on the gross income of private detention facility operators in California. "
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1633\">\u003cstrong>AB 1633\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Private Detention Facility Tax\u003c/strong>, from San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, would impose an annual 25% tax on the gross income of private detention facility operators in California. \u003c/li>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1633\">\u003cstrong>AB 1633\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Private Detention Facility Tax\u003c/strong>, from San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, would impose an annual 25% tax on the gross income of private detention facility operators in California. \u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some analysts question whether the courts would consider such a tax legal or an “undue burden” on the federal government, which contracts with the companies. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“States do have autonomy to tax what’s going on in their borders. But states can’t tax the federal government,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar who is dean at UC Berkeley Law School. “It’ll certainly get challenged. The question is, is it unduly interfering with federal activity?” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“States do have autonomy to tax what’s going on in their borders. But states can’t tax the federal government,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar who is dean at UC Berkeley Law School. “It’ll certainly get challenged. The question is, is it unduly interfering with federal activity?” \u003c/p>\n"
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"AB 1801 Public Agency Detention Permitting, from South Bay Assemblymember Alex Lee, would stiffen the requirements in an existing California law, called SB 29, that requires notice and public hearings before local governments can permit a private detention facility or transfer land for one. Advocates say it would strengthen transparency in the permitting process.",
"SB 1367 Detention Planning and Zoning, from Inland Empire Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, would prohibit cities and counties from approving new land uses that allow constructing detention facilities or converting existing buildings into detention centers. It would target structures not built for human habitation, such as warehouses and industrial buildings."
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1801\">\u003cstrong>AB 1801\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Public Agency Detention Permitting\u003c/strong>, from South Bay Assemblymember Alex Lee, would stiffen the requirements in an existing California law, called SB 29, that requires notice and public hearings before local governments can permit a private detention facility or transfer land for one. Advocates say it would strengthen transparency in the permitting process.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1801\">\u003cstrong>AB 1801\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Public Agency Detention Permitting\u003c/strong>, from South Bay Assemblymember Alex Lee, would stiffen the requirements in an existing California law, called SB 29, that requires notice and public hearings before local governments can permit a private detention facility or transfer land for one. Advocates say it would strengthen transparency in the permitting process.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1367\">\u003cstrong>SB 1367\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Planning and Zoning\u003c/strong>, from Inland Empire Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, would prohibit cities and counties from approving new land uses that allow constructing detention facilities or converting existing buildings into detention centers. It would target structures not built for human habitation, such as warehouses and industrial buildings.\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1367\">\u003cstrong>SB 1367\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Planning and Zoning\u003c/strong>, from Inland Empire Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, would prohibit cities and counties from approving new land uses that allow constructing detention facilities or converting existing buildings into detention centers. It would target structures not built for human habitation, such as warehouses and industrial buildings.\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In addition, a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1194\">bill\u003c/a> from Sen. Caballero would build on a legal fellowship program that trains new attorneys in immigration law and places them in nonprofits located in rural areas of the state that lack sufficient immigration legal services. Attorney General Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In addition, a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1194\">bill\u003c/a> from Sen. Caballero would build on a legal fellowship program that trains new attorneys in immigration law and places them in nonprofits located in rural areas of the state that lack sufficient immigration legal services. Attorney General Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener has authored a bill, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB747\">No Kings Act\u003c/a>, that would allow people to sue local, state and federal officers, including immigration agents, in state court if they believe their rights have been violated. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener has authored a bill, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB747\">No Kings Act\u003c/a>, that would allow people to sue local, state and federal officers, including immigration agents, in state court if they believe their rights have been violated. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12074725\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5.jpg 1760w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Chemerinsky said he believes the bill would stand up in court: “I think that is clearly constitutional because it’s not targeting just the federal government.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Chemerinsky said he believes the bill would stand up in court: “I think that is clearly constitutional because it’s not targeting just the federal government.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2760\">bill\u003c/a> from San Diego Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins would bar law enforcement officers from using any wearable device that can deliver electric shocks, and it would block the use of state funds to purchase them. That comes in response to recent news that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097332/california-democrats-race-to-ban-electric-shock-gloves-before-ice-buys-them\">ICE was planning to buy thousands\u003c/a> of Taser-like gloves.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The governor has until the end of September to sign or veto the bills on his desk.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bonta said he had not spoken directly with the governor about the bills he has sponsored, but was optimistic that Newsom would sign them. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If the bills become law, Chemerinsky said he expects swift legal challenges by the Trump administration and the private prison companies. The Berkeley dean called state legislation an important tool at a time when, as he sees it, the Trump administration is violating constitutional laws to a degree that’s never been seen in U.S. history. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If the bills become law, Chemerinsky said he expects swift legal challenges by the Trump administration and the private prison companies. The Berkeley dean called state legislation an important tool at a time when, as he sees it, the Trump administration is violating constitutional laws to a degree that’s never been seen in U.S. history. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“One of the genius aspects of the American system of government, of federalism, is that, if one level of government fails, another can step in,” he said. “What California is trying to do is to step in so as to protect the rights of people in the state where the federal government is infringing them.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The bills aim to put guardrails on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in California.",
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"title": "Lawmakers Send Immigration Detention Bills to Gov. Newsom | KQED",
"description": "The bills aim to put guardrails on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in California.",
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"headline": "Lawmakers Send Immigration Detention Bills to Gov. Newsom",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>California’s Legislature this week sent a slew of bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk that aim to increase \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096334/as-ice-custody-deaths-rise-state-bill-would-force-release-of-911-call-data\">oversight\u003c/a> of federal immigration detention in the state. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097313/northern-california-ice-arrests-surged-this-summer\">record number of Californians\u003c/a>, and six people have died at ICE facilities in the state — among at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting\">56 nationwide\u003c/a> — since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bills, all authored by Democrats, include measures to increase transparency into the conditions inside immigration jails, expand the state’s power to enforce detention standards and restrict construction of new detention facilities. One bill would impose a tax on for-profit detention companies. Another would cap the profits companies can make from marking up items sold in commissaries.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Four of the bills have the backing of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the measures are a response to the Trump administration’s push for mass detention and deportation of immigrants. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2290506003-1-scaled-e1787755545663.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12096824\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters at a press conference after opening arguments took place in the Meta trial over a lawsuit brought by U.S. states about social media addiction, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, California, on Aug. 18, 2026. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“These all help address the cruel and inhumane approach, and sometimes the unlawful conduct in terms of treatment, that’s been directed toward immigrants in California,” Bonta said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The new legislation builds on a series of laws California lawmakers passed during the first Trump administration, said Hamid Yazdan Panah, co-director of the Sacramento-based Immigrant Defense Advocates, which helped craft several of the bills.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California has really led the nation now for more than a decade with respect to providing meaningful avenues to try to push back on the expansion of immigration detention and also to try to find ways to support immigrant communities that are targeted by ICE enforcement,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In July, the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">arrested nearly 50,000 immigrants\u003c/a> across the country, including close to 4,300 in California, according to ICE data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley. Both figures broke records dating back to at least the Obama era, analysts say. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>ICE is currently holding nearly 66,000 people in custody. Fewer than 30% of them have a criminal record. \u003ca href=\"https://deportationdata.org/index.html\">More than 6,800\u003c/a> people are housed in detention centers in California. Three corrections companies — GEO Group, CoreCivic, and Management & Training Corp. — operate all eight ICE facilities in California, most of them former prisons. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Yazdan Panah highlighted one bill that would create a “bill of rights,” setting basic standards for humane treatment for all people in civil detention in California and empowering the attorney general power to enforce it with penalties and legal action.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Trump administration says that conditions in detention are already humane. In an emailed statement, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who did not identify themself said “California sanctuary politicians” are unfairly villainizing federal law enforcement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the spokesperson said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bonta called that “an outright lie,” and said state inspections have found conditions that are both cruel and unsafe.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12046564\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The CoreCivic detention facility in California City, California, on June 28, 2025. (Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That’s why these bills are important because we know what the reality is,” he said. “We know what immigrants who are in detention centers are experiencing because we went in there and talked to them. … And we know that they need a bill of rights to keep them safe.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When asked for comment on the legislation, CoreCivic’s public affairs director Ryan Gustin said his company is aware of the bills and is reviewing them. Management & Training Corp. declined to comment, saying ICE wanted to handle media inquiries. GEO Group did not respond to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Here are some of the bills:\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1399\">\u003cstrong>SB 1399\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Oversight\u003c/strong>, from Los Angeles Sen. María Elena Durazo, would extend the existing power of the state Department of Justice to inspect immigration detention facilities in California beyond 2027, when the inspection program established by an earlier law, AB 103, was due to sunset. The bill is co-sponsored by Attorney General Bonta.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB942\">\u003cstrong>SB 942\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Civil Detainees’ Bill of Rights\u003c/strong>, from Central Valley Sen. Anna Caballero, would establish a bill of rights for people held for civil immigration proceedings in any state, local or private detention facility in California. For other civilly detained people in the state, it would extend protections that are already recognized, including the rights to dignity, privacy, prompt medical and mental health treatment, freedom from unnecessary restraint and isolation, access to religious practice, exercise, clean water and sanitary facilities, and good-quality food. The attorney general would be authorized to investigate and enforce violations through civil legal actions and penalties. Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1403\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12060144\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/FamilySeparationGetty2-1536x1078.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Protesters stand outside the James A. Musick Facility, a detention center that houses unauthorized immigrants, to protest President Trump’s immigration policies and demand children be reunited with their families in Irvine, California, on June 30, 2018. (Kevin Sullivan/Orange County Register via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Caballero pointed to the mounting deaths in detention and the fact that immigrants can be held for months or years as their cases play out. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I oppose mass detention, and no amount of oversight makes family separation and incarceration for civil violations justifiable,” she said. “These people are our neighbors, workers, parents, grandparents, coaches, churchgoers and volunteers. They deserve better.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB941\">\u003cstrong>SB 941\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Commissary Protection, \u003c/strong>from San Diego Sen. Steve Padilla, would bar for-profit detention facilities from marking up commissary items by more than 35% above the vendor price. That would mirror the cap that applies in state-run correctional facilities. Advocates say it would address what they consider price gouging on essential goods like sanitary items and supplemental food. It has Bonta’s backing.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB957\">\u003cstrong>SB 957\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Protecting Vulnerable Immigrant Detainees\u003c/strong>, from Pasadena Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, would require the California attorney general to submit an annual health and safety oversight plan for private civil detention facilities. It would align oversight of private detention with the state’s existing authority to monitor health and safety at state and local facilities.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB423\">\u003cstrong>SB 423\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Facility Transparency, \u003c/strong>from Long Beach Sen. Lena Gonzalez, would require state and local agencies to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096334/as-ice-custody-deaths-rise-state-bill-would-force-release-of-911-call-data\">disclose records related to 911 calls\u003c/a> from private detention facilities. She said increasing public access to emergency call records would improve accountability, in the face of concerns over medical neglect and violence inside detention centers. The bill is supported by press-freedom groups, including the First Amendment Coalition. \u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/GettyImages-450371215-scaled-e1769711263847.jpg\" alt=\"On a modern, low-slung building with no windows, a big sign reading 'GEO' hangs on an exterior wall.\" class=\"wp-image-11891235\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This U.S. immigration processing center in Adelanto, California, is operated by GEO Group, a Florida-based company specializing in privatized corrections. (John Moore/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Several other bills seek to restrict ICE’s operations in California in other ways.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1633\">\u003cstrong>AB 1633\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Private Detention Facility Tax\u003c/strong>, from San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, would impose an annual 25% tax on the gross income of private detention facility operators in California. \u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some analysts question whether the courts would consider such a tax legal or an “undue burden” on the federal government, which contracts with the companies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“States do have autonomy to tax what’s going on in their borders. But states can’t tax the federal government,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar who is dean at UC Berkeley Law School. “It’ll certainly get challenged. The question is, is it unduly interfering with federal activity?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1801\">\u003cstrong>AB 1801\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Public Agency Detention Permitting\u003c/strong>, from South Bay Assemblymember Alex Lee, would stiffen the requirements in an existing California law, called SB 29, that requires notice and public hearings before local governments can permit a private detention facility or transfer land for one. Advocates say it would strengthen transparency in the permitting process.\u003cbr>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1367\">\u003cstrong>SB 1367\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> \u003cstrong>Detention Planning and Zoning\u003c/strong>, from Inland Empire Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, would prohibit cities and counties from approving new land uses that allow constructing detention facilities or converting existing buildings into detention centers. It would target structures not built for human habitation, such as warehouses and industrial buildings.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In addition, a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1194\">bill\u003c/a> from Sen. Caballero would build on a legal fellowship program that trains new attorneys in immigration law and places them in nonprofits located in rural areas of the state that lack sufficient immigration legal services. Attorney General Bonta is a co-sponsor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener has authored a bill, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB747\">No Kings Act\u003c/a>, that would allow people to sue local, state and federal officers, including immigration agents, in state court if they believe their rights have been violated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1760\" height=\"1174\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12074725\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5.jpg 1760w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/ice-badge-69a05cdd559c5-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge on June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Chemerinsky said he believes the bill would stand up in court: “I think that is clearly constitutional because it’s not targeting just the federal government.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2760\">bill\u003c/a> from San Diego Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins would bar law enforcement officers from using any wearable device that can deliver electric shocks, and it would block the use of state funds to purchase them. That comes in response to recent news that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097332/california-democrats-race-to-ban-electric-shock-gloves-before-ice-buys-them\">ICE was planning to buy thousands\u003c/a> of Taser-like gloves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The governor has until the end of September to sign or veto the bills on his desk.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bonta said he had not spoken directly with the governor about the bills he has sponsored, but was optimistic that Newsom would sign them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If the bills become law, Chemerinsky said he expects swift legal challenges by the Trump administration and the private prison companies. The Berkeley dean called state legislation an important tool at a time when, as he sees it, the Trump administration is violating constitutional laws to a degree that’s never been seen in U.S. history. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“One of the genius aspects of the American system of government, of federalism, is that, if one level of government fails, another can step in,” he said. “What California is trying to do is to step in so as to protect the rights of people in the state where the federal government is infringing them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Should California Backfill Science Funding After Trump Cuts? Voters Could Decide in 2028",
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"headTitle": "Should California Backfill Science Funding After Trump Cuts? Voters Could Decide in 2028 | 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>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> science bond measure to counter the Trump administration’s research cuts is back from the dead after state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom reached a deal last week to place the $7.5 billion request to voters on the March 2028 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb895\">Senate Bill 895\u003c/a> by Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, passed the Legislature with minimal opposition and bipartisan support on Monday and now awaits Newsom’s signature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has been in the works for more than a year and began as a $23 billion bond proposal but got a steep haircut mid-year, down to $12 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After failing to clear a June legislative deadline to get on this year’s ballot, the bond proposal appeared moribund — and was slashed to $5 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wiener and a united front led by the University of California and the union representing graduate students, two forces that are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2022/12/uc-strike-civil-disobedience/\">often\u003c/a> at \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2024/05/uc-strike/\">loggerheads\u003c/a>, continued working to restore the bill. Both significantly benefit, as the money fuels scientific discovery while also supplementing the pay of graduate students conducting essential research for professors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The summer hustle paid off: For the first time, leaders of the Assembly, Senate and Newsom are all backing the measure, which was heavily amended in the past two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069108\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069108\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during his State of the State address on Jan. 8, 2026, in Sacramento, California. \u003ccite>(Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have performed a ritual legislative resurrection of the bill,” Wiener quipped at a press conference Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure would allocate $1 billion to the UC and California State University to build more science facilities and create a system of scientific panels to review research proposals based on their scientific merits. The bulk of the funding would pay for a wide array of priorities such as biomedical research, wildfire prevention and water supply. Portions of the bond would also support science breakthroughs that can be commercialized and provide opportunities for early-career researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonds are a kind of debt that government agencies issue and then pay down over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public or private research companies, universities, academic medical centers, institutes, and organizations would be eligible for the grants or loans under this bond measure. A newly formed California Foundation for Science and Health Research Council would write more specific rules on how the money can be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why backers say the bond is needed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener and the coalition in support of the measure view it as a backstop against the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to terminate existing and new research funding for the UC and other campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s Department of Justice has argued in courts that grants the administration canceled violated his prohibitions on research into diversity issues and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the grants sought to better understand diseases, and focused on new disease-fighting drugs, cancer and dementia. About half of the UC system’s spending on research comes from the federal government — in 2024-25 that totaled \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucop.edu/operating-budget/_files/rbudget/2026-27-budget-detail.pdf#page=21\">around $3 billion in federal grants\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12097112\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12097112\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The UCLA campus in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2022. \u003ccite>(Raquel Natalicchio for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year the White House suspended or cancelled more than 1,000 California science grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration admitted in court filings that it used \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/07/research-grants-california-2/\">bulk keyword searches\u003c/a> for terms related to DEI and climate change to target grants to cancel. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/07/newsom-uc-cal-state-billion-dollars-more/#:~:text=At%20one%20point%20last%20year%20the%20Trump%20administration%20froze%20or%20terminated%20more%20than%201%2C000%20California%20science%20grants%20from%20the%20National%20Institutes%20of%20Health%20and%20National%20Science%20Foundation.\">Most of those\u003c/a> have been \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2025/09/ucla-research-grants/\">restored\u003c/a> for now through various court orders \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2025/11/uc/\">after professors\u003c/a> sued last year. But at least one major case is unresolved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration seeks to further expand control over federal research by proposing to require political appointees to decide \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/well/omb-scientific-grant-proposal.html?eafs_enabled=false\">which science grants are funded\u003c/a>, departing from a practice in which peer-review scientific committees select the worthiest grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s desire to bring federal science increasingly under his control spurred esteemed U.S. scientists to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/world/canada/canada-universities-hire-us-researchers.html\">move to other countries\u003c/a> that recently passed budgets to entice researchers to relocate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Harold R. Collard, vice chancellor for research at research powerhouse UC San Francisco, said at Friday’s press event that the Wiener bond measure could keep more researchers in California and attract new ones. Experts say every dollar of NIH spending amounts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/annual-economic-report/\">$2.57 of economic activity\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How the measure came back from dead\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The measure initially sped through the Senate but stalled in the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Political insiders \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/07/newsom-uc-cal-state-billion-dollars-more/#:~:text=Several%20legislative%20and%20political%20insiders%20told%20CalMatters%20that%20another%20reason%20the%20science%20research%20bond\">suspected\u003c/a> that the holdup was over worry it would compete with the Assembly’s priority bond, an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/08/california-rhna-housing-affordable-progress/#:~:text=Affordable%20developers%20and%20other%20housing%20advocates%20are%20hoping%20voters%20will%20back%20an%20%2411.25%20billion%20state%20bond%20in%20November%20to%20replenish%20the%20coffers.%C2%A0\">$11.25 billion ballot measure\u003c/a> for this November to expand housing construction and affordability in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of that measure feared it might be defeated if another large bond was on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s some legitimate political concerns about placing something competing with the housing bond,” said Chris Micheli, a veteran lobbyist and law professor, in an interview in June when Wiener’s bill was derailed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085954\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085954\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Scott Wiener speaks during an election night event at his campaign headquarters in San Francisco on June 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wiener validated that suspicion on Friday. “We already placed a housing bond on the ballot. There are a lot of items on the state ballot, and you know I understand why some people were concerned about placing yet additional items on the ballot for November, and that’s why we were able to, after the deadline passed, work collaboratively towards March of 2028.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The housing bond experienced a similar journey: It got skipped over by political leaders in 2024 to make room \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2024/propositions/\">for two\u003c/a> $10 billion bonds for school construction and to combat the effects of climate change.[aside postID=news_12097632 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-183300309.jpg']This November voters will see another science research bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That measure, Proposition 38, is backed by a billionaire funder and would approve $8.4 billion for research into immunology and immunotherapies, with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Half of that funding appears to benefit \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2026/07/proposition-38-california/\">just one institute\u003c/a> that is significantly supported by that billionaire funder, CalMatters reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener doesn’t think that Prop. 38 will compete with his bond effort some two years later. “That ballot measure primarily funds one particular institute. It’s not a broad science policy funding measure, and so it’s just very different,” he said on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The onus will be on the coalition backing the bond to convince voters to pass it in 2028, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/09/science-research-california-2/\">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",
