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"slug": "judge-says-trump-could-disenfranchise-voters-in-purge-of-noncitizens-from-election-rolls",
"title": "Judge Says Trump Could Disenfranchise Voters in Purge of Noncitizens From Election Rolls",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saying he had concerns it could disenfranchise voters during the midterm election, a federal judge on Tuesday seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s demands that California election officials set aside 20,000 ballots that it claimed could have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106418/santa-clara-county-rejects-trump-administration-voter-probe\">mailed to noncitizens\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Some of these may be very valid voters, and that’s my concern about disenfranchisement,” said U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, an appointee of President Bill Clinton.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter said he would issue a formal ruling by Wednesday, but he told the courtroom he was likely going to appoint a special master to weigh the evidence both sides present at a hearing in two weeks. That means his final ruling might not come until after the election.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said he didn’t want to “just wing it with a ruling” based on last-minute evidence the federal government submitted to the court the night before Tuesday’s hearing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter also suggested that his ruling would order federal authorities to stop telling election officials that they could face criminal charges if they didn’t comply with the Trump administration’s demands. The Trump administration on Friday \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106247/doj-orders-contra-costa-other-california-counties-to-verify-ballots\">sent letters to California election officials\u003c/a> telling them to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens, and threatened them with criminal charges if they allowed those people to vote.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state or county (election) employees cease immediately,” Carter told the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter’s remarks point to yet another likely legal blow to the Trump administration as it seeks to validate President Donald Trump’s longstanding claims of widespread election fraud favoring Democrats. Experts and election officials say those claims are meritless. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, acknowledged that the government’s list of 20,000 people may contain citizens, but he said the possibility that noncitizens were voting illegally was too great a threat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Election workers sort ballots at Contra Costa County’s election operations facility on May 27, 2026, in Martinez, California. (Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I would ask the state how many illegal votes is OK for them?” Essayli said. “It cannot be that the state has a right to facilitate the counting and tabulation of noncitizen votes. There’s no right to that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California earlier this month\u003c/a> saying election officials refused to comply with a 48-hour federal deadline to set aside the ballots of up to 20,000 people the administration had flagged as possible noncitizens until the voters’ citizenship could be verified.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The administration sought a temporary restraining order forcing the state to comply.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California officials argued there was no way they could since they were busy overseeing the election. They also called the demand an illegal effort to meddle in state-run elections that could disenfranchise legal voters.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I just want to make sure the stakes are clear: that what we’re talking about is stripping voting rights from thousands of people until proven otherwise,” said Anne Bellows, a deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Judge points to immigrant arrests\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">State and county officials also have questioned the methodology the federal government used to flag possible noncitizens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a court filing, Los Angeles County officials said that a sampling of 200 names from the federal list, which included people from all over California, found that many of them were likely citizens and that most had not voted before and were not sent ballots. Federal investigators re-reviewed those 200 names and found that only four were citizens, Essayli told the judge.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We stand by the reliability of the information,” he said. “We take our obligations and ethics very seriously.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter noted that, last week, federal prosecutors charged \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/california-federal-arrests-voter-fraud/\">28 California green card holders\u003c/a> for allegedly voting or registering to vote in violation of laws prohibiting noncitizens from participating in elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said that if noncitizens really are voting in as large of numbers as the Trump administration claims, there’s nothing stopping federal prosecutors from finding them and charging them without the risk of blocking legal voters from having their ballots counted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If it’s this big, you’ve got a remedy for goodness sakes,” Carter told Essayli. “Go out and indict.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the hearing, Essayli said from the courthouse steps that the state could “resolve this today.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They just seem disinterested in getting to the bottom of this,” Essayli said, noting that the number of ballots in question could tip smaller elections. “A lot of elections are decided by tens of votes or hundreds of votes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">9th Circuit ruled against Trump\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hearing came a day after two judges on a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106418/santa-clara-county-rejects-trump-administration-voter-probe\">rejected an emergency effort\u003c/a> from the Trump administration to bypass Carter’s courtroom. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration sought an emergency order from the appellate court, claiming that Carter didn’t schedule a hearing fast enough. The two judges said prosecutors’ arguments about urgency didn’t hold up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their ruling noted that the prosecutors have been making claims about illegal voters on California’s voter rolls since July and could have taken action any time since, so their “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, noted in a concurring opinion that he had “serious doubts” about the federal government’s claims that prosecutors could “superintend or intervene in a state’s election administration.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He wrote that Congress granted states — not the executive branch — authority over elections.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In a dissenting opinion, Judge Patrick Bumatay, another Trump appointee, argued that “federal law precludes California from commingling ballots likely cast by aliens with legitimate ballots, because it encourages and induces illegal voting.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Stopping that practice for those identified as likely noncitizens is the bare minimum,” Bumatay wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/trump-noncitizen-voting-court/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Carter also suggested that his ruling would order federal authorities to stop telling election officials that they could face criminal charges if they didn’t comply with the Trump administration’s demands. The Trump administration on Friday \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106247/doj-orders-contra-costa-other-california-counties-to-verify-ballots\">sent letters to California election officials\u003c/a> telling them to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens, and threatened them with criminal charges if they allowed those people to vote.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state or county (election) employees cease immediately,” Carter told the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Carter also suggested that his ruling would order federal authorities to stop telling election officials that they could face criminal charges if they didn’t comply with the Trump administration’s demands. The Trump administration on Friday \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106247/doj-orders-contra-costa-other-california-counties-to-verify-ballots\">sent letters to California election officials\u003c/a> telling them to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens, and threatened them with criminal charges if they allowed those people to vote.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state or county (election) employees cease immediately,” Carter told the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Carter’s remarks point to yet another likely legal blow to the Trump administration as it seeks to validate President Donald Trump’s longstanding claims of widespread election fraud favoring Democrats. Experts and election officials say those claims are meritless. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, acknowledged that the government’s list of 20,000 people may contain citizens, but he said the possibility that noncitizens were voting illegally was too great a threat.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, acknowledged that the government’s list of 20,000 people may contain citizens, but he said the possibility that noncitizens were voting illegally was too great a threat.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I would ask the state how many illegal votes is OK for them?” Essayli said. “It cannot be that the state has a right to facilitate the counting and tabulation of noncitizen votes. There’s no right to that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I would ask the state how many illegal votes is OK for them?” Essayli said. “It cannot be that the state has a right to facilitate the counting and tabulation of noncitizen votes. There’s no right to that.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California earlier this month\u003c/a> saying election officials refused to comply with a 48-hour federal deadline to set aside the ballots of up to 20,000 people the administration had flagged as possible noncitizens until the voters’ citizenship could be verified.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California earlier this month\u003c/a> saying election officials refused to comply with a 48-hour federal deadline to set aside the ballots of up to 20,000 people the administration had flagged as possible noncitizens until the voters’ citizenship could be verified.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The administration sought a temporary restraining order forcing the state to comply.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California officials argued there was no way they could since they were busy overseeing the election. They also called the demand an illegal effort to meddle in state-run elections that could disenfranchise legal voters.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I just want to make sure the stakes are clear: that what we’re talking about is stripping voting rights from thousands of people until proven otherwise,” said Anne Bellows, a deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California officials argued there was no way they could since they were busy overseeing the election. They also called the demand an illegal effort to meddle in state-run elections that could disenfranchise legal voters.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I just want to make sure the stakes are clear: that what we’re talking about is stripping voting rights from thousands of people until proven otherwise,” said Anne Bellows, a deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>State and county officials also have questioned the methodology the federal government used to flag possible noncitizens.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>State and county officials also have questioned the methodology the federal government used to flag possible noncitizens.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a court filing, Los Angeles County officials said that a sampling of 200 names from the federal list, which included people from all over California, found that many of them were likely citizens and that most had not voted before and were not sent ballots. Federal investigators re-reviewed those 200 names and found that only four were citizens, Essayli told the judge.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We stand by the reliability of the information,” he said. “We take our obligations and ethics very seriously.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a court filing, Los Angeles County officials said that a sampling of 200 names from the federal list, which included people from all over California, found that many of them were likely citizens and that most had not voted before and were not sent ballots. Federal investigators re-reviewed those 200 names and found that only four were citizens, Essayli told the judge.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We stand by the reliability of the information,” he said. “We take our obligations and ethics very seriously.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Carter noted that, last week, federal prosecutors charged \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/california-federal-arrests-voter-fraud/\">28 California green card holders\u003c/a> for allegedly voting or registering to vote in violation of laws prohibiting noncitizens from participating in elections. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Carter noted that, last week, federal prosecutors charged \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/california-federal-arrests-voter-fraud/\">28 California green card holders\u003c/a> for allegedly voting or registering to vote in violation of laws prohibiting noncitizens from participating in elections. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He said that if noncitizens really are voting in as large of numbers as the Trump administration claims, there’s nothing stopping federal prosecutors from finding them and charging them without the risk of blocking legal voters from having their ballots counted.