California Policy and Politics Wednesday

‘It is time for you to leave’: DHS mistakenly sends notices to U.S. citizens -- One night this month, Los Angeles immigration attorney Harriet Steele opened her email to a notice from the Department of Homeland Security. “It is time for you to leave the United States,” it read. Steele was confused — and concerned. She is a U.S. citizen born in Los Angeles, but worried the email was meant for a client. Andrea Castillo in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

ICE raid reportedly detains more than a dozen day laborers outside Home Depot -- Laborers who arrived at a Home Depot in Pomona on Tuesday morning in hopes of earning a day’s wage were met with uniformed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who reportedly began rounding up workers in the parking lot. Clara Harter in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

How Trump tariffs could upend California farms, wine businesses and ports -- From higher costs to export worries, California’s agricultural and wine industries face many possible tariff effects. But some hope for opportunity. Levi Sumagaysay CalMatters -- 4/23/25

Trump’s tariffs threaten Southern California’s $300-billion trade industry, report says -- President Trump’s tariffs, along with growing land-use and environmental regulations, could devastate Southern California’s nearly $300-billion trade and logistics industry in the coming years, according to a Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. report released Tuesday. Malia Mendez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

 

New taxes will soon dwarf the billions spent on homelessness in last decade. Who’s watching over it? -- As more than a billion dollars pours in annually from two new homelessness taxes, a raft of new oversight agencies has been set up to set goals and keep an eye on the money. For the public, it’s a lot to keep up with. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

Measure A oversight panels set five-year goals with metrics to evaluate their success -- Oversight panels for the Measure A half-cent homelessness sales tax have set specific targets to track progress on five goals for increasing housing production and reducing the number of people on the street. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

Wildfire

Insurer of last resort kept growing. Then L.A. fire victims paid the price -- The Times found that in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones, the FAIR Plan’s rolls shot up last year a combined 47%. From 2020 to 2024, the number of homes in both areas on the plan nearly doubled from 14,272 to 28,440. Laurence Darmiento and Sandhya Kambhampati in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

After the Wildfires, This High School Needed a Campus. It Found a Sears -- Palisades Charter High School in California has held classes online since the fire in January. On Tuesday, students gathered at a new, temporary home, a retrofitted Sears. Sam Lubell in the New York Times$ -- 4/23/25

 

Garofoli: Steve Hilton — like most California Republicans — has a MAGA problem -- Steve Hilton believes he’s looking at a rare shot in California: a chance for a Republican to be elected governor in 2026. Who says California no longer is the place of dreamers? Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/23/25

Barabak: Is there a Republican governor in California’s near future? -- Some see the GOP in its best position to win the California governorship in years. There are still a number of hurdles for Republicans, including poor registration numbers and a potentially lousy economy. Mark Z. Barabak in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

Rep. Robert Garcia travels to El Salvador to advocate for Kilmar Abrego Garcia -- Calling the Trump administration’s dismissal of a U.S. Supreme Court order to help facilitate the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported a “constitutional crisis,” Rep. Robert Garcia — who recently returned from El Salvador to raise awareness about the case — said he will not let the issue die quietly. Linh Tat in the Orange County Register$ -- 4/22/25

Millions raised early as 2026 House races take shape in Orange County -- Congressional candidates across Orange County collectively raised millions of dollars in the first quarter of 2025, with early totals suggesting several races are poised to become top battlegrounds. Hanna Kang in the Orange County Register$ -- 4/23/25

 

State Bar of California admits it used AI to develop exam questions, triggering new furor -- Nearly two months after hundreds of prospective California lawyers complained that their bar exams were plagued with technical problems and irregularities, the state’s legal licensing body has caused fresh outrage by admitting that some multiple-choice questions were developed with the aid of artificial intelligence. Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

Tesla deliveries in San Diego tumble -- Tesla's Model Y is still San Diego County's best-selling vehicle but overall registrations are down 26.6% Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union Tribune -- 4/22/25

Walters: Given its failures, can California manage a transition to a carbon-free future? -- Over the next 20 years, California wants to replace nearly 30 million gasoline and diesel-powered cars and light trucks with those using batteries or hydrogen. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 4/23/25

 

The path to picking a new pope -- and what role California will play -- For the first time in a long time, California won’t have a cardinal at the conclave. Cardinal Roger Mahony — who led the L.A. Archdiocese from 1985 to 2011— is barred from the process for two reasons: His involvement in concealing sexual abuse in the church prohibits his involvement in public or administrative duties, and at 89, he is aged out because conclave participants must be under 80. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/25

