Former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announces run for governor
Sac Bee, JENAVIEVE HATCH: "Xavier Becerra, a Sacramento native who served as California attorney general and secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden administration, announced Wednesday that he is joining a crowded race to run for governor.
“California is at a crossroads. From housing to health care, childcare to college, working families are facing an affordability crisis. The California Dream is slipping away,” he said in a campaign announcement. “I’m running for governor to fight for that dream, to build a stronger, affordable California for everyone, and to take on bullies who get in our way.”"
READ MORE -- Former federal health chief Xavier Becerra announces run for California governor -- LAT, SEEMA MEHTA; Former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announces run for governor -- The Chronicle, SHIRA STEIN/MOLLY BURKE
DOGE has hit Social Security. These are the problems people are facing — and tips to cope
The Chronicle, JESSICA ROY: "Technical difficulties. Hours on hold. Long drives to field offices.
Those are among the frustrating, time-consuming, anxiety-inducing problems Social Security recipients recently reported to the Chronicle after we wrote about changes in the program’s identity verification requirements under the Trump administration."
California Assembly committee blocks anti-trans athlete bills after emotional hearing
Sac Bee, LIA RUSSELL: "During a passionate hearing Tuesday that drew outspoken, hours-long public comment from both opponents and proponents, California lawmakers blocked a pair of bills spotlighting transgender student-athletes that received renewed attention last month after comments Gov. Gavin Newsom made on his podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom.”
Members from the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism, including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, heard testimony from two Republican legislators and dozens of concerned members of the public who went to the Capitol to vocally support or oppose the bills."
Trump picks outspoken CA lawmaker to be a new U.S. attorney in Los Angeles
Sac Bee, KATE WOLFFE: "Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Republican from Southern California known for his combative stances on Democratic priorities, is leaving the state Capitol after being appointed the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.
The Corona lawmaker vacated his seat Tuesday to lead the Justice Department’s efforts in California’s Central District. He will leave behind a legacy as a fiery dissenter in the Democrat-run Capitol, who passed few laws in his two years in office, but brought ample attention to the right’s culture war issues."
Oakland can’t manage its budget, but it will ask for more tax dollars
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "More than 86,000 Oakland voters signaled that they wanted change last November when they voted to recall Mayor Sheng Thao. But most of the candidates vying to replace Thao support a measure to raise sales taxes, perpetuating Oakland’s legacy of asking taxpayers for a bailout for its latest screw-up.
Measure A on the April 15 ballot would give Oakland, a city starved for more business, one of the highest sales taxes in the region, bumping it up .5% to 10.75% for 10 years."
A judge said this California city’s elections diluted Latino votes. Six years later, nothing’s changed
CALMatters, SAMEEA KAMAL: "It’s been six years since a judge ruled that Santa Monica’s election system discriminates against Latino voters. In that time, there have been at least three more elections — but the city hasn’t had to change the way it runs them.
That’s because the coastal Los Angeles County city appealed, and under current law, it’s not required to change the process until after all appeals are heard."
Odds getting better for legalized sports betting in California
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "In the clearest sign yet that tensions are thawing on sports gambling in California, leaders of DraftKings and FanDuel spoke at an Indian gaming conference Monday about their desire to partner – not compete – with tribes to bring sports betting to the state.
“There is no other way to do it,” said Jason Robins, CEO and co-founder of DraftKings, reflecting the industry’s hard-earned lessons from the 2022 election."
SB 222 is too risky for consumers (OP-ED)
Capitol Weekly, KYLA CHRISTOFFERSON POWELL: "California’s insurance market is at a crossroads. With massive increases in disaster costs and a regulatory environment that does not readily allow carriers to increase rates to match the risk involved in insuring massive portions of our state, it is clear that something needs to change to fix a broken insurance market.
However, a proposal supported by anti-energy NGOs is not the correct answer to this complex issue."
California just blew a deadline for voter-approved health care measure — losing millions of federal dollars
CALMatters, KRISTEN HWANG: "California voters told lawmakers last fall that they wanted doctors to get paid more to see low-income patients. But officials for the Newsom administration blew past a federal deadline to make that happen through Medi-Cal Monday, effectively leaving millions of dollars unclaimed.
The unclaimed money is tied to Proposition 35, a ballot measure passed by 68% of voters in November. The measure committed money from a special tax on health insurance plans to increase payments to doctors and health care facilities that treat low-income patients in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program."
