LAT, KEVIN RECTOR: "A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit demanding California turn over its voter rolls, calling the request “unprecedented and illegal” and accusing the federal government of trying to “abridge the right of many Americans to cast their ballots.”
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, a Clinton appointee based in Santa Ana, questioned the Justice Department’s motivations and called its lawsuit demanding voter data from California Secretary of State Shirley Weber not just an overreach into state-run elections, but a threat to American democracy."
The fight over how to pay for Medi-Cal puts pressure on Newsom to raise taxes
CALMATTERS, MAYA C. MILLER/JEANNE KUANG: "California health care advocates, labor unions and progressive lawmakers are urging the governor and the Legislature to find new money to fund medical care and other social services for millions of low-income and disabled Californians.
Their coalition, known as “Fight for Our Health,” demanded Wednesday on the Capitol steps that the Legislature and soon-to-be lame duck Gov. Gavin Newsom take action to backfill funding cuts that President Donald Trump and Republicans approved last year."
Leaked memo reveals California debated cutting wildfire soil testing before disaster chief’s exit
LAT, TONY BRISCOE: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s disaster chief quietly retired in late December amid criticism over the state’s indecisive stance on whether soil testing was necessary to protect survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires.
One year ago, Nancy Ward, then the director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), petitioned the Federal Emergency Management Agency to spearhead the cleanup of toxic ash and fire debris cloaking more than 12,000 homes across Los Angeles County."
Newsom plans no new journalism funding despite $175 million funding deal with Google
CALMATTERS, YUE STELLA YU: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal includes no money for a fund formed last year to boost the state’s local newsrooms, casting doubt on whether a heralded effort to help California journalists will amount to anything and how serious Newsom is about supporting the struggling industry.
It’s a significant walkback from an August 2024 deal between state leaders and Google in which they agreed to jointly spend $175 million over five years to fund local journalism."
Marin County seeks state and federal assistance following severe storms
CHRONICLE, BROOKE PARK: "Marin County filed an emergency proclamation this week that would allow the county to seek state and federal financial assistance after severe storms that caused more than $4 million in damage this month, officials said.
A severe storm system, record king tides, a storm surge, high winds and riverine runoff converged to wreak havoc across Marin County earlier this month, triggering widespread flooding, levee failures, landslides and resident displacement, the county said in a statement. The county calculated the storm caused about $4.35 million in damages and filed an emergency proclamation this week to seek assistance from state and federal programs to pay for repairs."
Winning voters, not just elections (OP-ED)
CAPITOL WEEKLY, IRENE KAO: "After California’s Prop 50 election and elections across the country, pundits scrambled to give their hot takes on what the results meant, especially in terms of which party now has greater support and momentum entering a primary election year. But framing 2025’s elections through the lens of the two major political parties misses the main story– the voters.
If the goal in 2026 is to win and serve Californians, party leaders must ditch their outdated and inept playbook. The only way forward is to value every voter and take no voter for granted."
Capitol Briefs: Leadership transitions and California’s slow growth
CAPITOL WEEKLY, STAFF: ""California Democratic Party announces leadership transition: The California Democratic Party has named Yvette Martinex senior advisor for Chairman Rusty Hicks. Martinez previously served as CADEM’s Executive Director.
“Yvette’s leadership has helped transform the California Democratic Party into a national model for organizing, coalition-building, and electoral success,” Hicks said in a statement.
Trump administration escalates investigations into transgender athlete participation in California
LAT, CHRISTOPHER BUCHANAN: "Federal officials have launched an investigation into the California Community Colleges Athletic Assn. and four other state colleges and school districts, alleging that their policies allowing sports participation based on gender identity violate the civil rights of female athletes, U.S. Education Department officials announced this week.
The investigations — which target 18 school districts and colleges nationwide — widen the Trump administration’s drive to end the participation of transgender athletes in women’s and girls’ sports."
Top Bay Area schools embrace controversial grading system — just without the word ‘equity’
CHRONICE, SARAH RAVANI: "San Francisco schools dropped a controversial proposed overhaul last year of how students are assessed, called “Grading for Equity,” after parents, advocates and even the mayor slammed the proposal.
The fight over “Grading for Equity” now is popping in the East Bay’s Tri-Valley school districts, where education officials have a plan to counter potential opposition: remove the word “equity” from their policies."
PG&E will cut power to two S.F. neighborhoods. Here’s when
CHRONICLE, JULIE JOHNSON: "Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced Thursday it will be temporarily cutting power to two San Francisco neighborhoods next week as the company prepares to restore power to the Mission substation that erupted in flames last month and caused widespread blackouts.
The Dec. 20 substation fire knocked out power to more than 130,000 homes and businesses — or about one-third of the city — on the Saturday before Christmas, triggering widespread complaints about the company."
‘Not what my patients deserve’: Medicaid cuts, layoffs plunge East Bay hospital system into disarray
CHRONICLE, CATHERINE HO: "Major layoffs at Alameda Health System, Alameda County’s safety net hospital system, have quickly led to disarray and dysfunction — from overflowing trash cans to delayed lab testing for emergency department patients — according to doctors, nurses and other medical staff.
Alameda Health System, whose facilities include the flagship Wilma Chan Highland Hospital in Oakland, announced in December it will lay off 247 employees, roughly 4% of its workforce. Hospital leaders attribute the cuts to HR 1, the GOP-led 2025 legislation that made unprecedented cuts to Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for low-income residents. As a result, AHS — which gets about 60% of its revenue from Medicaid payments — is projected to lose $100 million in revenue annually by 2030."
Much of the West is having its warmest winter on record — and it’s fueling a snow drought
CHRONICLE, ANTHONY EDWARDS: "The first half of winter was the warmest on record for an extraordinary swath of the West.
Temperatures were as much as 15 degrees above normal from Dec. 1 to Jan. 14 in the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range. Even California is on record pace, despite a chilly start to December in many areas."
California counties must jump through new hoops to get homelessness funds
CALMATTERS, MARISA KENDALL/BEN CHRISTOPHER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened many times to withhold state homelessness funds from cities and counties that aren’t doing enough to get people off the streets.
This year, those threats seem more real than ever."
CHRONICLE, KO LYN CHEANG: "A jury acquitted a 24-year-old man of murder and elder abuse — and convicted him instead of involuntary manslaughter and assault — in an attack on an 84-year-old Thai grandfather in San Francisco in 2021, a case that galvanized the Asian American community around crime and safety concerns.
The jury is scheduled to return to the courtroom on Jan. 26 to decide on an issue related to aggravating factors in the case, then the judge will determine sentencing."