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California Policy and Politics Friday
Major donor seeks $1 million refund as pro-Matt Mahan committee shuts down -- Less than two weeks before the June primary, one independent expenditure committee supporting San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s bid for governor has shuttered, and Netflix chairman Reed Hastings has requested a $1 million refund from another — a potential sign that financial support around his campaign is weakening. Grace Hase in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/22/26
Influencer files complaint against Steyer campaign, alleging violations -- A political influencer has filed a complaint against Tom Steyer’s campaign for governor, saying the committee failed to notify her of disclosure requirements, as required by law, when she was paid to meet with Steyer in March and later produced social media content from the meeting. Ben Wieder in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/22/26
The AI ads are fake. Spencer Pratt’s momentum isn’t -- The former reality-star's candidacy is sucking up oxygen in the race to lead the nation’s second-largest city. Liam Dillon Politico -- 5/22/26
California politics isn’t just left vs. right. Our analysis found a third extreme -- Earlier this month, the Chronicle published its guide to understanding the six groups that constitute California’s political geography — a schema showing that our communities don’t just lie along a left-right spectrum. How did we get to six? Our analysis itself says something about how the state’s politics work. Aseem Shukla and Nami Sumida in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/22/26
Workplace
More than 1,000 L.A. school employees expected to lose jobs, with bigger cuts ahead -- An updated “fiscal stability plan” outlines more than $3.6 billion in future cuts over the next three years: eliminating 6,000-plus positions, closing schools and imposing furloughs and benefit concessions on remaining staff. Union leaders and workers called the cuts unnecessary. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/22/26
Another California tech company lays off thousands -- Mountain View-based Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, on Wednesday said it was laying off 17% of its workforce, or about 3,000 employees, as part of its restructuring to cut costs and invest in artificial intelligence. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/22/26
After AI layoffs, Newsom orders state government to find ways to ease the pain -- In an AI executive order, the governor called on state officials to study everything from job subsidies to stock compensation policies to mitigate tech-driven layoffs. Khari Johnson Calmatters -- 5/22/26
Labor leaders see Newsom’s AI workforce EO as softer than advertised -- For some California union leaders, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest AI and labor-related executive order is a letdown, especially with months left in his final term. Christine Mui and Tyler Katzenberger Politico -- 5/22/26
Gas
Newsom's office warns Californians to avoid Chevron this holiday weekend, citing high gas prices -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in a spat with a major oil company over who is to blame for the state’s high gas prices, with the Democratic governor’s office urging drivers not to fill up at Chevron stations over Memorial Day weekend. Sophie Austin Associated Press -- 5/22/26
California bill moves to make cheaper alternative fuel available to more drivers -- California lawmakers want to make it easier for drivers to convert their cars to run on cheaper ethanol fuel. The state agency being bypassed has never once approved an E85 conversion kit in 17 years. Alejandro Lazo and Yue Stella Yu Calmatters -- 5/22/26
AI
Pressure from Silicon Valley helped block Trump’s expected order on AI -- The tech leaders who spoke with Trump, who included SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, warned that the administration’s new vetting system could inhibit development of a technology at the heart of the U.S. economy, according to three people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private conversations. Cat Zakrzewski, Ian Duncan, Ellen Nakashima and Isaac Arnsdorf in the Washington Post$ -- 5/22/26
Climate
Older AC and fridge chemicals amp up climate change. Trump just rolled back limits on them -- President Trump on Thursday announced that grocery stories and air conditioning companies will be allowed to keep using high-polluting refrigerants for longer than they would have under a law he signed during his first administration. Blanca Begert in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/22/26
Wildfire
Feds declare Eaton fire was a cleanup success. Their testing shows otherwise -- Federal officials are hailing the Eaton fire cleanup as a success, even as new EPA soil tests show nearly one in five Altadena homes still exceed California’s residential lead standard. Unreleased data reviewed by The Times found some properties with lead nearly nine times the state limit, fueling residents’ fears. Tony Briscoe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/22/26
San Diego Mosque
Police Seized Guns From Home of Mosque Shooter After Alarming Behavior -- More than a year before Caleb Vazquez and a friend attacked a mosque in San Diego and killed three people, the police were so alarmed by Mr. Vazquez’s behavior that they secured a court order to confiscate his father’s guns. Orlando Mayorquín, Tim Arango and Chelsia Rose Marcius in the New York Times$ -- 5/22/26
San Diego mosque attack followed a familiar online script -- Recorded in the style of a first-person shooter game, the video appears to show the perspective of one of the gunmen who killed three people Monday at the Islamic Center of San Diego as he storms the mosque, opens fire and steps over a fallen body. At the video’s end, the camera records the gunman raising a pistol to his chin, then slumping forward in a torrent of blood. Drew Harwell in the Washington Post$ -- 5/22/26
