Second quarter spending on lobbying firms tops $89 million
Capitol Weekly, BRIAN JOSEPH: "Special interests paid lobbying firms more than $89 million to lobby state government in the second quarter of 2025, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports.
As we always note in these quarterly stories, that number doesn’t include all of the money spent on lobbying during the second quarter of the 2025-26 legislative cycle, as lobbying firm disclosure reports don’t include wages and expenses for in-house lobbyists."
Democrats make a Trump-inspired U-turn on redistricting
Politico, NICHOLAS WU and ANDREW HOWARD: "The last time House Democrats held the majority, they made a sweeping package of good-government reforms — including an attempt to end partisan gerrymandering — a centerpiece of their legislative agenda.
“The people should choose their politicians,” then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in 2021, moments before the House passed the bill that would later die in the Senate. “Politicians should not be choosing their voters.”
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis drops bid for California governor, will run for treasurer
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis has ended her 2026 gubernatorial bid and will instead run for treasurer.
Kounalakis, a San Francisco resident who is the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor, said in a statement she felt she could make the greatest impact on “California’s financial future” in the treasurer’s office."
Pelosi won’t discuss her political future — or endorse Zohran Mamdani
The Chronicle, SARA DINATALE: "Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said Thursday her priority is helping Democrats win back the House in 2026 but declined to discuss whether she will be among the candidates.
“In three months, I will be able to tell you how many seats we’re going to win,” the San Francisco Democrat said outside the Veterans Affairs hospital she toured in Outer Richmond. “That’ll be a year before the election, that will be the time we see who runs … and who decides to step aside.”"
Newsom brushed off the price of a special election. Experts say it’ll cost $200M
SacBee, KATE WOLFFE: "Gov. Gavin Newsom has said a special redistricting election in November — his answer to Texas Republicans redrawing their congressional districts to favor their party — would require “significantly less resources” than a typical statewide special election because “many” local elections are happening at the same time.
“That could be very meaningful in mitigating the cost,” he told reporters during a July 31 news conference. Newsom implied that, since counties are already holding elections in November, the question of redrawing congressional maps could be added to ballots that are already going out."
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to lift temporary ban on roving immigration stops in L.A.
CALMatters, WENDY FRY/SERGIO OLMOS: "The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to lift a temporary restraining order that blocked “roving” immigration stops in Los Angeles and eight other California counties.
In an emergency appeal, the federal government argued the order poses a significant barrier to enforcing federal immigration laws. The request for a stay is filed on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, so oral arguments are not likely."
Bay Area county could raise taxes to offset Trump Medicaid cuts
The Chronicle, CATHERINE HO: "In response to recent federal legislation that cuts billions of dollars to Medicaid, Santa Clara County supervisors on Thursday unanimously voted to add a ballot measure to November’s special election that would increase local sales tax by five-eighth cent (0.625%) for five years to try to backfill some of the projected lost federal revenue.
The federal legislation HR 1 was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in July. It includes the biggest cuts to Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for low-income Americans, in the program’s history. These cuts are expected to lead to devastating reductions in critical medical services, especially at public hospitals that rely primarily on Medicaid reimbursement, and to many people losing access to benefits and care."
A deeper look at rising admissions to the University of California
EdSource, JUSTIN ALLEN: "New data released by the University of California last week shows a number of changes, as well as continuities, when compared to past years of admissions and enrollment. As explained by Michael Burke in EdSource’s coverage, the number of first-year Californians admitted to a UC campus increased over last year, but the gains were concentrated at less selective schools — especially UC Riverside and UC Merced. The most competitive campuses admitted fewer in-state students than in 2024.
It’s important to remember that California applicants on average each try their luck at four UC campuses and often are admitted to more than one, while also applying to other public and private colleges. Over recent years, total first-year admissions to UC campuses — including in-state, out-of-state and international students — have climbed 42.2% from 2016 to 2025. Enrollments, on the other hand, have only gone up slightly, a 6.6% increase from 2016 to 2024 (the last year we have enrollment data for)."
