The State of California

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A daily deep dive into an issue of public policy or politics that's driving the conversation in California. Each day, we interview a guest who's a newsmaker, public official, or expert.

1D AGO

Cutting the Dept. of Education will devastate low income students

President Trump is trying to shut down the U.S. Department of Education—or at least gut it as much as possible—cut off funding and shift some required programs to other departments. There are already multiple lawsuits filed to block the move, which critics say would have a devastating and disproportionate impact on lower-income families and the students who need the most support in school. For more on this, KCBS Radio anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with Natalie Wheatfall-lum, Director of TK-12 Policy at EdTrust West, an Oakland-based organization that advocates for racial equity in education in California.

8 min
2D AGO

How did the Red Cross provide support for L.A. wildfire victims?

Today is Red Cross Giving Day, when thousands of people come together to help those affected by disasters. The agency has been hard at work this spring across California, including assisting with recovery from the wildfires in Southern California. For more on Giving Day and how the Red Cross helps with disaster response and recovery, KCBS Radio anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart and KCBS Political reporter Doug Sovern spoke with Natalie Manier, Regional Mass Care Manager with the American Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region.

7 min
3D AGO

Governor Newsom in agreement with rightwing conservative guests on podcast

Governor Newsom has been tacking to the middle, hosting rightwing conservatives on his new podcast, and rather than challenging them, as he said he would, he is instead often agreeing with them, to the point of rewriting his own ideological history. That’s got many Democrats angry and many pundits scratching their heads, wondering if what he’s trying to do is moderate his own image so that he can shed his California liberal label and make himself more palatable to middle America, if he does indeed run for president. Meanwhile, Ro Khanna just went on a tour of 3 California Congressional districts represented by Republicans, places that Donald Trump won handily, to hold large, well-attended town halls in districts where the GOP incumbents are afraid to face their constituents and in fact have been told not to by their party leaders, to go into the lion’s den and position himself as a standard-bearer for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, a position that just a few months ago, Gavin Newsom seemed eager to occupy. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern.

7 min
4D AGO

Governor Newsom sits down with AI leaders to discuss state regulation

As artificial intelligence continues to proliferate, California is still not sure how to regulate it. A new study commissioned by Governor Newsom calls for more transparency and guardrails, but stops short of endorsing specific regulatory legislation. The governor convened a special working group of leaders in the AI field, after he vetoed new regulations last year, and that group’s report could have a lot of influence at the state Capitol, where there are dozens of bills in the pipeline that could change how California regulates and controls AI and protects us from its potential harms and abuses. The report calls for greater transparency into the development of new AI models and for outside testing of them with independent parties, and it suggests that the state consider whistleblower protections and potentially require that the government be informed about AI that could pose dangers to society. But it didn’t specifically call for those measures to be enacted. For more, KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern sat down with Jonathan Mehta Stein, Chair of CITED, the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy, which is an offshoot of California Common Cause.

8 min
MAR 20

Schiff on Schumer's GOP funding bill vote: "A mistake"

This is the second part of our exclusive sit down with Californian U.S senator Adam Schiff, in his first visit to the Bay Area since he took office In January. Today, we spoke to Senator Schiff about Medicaid, affordable housing, and the Republican budget plan, which narrowly passed the Senate after Minority leader Schumer supported a continuing resolution — much to the dismay of top Democrats like Schiff. For more, KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern sat down with Senator Adam Schiff.

8 min
MAR 19

Trump calls for impeachment of judge who paused deportations of Venezuelans

President Trump continues to call for the impeachment of a federal judge who says his deportation of immigrants to El Salvador was illegal. The Trump administration is clashing on a daily basis with federal courts, who continue to rule against many of his early moves, declaring them either unconstitutional or illegal and outside either his or Elon Musk’s authority. For more, KCBS Radio news anchor Patti Reising and KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern spoke with Rory Little, longtime professor of constitutional law at UC Law San Francisco, and a former clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court.

10 min
MAR 18

Pelosi and Schiff appear in San Francisco to defend Medi-Cal budget

Top California Democrats gathered in the Bay Area today to denounce President Trump’s budget plan and what it could mean for Medi-Cal. They are warning of dire consequences to the millions of Californians, including many seniors, who are on that government-subsidized medical insurance. For more, KCBS Radio news anchor Patti Reising and KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern spoke to Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA).

7 min
MAR 13

Josh Fryday jumps into race for California Lieutenant Governor

The battle lines are being drawn for next year’s statewide elections, with Katie Porter jumping into the race for governor this week, and more candidates declaring for or strongly considering running for some of the other down-ballot positions. The field is already quite crowded with Democrats seeking the state’s constitutional offices. Among the newcomers to the race for Lieutenant Governor is Josh Fryday, who is Chief Service Officer for California, overseeing the California Volunteers program in Governor Newsom’s office. For more, KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern spoke with Josh Fryday.

7 min

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Woke Propaganda

Mar 6

TheJustinGreen

I am a proud Californian and do not agree with the extremist rhetoric being continuously spread by the left. Go Trump, Go Elon 🇺🇸

A daily deep dive into an issue of public policy or politics that's driving the conversation in California. Each day, we interview a guest who's a newsmaker, public official, or expert.