California in Focus

(The Center Square) – California lawmakers called Wednesday for the state’s “insurer of last resort,” the California FAIR Plan, to evolve to insure more properties throughout the state. The remarks come after years of the number of FAIR Plan policyholders climbing because of many private insurance companies declining to renew existing policies or pulling out of doing business in the Golden State a...

(The Center Square) – Amid concerns that there might be as large as an $18 billion budget deficit in the coming year, California lawmakers started writing the state’s budget with the help of finance officials. The California Assembly Budget Committee Tuesday heard the concerns of officials from the state’s Finance Department and Legislative Analyst’s Office, which issued its budget report in Novem...

(The Center Square) – Days after Gov. Gavin Newsom released his budget proposal, the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office released its own report that addressed Newsom's rosier-than-anticipated budget outlook for the coming year. The Legislative Analyst’s Office assessment of the governor’s budget deems it's “alarming” because of the administration’s multiyear budget deficits. Suppo...

(The Center Square) - California’s main state retirement fund, CalPERS, announced the hiring of a new chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer whose listed duties include integrating DEI principles into investment practices, and recruiting staff for DEI-informed proxy voting and ESG investing, The Center Square has learned. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-founda...

(The Center Square) - Many illegal immigrants in California will become ineligible for Medi-Cal coverage in the new year, according to new guidance from state officials. The Department of Health Care Services, which administers the state’s Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal, announced the move in August. The department stated on its website that immigrants with “unsatisfactory immigration status” w...

(The Center Square) - A new report released by the California State Auditor's Office found more than $5.1 million of waste, misuse or improper spending of taxpayer funds. The report comes just weeks after the Legislative Analyst's Office released its own report that the state faces an $18 billion shortfall for the 2026-27 budget. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-founda...

(The Center Square) - Lawyers supporting and opposing California’s congressional redistricting maps made their closing arguments in the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles. The case is now in the hands of a three-judge panel, led by U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton. Judges will decide whether to grant plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction that would keep the Proposi...

(The Center Square) - Overtime paid by the City of San Diego increased 65% between 2019 and 2024, city records show, while the number of city employees earning $100,000 or more in just overtime nearly doubled, an investigation by The Center Square found. The city faces a $18.1 million shortfall for the current fiscal year. City of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is ordering a halt to non-essential ove...

(The Center Square) - California is spending $278.4 million this year on its “Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants” program that provides state-funded payments largely to qualified elderly and disabled non-citizens who were rejected from the federal Supplemental Security Income program due to their immigration status, state records show. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-n...

(The Center Square) - More than two years after groundbreaking on a new “university innovation district” in the San Diego-area city of Chula Vista, lawmakers and community members still don’t know how much a new university would cost. While local and state lawmakers and staff didn’t know the cost, a recent report compiled by architectural firm O'C Insight shows that phase 1 of the project is estim...

(The Center Square) - California’s main public pension fund, CalPERS, has more than doubled its shares in a highly leveraged, Bitcoin-related stock in the last two years that recently plunged by nearly half, The Center Square found. The state public pension held nearly $144 million worth of Strategy Inc., formerly known as MicroStrategy, as of its latest SEC filing. Support this podcast: https://s...

(The Center Square) - The West Coast Health Alliance has taken an official stance on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, reaffirming they do not cause autism. A recent press release from California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced that the alliance was countering the position taken by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services.   Support this podcast: https://secure.an...

A lawsuit between California and neighborhood pharmacy company CVS has been settled for $18.2 million, state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced. According to a news release issued Monday by Bonta’s office, Rhode Island-based CVS Pharmacy Inc. will pay the fine and restitution. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_cod...

(The Center Square) -- Following a sometimes violent protest at University of California, Berkeley Monday night, school officials said they would cooperate with a federal investigation into altercations at the demonstration. The statement, released via email in response to The Center Square’s questions, said the university was cooperating with a federal investigation into the disruptions caused by...

(The Center Square) -- Religious groups are suing dozens of members of activist group, Code Pink, for protests that disrupted worship services by Christian and Jewish organizations, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court Southern District of California alleges. Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxx   Read mo...

(The Center Square) - California Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, requested a federal investigation into possible wrongdoing and fiduciary negligence at the California Public Employees' Retirement System regarding its clean energy fund losses that were exposed in an investigation by The Center Square.  Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4...

(The Center Square) - Following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement he’s pondering a presidential run in 2028, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Monday that Newsom is “gubernatorial and more” during a press conference about the state's congressional redistricting election. “Gavin Newsom is an amazing governor and an incredible leader,” Bonta told The Center Square on Monday. “I think he i...

 (The Center Square) – The California Public Employees' Retirement System for state employees lost 71% of its $468 million investment in a clean energy and technology private equity fund, state records show, but CalPERS won’t explain how. These losses are a major problem for California taxpayers, who at least for now are the backstop for underfunded state pensions, but also for state employees who...

(The Center Square) - A nuclear fusion bill signed into law this month in California would advance efforts to develop a safer, less radioactive energy source that could power the state. If developed at a commercial scale, fusion could transform the way energy is produced and position California to be the first place in the world to develop a fusion energy pilot program, experts told The Center Squ...

The Center Square) – California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing three companies that allegedly distribute single-use plastic bags in violation of an 11-year-old state law. The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco on Friday, names Novolex Holdings, Inteplast Group Corp. and Mettler Packaging and alleges that they unlawfully sold and distributed plastic bags.  Supp...

(The Center Square) - California’s brush clearance efforts are stalling nine months after the devastating January fires that destroyed vast swathes of Los Angeles County, state data shows. Only 0.2% of expedited acres of wildfire reviewed by The Center Square are reported as complete, and overall brush clearance data for the most recent quarter shows a 22% year-over-year decline in brush clearance...

(The Center Square) – Los Angeles’ initial response to the fast-spreading Palisades Fire was hampered by communications breakdowns and problems with the Los Angeles City Fire Department leadership, according to the city’s after-action report. But the report also praised firefighters’ heroic efforts to save lives and properties during one of the most destructive blazes in the history of Los Angeles...

(The Center Square) - Federal taxpayers might be on the hook for more than $1 billion over the lifetime of three downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers designed to house the homeless, state records show. State and city programs provide the funding and financial tools to construct the three towers. But federal Section 8 Housing vouchers will be used to repay the state and city and fund private developer...

(The Center Square) – California is scrambling to avoid an automatic 3.7% payroll tax increase to cover its projected $23.2 billion debt to the federal government for COVID-era unemployment benefits payouts, according to information uncovered through a public records request by The Center Square. With the California State Auditor reporting the state “materially misstated” the finances of its unemp...

(The Center Square) - The California Legislature passed a bill to provide $10 million in state funding for a governor-overseen news media subsidy program that media leaders say will erode the incentive for news organizations to hold the government accountable for its actions. The bill now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for approval.  Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news...