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>He said that if noncitizens really are voting in as large of numbers as the Trump administration claims, there’s nothing stopping federal prosecutors from finding them and charging them without the risk of blocking legal voters from having their ballots counted.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If it’s this big, you’ve got a remedy for goodness sakes,” Carter told Essayli. “Go out and indict.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“If it’s this big, you’ve got a remedy for goodness sakes,” Carter told Essayli. “Go out and indict.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After the hearing, Essayli said from the courthouse steps that the state could “resolve this today.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They just seem disinterested in getting to the bottom of this,” Essayli said, noting that the number of ballots in question could tip smaller elections. “A lot of elections are decided by tens of votes or hundreds of votes.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“They just seem disinterested in getting to the bottom of this,” Essayli said, noting that the number of ballots in question could tip smaller elections. “A lot of elections are decided by tens of votes or hundreds of votes.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">9th Circuit ruled against Trump\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The hearing came a day after two judges on a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106418/santa-clara-county-rejects-trump-administration-voter-probe\">rejected an emergency effort\u003c/a> from the Trump administration to bypass Carter’s courtroom. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The hearing came a day after two judges on a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106418/santa-clara-county-rejects-trump-administration-voter-probe\">rejected an emergency effort\u003c/a> from the Trump administration to bypass Carter’s courtroom. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Trump administration sought an emergency order from the appellate court, claiming that Carter didn’t schedule a hearing fast enough. The two judges said prosecutors’ arguments about urgency didn’t hold up.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Trump administration sought an emergency order from the appellate court, claiming that Carter didn’t schedule a hearing fast enough. The two judges said prosecutors’ arguments about urgency didn’t hold up.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Their ruling noted that the prosecutors have been making claims about illegal voters on California’s voter rolls since July and could have taken action any time since, so their “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, noted in a concurring opinion that he had “serious doubts” about the federal government’s claims that prosecutors could “superintend or intervene in a state’s election administration.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Their ruling noted that the prosecutors have been making claims about illegal voters on California’s voter rolls since July and could have taken action any time since, so their “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, noted in a concurring opinion that he had “serious doubts” about the federal government’s claims that prosecutors could “superintend or intervene in a state’s election administration.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He wrote that Congress granted states — not the executive branch — authority over elections.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In a dissenting opinion, Judge Patrick Bumatay, another Trump appointee, argued that “federal law precludes California from commingling ballots likely cast by aliens with legitimate ballots, because it encourages and induces illegal voting.”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>He wrote that Congress granted states — not the executive branch — authority over elections.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In a dissenting opinion, Judge Patrick Bumatay, another Trump appointee, argued that “federal law precludes California from commingling ballots likely cast by aliens with legitimate ballots, because it encourages and induces illegal voting.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Stopping that practice for those identified as likely noncitizens is the bare minimum,” Bumatay wrote.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Stopping that practice for those identified as likely noncitizens is the bare minimum,” Bumatay wrote.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/trump-noncitizen-voting-court/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/trump-noncitizen-voting-court/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "A federal judge is unlikely to issue a final ruling on the Trump administration’s claim that 20,000 possible noncitizens are registered to vote in California until after Election Day.",
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"title": "Judge Says Trump Could Disenfranchise Voters in Purge of Noncitizens From Election Rolls | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saying he had concerns it could disenfranchise voters during the midterm election, a federal judge on Tuesday seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s demands that California election officials set aside 20,000 ballots that it claimed could have been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106418/santa-clara-county-rejects-trump-administration-voter-probe\">mailed to noncitizens\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Some of these may be very valid voters, and that’s my concern about disenfranchisement,” said U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, an appointee of President Bill Clinton.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter said he would issue a formal ruling by Wednesday, but he told the courtroom he was likely going to appoint a special master to weigh the evidence both sides present at a hearing in two weeks. That means his final ruling might not come until after the election.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said he didn’t want to “just wing it with a ruling” based on last-minute evidence the federal government submitted to the court the night before Tuesday’s hearing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter also suggested that his ruling would order federal authorities to stop telling election officials that they could face criminal charges if they didn’t comply with the Trump administration’s demands. The Trump administration on Friday \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106247/doj-orders-contra-costa-other-california-counties-to-verify-ballots\">sent letters to California election officials\u003c/a> telling them to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens, and threatened them with criminal charges if they allowed those people to vote.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“This court believes it would be wise that any threats to state or county (election) employees cease immediately,” Carter told the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter’s remarks point to yet another likely legal blow to the Trump administration as it seeks to validate President Donald Trump’s longstanding claims of widespread election fraud favoring Democrats. Experts and election officials say those claims are meritless. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, acknowledged that the government’s list of 20,000 people may contain citizens, but he said the possibility that noncitizens were voting illegally was too great a threat.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085438\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/GettyImages-2277856381-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Election workers sort ballots at Contra Costa County’s election operations facility on May 27, 2026, in Martinez, California. (Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I would ask the state how many illegal votes is OK for them?” Essayli said. “It cannot be that the state has a right to facilitate the counting and tabulation of noncitizen votes. There’s no right to that.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California earlier this month\u003c/a> saying election officials refused to comply with a 48-hour federal deadline to set aside the ballots of up to 20,000 people the administration had flagged as possible noncitizens until the voters’ citizenship could be verified.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The administration sought a temporary restraining order forcing the state to comply.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California officials argued there was no way they could since they were busy overseeing the election. They also called the demand an illegal effort to meddle in state-run elections that could disenfranchise legal voters.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“I just want to make sure the stakes are clear: that what we’re talking about is stripping voting rights from thousands of people until proven otherwise,” said Anne Bellows, a deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Judge points to immigrant arrests\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">State and county officials also have questioned the methodology the federal government used to flag possible noncitizens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a court filing, Los Angeles County officials said that a sampling of 200 names from the federal list, which included people from all over California, found that many of them were likely citizens and that most had not voted before and were not sent ballots. Federal investigators re-reviewed those 200 names and found that only four were citizens, Essayli told the judge.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We stand by the reliability of the information,” he said. “We take our obligations and ethics very seriously.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carter noted that, last week, federal prosecutors charged \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/california-federal-arrests-voter-fraud/\">28 California green card holders\u003c/a> for allegedly voting or registering to vote in violation of laws prohibiting noncitizens from participating in elections. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said that if noncitizens really are voting in as large of numbers as the Trump administration claims, there’s nothing stopping federal prosecutors from finding them and charging them without the risk of blocking legal voters from having their ballots counted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“If it’s this big, you’ve got a remedy for goodness sakes,” Carter told Essayli. “Go out and indict.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the hearing, Essayli said from the courthouse steps that the state could “resolve this today.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They just seem disinterested in getting to the bottom of this,” Essayli said, noting that the number of ballots in question could tip smaller elections. “A lot of elections are decided by tens of votes or hundreds of votes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">9th Circuit ruled against Trump\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hearing came a day after two judges on a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106418/santa-clara-county-rejects-trump-administration-voter-probe\">rejected an emergency effort\u003c/a> from the Trump administration to bypass Carter’s courtroom. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration sought an emergency order from the appellate court, claiming that Carter didn’t schedule a hearing fast enough. The two judges said prosecutors’ arguments about urgency didn’t hold up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their ruling noted that the prosecutors have been making claims about illegal voters on California’s voter rolls since July and could have taken action any time since, so their “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.”\u003cbr>\u003cbr>Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, noted in a concurring opinion that he had “serious doubts” about the federal government’s claims that prosecutors could “superintend or intervene in a state’s election administration.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He wrote that Congress granted states — not the executive branch — authority over elections.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>In a dissenting opinion, Judge Patrick Bumatay, another Trump appointee, argued that “federal law precludes California from commingling ballots likely cast by aliens with legitimate ballots, because it encourages and induces illegal voting.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Stopping that practice for those identified as likely noncitizens is the bare minimum,” Bumatay wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/trump-noncitizen-voting-court/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "northern-california-rep-proposes-new-pet-protections-in-wake-of-animal-welfare-probes",
"title": "Northern California Representative Proposes New Pet Protections in Wake of Animal Welfare Probes",
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"headTitle": "Northern California Representative Proposes New Pet Protections in Wake of Animal Welfare Probes | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Northern California congressman has proposed strengthening the country’s animal welfare laws after local and federal investigators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088995/117-dog-remains-found-at-mirandas-rescue-during-multiagency-investigation\">uncovered a mass grave at an animal sanctuary\u003c/a> in Humboldt County earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It was a shocking story, and we were talking in my office about what can we do to really have some better teeth, some better tools, penalties, to stop this from happening?,” Rep. James Gallagher, R-Chico, said in an interview with KQED on Tuesday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://gallagher.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/gallagher.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Dunkins%20Law.pdf\">legislation\u003c/a> he introduced this week would amend the Animal Welfare Act to create a special designation for companion animals as “sentient beings.” It would give pet owners the ability to federally sue commercial pet facilities like boarding houses if their animal “suffers harm or neglect or dies” while in their care. It would not apply to farm animals or livestock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gallagher was elected to the 1st Congressional District in a special election in June following the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa. He is seeking reelection next week in the district —whose boundaries were redrawn under Proposition 50 — in a tight race against former state Sen. Mike McGuire. McGuire has also \u003ca href=\"https://sd02.