California Policy and Politics Tuesday

State Farm increases California home insurance rate hike request to 30% -- A week after securing approval to raise home insurance rates by an average of 17%, State Farm General revealed plans to ask regulators for an additional 11% increase, as well as considerably higher rates for condo owners and renters. Megan Fan Munce in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/20/25

Senate will vote on nixing California clean-air waivers, Thune says -- The decision is set to infuriate Democrats who have seized on a parliamentarian ruling questioning the move. Jordain Carney Politico -- 5/20/25

Exclusive footage: Deadly Palisades Fire may have grown from this Jan. 1 blaze -- A newly released video that captures the ignition of the Palisades Fire on Jan. 7 provides further evidence the disastrous Los Angeles County blaze was possibly the rekindling of a fire from days earlier, according to four wildfire investigation experts who reviewed the footage. Matthias Gafni, Julie Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/20/25

Latino legislative caucus decries Newsom’s proposed Medi-Cal cuts -- One of the strongest voting blocs in Sacramento denounced Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget, which included cuts to immigrants’ access to Medi-Cal. Sandra McDonald in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

Landmark Los Angeles federal courthouse slated for quick sale by agency -- The federal government is offering real estate investors an unusual opportunity — the chance to buy a historic courthouse and office building in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Roger Vincent in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

A Silicon Valley Democrat takes town halls to enemy territory — but will it peel off any GOP votes in Congress? -- Rep. Ro Khanna elevates Democratic critiques of Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill in town halls far from his district. Grant Stringer in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/20/25

Gavin Newsom could write the ending to the Menendez brothers’ saga -- The California Democrat makes the final decision if the parole board recommends their release following the infamous, decades-old murder case. Lindsey Holden Politico -- 5/20/25

California watchdog finds for-profit psychiatric hospital abused patients -- The state’s watchdog agency for people with disabilities has found that a for-profit psychiatric hospital in Southern California abused patients for years by excessively and improperly strapping them down and drugging them in violation of federal and state regulations. Cynthia Dizikes, Joaquin Palomino in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/20/25

Palm Springs bombing investigation turns to the explosives: How were they sourced and built? -- The suspect in Saturday’s bombing at a Palm Springs fertility clinic was a rocket hobbyist with radical views and an extraordinary amount of high-range explosives that appear to have been used with precision in his attack, law enforcement sources and blast experts told The Times. Melody Gutierrez, Libor Jany, Paige St. John, Richard Winton and Jenny Jarvie in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

S.F. DA launches criminal probe into nonprofit that misspent millions -- City prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into the nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance, a prominent fundraiser for the city’s open spaces that admitted last week to misspending at least $3.8 million, the Chronicle has learned. Michael Barba in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/20/25

Orange County DA ‘knew his office was in trouble,’ lawyer for ex-prosecutor says -- Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer forced out a high-level prosecutor who was trying to protect lower-level colleagues who had suffered serial sexual harassment by another supervisor with close ties to Spitzer, an attorney for the former prosecutor told jurors on Monday, May 19, at the outset of a high-profile civil trial. Sean Emery in the Orange County Register$ -- 5/20/25

‘Relic of slavery’: California lawmakers are trying again to raise pay for incarcerated workers -- Many people in California prisons and jails work for less than $1 an hour. Lawmakers are advancing two bills that could lead to wage increases for some of them. Joe Garcia CalMatters -- 5/20/25

L.A. County is paying off millions in medical debt — no strings attached. Do you qualify? -- Through the Los Angeles County Medical Debt Relief Program, more than 134,000 residents’ medical debt will be forgiven — no strings attached. Karen Garcia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

Walters: Newsom’s budget cuts anger allies and leave the state’s chronic deficit unresolved -- When Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a revised state budget last week, he irritated — and perhaps alienated — major interest groups allied with his Democratic Party. Dan Walters CalMatters -- 5/20/25

Workplace

California could lose up to 217,000 jobs if Congress cuts Medicaid, analysis says -- About two-thirds of the lost jobs (up to 145,000 jobs) would be in health care sectors, including jobs at hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, insurance companies, and home care, according to the policy brief. María G. Ortiz-Briones in the Fresno Bee$ -- 5/20/25

Cops racking up overtime and earning over $400,000 -- The highest-paid city employee in 2023 — the most recent year with complete compensation data — was a cop who worked upwards of 3,000 hours of overtime and earned over $430,000 in total compensation. By comparison, the mayor earned $234,000 that year. The chief of police earned $310,000. Scott Rodd, Elaine Alfaro KPBS -- 5/19/25

15 Sacramento police officers doubled their pay with overtime for multiple years -- Among those officers and sergeants, 15 doubled their salary for two or three of those years, earning at least 190% annually of what they would have made before overtime. In one case, an officer came close to tripling his pay. Ariane Lange in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/20/25

Homeless

Why California’s biggest local effort to fight homelessness is starting all over again -- California cities and counties are supposed to work together to help their homeless residents. But those partnerships can be fraught. Marisa Kendall CalMatters -- 5/20/25

L.A. landlord stops blasting “Baby Shark” tune to drive off homeless following complaints -- An otherwise ordinary commercial building at the corner of 11th and Main streets in downtown Los Angeles captured the attention of Los Angeles officials recently for blasting “Baby Shark” to deter homeless people. Ruben Vives in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

Forever chemicals

San Francisco Bay fish are contaminated with levels of ‘forever chemicals’ that could harm anglers -- California has no health standards for these chemicals in fish, so activists are urging action. Found in people and animals worldwide, they are linked to cancer and other health effects. Rachel Becker CalMatters -- 5/20/25

