California Policy and Politics Thursday

‘It’s killing everything.’ California’s truckers are buckling under country’s priciest diesel -- California’s diesel prices hit record highs near $7.75 per gallon — up 50% in one month and 35% above the national average — crushing trucking operations statewide. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/9/26

 

‘Revolution’ or ‘chaos’: The massive stakes if a Republican becomes California governor -- If conservative commentator Steve Hilton is elected California’s next governor, as President Trump wants, it would mark a “political revolution” for the liberal state, the candidate said. Kevin Rector in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/9/26

Conservative election group drove Republican sheriff’s ballot seizure, documents show -- Documents unsealed by the Riverside County Superior Court show that Sheriff Chad Bianco’s office credited a conservative election denial group’s disputed claims about the November 2025 statewide election as its justification for seizing 650,000 ballots, injecting the Republican gubernatorial candidate into the middle of California’s fight with the Trump administration over free and fair elections. Raheem Hosseini, Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Jeremy B. White Politico Grace Toohey and Hailey Branson-Potts in the Los Angeles Times$

California investigated a right-wing influencer’s hospice fraud claims. Here’s what it found -- California officials conducted a sweep of a Los Angeles office building as part of its continued efforts to push back against claims by right-wing influencers and President Trump. California agents said most of the businesses housed at the site can’t access state Medicaid funds, and argued that most potential fraud is happening at the federal level, which is under Trump’s purview. Sara DiNatale in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

SEIU pulls its endorsement of Scott Wiener, backs only Connie Chan in House race -- The California Service Employees International Union, with 750,000 members statewide, has pulled its endorsement of state Sen. Scott Wiener over his opposition to Proposition D, San Francisco’s “Overpaid CEO Act,” set to appear on the June 2 ballot. Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

Tom Steyer once managed $90M stake in firm now running CA ICE facility. ‘It was a mistake’ -- Under the management of Tom Steyer, a hedge fund called Farallon Capital Management invested almost $90 million in the company that today operates California’s largest immigration detention center located in Kern County. Erik Galicia in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/9/26

California billionaire tax is a no-brainer for progressive Democrats, right? Wrong -- The health care union behind the tax measure argues its plan is the only viable fix for federal funding cuts to Medi-Cal. But even some of the most liberal lawmakers and labor unions aren’t convinced yet. Maya C. Miller Calmatters -- 4/9/26

 

Bruce Springsteen’s comeback at Kia Forum is no victory lap. It’s a battle against Trump -- As the time approached 10:30 Tuesday night — nearly three hours after Bruce Springsteen had marched onstage at Inglewood’s Kia Forum alongside 18 of his musical comrades — the 76-year-old rock legend told the crowd he hadn’t intended to be there. Mikael Wood in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/9/26

Anti-war demonstrators march on Market Street in S.F. -- About 100 people gathered in downtown San Francisco Wednesday evening to demonstrate against the U.S. and Israel-led war in Iran. Lucy Hodgman, Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

ICE

Inside ICE detention centers, medical misdiagnoses and delays prove deadly -- Ismael Ayala-Uribe was in agony. The pain started soon after immigration agents seized the bespectacled 39-year-old man, who had lived in the United States since he was 5, at the Orange County car wash where he worked last August. St. John Barned-Smith and Ko Lyn Cheang in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

LA28

Excitement over ‘affordable’ L.A. Olympics turns to angry sticker shock over high-priced tickets -- LA28 promised affordable Olympics tickets for locals, but presale saw sticker shock with prices up to $5,519 and widespread website access errors. High 24% service fees and limited cheaper ticket availability have frustrated Southern California residents seeking to attend the 2028 Games. Suhauna Hussain and Thuc Nhi Nguyen in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/9/26

 

L.A. population is falling fast: Is it a Rust Belt ‘death spiral’ in the making? -- Los Angeles County lost 54,000 residents from 2024 to 2025, driven by immigration restrictions and continued out-migration to other states. Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/9/26

Workplace

Silicon Valley is booming. So why does the system feel like it’s breaking? -- Slowing population growth, strained public systems and rising costs are testing whether Silicon Valley can sustain its success. George Avalos, Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/9/26

GoPro to cut 23% of workforce in Bay Area layoffs -- GoPro will cut nearly a quarter of its workforce this year, the San Mateo action camera maker said Tuesday, as it looks to rein in costs while betting on a new generation of products to revive growth. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

Disney plans extensive round of layoffs in the coming weeks -- The layoffs add to Hollywood’s ongoing workforce reductions, with Sony Pictures also announcing significant cuts as media companies restructure amid industrywide pressures. Samantha Masunaga and Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ Joe Flint and Ben Fritz in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/9/26