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-pro-tem-emeritus-mike-mcguire-and-assemblymember-chris-rogers-issue-joint-statement\">expressed concerns\u003c/a> about Miranda’s Rescue and animal welfare.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2292508700-44061c88-scaled-e1793145974125.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104200\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. James Gallagher arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 1, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Humboldt County Sheriff began investigating Miranda’s Rescue after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915363/the-whistleblowers-who-exposed-a-no-kill-shelter\">two local animal advocates\u003c/a> entered the sanctuary at night and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084725/bay-area-dogs-found-dead-at-humboldt-county-no-kill-rescue\">uncovered the bodies of eight dead dogs\u003c/a>, which they turned over to authorities. Rescue owner Shannon Miranda took in more than 900 dogs between Jan. 1, 2025, and May 2026, charging fees ranging from $400 to several thousand dollars per animal. As of last month, 750 of those dogs remained unaccounted for, according to the sheriff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miranda has denied any wrongdoing and has not been arrested.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We remain laser-focused on this investigation and are committed to identifying and holding accountable every individual responsible for criminal acts of animal cruelty and fraud uncovered at this nonprofit animal rescue organization,” Sheriff William Honsal wrote in an email to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honsal said the investigation, which has included the FBI, the USDA and the state attorney general’s office, has revealed the gaps in the animal welfare system, and that he appreciates Gallagher’s proposal. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“My hope is that something positive can come from this deeply disturbing case,” Honsal wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Dunkin’s Law” is named after a 2-year-old Bernese mountain dog that died of apparent heat exhaustion while in the care of a dog trainer in Los Angeles, according to documents provided to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In late August, Andrew Fedyk and Madeline White Fedyk sent Dunkin and their other dog, Poutine, for training with Smart Dogs Training Academy as due diligence because they had just had a baby. Fedyk, who is a DJ and part of the touring duo Loud Luxury, said Dunkin was a part of their family and “ pretty much the closest you can get to a perfect dog.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement sent to police, the couple said they were assured that the animals would be kept in air conditioning. But on Aug. 26, while the city was in the midst of a heat wave, Smart Dogs owner Jeff Todd called Fedyk, saying that Dunkin had died of apparent heat exhaustion. He had been at a park with another trainer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After discovering allegations from other pet owners whose dogs had died while in Todd’s care, the Fedyks decided to pursue criminal action. They told KQED an investigation by Los Angeles Animal Services is ongoing, but the agency did not respond to requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084787\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The front entrance to Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna, California. Oakland and Berkeley animal shelters have severed ties with the Humboldt County rescue amid an investigation into allegations that dogs transferred there were improperly killed. (Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The passing of Dunkin is very sad and unfortunate,” Smart Dogs said in an email. “We do however maintain that allegations of any wrongdoing or negligence are completely false. There is no factual evidence to support these or the additional claims that have been made.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Fedyks said so far they are frustrated by the investigation, but they hope that new federal protections can improve the pet care industry and provide relief for people like them — and those who brought animals to the “no-kill” rescue in Fortuna. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“ We wanted to make sure that there [are] not people in this industry that do just see your dog as a dollar bill,” Madeleine White Fedyk said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gallagher said his office is sending out “ Dear Colleague” letters to other lawmakers to try and gather co-sponsors. Next, the bill would likely be referred for a hearing in the House Committee on Agriculture.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A Northern California congressman has proposed strengthening the country’s animal welfare laws after local and federal investigators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088995/117-dog-remains-found-at-mirandas-rescue-during-multiagency-investigation\">uncovered a mass grave at an animal sanctuary\u003c/a> in Humboldt County earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A Northern California congressman has proposed strengthening the country’s animal welfare laws after local and federal investigators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088995/117-dog-remains-found-at-mirandas-rescue-during-multiagency-investigation\">uncovered a mass grave at an animal sanctuary\u003c/a> in Humboldt County earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It was a shocking story, and we were talking in my office about what can we do to really have some better teeth, some better tools, penalties, to stop this from happening?,” Rep. James Gallagher, R-Chico, said in an interview with KQED on Tuesday. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://gallagher.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/gallagher.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Dunkins%20Law.pdf\">legislation\u003c/a> he introduced this week would amend the Animal Welfare Act to create a special designation for companion animals as “sentient beings.” It would give pet owners the ability to federally sue commercial pet facilities like boarding houses if their animal “suffers harm or neglect or dies” while in their care. It would not apply to farm animals or livestock.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gallagher was elected to the 1st Congressional District in a special election in June following the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa. He is seeking reelection next week in the district —whose boundaries were redrawn under Proposition 50 — in a tight race against former state Sen. Mike McGuire. McGuire has also \u003ca href=\"https://sd02.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-pro-tem-emeritus-mike-mcguire-and-assemblymember-chris-rogers-issue-joint-statement\">expressed concerns\u003c/a> about Miranda’s Rescue and animal welfare.