Education

Appeals court halts Temecula school district ban on critical race theory -- Temecula Valley Unified passed a ban on critical race theory more than two years ago, but the policy will now be on hold while litigation proceeds. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

Immigrants learn English for free at California colleges. Under Trump, some are skipping class -- California’s ESL courses gained 30,000 students over the past six years. As the Trump administration revokes student visas and escalates immigration raids, that growth is at risk. Delilah Brumer CalMatters -- 5/20/25

California to pay for learning disabled students to attend religious schools -- California law since 1993 has allowed children with learning disabilities to attend private schools at state expense, but only if the schools are non-religious. That is apparently about to change under a court settlement Monday between state education officials and a group of Orthodox Jewish parents. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/20/25

Should California’s college systems be merged into one university? -- To better help students access and complete college, California should consider a major — and highly controversial — overhaul of its Master Plan for Higher Education that merges the state’s three public higher education systems into one mega-university, researchers argued Monday. Michael Burke EdSource -- 5/20/25

Street

Judge, prosecutor spar over plan to give lenient deal to L.A. deputy after conviction -- A judge grilled a prosecutor over a plan to give L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Trevor Kirk a no-jail plea deal, despite his felony conviction in an excessive force case. James Queally, Brittny Mejia and Connor Sheets in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

Aryan Brotherhood leaders ordered murders from California prisons. Can federal prison stop them? -- Prosecutors say John Stinson, Kenneth Johnson and Francis Clement will probably spend the rest of their lives in federal prison after being convicted of orchestrating murders and racketeering schemes from California lockups. Matthew Ormseth in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

Also

The Coyotes of San Francisco -- After a long absence from the city, the animals have become ubiquitous again. Some residents find them delightful, but others view them with disdain. Heather Knight, Loren Elliott, Loren Elliott in the New York Times$ -- 5/20/25

A mysterious, highly active undersea volcano near California could erupt later this year. What scientists expect -- Nearly a mile deep, the Pacific Ocean volcano known as Axial Seamount is drawing increasing scrutiny from scientists who only discovered its existence in the 1980s. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/20/25

POTUS 47

Trump calls for ‘major investigation’ into Springsteen, Oprah and Beyoncé over Kamala Harris campaign ties -- In a flurry of early morning posts on Truth Social on Monday, May 19, the president accused Harris of orchestrating a scheme to disguise payments to entertainers as production expenses, a claim that targeted stars Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and Bono. Aidin Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/20/25

‘Don’t f--k around with Medicaid’: Trump moves to steamroll megabill opposition -- The president went in to a high-stakes House GOP conference meeting ready to flex his political muscle. Meredith Lee Hill Politico Olivia Beavers and Siobhan Hughes in the Wall Street Journal -- 5/20/25

Supreme Court allows Trump to revoke immigration protections for 350,000 Venezuelans -- The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to immediately end immigration protections that had allowed roughly 350,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S. to receive work permits and temporarily avoid deportation. Josh Gerstein Politico Justin Jouvenal, Sabrina Rodriguez and Arelis R. Hernández in the Washington Post$ Abbie VanSickle and Adam Liptak in the New York Times$ -- 5/20/25

Migrant Labor Force Withstands Mass-Deportation Push -- While data covering immigrants lacking permanent legal status is fragmentary, what is available shows no broad pullback from the labor force. Paul Kiernan in the Wall Street Journal -- 5/20/25

Trump administration to pay nearly $5M to settle suit over Ashli Babbitt’s fatal shooting in Capitol -- The officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. Eric Tucker and Michael Kunzelman Associated Press Alan Feuer, Devlin Barrett and Glenn Thrush in the New York Times$ -- 5/20/25

Debt cloud suddenly hangs over megabill talks -- Republicans knew they’d have to overcome fierce internal divisions, thorny policy trade-offs and rock-solid Democratic resistance to pass their massive domestic policy bill. They didn’t count on a Wall Street backlash, too. Benjamin Guggenheim, Sam Sutton and Meredith Lee Hill Politico -- 5/20/25

Jamie Dimon Says Tariffs Might Inflict More Economic Pain Than Investors Realize --JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday he didn’t think the full impact of tariffs had passed through to the broader economy and warned that the stock market could slump as companies reckoned with the new costs for goods and supplies. Alexander Saeedy in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/20/25

Trump Berates Companies for Warning About Tariff Price Increases -- The president recently attacked Walmart, saying it should “eat” the costs rather than pass them on to customers. Tony Romm in the New York Times$ -- 5/20/25

America’s Fiscal Situation Threatens the Good Mood on Wall Street -- Investors sold U.S. government bonds and the dollar on Monday, after Moody’s Ratings late last week stripped the U.S. of its last triple-A credit rating, citing large budget deficits and rising interest costs. Sam Goldfarb and Hannah Erin Lang in the Wall Street Journal$ -- 5/20/25

Qatar Had No Luck Selling a Luxury Jet. Then Trump Set His Sights On It -- Officials in the Pentagon and President Trump’s White House assumed the plan would involve buying the plane. How did it morph into a proposed gift by Qatar? Eric Lipton, Maggie Haberman, Adam Rasgon and Eric Schmitt in the New York Times$ -- 5/20/25

Justice Dept. to Use False Claims Act to Pursue Institutions Over Diversity Efforts -- The department’s use of the law is all but certain to be met with legal challenges. Glenn Thrush and Alan Blinder in the New York Times$ -- 5/20/25