‘It’s very clear that we have been under attack’: S.F.’s HHS employees on being laid off by Trump
The Chronicle, LAURA WAXMANN/MEGAN CASSIDY: "Even after weeks of bracing for the chopping block, Health and Human Services Department employees in San Francisco said that they were in shock and disbelief over layoffs that impacted more than 300 people within their towering federal complex in Mid-Market, and believe the cuts will have far-reaching implications outside the city.
“We all were shellshocked,” said Pete Weldy, the regional manager for a division of the department known as the Administration for Children and Families, or ACF, who was among the 55 members of his 65-person team that woke up on Tuesday morning to termination notices."
States’ inaction puts aging population at risk during emergencies
McKnights, AMBER KING: "In January of this year, Los Angeles experienced devastating wildfires that claimed at least 29 lives and destroyed more than 16,000 structures. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires, which erupted on Jan. 7, have become the second and third most destructive fires in California’s history. The fires made national headlines and may seem more extreme than anything providers in most states have had to deal with, but there are lessons we learned that highlight what more needs to be done for emergency preparedness — in California and many other states.
California is no stranger to natural disasters, of course. From wildfires and heat waves to floods and earthquakes, the state faces increasingly frequent and severe emergencies, which have been exacerbated by climate change. Yet, despite the urgent need for coordinated disaster response, one vulnerable population is consistently left behind: older and disabled adults."
Why are childhood vaccination rates so low in this California county?
Sac Bee, JENNAH PENDLETON: "Sutter County in Northern California has the lowest vaccination rates among transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students in the state, according to new data from the California Department of Public Health.
Only 73% Sutter County kindergarten students were up to date on their childhood vaccinations in the 2023-24 school year, versus a state average of 93.7%."
California’s schools chief has a $200,000 salary and a side gig
CALMatters, ALEXEI KOSEFF: "State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has regularly taken side jobs running Bay Area nonprofits during his tenure as California’s elected schools chief, earning tens of thousands of dollars to supplement his income, financial disclosures show.
Thurmond has reported working part-time for four different nonprofits since he was elected superintendent of public instruction in 2018 — most recently as director of the Berkeley Food Pantry, for which he earned between $10,001 and $100,000 last year, according to his statement of economic interests."
A broken system is keeping California homes underinsured. Millions have no idea they’re at risk
LAT, SUSIE NEILSON/MEGAN FAN MUNCE: "Mike Kubo had found only enough time to grab a few bags of dirty laundry when he and his family evacuated their home after hundreds of lightning bolts set the Santa Cruz Mountains ablaze.
Now, he was 20 miles away in the spare bedroom of his parents’ mobile home with his wife, his daughter and their two cats. They huddled around Facebook on Kubo’s laptop as a neighbor posted doorbell camera videos of the fire. Every few minutes, new footage appeared."
A federal judge is demanding a fix for L.A.’s broken homelessness system. Is receivership his next step?
LAT, DOUG SMITH: "With the top city and county elected officials sitting in his jury box, the judge lectured for more than an hour, excoriating what he called the Rocky Horror Picture Show of homeless services in Los Angeles.
But when it came time to reveal the drastic remedy anticipated by a courtroom full of spectators, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter hit pause."
A billionaire’s foundation made a roadmap to address S.F. homelessness. Will Mayor Lurie follow it?
The Chronicle, JD MORRIS: "It turns out Mayor Daniel Lurie’s administration got something of a head start on one of its top policy priorities: devising ways to reduce San Francisco’s entrenched homelessness crisis.
Crankstart, the local foundation started by billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, on Tuesday celebrated the completion of a lengthy report that makes a series of recommendations to slash systemic barriers hindering the city’s homeless response. The report suggests the city prioritize affordable housing construction on a portion of 300 sites available for development, among other potential moves."
‘It was just a free-for-all’: What happened to Kanye West’s Donda Academy?
LAT, STACY PERMAN: "It began, as many things do, with noble intentions.
In the fall of 2020, Kanye West, music impresario, fashion designer, flame thrower and Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband, founded a private school."
Val Kilmer, star of ‘Top Gun’ and ‘The Doors,’ dies at 65
LAT, GINA PICCALO: "Val Kilmer, a character actor as famous for his idiosyncrasies as he was for his widely lauded performances in hit films such as “Top Gun,” “Tombstone” and “Batman Forever,” has died at age 65.
A devout Christian Scientist who eschewed traditional medical treatment, Kilmer died Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to the New York Times. The actor’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, told the newspaper the cause of death was pneumonia. Kilmer had been treated for throat cancer, a procedure that largely left him voiceless. He said in 2021 that he was cancer-free."