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Gallagher was elected to the 1st Congressional District in a special election in June following the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa. He is seeking reelection next week in the district —whose boundaries were redrawn under Proposition 50 — in a tight race against former state Sen. Mike McGuire. McGuire has also \u003ca href=\"https://sd02.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-pro-tem-emeritus-mike-mcguire-and-assemblymember-chris-rogers-issue-joint-statement\">expressed concerns\u003c/a> about Miranda’s Rescue and animal welfare.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2292508700-44061c88-scaled-e1793145974125.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104200\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. James Gallagher arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 1, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2292508700-44061c88-scaled-e1793145974125.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104200\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. James Gallagher arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 1, 2026. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Humboldt County Sheriff began investigating Miranda’s Rescue after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915363/the-whistleblowers-who-exposed-a-no-kill-shelter\">two local animal advocates\u003c/a> entered the sanctuary at night and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084725/bay-area-dogs-found-dead-at-humboldt-county-no-kill-rescue\">uncovered the bodies of eight dead dogs\u003c/a>, which they turned over to authorities. Rescue owner Shannon Miranda took in more than 900 dogs between Jan. 1, 2025, and May 2026, charging fees ranging from $400 to several thousand dollars per animal. As of last month, 750 of those dogs remained unaccounted for, according to the sheriff.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Humboldt County Sheriff began investigating Miranda’s Rescue after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915363/the-whistleblowers-who-exposed-a-no-kill-shelter\">two local animal advocates\u003c/a> entered the sanctuary at night and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084725/bay-area-dogs-found-dead-at-humboldt-county-no-kill-rescue\">uncovered the bodies of eight dead dogs\u003c/a>, which they turned over to authorities. Rescue owner Shannon Miranda took in more than 900 dogs between Jan. 1, 2025, and May 2026, charging fees ranging from $400 to several thousand dollars per animal. As of last month, 750 of those dogs remained unaccounted for, according to the sheriff.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We remain laser-focused on this investigation and are committed to identifying and holding accountable every individual responsible for criminal acts of animal cruelty and fraud uncovered at this nonprofit animal rescue organization,” Sheriff William Honsal wrote in an email to KQED. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Honsal said the investigation, which has included the FBI, the USDA and the state attorney general’s office, has revealed the gaps in the animal welfare system, and that he appreciates Gallagher’s proposal. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Honsal said the investigation, which has included the FBI, the USDA and the state attorney general’s office, has revealed the gaps in the animal welfare system, and that he appreciates Gallagher’s proposal. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“My hope is that something positive can come from this deeply disturbing case,” Honsal wrote.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“My hope is that something positive can come from this deeply disturbing case,” Honsal wrote.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Dunkin’s Law” is named after a 2-year-old Bernese mountain dog that died of apparent heat exhaustion while in the care of a dog trainer in Los Angeles, according to documents provided to KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Dunkin’s Law” is named after a 2-year-old Bernese mountain dog that died of apparent heat exhaustion while in the care of a dog trainer in Los Angeles, according to documents provided to KQED.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In late August, Andrew Fedyk and Madeline White Fedyk sent Dunkin and their other dog, Poutine, for training with Smart Dogs Training Academy as due diligence because they had just had a baby. Fedyk, who is a DJ and part of the touring duo Loud Luxury, said Dunkin was a part of their family and “ pretty much the closest you can get to a perfect dog.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In late August, Andrew Fedyk and Madeline White Fedyk sent Dunkin and their other dog, Poutine, for training with Smart Dogs Training Academy as due diligence because they had just had a baby. Fedyk, who is a DJ and part of the touring duo Loud Luxury, said Dunkin was a part of their family and “ pretty much the closest you can get to a perfect dog.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a statement sent to police, the couple said they were assured that the animals would be kept in air conditioning. But on Aug. 26, while the city was in the midst of a heat wave, Smart Dogs owner Jeff Todd called Fedyk, saying that Dunkin had died of apparent heat exhaustion. He had been at a park with another trainer. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a statement sent to police, the couple said they were assured that the animals would be kept in air conditioning. But on Aug. 26, while the city was in the midst of a heat wave, Smart Dogs owner Jeff Todd called Fedyk, saying that Dunkin had died of apparent heat exhaustion. He had been at a park with another trainer. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After discovering allegations from other pet owners whose dogs had died while in Todd’s care, the Fedyks decided to pursue criminal action. They told KQED an investigation by Los Angeles Animal Services is ongoing, but the agency did not respond to requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>After discovering allegations from other pet owners whose dogs had died while in Todd’s care, the Fedyks decided to pursue criminal action. They told KQED an investigation by Los Angeles Animal Services is ongoing, but the agency did not respond to requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084787\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The front entrance to Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna, California. Oakland and Berkeley animal shelters have severed ties with the Humboldt County rescue amid an investigation into allegations that dogs transferred there were improperly killed.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084787\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The front entrance to Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna, California. Oakland and Berkeley animal shelters have severed ties with the Humboldt County rescue amid an investigation into allegations that dogs transferred there were improperly killed.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The passing of Dunkin is very sad and unfortunate,” Smart Dogs said in an email. “We do however maintain that allegations of any wrongdoing or negligence are completely false. There is no factual evidence to support these or the additional claims that have been made.