California Policy and Politics Monday

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s plan to limit mail-in voting in midterms -- The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s controversial plan to change how mail ballots are sent to voters across the country, rebuffing a proposal that election officials warned would have had catastrophic consequences if allowed to take effect for this year’s midterms. John Fritze CNN -- 9/14/26

Newsom says he won’t run for president if Harris does -- Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 if Kamala Harris does so, appearing to offer deference to the former vice president ahead of a race that could draw a historically crowded field of candidates. Justine McDaniel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

 

California lawmakers urge criminal penalties, emergency legislation to rein in unchecked AI -- California lawmakers are calling for emergency legislation and criminal penalties for creators of rogue AI systems after top AI executives publicly claimed that their technology poses existential threats to humanity. Rebecca Ellis in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

A Teen Autopsy Marks the Arrival of a Deadly Drug in San Francisco -- City officials — and one determined mother — are working to stop the spread of cychlorphine, which is far more potent than fentanyl. Heather Knight in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

 

Slate of bills to regulate immigration enforcement awaits Newsom’s signature -- The largest portion of immigration-related bills on Newsom’s desk regulate detention centers — both the construction of new facilities and the conditions inside. Sofia Williams in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/14/26

‘We’ve seen this before’: Japanese American incarceration echoes through Trump’s immigration crackdown -- From the scapegoating of communities to widespread detention, some Japanese Americans fear that the U.S. is repeating past mistakes. Luis Melecio-Zambrano in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 9/14/26

Illegal deportations spike under Trump's ICE push -- The Justice Department has acknowledged errors in many cases. Kyle Cheney and Ali Bianco Politico -- 9/14/26

 

Newsom brushes aside escalating federal probe into travel expenses as Trump retribution -- Gov. Gavin Newsom dismissed an escalating federal investigation into his administration, including the donations that paid for his travel, saying it was retribution for his criticism of President Trump and his policies. Alene Tchekmedyian and Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

Pratt voters could play pivotal role in deciding L.A.’s next mayor -- Nearly 218,000 Angelenos cast ballots for Republican Spencer Pratt in the June 2 mayoral primary, representing a huge potential bloc of voters for either Karen Bass or Nithya Raman in the Nov. 3 runoff. Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

Skelton: California provides tax breaks to Hollywood. Why not struggling news outlets? -- President Trump and the Republican Congress have unintentionally provided California state government with the financial means to subsidize — help save — endangered local news reporting. Now it’s up to Gov. Gavin Newsom to capitalize on the unanticipated gift. George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

Union power vs. MAGA politics in California’s schools superintendent race -- California’s nominally nonpartisan race for public schools superintendent has become a hyper-partisan showdown between union-backed Democrat Richard Barrera and MAGA-aligned Republican Sonja Shaw. Kevin Rector and Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

 

Billionaires shake up L.A. sports as Lakers, Angels, Dodgers, Clippers feel the heat -- The upheaval underscores how L.A. franchises have become billion-dollar assets in a high-stakes arms race, in which owners chase media money, luxury arenas and global clout as fiercely as championships. Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

Steve Ballmer apologizes to fans, says Clippers will comply with NBA sanctions -- Clippers owner Steve Ballmer released a lengthy statement Sunday night apologizing to fans and accepting the findings of an NBA investigation of salary cap violations. Iliana Limón Romero in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

 

Bay Area homeowners still get huge Prop 13 savings. But in some places, that is shrinking -- California’s Proposition 13 cuts Bay Area homeowners’ property tax bills by up to tens of thousands of dollars a year. But in some parts of the region, the average homeowner isn’t benefiting quite as much as they once did. Christian Leonard in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/26

Workplace

Paramount’s possible Hollywood exit puts Los Angeles on edge -- David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has floated the idea of moving Paramount and Warner Bros.’ operations out of Los Angeles if regulators keep blocking his $111-billion Hollywood mega-merger. The showdown has put L.A. on edge, with economists warning of thousands of lost jobs. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 9/14/26

Cisco Likely Allowed Harassment of Pro-Palestinian Workers, Agency Says -- The finding by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said there was reason to believe that the tech giant subjected employees to a hostile environment. Noam Scheiber in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

CalMatters sues UC Berkeley to force university to disclose student-athlete pay data -- This is CalMatters’ second open records lawsuit against a UC campus in two months. The news outlet is seeking more information about how Cal in the ACC and UCLA in the Big Ten are paying student athletes. Mikhail Zinshteyn Calmatters -- 9/14/26

After strike cancels S.F.’s Opera in the Park, musicians entertain fans who show up -- With picket signs and instruments, members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra gathered Sunday morning in the grassy field at Robin Williams Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Anna Bauman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/26

Wildfire

Crews slow growth of 4,000-acre Lucas Fire in Northern California -- Crews working in hot, windy and smoky conditions over the weekend help slow the growth of a Northern California wildfire that prompted expanded evacuations, road closures and a red flag warning. Aidin Vaziri, Sarah Brager, Brooke Park in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/26

AI

Democratic megadonor Ron Conway taps Jay Carney to lead new AI policy center -- The effort from Conway’s San Francisco-based investment firm SV Angel, dubbed Project Blueprint, intends to fill a vacuum between policymakers and the AI industry ahead of a midterm cycle where Democrats are poised to make gains in Congress, according to a backgrounder shared with Politico. Tyler Katzenberger Politico -- 9/14/26

Sam Altman says OpenAI will not go public this year as AI fears grow -- OpenAI will not go public this year, CEO Sam Altman said in an interview released Saturday, delaying one of the most anticipated stock market debuts in Silicon Valley as the artificial intelligence industry faces growing scrutiny over safety. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/26

