Car seat preference could take back seat to front seat safety

Critics of California’s perceived penchant for overregulation are likely to bristle over a bill state lawmakers are considering that would put further limits on who can sit in a car’s front seat.

As CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow explains, a bill backed by traffic safety advocates and authored by Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson of Suisun City would:

• Ban youths up to age 16 from sitting in the front seat if they’re not tall enough;
• Require children as old as 13 to use a booster seat if they’re not tall enough;
• Ban all children under 13 from sitting in the front seat;
• Require all children under 10 to use booster seats.

Bill proponents, including Safe Kids Greater Sacramento, argue that small children, no matter their age, are disproportionately injured in car crashes when they’re not seated in the back or using a booster seat. Under current state law, children are required to use booster seats until they turn 8 or become tall enough at 4 foot 9 inches. 

Though all 12 Democrats in the Assembly’s transportation committee voted last week to pass the bill, some raised concerns that the proposal, if signed into law, could give way to more racial profiling during traffic stops. 

The four Republicans on the committee abstained from voting, which is the equivalent of voting “no” against a bill. That includes Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Palmdale Republican and retired California Highway Patrol officer, who cited challenges with enforcement.

• Lackey: “Determining the age of children is very difficult to do when you have no verifying identification at that age level. So you’re going to have to trust the parents.”

If passed, the measure would be enacted by 2027 and violators would be ticketed $20 for the first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense.

Read more here.

Though it’s not illegal under California law for a statewide elected official to hold a private job, it remains unusual for them to do so. But as CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff reports, California’s school chief has been doing just that.

Since being elected as State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2018, Tony Thurmond has had a side gig running Bay Area nonprofits, according to financial disclosures. These stints include serving as an interim part-time managing director for a performing arts company and an interim executive director for a workplace safety advocacy organization.

Thurmond, who is also running for governor in 2026, told CalMatters these jobs help supplement his more than $200,000 annual income as head superintendent. He added that the jobs do not hold any conflict of interest and that “everything I’ve done is above board.”

But Sean McMorris, a program manager at the good governance organization California Common Cause, said Thurmond’s outside work does raise some concerns about ethics and workload management.

Read more here.

Speaking of 2026 gubernatorial hopefuls, Alexei also writes about one more candidate who is throwing their hat into the ring.

Xavier Becerra, the former California Attorney General who sued the President Donald Trump administration more than 100 times during his first term, said Wednesday that he is running for governor.

Talk of Becerra weighing a bid for governor has been floating around since at least last year. In a video launching his campaign, the former congressmember and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden’s administration, said he wants to “rebuild the California dream.” 

• Becerra: “Can we do that today with this affordability crisis? Very tough. But we’ve taken on these tough fights.”

Becerra joins a field of candidates replete not only with Thurmond, but also Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, former Controller Betty Yee, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, is also running. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is rumored to be eyeing a bid as well. 

Read more here.

Six years ago, a judge ruled that Santa Monica’s election system discriminates against Latino voters. Since then, three more elections have been held and the city has yet to change its ways. Find out what one state lawmaker is trying to do about it from CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal.