Tag: california

Business Flees California due to Overregulation

California has been repelling capital through overregulation. The energy sector high-tailed out of the state in recent years under Governor Gavin Newsom’s net-zero policies. Now, even retailers feel forced to evacuate as California becomes increasingly anti-business.

Bed Bath & Beyond announced that it must close all retail stores within the state of California. “This decision isn’t about politics—it’s about reality,” company head Marcus Lemonis said in a social media post. “California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses in America. It’s a system that makes it harder to employ people, harder to keep doors open, and harder to deliver value to customers.”

Newsom’s office commented that Bed Bath & Beyond was already a dead business, failing to take any responsibility. To begin, California’s minimum wage continues to rise year after year at a pace unsustainable for businesses. Automation is replacing the human workforce, and some studies have shown that minimum wage workers in California are simply receiving fewer working hours as employers aim to cut costs.

Newsom believes he can continue spending and rescue the state from the debt through taxation. Fleeing businesses can’t pay taxes, and California forces both businesses and residents to pay some of the highest taxes in the nation. All corporations operating in the state must pay a flat corporate income tax rate of 8.84% on net income. Banks and financial institutions pay a bit more at 10.84%. There is an annual franchise tax of $800 for businesses as well. But wait—corporations are still beholden to the 21% federal corporate income tax, which means businesses are paying roughly 29.84% on corporate income taxes alone.

Payroll taxes in California are higher than the national average, largely due to social programs like State Disability Insurance (SDI) and the Employment Training Tax (ETT), which must be paid in addition to Unemployment Insurance (UI). There is a personal income tax withholding of up to 14.63% that employers must withhold from employees as well.

The state was forced to overturn its policy regarding shoplifting and burglary after criminals used the minimum $950 amount for petty theft to avoid felony charges. Countless businesses shuttered their brick-and-mortar locations as a direct result of light-on-crime policies.

Capital flees excessive regulation and it’s almost a no-brainer for corporations to move beyond state lines where operating costs are drastically lower.

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HHS Cuts California Sex Ed Grant over State’s Refusal to Remove Radical Gender Ideology from Student Program

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Thursday terminated a sex education grant to California due to the state’s refusal to remove radical gender ideology from the taxpayer-funded program, the agency announced. 

HHS, through its Administration for Children and Families (ACF), specifically terminated the state’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant, which is a program for students meant to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. HHS said California used taxpayer money to “teach curricula that could encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals, ‘altering their body … through hormone therapy,’ ‘adding or removing breast tissue,’ and ‘changing their name.’” HHS said the state also instructed teachers to “remind students that some men are born with female anatomy.”

“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to indoctrinate children. Accountability is coming for every state that uses federal funds to teach children delusional gender ideology.” 

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California Content Law Design Code Faces Free Speech Clash

Efforts to implement California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code continue to face resistance from both the tech industry and digital civil liberties groups, who argue that the law’s restrictions violate constitutional protections and would compel sweeping surveillance and censorship online.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which represents companies including Google, Amazon, Meta, and eBay, recently filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case NetChoice v. Bonta.

Stephanie Joyce, the group’s senior vice president and director of its litigation center, condemned the legislation in blunt terms: “The Constitution prohibits the government from dictating what lawful content readers can see, and it extends that protection regardless of the reader’s age.

Though well-intentioned, California’s internet age restriction law is unconstitutional, and the court of appeals should affirm the decision to block it.”

The case marks the second time this legal clash has reached the Ninth Circuit. Previously, the court blocked only a portion of the law and returned the rest for further review.

Now, with renewed scrutiny, the court could determine whether the entire statute fails to withstand constitutional challenge.

NetChoice, an industry coalition that includes many of the same members as the CCIA, has led the charge against a wave of so-called “age assurance” laws.

These policies would require digital platforms to verify the ages of users and potentially restrict minors’ access to content deemed unsuitable. But free speech advocates warn the consequences would be broader and more dangerous than legislators admit.

Groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) have also weighed in with their own amicus brief, arguing that the law’s age estimation mandates undermine essential First Amendment rights. “CDT and EFF’s brief argues that the appeals court should uphold the injunctions solely on the basis of its overbroad, unconstitutional age verification requirement because that requirement is not severable from other provisions and should doom the entire statute.” The brief warns that such mandates not only chill access to lawful speech but also erode online anonymity and place users’ personal data at risk.

They also emphasize that minors’ ability to engage freely online is a critical part of their development and civic participation. “Social media helps minors develop their own ideas, learn to express themselves, and engage productively with others in our democratic public sphere,” the brief states.

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Trump threatens funding for all California schools over transgender policies

US President Donald Trump on Aug 21 said any California school district that does not adhere to his administration’s transgender policies will not receive federal funding, but gave no other details.

Representatives for the White House and the US Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for detail following Mr Trump’s comment, posted to his social media platform.

US schools receive the vast majority of their funding through local and state sources, but do receive some money from the federal government.

Mr Trump’s post is the latest salvo in his fight against transgender rights as well as the state of California, led by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.

His administration 

sued California in July over its policy to allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’ school sports, alleging that it was a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.

In February, the Republican President 

signed a directive to strip federal funding from any school that allows transgender women or girls to compete in female sports.

Representatives for Mr Newsom’s office could not be immediately reached. REUTERS

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California AG Bonta ‘running out the clock’ to stop parental rights initiative, appeals court hears

California law required Attorney General Rob Bonta to write a neutral title and summary for a 2024 ballot measure to mandate parental notification when children request to be identified as the opposite sex in school records, limit girls’ sports to females and prohibit puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and genital surgery for gender-confused youth.

Having just sued a school district for the same parental notification policy, the Democratic attorney’s title for the Protect Kids of California Act seemed predictable: “Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth.” 

His summary used the same framing, referring to males who identify as girls as “transgender female students,” claiming the parental notification mandate lacks an “exception for student safety” and referring to medicalized gender transitions as “gender-affirming health care.” 

Sixteen months after a trial judge upheld Bonta’s phrasing as “accurately and impartially” conveying the substance of the measure, which under Bonta’s language fell short of the required signatures for the ballot within the 180-day collection window, Protect Kids California’s crusade to give voters a direct say in the matter may founder on a technicality.

Polling suggests voters would approve the measure, with majority support for each of the three prongs, but an appeals panel repeatedly grilled the group’s lawyer at a hearing Monday on why the case wasn’t moot in light of Protect Kids California’s litigation choices.

The three judges essentially made Bonta’s argument for him as Liberty Justice Center counsel Emily Rae tried to redirect them toward Bonta’s “malfeasance,” for what its lawsuit called his “inaccurate, false, and biased” language. The panel, by contrast, asked deputy AG Malcolm Brudigam just a single question during the state’s argument.

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California invested millions in STEM for women. The results are disappointing

Ten years ago, it seemed everyone was talking about women in science.

As the economy improved in the years after the Great Recession, women were slower to return to the workforce, causing alarm, especially in vital fields like computing. State and federal leaders turned their attention to women in science, technology, engineering and math, known by the acronym STEM.

Over the next few years, they poured millions of dollars into increasing the number of women pursuing STEM degrees. But the rate of women who attain those degrees has hardly improved, according to an analysis of colleges’ data by the Public Policy Institute of California on behalf of CalMatters.

“The unfortunate news is that the numbers haven’t changed much at all,” said Hans Johnson, a senior fellow at the institute who conducted the analysis of California’s four-year colleges using data from the 2009-10 school year and comparing it to the most recent numbers, from 2022-23. The share of women who received a bachelor’s degree increased from roughly 19% to about 25% in engineering and from nearly 16% to about 23% in computer science. In math and statistics, the percentage of women who graduate with a degree has gone down in the last five years.

“It’s not nothing, but at this pace it would take a very long time to reach parity,” Johnson said.

Girls are also underrepresented in certain high school classes, such as AP computer science, and while women make up about 42% of California’s workforce, they comprise just a quarter of those working in STEM careers, according to a study by Mount Saint Mary’s University. Fewer women were working in math careers in 2023 than in the five or 10 years before that, the study found.

“It’s a cultural phenomenon, not a biological phenomenon,” said Mayya Tokman, a professor of applied mathematics at UC Merced. She said underrepresentation is a result of perceptions about women, the quality of their education, and a lack of role models in a given field.

Science and technology spurs innovation and economic growth while promoting national security, and these jobs are often lucrative and stable. Gender parity is critical, especially as U.S. science and technology industries struggle to find qualified workers, said Sue Rosser, provost emerita at San Francisco State and a longtime advocate for women in science. “We need more people in STEM. More people means immigrants, women, people of color as well as white men. There’s no point in excluding anyone.”

She said that recent cuts by the Trump administration to California’s research and education programs will stymie progress in science, technology and engineering — and hurt countless careers, including the women who aspire to join these fields.

Over the last eight months, the federal government has made extensive cuts to scientific research at California’s universities, affecting work on dementia, vaccines, women’s issues and on health problems affecting the LGBTQ+ community. The administration also ended programs that support undergraduate students in science. In June a federal judge ruled that the administration needs to restore some of those grants, but a Supreme Court decision could reverse that ruling.

More recently, the administration halted hundreds of grants to UCLA — representing hundreds of millions in research funding — in response to a U.S. Justice Department investigation into allegations of antisemitism. Now the Trump administration is asking for a $1 billion settlement in return for the grants. A California district judge ruled on Tuesday that at least some of those grants need to be restored.

‘The cultural conversation has changed’

In the past five years, attention has shifted away from women in science. Nonprofit leaders and researchers across the state say that many lawmakers and philanthropists turned away from women in STEM during the COVID-19 pandemic and focused more on racial justice following the police killing of George Floyd.

Since 1995, women have been outpacing men in college, and women are now much more likely to attain a bachelor’s degree. The unemployment rate for men is higher, too, and men without college degrees are opting out of the labor force at unprecedented rates.

On July 30 Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order saying the state needs to do more to address the “growing crisis of connection and opportunity for men and boys.” It’s not a “zero-sum” game, he wrote: the state can, and should, support everyone.

But some state investments for women’s education are lagging.

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In Brutal Self Own, Gavin Newsom’s Team Tries to Blame Trump but ADMITS that California Broke its Own Law by Giving Illegal Alien who Killed Three in Semi-Truck a Driver’s License

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office attempted to deflect blame from the Democrats in light of one of their illegal constituents killing three innocent Americans and accidentally admitted that the sanctuary state of California is wholly responsible for the tragedy. 

As The Gateway Pundit reported, an illegal alien, who obtained his truck driving license (CDL) in the Democrat-run sanctuary state of California, killed three Americans after he made an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway this week.

The driver, identified as Harjinder Singh, was arrested and charged with three counts of vehicular homicide after he made an insane U-turn directly in front of a car to his left on Florida’s Turnpike.

The animal showed zero emotion after he exited the 18-wheeler and examined what was left of the vehicle – a pile of mangled metal and three dead bodies.

The White House press office responded to the incident on X, “This individual is an illegal immigrant who was granted a commercial driver’s license by the State of California — and now, three innocent people are dead,” prompting a brief back and forth between Newsom’s office and the White House.

Newsom’s press office, which is likely filled with DEI hires, tried to respond with a graphic, stating that the driver entered the U.S. under the Trump Administration and showing California’s law prohibiting illegal aliens from obtaining driver’s licenses.

The graphic also states, “Research consistently shows that issuing driver’s licenses for undocumented people improves public safety,” and it’s complete with comic book pop art that reads “Yikes.”

“Who was the President in 2018?” the post reads.

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California County Board Bans Trans Athletes from Girls’ Sports

The Kern County Board of Education has passed a resolution to come into compliance with President Donald Trump’s Title IX rules. It will ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports in the Southern California county.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Trustee Lori Cisneros said, “Now, there be it resolved the Kern County Board of Education affirms it is for Title IX and calls on athletic governing bodies to uphold its protections by ensuring fairness in girls’ sports,” according to KBAK-TV.

The board oversees the education of about 400 students in county-run alternative education programs, but has no control over Kern’s other 46 districts.

But the board feels its resolution is a start that other districts should emulate.

“My message to the other school districts in Kern County is: Please follow our lead and protect girls. That’s the main purpose — to protect our students in girls’ sports,” trustee Lori Cisneros said, KERO-TV reported.

Still, some speakers at the meeting opposed the resolution.

One speaker exclaimed, “If the board truly cared about fairness, it would talk about equal funding for girls’ programs, better coaching resources, and ensuring all students have the equipment they need. Instead, this resolution targets one marginalized group while ignoring real inequities. That’s a double standard and a distraction from genuine solutions. Protecting women means protecting all women, including trans women.”

The Trump administration has been putting serious pressure on California to come into compliance with his Title IX changes that reversed the Biden administration’s wide expansion of policies to push the radical trans agenda.

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Ninth Circuit Overturns California’s ‘One-Gun-Per-Month’ Restriction

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a mandate Thursday overturning California’s “one-gun-a-month” restriction.

The case is Nguyen v. Bonta and the plaintiffs include the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., San Diego County Gun Owners PAC, two FFL gun dealers, and six private citizens including Michelle Nguyen.

The Second Amendment Foundation noted the “one-gun-a-month” restriction allows law-abiding citizens to purchase only one handgun or semi-automatic centerfire rifle (or combination thereof), from a licensed dealer within a 30-day period.

The August 14th mandate overturning the restriction follows a June 20, 2025, Ninth Circuit three-judge panel decision which affirmed a lower court ruling against the “one-gun-a-month” restriction.

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While Fire Victims Struggle to Rebuild, Gavin Newsom Sends Resources to Puerto Rico

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday that he is sending emergency resources and personnel to Puerto Rico, over 3,000 miles away, ahead of a tropical storm — even though tens of thousands of Californians are still displaced by fires.

Newsom has claimed, in his defense, that he did, in fact, pre-deploy resources to the fire-stricken areas of the state in January — but that is not entirely true. Although he deployed some resources ahead of the extreme wind event in Southern California, both state and local authorities failed to pre-deploy firefighting resources in the Pacific Palisades, including on state land where there had been a fire just a few days before.

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