Fearing deportation, international students go silent at California’s universities
CALMatters, EMEWODESH ESHET: "International college students are learning that s"peech isn’t as free as they thought in the United States. After President Donald Trump began his second term, hundreds of international students lost their student status as part of an executive order cracking down on immigration and alleged antisemitism.
While lawsuits resulted in many of those students having their status reinstated since April, the uncertainty of it happening again has created fear among international students, particularly within the University of California system, where international students make up 13.6% of student enrollment as of Fall 2024.
Gavin Newsom urges UCLA not to strike a deal with Trump
The Chronicle, JOE GAROFOLI: "Gov. Gavin Newsom urged UCLA Thursday not to capitulate to President Donald Trump’s demands in order to claw what university leaders say is $584 million in federal research funding the administration has suspended or threatened because it says the campus has mishandled allegations of antisemitism on campus.
UC President James Milliken said Wednesday the university system has agreed to talks with the administration over the allegations against UCLA. The Department of Justice announced on July 29 that it had determined the university violated Jewish students’ rights by failing to adequately respond “to complaints of severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment.”"
Driving the Yolo Causeway as sun sets? You might catch a glimpse of 250,000 bats
SacBee, CALISTA OETAMA: "If you drive across the Yolo Causeway as the sun sets, you may see ribbon-like streams of bats surge from underneath the bridge and into the open air.
The causeway supports tens of thousands of commuters a day. It is also home to at least 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats — the largest urban colony of their kind in California."
California inmates can take college classes, but often with no internet and limited tech
CALMatters, TARA GARCIA MATHEWSON: "Since Pell Grants have become available to people pursuing degrees from prison, every state and the Federal Bureau of Prisons has tried to expand access to higher education.
What they haven’t all done, however, is create a learning environment that supports college-level study. Some states still ban inmates from almost all technology, leaving students to get by with textbooks and paper assignments. Others don’t give students computers, forcing them to write term papers on tablets that lack external keyboards. When students have the right technology, internet access becomes the barrier, as safety risks surrounding how people might abuse it outweigh educational opportunity."
Rat infestation wreaks havoc on California almonds — industry suffers $300M in damage
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI: "A massive rat infestation is wreaking havoc on almond orchards across California’s San Joaquin Valley, with crop losses and infrastructure damage now estimated to exceed $300 million, according to a new report from the Almond Board of California.
Growers from Merced to Kern counties reported unprecedented destruction as roof rats chew through irrigation lines, strip bark from branches and feast on ripening nuts."
S.F. City Hall flags lowered to honor Bay Area family lost in Texas floods
The Chronicle, TOM LI: "San Francisco officials lowered flags at City Hall on Thursday in memory of a Marin County couple and their son who were lost in the deadly flash floods that struck Central Texas in July.
Kentfield residents Mark Walker, 51, and Sara Walker, 50, were staying at their house in Hunt, Texas, with their son, Johnny, 14, when the catastrophic floods washed away their home that stood along the Guadalupe River, according to Mark’s mother Kathy Walker."
California Supreme Court hands victory to rooftop solar panel owners
CALMatters, MALENA CAROLLO:The California Supreme Court today sided with environmental groups in a case seen as pivotal for the proliferation of rooftop solar power in California.
In a unanimous vote, justices told a lower court to revisit a ruling that upheld reduced payments to solar panel owners for selling excess power back to utility companies. Justices did not rule on whether the changes to the solar program were legal, requiring the court of appeals to determine this."
Did Sutter County miss out on $15 million of free airport dollars?
SacBee, JAKE GOODRICK: "Sutter County’s latest grand jury found that over the past 10 years officials have missed out on $15 million in federal funding for the county’s small regional airport that could have gone toward maintenance and improvement projects.
In a report filed this summer, jurors wrote that the Sutter County Airport “has been underutilized and underdeveloped for more than 10 years while the County ignores significant federal funding opportunities to grow the Airport at no cost to local taxpayers.”
