California Policy and Politics Saturday

With a Super Bowl ad, California governor’s race ‘is now kicked into gear’ -- A Silicon Valley-backed independent expenditure committee booked $1.4 million in airtime on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service, which will feature the big game along with NBC, and on other broadcast networks on Sunday to introduce Matt Mahan, the mayor of San José who entered the governor’s race in late January. Nicole Nixon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/7/26

BART is making plans for its own death — a doomsday scenario it says could come in just years -- This complete unraveling would only happen if voters decline to bail out the transit agency in November. But the collapse would be swift. Within two years, BART’s stations would be empty, its track sitting idle. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/7/26

Newsom’s response to Louisiana AG plan to sue over abortion access: ‘Go f— yourself’ -- In response to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s reported plans to sue California and New York for refusing to surrender abortion providers wanted for prosecution in the antiabortion state, California Gov. Gavin Newsom clapped back Thursday with an f-bomb. Raheem Hosseini in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/7/26

Parents anxious but supportive as SFUSD strike looms: ‘Even one day could affect their learning’ -- With a potential teacher strike set to begin as soon as Monday in San Francisco, parents had mixed reactions to the news that their kids’ classrooms could shutter indefinitely as teachers demand raises, better health care coverage and special education support. Anna Bauman, Lucy Hodgman in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/7/26

California introduces a new ticketing bill with a price cap -- A new bill introduced in the state legislature would make it illegal to resell tickets for more than 10% over face value. Cerys Davies in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/7/26

Super Bowl Visitors Find San Francisco Better Than Its Apocalyptic Image -- The arrival of the Super Bowl this week in the Bay Area has given San Francisco its biggest opportunity since the pandemic to change hearts and minds. And, in a polarized nation in which many Americans seem incapable of moving off deep-seated beliefs, some visitors said they had been wrong about San Francisco after actually seeing it in person. Eli Tan and Kellen Browning in the New York Times$ -- 2/7/26

Guns

California sues websites that publish blueprints for 3D printer ghost guns -- The lawsuit said state officials as part of their investigation downloaded the code and instructions from the website “with a few simple keystrokes” and used it to build a Glock-style handgun. Cayla Mihalovich Calmatters -- 2/7/26

Workplace

California union pushes work-from-home bill as Newsom calls state employees back to the office -- One of California’s larger public employee unions is pushing legislation to make remote work a permanent option for state workers as the clock ticks down on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s July 1 mandate for most employees to be in the office four days a week. Yue Stella Yu Calmatters William Melhado in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/7/26

AI’s latest 20-something billionaire got his start at L.A. garage sales -- When Ali Ansari was 12, living with his family in a single room at his aunt’s house in Woodland Hills, his immigrant mother told him to stop wasting time staring at his phone and try making money with it. Nilesh Christopher in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 2/7/26

ICE

California ICE detention doubles in one year. One center surges from 3 to 1,800 -- Roughly 6,400 people are held each day in California’s immigration detention centers — more than double the average from a year ago. Mathew Miranda in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/7/26

San Diego judge orders 3 deported families returned, finds ICE used ‘lies, deception, coercion’ -- A San Diego federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return three recently deported families to the U.S., finding the administration unlawfully removed those families through “lies, deception, and coercion.” Alex Riggins in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 2/7/26

Waymo

Waymo says its robotaxis get help from remote workers in the Philippines -- In testimony before the U.S. Senate this week, held after a Waymo struck a child walking to school in Santa Monica, a top executive revealed that the autonomous vehicle company uses remote workers in the Philippines to assist its self-driving cars, including those operating daily on Bay Area roads. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 2/7/26

Education

Sac City school board votes to reverse some cuts as budget situation looks up -- The public received the news last night that the struggling school district was finally projecting to be fiscally solvent at the end of the school year, the first good news about the district’s budget since its large deficit was discovered. Jennah Pendleton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 2/7/26

POTUS 47

Trump refuses to apologize after sharing racist image of the Obamas: ‘I didn’t make a mistake’ -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom said it was ‘disgusting behavior by the president’ to amplify such an image. The White House press secretary initially called the backlash ‘fake outrage,’ but later said the video was ‘erroneously’ posted by a staffer. Ana Ceballos in the Los Angeles Times$ Erica L. Green, Isabella Kwai and Zolan Kanno-Youngs in the New York Times$ Natalie Allison in the Washington Post$ -- 2/7/26

Trump’s Midterm Redistricting Master Plan Is Falling Short -- President Trump’s effort to push Republican state lawmakers to create more GOP-leaning House districts is on track to yield far fewer gains than expected, the latest sign that his party’s majority is at risk in this year’s elections. Aaron Zitner, Elizabeth Findell and Olivia Beavers in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 2/7/26

Appeals court backs Trump’s mass detention policy -- A federal appeals court Friday night backed the Trump administration’s policy to lock up the vast majority of people it is seeking to deport without offering a chance for bond, even if they have no criminal records and have resided in the country for decades. Kyle Cheney Politico -- 2/7/26

State election officials brace for possible Trump interference in midterm results -- Top bipartisan election officials from around the country are growing increasingly alarmed by what they see as President Donald Trump’s unprecedented push to interfere in the midterm elections. Erin Doherty and Andrew Howard Politico -- 2/7/26

Amazon's tax bill plunges after GOP tax cuts -- The company says it ran a $1.2 billion tax bill last year, down from $9 billion the previous year, and even as its profits jumped by 45 percent to nearly $90 billion. Brian Faler Politico -- 2/7/26