California Assembly committee gives initial OK to state employee telework bill -- Over 100 California state employees crowded outside a hearing room of the Capitol Wednesday morning, waiting their turn to testify in support of a bill to protect their ability to telework. William Melhado in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/9/26

Insurance

California insurance commissioner defends bill in face of strong opposition -- Senate Bill 876 aims to speed up and ease that recovery process by requiring insurance companies to provide more coverage in certain instances, make payouts within 30 days after a home is destroyed and assign employees to be primarily responsible for claims, among an array of other changes. Stephen Hobbs in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/9/26

Does a new report offer a way out of California’s home insurance crisis? -- As insurers hike rates and cancel policies for thousands of homeowners across California, a new state report has proposed a series of reforms to prevent the property insurance market from cratering amid increasingly catastrophic wildfires — but some consumer advocates say it doesn’t go far enough. Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/9/26

Housing

S.F. cut affordable housing requirements to spur development. Now it may slash them even further -- Three years ago the San Francisco Board of Supervisors slashed the percentage of affordable units that developers must include within their market-rate housing projects, arguing that it would help revive a residential construction industry that has been moribund since the pandemic. It didn’t work. J.K. Dineen, Laura Waxmann in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

Environment

Inside California’s audacious bid to build the world’s deepest floating wind farm -- California plans to transform Humboldt Bay into a hub for floating offshore wind power to help reach its 100% clean energy goal by 2045. Hayley Smith, Beau Saunders in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/9/26

Palo Alto group buys Coyote Valley farmland in San Jose for $5.3 million -- In the latest step to preserve agriculture and open space in Coyote Valley, the largely undeveloped area on San Jose’s southern edges that was once planned for large technology campuses, a non-profit environmental group has purchased a 71-acre farm to keep it rural for generations to come. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/9/26

Education

An anonymous donor is giving every SFUSD educator $250 — no strings attached -- An anonymous donor has given $1.6 million to split among the nearly 6,000 teachers, teachers aides and other educators in the district to show appreciation for the jobs they do, which pencils out to $250 each, after some administrative expenses. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

LACMA

The new LACMA is divisive. It’s also ambitious, disorienting — and radically alive -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries represents the riskiest leap taken by any L.A. institution this century. Sam Lubell in the Los Angeles Times$ Robin Pogrebin, Damien Maloney in the New York Times$ -- 4/9/26

Also

Walters: As tax deadlines loom, Californians should note how little they get for paying high taxes -- We Californians pay the nation’s highest taxes, including various fees, on fuel for our vehicles, about 90 cents a gallon, and a hefty chunk of that is parceled out to local governments for roadway maintenance. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 4/9/26

‘A false front’: The California agency failing to stop conservatorship abuses -- A CalMatters investigation finds the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau hasn’t fulfilled its promise to protect Californians as the state’s population ages. Byrhonda Lyons Calmatters -- 4/9/26

S.F. can move forward with dismantling Embarcadero Plaza fountain, judge rules -- A San Francisco judge on Wednesday denied a motion to stop the removal of the embattled Vaillancourt Fountain from Embarcadero Plaza as an emergency safety precaution. Sam Whiting in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/9/26

 

For more than 30 years — day in, day out — he’s chronicled California. One paragraph at a time -- The Sacramento-based Rough & Tumble may be California’s longest-running aggregator of politics and policy. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/6/26

POTUS 47

Trump Allies, U.S. Officials Fear Iran Victory Lap Is Premature -- Among the top concerns is Iran’s refusal to fully open the Strait of Hormuz. Lara Seligman, Alexander Ward and Michael R. Gordon in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/9/26

Why Iran Thinks It Won the War Despite Huge Military Losses -- Tehran emerged from 38 days of war against the U.S. and Israel having won not only its primary goal—its own survival—but also two potential strategic gains: control of the Strait of Hormuz and a newly established deterrence against large-scale attacks by its longtime adversaries.David S. Cloud in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 4/9/26

Disagreement Over Lebanon’s Inclusion in Cease-Fire Threatens to Unravel It -- The U.S. says the deal didn’t include the country, but Iran says it did. Israel is bombarding Lebanon, and Iran wants to show it supports its allies. Farnaz Fassihi in the New York Times$ -- 4/9/26

With the Cease-Fire in Iran, Here’s Where Trump’s Five War Goals Stand -- On the first day of the pause, Iran fired missiles and launched drones in the region. It said an oil refinery on Lavan Island had been attacked. Israel continued its strikes in Lebanon. Edward Wong in the New York Times$ -- 4/9/26