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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>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> science bond measure to counter the Trump administration’s research cuts is back from the dead after state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom reached a deal last week to place the $7.5 billion request to voters on the March 2028 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb895\">Senate Bill 895\u003c/a> by Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, passed the Legislature with minimal opposition and bipartisan support on Monday and now awaits Newsom’s signature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has been in the works for more than a year and began as a $23 billion bond proposal but got a steep haircut mid-year, down to $12 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After failing to clear a June legislative deadline to get on this year’s ballot, the bond proposal appeared moribund — and was slashed to $5 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wiener and a united front led by the University of California and the union representing graduate students, two forces that are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2022/12/uc-strike-civil-disobedience/\">often\u003c/a> at \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2024/05/uc-strike/\">loggerheads\u003c/a>, continued working to restore the bill. Both significantly benefit, as the money fuels scientific discovery while also supplementing the pay of graduate students conducting essential research for professors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The summer hustle paid off: For the first time, leaders of the Assembly, Senate and Newsom are all backing the measure, which was heavily amended in the past two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069108\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069108\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/GavinNewsomStateoftheState2026AP-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during his State of the State address on Jan. 8, 2026, in Sacramento, California. \u003ccite>(Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have performed a ritual legislative resurrection of the bill,” Wiener quipped at a press conference Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure would allocate $1 billion to the UC and California State University to build more science facilities and create a system of scientific panels to review research proposals based on their scientific merits. The bulk of the funding would pay for a wide array of priorities such as biomedical research, wildfire prevention and water supply. Portions of the bond would also support science breakthroughs that can be commercialized and provide opportunities for early-career researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonds are a kind of debt that government agencies issue and then pay down over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public or private research companies, universities, academic medical centers, institutes, and organizations would be eligible for the grants or loans under this bond measure. A newly formed California Foundation for Science and Health Research Council would write more specific rules on how the money can be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why backers say the bond is needed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener and the coalition in support of the measure view it as a backstop against the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to terminate existing and new research funding for the UC and other campuses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s Department of Justice has argued in courts that grants the administration canceled violated his prohibitions on research into diversity issues and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the grants sought to better understand diseases, and focused on new disease-fighting drugs, cancer and dementia. About half of the UC system’s spending on research comes from the federal government — in 2024-25 that totaled \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucop.edu/operating-budget/_files/rbudget/2026-27-budget-detail.pdf#page=21\">around $3 billion in federal grants\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12097112\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12097112\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/UCLACM-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The UCLA campus in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2022. \u003ccite>(Raquel Natalicchio for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last year the White House suspended or cancelled more than 1,000 California science grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration admitted in court filings that it used \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/07/research-grants-california-2/\">bulk keyword searches\u003c/a> for terms related to DEI and climate change to target grants to cancel. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/07/newsom-uc-cal-state-billion-dollars-more/#:~:text=At%20one%20point%20last%20year%20the%20Trump%20administration%20froze%20or%20terminated%20more%20than%201%2C000%20California%20science%20grants%20from%20the%20National%20Institutes%20of%20Health%20and%20National%20Science%20Foundation.\">Most of those\u003c/a> have been \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2025/09/ucla-research-grants/\">restored\u003c/a> for now through various court orders \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2025/11/uc/\">after professors\u003c/a> sued last year. But at least one major case is unresolved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration seeks to further expand control over federal research by proposing to require political appointees to decide \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/well/omb-scientific-grant-proposal.html?eafs_enabled=false\">which science grants are funded\u003c/a>, departing from a practice in which peer-review scientific committees select the worthiest grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s desire to bring federal science increasingly under his control spurred esteemed U.S. scientists to \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/world/canada/canada-universities-hire-us-researchers.html\">move to other countries\u003c/a> that recently passed budgets to entice researchers to relocate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Harold R. Collard, vice chancellor for research at research powerhouse UC San Francisco, said at Friday’s press event that the Wiener bond measure could keep more researchers in California and attract new ones. Experts say every dollar of NIH spending amounts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/annual-economic-report/\">$2.57 of economic activity\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How the measure came back from dead\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The measure initially sped through the Senate but stalled in the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Political insiders \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/07/newsom-uc-cal-state-billion-dollars-more/#:~:text=Several%20legislative%20and%20political%20insiders%20told%20CalMatters%20that%20another%20reason%20the%20science%20research%20bond\">suspected\u003c/a> that the holdup was over worry it would compete with the Assembly’s priority bond, an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/08/california-rhna-housing-affordable-progress/#:~:text=Affordable%20developers%20and%20other%20housing%20advocates%20are%20hoping%20voters%20will%20back%20an%20%2411.25%20billion%20state%20bond%20in%20November%20to%20replenish%20the%20coffers.%C2%A0\">$11.25 billion ballot measure\u003c/a> for this November to expand housing construction and affordability in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of that measure feared it might be defeated if another large bond was on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there’s some legitimate political concerns about placing something competing with the housing bond,” said Chris Micheli, a veteran lobbyist and law professor, in an interview in June when Wiener’s bill was derailed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12085954\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12085954\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/260602-DISTRICT11SCOTTWIENER-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Scott Wiener speaks during an election night event at his campaign headquarters in San Francisco on June 2, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wiener validated that suspicion on Friday. “We already placed a housing bond on the ballot. There are a lot of items on the state ballot, and you know I understand why some people were concerned about placing yet additional items on the ballot for November, and that’s why we were able to, after the deadline passed, work collaboratively towards March of 2028.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The housing bond experienced a similar journey: It got skipped over by political leaders in 2024 to make room \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2024/propositions/\">for two\u003c/a> $10 billion bonds for school construction and to combat the effects of climate change.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This November voters will see another science research bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That measure, Proposition 38, is backed by a billionaire funder and would approve $8.4 billion for research into immunology and immunotherapies, with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Half of that funding appears to benefit \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2026/07/proposition-38-california/\">just one institute\u003c/a> that is significantly supported by that billionaire funder, CalMatters reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener doesn’t think that Prop. 38 will compete with his bond effort some two years later. “That ballot measure primarily funds one particular institute. It’s not a broad science policy funding measure, and so it’s just very different,” he said on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The onus will be on the coalition backing the bond to convince voters to pass it in 2028, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2026/09/science-research-california-2/\">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\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Deal on California Wildfire Liability Collapses in Legislature",
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"headTitle": "Deal on California Wildfire Liability Collapses in Legislature | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097357/newsom-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deal-on-wildfire-fallout\">last-minute legislative deal\u003c/a> to change California’s rules governing the fallout of damaging \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfires\u003c/a> sparked by utility equipment fell apart Tuesday, after the state Assembly ended its regular session without a vote on the plan. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915096/who-should-pay-when-utilities-companies-start-a-fire\">agreement announced\u003c/a> on Saturday between Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> and legislative leaders sought to speed up payments for fire victims, limited compensation for power company executives after utility-caused fires, and prevented insurance companies from selling their right to sue utilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After months of negotiations that pitted California utilities against insurance companies, supporters heralded the deal as a first step toward better aiding \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">wildfire survivors\u003c/a> and shielding utilities from expensive legal settlements that have contributed to rising electric bills. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the leaders of PG&E and the parent company of SoCal Edison said the deal did not go far enough to ease the financial risks they face when their equipment starts a damaging blaze. Under California law, utilities are liable for damage caused by their equipment, regardless of whether they are found to have acted negligently. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on May 14, 2026, in Sacramento. (Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Stocks for PG&E and Edison International tumbled after the compromise was announced over the weekend, and Newsom — who had initially pushed for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">shifting more liability away from utilities\u003c/a> — publicly criticized the deal he had struck. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The reforms in this bill, while important, did not address the underlying structural problems driving this crisis, as the initial market reaction this week demonstrates,” the governor said in a statement Tuesday after the bill’s failure. “Simply put, this measure did not meet the gravity of this moment. The only solution is to return to fix the entire problem, not part of it.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a question about whether the governor would call a special session to continue work on the issue this fall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Legislature convened on Tuesday morning, a day after the regular legislative session was scheduled to end, to cast a vote on a few remaining bills.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But moments before the Assembly ended its session, Speaker Robert Rivas announced that the chamber would not be holding a vote on the wildfire agreement, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We made this decision that we’re going to go back to work this fall,” Rivas said. “We’re not going to stop until we have done everything possible for those who have lost everything.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rivas’ announcement marked a surprising twist on a topic central to Newsom’s legacy as governor, as his final term ends in January. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Weeks after Newsom took office in 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy in the face of tens of billions of dollars in liabilities from the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the years since, wildfire liabilities have shaken the state’s insurance and electricity markets. Home insurers have raised premiums and exited the state completely in the face of massive losses, while utility spending on settlements and wildfire prevention has driven up California’s electricity rates to the second highest in the nation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wildfire liability costs now account for roughly 5% of Californians’ average monthly electricity bill, according to the California Public Utilities Commission, while wildfire mitigation — such as burying power lines and trimming trees — makes up about 15%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom proposed a major shift in wildfire risk from utilities to home insurers. His initial plan would have banned insurance companies from filing lawsuits against utilities, known as subrogation claims, to recover the payments they had made to wildfire victims. It would also have placed limits on claims of noneconomic damages and the amounts that local governments can recoup from utilities for destroyed infrastructure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"After the heavy toll of the Los Angeles fires, California regulators are moving ahead with rules to limit or clear vegetation within five feet of homes, a zone where flammable materials pose a\" class=\"wp-image-12068944\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a home during a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images North America)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But those changes met resistance from a formidable coalition of insurance companies, attorneys and wildfire-victim groups who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized the governor’s push\u003c/a> as a bailout of the utilities that would discourage the power giants from prioritizing fire safety. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The deal announced in SB 492 would have restricted insurance companies only from selling their right to file such claims to private-equity firms. The bill would have also established a fast-pay system for fire victims, prevented utility executives from receiving bonuses after a utility-caused fire, authorized the creation of a statewide plan to reduce fire risk and capped the attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The survivor-advocacy group Every Fire Survivor’s Network took a neutral position on the legislation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This bill was a balanced and meaningful first step with the understanding that we would continue working on the larger structural issues next year,” said Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, the bill’s author. “I am disappointed we could not deliver these reforms today, but I will not stop working on behalf of wildfire survivors.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath.jpg\" alt=\"A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in Nov. 2018 in Paradise. The deadline for 70,000 survivors of numerous fires to vote on a multi-billion-dollar settlement deal with PG&E was May 15.\" class=\"wp-image-11820077\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-1020x680.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in November 2018, in Paradise, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As Democrats in the Legislature rebuffed Newsom’s proposed changes to limit utilities’ liability, PG&E’s share price dropped from over $18 on Friday to just above $13 on Monday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A large segment of the entities that used to own California utilities — pension funds, kind of boring investors that need safe, reliable investments — were like, ‘We’re out of here, this is too much,’ and they sold their stock, and the stock fell as a result,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The people that buy stock in that context are bargain shoppers looking for ways to make a lot of money fast — that’s called a hedge fund,” Wara added. “The thing we should worry about as Californians … is that the shareholders of the companies, the new shareholders, are going to do things to California to try to make a lot of money after they bought the stock cheap yesterday.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The conversation on where to place liability for destructive wildfires is not over, Wara said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Do we want to solve this problem ahead of time … or do we want to solve it in the context of the next utility bankruptcy?” Wara asked. “That is not a better place to solve this problem, but it may be where we have to solve it because the politics are so hard.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on May 14, 2026, in Sacramento.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on May 14, 2026, in Sacramento.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Stocks for PG&E and Edison International tumbled after the compromise was announced over the weekend, and Newsom — who had initially pushed for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">shifting more liability away from utilities\u003c/a> — publicly criticized the deal he had struck. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Stocks for PG&E and Edison International tumbled after the compromise was announced over the weekend, and Newsom — who had initially pushed for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">shifting more liability away from utilities\u003c/a> — publicly criticized the deal he had struck. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The reforms in this bill, while important, did not address the underlying structural problems driving this crisis, as the initial market reaction this week demonstrates,” the governor said in a statement Tuesday after the bill’s failure. “Simply put, this measure did not meet the gravity of this moment. The only solution is to return to fix the entire problem, not part of it.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The reforms in this bill, while important, did not address the underlying structural problems driving this crisis, as the initial market reaction this week demonstrates,” the governor said in a statement Tuesday after the bill’s failure. “Simply put, this measure did not meet the gravity of this moment. The only solution is to return to fix the entire problem, not part of it.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a question about whether the governor would call a special session to continue work on the issue this fall. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Legislature convened on Tuesday morning, a day after the regular legislative session was scheduled to end, to cast a vote on a few remaining bills.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But moments before the Assembly ended its session, Speaker Robert Rivas announced that the chamber would not be holding a vote on the wildfire agreement, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But moments before the Assembly ended its session, Speaker Robert Rivas announced that the chamber would not be holding a vote on the wildfire agreement, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We made this decision that we’re going to go back to work this fall,” Rivas said. “We’re not going to stop until we have done everything possible for those who have lost everything.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We made this decision that we’re going to go back to work this fall,” Rivas said. “We’re not going to stop until we have done everything possible for those who have lost everything.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Rivas’ announcement marked a surprising twist on a topic central to Newsom’s legacy as governor, as his final term ends in January. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Weeks after Newsom took office in 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy in the face of tens of billions of dollars in liabilities from the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Weeks after Newsom took office in 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy in the face of tens of billions of dollars in liabilities from the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the years since, wildfire liabilities have shaken the state’s insurance and electricity markets. Home insurers have raised premiums and exited the state completely in the face of massive losses, while utility spending on settlements and wildfire prevention has driven up California’s electricity rates to the second highest in the nation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the years since, wildfire liabilities have shaken the state’s insurance and electricity markets. Home insurers have raised premiums and exited the state completely in the face of massive losses, while utility spending on settlements and wildfire prevention has driven up California’s electricity rates to the second highest in the nation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Wildfire liability costs now account for roughly 5% of Californians’ average monthly electricity bill, according to the California Public Utilities Commission, while wildfire mitigation — such as burying power lines and trimming trees — makes up about 15%. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Wildfire liability costs now account for roughly 5% of Californians’ average monthly electricity bill, according to the California Public Utilities Commission, while wildfire mitigation — such as burying power lines and trimming trees — makes up about 15%. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom proposed a major shift in wildfire risk from utilities to home insurers. His initial plan would have banned insurance companies from filing lawsuits against utilities, known as subrogation claims, to recover the payments they had made to wildfire victims. It would also have placed limits on claims of noneconomic damages and the amounts that local governments can recoup from utilities for destroyed infrastructure. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom proposed a major shift in wildfire risk from utilities to home insurers. His initial plan would have banned insurance companies from filing lawsuits against utilities, known as subrogation claims, to recover the payments they had made to wildfire victims. It would also have placed limits on claims of noneconomic damages and the amounts that local governments can recoup from utilities for destroyed infrastructure. \u003c/p>\n"
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"alt": "After the heavy toll of the Los Angeles fires, California regulators are moving ahead with rules to limit or clear vegetation within five feet of homes, a zone where flammable materials pose a",
"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"After the heavy toll of the Los Angeles fires, California regulators are moving ahead with rules to limit or clear vegetation within five feet of homes, a zone where flammable materials pose a\" class=\"wp-image-12068944\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a home during a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Apu Gomes/Getty Images North America)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"After the heavy toll of the Los Angeles fires, California regulators are moving ahead with rules to limit or clear vegetation within five feet of homes, a zone where flammable materials pose a\" class=\"wp-image-12068944\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a home during a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Apu Gomes/Getty Images North America)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But those changes met resistance from a formidable coalition of insurance companies, attorneys and wildfire-victim groups who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized the governor’s push\u003c/a> as a bailout of the utilities that would discourage the power giants from prioritizing fire safety. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But those changes met resistance from a formidable coalition of insurance companies, attorneys and wildfire-victim groups who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized the governor’s push\u003c/a> as a bailout of the utilities that would discourage the power giants from prioritizing fire safety. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The deal announced in SB 492 would have restricted insurance companies only from selling their right to file such claims to private-equity firms. The bill would have also established a fast-pay system for fire victims, prevented utility executives from receiving bonuses after a utility-caused fire, authorized the creation of a statewide plan to reduce fire risk and capped the attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The deal announced in SB 492 would have restricted insurance companies only from selling their right to file such claims to private-equity firms. The bill would have also established a fast-pay system for fire victims, prevented utility executives from receiving bonuses after a utility-caused fire, authorized the creation of a statewide plan to reduce fire risk and capped the attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The survivor-advocacy group Every Fire Survivor’s Network took a neutral position on the legislation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The survivor-advocacy group Every Fire Survivor’s Network took a neutral position on the legislation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This bill was a balanced and meaningful first step with the understanding that we would continue working on the larger structural issues next year,” said Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, the bill’s author. “I am disappointed we could not deliver these reforms today, but I will not stop working on behalf of wildfire survivors.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This bill was a balanced and meaningful first step with the understanding that we would continue working on the larger structural issues next year,” said Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, the bill’s author. “I am disappointed we could not deliver these reforms today, but I will not stop working on behalf of wildfire survivors.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"alt": "A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in Nov. 2018 in Paradise. The deadline for 70,000 survivors of numerous fires to vote on a multi-billion-dollar settlement deal with PG&E was May 15.",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath.jpg\" alt=\"A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in Nov. 2018 in Paradise. The deadline for 70,000 survivors of numerous fires to vote on a multi-billion-dollar settlement deal with PG&E was May 15.\" class=\"wp-image-11820077\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-1020x680.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in November 2018, in Paradise, California. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath.jpg\" alt=\"A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in Nov. 2018 in Paradise. The deadline for 70,000 survivors of numerous fires to vote on a multi-billion-dollar settlement deal with PG&E was May 15.\" class=\"wp-image-11820077\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in November 2018, in Paradise, California. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As Democrats in the Legislature rebuffed Newsom’s proposed changes to limit utilities’ liability, PG&E’s share price dropped from over $18 on Friday to just above $13 on Monday. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As Democrats in the Legislature rebuffed Newsom’s proposed changes to limit utilities’ liability, PG&E’s share price dropped from over $18 on Friday to just above $13 on Monday. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A large segment of the entities that used to own California utilities — pension funds, kind of boring investors that need safe, reliable investments — were like, ‘We’re out of here, this is too much,’ and they sold their stock, and the stock fell as a result,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“A large segment of the entities that used to own California utilities — pension funds, kind of boring investors that need safe, reliable investments — were like, ‘We’re out of here, this is too much,’ and they sold their stock, and the stock fell as a result,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The people that buy stock in that context are bargain shoppers looking for ways to make a lot of money fast — that’s called a hedge fund,” Wara added. “The thing we should worry about as Californians … is that the shareholders of the companies, the new shareholders, are going to do things to California to try to make a lot of money after they bought the stock cheap yesterday.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The people that buy stock in that context are bargain shoppers looking for ways to make a lot of money fast — that’s called a hedge fund,” Wara added. “The thing we should worry about as Californians … is that the shareholders of the companies, the new shareholders, are going to do things to California to try to make a lot of money after they bought the stock cheap yesterday.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The conversation on where to place liability for destructive wildfires is not over, Wara said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Do we want to solve this problem ahead of time … or do we want to solve it in the context of the next utility bankruptcy?” Wara asked. “That is not a better place to solve this problem, but it may be where we have to solve it because the politics are so hard.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Do we want to solve this problem ahead of time … or do we want to solve it in the context of the next utility bankruptcy?” Wara asked. “That is not a better place to solve this problem, but it may be where we have to solve it because the politics are so hard.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the deal he reached just days ago with legislative leaders, which utilities said did not go far enough to ease their financial risks. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097357/newsom-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deal-on-wildfire-fallout\">last-minute legislative deal\u003c/a> to change California’s rules governing the fallout of damaging \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfires\u003c/a> sparked by utility equipment fell apart Tuesday, after the state Assembly ended its regular session without a vote on the plan. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915096/who-should-pay-when-utilities-companies-start-a-fire\">agreement announced\u003c/a> on Saturday between Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> and legislative leaders sought to speed up payments for fire victims, limited compensation for power company executives after utility-caused fires, and prevented insurance companies from selling their right to sue utilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After months of negotiations that pitted California utilities against insurance companies, supporters heralded the deal as a first step toward better aiding \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">wildfire survivors\u003c/a> and shielding utilities from expensive legal settlements that have contributed to rising electric bills. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the leaders of PG&E and the parent company of SoCal Edison said the deal did not go far enough to ease the financial risks they face when their equipment starts a damaging blaze. Under California law, utilities are liable for damage caused by their equipment, regardless of whether they are found to have acted negligently. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084670\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GavinNewsomAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about his state budget proposal on May 14, 2026, in Sacramento. (Jeff Chiu/AP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Stocks for PG&E and Edison International tumbled after the compromise was announced over the weekend, and Newsom — who had initially pushed for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">shifting more liability away from utilities\u003c/a> — publicly criticized the deal he had struck. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The reforms in this bill, while important, did not address the underlying structural problems driving this crisis, as the initial market reaction this week demonstrates,” the governor said in a statement Tuesday after the bill’s failure. “Simply put, this measure did not meet the gravity of this moment. The only solution is to return to fix the entire problem, not part of it.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office did not respond to a question about whether the governor would call a special session to continue work on the issue this fall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Legislature convened on Tuesday morning, a day after the regular legislative session was scheduled to end, to cast a vote on a few remaining bills.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But moments before the Assembly ended its session, Speaker Robert Rivas announced that the chamber would not be holding a vote on the wildfire agreement, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We made this decision that we’re going to go back to work this fall,” Rivas said. “We’re not going to stop until we have done everything possible for those who have lost everything.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Rivas’ announcement marked a surprising twist on a topic central to Newsom’s legacy as governor, as his final term ends in January. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Weeks after Newsom took office in 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy in the face of tens of billions of dollars in liabilities from the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the years since, wildfire liabilities have shaken the state’s insurance and electricity markets. Home insurers have raised premiums and exited the state completely in the face of massive losses, while utility spending on settlements and wildfire prevention has driven up California’s electricity rates to the second highest in the nation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wildfire liability costs now account for roughly 5% of Californians’ average monthly electricity bill, according to the California Public Utilities Commission, while wildfire mitigation — such as burying power lines and trimming trees — makes up about 15%. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom proposed a major shift in wildfire risk from utilities to home insurers. His initial plan would have banned insurance companies from filing lawsuits against utilities, known as subrogation claims, to recover the payments they had made to wildfire victims. It would also have placed limits on claims of noneconomic damages and the amounts that local governments can recoup from utilities for destroyed infrastructure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"After the heavy toll of the Los Angeles fires, California regulators are moving ahead with rules to limit or clear vegetation within five feet of homes, a zone where flammable materials pose a\" class=\"wp-image-12068944\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/gettyimages-2192342554-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a home during a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images North America)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But those changes met resistance from a formidable coalition of insurance companies, attorneys and wildfire-victim groups who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized the governor’s push\u003c/a> as a bailout of the utilities that would discourage the power giants from prioritizing fire safety. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The deal announced in SB 492 would have restricted insurance companies only from selling their right to file such claims to private-equity firms. The bill would have also established a fast-pay system for fire victims, prevented utility executives from receiving bonuses after a utility-caused fire, authorized the creation of a statewide plan to reduce fire risk and capped the attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The survivor-advocacy group Every Fire Survivor’s Network took a neutral position on the legislation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This bill was a balanced and meaningful first step with the understanding that we would continue working on the larger structural issues next year,” said Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, the bill’s author. “I am disappointed we could not deliver these reforms today, but I will not stop working on behalf of wildfire survivors.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath.jpg\" alt=\"A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in Nov. 2018 in Paradise. The deadline for 70,000 survivors of numerous fires to vote on a multi-billion-dollar settlement deal with PG&E was May 15.\" class=\"wp-image-11820077\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/05/Camp-Fire-Aftermath-1020x680.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man looks over his burned home, destroyed by the Camp Fire in November 2018, in Paradise, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As Democrats in the Legislature rebuffed Newsom’s proposed changes to limit utilities’ liability, PG&E’s share price dropped from over $18 on Friday to just above $13 on Monday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“A large segment of the entities that used to own California utilities — pension funds, kind of boring investors that need safe, reliable investments — were like, ‘We’re out of here, this is too much,’ and they sold their stock, and the stock fell as a result,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The people that buy stock in that context are bargain shoppers looking for ways to make a lot of money fast — that’s called a hedge fund,” Wara added. “The thing we should worry about as Californians … is that the shareholders of the companies, the new shareholders, are going to do things to California to try to make a lot of money after they bought the stock cheap yesterday.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The conversation on where to place liability for destructive wildfires is not over, Wara said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Do we want to solve this problem ahead of time … or do we want to solve it in the context of the next utility bankruptcy?” Wara asked. “That is not a better place to solve this problem, but it may be where we have to solve it because the politics are so hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-to-buy-defunct-horse-track-and-turn-it-into-the-bay-areas-newest-public-park",
"title": "California to Buy Defunct Horse Track and Turn It Into the Bay Area’s Newest Public Park",
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"headTitle": "California to Buy Defunct Horse Track and Turn It Into the Bay Area’s Newest Public Park | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Keeping up with your California representatives felt impossible before. Now you can watch them like a hawk: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/my-legislator/\">\u003cem>Sign up for My Legislator\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, your weekly, personalized report that tracks what your state representatives say and do.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers will spend up to $125 million in state funds to help buy and turn Golden Gate Fields, the 161-acre former horse racing track along the East Bay shoreline, into a public park — a priority of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The funding will come from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/11/california-election-news-proposition-4-environment/\">Proposition 4\u003c/a>, the voter-approved $10 billion bond for climate projects such as drinking water, wildfire prevention and land conservation, despite concerns from environmental advocates and lawmakers that diverting the money would drain limited resources from those other priorities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Fields, owned by Canadian company The Stronach Group, closed in 2024 after an 83-year run as \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-06-09/golden-gate-fields-closes-california-racing-struggles\">interest in horse racing dwindled\u003c/a>. In March, Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit advocating for park access, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/media-room/trust-for-public-land-secures-option-on-former-golden-gate-fields-site-launching-effort-in-partnership-with-east-bay-regional-park-district-to-transform-161-acre-waterfront-into-future-east\">announced its intention\u003c/a> to raise $175 million to buy the land, transfer the deed to the East Bay Regional Park District and transform it into a publicly accessible waterfront park. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The plan drew support from local officials and state lawmakers representing the area, who deemed it a valuable opportunity to restore the coastline, expand access to public amenities and revitalize surrounding disadvantaged communities.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078408\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The track sits west of Interstate 80 in Berkeley with public beaches behind it; the city is on the opposite side of the highway. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is a major victory for our region,” said Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/jesse-arreguin-156369\">Jesse Arreguín\u003c/a>, a Berkeley Democrat, in March. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two months later, while presenting his \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/2026-27/pdf/Revised/BudgetSummary/NaturalResourcesandEnvironment.pdf\">May budget plan\u003c/a>, Newsom proposed that the state foot most of the bill. The park district pledged $20 million and the nonprofit is expected to raise $30 million to make up the rest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This acquisition is a once-in-a-century opportunity to repurpose a former horse racing track into an iconic shoreline park and recreational hub, which will restore nature and expand open space and Bayshore access for millions of Bay Area residents,” Newsom’s May budget proposal reads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s proposal is now included in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab113\">Assembly Bill/Senate Bill 113\u003c/a>, which lawmakers are poised to adopt by Tuesday. Under the legislation, if the nonprofit and the park district raise more than $50 million by the end of the year, the state could pay less than $125 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/eloise-gomez-reyes-165418\">Eloise Gomez-Reyes\u003c/a>, a San Bernardino Democrat who chairs the Senate budget subcommittee on resources, said she’s concerned the sizable investment would delay other funding priorities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The problem is, $125 million out of Prop. 4 is a lot of money,” she told CalMatters earlier this month. “Trying to find the best way to take care of the needs of Californians is not always the easiest thing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Annie Burke, executive director of conservationist coalition TOGETHER Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/06/05/golden-gate-fields-gavin-newsom-berkeley-prop-4\">told lawmakers\u003c/a> earlier this year that the “transformative” investment could “take funding away from the competitive grant-making program that those funds were originally allocated to.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s critical that we invest in smaller projects which are capably led by Native American Tribes, Native-led organizations, community-based organizations, and many others,” she wrote in a letter to lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Keeping up with your California representatives felt impossible before. Now you can watch them like a hawk: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/my-legislator/\">\u003cem>Sign up for My Legislator\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, your weekly, personalized report that tracks what your state representatives say and do.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers will spend up to $125 million in state funds to help buy and turn Golden Gate Fields, the 161-acre former horse racing track along the East Bay shoreline, into a public park — a priority of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers will spend up to $125 million in state funds to help buy and turn Golden Gate Fields, the 161-acre former horse racing track along the East Bay shoreline, into a public park — a priority of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The funding will come from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/11/california-election-news-proposition-4-environment/\">Proposition 4\u003c/a>, the voter-approved $10 billion bond for climate projects such as drinking water, wildfire prevention and land conservation, despite concerns from environmental advocates and lawmakers that diverting the money would drain limited resources from those other priorities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The funding will come from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/11/california-election-news-proposition-4-environment/\">Proposition 4\u003c/a>, the voter-approved $10 billion bond for climate projects such as drinking water, wildfire prevention and land conservation, despite concerns from environmental advocates and lawmakers that diverting the money would drain limited resources from those other priorities. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Fields, owned by Canadian company The Stronach Group, closed in 2024 after an 83-year run as \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-06-09/golden-gate-fields-closes-california-racing-struggles\">interest in horse racing dwindled\u003c/a>. In March, Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit advocating for park access, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/media-room/trust-for-public-land-secures-option-on-former-golden-gate-fields-site-launching-effort-in-partnership-with-east-bay-regional-park-district-to-transform-161-acre-waterfront-into-future-east\">announced its intention\u003c/a> to raise $175 million to buy the land, transfer the deed to the East Bay Regional Park District and transform it into a publicly accessible waterfront park. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Fields, owned by Canadian company The Stronach Group, closed in 2024 after an 83-year run as \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-06-09/golden-gate-fields-closes-california-racing-struggles\">interest in horse racing dwindled\u003c/a>. In March, Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit advocating for park access, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/media-room/trust-for-public-land-secures-option-on-former-golden-gate-fields-site-launching-effort-in-partnership-with-east-bay-regional-park-district-to-transform-161-acre-waterfront-into-future-east\">announced its intention\u003c/a> to raise $175 million to buy the land, transfer the deed to the East Bay Regional Park District and transform it into a publicly accessible waterfront park. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The plan drew support from local officials and state lawmakers representing the area, who deemed it a valuable opportunity to restore the coastline, expand access to public amenities and revitalize surrounding disadvantaged communities.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The plan drew support from local officials and state lawmakers representing the area, who deemed it a valuable opportunity to restore the coastline, expand access to public amenities and revitalize surrounding disadvantaged communities.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078408\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078408\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The track sits west of Interstate 80 in Berkeley with public beaches behind it; the city is on the opposite side of the highway. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is a major victory for our region,” said Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/jesse-arreguin-156369\">Jesse Arreguín\u003c/a>, a Berkeley Democrat, in March. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Two months later, while presenting his \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/2026-27/pdf/Revised/BudgetSummary/NaturalResourcesandEnvironment.pdf\">May budget plan\u003c/a>, Newsom proposed that the state foot most of the bill. The park district pledged $20 million and the nonprofit is expected to raise $30 million to make up the rest. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This acquisition is a once-in-a-century opportunity to repurpose a former horse racing track into an iconic shoreline park and recreational hub, which will restore nature and expand open space and Bayshore access for millions of Bay Area residents,” Newsom’s May budget proposal reads.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom’s proposal is now included in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab113\">Assembly Bill/Senate Bill 113\u003c/a>, which lawmakers are poised to adopt by Tuesday. Under the legislation, if the nonprofit and the park district raise more than $50 million by the end of the year, the state could pay less than $125 million. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom’s proposal is now included in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab113\">Assembly Bill/Senate Bill 113\u003c/a>, which lawmakers are poised to adopt by Tuesday. Under the legislation, if the nonprofit and the park district raise more than $50 million by the end of the year, the state could pay less than $125 million. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/eloise-gomez-reyes-165418\">Eloise Gomez-Reyes\u003c/a>, a San Bernardino Democrat who chairs the Senate budget subcommittee on resources, said she’s concerned the sizable investment would delay other funding priorities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The problem is, $125 million out of Prop. 4 is a lot of money,” she told CalMatters earlier this month. “Trying to find the best way to take care of the needs of Californians is not always the easiest thing.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“The problem is, $125 million out of Prop. 4 is a lot of money,” she told CalMatters earlier this month. “Trying to find the best way to take care of the needs of Californians is not always the easiest thing.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Annie Burke, executive director of conservationist coalition TOGETHER Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/06/05/golden-gate-fields-gavin-newsom-berkeley-prop-4\">told lawmakers\u003c/a> earlier this year that the “transformative” investment could “take funding away from the competitive grant-making program that those funds were originally allocated to.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s critical that we invest in smaller projects which are capably led by Native American Tribes, Native-led organizations, community-based organizations, and many others,” she wrote in a letter to lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California lawmakers struck a deal to divert $125 million in climate funding to buy the former Golden Gate Fields track and turn it into a park. Gov. Gavin Newsom supports the project.\n\n",
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"title": "California to Buy Defunct Horse Track and Turn It Into the Bay Area’s Newest Public Park | KQED",
"description": "California lawmakers struck a deal to divert $125 million in climate funding to buy the former Golden Gate Fields track and turn it into a park. Gov. Gavin Newsom supports the project.\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Keeping up with your California representatives felt impossible before. Now you can watch them like a hawk: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/my-legislator/\">\u003cem>Sign up for My Legislator\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, your weekly, personalized report that tracks what your state representatives say and do.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers will spend up to $125 million in state funds to help buy and turn Golden Gate Fields, the 161-acre former horse racing track along the East Bay shoreline, into a public park — a priority of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The funding will come from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/11/california-election-news-proposition-4-environment/\">Proposition 4\u003c/a>, the voter-approved $10 billion bond for climate projects such as drinking water, wildfire prevention and land conservation, despite concerns from environmental advocates and lawmakers that diverting the money would drain limited resources from those other priorities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Golden Gate Fields, owned by Canadian company The Stronach Group, closed in 2024 after an 83-year run as \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-06-09/golden-gate-fields-closes-california-racing-struggles\">interest in horse racing dwindled\u003c/a>. In March, Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit advocating for park access, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/media-room/trust-for-public-land-secures-option-on-former-golden-gate-fields-site-launching-effort-in-partnership-with-east-bay-regional-park-district-to-transform-161-acre-waterfront-into-future-east\">announced its intention\u003c/a> to raise $175 million to buy the land, transfer the deed to the East Bay Regional Park District and transform it into a publicly accessible waterfront park. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The plan drew support from local officials and state lawmakers representing the area, who deemed it a valuable opportunity to restore the coastline, expand access to public amenities and revitalize surrounding disadvantaged communities.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12078408\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260401-GOLDENGATEFIELDSPARK-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Golden Gate Fields, a former horse racing track along the Berkeley shoreline, on April 1, 2026. The track closed in 2024, and the Trust for Public Land is working to turn the site into a public park. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The track sits west of Interstate 80 in Berkeley with public beaches behind it; the city is on the opposite side of the highway. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is a major victory for our region,” said Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/jesse-arreguin-156369\">Jesse Arreguín\u003c/a>, a Berkeley Democrat, in March. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two months later, while presenting his \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/2026-27/pdf/Revised/BudgetSummary/NaturalResourcesandEnvironment.pdf\">May budget plan\u003c/a>, Newsom proposed that the state foot most of the bill. The park district pledged $20 million and the nonprofit is expected to raise $30 million to make up the rest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This acquisition is a once-in-a-century opportunity to repurpose a former horse racing track into an iconic shoreline park and recreational hub, which will restore nature and expand open space and Bayshore access for millions of Bay Area residents,” Newsom’s May budget proposal reads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s proposal is now included in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab113\">Assembly Bill/Senate Bill 113\u003c/a>, which lawmakers are poised to adopt by Tuesday. Under the legislation, if the nonprofit and the park district raise more than $50 million by the end of the year, the state could pay less than $125 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/eloise-gomez-reyes-165418\">Eloise Gomez-Reyes\u003c/a>, a San Bernardino Democrat who chairs the Senate budget subcommittee on resources, said she’s concerned the sizable investment would delay other funding priorities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The problem is, $125 million out of Prop. 4 is a lot of money,” she told CalMatters earlier this month. “Trying to find the best way to take care of the needs of Californians is not always the easiest thing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Annie Burke, executive director of conservationist coalition TOGETHER Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/06/05/golden-gate-fields-gavin-newsom-berkeley-prop-4\">told lawmakers\u003c/a> earlier this year that the “transformative” investment could “take funding away from the competitive grant-making program that those funds were originally allocated to.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s critical that we invest in smaller projects which are capably led by Native American Tribes, Native-led organizations, community-based organizations, and many others,” she wrote in a letter to lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "chatbots-data-centers-and-surveillance-5-silicon-valley-bills-land-on-newsoms-desk",
"title": "Chatbots, Data Centers and Surveillance: 5 Silicon Valley Bills Land on Newsom’s Desk",
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"headTitle": "Chatbots, Data Centers and Surveillance: 5 Silicon Valley Bills Land on Newsom’s Desk | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/politics\">legislative session\u003c/a> ended at midnight on Monday, and numerous bills ranging from housing to health care to technology cleared both the Senate and the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to decide whether he’ll veto or sign the measures. Here’s where some of the most closely watched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/technology\">tech\u003c/a> bills landed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Companion chatbots and children’s safety\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved a sweeping set of safety requirements for artificial intelligence chatbots used by children and teens. The bill, known as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1119\">Adam’s Law\u003c/a>, builds on last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052617/newsoms-tightrope-walk-between-ai-regulation-and-silicon-valley-cash\">SB 243\u003c/a>, which required chatbot operators to disclose when users were interacting with AI companions and to maintain protocols for detecting self-harm content. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Co-authored by San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), the bill adds requirements for user age checks, safety-risk assessments before new or substantially modified companion chatbots are released, independent audits and crisis-support resources. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of a phone screen in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024, displaying Claude, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot from Anthropic powered by large language model (or LLM). (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bill also requires default protections for young users, including limits on notifications, usage and persistent conversational memory. It restricts targeted advertising to children and imposes additional privacy protections. Chatbot operators could face liability for failing to take reasonable measures to prevent certain harmful outputs, including content involving self-harm, sexually explicit material, romantic role-playing and emotionally manipulative behavior. Families would have a private right of redress for certain violations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation is named for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080610/california-mom-who-lost-her-son-to-an-ai-chatbot-is-now-fighting-to-regulate-them\">Adam Raine\u003c/a>, a California teenager who died by suicide in 2025. Raine’s parents have said that Adam spent months discussing his loneliness and plans to harm himself with ChatGPT before his death. In a joint statement released after the bill successfully passed through the Legislature, Maria Raine called it “a serious and much-needed step forward for AI companion chatbot safety.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, lawmakers also passed another bill by Padilla that enacts a four-year moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of AI-chatbot-powered toys over concerns that the technology can harm children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The technology industry has not been uniformly opposed. OpenAI supports SB 1119 and has urged Newsom to sign it, saying the legislation establishes meaningful safeguards while preserving young people’s ability to use AI for learning, creativity and other purposes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Teens are the first generation growing up with AI,” OpenAI said in a \u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/supporting-california-bill-advance-ai-youth-safety/\">statement\u003c/a>. “Nearly nine in ten teens who use ChatGPT turn to it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a given week.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That opportunity comes with a clear responsibility: teens should have experiences designed around their distinct developmental needs, with strong default protections and appropriate opportunities to learn, create, and explore.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents of the legislation include the California Chamber of Commerce, the Software Information Industry Association and TechNet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059714/newsom-vetoes-most-watched-childrens-ai-bill-signs-16-others-targeting-tech\">stronger child-safety bill\u003c/a> last year after raising concerns that its restrictions could effectively prevent teenagers from accessing conversational AI. Though his office has not indicated whether Newsom will sign, the version now on his desk was negotiated with those concerns in mind. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Data centers and ratepayer protections \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved two linked bills that would require the state to establish special rules for how large data centers pay for electricity and the infrastructure needed to serve them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb886\">SB 886\u003c/a>, also authored by Padilla, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2383\">AB 2383\u003c/a>, by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), would require the California Public Utilities Commission to create separate electricity rates and updated interconnection rules for data centers. The measures are designed to prevent electricity customers from bearing the costs of new power generation and grid upgrades needed to serve the facilities. AB 2383 is contingent on SB 886 becoming law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Big Tech keeps promising to be good neighbors, and these bills will make those promises legally enforceable,” Padilla said in a press release celebrating the passage of SB 886 and a related bill, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb887\">887\u003c/a>. “No more saying one thing in the White House and doing the opposite in our local communities.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1231\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472-1536x955.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation follows a year of intensifying political pressure over the expansion of data centers, which are being built to meet the enormous computing demands of AI. California has fewer giant data centers than Virginia and Texas, but the state still has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912379/californias-ai-data-centers-taking-growing-environmental-toll\">one of the largest counts overall\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The facilities have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028158/crackdown-on-power-guzzling-data-centers-may-soon-come-online-in-california\">generated growing concern\u003c/a> over their electricity and water use, as well as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064265/new-report-reveals-strain-of-data-centers-on-californias-grid\">lack of transparency\u003c/a> about their potential effect on utility bills. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released in July found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-july-2026/\">73%\u003c/a> of Californians opposed building data centers in their communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In March 2026, the Little Hoover Commission released \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/LHC-Report-292-Data-Centers-California-Electricity-Policy-FINAL-PUBLIC-3.3.26.pdf\">\u003cem>Data Centers and California Electricity Policy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a report that explicitly recommends making tech companies and data center developers cover their own grid-integration costs rather than shifting the burden to everyday ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California’s electricity rates are among the highest in the nation, and affordability remains a top concern for residents,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters — including The Utility Reform Network, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natural Resources Defense Council and utility-worker unions — argued that companies building the facilities should pay for the infrastructure their electricity demand requires. Bill sponsor TURN pointed to a California grid-planning estimate that increased demand from data centers in PG&E’s service territory, where most of the state’s projects are concentrated, could generate as much as $1.8 billion in transmission-upgrade costs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097519\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A flyer that says, “No Data Center,” is posted at the Church of All Faiths in Oakland, California, on Aug. 29, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Data Center Coalition, which represents companies including Google and Microsoft, opposed the legislation, arguing that it unfairly singled out one type of electricity customer. PG&E also opposed the original approach, warning that it could increase costs for customers and delay infrastructure needed to meet the state’s broader energy demand. Business groups argued that California’s high energy costs, limited land and additional regulation could make the state less attractive for data-center development. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bills were substantially worked over in the final weeks of the session. Earlier drafts were far more prescriptive, including provisions for mandatory on-site batteries and 100% carbon-free power for data centers by 2030. Both were stripped out in favor of giving the CPUC until July 1, 2027, to establish special tariffs and rules. Newsom and regulators in turn secured more control over how the new rate structure will work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The final compromise drew criticism from some environmental and consumer advocates. They say data centers could find loopholes to avoid paying some grid costs and wriggle out of clean-energy requirements for facilities that generate their own electricity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s position has shifted noticeably during the course of the debate. Last year, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AB-93-Veto.pdf\">vetoed \u003c/a>legislation requiring data centers to disclose their water consumption, writing: “I am reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087658\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks as his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom (left), looks on during an election night gathering at California Democratic headquarters in Sacramento, California, on Nov. 4, 2025. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, however, Newsom became directly involved in negotiations over both bills. On Monday in the state Capitol, he said his administration had been working with lawmakers on several data-center bills, and that the final versions “landed fairly well,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/01/california-lawmakers-big-swing-newsom-data-centers-01058848\">\u003cem>Politico \u003c/em>reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You’re seeing states all across this country leaning in,” Newsom said. “We’ll be leaning in.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He also said last month that companies, rather than other electricity customers, should bear the costs associated with their data-center investments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We believe that all of these investments, the costs, should be borne by the companies,” Newsom said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That makes a Newsom signature more likely here than it appeared earlier in the year, although the governor has not formally committed to signing either bill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Social media’s addictive features\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Senate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1709\">voted\u003c/a> to bar social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok from offering certain addictive features to users younger than 16. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), targets features on so-called “covered platforms” — which predominantly share user-generated content — designed to keep people engaged, including algorithmically driven feeds and other mechanisms that can encourage prolonged use. It also would establish an e-Safety Advisory Commission within the California Department of Justice to advise state officials on online safety and report annually to the governor and Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Common Sense Media, which sponsored the bill, is among its major supporters, along with Mothers Against Media Addiction and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill was amended as it moved through the Legislature, narrowing some of its provisions and changing how the state would oversee online safety. For supporters, the changes don’t go nearly far enough. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092171\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A 14-year-old boy looks at an iPhone screen displaying various social media and messaging apps on March 29, 2026. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/common-sense-media-statement-on-passage-of-ab-1709\">wrote Monday\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096647/why-metas-landmark-settlement-could-be-social-medias-big-tobacco-moment\">recent litigation\u003c/a> against major technology companies has exposed how deliberately social media platforms have been designed to keep children engaged.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Social media companies have engineered their products to hook children, and their own researchers proved it worked,” Steyer said in a statement. “Parents cannot out-parent an algorithm built in a lab to keep kids scrolling.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Civil Justice Association of California and trade group NetChoice, which represents major technology companies including Google, Meta and Snap, oppose the measure. Civil liberties advocates, in particular, have raised First Amendment and privacy concerns, particularly around how platforms would determine which users are under 16 and which features should be considered addictive.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This well-intentioned, but deeply flawed piece of legislation, cuts young people off from essential information and experiences, particularly harming vulnerable youth and marginalized groups who often find safety in supportive online communities they can’t access offline,” the EFF \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/eff-gov-newsom-veto-californias-ab-1709\">wrote\u003c/a> in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom has already signed several California laws aimed at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12005803/newsom-signs-law-to-protect-children-from-social-media-addiction\">protecting children online\u003c/a>, including legislation requiring warning labels on social media platforms. But AB 1709 could face the same free-speech and age-verification challenges that have complicated the state’s broader effort to regulate social media. A federal judge has already blocked portions of California’s existing law restricting addictive social media feeds while a legal challenge proceeds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom has not publicly indicated whether he will sign the bill, but he called on lawmakers to explore stricter youth online safety guardrails during his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">final State of the State\u003c/a> address. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Workplace surveillance\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California employers could face new limits on the use of AI to monitor workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a>, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), would prohibit employers from using AI-powered workplace-surveillance tools to collect \u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/2024/12/02/what-are-neural-data-an-invitation-to-flexible-regulatory-implementation/\">neural data\u003c/a> — sensitive personal information from a user’s nervous system — or recognize an employee’s emotional state, with some exceptions. It also covers certain other AI-based inferences about workers and allows civil penalties of up to $500 per violation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure is part of a small but growing effort by states to regulate how employers use AI to monitor and manage their workers. California’s bill is unusually focused on technologies that attempt to infer what is happening inside an employee’s body or mind. There is a narrower approach in Illinois, which regulates AI-analyzed video interviews in hiring, and in Maryland, which restricts the use of facial-recognition technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut.jpg\" alt=\"""\" class=\"wp-image-11849216\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of Slack headquarters on April 2, 2019, in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AB 1883 was sponsored by major state labor unions and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Business groups representing various employers opposed the bill, ranging from the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association to the Wine Institute.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation’s ambitions were softened in committees. The latest version exempts certain workplace-surveillance uses required by federal law, regulation or binding federal contracts involving aircraft, national security, military, space or defense work. Senate amendments also modified the bill’s enforcement provisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, the core prohibition survived.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Workers should have a general expectation of privacy in certain areas,” said Lorena Gonzalez, who heads up the powerful California Federation of Labor Unions, to KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097046/california-labor-leader-on-ai-bills-and-billionaire-tax-measure-splitting-unions\">Political Breakdown\u003c/a> last week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Employers, Gonzalez said, are able to take advantage of outdated laws that don’t account for changes in technology. Labor interests have been at the forefront of legislation addressing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076608/what-do-san-franciscos-ai-vs-humans-billboards-say-about-our-working-futures\">AI anxieties\u003c/a> this session. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You don’t want the boss reading your mind,” Gonzalez added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure comes a year after Newsom vetoed the “No Robo Bosses Act,” which would have required employers to notify workers when AI was used in disciplinary or termination decisions and let employees challenge certain AI-generated decisions. In his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SB-7-Veto.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> last year, Newsom wrote the bill “imposes unfocused notification requirements on any business using even the most innocuous tools.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AB 1883 is narrower in scope. Rather than governing how AI makes decisions about workers, it bans a single, especially invasive use. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom has not said whether he will sign it. With a widely expected presidential run ahead, his decision will signal whether he’s willing to side with workers over employers and draw a hard line against AI that tries to read a worker’s mind.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/politics\">legislative session\u003c/a> ended at midnight on Monday, and numerous bills ranging from housing to health care to technology cleared both the Senate and the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to decide whether he’ll veto or sign the measures. Here’s where some of the most closely watched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/technology\">tech\u003c/a> bills landed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to decide whether he’ll veto or sign the measures. Here’s where some of the most closely watched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/technology\">tech\u003c/a> bills landed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Companion chatbots and children’s safety\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved a sweeping set of safety requirements for artificial intelligence chatbots used by children and teens. The bill, known as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1119\">Adam’s Law\u003c/a>, builds on last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052617/newsoms-tightrope-walk-between-ai-regulation-and-silicon-valley-cash\">SB 243\u003c/a>, which required chatbot operators to disclose when users were interacting with AI companions and to maintain protocols for detecting self-harm content. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved a sweeping set of safety requirements for artificial intelligence chatbots used by children and teens. The bill, known as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1119\">Adam’s Law\u003c/a>, builds on last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052617/newsoms-tightrope-walk-between-ai-regulation-and-silicon-valley-cash\">SB 243\u003c/a>, which required chatbot operators to disclose when users were interacting with AI companions and to maintain protocols for detecting self-harm content. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Co-authored by San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), the bill adds requirements for user age checks, safety-risk assessments before new or substantially modified companion chatbots are released, independent audits and crisis-support resources. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Co-authored by San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), the bill adds requirements for user age checks, safety-risk assessments before new or substantially modified companion chatbots are released, independent audits and crisis-support resources. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of a phone screen in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024, displaying Claude, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot from Anthropic powered by large language model (or LLM).\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of a phone screen in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024, displaying Claude, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot from Anthropic powered by large language model (or LLM).\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The bill also requires default protections for young users, including limits on notifications, usage and persistent conversational memory. It restricts targeted advertising to children and imposes additional privacy protections. Chatbot operators could face liability for failing to take reasonable measures to prevent certain harmful outputs, including content involving self-harm, sexually explicit material, romantic role-playing and emotionally manipulative behavior. Families would have a private right of redress for certain violations. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The bill also requires default protections for young users, including limits on notifications, usage and persistent conversational memory. It restricts targeted advertising to children and imposes additional privacy protections. Chatbot operators could face liability for failing to take reasonable measures to prevent certain harmful outputs, including content involving self-harm, sexually explicit material, romantic role-playing and emotionally manipulative behavior. Families would have a private right of redress for certain violations. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The legislation is named for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080610/california-mom-who-lost-her-son-to-an-ai-chatbot-is-now-fighting-to-regulate-them\">Adam Raine\u003c/a>, a California teenager who died by suicide in 2025. Raine’s parents have said that Adam spent months discussing his loneliness and plans to harm himself with ChatGPT before his death. In a joint statement released after the bill successfully passed through the Legislature, Maria Raine called it “a serious and much-needed step forward for AI companion chatbot safety.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The legislation is named for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080610/california-mom-who-lost-her-son-to-an-ai-chatbot-is-now-fighting-to-regulate-them\">Adam Raine\u003c/a>, a California teenager who died by suicide in 2025. Raine’s parents have said that Adam spent months discussing his loneliness and plans to harm himself with ChatGPT before his death. In a joint statement released after the bill successfully passed through the Legislature, Maria Raine called it “a serious and much-needed step forward for AI companion chatbot safety.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This year, lawmakers also passed another bill by Padilla that enacts a four-year moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of AI-chatbot-powered toys over concerns that the technology can harm children.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This year, lawmakers also passed another bill by Padilla that enacts a four-year moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of AI-chatbot-powered toys over concerns that the technology can harm children.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The technology industry has not been uniformly opposed. OpenAI supports SB 1119 and has urged Newsom to sign it, saying the legislation establishes meaningful safeguards while preserving young people’s ability to use AI for learning, creativity and other purposes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The technology industry has not been uniformly opposed. OpenAI supports SB 1119 and has urged Newsom to sign it, saying the legislation establishes meaningful safeguards while preserving young people’s ability to use AI for learning, creativity and other purposes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Teens are the first generation growing up with AI,” OpenAI said in a \u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/supporting-california-bill-advance-ai-youth-safety/\">statement\u003c/a>. “Nearly nine in ten teens who use ChatGPT turn to it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a given week.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Teens are the first generation growing up with AI,” OpenAI said in a \u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/supporting-california-bill-advance-ai-youth-safety/\">statement\u003c/a>. “Nearly nine in ten teens who use ChatGPT turn to it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a given week.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That opportunity comes with a clear responsibility: teens should have experiences designed around their distinct developmental needs, with strong default protections and appropriate opportunities to learn, create, and explore.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“That opportunity comes with a clear responsibility: teens should have experiences designed around their distinct developmental needs, with strong default protections and appropriate opportunities to learn, create, and explore.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Opponents of the legislation include the California Chamber of Commerce, the Software Information Industry Association and TechNet.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Opponents of the legislation include the California Chamber of Commerce, the Software Information Industry Association and TechNet.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059714/newsom-vetoes-most-watched-childrens-ai-bill-signs-16-others-targeting-tech\">stronger child-safety bill\u003c/a> last year after raising concerns that its restrictions could effectively prevent teenagers from accessing conversational AI. Though his office has not indicated whether Newsom will sign, the version now on his desk was negotiated with those concerns in mind. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059714/newsom-vetoes-most-watched-childrens-ai-bill-signs-16-others-targeting-tech\">stronger child-safety bill\u003c/a> last year after raising concerns that its restrictions could effectively prevent teenagers from accessing conversational AI. Though his office has not indicated whether Newsom will sign, the version now on his desk was negotiated with those concerns in mind. \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "Data centers and ratepayer protections ",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Data centers and ratepayer protections \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Data centers and ratepayer protections \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved two linked bills that would require the state to establish special rules for how large data centers pay for electricity and the infrastructure needed to serve them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved two linked bills that would require the state to establish special rules for how large data centers pay for electricity and the infrastructure needed to serve them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb886\">SB 886\u003c/a>, also authored by Padilla, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2383\">AB 2383\u003c/a>, by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), would require the California Public Utilities Commission to create separate electricity rates and updated interconnection rules for data centers. The measures are designed to prevent electricity customers from bearing the costs of new power generation and grid upgrades needed to serve the facilities. AB 2383 is contingent on SB 886 becoming law. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb886\">SB 886\u003c/a>, also authored by Padilla, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2383\">AB 2383\u003c/a>, by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), would require the California Public Utilities Commission to create separate electricity rates and updated interconnection rules for data centers. The measures are designed to prevent electricity customers from bearing the costs of new power generation and grid upgrades needed to serve the facilities. AB 2383 is contingent on SB 886 becoming law. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Big Tech keeps promising to be good neighbors, and these bills will make those promises legally enforceable,” Padilla said in a press release celebrating the passage of SB 886 and a related bill, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb887\">887\u003c/a>. “No more saying one thing in the White House and doing the opposite in our local communities.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Big Tech keeps promising to be good neighbors, and these bills will make those promises legally enforceable,” Padilla said in a press release celebrating the passage of SB 886 and a related bill, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb887\">887\u003c/a>. “No more saying one thing in the White House and doing the opposite in our local communities.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472-1536x955.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094084\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The legislation follows a year of intensifying political pressure over the expansion of data centers, which are being built to meet the enormous computing demands of AI. California has fewer giant data centers than Virginia and Texas, but the state still has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912379/californias-ai-data-centers-taking-growing-environmental-toll\">one of the largest counts overall\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The legislation follows a year of intensifying political pressure over the expansion of data centers, which are being built to meet the enormous computing demands of AI. California has fewer giant data centers than Virginia and Texas, but the state still has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912379/californias-ai-data-centers-taking-growing-environmental-toll\">one of the largest counts overall\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The facilities have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028158/crackdown-on-power-guzzling-data-centers-may-soon-come-online-in-california\">generated growing concern\u003c/a> over their electricity and water use, as well as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064265/new-report-reveals-strain-of-data-centers-on-californias-grid\">lack of transparency\u003c/a> about their potential effect on utility bills. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released in July found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-july-2026/\">73%\u003c/a> of Californians opposed building data centers in their communities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The facilities have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028158/crackdown-on-power-guzzling-data-centers-may-soon-come-online-in-california\">generated growing concern\u003c/a> over their electricity and water use, as well as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064265/new-report-reveals-strain-of-data-centers-on-californias-grid\">lack of transparency\u003c/a> about their potential effect on utility bills. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released in July found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-july-2026/\">73%\u003c/a> of Californians opposed building data centers in their communities. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In March 2026, the Little Hoover Commission released \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/LHC-Report-292-Data-Centers-California-Electricity-Policy-FINAL-PUBLIC-3.3.26.pdf\">\u003cem>Data Centers and California Electricity Policy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a report that explicitly recommends making tech companies and data center developers cover their own grid-integration costs rather than shifting the burden to everyday ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In March 2026, the Little Hoover Commission released \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/LHC-Report-292-Data-Centers-California-Electricity-Policy-FINAL-PUBLIC-3.3.26.pdf\">\u003cem>Data Centers and California Electricity Policy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a report that explicitly recommends making tech companies and data center developers cover their own grid-integration costs rather than shifting the burden to everyday ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“California’s electricity rates are among the highest in the nation, and affordability remains a top concern for residents,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“California’s electricity rates are among the highest in the nation, and affordability remains a top concern for residents,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supporters — including The Utility Reform Network, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natural Resources Defense Council and utility-worker unions — argued that companies building the facilities should pay for the infrastructure their electricity demand requires. Bill sponsor TURN pointed to a California grid-planning estimate that increased demand from data centers in PG&E’s service territory, where most of the state’s projects are concentrated, could generate as much as $1.8 billion in transmission-upgrade costs. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Supporters — including The Utility Reform Network, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natural Resources Defense Council and utility-worker unions — argued that companies building the facilities should pay for the infrastructure their electricity demand requires. Bill sponsor TURN pointed to a California grid-planning estimate that increased demand from data centers in PG&E’s service territory, where most of the state’s projects are concentrated, could generate as much as $1.8 billion in transmission-upgrade costs. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097519\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A flyer that says, “No Data Center,” is posted at the Church of All Faiths in Oakland, California, on Aug. 29, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097519\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A flyer that says, “No Data Center,” is posted at the Church of All Faiths in Oakland, California, on Aug. 29, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Data Center Coalition, which represents companies including Google and Microsoft, opposed the legislation, arguing that it unfairly singled out one type of electricity customer. PG&E also opposed the original approach, warning that it could increase costs for customers and delay infrastructure needed to meet the state’s broader energy demand. Business groups argued that California’s high energy costs, limited land and additional regulation could make the state less attractive for data-center development. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Data Center Coalition, which represents companies including Google and Microsoft, opposed the legislation, arguing that it unfairly singled out one type of electricity customer. PG&E also opposed the original approach, warning that it could increase costs for customers and delay infrastructure needed to meet the state’s broader energy demand. Business groups argued that California’s high energy costs, limited land and additional regulation could make the state less attractive for data-center development. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The bills were substantially worked over in the final weeks of the session. Earlier drafts were far more prescriptive, including provisions for mandatory on-site batteries and 100% carbon-free power for data centers by 2030. Both were stripped out in favor of giving the CPUC until July 1, 2027, to establish special tariffs and rules. Newsom and regulators in turn secured more control over how the new rate structure will work. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The bills were substantially worked over in the final weeks of the session. Earlier drafts were far more prescriptive, including provisions for mandatory on-site batteries and 100% carbon-free power for data centers by 2030. Both were stripped out in favor of giving the CPUC until July 1, 2027, to establish special tariffs and rules. Newsom and regulators in turn secured more control over how the new rate structure will work. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The final compromise drew criticism from some environmental and consumer advocates. They say data centers could find loopholes to avoid paying some grid costs and wriggle out of clean-energy requirements for facilities that generate their own electricity. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The final compromise drew criticism from some environmental and consumer advocates. They say data centers could find loopholes to avoid paying some grid costs and wriggle out of clean-energy requirements for facilities that generate their own electricity. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom’s position has shifted noticeably during the course of the debate. Last year, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AB-93-Veto.pdf\">vetoed \u003c/a>legislation requiring data centers to disclose their water consumption, writing: “I am reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom’s position has shifted noticeably during the course of the debate. Last year, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AB-93-Veto.pdf\">vetoed \u003c/a>legislation requiring data centers to disclose their water consumption, writing: “I am reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087658\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks as his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom (left), looks on during an election night gathering at California Democratic headquarters in Sacramento, California, on Nov. 4, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087658\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks as his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom (left), looks on during an election night gathering at California Democratic headquarters in Sacramento, California, on Nov. 4, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This year, however, Newsom became directly involved in negotiations over both bills. On Monday in the state Capitol, he said his administration had been working with lawmakers on several data-center bills, and that the final versions “landed fairly well,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/01/california-lawmakers-big-swing-newsom-data-centers-01058848\">\u003cem>Politico \u003c/em>reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This year, however, Newsom became directly involved in negotiations over both bills. On Monday in the state Capitol, he said his administration had been working with lawmakers on several data-center bills, and that the final versions “landed fairly well,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/01/california-lawmakers-big-swing-newsom-data-centers-01058848\">\u003cem>Politico \u003c/em>reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You’re seeing states all across this country leaning in,” Newsom said. “We’ll be leaning in.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“You’re seeing states all across this country leaning in,” Newsom said. “We’ll be leaning in.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He also said last month that companies, rather than other electricity customers, should bear the costs associated with their data-center investments. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He also said last month that companies, rather than other electricity customers, should bear the costs associated with their data-center investments. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We believe that all of these investments, the costs, should be borne by the companies,” Newsom said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We believe that all of these investments, the costs, should be borne by the companies,” Newsom said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That makes a Newsom signature more likely here than it appeared earlier in the year, although the governor has not formally committed to signing either bill.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>That makes a Newsom signature more likely here than it appeared earlier in the year, although the governor has not formally committed to signing either bill.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Social media’s addictive features",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Social media’s addictive features\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Social media’s addictive features\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The California Senate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1709\">voted\u003c/a> to bar social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok from offering certain addictive features to users younger than 16. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The California Senate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1709\">voted\u003c/a> to bar social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok from offering certain addictive features to users younger than 16. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), targets features on so-called “covered platforms” — which predominantly share user-generated content — designed to keep people engaged, including algorithmically driven feeds and other mechanisms that can encourage prolonged use. It also would establish an e-Safety Advisory Commission within the California Department of Justice to advise state officials on online safety and report annually to the governor and Legislature.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The measure, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), targets features on so-called “covered platforms” — which predominantly share user-generated content — designed to keep people engaged, including algorithmically driven feeds and other mechanisms that can encourage prolonged use. It also would establish an e-Safety Advisory Commission within the California Department of Justice to advise state officials on online safety and report annually to the governor and Legislature.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Common Sense Media, which sponsored the bill, is among its major supporters, along with Mothers Against Media Addiction and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill was amended as it moved through the Legislature, narrowing some of its provisions and changing how the state would oversee online safety. For supporters, the changes don’t go nearly far enough. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Common Sense Media, which sponsored the bill, is among its major supporters, along with Mothers Against Media Addiction and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill was amended as it moved through the Legislature, narrowing some of its provisions and changing how the state would oversee online safety. For supporters, the changes don’t go nearly far enough. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/common-sense-media-statement-on-passage-of-ab-1709\">wrote Monday\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096647/why-metas-landmark-settlement-could-be-social-medias-big-tobacco-moment\">recent litigation\u003c/a> against major technology companies has exposed how deliberately social media platforms have been designed to keep children engaged.