Workplace

With Head Start in jeopardy, Trump administration threatens child care for 800,000 kids -- Head Start has have faced a series of escalating series of threats under the Trump administration. A recent administration budget proposal calls for a complete termination of the 60-year-old program. Jenny Gold, Kate Sequeira, Allen J. Schaben in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

S.F. Mayor Daniel Lurie might face his biggest test yet as unions issue budget warning -- A Tuesday rally that San Francisco union leaders held outside the local courthouse across from City Hall also doubled as a warning of sorts for Mayor Daniel Lurie as he approaches one of his biggest tests so far. J.D. Morris in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/25

California doesn’t know the cost to bring state workers back to offices -- Department officials said they had not conducted a state-wide cost analysis of the governor’s return-to-office order in response to lawmakers’ questions about the financial impact of the policy. William Melhado in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/23/25

Does California have enough office space for returning state workers? -- One of the biggest unknowns the state is facing this July, when four out of ten state employees begin working primarily in person again, is how departments will navigate office space issues. Some workers worry about where they and their colleagues will sit. William Melhado in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/23/25

Sacramento County employees threaten strike as union negotiates wages, safety -- County employees urged the Sacramento Board of Supervisors to improve working conditions and increase worker wages as unions entered negotiations on Tuesday morning. If their needs aren’t met, the union representative said they are ready to strike. Emma Hall in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 4/22/25

Amazon must negotiate with Teamsters at San Francisco warehouse, NLRB says -- A complaint issued Monday by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board accused Amazon of illegally refusing to negotiate with employees after a majority signed union authorization cards in the fall. Suhauna Hussain in the Los Angeles Times$ Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/25

Housing

Abundance meets resistance: Are Democrats finally ready to go all in on building housing? -- California Senate Housing Committee Chair Aisha Wahab is a staunch progressive who is clashing with pro-development activists and other Democrats who want to build more, faster. Jeanne Kuang CalMatters -- 4/23/25

A California environmental law makes it ‘too damn hard’ to build. But do Democrats have the will to reform it? -- Trade unions often use the threat of a CEQA lawsuit to extract concessions from developers. Kate Talerico in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 4/23/25

S.F. hatches yet another new plan to help convert empty offices to housing. Will this one work? -- San Francisco keeps trying — and failing — to get developers to convert the city’s vacant office buildings into housing. Despite policy changes and incentives, just one office building is currently being transformed into new homes. Aldo Toledo in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/22/25

Education

Trump stopped federal funding to Maine over transgender athletes. Could California follow? -- Both Maine and California have laws to allow transgender athletes on women’s teams. Trump is going after Maine’s federal funding. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/23/25

Lawmaker seeks new way to outlaw threats against California schools and places of worship -- Existing law makes it illegal to threaten people in many cases, but what happens when the threat is against a building, such as a school or a place of worship? Denise Amos CalMatters -- 4/23/25

UC has been enrolling more in-state students. Proposed state cuts may halt that growth -- The UC has grown its enrollment of California undergraduates by 16,000 in the last five years. University officials say they won’t be able to continue that growth if state funding is cut. Mikhail Zinshteyn CalMatters -- 4/23/25

UC faculty to consider its own high school ethnic studies mandate -- Ethnic studies faculty at UC have developed course criteria that would be at odds with the state’s own mandated but unfunded model curriculum. John Fensterwald EdSource -- 4/23/25

Tijuana River

EPA chief urges Mexico to help deliver ‘100% solution’ to clean up polluted Tijuana River -- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin visited the Tijuana River and called for Mexico to take urgent steps to help stop the flow of untreated sewage on the border. He said U.S. and Mexican officials plan to collaborate on a “100% solution” to halt the flow of raw sewage in the river. Ian James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/25

Breathe

These communities are unaware they’ve lived near toxic gas for decades. Why has no action been taken? -- Five facilities near schools and houses in LA County fumigate produce shipped from overseas with methyl bromide. But the air agency doesn’t plan to monitor the air or take any immediate steps to protect people from the gas, which can damage lungs and cause neurological effects. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde CalMatters -- 4/23/25

Street

In California Jails, a Rash of Homicide and Negligence -- The jails of Riverside County are plagued with unusually high murder rates and recurring security failures by an inexperienced staff. Christopher Damien in the New York Times$ -- 4/23/25

