Where’s the federal aid for Los Angeles County fires?

In the aftermath of the deadly January Los Angeles County wildfires, Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to L.A. and Washington, D.C. to lobby President Donald Trump and members of Congress for federal aid. 

But three months later, Congress has yet to move on Newsom’s $40 billion request, reports CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff. Meanwhile, frustrations from Democratic voters over Trump’s other policies put mounting pressure on the governor to push back — even though Newsom must still work with Trump to secure disaster relief.

Newsom met the president during a particularly tense time in their relationship: Trump had repeatedly threatened to withhold federal disaster aid; and the state Legislature wrapped up a special session, called by Newsom, to earmark funds for potential legal clashes against Trump’s administration.

After their meetings, Trump said an “L.A. fire fix” was coming, and Newsom — compared to his self-positioning last fall as an outspoken leader to the Trump resistance — didn’t hold any press events for most of late February. (Instead, he grabbed headlines while speaking with conservative firebrands on his new podcast.)

But in the months that followed, the Trump administration has attempted to enact tariffs that threaten California’s economy; proposed deep cuts to federal agencies and programs; and defied court orders regarding mass deportations — prompting Newsom to either file lawsuits or publicly speak out against the federal policies.

The governor has had a “tone shift,” said Bob Salladay, Newsom’s senior communications adviser, because “there has been a policy shift from D.C. that is beyond alarming.”

And what about that aid money? The Newsom administration is optimistic Congress will approve additional disaster aid by this summer. A bipartisan group, made up of all of California’s congressional delegation, is advocating for the relief package.

As for Newsom, he told reporters last week that he is continuing to work behind the scenes to maintain his relationship with Trump, but would still defend the state’s core principles.

• Newsom: “If you want to make a point, you may want to reconsider. If you want to make a difference, stand tall and firm. And that’s kind of the approach.”

Read more here.

More than 2 million Californians are enrolled in Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act. Last year, some of these enrollees had their personal data shared with LinkedIn.

Recent forensic testing by CalMatters’ Tomas Apodaca and Colin Lecher revealed that Covered California’s website has been sending sensitive data to the for-profit job recruiting social networking site — and that visitors could have had their data tracked for more than a year.

As visitors filled out forms on Covered California’s website, trackers sent information to Linkedin. The information included whether visitors were blind, pregnant or used a high number of prescription medications. The trackers also monitored whether visitors said they were transgender or possible victims of domestic abuse.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Covered California confirmed that data was sent to LinkedIn as part of an advertising campaign that began in February 2024. Since CalMatters and The Markup’s reporting about the issue, however, most ad trackers have been removed from the site.

Read more here.

Today the Senate Transportation Committee is considering a bill that would shorten the length of freight trains in California. Proponents say the bill would make railways safer, but critics argue the measure could raise the price of goods in a state already struggling with a high cost-of-living.

As CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow explains, the bill by Democratic Sen. Bob Archuleta of Norwalk would cap the maximum length of a freight train to 7,500 feet, or about 125 60-foot-long rail cars. The railway industry employs several thousand workers, including ones represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. The union argues that shorter trains are less likely to derail. The bill passed its first committee hearing last week after Democrats in the Senate’s committee on energy, utilities and communications voted to advance the measure.

The train industry and at least two dozen other business groups oppose the bill. They argue that shortening trains could make transporting goods more expensive since longer trains require fewer engines and crew members to pull. The proposal also may not be legal: The federal government wields broad authority over interstate commerce, enabling it to have final say on regulating railroads. 

Read more here.

A revived proposal would let California cities extend alcohol sales to 4 a.m. on weekends and holidays. CalMatters’ Yue Stella Yu and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a segment on the bill led by two San Francisco Democrats as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video about a different bill that seeks to stop cities from delaying court-ordered voting reforms during appeals by CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal, Mia Henry and Robert. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.