The three men killed in San Diego shooting saved many others, ‘did not die in vain’ -- Meet the three men who sacrificed their lives to protect dozens of schoolchildren during an attempted mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Suhauna Hussain, Richard Winton and Hannah Fry in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/22/26
Family of teen behind mosque rampage breaks silence. ‘We condemn these hateful and violent actions.’ -- The parents of Caleb Vazquez, one of two teens who killed three people in a hate-fueled rampage at San Diego’s largest mosque this week, broke their silence Thursday, issuing a statement mourning the victims and condemning their son’s actions as those of “an immensely lost, troubled, and misguided soul.” Teri Figueroa in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 5/22/26
Homeless
More ‘rough sleepers’ on Hollywood streets as the city removes tents, bringing new challenges -- As Los Angeles clears encampments in Hollywood, tents are disappearing but more people are sleeping directly on sidewalks, exposing deep vulnerabilities, including for a pregnant newcomer and her ailing mother. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/22/26
Street
‘Insanity’: S.F. merchants say stolen-goods chaos continues despite new state law -- The scene that played out at the Mission’s 24th Street BART plaza Thursday afternoon has become all-too-familiar. Maggie Angst in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/22/26
Also
Walters: 18 years after California voters approved the bullet train, progress and finances are still stalled -- Construction of the 1,911-mile transcontinental railroad connecting California with the eastern half of the United States began in 1863, while the nation was engaged in a bloody civil war, and was completed six years later when its two legs were joined at Promontory Summit in Utah. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 5/22/26
It’s easier for Californians to escape data brokers following a CalMatters investigation -- CalMatters and The Markup showed how website code could make it harder for Californians to exercise their right to remove personal data. Now much of that code has disappeared. Colin Lecher Calmatters -- 5/22/26
SF treasure hunt ends after $10,001 prize found in Marin -- A weekslong treasure hunt in San Francisco has ended after a box of $10,001 in cash was discovered Tuesday. But in a final twist, the booty was found outside the city. The endeavor was dubbed “Buried Treasure, San Francisco,” but the clues never actually claimed the coins were within city limits. Gillian Mohney SFGate -- 5/22/26
POTUS 47
GOP senators balk at Trump’s $1.8-billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, force delay in key vote -- In a striking display of defiance, GOP senators abruptly derailed plans to vote on legislation to fund Trump’s immigration crackdown amid deep disagreements over security funding for a White House ballroom and a $1.8-billion fund to pay people who claim to have been politically persecuted. Ana Ceballos and Justine McDaniel in the Los Angeles Times$ Jordain Carney and Calen Razor Politico Megan Mineiro, Robert Jimison and Michael Gold in the New York Times$ -- 5/22/26
Trump Allies and Foes Jockey for Payouts From ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ -- As the Trump administration faces a barrage of bipartisan criticism for creating a payout system without precedent, potential applicants—who run the gamut from the most predictable to the least—are eyeing a piece of the pie. Brian Schwartz, C. Ryan Barber and Louise Radnofsky in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/22/26
House Republicans Pull Vote to Limit Trump’s Iran War Powers -- Democrats say GOP leaders were afraid the resolution would pass. Terell Wright, Olivia Beavers and Lindsay Wise in the Wall Street Journal$ Megan Mineiro, Robert Jimison and Michael Gold in the New York Times$ -- 5/22/26
Audit Immunity for Trump Family Puts I.R.S. in a Bind -- Federal law prohibits the Internal Revenue Service from halting an audit at the direction of the president or his aides. Andrew Duehren in the New York Times$ -- 5/22/26
Poll shows voter confidence in economy plummeting to a nearly 4-year low -- Concerns about rising costs are a problem for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections as Trump struggles to deliver on affordability pledges. Olivia George and Scott Clement in the Washington Post$ -- 5/22/26
California Policy and Politics Thursday
Trump signals support for Pratt in L.A. mayoral election: ‘I’d like to see him do well’ -- The president was at Joint Base Andrews for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement when he responded to a reporter’s question about Pratt’s run for mayor. “I’d like to see him do well. He’s a character,” Trump said. “I heard he’s a big MAGA person. He’s doing well.” Noah Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
Trump’s MAGA Praise Could Haunt Spencer Pratt in Los Angeles -- Democrats have been trying to portray Mr. Pratt, a former reality TV star, as a MAGA Republican in the mayor’s race. President Trump just gave them a helping hand. Soumya Karlamangla in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26
Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt hosts South L.A. block party on Bass’ old turf -- Mayoral hopeful Pratt spent Wednesday afternoon campaigning at a Hyde Park block party, in a neighborhood incumbent Karen Bass represented in Congress. Pratt again declined to answer questions from the news media. Sandra McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
Spencer Pratt Was a Reality TV Villain. Now He Wants to Be L.A.’s Savior -- Former star of ‘The Hills’ is running a biting, social-media-savvy campaign to be the next mayor of Los Angeles. Laura J. Nelson and Isabella Simonetti in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/21/26
