Two bold CA policies that aren’t yet delivering

California officials and lawmakers, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, often make bold proclamations that promise to make residents’ lives easier. But for two recent state initiatives, CalMatters reporters found that so far, affected Californians are still waiting for results:

Fast food council: Gov. Newsom signed a law in 2023 that raised the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 and created a first-in-the-nation council that will set work rules for an industry that employs more than a half-million Californians.

The workers got the raise, and that’s a big win for them. But since its first convening last March, the nine-member council — comprised of business owners, workers and union representatives — hasn’t done much, reports CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang.

So far, the council decided to consider a cost-of-living adjustment to the industry minimum wage, and it plans to discuss potential additional wage hike requirements at its next, as-yet unscheduled, meeting. But despite some marathon meetings that included hours of comments from workers, restaurant owners and their respective allies, most meetings generally focused on what the council should discuss.

Nick Hardeman, the food council’s chairperson, said the work is similar to starting a new department from scratch, and the pace so far is to be expected.

• Hardeman: “It is hard to come to decisions. And there’s a lot of people who are coming from two completely different sets of life experiences when we’re talking about issues, and you see that play out in every single meeting.”

Read more here.

Insulin: With more than 3.5 million Californians living with diabetes, Gov. Newsom pledged in 2023 that California would sell its own insulin — a life-saving drug that helps patients manage the disease — for $30 a vial under a “2024 delivery” timeline.

But as CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang explains, the governor’s plan to produce a cheap, generic insulin is years behind his schedule.

During a recent Senate oversight hearing, Newsom administration representatives said they do not have a timeline for when the insulin would be available for sale. Elizabeth Landsberg, the director of the state’s Department of Health Access and Information, which oversees the insulin initiative, said while the pace has been slower than the state anticipated, it is “not outside of industry norms.”

Read more here.

From CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Sameea Kamal:

Late on Friday, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas made a series of changes to committee assignments that drew the ire of some Republican members, who called his move punitive. 

Rivas, a Democrat from Salinas, shuffled more Republican members than Democratic ones — including freshmen lawmakers Alexandra Macedo, David Tangipa and Carl DeMaio, though GOP members gained one committee seat overall.

Democrats hold a supermajority in the Legislature with 30 of 40 seats in the Senate, and 60 of 80 Assembly seats. All vice-chair positions are still held by Republican members.

The reorganization comes not long after Rivas’ initial assignments for this session on Jan. 21.

Some Republican members took to the social media site X to vent, including James Gallagher, leader of the Assembly’s Republican caucus, who described the move as retaliation against its members for “highlighting their failures on the cost of living, insurance, wildfire and energy.” 

Nick Miller, spokesperson for Rivas, said the speaker “routinely addresses committee needs throughout the year, and his goal is always to ensure members are in optimal roles to collaborate effectively and deliver for Californians.”

But he said Democratic members have also expressed concern about increasing instances of committee time for political grandstanding. 

Committees are, in theory, designed to maximize the Legislature’s efficiency, vetting thousands of bills introduced each year. But they also define the speaker’s political power, and are one of the key ways lawmakers can shape policy as bills move through the legislative process.

The change comes ahead of policy committee hearings that will kick off this legislative season.

California is helping lead the effort to make oil and gas companies pay billions of dollars for climate disasters, writes CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo.

Turning to a similar legal strategy used in the 1990s to hold Big Tobacco accountable, several states, including California, as well as cities and environmental groups, have filed lawsuits against oil companies alleging they knew fossil fuels were driving climate change and misled the public about the dangers of their products. 

In addition to lawsuits, California legislators are pushing bills to hold corporations responsible for climate disasters and harms: One bill proposes to give homeowners new rights to sue oil companies, while another (reintroduced this session after failing last year) would require companies to pay for damage caused by greenhouse gases.

Read more here.

Speaking of climate disasters: To fast-track wildfire mitigation efforts, Newsom on Saturday declared a state of emergency and suspended two major environmental laws. Among other things, the temporary statewide pause in the California Environmental Quality Act and California Coastal Act seeks to speed up vegetation removal and “the pace and scale” of prescribed fires, according to Newsom’s office.

Though wildfires around Los Angeles County are contained, foothill communities remain at risk of debris flows. CalMatters environment reporter Alastair Bland and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on the dangers of debris flows as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video from CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff and Robert about California’s $50 million fund to push back against policies from the President Donald Trump administration. Watch it here.

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