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California Policy and Politics Wednesday
California has 6 weeks of gas supply. After that, it gets expensive -- At $6 a gallon, California drivers are paying the highest gas prices in the nation. Gasoline supplies look stable for the next six weeks but are uncertain after that as California leans more on imports. Alejandro Lazo Calmatters -- 5/13/26
A bombshell fraud case takes the spotlight in California’s high-stakes race for governor -- Xavier Becerra’s longtime advisor Sean McCluskie pleaded guilty to stealing $225,000 from the former Biden Cabinet secretary’s campaign account. Democratic and Republican rivals in the 2026 California governor’s race are seizing on the scandal to question Becerra’s fitness, warning that legal jeopardy could hand victory to Republicans. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
Tom Steyer’s hedge fund past complicates his run as California’s anti-billionaire billionaire -- Philanthropist Tom Steyer has cast himself as the progressive billionaire who vows to take on corporate power as he vies to be the next governor of California, but past investments by his former hedge fund have complicated his path to the state’s highest office. Grace Hase, Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/13/26
A bipartisan effort to reform California’s top-two primary system is underway -- Veteran Sacramento-based Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio has teamed with former California Republican Party Chair Ron Nehring to launch the “Undo the Top Two” campaign, with the goal of getting an initiative onto the November 2028 ballot to reform the system. Linh Tat, Kaitlyn Schallhorn in the Orange County Register$ -- 5/13/26
Ex-gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck arrested in Los Angeles County -- Jail records show Cloobeck, 64, was arrested before 11 a.m. and booked at the West Hollywood station on $300,000 bail, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department jail booking records. He was freed at 1:17 p.m. that afternoon, according to jail records. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
AI companies are poised to go public. California’s hoping to get rich -- Upcoming IPOs for OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX could generate billions in tax income for California. Eric He, Tyler Katzenberger and Nicole Norman Politico -- 5/13/26
Union-funded ‘attack ad’ against Pratt seems aimed at helping him make runoff, analysts say -- An attack ad against Spencer Pratt by the L.A. County Federation of Labor actually might be intended to boost his profile for conservatives in L.A., according to political analysts. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
Nancy Pelosi’s succession waiting game -- The former speaker has yet to make an endorsement in San Francisco's congressional race, though her affinity for one contender is clear. Dustin Gardiner Politico -- 5/13/26
From fading to front-runner, Becerra draws cheers at Sac State rally -- Becerra peppered his speech with bursts of Spanish. If he wins, Becerra would be the first elected Latino governor in California history, just as he previously was the first Latino attorney general and first Latino to serve as U.S. secretary of health and human services. “Yo tengo que andar,” Becerra said. “I know with whom I walk. I walk with you.” Ben Paviour in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/13/26
Newsom appoints former CFPB head to lead California consumer agency -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint Rohit Chopra, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to lead a new state agency focused on consumer protections and business regulation. Dustin Gardiner Politico Lia Russell in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/13/26
Crisis in ‘Chinese Beverly Hills’: Residents fear a backlash after mayor accused of working with China -- Generations of Chinese immigrants have settled in Arcadia, transforming the San Gabriel Valley suburb, a typical bedroom community, into a “Chinese Beverly Hills” with high-end real estate and luxury shopping. Hannah Fry, Brittny Mejia, Cierra Morgan and Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
L.A. quietly fires its first chief heat officer -- Los Angeles quietly terminated Marta Segura, the city’s first chief heat officer, last month. Segura is one of several environmental leaders to recently depart, and the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office is now down to one employee. Hayley Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
California has a public defender crisis. A new bill seeks to force the state to confront it -- A new bill in the state Legislature would require counties to report basic information about public defender services, such as how many cases attorneys handle, in an effort to compel California to confront its public defender crisis. Anat Rubin Calmatters -- 5/13/26
How to fix a ‘giant county bureaucracy’: San Diego County debates competing charter reform plans -- San Diego County wants an ethics commission and fiscal watchdogs. LA County is adding more supervisors. Both want better budgets. How California counties are updating their charters. Deborah Brennan Calmatters -- 5/13/26
ICE
ICE puts new restrictions on members of Congress inspecting detention centers -- California Reps. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano) and Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) learned about the new policy when they made a surprise visit on Monday to the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
Workplace
Cloudflare to eliminate 224 San Francisco jobs in latest blow to tech workforce -- Cloudflare plans to cut 224 jobs at its San Francisco headquarters this week, one of the city’s largest layoffs disclosed so far this year. The cuts are set to take effect Friday at the company’s office at 101 Townsend St., according to a filing with the California Employment Development Department. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/13/26
AI protections and a merged pension plan: SAG-AFTRA leaders tout gains for members -- SAG-AFTRA recently struck a new tentative deal with major film and TV studios. The pending contract will improve AI protections, streaming residuals and merge SAG and AFTRA’s pension plans. Cerys Davies in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
Develop
Tahoe’s ‘biggest development issue’ — building a larger ski resort — clears key approvals -- A long battle over the future of the Palisades Tahoe ski resort reached a critical milestone on Tuesday morning when the Placer County Board of Supervisors gave final approval to a major redevelopment plan aimed at upscaling the resort into a bigger, all-season destination venue. Gregory Thomas in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/13/26
Water
Lake Oroville, California’s second-largest reservoir, is 99% full and rising -- In a clear sign that California is not facing water shortages or a drought this summer, Lake Oroville, the state’s second-largest reservoir and a key component of California’s water system, has nearly filled to the top. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/13/26
Education
The nation’s students are deep in a reading recession. Here’s how L.A. and California fit in -- The nation’s students face a deepening reading crisis, with most states showing minimal progress in recent years, a new study shows. Los Angeles Unified, Compton and Modesto school districts have emerged as bright spots. Sharon Lurye, Howard Blume and Jocelyn Gecker in the Los Angeles Times$ Betty Márquez Rosales EdSource -- 5/13/26
Walters: California’s public schools need better oversight and guidance from the state -- Shortly after beginning his second stint as governor of California in 2011, Jerry Brown began promoting a two-pronged overhaul of how the state finances public schools. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 5/13/26
Plastic
California’s new plastic recycling rules spark fights from all sides -- Under new rules, plastic producers have to cut single use plastic, increase recycling rates and pay $5 billion to remedy harms from plastic pollution. Plastic producers have until June to come up with a plan for how they’re meeting state mandates. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde Calmatters -- 5/13/26
Street
LAPD’s ‘best’ anti-gang unit shut down, officers investigated for turning off body cams -- Members of the 77th Street Division gang enforcement unit are being investigated for turning off their body cameras and failing to document some traffic stops. Libor Jany and Richard Winton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/13/26
Lurie touts big drop in S.F. homelessness. But change to the count complicates the picture -- Mayor Daniel Lurie touted the latest official tally of San Francisco’s homeless population on Tuesday, arguing it shows a steep decline in the number of people living outside — but there’s a catch. J.D. Morris, Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/13/26
Also
‘Never going to feel safe’: California neighborhood flooded with over 1 million gallons of sewage -- At least 75 residents of a rural Northern California neighborhood sued Lake County last week after a sewer line rupture in January unleashed around 1.38 million gallons of untreated waste, creating a moat of raw sewage around their homes for nearly 40 hours and contaminating a network of private water wells supplied by a shallow aquifer. Annie Vainshtein in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/13/26
A $10,000 buried treasure hunt has stumped San Franciscans. And it’s causing problems -- The riddle appeared on Reddit nearly two weeks ago: 103 words, each carefully chosen, meant to lead the most clever and adventurous of Bay Area residents to a treasure chest laden with $10,000 worth of gleaming dollar coins. Anna Bauman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/13/26
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U.S. Intelligence Shows Iran Retains Substantial Missile Capabilities -- Secret new assessments say Iran has operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting that its military remains far stronger than President Trump has asserted. Adam Entous, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in the New York Times$ -- 5/13/26
