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California in Focus — News
California in Focus

The podcast bringing you the most important stories out of California from TheCenterSquare.com. Join us as we dive into the top headlines and provide insightful commentary and analysis.

Copyright: © America's Talking Network

Latest Episodes:

California Proposes Zero Down, No Payment Home ‘Loans’ for Illegal Immigrants Mar 09, 2024

Show notes

California lawmakers proposed expanding the state’s zero-down, no payment home “loan” program to illegal immigrants. Due to lack of housing production relative to population and demand, California currently ranks 49th in housing units per resident, resulting in high home prices. “Assembly Bill 1840 is an insult to California citizens who are being left behind and priced out of homeownership,” said State Sen. Briah Dahle, R-Bieber, in a statement. “I'm all for helping first-time homebuyers, but give priority to those who are here in our state legally.”

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California Lawmakers Push Minimum Wage Exemptions as Pay-To-Play Accusations Fly Mar 08, 2024

Show notes

California lawmakers are pushing for new exemptions to the state’s fast food minimum wage as controversy erupted over the state’s reported exemption for Panera Bread. California Gov. Gavin Newsom approved an exemption to the state’s $20 per hour minimum wage for fast-food employees to national fast-food chains with bakeries that sell bread as a standalone item, a narrow category that includes Panera. According to Bloomberg, billionaire Greg Flynn, who opposed the state-mandated fast-food wage increase, leaned into his connections with Newsom to secure the exemption for his two dozen Panera locations in California. Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told The Center Square, that the accusation was "absurd," and that Newsom never met with Flynn regarding the legislation.

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Newsom Grants Minimum Wage Exception to Donor, Second-Largest Panera Owner Mar 02, 2024

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California Governor Gavin Newsom granted an exemption to the state’s $20 per hour minimum wage for fast-food employees to national fast-food chains with bakeries, a category that only includes Panera. Billionaire Greg Flynn, the largest franchise owner in the United States, is the second-largest Panera operator in the world and a classmate and major donor of the governor’s, leading Bloomberg to report that Flynn was able to get Newsom to secure a carve-out from the new wage for his stores. On September 14, 2023 the California legislature passed AB 1228, a bill raising California’s minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour and creating and a new Fast Food Council that will establish working conditions and minimum wages that would rise each year by the lesser of 3.5% or the past year’s inflation recorded in the Consumer Price Index.

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California Seized Enough Fentanyl Last Year to Kill Entire World ‘Nearly Twice Over' Mar 01, 2024

Show notes

The California National Guard seized a record 62,224 pounds of fentanyl in California and the state's ports of entry – enough of the potent synthetic opioid to kill the entire world population "nearly twice over." Since 2021, fentanyl seizures supported by CalGuard have increased by 1066%, according to the governor's office. The street value of the fentanyl seized was estimated at $649 million.

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California Budget Deficit Grows to $73 Billion Due to Declining Tax Revenue Feb 24, 2024

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According to state analysts, California budget deficit grew $15 billion to a $73 billion for the 2024-2025 fiscal year due to declining tax revenues. The non-partisan, state-funded Legislative Analyst’s Office, which announced the new deficit figures, identified approximately $15.6 billion in one-time or temporary spending through the 2025-2026 fiscal year that could be used to offset the the state deficit. Under the state constitution, the governor’s office must submit a draft budget to the legislature by January 10. After input from stakeholders ranging from consultants to lobbyists and the California Department of Finance, the governor’s office produces a revised draft budget by May 14, which the legislature then may amend and pass by June 15.

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California Proposes Landlords Must Accept Pets, Experts Warn Rents Will Rise Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

California is proposing that landlords accept pets for tenant residencies, a change that landlords warn will result in higher rents required to offset the cost of pet damages and limits on security deposits to one month’s rent. AB 2216 was introduced by Assembly member Matt Haney, D-San Francisco as a spot bill with limited information to be fleshed out later on in the legislative process. While the bill itself only says “it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation related to a landlord’s ability to prohibit common household pets in residential tenancies,” Haney’s statement on the bill outlines his intent.

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California to Spend $1.9 Billion More on Public EV Chargers as EV Sales Collapse Feb 17, 2024

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California Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing ahead with $1.9 billion in state spending on a public electric vehicle charging network as EV sales plummet. The state aims to build 40,000 chargers, compared to the just over 10,000 EV fast chargers it currently has. Should the state spend the allocated $1.7 billion out of the $1.9 billion on 30,000 chargers, each charger will cost nearly $60,000.

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California Proposes Annual Tax and Registration on Each Gun in the State Feb 16, 2024

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The California legislature introduced a proposal to require gun owners in the state to pay an annual tax and register each gun they own. Failure to register and pay the tax would carry up to a $250 fine. Given that the state can provide personal identifying information of California gun owners to “researchers” of “gun violence, " this measure would effectively create an accessible registry of all California gun owners and their weapons.

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Ratings Agency: California Budget Gimmicks May ‘Weaken Fiscal Resilience' Feb 10, 2024

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Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings said California Governor Gavin Newsom’s newly proposed budget could “weaken fiscal resilience” in future downturns. These include concerns that the governor is utilizing “a combination of structural and temporary budget adjustments, a number of which are more typically used in a downturn” to address what it says is “unusual in a slower, but still growing economy.” California faces a $68 billion budget deficit for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to the state-run, non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. Meanwhile, the governor plans only on cutting $8.5 billion in spending and spending delays, while also spending $12.2 billion, or more than half the state’s rainy day fund, to plug some of the gap.

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California Proposal for Universal Healthcare Bans Private Care, Doubles Spending Feb 09, 2024

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California lawmakers re-introduced a proposal to mandate universal healthcare and ban private healthcare. Experts say this would cost $391 billion per year — or $100 billion more than the entire 2024-2025 state budget and reduce the overall availability of healthcare as doctors flee to higher-paying states that allow private care. According to Politico, Assembly member Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, will introduce a version of his 2023 bill to create a single-payer healthcare system and ban private care. After passing the Assembly’s health and appropriations committees, AB 1400 was shelved by the Assembly Speaker due to lack of a financing mechanism. Kalra’s plan is to pass a bill, see how much the federal government would pay via Medicare and Medicaid contributions, then go to the legislature for remaining funding.

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