Fan A.I. Videos Help Long Shot Break Through in L.A. Mayor’s Race -- Supporters have created A.I. videos to boost the mayoral campaign of Spencer Pratt, the former MTV star. Some videos have gone viral, but it’s not clear whether they will yield votes. Madison Malone Kircher and Ken Bensinger in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26
Bass goes easy on Pratt, not so much a fellow Democrat -- The Los Angeles mayor largely avoided playing up Trump’s endorsement of her conservative rival, instead swiping at a challenger from her left. Jeremy B. White Politico -- 5/21/26
Mayoral candidate Raman unveils rebuilding plan for Pacific Palisades -- Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is calling for the city to create a central ‘recovery district’ that can redirect some property tax in Pacific Palisades to local infrastructure projects. Raman, a City Council member, is also calling for reservoirs to remain full during fire season. Noah Haggerty in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
Arellano: Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt need Latinos, not Trump -- With less than two weeks before the primary election, Steve Hilton is leading in the polls for governor, and Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt is making the city’s progressive class sweat. Gustavo Arellano in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
Sergey Brin pours $500,000 into S.F. campaign to kill CEO tax -- Google co-founder Sergey Brin this week donated $500,000 to a campaign opposing a June ballot measure to expand the Overpaid CEO tax, helping to bolster a counterproposal that would eliminate the tax and make more San Francisco businesses tax-exempt. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/26
National Democrats said they’d stay out of this California race. Then they picked a side -- In the Central Valley, Democratic officials are betting that a candidate running to the middle will woo enough swing voters to topple incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao. Maya C. Miller Calmatters -- 5/21/26
Democrats may cast last-minute ballots for governor. What it will mean for the count -- Hesitation by Democratic-leaning voters reflects the toll of a historically uncertain primary race for governor. A new poll this week suggests that Democrats are starting to consolidate around Xavier Becerra, but the race remains close. Justine McDaniel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
Insurance rates
One of California’s largest insurers will hike rates nearly 30% this fall -- Starting in October, customers on the California FAIR Plan will get hit with the insurer’s largest rate hike in years. Premiums will rise overall by just under 30% for the FAIR Plan’s nearly 663,000 residential policyholders. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/26
Workplace
California’s Governor Signs A.I. Order Aimed at Protecting Workers -- Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to explore an overhaul of labor policies to deal with potential mass job displacement from artificial intelligence. Cecilia Kang in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26
Intuit cuts 17% of workforce after $8.6 billion quarter -- Intuit said Wednesday it will cut approximately 17% of its full-time workforce as the Mountain View financial software giant restructures around artificial intelligence, mid-market growth and a broader effort to simplify its operations. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Dean Seal and Kristin Broughton in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/21/26
Meta cuts 8,000 jobs as Mark Zuckerberg bets the company’s future on AI -- Meta began laying off about 8,000 workers Wednesday, carrying out one of its largest rounds of job cuts in years as the Silicon Valley tech giant redirects money and staff toward artificial intelligence. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/26
UC tech workers unionize as AI anxiety grows across industry -- As AI continues to shake up the tech sector and fuel mass layoffs, more than 2,000 University of California IT and technical workers have voted to unionize, expanding what organizers say is now the largest tech worker union in the U.S. Aldo Toledo, Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/26
Marketplace
In Hollywood, image is everything. And David Ellison has an image problem -- Media mogul David Ellison is confronting a revolt in Hollywood over his $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, with 5,000 artists and industry workers warning of dangerous media consolidation. Ellison’s perceived coziness with the administration, along with controversial changes at CBS, has sullied his reputation in a town where image is everything. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
LA28
LA Mayor Karen Bass warns city doesn’t ‘have enough hotel space’ for Olympics -- Bass defended her support for a deal to delay the city’s $30 minimum wage hike for hospitality and airport workers. Dustin Gardiner Politico -- 5/21/26
Wildfire
Containment grows on Sandy fire, others across Southern California -- A wildfire that forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate Simi Valley jumped to 15% containment overnight, according to officials. Summer Lin in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
Fires ring Southern California and it’s only May. What’s going on? -- Wildfires have torched more than 26,000 acres in California this week, forcing 45,000 evacuations and signaling an early start to the area’s typical fire season. This level of fire activity may seem unusual for May, but experts say that, increasingly, that is no longer the case. Alex Wigglesworth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
After the fire, outside investors were the bogeymen of Altadena. Now some are embraced -- After the Eaton fire, Altadena residents vilified outside investors snapping up burned lots, until one couple’s conversations with infill builder Ocean Development turned a feared bogeyman into a catalyst for neighborhood recovery. Doug Smith, Eric Thayer in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