How the Clash Between Money and Safety Created a Monumental Crisis for AI -- Leaders of four major AI companies, including Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, agreed to slow development and allow third-party safety evaluations. President Trump defended his administration’s light-touch regulation of AI, citing the importance of U.S. dominance over China. Robert McMillan, Amrith Ramkumar, Keach Hagey and Erin Woo in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/14/26

Corporate tax payments plunge as AI feasts on new incentives -- A generous tax break on capital investments Republicans created in 2025 wasn't designed specifically for the AI boom, but hyperscalers are making the most of it. Brian Faler Politico -- 9/14/26

Leaked A.I. Queries Raise Fears of New Biological Weapons Race -- Current chatbots aren’t likely to help lone actors invent a deadly pathogen, experts say. But newer models, trained in biology, may need stronger safeguards. Carl Zimmer in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

King Charles Will Convene A.I. Leaders Amid Calls to Slow Development -- The king will convene leaders from companies including Nvidia, Google, DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as government officials and others, “to discuss how A.I. can be developed and deployed in ways that benefit society,” according to a statement from Buckingham Palace. Ephrat Livni in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

Some in Silicon Valley Are Questioning the Calls for an A.I. Slowdown -- The criticism of the calls for a slowdown highlighted a deep divide between people who believe the government should police A.I. and others who believe regulatory intervention would crush competition. Kalley Huang and Mike Isaac in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

Trump resists AI slowdown as the political tide turns -- Democrats are increasingly attacking the administration’s hands-off approach to artificial intelligence regulation as midterms approach. Cat Zakrzewski, Violet Jira and Nitasha Tiku in the Washington Post$ Elleiana Green and Owen Dahlkamp Politico Brian Schwartz in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/14/26

Education

14 years, $156 million and counting: Why Salesforce keeps investing in Bay Area schools -- In 2013, San Francisco’s schools got their first monetary donation from Salesforce, a $2.7 million check that the company’s CEO and founder, Marc Benioff, said was the down payment on $100 million over 10 years. Jill Tucker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/26

How LAUSD teachers are adapting to accommodate screen time policy -- A month into the school year, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are still adapting to the district’s new policy that bans screen time for its youngest kids and will soon place significant restrictions on older students. Mallika Seshadri EdSource -- 9/14/26

Tijuana River

‘A steady input of these chemicals’: report finds cocktail of pollution in Tijuana River -- San Diego Coastkeeper report documents a pattern that points to ongoing, unregulated discharges from manufacturing plants across the border. Walker Armstrong in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 9/14/26

Also

IRS data shows this Bay Area county has more high-income residents than anywhere in U.S. -- For the 2023 tax year, the latest available, taxpayers in Marin and Santa Clara counties had the highest and second-highest shares of tax returns reporting more than $200,000 in total income, among counties with at least 100,000 tax returns. Danielle Echeverria in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 9/14/26

‘Money on the table’: San Diego’s record of negotiating leases, managing real estate is costing millions -- A history of lopsided deals and below-market leases dogs the city as officials try to address a budget shortfall. Jeff McDonald in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 9/14/26

Orange County’s first e-bike buyback event draws huge crowd, hundreds of vehicles -- On Sunday morning, Hayes was the first among hundreds of people to turn in their electric vehicles at a buyback event at Angel Stadium. Accompanied by his family, Hayes said he wants to share his story so that other young people can be aware of the dangers of e-bike riding. Claire Wang in the Orange County Register$ -- 9/14/26

Drugs for autoimmune diseases are pricey. This bill could switch patients to a cheaper one -- Nearly 25,000 Californians could see their medication switched next year. Doctors can object, but insurers would gain new power over prescriptions. Ana B. Ibarra Calmatters -- 9/14/26

POTUS 47

As Supreme Court Weighs Trump Mail Ballot Plan, Another Judge Blocks It -- The ruling delivered another blow to the plan with a looming Supreme Court decision that could determine whether it goes into effect before the midterm election. Zach Montague in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

E.P.A. Expected to Erase Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants -- Generation of electricity is the second largest source of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases in the United States. Maxine Joselow in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

Widening Mideast Instability Squeezes Global Oil Supplies -- Yemen is the latest domino to fall in the chain of instability set off by the U.S. war with Iran, a development that deepens the risk to global energy supplies and complicates efforts to find a diplomatic off-ramp to the conflict. Summer Said and Saleh al-Batati in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/14/26

Kennedy Center could close as early as Tuesday, warns of bankruptcy, documents show -- Officials said the center is facing “certain fiscal collapse” within weeks, insist that adding President Donald Trump’s name may be the only way to avoid bankruptcy. Jonathan Edwards and Travis M. Andrews in the Washington Post$ Julia Jacobs in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

Trump Pledges to Rescind 10% Tariff on Irish Whiskey -- The president closes out his weekend visit to Ireland by making the announcement at the Irish Open golf tournament. Ashlea Ebeling in the Wall Street Journal$ Luke Broadwater and Zolan Kanno-Youngs in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

How Iran’s Hard-Liners Prevailed and Sabotaged U.S. Peace Deal -- Opponents derailed the agreement with a clandestine effort to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, regime insiders say. Iran’s president was furious when he found out. Farnaz Fassihi in the New York Times$ -- 9/14/26

Democrats Have Midterm Momentum. Here’s What Risks Tripping Them Up -- The party is seeking to capitalize on Trump’s unpopularity but has a fundraising shortfall and internal divisions. Eliza Collins in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 9/14/26