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/common-sense-media-statement-on-passage-of-ab-1709\">wrote Monday\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096647/why-metas-landmark-settlement-could-be-social-medias-big-tobacco-moment\">recent litigation\u003c/a> against major technology companies has exposed how deliberately social media platforms have been designed to keep children engaged.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Social media companies have engineered their products to hook children, and their own researchers proved it worked,” Steyer said in a statement. “Parents cannot out-parent an algorithm built in a lab to keep kids scrolling.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Social media companies have engineered their products to hook children, and their own researchers proved it worked,” Steyer said in a statement. “Parents cannot out-parent an algorithm built in a lab to keep kids scrolling.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Civil Justice Association of California and trade group NetChoice, which represents major technology companies including Google, Meta and Snap, oppose the measure. Civil liberties advocates, in particular, have raised First Amendment and privacy concerns, particularly around how platforms would determine which users are under 16 and which features should be considered addictive.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Civil Justice Association of California and trade group NetChoice, which represents major technology companies including Google, Meta and Snap, oppose the measure. Civil liberties advocates, in particular, have raised First Amendment and privacy concerns, particularly around how platforms would determine which users are under 16 and which features should be considered addictive.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This well-intentioned, but deeply flawed piece of legislation, cuts young people off from essential information and experiences, particularly harming vulnerable youth and marginalized groups who often find safety in supportive online communities they can’t access offline,” the EFF \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/eff-gov-newsom-veto-californias-ab-1709\">wrote\u003c/a> in a statement.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This well-intentioned, but deeply flawed piece of legislation, cuts young people off from essential information and experiences, particularly harming vulnerable youth and marginalized groups who often find safety in supportive online communities they can’t access offline,” the EFF \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/eff-gov-newsom-veto-californias-ab-1709\">wrote\u003c/a> in a statement.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom has already signed several California laws aimed at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12005803/newsom-signs-law-to-protect-children-from-social-media-addiction\">protecting children online\u003c/a>, including legislation requiring warning labels on social media platforms. But AB 1709 could face the same free-speech and age-verification challenges that have complicated the state’s broader effort to regulate social media. A federal judge has already blocked portions of California’s existing law restricting addictive social media feeds while a legal challenge proceeds.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom has already signed several California laws aimed at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12005803/newsom-signs-law-to-protect-children-from-social-media-addiction\">protecting children online\u003c/a>, including legislation requiring warning labels on social media platforms. But AB 1709 could face the same free-speech and age-verification challenges that have complicated the state’s broader effort to regulate social media. A federal judge has already blocked portions of California’s existing law restricting addictive social media feeds while a legal challenge proceeds.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom has not publicly indicated whether he will sign the bill, but he called on lawmakers to explore stricter youth online safety guardrails during his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">final State of the State\u003c/a> address. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom has not publicly indicated whether he will sign the bill, but he called on lawmakers to explore stricter youth online safety guardrails during his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">final State of the State\u003c/a> address. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California employers could face new limits on the use of AI to monitor workers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a>, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), would prohibit employers from using AI-powered workplace-surveillance tools to collect \u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/2024/12/02/what-are-neural-data-an-invitation-to-flexible-regulatory-implementation/\">neural data\u003c/a> — sensitive personal information from a user’s nervous system — or recognize an employee’s emotional state, with some exceptions. It also covers certain other AI-based inferences about workers and allows civil penalties of up to $500 per violation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a>, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), would prohibit employers from using AI-powered workplace-surveillance tools to collect \u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/2024/12/02/what-are-neural-data-an-invitation-to-flexible-regulatory-implementation/\">neural data\u003c/a> — sensitive personal information from a user’s nervous system — or recognize an employee’s emotional state, with some exceptions. It also covers certain other AI-based inferences about workers and allows civil penalties of up to $500 per violation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure is part of a small but growing effort by states to regulate how employers use AI to monitor and manage their workers. California’s bill is unusually focused on technologies that attempt to infer what is happening inside an employee’s body or mind. There is a narrower approach in Illinois, which regulates AI-analyzed video interviews in hiring, and in Maryland, which restricts the use of facial-recognition technology.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The measure is part of a small but growing effort by states to regulate how employers use AI to monitor and manage their workers. California’s bill is unusually focused on technologies that attempt to infer what is happening inside an employee’s body or mind. There is a narrower approach in Illinois, which regulates AI-analyzed video interviews in hiring, and in Maryland, which restricts the use of facial-recognition technology.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AB 1883 was sponsored by major state labor unions and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Business groups representing various employers opposed the bill, ranging from the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association to the Wine Institute.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>AB 1883 was sponsored by major state labor unions and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Business groups representing various employers opposed the bill, ranging from the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association to the Wine Institute.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The legislation’s ambitions were softened in committees. The latest version exempts certain workplace-surveillance uses required by federal law, regulation or binding federal contracts involving aircraft, national security, military, space or defense work. Senate amendments also modified the bill’s enforcement provisions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The legislation’s ambitions were softened in committees. The latest version exempts certain workplace-surveillance uses required by federal law, regulation or binding federal contracts involving aircraft, national security, military, space or defense work. Senate amendments also modified the bill’s enforcement provisions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Workers should have a general expectation of privacy in certain areas,” said Lorena Gonzalez, who heads up the powerful California Federation of Labor Unions, to KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097046/california-labor-leader-on-ai-bills-and-billionaire-tax-measure-splitting-unions\">Political Breakdown\u003c/a> last week. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Workers should have a general expectation of privacy in certain areas,” said Lorena Gonzalez, who heads up the powerful California Federation of Labor Unions, to KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097046/california-labor-leader-on-ai-bills-and-billionaire-tax-measure-splitting-unions\">Political Breakdown\u003c/a> last week. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Employers, Gonzalez said, are able to take advantage of outdated laws that don’t account for changes in technology. Labor interests have been at the forefront of legislation addressing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076608/what-do-san-franciscos-ai-vs-humans-billboards-say-about-our-working-futures\">AI anxieties\u003c/a> this session. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You don’t want the boss reading your mind,” Gonzalez added.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure comes a year after Newsom vetoed the “No Robo Bosses Act,” which would have required employers to notify workers when AI was used in disciplinary or termination decisions and let employees challenge certain AI-generated decisions. In his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SB-7-Veto.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> last year, Newsom wrote the bill “imposes unfocused notification requirements on any business using even the most innocuous tools.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The measure comes a year after Newsom vetoed the “No Robo Bosses Act,” which would have required employers to notify workers when AI was used in disciplinary or termination decisions and let employees challenge certain AI-generated decisions. In his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SB-7-Veto.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> last year, Newsom wrote the bill “imposes unfocused notification requirements on any business using even the most innocuous tools.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>AB 1883 is narrower in scope. Rather than governing how AI makes decisions about workers, it bans a single, especially invasive use. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom has not said whether he will sign it. With a widely expected presidential run ahead, his decision will signal whether he’s willing to side with workers over employers and draw a hard line against AI that tries to read a worker’s mind.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California lawmakers took on data centers, addictive social media features and AI-powered workplace monitoring with this legislative session’s bills. Which will Newsom sign into law?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/politics\">legislative session\u003c/a> ended at midnight on Monday, and numerous bills ranging from housing to health care to technology cleared both the Senate and the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to decide whether he’ll veto or sign the measures. Here’s where some of the most closely watched \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/technology\">tech\u003c/a> bills landed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Companion chatbots and children’s safety\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved a sweeping set of safety requirements for artificial intelligence chatbots used by children and teens. The bill, known as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb1119\">Adam’s Law\u003c/a>, builds on last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052617/newsoms-tightrope-walk-between-ai-regulation-and-silicon-valley-cash\">SB 243\u003c/a>, which required chatbot operators to disclose when users were interacting with AI companions and to maintain protocols for detecting self-harm content. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Co-authored by San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), the bill adds requirements for user age checks, safety-risk assessments before new or substantially modified companion chatbots are released, independent audits and crisis-support resources. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/GettyImages-2159671948-scaled-e1781542152687.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12058035\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Close-up of a phone screen in Lafayette, California, on June 27, 2024, displaying Claude, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot from Anthropic powered by large language model (or LLM). (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bill also requires default protections for young users, including limits on notifications, usage and persistent conversational memory. It restricts targeted advertising to children and imposes additional privacy protections. Chatbot operators could face liability for failing to take reasonable measures to prevent certain harmful outputs, including content involving self-harm, sexually explicit material, romantic role-playing and emotionally manipulative behavior. Families would have a private right of redress for certain violations. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation is named for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12080610/california-mom-who-lost-her-son-to-an-ai-chatbot-is-now-fighting-to-regulate-them\">Adam Raine\u003c/a>, a California teenager who died by suicide in 2025. Raine’s parents have said that Adam spent months discussing his loneliness and plans to harm himself with ChatGPT before his death. In a joint statement released after the bill successfully passed through the Legislature, Maria Raine called it “a serious and much-needed step forward for AI companion chatbot safety.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, lawmakers also passed another bill by Padilla that enacts a four-year moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of AI-chatbot-powered toys over concerns that the technology can harm children.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The technology industry has not been uniformly opposed. OpenAI supports SB 1119 and has urged Newsom to sign it, saying the legislation establishes meaningful safeguards while preserving young people’s ability to use AI for learning, creativity and other purposes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Teens are the first generation growing up with AI,” OpenAI said in a \u003ca href=\"https://openai.com/index/supporting-california-bill-advance-ai-youth-safety/\">statement\u003c/a>. “Nearly nine in ten teens who use ChatGPT turn to it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a given week.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That opportunity comes with a clear responsibility: teens should have experiences designed around their distinct developmental needs, with strong default protections and appropriate opportunities to learn, create, and explore.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents of the legislation include the California Chamber of Commerce, the Software Information Industry Association and TechNet.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059714/newsom-vetoes-most-watched-childrens-ai-bill-signs-16-others-targeting-tech\">stronger child-safety bill\u003c/a> last year after raising concerns that its restrictions could effectively prevent teenagers from accessing conversational AI. Though his office has not indicated whether Newsom will sign, the version now on his desk was negotiated with those concerns in mind. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Data centers and ratepayer protections \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California lawmakers on Monday approved two linked bills that would require the state to establish special rules for how large data centers pay for electricity and the infrastructure needed to serve them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb886\">SB 886\u003c/a>, also authored by Padilla, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2383\">AB 2383\u003c/a>, by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), would require the California Public Utilities Commission to create separate electricity rates and updated interconnection rules for data centers. The measures are designed to prevent electricity customers from bearing the costs of new power generation and grid upgrades needed to serve the facilities. AB 2383 is contingent on SB 886 becoming law. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Big Tech keeps promising to be good neighbors, and these bills will make those promises legally enforceable,” Padilla said in a press release celebrating the passage of SB 886 and a related bill, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb887\">887\u003c/a>. “No more saying one thing in the White House and doing the opposite in our local communities.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1231\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094084\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/GettyImages-2267080472-1536x955.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Diego Democrat Sen. Steve Padilla. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation follows a year of intensifying political pressure over the expansion of data centers, which are being built to meet the enormous computing demands of AI. California has fewer giant data centers than Virginia and Texas, but the state still has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101912379/californias-ai-data-centers-taking-growing-environmental-toll\">one of the largest counts overall\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The facilities have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028158/crackdown-on-power-guzzling-data-centers-may-soon-come-online-in-california\">generated growing concern\u003c/a> over their electricity and water use, as well as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064265/new-report-reveals-strain-of-data-centers-on-californias-grid\">lack of transparency\u003c/a> about their potential effect on utility bills. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released in July found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-the-environment-july-2026/\">73%\u003c/a> of Californians opposed building data centers in their communities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In March 2026, the Little Hoover Commission released \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/LHC-Report-292-Data-Centers-California-Electricity-Policy-FINAL-PUBLIC-3.3.26.pdf\">\u003cem>Data Centers and California Electricity Policy\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a report that explicitly recommends making tech companies and data center developers cover their own grid-integration costs rather than shifting the burden to everyday ratepayers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California’s electricity rates are among the highest in the nation, and affordability remains a top concern for residents,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters — including The Utility Reform Network, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natural Resources Defense Council and utility-worker unions — argued that companies building the facilities should pay for the infrastructure their electricity demand requires. Bill sponsor TURN pointed to a California grid-planning estimate that increased demand from data centers in PG&E’s service territory, where most of the state’s projects are concentrated, could generate as much as $1.8 billion in transmission-upgrade costs. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097519\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260829-oakdatacentermeeting-TV00394_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A flyer that says, “No Data Center,” is posted at the Church of All Faiths in Oakland, California, on Aug. 29, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Data Center Coalition, which represents companies including Google and Microsoft, opposed the legislation, arguing that it unfairly singled out one type of electricity customer. PG&E also opposed the original approach, warning that it could increase costs for customers and delay infrastructure needed to meet the state’s broader energy demand. Business groups argued that California’s high energy costs, limited land and additional regulation could make the state less attractive for data-center development. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The bills were substantially worked over in the final weeks of the session. Earlier drafts were far more prescriptive, including provisions for mandatory on-site batteries and 100% carbon-free power for data centers by 2030. Both were stripped out in favor of giving the CPUC until July 1, 2027, to establish special tariffs and rules. Newsom and regulators in turn secured more control over how the new rate structure will work. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The final compromise drew criticism from some environmental and consumer advocates. They say data centers could find loopholes to avoid paying some grid costs and wriggle out of clean-energy requirements for facilities that generate their own electricity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s position has shifted noticeably during the course of the debate. Last year, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AB-93-Veto.pdf\">vetoed \u003c/a>legislation requiring data centers to disclose their water consumption, writing: “I am reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1337\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087658\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinJenniferNewsomGetty-1536x1027.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks as his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom (left), looks on during an election night gathering at California Democratic headquarters in Sacramento, California, on Nov. 4, 2025. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year, however, Newsom became directly involved in negotiations over both bills. On Monday in the state Capitol, he said his administration had been working with lawmakers on several data-center bills, and that the final versions “landed fairly well,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/01/california-lawmakers-big-swing-newsom-data-centers-01058848\">\u003cem>Politico \u003c/em>reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You’re seeing states all across this country leaning in,” Newsom said. “We’ll be leaning in.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He also said last month that companies, rather than other electricity customers, should bear the costs associated with their data-center investments. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We believe that all of these investments, the costs, should be borne by the companies,” Newsom said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That makes a Newsom signature more likely here than it appeared earlier in the year, although the governor has not formally committed to signing either bill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Social media’s addictive features\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California Senate \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1709\">voted\u003c/a> to bar social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok from offering certain addictive features to users younger than 16. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), targets features on so-called “covered platforms” — which predominantly share user-generated content — designed to keep people engaged, including algorithmically driven feeds and other mechanisms that can encourage prolonged use. It also would establish an e-Safety Advisory Commission within the California Department of Justice to advise state officials on online safety and report annually to the governor and Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Common Sense Media, which sponsored the bill, is among its major supporters, along with Mothers Against Media Addiction and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill was amended as it moved through the Legislature, narrowing some of its provisions and changing how the state would oversee online safety. For supporters, the changes don’t go nearly far enough. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12092171\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/AIGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A 14-year-old boy looks at an iPhone screen displaying various social media and messaging apps on March 29, 2026. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/common-sense-media-statement-on-passage-of-ab-1709\">wrote Monday\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12096647/why-metas-landmark-settlement-could-be-social-medias-big-tobacco-moment\">recent litigation\u003c/a> against major technology companies has exposed how deliberately social media platforms have been designed to keep children engaged.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Social media companies have engineered their products to hook children, and their own researchers proved it worked,” Steyer said in a statement. “Parents cannot out-parent an algorithm built in a lab to keep kids scrolling.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Civil Justice Association of California and trade group NetChoice, which represents major technology companies including Google, Meta and Snap, oppose the measure. Civil liberties advocates, in particular, have raised First Amendment and privacy concerns, particularly around how platforms would determine which users are under 16 and which features should be considered addictive.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This well-intentioned, but deeply flawed piece of legislation, cuts young people off from essential information and experiences, particularly harming vulnerable youth and marginalized groups who often find safety in supportive online communities they can’t access offline,” the EFF \u003ca href=\"https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/eff-gov-newsom-veto-californias-ab-1709\">wrote\u003c/a> in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom has already signed several California laws aimed at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12005803/newsom-signs-law-to-protect-children-from-social-media-addiction\">protecting children online\u003c/a>, including legislation requiring warning labels on social media platforms. But AB 1709 could face the same free-speech and age-verification challenges that have complicated the state’s broader effort to regulate social media. A federal judge has already blocked portions of California’s existing law restricting addictive social media feeds while a legal challenge proceeds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom has not publicly indicated whether he will sign the bill, but he called on lawmakers to explore stricter youth online safety guardrails during his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069094/in-final-state-of-state-speech-gov-newsom-says-california-offers-model-for-the-nation\">final State of the State\u003c/a> address. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Workplace surveillance\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California employers could face new limits on the use of AI to monitor workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1883\">AB 1883\u003c/a>, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), would prohibit employers from using AI-powered workplace-surveillance tools to collect \u003ca href=\"https://law.stanford.edu/2024/12/02/what-are-neural-data-an-invitation-to-flexible-regulatory-implementation/\">neural data\u003c/a> — sensitive personal information from a user’s nervous system — or recognize an employee’s emotional state, with some exceptions. It also covers certain other AI-based inferences about workers and allows civil penalties of up to $500 per violation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure is part of a small but growing effort by states to regulate how employers use AI to monitor and manage their workers. California’s bill is unusually focused on technologies that attempt to infer what is happening inside an employee’s body or mind. There is a narrower approach in Illinois, which regulates AI-analyzed video interviews in hiring, and in Maryland, which restricts the use of facial-recognition technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut.jpg\" alt=\"""\" class=\"wp-image-11849216\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46155_GettyImages-1139953504-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of Slack headquarters on April 2, 2019, in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AB 1883 was sponsored by major state labor unions and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Business groups representing various employers opposed the bill, ranging from the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association to the Wine Institute.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation’s ambitions were softened in committees. The latest version exempts certain workplace-surveillance uses required by federal law, regulation or binding federal contracts involving aircraft, national security, military, space or defense work. Senate amendments also modified the bill’s enforcement provisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, the core prohibition survived.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Workers should have a general expectation of privacy in certain areas,” said Lorena Gonzalez, who heads up the powerful California Federation of Labor Unions, to KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097046/california-labor-leader-on-ai-bills-and-billionaire-tax-measure-splitting-unions\">Political Breakdown\u003c/a> last week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Employers, Gonzalez said, are able to take advantage of outdated laws that don’t account for changes in technology. Labor interests have been at the forefront of legislation addressing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076608/what-do-san-franciscos-ai-vs-humans-billboards-say-about-our-working-futures\">AI anxieties\u003c/a> this session. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You don’t want the boss reading your mind,” Gonzalez added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure comes a year after Newsom vetoed the “No Robo Bosses Act,” which would have required employers to notify workers when AI was used in disciplinary or termination decisions and let employees challenge certain AI-generated decisions. In his \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SB-7-Veto.pdf\">veto message\u003c/a> last year, Newsom wrote the bill “imposes unfocused notification requirements on any business using even the most innocuous tools.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>AB 1883 is narrower in scope. Rather than governing how AI makes decisions about workers, it bans a single, especially invasive use. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom has not said whether he will sign it. With a widely expected presidential run ahead, his decision will signal whether he’s willing to side with workers over employers and draw a hard line against AI that tries to read a worker’s mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "newsom-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deal-on-wildfire-fallout",
"title": "Newsom, Lawmakers Reach Last-Minute Deal on Wildfire Fallout",
