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 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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A new California bill requiring social media companies to determine if users are minors threatens anonymity and free speech online, warn experts. With the world’s major social media companies headquartered in California, this bill, sponsored by the state’s attorney general, would likely take effect nationwide. SB 796, otherwise known as the Protecting Youth from Social Media Addiction Act, would ban social media notifications to minors between 12:00 AM and 6:00 AM without parental consent, require chronological, not algorithmic social media feed presented to minors without parental consent, and only allow these features if a social media company has "reasonably determined" the user is not a minor.

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Citing crime and robberies of workers, Kaiser Permanente directed its employees at its downtown Oakland headquarters to stay in their buildings for lunch. Kaiser is the fourth-largest healthcare provider in the United States and the largest private employer in Oakland. Earlier this month In-N-Out announced it would be shutting down its profitable Oakland location due to crime against customers and employees, in its first-ever closure. Crime in Oakland is rapidly on the rise, with violent crime up 21%, robbery up 38%, burglary up 23%, and motor vehicle theft up 45% in 2023 compared to 2022. 

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In-N-Out Burger announced it is closing its profitable Oakland location in its first-ever permanent store closure, due to unrelenting crime and violence against customers and employees. Meanwhile, soon after Safeway shared it would be closing its supermarket location in the historically black Fillmore District of San Francisco, mayor London Breed announced the store would remain in business after agreeing to send more police to the area.

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A California city is suing one of the governor’s Homekey homeless-to-homeless-shelters projects, claiming the state constitution requires local residents to have the opportunity to vote on publicly-funded low-income housing. Should the court side with the city, billions of dollars of projects across the state could be put on hold as they are faced with new requirements for costly ballot measures. The City of Millbrae contends San Mateo County’s planned $33 million purchase and conversion of the 100-room hotel to a “supportive housing” project would cost the city half a million dollars per year in occupancy taxes alone, with additional lost sales tax, property tax and other losses leading to another half a million dollars lost for the city each year.

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 California attorney General Rob Bonta led a 21-state coalition demanding that the Biden administration ban menthol cigarettes, claiming they are disproportionately consumed by black smokers, LGBTQ smokers and smokers with mental health problems.The White House Office of Management and Budget is currently reviewing a Food and Drug Administration rule proposed in 2022 that would ban menthol as a flavoring agent in tobacco. Through this rule, the FDA aims to “reduce the appeal of cigarettes, particularly to youth and young adults, and thereby decrease the likelihood that nonusers who would otherwise experiment with menthol cigarettes would progress to regular smoking” and “improve the health and reduce the mortality risk of current menthol cigarette smokers by decreasing cigarette consumption and increasing the likelihood of cessation.” 

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A new California community college pre-faculty training program was marketed as only available to non-white graduate students, leading to calls of discrimination. In a program hosted at Compton Community College in partnership with the University of Southern California, a “Faculty Prep Academy” for “students of color” will prepare 30 currently enrolled master’s and doctoral students of color and prepare them to become faculty members, reports Campus Reform. The program will pair students with mentors who are already faculty members, and will help them draft cover letters and resumes, and be introduced to other faculty and administrators to help them secure full-time faculty positions. 

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 A new analysis from The 74 found over 1,400 California K-12 schools lost more than 20% of their students since the pandemic, highlighting struggles relating to the state’s low birthrate, high outmigration, and parents pulling their students out of the public school system. Of the over 1,400 schools with a decline of 25% or more, 125 are in Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second largest school district in the nation. LAUSD’s decline is only eclipsed by New York City Public Schools, which had 270 schools facing such a decline.

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California governor Gavin Newsom proposed a $292 billion state budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, driving economists to wonder why he plans only $8.5 billion in real spending cuts against what the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says is a projected $68 billion deficit. Newsom hit back against the LAO, claiming the state’s deficit is only $37.8 billion.

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