Distracted and Bogged Down, Trump and Xi Enter a Summit of Reduced Ambitions -- The war in Iran has cast a shadow of uncertainty on both superpowers, dimming early hopes that they could begin to address the larger issues that have frayed their relationship. David E. Sanger in the New York Times$ -- 5/13/26
The Late-Night Truth Social Storms That Offer a Window Into the President’s Mind --The messages, mostly reposts from other accounts, falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen, aired frustrations from anonymous social-media users that Democrats hadn’t been indicted by the Justice Department and called for the arrest of former President Barack Obama. The activity is emblematic of Trump’s account, which operates as a nearly round-the-clock, high-volume amplification system that blends his own voice with a network of partisan and fringe content. Anthony DeBarros and Annie Linskey in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/13/26
California Policy and Politics Tuesday
Xavier Becerra’s rivals in the California governor’s race have seized on these 3 incidents -- In some cases, the claims his rivals have made about him are accurate, but in other cases they are exaggerated or taken out of context. Sophia Bollag in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
How Eric Swalwell’s implosion has scrambled the race to replace him in Congress -- The candidates are suddenly grappling with what kind of leader can restore their community’s shattered confidence. Alexei Koseff in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
Panicked California Democrats are pushing a risky strategy: Wait ’til the last minute to vote -- Recent polling suggests it’s unlikely that two Republicans would lock Democrats out of the November gubernatorial election. But some liberal activists are still panicking about the possibility of a MAGA governor. Their solution could delay California’s already slow ballot-counting. Maya C. Miller Calmatters -- 5/12/26
California’s Democratic incumbents face primary challenges from political newcomers -- California is home to three of the 13 members of Congress age 80 or older who are seeking reelection in 2026 Not a single California Democrat age 80 or older is running unopposed. Justine McDaniel and Ana Ceballos in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/12/26
Governor YIMBY: In California’s unsettled race, most candidates see eye-to-eye on housing -- On zoning, permitting, fees and NIMBY obstruction, the top candidates vying to become California’s next governor all say the state needs to make it easier to build more homes. Ben Christopher Calmatters -- 5/12/26
FCC commissioner joins Disney’s free-speech fight -- FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the panel‘s lone Democrat, is backing Disney against her own agency, accusing the Federal Communications Commission of orchestrating a “coordinated campaign of censorship” against ABC. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/12/26
Santa Clara County sues Meta, alleging it made billions from scam ads as Californians lost billions -- Santa Clara County’s counsel sued Meta on Monday, accusing the tech giant of turning scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram into a multibillion-dollar revenue stream while Californians lost billions to online fraud. Caelyn Pender in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/12/26
Is Mayor Lurie still popular? Our new poll checks in on state of S.F. -- More than a year into his tenure as mayor, San Franciscans still overwhelmingly approve of the job Daniel Lurie is doing, a new Chronicle poll found. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
Hantavirus fears heighten with 4 Californians exposed to the disease. Is the alarm warranted? -- While officials and infectious disease experts have been quick to note the seriousness of the rodent-borne disease, they have also stressed key differences between hantavirus and COVID-19. Namely, that this virus is far less transmissible. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ Catherine Ho in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
Walters: Democratic legislators weigh new taxes and blame Trump for California’s deficit -- The state Assembly’s Democratic leadership published a remarkable bit of political fiction last week, a “budget road map” that essentially blames President Donald Trump for California’s multibillion-dollar deficits. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 5/12/26
Insurance
California’s second-largest home insurer to raise rates this fall -- Farmers Insurance Group, the second largest home insurer in California, is set to raise overall policy rates for homeowners by 1.5% this fall. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
Workplace
Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs -- A state known for billionaires and high-tech jobs depends on lower-paying health work to boost its labor market. Harriet Torry and Josh Ulick in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/12/26