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"headTitle": "Newsom, Lawmakers Reach Last-Minute Deal on Wildfire Fallout | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>Seeking to lower California’s soaring electricity rates and improve payouts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> survivors, Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> and legislative leaders late Friday reached an eleventh-hour deal on changes to rules around wildfire liability.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the heart of the deal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">the question of who pays\u003c/a> when utility-owned equipment sparks a damaging wildfire — costs that have ballooned into the tens of billions of dollars in recent fire disasters. The plan, which comes after months of largely closed-door negotiations, seeks to protect ratepayers by stopping hedge funds from extracting massive payouts from utilities in the wake of wildfires, while also restricting utility executives from receiving bonuses when their equipment causes a fire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation for victims and survivors of wildfires that we’ve ever done,” state Sen. Josh Becker, D–Menlo Park, told KQED on Saturday. “Getting them paid fairly and quickly, limiting the role of Wall Street in profiting off of these fires [and] holding utilities accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation authored by Becker, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>, would also create a program to speed up the payment of claims for wildfire survivors. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the agreement fell short of Newsom’s original aim: to prevent insurance companies from suing utilities to recover the damages that insurers pay out to fire victims. That process, known as subrogation, has helped drive up the cost of electricity bills by adding massive liability costs to power companies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The charred remains of two cars after a fire passed by the area.\" class=\"wp-image-11882560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Power lines lay on the smoldering remains of vehicles during the Dixie Fire in an unincorporated area of Plumas County on July 25, 2021. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, lawmakers are hoping to restrict insurance companies from selling their right to sue to private equity firms, which under the current system can purchase claims at a discount and drive up payout costs through pricey litigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is all real progress for future fire survivors,” Newsom said in a statement on Saturday. “Nonetheless, this system needs full structural reform — not a partial one.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The agreement will require a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and Senate as soon as Tuesday under an urgency clause that allows it to be voted on after Monday night’s scheduled close of California’s legislative session. For Newsom, it will bookend a tenure as governor that began in crisis in the wake of the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in the state’s modern history. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California law holds power companies, such as PG&E and Southern California Edison, responsible for the damage caused by their equipment — even without any finding of negligence, unlike other states. Liability from the 2018 Camp Fire pushed PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879943/a-year-after-pge-left-bankruptcy-spending-by-fire-victim-trust-remains-a-mystery\">to declare bankruptcy\u003c/a> the following January, just weeks after Newsom took office. Damages from the 2025 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076246/the-eaton-fire-ravaged-black-altadena-a-journalist-documents-its-resilience\">Eaton Fire in Altadena\u003c/a>, which was started by a SoCal Edison transmission line, could reach $45 billion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the last decade, investor-owned utilities have spent billions to both shoulder wildfire liability and protect power lines from sparking future blazes. That spending has been passed along to California’s utility customers, who pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">second-highest electricity rates\u003c/a> in the nation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wildfire-related charges now add roughly $41 a month to the average PG&E bill and $27 a month for SoCal Edison customers, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">report released\u003c/a> this spring that served as a jumping-off point for the utility negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, the spending by power companies will not completely eliminate the risk of utility-sparked wildfires, said Meredith Fowlie, faculty director at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That means there’s fire risk for people living in high-risk areas, close to power system infrastructure that they are not seeing in their insurance premiums,” Fowlie said. “We’re seeing them on our electricity bills.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While many California power customers, especially those in hotter inland areas, have few options in the face of escalating rates, Fowlie said homeowners can receive insurance discounts if they fire-proof their homes and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5937926/california-wildfire-rules-zone-zero-vegetation\">increase the defensible space\u003c/a> around their property. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Shifting more of the risk onto homeowners and property owners in higher-risk areas does dial up the financial incentives to do more mitigation to reduce premiums via discounts,” she added. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several homes and mobile homes sit on a hillsides where grasses have been removed.\" class=\"wp-image-11955391\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A home in Nevada County that has created defensible space to help protect against damage due to wildfires on June 26, 2023. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But California’s insurance industry is in the midst of its own interwoven crisis. Wildfire losses have led many insurers to either stop renewing policies or leave the state — pushing residents in fire-prone areas onto \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094860/california-fair-plan-announces-29-1-rate-hike-for-homeowners-this-fall\">the FAIR Plan\u003c/a>, the state’s insurer of last resort. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s original plan, meanwhile, was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized by wildfire survivor groups\u003c/a> and trial attorneys — the latter group holding particular influence among Democrats in the Legislature who were wary of signing on to a deal that could be perceived as a utility bailout. Wildfire survivor groups took aim at elements of Newsom’s original proposal that would have limited some claims of noneconomic damages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Survivors from across California came to Sacramento and asked our elected representatives to stand with the people whose homes, communities and lives have been devastated,” Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor’s Network, said in a statement on Saturday. “They listened. And in the face of extraordinary pressure from some of the most powerful interests in our state, they centered survivors and California families.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The deal Newsom reached with legislative leaders will prevent law firms from making unsolicited communications to survivors for 30 days after the disaster and cap attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The opponents [were] quite a strange grouping of bedfellows,” said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner and director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jones said that if utilities remain forced to shoulder the financial liabilities for wildfires, they will be incentivized to invest in grid safety and vegetation management. Shifting more of the burden to insurers, he said, will put more stress on fire survivors, local taxpayers and insurance policyholders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Legislative rules prevent changes from being made to bills for 72 hours before a final vote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sen. Roger Niello, R–Fair Oaks, the Republican leader-elect, questioned whether three days was enough time for lawmakers to digest complex changes to wildfire rules. For the second consecutive year, lawmakers will be voting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055461/california-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deals-on-climate-energy\">consequential energy legislation\u003c/a> in the waning moments of the session.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’ve raised concerns before about major policy being pushed through at the last minute without public input,” Niello said in a statement. “I am committed to working with the next administration to craft financially sound solutions and double down on wildfire mitigation and prevention efforts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Why did Newsom choose to close the final legislative session of his career with a complicated battle involving utilities, insurance companies and trial attorneys — all political heavyweights at the Capitol?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just weeks after Newsom took office in early 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy. The utility giant was facing tens of billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities after its equipment sparked the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise and left 85 people dead. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The company lacked sufficient cash, held inadequate wildfire insurance and ultimately suffered a credit crisis. As the extent of its liabilities became clear, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11716710/ratings-service-slashes-pge-credit-to-junk-status\">credit rating agencies downgraded PG&E\u003c/a> so that the value of its debt became almost worthless. It couldn’t get access to lines of short-term credit, so it couldn’t function day to day. It declared bankruptcy to halt the active lawsuits, pause servicing its debt and regroup. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He had a baptism by fire, so to speak, when he was elected right before the massive and deadly fires in Northern California,” said Becker, a longtime Newsom ally. “I think he feels a real obligation and responsibility to leave the state better than when he found it.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, Newsom and the Legislature designated $21 billion — half from utility shareholders, half from ratepayers — for a fund to compensate victims of fires sparked by utility equipment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was designed as a long-term safety net, but the massive claims stemming from the Los Angeles fires in early 2025 threatened to drain the fund entirely. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Legislature replenished it with an additional $18 billion last summer, but another catastrophic fire could again threaten the solvency of the fund, providing the governor practical motivations for pursuing this deal. While the legislative session will end on Monday, Newsom’s final term runs through the fall months that constitute the heart of California’s modern wildfire season.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That means another disaster could leave Newsom with a utility hurtling toward bankruptcy just as he leaves office — and prepares for an expected run for president.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He’s concerned about, ‘Hey, one big fire could take that [fund] out,’” Becker said. “Then what happens?” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Seeking to lower California’s soaring electricity rates and improve payouts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> survivors, Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> and legislative leaders late Friday reached an eleventh-hour deal on changes to rules around wildfire liability.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Seeking to lower California’s soaring electricity rates and improve payouts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> survivors, Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> and legislative leaders late Friday reached an eleventh-hour deal on changes to rules around wildfire liability.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the heart of the deal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">the question of who pays\u003c/a> when utility-owned equipment sparks a damaging wildfire — costs that have ballooned into the tens of billions of dollars in recent fire disasters. The plan, which comes after months of largely closed-door negotiations, seeks to protect ratepayers by stopping hedge funds from extracting massive payouts from utilities in the wake of wildfires, while also restricting utility executives from receiving bonuses when their equipment causes a fire.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>At the heart of the deal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">the question of who pays\u003c/a> when utility-owned equipment sparks a damaging wildfire — costs that have ballooned into the tens of billions of dollars in recent fire disasters. The plan, which comes after months of largely closed-door negotiations, seeks to protect ratepayers by stopping hedge funds from extracting massive payouts from utilities in the wake of wildfires, while also restricting utility executives from receiving bonuses when their equipment causes a fire.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation for victims and survivors of wildfires that we’ve ever done,” state Sen. Josh Becker, D–Menlo Park, told KQED on Saturday. “Getting them paid fairly and quickly, limiting the role of Wall Street in profiting off of these fires [and] holding utilities accountable.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“This is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation for victims and survivors of wildfires that we’ve ever done,” state Sen. Josh Becker, D–Menlo Park, told KQED on Saturday. “Getting them paid fairly and quickly, limiting the role of Wall Street in profiting off of these fires [and] holding utilities accountable.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The legislation authored by Becker, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>, would also create a program to speed up the payment of claims for wildfire survivors. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The legislation authored by Becker, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>, would also create a program to speed up the payment of claims for wildfire survivors. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the agreement fell short of Newsom’s original aim: to prevent insurance companies from suing utilities to recover the damages that insurers pay out to fire victims. That process, known as subrogation, has helped drive up the cost of electricity bills by adding massive liability costs to power companies. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But the agreement fell short of Newsom’s original aim: to prevent insurance companies from suing utilities to recover the damages that insurers pay out to fire victims. That process, known as subrogation, has helped drive up the cost of electricity bills by adding massive liability costs to power companies. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The charred remains of two cars after a fire passed by the area.\" class=\"wp-image-11882560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Power lines lay on the smoldering remains of vehicles during the Dixie Fire in an unincorporated area of Plumas County on July 25, 2021.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The charred remains of two cars after a fire passed by the area.\" class=\"wp-image-11882560\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Power lines lay on the smoldering remains of vehicles during the Dixie Fire in an unincorporated area of Plumas County on July 25, 2021.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Instead, lawmakers are hoping to restrict insurance companies from selling their right to sue to private equity firms, which under the current system can purchase claims at a discount and drive up payout costs through pricey litigation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Instead, lawmakers are hoping to restrict insurance companies from selling their right to sue to private equity firms, which under the current system can purchase claims at a discount and drive up payout costs through pricey litigation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is all real progress for future fire survivors,” Newsom said in a statement on Saturday. “Nonetheless, this system needs full structural reform — not a partial one.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This is all real progress for future fire survivors,” Newsom said in a statement on Saturday. “Nonetheless, this system needs full structural reform — not a partial one.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The agreement will require a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and Senate as soon as Tuesday under an urgency clause that allows it to be voted on after Monday night’s scheduled close of California’s legislative session. For Newsom, it will bookend a tenure as governor that began in crisis in the wake of the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in the state’s modern history. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The agreement will require a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and Senate as soon as Tuesday under an urgency clause that allows it to be voted on after Monday night’s scheduled close of California’s legislative session. For Newsom, it will bookend a tenure as governor that began in crisis in the wake of the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in the state’s modern history. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California law holds power companies, such as PG&E and Southern California Edison, responsible for the damage caused by their equipment — even without any finding of negligence, unlike other states. Liability from the 2018 Camp Fire pushed PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879943/a-year-after-pge-left-bankruptcy-spending-by-fire-victim-trust-remains-a-mystery\">to declare bankruptcy\u003c/a> the following January, just weeks after Newsom took office. Damages from the 2025 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076246/the-eaton-fire-ravaged-black-altadena-a-journalist-documents-its-resilience\">Eaton Fire in Altadena\u003c/a>, which was started by a SoCal Edison transmission line, could reach $45 billion. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California law holds power companies, such as PG&E and Southern California Edison, responsible for the damage caused by their equipment — even without any finding of negligence, unlike other states. Liability from the 2018 Camp Fire pushed PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879943/a-year-after-pge-left-bankruptcy-spending-by-fire-victim-trust-remains-a-mystery\">to declare bankruptcy\u003c/a> the following January, just weeks after Newsom took office. Damages from the 2025 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076246/the-eaton-fire-ravaged-black-altadena-a-journalist-documents-its-resilience\">Eaton Fire in Altadena\u003c/a>, which was started by a SoCal Edison transmission line, could reach $45 billion. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the last decade, investor-owned utilities have spent billions to both shoulder wildfire liability and protect power lines from sparking future blazes. That spending has been passed along to California’s utility customers, who pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">second-highest electricity rates\u003c/a> in the nation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the last decade, investor-owned utilities have spent billions to both shoulder wildfire liability and protect power lines from sparking future blazes. That spending has been passed along to California’s utility customers, who pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">second-highest electricity rates\u003c/a> in the nation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Wildfire-related charges now add roughly $41 a month to the average PG&E bill and $27 a month for SoCal Edison customers, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">report released\u003c/a> this spring that served as a jumping-off point for the utility negotiations.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Wildfire-related charges now add roughly $41 a month to the average PG&E bill and $27 a month for SoCal Edison customers, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">report released\u003c/a> this spring that served as a jumping-off point for the utility negotiations.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, the spending by power companies will not completely eliminate the risk of utility-sparked wildfires, said Meredith Fowlie, faculty director at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Still, the spending by power companies will not completely eliminate the risk of utility-sparked wildfires, said Meredith Fowlie, faculty director at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That means there’s fire risk for people living in high-risk areas, close to power system infrastructure that they are not seeing in their insurance premiums,” Fowlie said. “We’re seeing them on our electricity bills.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“That means there’s fire risk for people living in high-risk areas, close to power system infrastructure that they are not seeing in their insurance premiums,” Fowlie said. “We’re seeing them on our electricity bills.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While many California power customers, especially those in hotter inland areas, have few options in the face of escalating rates, Fowlie said homeowners can receive insurance discounts if they fire-proof their homes and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5937926/california-wildfire-rules-zone-zero-vegetation\">increase the defensible space\u003c/a> around their property. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>While many California power customers, especially those in hotter inland areas, have few options in the face of escalating rates, Fowlie said homeowners can receive insurance discounts if they fire-proof their homes and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5937926/california-wildfire-rules-zone-zero-vegetation\">increase the defensible space\u003c/a> around their property. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Shifting more of the risk onto homeowners and property owners in higher-risk areas does dial up the financial incentives to do more mitigation to reduce premiums via discounts,” she added. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Shifting more of the risk onto homeowners and property owners in higher-risk areas does dial up the financial incentives to do more mitigation to reduce premiums via discounts,” she added. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several homes and mobile homes sit on a hillsides where grasses have been removed.\" class=\"wp-image-11955391\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A home in Nevada County that has created defensible space to help protect against damage due to wildfires on June 26, 2023.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several homes and mobile homes sit on a hillsides where grasses have been removed.\" class=\"wp-image-11955391\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A home in Nevada County that has created defensible space to help protect against damage due to wildfires on June 26, 2023.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But California’s insurance industry is in the midst of its own interwoven crisis. Wildfire losses have led many insurers to either stop renewing policies or leave the state — pushing residents in fire-prone areas onto \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094860/california-fair-plan-announces-29-1-rate-hike-for-homeowners-this-fall\">the FAIR Plan\u003c/a>, the state’s insurer of last resort. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But California’s insurance industry is in the midst of its own interwoven crisis. Wildfire losses have led many insurers to either stop renewing policies or leave the state — pushing residents in fire-prone areas onto \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094860/california-fair-plan-announces-29-1-rate-hike-for-homeowners-this-fall\">the FAIR Plan\u003c/a>, the state’s insurer of last resort. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom’s original plan, meanwhile, was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized by wildfire survivor groups\u003c/a> and trial attorneys — the latter group holding particular influence among Democrats in the Legislature who were wary of signing on to a deal that could be perceived as a utility bailout. Wildfire survivor groups took aim at elements of Newsom’s original proposal that would have limited some claims of noneconomic damages.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Newsom’s original plan, meanwhile, was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized by wildfire survivor groups\u003c/a> and trial attorneys — the latter group holding particular influence among Democrats in the Legislature who were wary of signing on to a deal that could be perceived as a utility bailout. Wildfire survivor groups took aim at elements of Newsom’s original proposal that would have limited some claims of noneconomic damages.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Survivors from across California came to Sacramento and asked our elected representatives to stand with the people whose homes, communities and lives have been devastated,” Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor’s Network, said in a statement on Saturday. “They listened. And in the face of extraordinary pressure from some of the most powerful interests in our state, they centered survivors and California families.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Survivors from across California came to Sacramento and asked our elected representatives to stand with the people whose homes, communities and lives have been devastated,” Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor’s Network, said in a statement on Saturday. “They listened. And in the face of extraordinary pressure from some of the most powerful interests in our state, they centered survivors and California families.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The deal Newsom reached with legislative leaders will prevent law firms from making unsolicited communications to survivors for 30 days after the disaster and cap attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The deal Newsom reached with legislative leaders will prevent law firms from making unsolicited communications to survivors for 30 days after the disaster and cap attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The opponents [were] quite a strange grouping of bedfellows,” said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner and director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“The opponents [were] quite a strange grouping of bedfellows,” said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner and director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jones said that if utilities remain forced to shoulder the financial liabilities for wildfires, they will be incentivized to invest in grid safety and vegetation management. Shifting more of the burden to insurers, he said, will put more stress on fire survivors, local taxpayers and insurance policyholders. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jones said that if utilities remain forced to shoulder the financial liabilities for wildfires, they will be incentivized to invest in grid safety and vegetation management. Shifting more of the burden to insurers, he said, will put more stress on fire survivors, local taxpayers and insurance policyholders. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Legislative rules prevent changes from being made to bills for 72 hours before a final vote. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Legislative rules prevent changes from being made to bills for 72 hours before a final vote. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sen. Roger Niello, R–Fair Oaks, the Republican leader-elect, questioned whether three days was enough time for lawmakers to digest complex changes to wildfire rules. For the second consecutive year, lawmakers will be voting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055461/california-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deals-on-climate-energy\">consequential energy legislation\u003c/a> in the waning moments of the session.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Sen. Roger Niello, R–Fair Oaks, the Republican leader-elect, questioned whether three days was enough time for lawmakers to digest complex changes to wildfire rules. For the second consecutive year, lawmakers will be voting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055461/california-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deals-on-climate-energy\">consequential energy legislation\u003c/a> in the waning moments of the session.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’ve raised concerns before about major policy being pushed through at the last minute without public input,” Niello said in a statement. “I am committed to working with the next administration to craft financially sound solutions and double down on wildfire mitigation and prevention efforts.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I’ve raised concerns before about major policy being pushed through at the last minute without public input,” Niello said in a statement. “I am committed to working with the next administration to craft financially sound solutions and double down on wildfire mitigation and prevention efforts.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Why did Newsom choose to close the final legislative session of his career with a complicated battle involving utilities, insurance companies and trial attorneys — all political heavyweights at the Capitol?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Why did Newsom choose to close the final legislative session of his career with a complicated battle involving utilities, insurance companies and trial attorneys — all political heavyweights at the Capitol?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Just weeks after Newsom took office in early 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy. The utility giant was facing tens of billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities after its equipment sparked the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise and left 85 people dead. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Just weeks after Newsom took office in early 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy. The utility giant was facing tens of billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities after its equipment sparked the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise and left 85 people dead. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The company lacked sufficient cash, held inadequate wildfire insurance and ultimately suffered a credit crisis. As the extent of its liabilities became clear, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11716710/ratings-service-slashes-pge-credit-to-junk-status\">credit rating agencies downgraded PG&E\u003c/a> so that the value of its debt became almost worthless. It couldn’t get access to lines of short-term credit, so it couldn’t function day to day. It declared bankruptcy to halt the active lawsuits, pause servicing its debt and regroup. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The company lacked sufficient cash, held inadequate wildfire insurance and ultimately suffered a credit crisis. As the extent of its liabilities became clear, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11716710/ratings-service-slashes-pge-credit-to-junk-status\">credit rating agencies downgraded PG&E\u003c/a> so that the value of its debt became almost worthless. It couldn’t get access to lines of short-term credit, so it couldn’t function day to day. It declared bankruptcy to halt the active lawsuits, pause servicing its debt and regroup. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“He had a baptism by fire, so to speak, when he was elected right before the massive and deadly fires in Northern California,” said Becker, a longtime Newsom ally. “I think he feels a real obligation and responsibility to leave the state better than when he found it.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“He had a baptism by fire, so to speak, when he was elected right before the massive and deadly fires in Northern California,” said Becker, a longtime Newsom ally. “I think he feels a real obligation and responsibility to leave the state better than when he found it.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, Newsom and the Legislature designated $21 billion — half from utility shareholders, half from ratepayers — for a fund to compensate victims of fires sparked by utility equipment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, Newsom and the Legislature designated $21 billion — half from utility shareholders, half from ratepayers — for a fund to compensate victims of fires sparked by utility equipment. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It was designed as a long-term safety net, but the massive claims stemming from the Los Angeles fires in early 2025 threatened to drain the fund entirely. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>It was designed as a long-term safety net, but the massive claims stemming from the Los Angeles fires in early 2025 threatened to drain the fund entirely. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Legislature replenished it with an additional $18 billion last summer, but another catastrophic fire could again threaten the solvency of the fund, providing the governor practical motivations for pursuing this deal. While the legislative session will end on Monday, Newsom’s final term runs through the fall months that constitute the heart of California’s modern wildfire season.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Legislature replenished it with an additional $18 billion last summer, but another catastrophic fire could again threaten the solvency of the fund, providing the governor practical motivations for pursuing this deal. While the legislative session will end on Monday, Newsom’s final term runs through the fall months that constitute the heart of California’s modern wildfire season.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That means another disaster could leave Newsom with a utility hurtling toward bankruptcy just as he leaves office — and prepares for an expected run for president.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>That means another disaster could leave Newsom with a utility hurtling toward bankruptcy just as he leaves office — and prepares for an expected run for president.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“He’s concerned about, ‘Hey, one big fire could take that [fund] out,’” Becker said. “Then what happens?” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“He’s concerned about, ‘Hey, one big fire could take that [fund] out,’” Becker said. “Then what happens?” \u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Negotiations pitted California utilities against insurers in a fight over who pays after a damaging wildfire. The deal fell short of Newsom’s aims to limit utilities’ liability.",