With homes still charred lots, Palisades fire survivors find solace in temple reopening -- Synagogue leaders credit revitalization plans and fundraising prior to the blaze for speeding up its return — it also did not burn, with its recovery efforts focused on smoke damage. Rachel Kraus in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
White nationalism
Social media, manifesto of San Diego mosque shooters rooted in white nationalism -- The gunmen who killed three people at the San Diego Islamic Center left behind a 75-page document that preached hate, anti-Islam and antisemitism and promoted violence and chaos, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told The Times. Richard Winton and Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
As Islamic Center reopens after deadly attack, San Diego Muslims express uneasiness, defiance -- San Diego County religious leaders remained on edge Wednesday in the wake of Monday’s deadly attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego, even as law enforcement officials said they were increasing patrols around houses of worship. Alex Riggins, Hannah Elsmore, Walker Armstrong, Maura Fox in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 5/21/26
Homeless
One force sets the Bay Area’s homelessness crisis apart: rent -- Sky-high housing costs have made the region an outlier, pushing more people into homelessness and making it harder to escape. Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Ethan Varian in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/21/26
Education
Lurie budget would end S.F. cash grants for thousands of low-income City College students -- Mayor Daniel Lurie’s forthcoming budget will propose a 30% cut to “Free City,” the popular perk that has allowed thousands of city residents of all income levels to attend City College of San Francisco for free since 2017. Nanette Asimov in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/21/26
Walters: Education is vital and costs California billions, so why aren’t candidates for governor talking about it? -- The single largest item in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently proposed budget — and arguably its most important — is the $91 billion (plus $60 billion in local and federal funds) it would spend to educate the state’s nearly 6 million students, from transitional kindergarten through high school. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 5/21/26
Also
This Cannes Film Cost $500,000 to Make. $400,000 Was AI Compute Costs -- But what’s compelling about “Hell Grind” isn’t the campy plot: It’s that every character, setting and prop in the 95-minute movie was generated by AI. Startup Higgsfield AI took just two weeks to make the film, and spent $500,000—80% of which went to compute costs. Isabelle Bousquette in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/21/26
Santa Monica Pier area among the dirtiest beaches again in new Beach Report Card -- For the fifth consecutive year, the area around the Santa Monica Pier was named one of California’s dirtiest beaches by researchers with the environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/21/26
POTUS 47
Trump’s allies are already lining up to apply to his $1.8 billion fund -- Jan. 6 rioters, George Santos, Mark McCloskey and Rod Blagojevich: A wide range of figures are eyeing the president’s new settlement fund. Meryl Kornfield in the Washington Post$ -- 5/21/26
How the $1.8 Billion Trump Fund May Violate Past Practice and Policy -- The fund that could offer payouts to Trump allies who accuse the government of mistreatment is not only highly unusual but also appears to violate the administration’s own policies. Devlin Barrett in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26
Trump’s Government Moves to Spare an Unhappy Taxpayer Named Trump -- No president has ever used the federal government to advance his own personal interests and those of his family and allies as expansively and openly as Mr. Trump has. Peter Baker in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26
The War Is Over. The Strait Is Open. We Totally Won. The Iran War According to Donald Trump -- The New York Times analyzed the president’s statements suggesting that the conflict was drawing to a close and compared them with the reality of the moment. Often, there was a wide disconnect. Michael Crowley, Ashley Cai and Lazaro Gamio in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26
Ballroom won’t be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request -- In a blow to the White House, Senate Republicans will remove a $1 billion Secret Service funding request that would help President Donald Trump’s ballroom project from their immigration enforcement funding bill amid internal objections. Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes Politico -- 5/21/26
Republicans squirm as Trump pursues legacy, control and revenge -- Republicans are coming to grips with a president who less than six months out from the midterms is focused on racking up a body count of lawmakers who have crossed him, asserting his control over his party and burnishing his legacy — putting the GOP legislative agenda and the survival of its majorities at risk. Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney and Myah Ward Politico Lindsay Wise, Ken Thomas and Marianne LeVine in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/21/26
Trump Gets His Payback, but It Comes at a Cost in Congress -- Republican senators are angry the president is working to unseat their colleagues. But he is also creating more free agents in his own party in Congress willing to defy him. Carl Hulse in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26
Democrats’ Midterm Strength Masks Fierce Divides and Frustration, Poll Shows -- Democratic voters are in a combative, anti-establishment mood, unhappy with their party and disagreeing about its best path forward, a New York Times/Siena poll found. Katie Glueck, Ruth Igielnik and Camille Baker in the New York Times$ -- 5/21/26