Inside LA’s mental health court: Meth, homelessness and the judge who wants to help -- Addiction and homelessness are a constant presence in L.A.’s mental health court. Its judge wants defendants to “feel like someone who’s deep in the system of power cares about them. Joe Garcia CalMatters -- 4/23/25

Also

Steelhead trout rescued from Palisades fire spawn in their new Santa Barbara County home -- Wildlife officials feared critically endangered steelhead trout rescued from the Palisades fire burn scar might not be up for spawning after all they’d been through over the last few months. Lila Seidman in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/25

Massive art and culture hub coming to S.F. pier that’s been empty for more than a decade -- On a mission to claim some of downtown San Francisco’s languishing commercial buildings as affordable spaces for the city’s artists and culture groups, the Community Arts Stabilization Trust has set its sights on a vacant pier. Laura Waxmann in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 4/23/25

 

Five-Minute EV Charging Is Here, but Not for U.S.-Made Cars -- CATL and BYD’s rapid-charging technology underscores China’s dominance in the EV sector, a technological priority for Xi Jinping Yoko Kubota in the Wall Street Journal -- 4/23/25

$1 Trillion of Wealth Was Created for the 19 Richest U.S. Households Last Year -- The wealthiest have gotten richer, and control a record share of America’s wealth. New data suggest $1 trillion of wealth was created for the 19 richest American households alone in 2024. That is more than the value of Switzerland’s entire economy. Juliet Chung in the Wall Street Journal -- 4/23/25

POTUS 47

White House Considers Slashing China Tariffs to De-Escalate Trade War -- Levies could be cut by more than half in some cases although Trump hasn’t yet made final decision. Gavin Bade, Lingling Wei and Josh Dawsey in the Wall Street Journal -- 4/23/25

Longtime US allies say they have ways to fight back against Trump, and they’ll use them -- President Donald Trump has spent the first three months of his second term imposing his will on the rest of the globe, telling long-time allies that they “don’t have the cards.” But in capitals across Europe and elsewhere, debates are raging over the hands they could play. Eli Stokols, Philipp Fritz, Clea Caulcutt and Emily Schultheis Politico -- 4/23/25

China Has an Army of Robots on Its Side in the Tariff War -- Enormous investments in factory equipment and artificial intelligence are giving China an edge in car manufacturing and other industries. Keith Bradsher in the New York Times$ -- 4/23/25

Elon Musk Vows to Spend Less Time in Washington ßas Tesla’s Profit Drops 71% -- The carmaker reported the sharp decline in quarterly earnings after its brand suffered because of its chief executive’s role in the Trump administration. Jack Ewing in the New York Times$ Chris Marquette Politico -- 4/22/25

Trump Says He Has ‘No Intention’ of Firing Fed Chair Powell -- President Trump said he is not planning to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and he signaled that tariffs on China could be lowered, prompting relief from investors who had been spooked by the White House’s aggressive moves in recent weeks. Brian Schwartz, Nick Timiraos and Tarini Parti in the Wall Street Journal Andrew Ackerman in the New York Times$ Trisha Thadani in the Washington Post$ -- 4/22/25

Trump’s inner circle weighs push for higher taxes on millionaires -- The vice president and budget director are internally seen as open to the idea, but conservatives warn of ‘Bernie Sanders economics.’ Jeff Stein in the Washington Post$ -- 4/22/25

Trump Promised ‘Big, Beautiful’ Deals. Delivering Has Been Tougher -- So far, the goals of many of President Trump’s negotiations have been unrealized, even those he said would be accomplished in a matter of days or weeks. Tyler Pager in the New York Times$ -- 4/22/25

Details Hegseth Shared on Signal Came From a Secure Site -- Information about U.S. strikes in Yemen that the defense secretary put in two group chats came from Central Command, according to two people familiar with the chats. Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt in the New York Times$ -- 4/22/25

Judge says Voice of America staffers can go back to work -- U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction halting part of President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the independent agency tasked with running Voice of America. Scott Nover in the Washington Post$ -- 4/22/25

‘60 Minutes’ Chief Resigns in Emotional Meeting: ‘The Company Is Done With Me’ -- The news program has faced mounting pressure from both President Trump and its corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News. Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin in the New York Times$ Joe Flint and Jessica Toonkelin the Wall Street Journal -- 4/22/25

Interior secretary gives DOGE member with oil-industry ties power to remake department -- The move has alarmed conservation groups, including some that have accused Interior Secretary Doug Burgum of stepping aside to give Musk and his team “carte blanche” to possibly fire park rangers, public land managers and wildfire specialists across the country. Salvador Hernandez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 4/22/25