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"title": "Newsom, Lawmakers Reach Last-Minute Deal on Wildfire Fallout | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Seeking to lower California’s soaring electricity rates and improve payouts to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> survivors, Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> and legislative leaders late Friday reached an eleventh-hour deal on changes to rules around wildfire liability.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the heart of the deal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12097383/newsoms-wildfire-gamble-and-two-voting-court-cases\">the question of who pays\u003c/a> when utility-owned equipment sparks a damaging wildfire — costs that have ballooned into the tens of billions of dollars in recent fire disasters. The plan, which comes after months of largely closed-door negotiations, seeks to protect ratepayers by stopping hedge funds from extracting massive payouts from utilities in the wake of wildfires, while also restricting utility executives from receiving bonuses when their equipment causes a fire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation for victims and survivors of wildfires that we’ve ever done,” state Sen. Josh Becker, D–Menlo Park, told KQED on Saturday. “Getting them paid fairly and quickly, limiting the role of Wall Street in profiting off of these fires [and] holding utilities accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The legislation authored by Becker, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB492\">Senate Bill 492\u003c/a>, would also create a program to speed up the payment of claims for wildfire survivors. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the agreement fell short of Newsom’s original aim: to prevent insurance companies from suing utilities to recover the damages that insurers pay out to fire victims. That process, known as subrogation, has helped drive up the cost of electricity bills by adding massive liability costs to power companies. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The charred remains of two cars after a fire passed by the area.\" class=\"wp-image-11882560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/GettyImages-1234187575-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Power lines lay on the smoldering remains of vehicles during the Dixie Fire in an unincorporated area of Plumas County on July 25, 2021. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, lawmakers are hoping to restrict insurance companies from selling their right to sue to private equity firms, which under the current system can purchase claims at a discount and drive up payout costs through pricey litigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is all real progress for future fire survivors,” Newsom said in a statement on Saturday. “Nonetheless, this system needs full structural reform — not a partial one.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The agreement will require a two-thirds vote in the Assembly and Senate as soon as Tuesday under an urgency clause that allows it to be voted on after Monday night’s scheduled close of California’s legislative session. For Newsom, it will bookend a tenure as governor that began in crisis in the wake of the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in the state’s modern history. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California law holds power companies, such as PG&E and Southern California Edison, responsible for the damage caused by their equipment — even without any finding of negligence, unlike other states. Liability from the 2018 Camp Fire pushed PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879943/a-year-after-pge-left-bankruptcy-spending-by-fire-victim-trust-remains-a-mystery\">to declare bankruptcy\u003c/a> the following January, just weeks after Newsom took office. Damages from the 2025 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076246/the-eaton-fire-ravaged-black-altadena-a-journalist-documents-its-resilience\">Eaton Fire in Altadena\u003c/a>, which was started by a SoCal Edison transmission line, could reach $45 billion. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the last decade, investor-owned utilities have spent billions to both shoulder wildfire liability and protect power lines from sparking future blazes. That spending has been passed along to California’s utility customers, who pay the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081882/san-francisco-has-been-trying-to-leave-pge-for-100-years-will-this-time-be-different\">second-highest electricity rates\u003c/a> in the nation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wildfire-related charges now add roughly $41 a month to the average PG&E bill and $27 a month for SoCal Edison customers, according to a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.cawildfirefund.com/sb-254-natural-catastrophe-resilience-study\">report released\u003c/a> this spring that served as a jumping-off point for the utility negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, the spending by power companies will not completely eliminate the risk of utility-sparked wildfires, said Meredith Fowlie, faculty director at UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That means there’s fire risk for people living in high-risk areas, close to power system infrastructure that they are not seeing in their insurance premiums,” Fowlie said. “We’re seeing them on our electricity bills.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While many California power customers, especially those in hotter inland areas, have few options in the face of escalating rates, Fowlie said homeowners can receive insurance discounts if they fire-proof their homes and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/08/19/nx-s1-5937926/california-wildfire-rules-zone-zero-vegetation\">increase the defensible space\u003c/a> around their property. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Shifting more of the risk onto homeowners and property owners in higher-risk areas does dial up the financial incentives to do more mitigation to reduce premiums via discounts,” she added. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several homes and mobile homes sit on a hillsides where grasses have been removed.\" class=\"wp-image-11955391\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS66844_230626-HousingNevadaCoWildfire-74-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A home in Nevada County that has created defensible space to help protect against damage due to wildfires on June 26, 2023. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But California’s insurance industry is in the midst of its own interwoven crisis. Wildfire losses have led many insurers to either stop renewing policies or leave the state — pushing residents in fire-prone areas onto \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094860/california-fair-plan-announces-29-1-rate-hike-for-homeowners-this-fall\">the FAIR Plan\u003c/a>, the state’s insurer of last resort. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Newsom’s original plan, meanwhile, was also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093430/la-fire-survivors-say-newsom-is-trying-to-help-utilities-reduce-their-wildfire-costs-again\">criticized by wildfire survivor groups\u003c/a> and trial attorneys — the latter group holding particular influence among Democrats in the Legislature who were wary of signing on to a deal that could be perceived as a utility bailout. Wildfire survivor groups took aim at elements of Newsom’s original proposal that would have limited some claims of noneconomic damages.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Survivors from across California came to Sacramento and asked our elected representatives to stand with the people whose homes, communities and lives have been devastated,” Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor’s Network, said in a statement on Saturday. “They listened. And in the face of extraordinary pressure from some of the most powerful interests in our state, they centered survivors and California families.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The deal Newsom reached with legislative leaders will prevent law firms from making unsolicited communications to survivors for 30 days after the disaster and cap attorney fees in insurance subrogation cases to 10% of the final settlement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The opponents [were] quite a strange grouping of bedfellows,” said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner and director of the Climate Risk Initiative at the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jones said that if utilities remain forced to shoulder the financial liabilities for wildfires, they will be incentivized to invest in grid safety and vegetation management. Shifting more of the burden to insurers, he said, will put more stress on fire survivors, local taxpayers and insurance policyholders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Legislative rules prevent changes from being made to bills for 72 hours before a final vote. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sen. Roger Niello, R–Fair Oaks, the Republican leader-elect, questioned whether three days was enough time for lawmakers to digest complex changes to wildfire rules. For the second consecutive year, lawmakers will be voting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055461/california-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deals-on-climate-energy\">consequential energy legislation\u003c/a> in the waning moments of the session.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’ve raised concerns before about major policy being pushed through at the last minute without public input,” Niello said in a statement. “I am committed to working with the next administration to craft financially sound solutions and double down on wildfire mitigation and prevention efforts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Why did Newsom choose to close the final legislative session of his career with a complicated battle involving utilities, insurance companies and trial attorneys — all political heavyweights at the Capitol?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just weeks after Newsom took office in early 2019, PG&E declared bankruptcy. The utility giant was facing tens of billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities after its equipment sparked the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise and left 85 people dead. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The company lacked sufficient cash, held inadequate wildfire insurance and ultimately suffered a credit crisis. As the extent of its liabilities became clear, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11716710/ratings-service-slashes-pge-credit-to-junk-status\">credit rating agencies downgraded PG&E\u003c/a> so that the value of its debt became almost worthless. It couldn’t get access to lines of short-term credit, so it couldn’t function day to day. It declared bankruptcy to halt the active lawsuits, pause servicing its debt and regroup. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He had a baptism by fire, so to speak, when he was elected right before the massive and deadly fires in Northern California,” said Becker, a longtime Newsom ally. “I think he feels a real obligation and responsibility to leave the state better than when he found it.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, Newsom and the Legislature designated $21 billion — half from utility shareholders, half from ratepayers — for a fund to compensate victims of fires sparked by utility equipment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It was designed as a long-term safety net, but the massive claims stemming from the Los Angeles fires in early 2025 threatened to drain the fund entirely. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Legislature replenished it with an additional $18 billion last summer, but another catastrophic fire could again threaten the solvency of the fund, providing the governor practical motivations for pursuing this deal. While the legislative session will end on Monday, Newsom’s final term runs through the fall months that constitute the heart of California’s modern wildfire season.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That means another disaster could leave Newsom with a utility hurtling toward bankruptcy just as he leaves office — and prepares for an expected run for president.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He’s concerned about, ‘Hey, one big fire could take that [fund] out,’” Becker said. “Then what happens?” \u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "splitting-with-state-party-san-francisco-democrats-oppose-billionaire-tax",
"title": "Splitting With State Party, San Francisco Democrats Oppose Billionaire Tax",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party has voted to oppose a proposed statewide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a>, marking a rare divergence from the California Democratic Party, which endorsed the November ballot measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 40 has emerged as a lightning rod among Democrats, with the state party narrowly voting to endorse it while prominent moderate Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have come out against it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wednesday’s vote came shortly after the majority-moderate San Francisco Democratic Party changed its bylaws earlier this summer to allow the local party to go against the state Democratic Party’s endorsements. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters have said Proposition 40 would provide a much-needed injection of cash to California’s healthcare system at a time when federal cuts to Medicare have impacted residents across the state and city of San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12088085\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signs reading “A Billionaire Tax Now” rest on chairs at a Billionaire Tax Now rally where Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to speak in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But opponents say it’s a misguided effort to tax the wealthy and could result in billionaires fleeing to other states.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One member in the audience fired back: “That’s why you lost to Trump twice.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 17-4 vote fell along moderate-progressive lines. The measure would create a one-time 5% tax on Californians with a net worth that exceeds $1 billion who lived in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The tax could generate about $100 billion and would be paid by roughly 200 billionaires, according to the campaign. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure has garnered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095116/california-billionaire-tax-has-strong-support-of-democratic-voters-new-poll-shows\">strong support\u003c/a> from likely Democratic voters in California, according to a recent UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Groups opposing Proposition 40 include Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Teachers Association.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California healthcare unions back the state billionaire tax and have received the support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Progressive members slammed their moderate colleagues for playing defense for billionaires, including powerful tech donors who have helped elect members of the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian man in a blue suit holding a microphone and speaking with protesters behind him in support of gig workers.\" class=\"wp-image-11932792\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar, representing District 4, at a rally supporting the creation of a statewide union of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig workers on Oct. 12, 2022. (Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A no vote on Proposition 40 “would reinforce the public perception that our local Democratic Party is more responsive to the billionaire interest who spent heavily to elect the current majority than healthcare workers and working families,” former Supervisor Gordon Mar said. “The federal healthcare cuts facing California are not minor … Prop. 40 is the only proposal before voters and on the table more generally that approaches the scale of this crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Party members Emma Hare and Eric Kingsbury put forward a resolution calling for a national wealth tax, which Newsom has also proposed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12088085\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signs reading “A Billionaire Tax Now” rest on chairs at a Billionaire Tax Now rally where Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to speak in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One member in the audience fired back: “That’s why you lost to Trump twice.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The 17-4 vote fell along moderate-progressive lines. The measure would create a one-time 5% tax on Californians with a net worth that exceeds $1 billion who lived in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The tax could generate about $100 billion and would be paid by roughly 200 billionaires, according to the campaign. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure has garnered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095116/california-billionaire-tax-has-strong-support-of-democratic-voters-new-poll-shows\">strong support\u003c/a> from likely Democratic voters in California, according to a recent UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Groups opposing Proposition 40 include Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Teachers Association.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California healthcare unions back the state billionaire tax and have received the support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Progressive members slammed their moderate colleagues for playing defense for billionaires, including powerful tech donors who have helped elect members of the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n",
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian man in a blue suit holding a microphone and speaking with protesters behind him in support of gig workers.\" class=\"wp-image-11932792\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar, representing District 4, at a rally supporting the creation of a statewide union of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig workers on Oct. 12, 2022.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian man in a blue suit holding a microphone and speaking with protesters behind him in support of gig workers.\" class=\"wp-image-11932792\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar, representing District 4, at a rally supporting the creation of a statewide union of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig workers on Oct. 12, 2022.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A no vote on Proposition 40 “would reinforce the public perception that our local Democratic Party is more responsive to the billionaire interest who spent heavily to elect the current majority than healthcare workers and working families,” former Supervisor Gordon Mar said. “The federal healthcare cuts facing California are not minor … Prop. 40 is the only proposal before voters and on the table more generally that approaches the scale of this crisis.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Party members Emma Hare and Eric Kingsbury put forward a resolution calling for a national wealth tax, which Newsom has also proposed. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "The state’s Democratic leaders are also divided on Proposition 40, with Gov. Gavin Newsom and gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra opposing the measure.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Democratic Party has voted to oppose a proposed statewide \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">billionaire tax\u003c/a>, marking a rare divergence from the California Democratic Party, which endorsed the November ballot measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 40 has emerged as a lightning rod among Democrats, with the state party narrowly voting to endorse it while prominent moderate Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have come out against it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Wednesday’s vote came shortly after the majority-moderate San Francisco Democratic Party changed its bylaws earlier this summer to allow the local party to go against the state Democratic Party’s endorsements. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Supporters have said Proposition 40 would provide a much-needed injection of cash to California’s healthcare system at a time when federal cuts to Medicare have impacted residents across the state and city of San Francisco. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12088085\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/021826-Billionaires-Tax-GETTY-CM-01-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Signs reading “A Billionaire Tax Now” rest on chairs at a Billionaire Tax Now rally where Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to speak in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But opponents say it’s a misguided effort to tax the wealthy and could result in billionaires fleeing to other states.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Passing a billionaire tax in California is not a long-term viable solution to providing affordable healthcare,” member Lanier Coles said. “We need \u003cem>federal\u003c/em> tax reform to address the growing inequities and concentration of wealth.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One member in the audience fired back: “That’s why you lost to Trump twice.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The 17-4 vote fell along moderate-progressive lines. The measure would create a one-time 5% tax on Californians with a net worth that exceeds $1 billion who lived in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The tax could generate about $100 billion and would be paid by roughly 200 billionaires, according to the campaign. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure has garnered \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12095116/california-billionaire-tax-has-strong-support-of-democratic-voters-new-poll-shows\">strong support\u003c/a> from likely Democratic voters in California, according to a recent UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the state’s Democratic leaders are divided on the measure. In addition to the local and state Democratic Party split, Newsom and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for governor, have both opposed Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Opponents of the measure say the one-time tax would not produce the long-term funding needed to backfill healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Groups opposing Proposition 40 include Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Teachers Association.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>California healthcare unions back the state billionaire tax and have received the support of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents parts of Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Working families who are barely holding on here in San Francisco and across the state are paying their taxes,” San Francisco Democratic Party member Peter Gallotta said. “Billionaires making ungodly sums of money with more than they can spend in their lifetimes can afford to contribute more.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Progressive members slammed their moderate colleagues for playing defense for billionaires, including powerful tech donors who have helped elect members of the local Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian man in a blue suit holding a microphone and speaking with protesters behind him in support of gig workers.\" class=\"wp-image-11932792\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/RS59360_IMG_5938-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar, representing District 4, at a rally supporting the creation of a statewide union of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other gig workers on Oct. 12, 2022. (Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A no vote on Proposition 40 “would reinforce the public perception that our local Democratic Party is more responsive to the billionaire interest who spent heavily to elect the current majority than healthcare workers and working families,” former Supervisor Gordon Mar said. “The federal healthcare cuts facing California are not minor … Prop. 40 is the only proposal before voters and on the table more generally that approaches the scale of this crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Party members Emma Hare and Eric Kingsbury put forward a resolution calling for a national wealth tax, which Newsom has also proposed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“American government increasingly answers to an oligarchy of a few hundred households rather than to the more than three hundred million Americans it exists to serve,” reads the resolution, co-sponsored by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and party member Joe Sangirardi. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If wealthy people know how to do anything really well, it’s to get through loopholes, and I think this measure has a lot of loopholes,” Hare said. “I think we can do better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"headTitle": "Sex Abuse Survivors and Broke School Districts at Odds in Legislature’s Final Days | 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>\u003ca href=\"https://kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> legislators this week are rushing to broker a compromise on child sexual assault lawsuits before the Legislature finishes for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are faced with the unenviable task of figuring out how to give justice to survivors of child sexual assault by school or county employees without bankrupting the cash-strapped school districts and local governments responsible for compensating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Counties and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2026/02/sex-abuse-california-2/\">school districts\u003c/a> have been flooded with lawsuits from survivors since the Legislature essentially waived any statute of limitations for those cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting damage payments and insurance premium hikes have cost schools and local governments billions, depleting their reserves and blowing holes in their budgets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final week of the 2026 legislative session, lobbyists for schools and counties are pushing Senate and Assembly leaders to strike a last-minute deal that would allow survivors to be compensated for past harms while simultaneously stewarding taxpayer dollars and protecting local agencies from going bankrupt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082992\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082992\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children at Mission Kids Preschool in San Francisco raise their hands to ask Senator Alex Padilla a question on June 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An attempt last year to find common ground collapsed in the final hours of the legislative session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Victims’ advocacy groups fiercely oppose any changes that would make it more difficult for survivors to receive compensation and have been rallying support to keep the law as it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s impossible to choose between the future education of California students and meeting the needs for survivors,” said Dr. Debra Schade, president of the California School Boards Association, one of the groups pushing for a deal. “But if we don’t do something soon, the future of our public school system in California is at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A difficult needle to thread’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Counties and school districts want to be able to cap how much money each survivor could seek in damages, as well as require a greater amount of evidence from victims who wait more than 20 years to file a claim. But both of those proposals are nonstarters with survivor advocates, who are livid that the government would consider putting a “price tag” on someone’s sexual abuse. They say it’s also unreasonable to expect that children and parents would keep documentation that could prove they were assaulted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A June draft proposal from Assembly Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>’s office, obtained by CalMatters, showed that Assembly leaders were at least considering caps on damages and a higher threshold for evidence in older cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades-old claims are much more likely to involve perpetrators and witnesses who are dead, as well as missing or damaged records. Without access to that evidence, counties and schools say they’re at an unfair disadvantage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12095609\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1998px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12095609\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students arrive at Jose Ortega Elementary School for the first day of their school year on August 17, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Miles Cull/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While counties and school districts say they agree victims should be able to seek just compensation for the harms they’ve suffered, public entities are responsible for “safeguarding the resources that we are entrusted with” to help current students and vulnerable populations, said Faith Borges, a lobbyist for local government insurance pools that are called joint powers authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a difficult needle to thread,” Borges said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Victims’ groups argue that the government has vast resources at its disposal to defend itself — including staff attorneys, researchers and archives of public documents — whereas most survivors and their families can only afford litigation with a plaintiff’s attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a towering immorality to make the traumatized survivors of child rape, beatings, and sex abuse pay the bills for our negligence,” said Ed Howard, senior attorney for the Children’s Advocacy Institute, at a news conference in Sacramento.[aside postID=news_12094994 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260722-FAMILYSEPARATION-03-BL-KQED.jpg']“It is our fault what happened to them. Not theirs,” Howard said. “That is grotesque that a child would have to have a higher burden of proof to get compensation for crimes committed to them by people that we selected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The politically powerful \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/organizations/-17#year%5B%5D=2025\">Consumer Attorneys of California\u003c/a>, which has contributed at least $350,000 to California lawmakers this legislative session, is also part of the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzie, a 25-year-old survivor who asked to be identified by her first name, hopes the financial pain will force school districts and counties to make changes to protect children under their care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said seeking justice through the courts required her to confront her abuser — her fourth grade teacher — and take on an army of attorneys for the Mountainview School District who sought to discredit her allegations that the teacher molested and groomed her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just became super suicidal like, when I was only eight or nine,” Suzie said. “I couldn’t tell my parents that I was scared of going to school, so I was like, at such a young age, the bad guy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After she and five other students sued the district, a jury last April \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-16/los-angeles-jury-awards-48-million-to-students-abused-by-teacher-at-el-monte-school\">awarded them\u003c/a> a $48 million verdict, with the district responsible for just over $36 million and the teacher responsible for the remainder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wish a lot of things wouldn’t have happened to me,” Suzie said. “But also, with the financial compensation, there’s going to be, maybe, room for growth for (the district). And a definite change. Because it cannot happen again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Previous compromise attempt collapsed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An effort to strike a deal last year, brokered by Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/john-laird-3108\">John Laird\u003c/a>, a Santa Cruz Democrat, fell apart at the last minute. Counties and school districts were upset that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb577\">Senate Bill 577\u003c/a> didn’t include caps on how much money victims could seek in damages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Government agencies say a compensation limit is the only way to achieve meaningful change, but the concept infuriates survivor groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Survivors were also angry that that proposal sought to ban any further claims from survivors of sex abuse at one Los Angeles County juvenile detention facility, MacLaren Children’s Center, which permanently closed in 2003.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12086449\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12086449\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1391\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187-1536x1079.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chalk art decorates pavement outside of an old bus operating as a preschool at the Aspire Monarch Academy school in Oakland, California, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. \u003ccite>(Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The county approved \u003ca href=\"https://lacounty.gov/2025/04/04/la-county-reaches-4-billion-tentative-settlement-in-thousands-of-sexual-abuse-cases/\">a $4 billion settlement \u003c/a>last April to resolve more than 6,800 child sex abuse cases, some of which date to 1959.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivas shelved the bill in the hope that the two sides could continue negotiating and hash out a more comprehensive deal in 2026, according to people familiar with the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, legislative leaders are split along the same fault lines. The speaker’s office wants to ensure the public entities’ financial health and has been open to discussions about damage caps, while Senate President Pro Tem \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/monique-limon-13069\">Monique Limón\u003c/a> and her staff insist caps would hamper survivors’ rights, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Limón in a statement said the Senate “remains committed to maintaining access to justice for all survivors” while also recognizing the financial challenges of public entities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the two leaders have met regularly for weeks, and sources familiar with the negotiations say the two sides are very close to a compromise, no deal has emerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Flood of lawsuits squeezes tight budgets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcmat.org/publicationsreports/child-sexual-assault-fiscal-implications-report.pdf\">a 2024 Legislature-mandated report\u003c/a>, thousands of suits have been filed since Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB218\">Assembly Bill 218\u003c/a> in 2019, raising the age for victims to report past abuse and file lawsuits from 26 to 40 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law also allows people who discover as adults that they were sexually abused as children five years to file a claim, up from the previous three years, and created a three-year window during which survivors could revive past claims that expired due to the previous statute of limitations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flood of claims has resulted in settlements and jury verdicts that are projected to cost California school districts up to $3 billion. Counties face liabilities several times those of school districts, according to the 2024 state report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12089327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12089327\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1374\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty-1536x1055.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom walks with students from Clinton Elementary School to announce support for literacy with The Golden State Literacy Plan at Clinton Elementary School in Compton on June 5, 2025. The governor was joined by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and other education officials. \u003ccite>(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County alone estimated that its payouts reach $3 billion to resolve roughly 3,000 claims of sexual abuse that occurred in the county’s foster homes, youth shelters and probation camps and halls dating to the 1950s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some counties and school districts had private insurance to help cover their liabilities, the state’s insurance crisis in the 1970s forced the vast majority of them to embrace the alternate, self-run joint-powers authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike private insurance companies, which have large stores of capital in case of unexpected costs, public entities pay their premiums with taxpayer dollars.[aside postID=news_12096327 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260824-Animal-Rescue-Presser-ZF-01-KQED.jpg']The sheer volume of cases filed since 2019 has sent premiums skyrocketing, which disproportionately hurts smaller rural school districts and counties and those with few or no claims against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several counties and school districts say they’ve had to cut staff and defer maintenance, such as replacing schools’ aging air conditioning, to afford their insurance payments as well as cover the cost of claims for harms that took place when the district or county didn’t have insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Dill, an associate superintendent for the Poway Unified School District, said his district has been forced to cut $10 million a year from its budget over the last three years, mostly from programming, staff and maintenance because of a requirement to set aside money for underinsured or uninsured claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has dedicated $7.5 million — the equivalent of 75 teachers’ salaries and benefits — in premiums and contributions to its self-insurance fund over the last four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very real that today’s students are suffering from a lack of services that could otherwise be provided if we could use those general fund dollars to put back into the classroom,” Dill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While child sexual assault cases are at the heart of legislative negotiations, advocates for the school districts and counties are pushing for the changes to apply to all civil liability cases brought against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Survivors decry backroom dealing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Survivor advocates say legislative leaders are cutting out crucial voices and public input by trying to fast-track a deal at the last minute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a bill had gone through the traditional process, victims could have testified before committees about their abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re having to ask survivors to speak into a microphone and hope that the folks who are making the decisions in the building hear our voices,” said Jennifer Rodriguez, executive director of the Youth Law Center, at the news conference. “That’s not a democratic process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081808\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play in an outdoor area at Rise Vallejo, an early education center, in Vallejo on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Howard, the senior attorney at Children’s Advocacy Institute, acknowledged that the topic of childhood sexual abuse is thorny and any measure that could alter the existing law “may not have survived a more thorough scrutiny of the regular bill process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators have until midnight on Aug. 31 to wrap up lawmaking for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>For the record: This story has been corrected to clarify that the survivors groups have not received any funding from the Consumer Attorneys of California.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/08/california-legislature-child-sex-abuse-claims/\">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": " State lawmakers are struggling to balance counties’ and schools’ financial health with the incalculable cost of survivors’ trauma.",