Google opens newest Bay Area campus, a tech hub where thousands could work -- The San Jose innovation hub that Google has opened consists of 10 buildings, including six office buildings, a lab site and three industrial buildings. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/12/26
LA Logistics
L.A. port traffic rises in April despite trade disruption, higher fuel costs -- The Port of Los Angeles recorded its second busiest April on record, despite the war in Iran, a related rise in shipping fuel costs and continued trade uncertainty. Laurence Darmiento in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/12/26
Education
Inside LAUSD’s alleged $22-million money-laundering scheme, ‘the largest’ in district history -- Over four-years, a Los Angeles school district manager enriched herself with $3 million in kickbacks by working with a tech company executive to deliver $22 million in work, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed by the school district. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/12/26
A Nobel laureate thinks this hit UC Berkeley class could help change the world -- “Sense and Sensibility and Science” was started 13 years ago by a team of UC Berkeley professors, including a Nobel laureate, who wanted to give students the tools to combat misinformation and improve their communication skills in an increasingly confusing world. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
Trump administration again suspends UC Berkeley research grants -- The National Science Foundation suspended at least 18 research grants to UC Berkeley last month despite a court injunction restricting such suspensions, according to an attorney representing university scientists in a class-action lawsuit. Felicia Mello in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/12/26
California voters are about to elect a new state superintendent. It’s barely on the radar -- Nearly a third of California voters are undecided in the race for state superintendent of public instruction. Carolyn Jones Calmatters -- 5/12/26
Street
Feds indict three men in violent San Francisco crypto home invasion -- Three Tennessee men have been indicted on federal charges connected to a violent spree targeting cryptocurrency millionaires across San Francisco, the South Bay and Los Angeles, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Megan Cassidy, Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
What happens after a homeless encampment sweep? Data shows the limits of what San Diego’s strategy accomplishes -- Encampments often reappear days — sometimes hours — after they’re cleared. The sweeps cost taxpayers more than $7 million each year. Kelly Davis, Kristen Taketa in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 5/12/26
Authorities arrest 42 in sweeping Inland Empire child sex exploitation operation -- A person wanted for child sexual assault, two corporate vice presidents and a child psychologist were among 42 people arrested in a sweeping child sexual exploitation bust in the Inland Empire, authorities announced Monday. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/12/26
Also
New California $1 coin honors Steve Jobs and his Pixar legacy -- Gov. Gavin Newsom chose Jobs to represent California in the U.S. Mint’s American Innovation $1 Coin Program, a federal series honoring innovators and innovations from every state. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Nicole Buss in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/12/26
Arcadia mayor, accused of being Chinese foreign agent, strikes deal with feds and resigns -- Eileen Wang, an Arcadia city leader facing charges of acting as an illegal foreign agent of China, resigned Monday after reaching an agreement to resolve the federal case. Brittny Mejia and Rebecca Ellis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/12/26
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'Out of control': Inflation surges to highest point in 3 years, driven by energy -- The Labor Department on Tuesday reported that the consumer price index increased at an annual rate of 3.8 percent — the highest since May 2023 — with rising energy costs accounting for more than 40 percent of the spike. Sam Sutton Politico Chao Deng in the Wall Street Journal$ Lydia DePillis in the New York Times$ Andrew Ackerman and Federica Cocco in the Washington Post$ -- 5/12/26
Trump administration ends Biden-era policy protecting public lands -- The Trump administration has dumped a Biden-era conservation policy that made it easier to protect and preserve hundreds of millions of acres of public lands across California and the West. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/12/26
Trump’s Redistricting Push Could Cost Republicans More Than It Gains -- Not only may Republicans unwittingly create more competitive races for their own members, they will energize Democrats and set back their party in ways that will linger beyond this president. Jonathan Martin Politico -- 5/12/26
Justice Dept. Subpoenas Wall Street Journal in Leak Investigation -- Critics raised concerns over press freedom after The Journal disclosed receiving subpoenas related to an article on deliberations on the risks of military action in Iran. Devlin Barrett in the New York Times$ -- 5/12/26