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"title": "Sex Abuse Survivors and Broke School Districts at Odds in Legislature’s Final Days | 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>\u003ca href=\"https://kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> legislators this week are rushing to broker a compromise on child sexual assault lawsuits before the Legislature finishes for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are faced with the unenviable task of figuring out how to give justice to survivors of child sexual assault by school or county employees without bankrupting the cash-strapped school districts and local governments responsible for compensating them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Counties and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/education/2026/02/sex-abuse-california-2/\">school districts\u003c/a> have been flooded with lawsuits from survivors since the Legislature essentially waived any statute of limitations for those cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting damage payments and insurance premium hikes have cost schools and local governments billions, depleting their reserves and blowing holes in their budgets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final week of the 2026 legislative session, lobbyists for schools and counties are pushing Senate and Assembly leaders to strike a last-minute deal that would allow survivors to be compensated for past harms while simultaneously stewarding taxpayer dollars and protecting local agencies from going bankrupt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12082992\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12082992\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/020_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children at Mission Kids Preschool in San Francisco raise their hands to ask Senator Alex Padilla a question on June 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An attempt last year to find common ground collapsed in the final hours of the legislative session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Victims’ advocacy groups fiercely oppose any changes that would make it more difficult for survivors to receive compensation and have been rallying support to keep the law as it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s impossible to choose between the future education of California students and meeting the needs for survivors,” said Dr. Debra Schade, president of the California School Boards Association, one of the groups pushing for a deal. “But if we don’t do something soon, the future of our public school system in California is at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘A difficult needle to thread’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Counties and school districts want to be able to cap how much money each survivor could seek in damages, as well as require a greater amount of evidence from victims who wait more than 20 years to file a claim. But both of those proposals are nonstarters with survivor advocates, who are livid that the government would consider putting a “price tag” on someone’s sexual abuse. They say it’s also unreasonable to expect that children and parents would keep documentation that could prove they were assaulted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A June draft proposal from Assembly Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>’s office, obtained by CalMatters, showed that Assembly leaders were at least considering caps on damages and a higher threshold for evidence in older cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades-old claims are much more likely to involve perpetrators and witnesses who are dead, as well as missing or damaged records. Without access to that evidence, counties and schools say they’re at an unfair disadvantage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12095609\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1998px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12095609\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/081726-SFUSDFirstDay-20-MC_qed-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students arrive at Jose Ortega Elementary School for the first day of their school year on August 17, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Miles Cull/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While counties and school districts say they agree victims should be able to seek just compensation for the harms they’ve suffered, public entities are responsible for “safeguarding the resources that we are entrusted with” to help current students and vulnerable populations, said Faith Borges, a lobbyist for local government insurance pools that are called joint powers authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a difficult needle to thread,” Borges said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Victims’ groups argue that the government has vast resources at its disposal to defend itself — including staff attorneys, researchers and archives of public documents — whereas most survivors and their families can only afford litigation with a plaintiff’s attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a towering immorality to make the traumatized survivors of child rape, beatings, and sex abuse pay the bills for our negligence,” said Ed Howard, senior attorney for the Children’s Advocacy Institute, at a news conference in Sacramento.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It is our fault what happened to them. Not theirs,” Howard said. “That is grotesque that a child would have to have a higher burden of proof to get compensation for crimes committed to them by people that we selected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The politically powerful \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/organizations/-17#year%5B%5D=2025\">Consumer Attorneys of California\u003c/a>, which has contributed at least $350,000 to California lawmakers this legislative session, is also part of the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzie, a 25-year-old survivor who asked to be identified by her first name, hopes the financial pain will force school districts and counties to make changes to protect children under their care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said seeking justice through the courts required her to confront her abuser — her fourth grade teacher — and take on an army of attorneys for the Mountainview School District who sought to discredit her allegations that the teacher molested and groomed her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just became super suicidal like, when I was only eight or nine,” Suzie said. “I couldn’t tell my parents that I was scared of going to school, so I was like, at such a young age, the bad guy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After she and five other students sued the district, a jury last April \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-16/los-angeles-jury-awards-48-million-to-students-abused-by-teacher-at-el-monte-school\">awarded them\u003c/a> a $48 million verdict, with the district responsible for just over $36 million and the teacher responsible for the remainder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wish a lot of things wouldn’t have happened to me,” Suzie said. “But also, with the financial compensation, there’s going to be, maybe, room for growth for (the district). And a definite change. Because it cannot happen again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Previous compromise attempt collapsed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An effort to strike a deal last year, brokered by Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/john-laird-3108\">John Laird\u003c/a>, a Santa Cruz Democrat, fell apart at the last minute. Counties and school districts were upset that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb577\">Senate Bill 577\u003c/a> didn’t include caps on how much money victims could seek in damages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Government agencies say a compensation limit is the only way to achieve meaningful change, but the concept infuriates survivor groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Survivors were also angry that that proposal sought to ban any further claims from survivors of sex abuse at one Los Angeles County juvenile detention facility, MacLaren Children’s Center, which permanently closed in 2003.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12086449\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12086449\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1391\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GettyImages-1408498187-1536x1079.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chalk art decorates pavement outside of an old bus operating as a preschool at the Aspire Monarch Academy school in Oakland, California, on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. \u003ccite>(Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The county approved \u003ca href=\"https://lacounty.gov/2025/04/04/la-county-reaches-4-billion-tentative-settlement-in-thousands-of-sexual-abuse-cases/\">a $4 billion settlement \u003c/a>last April to resolve more than 6,800 child sex abuse cases, some of which date to 1959.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivas shelved the bill in the hope that the two sides could continue negotiating and hash out a more comprehensive deal in 2026, according to people familiar with the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, legislative leaders are split along the same fault lines. The speaker’s office wants to ensure the public entities’ financial health and has been open to discussions about damage caps, while Senate President Pro Tem \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/monique-limon-13069\">Monique Limón\u003c/a> and her staff insist caps would hamper survivors’ rights, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Limón in a statement said the Senate “remains committed to maintaining access to justice for all survivors” while also recognizing the financial challenges of public entities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the two leaders have met regularly for weeks, and sources familiar with the negotiations say the two sides are very close to a compromise, no deal has emerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Flood of lawsuits squeezes tight budgets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcmat.org/publicationsreports/child-sexual-assault-fiscal-implications-report.pdf\">a 2024 Legislature-mandated report\u003c/a>, thousands of suits have been filed since Gov. Gavin Newsom signed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB218\">Assembly Bill 218\u003c/a> in 2019, raising the age for victims to report past abuse and file lawsuits from 26 to 40 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law also allows people who discover as adults that they were sexually abused as children five years to file a claim, up from the previous three years, and created a three-year window during which survivors could revive past claims that expired due to the previous statute of limitations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flood of claims has resulted in settlements and jury verdicts that are projected to cost California school districts up to $3 billion. Counties face liabilities several times those of school districts, according to the 2024 state report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12089327\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12089327\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1374\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/GavinNewsomEducationGetty-1536x1055.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom walks with students from Clinton Elementary School to announce support for literacy with The Golden State Literacy Plan at Clinton Elementary School in Compton on June 5, 2025. The governor was joined by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and other education officials. \u003ccite>(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County alone estimated that its payouts reach $3 billion to resolve roughly 3,000 claims of sexual abuse that occurred in the county’s foster homes, youth shelters and probation camps and halls dating to the 1950s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some counties and school districts had private insurance to help cover their liabilities, the state’s insurance crisis in the 1970s forced the vast majority of them to embrace the alternate, self-run joint-powers authorities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike private insurance companies, which have large stores of capital in case of unexpected costs, public entities pay their premiums with taxpayer dollars.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The sheer volume of cases filed since 2019 has sent premiums skyrocketing, which disproportionately hurts smaller rural school districts and counties and those with few or no claims against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several counties and school districts say they’ve had to cut staff and defer maintenance, such as replacing schools’ aging air conditioning, to afford their insurance payments as well as cover the cost of claims for harms that took place when the district or county didn’t have insurance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Dill, an associate superintendent for the Poway Unified School District, said his district has been forced to cut $10 million a year from its budget over the last three years, mostly from programming, staff and maintenance because of a requirement to set aside money for underinsured or uninsured claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district has dedicated $7.5 million — the equivalent of 75 teachers’ salaries and benefits — in premiums and contributions to its self-insurance fund over the last four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is very real that today’s students are suffering from a lack of services that could otherwise be provided if we could use those general fund dollars to put back into the classroom,” Dill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While child sexual assault cases are at the heart of legislative negotiations, advocates for the school districts and counties are pushing for the changes to apply to all civil liability cases brought against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Survivors decry backroom dealing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Survivor advocates say legislative leaders are cutting out crucial voices and public input by trying to fast-track a deal at the last minute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If a bill had gone through the traditional process, victims could have testified before committees about their abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re having to ask survivors to speak into a microphone and hope that the folks who are making the decisions in the building hear our voices,” said Jennifer Rodriguez, executive director of the Youth Law Center, at the news conference. “That’s not a democratic process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081808\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/260428-VallejoChildCare-37-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play in an outdoor area at Rise Vallejo, an early education center, in Vallejo on April 28, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Howard, the senior attorney at Children’s Advocacy Institute, acknowledged that the topic of childhood sexual abuse is thorny and any measure that could alter the existing law “may not have survived a more thorough scrutiny of the regular bill process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legislators have until midnight on Aug. 31 to wrap up lawmaking for the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>For the record: This story has been corrected to clarify that the survivors groups have not received any funding from the Consumer Attorneys of California.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/08/california-legislature-child-sex-abuse-claims/\">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": "republican-lawmaker-wants-doj-to-block-new-protections-for-immigration-nonprofit-workers",
"title": "Republican Lawmaker Wants DOJ to Block New Protections for Immigration Nonprofit Workers",
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"headTitle": "Republican Lawmaker Wants DOJ to Block New Protections for Immigration Nonprofit Workers | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A Republican state lawmaker is asking the federal Department of Justice to put an end to a newly signed California bill from an East Bay Assembly member that extends harassment protections to \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/tag/immigration\">immigration \u003c/a>nonprofit workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, called on the DOJ’s Office of Civil Rights to block the implementation of Assembly Bill 2624 due to alleged violations of the First Amendment a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he signed the bill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>DeMaio calls it the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” after the conservative influencer who went viral following videos of him claiming to expose fraud at Somali daycare centers in Minnesota. In March, Shirley then said he \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxla.com/news/nick-shirley-california-daycare-fraud-dr-oz-hospice\">found \u003c/a>millions in fraud in California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076630\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Democratic Assemblymember Mia Bonta speaks during a meeting of the California State Assembly at the California State Capitol on Aug. 21, 2025, in Sacramento, California. Bonta introduced AB 2624 and says DeMaio is using the bill as “a vehicle to demonize immigrants.” (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>DeMaio and other Republicans have claimed that some language in the law would bar those like Shirley from uncovering alleged wrongdoing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Instead of fixing rampant waste, fraud, and abuse, they’re trying to punish the people exposing it — and they are blatantly violating our First Amendment freedom of speech rights,” DeMaio said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The provision DeMaio points to allows a program participant or organization protected by the new law to make a written demand not to publicly share or disclose their personal information or image. If that request is not followed, the individual or group violating that provision can be fined thousands of dollars. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To face those consequences, alleged violators have to have the specific intent to incite great bodily harm or put someone in fear for their personal safety, according to the law’s language. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That always seems to get lost in the sauce of the crazy talk of Mr. DeMaio and his kind,” Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, who introduced the bill, told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law itself expands the state’s Safe at Home program that safeguards addresses of reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare workers. Protections for gender-affirming healthcare workers were made law under AB 82 and went into effect this year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Our Duty group, which said it “provides support for parents with a child who thinks they are transgender,” \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab82\">argued \u003c/a>that those protections also violated the First Amendment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Jim Wagstaffe, a First Amendment lawyer, said that Free Speech rights give way to protections against violence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s no First Amendment right to threaten somebody or to stalk them or to otherwise use private information,” Wagstaffe said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bonta said that’s why she brought this legislation forward.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The amount of hate and harassment that our immigrant service providers are experiencing right now because they are supporting our immigrant community is really at the heart of this bill,” Bonta said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Somali daycare workers in Southern California reported earlier this year being harassed by those who set out to expose similar alleged fraud as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662600/nick-shirley-minnesota-daycare-fraud\">that in Minnesota\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.udw.org/press-releases/udw-protects-and-defends-somali-child-care-providers-amid-harassment-and-intimidation/\">according to the United Domestic Workers\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, told lawmakers at an assembly committee that her organization had experienced threats of violence — some where she was named personally. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Neither the DOJ nor DeMaio responded to a request for comment for this story. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2027. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/psibulo\">\u003cem>Paula Sibulo\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>DeMaio calls it the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” after the conservative influencer who went viral following videos of him claiming to expose fraud at Somali daycare centers in Minnesota. In March, Shirley then said he \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxla.com/news/nick-shirley-california-daycare-fraud-dr-oz-hospice\">found \u003c/a>millions in fraud in California.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Instead of fixing rampant waste, fraud, and abuse, they’re trying to punish the people exposing it — and they are blatantly violating our First Amendment freedom of speech rights,” DeMaio said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The provision DeMaio points to allows a program participant or organization protected by the new law to make a written demand not to publicly share or disclose their personal information or image. If that request is not followed, the individual or group violating that provision can be fined thousands of dollars. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The law itself expands the state’s Safe at Home program that safeguards addresses of reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare workers. Protections for gender-affirming healthcare workers were made law under AB 82 and went into effect this year. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Our Duty group, which said it “provides support for parents with a child who thinks they are transgender,” \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab82\">argued \u003c/a>that those protections also violated the First Amendment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bonta said that’s why she brought this legislation forward.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The amount of hate and harassment that our immigrant service providers are experiencing right now because they are supporting our immigrant community is really at the heart of this bill,” Bonta said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Somali daycare workers in Southern California reported earlier this year being harassed by those who set out to expose similar alleged fraud as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662600/nick-shirley-minnesota-daycare-fraud\">that in Minnesota\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.udw.org/press-releases/udw-protects-and-defends-somali-child-care-providers-amid-harassment-and-intimidation/\">according to the United Domestic Workers\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, told lawmakers at an assembly committee that her organization had experienced threats of violence — some where she was named personally. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Neither the DOJ nor DeMaio responded to a request for comment for this story. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/psibulo\">\u003cem>Paula Sibulo\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed East Bay Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s bill, which allows workers to have their addresses kept confidential, but another lawmaker says it violates the Constitution. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A Republican state lawmaker is asking the federal Department of Justice to put an end to a newly signed California bill from an East Bay Assembly member that extends harassment protections to \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/tag/immigration\">immigration \u003c/a>nonprofit workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, called on the DOJ’s Office of Civil Rights to block the implementation of Assembly Bill 2624 due to alleged violations of the First Amendment a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he signed the bill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>DeMaio calls it the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” after the conservative influencer who went viral following videos of him claiming to expose fraud at Somali daycare centers in Minnesota. In March, Shirley then said he \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxla.com/news/nick-shirley-california-daycare-fraud-dr-oz-hospice\">found \u003c/a>millions in fraud in California.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12076630\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/GettyImages-2231342596-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Democratic Assemblymember Mia Bonta speaks during a meeting of the California State Assembly at the California State Capitol on Aug. 21, 2025, in Sacramento, California. Bonta introduced AB 2624 and says DeMaio is using the bill as “a vehicle to demonize immigrants.” (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>DeMaio and other Republicans have claimed that some language in the law would bar those like Shirley from uncovering alleged wrongdoing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Instead of fixing rampant waste, fraud, and abuse, they’re trying to punish the people exposing it — and they are blatantly violating our First Amendment freedom of speech rights,” DeMaio said in a statement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The provision DeMaio points to allows a program participant or organization protected by the new law to make a written demand not to publicly share or disclose their personal information or image. If that request is not followed, the individual or group violating that provision can be fined thousands of dollars. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To face those consequences, alleged violators have to have the specific intent to incite great bodily harm or put someone in fear for their personal safety, according to the law’s language. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That always seems to get lost in the sauce of the crazy talk of Mr. DeMaio and his kind,” Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, who introduced the bill, told KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law itself expands the state’s Safe at Home program that safeguards addresses of reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare workers. Protections for gender-affirming healthcare workers were made law under AB 82 and went into effect this year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Our Duty group, which said it “provides support for parents with a child who thinks they are transgender,” \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab82\">argued \u003c/a>that those protections also violated the First Amendment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But Jim Wagstaffe, a First Amendment lawyer, said that Free Speech rights give way to protections against violence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s no First Amendment right to threaten somebody or to stalk them or to otherwise use private information,” Wagstaffe said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bonta said that’s why she brought this legislation forward.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The amount of hate and harassment that our immigrant service providers are experiencing right now because they are supporting our immigrant community is really at the heart of this bill,” Bonta said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Somali daycare workers in Southern California reported earlier this year being harassed by those who set out to expose similar alleged fraud as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5662600/nick-shirley-minnesota-daycare-fraud\">that in Minnesota\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.udw.org/press-releases/udw-protects-and-defends-somali-child-care-providers-amid-harassment-and-intimidation/\">according to the United Domestic Workers\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, told lawmakers at an assembly committee that her organization had experienced threats of violence — some where she was named personally. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Neither the DOJ nor DeMaio responded to a request for comment for this story. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The law goes into effect on Oct. 1, 2027. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/psibulo\">\u003cem>Paula Sibulo\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
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}
},
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"id": "bbc-world-service",
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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}
},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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},
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. 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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