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The passing of Dunkin is very sad and unfortunate,” Smart Dogs said in an email. “We do however maintain that allegations of any wrongdoing or negligence are completely false. There is no factual evidence to support these or the additional claims that have been made.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Fedyks said so far they are frustrated by the investigation, but they hope that new federal protections can improve the pet care industry and provide relief for people like them — and those who brought animals to the “no-kill” rescue in Fortuna. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Fedyks said so far they are frustrated by the investigation, but they hope that new federal protections can improve the pet care industry and provide relief for people like them — and those who brought animals to the “no-kill” rescue in Fortuna. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“ We wanted to make sure that there [are] not people in this industry that do just see your dog as a dollar bill,” Madeleine White Fedyk said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“ We wanted to make sure that there [are] not people in this industry that do just see your dog as a dollar bill,” Madeleine White Fedyk said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gallagher said his office is sending out “ Dear Colleague” letters to other lawmakers to try and gather co-sponsors. Next, the bill would likely be referred for a hearing in the House Committee on Agriculture.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Gallagher said his office is sending out “ Dear Colleague” letters to other lawmakers to try and gather co-sponsors. Next, the bill would likely be referred for a hearing in the House Committee on Agriculture.\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "The legislation would make it easier to hold commercial pet facilities accountable for harm, after the discovery of a mass dog grave in Humboldt County this summer. ",
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"title": "Northern California Representative Proposes New Pet Protections in Wake of Animal Welfare Probes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Northern California congressman has proposed strengthening the country’s animal welfare laws after local and federal investigators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088995/117-dog-remains-found-at-mirandas-rescue-during-multiagency-investigation\">uncovered a mass grave at an animal sanctuary\u003c/a> in Humboldt County earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It was a shocking story, and we were talking in my office about what can we do to really have some better teeth, some better tools, penalties, to stop this from happening?,” Rep. James Gallagher, R-Chico, said in an interview with KQED on Tuesday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://gallagher.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/gallagher.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Dunkins%20Law.pdf\">legislation\u003c/a> he introduced this week would amend the Animal Welfare Act to create a special designation for companion animals as “sentient beings.” It would give pet owners the ability to federally sue commercial pet facilities like boarding houses if their animal “suffers harm or neglect or dies” while in their care. It would not apply to farm animals or livestock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gallagher was elected to the 1st Congressional District in a special election in June following the death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa. He is seeking reelection next week in the district —whose boundaries were redrawn under Proposition 50 — in a tight race against former state Sen. Mike McGuire. McGuire has also \u003ca href=\"https://sd02.senate.ca.gov/news/senate-pro-tem-emeritus-mike-mcguire-and-assemblymember-chris-rogers-issue-joint-statement\">expressed concerns\u003c/a> about Miranda’s Rescue and animal welfare.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/GettyImages-2292508700-44061c88-scaled-e1793145974125.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104200\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. James Gallagher arrives for the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 1, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Humboldt County Sheriff began investigating Miranda’s Rescue after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915363/the-whistleblowers-who-exposed-a-no-kill-shelter\">two local animal advocates\u003c/a> entered the sanctuary at night and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12084725/bay-area-dogs-found-dead-at-humboldt-county-no-kill-rescue\">uncovered the bodies of eight dead dogs\u003c/a>, which they turned over to authorities. Rescue owner Shannon Miranda took in more than 900 dogs between Jan. 1, 2025, and May 2026, charging fees ranging from $400 to several thousand dollars per animal. As of last month, 750 of those dogs remained unaccounted for, according to the sheriff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miranda has denied any wrongdoing and has not been arrested.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We remain laser-focused on this investigation and are committed to identifying and holding accountable every individual responsible for criminal acts of animal cruelty and fraud uncovered at this nonprofit animal rescue organization,” Sheriff William Honsal wrote in an email to KQED. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honsal said the investigation, which has included the FBI, the USDA and the state attorney general’s office, has revealed the gaps in the animal welfare system, and that he appreciates Gallagher’s proposal. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“My hope is that something positive can come from this deeply disturbing case,” Honsal wrote.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Dunkin’s Law” is named after a 2-year-old Bernese mountain dog that died of apparent heat exhaustion while in the care of a dog trainer in Los Angeles, according to documents provided to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In late August, Andrew Fedyk and Madeline White Fedyk sent Dunkin and their other dog, Poutine, for training with Smart Dogs Training Academy as due diligence because they had just had a baby. Fedyk, who is a DJ and part of the touring duo Loud Luxury, said Dunkin was a part of their family and “ pretty much the closest you can get to a perfect dog.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement sent to police, the couple said they were assured that the animals would be kept in air conditioning. But on Aug. 26, while the city was in the midst of a heat wave, Smart Dogs owner Jeff Todd called Fedyk, saying that Dunkin had died of apparent heat exhaustion. He had been at a park with another trainer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After discovering allegations from other pet owners whose dogs had died while in Todd’s care, the Fedyks decided to pursue criminal action. They told KQED an investigation by Los Angeles Animal Services is ongoing, but the agency did not respond to requests for comment. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12084787\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/05/260521-Dogs-Euthanized-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The front entrance to Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna, California. Oakland and Berkeley animal shelters have severed ties with the Humboldt County rescue amid an investigation into allegations that dogs transferred there were improperly killed. (Sukey Lewis/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The passing of Dunkin is very sad and unfortunate,” Smart Dogs said in an email. “We do however maintain that allegations of any wrongdoing or negligence are completely false. There is no factual evidence to support these or the additional claims that have been made.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Fedyks said so far they are frustrated by the investigation, but they hope that new federal protections can improve the pet care industry and provide relief for people like them — and those who brought animals to the “no-kill” rescue in Fortuna. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“ We wanted to make sure that there [are] not people in this industry that do just see your dog as a dollar bill,” Madeleine White Fedyk said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gallagher said his office is sending out “ Dear Colleague” letters to other lawmakers to try and gather co-sponsors. Next, the bill would likely be referred for a hearing in the House Committee on Agriculture.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "as-costs-crush-families-this-bay-area-county-could-be-latest-to-subsidize-childcare",
"title": "As Costs Crush Families, This Bay Area County Could Be Latest to Subsidize Childcare",
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"headTitle": "As Costs Crush Families, This Bay Area County Could Be Latest to Subsidize Childcare | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A regional movement to help families afford childcare and support its littlest learners is reaching Marin County, home to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/childcare/price-by-age-care-setting-2022\">some of the highest childcare prices in the nation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If voters approve Measure P, a parcel tax that would raise about $12.5 million per year over 15 years, Marin would become the fourth Bay Area county in eight years to come up with a dedicated funding stream for childcare. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2018, San Francisco, Alameda and Sonoma counties have raised several hundred million dollars through special taxes to subsidize childcare spots for families, add more childcare facilities and increase wages for early childhood educators to help them stay in the field. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Francisco, for example, uses revenue from a tax on commercial buildings to cover up to $36,000 per year in childcare for low-income families. Meanwhile, Alameda County uses funds from a sales tax to boost \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055336/alameda-county-is-giving-cash-to-child-care-providers-other-bay-area-counties-are-envious\">early childhood educators\u003c/a>’ wages to at least $25 per hour. A statewide survey shows their pay often starts \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-wages-2020-to-2025/\">below the $20 state minimum wage\u003c/a> for fast-food workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More recently, revenue from a parcel tax approved by voters in 2024 in a small San Mateo County school district is starting to flow to families and childcare providers in East Palo Alto and a section of Menlo Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marcela Bonilla (left) works with Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, at All Five in Menlo Park on Sept. 25, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advocates say a local fund is needed to \u003ca href=\"https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/The-Economics-of-Childcare-Supply-09-14-final.pdf\">fix a broken market\u003c/a> where parents struggle to afford the full cost of childcare, yet providers barely break even. To do so, they need to keep costs down by minimizing what they spend on labor. But low wages have also led to high turnover at childcare programs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-program-profiles-2024/\">research by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s a math problem,” said Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, a nonprofit receiving some of the parcel tax revenue from the Ravenswood City School District. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We need to charge tuition that matches what families can pay and still have a nice life, and we need to pay early childhood educators enough to live in the community and support their families and have a nice life,” she said. “There has to be other financial support.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Statewide, demand for childcare far exceeds supply. Nearly 2 million children across California are eligible for state-subsidized childcare programs, but there isn’t enough funding to meet demand, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/understanding-californias-1-8-million-gap-in-publicly-funded-child-care/\">analysis by the California Budget and Policy Center\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That was the scenario in Marin County a decade ago when hundreds of low-income families couldn’t get a spot. A coalition of parents and advocates put forward a sales tax measure to augment the state’s funding and subsidize childcare for residents. But the measure didn’t pass.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, the cost of licensed childcare in the county went up by nearly 40%, averaging $2,315 per month in 2024, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1727976979/marinschoolsorg/mgyhudxyu1ukj6pjmyzd/2024LPCNeedsAssessment.pdf\">report by the Marin County Child Care Commission\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, the high cost of living in Marin has made it tough to attract and retain childcare staff, leading to reduced capacity and long waiting lists for families, the report said. Fewer than half of children in working families had access to a licensed childcare space in Marin County, and early childhood educators who can’t afford to live there often commute from other counties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the North Bay Children’s Center opened a new facility in Novato a year ago, the center had state and federal funding to fill a classroom and more than 80 children on a waitlist for subsidized care. But it couldn’t enroll them because it couldn’t find qualified teachers, according to Susan Gilmore, the center’s CEO.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It took us about eight months before we had the teaching team we needed to open that classroom,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shortage of childcare has rippling consequences for businesses like grocery stores and senior living facilities, said Paula Reynolds, director of strategic projects for the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re so dependent on an enormous workforce showing up for work on a consistent basis,” she said. “It’s the reliability of childcare that has an impact on businesses and their ability to plan and get through their day.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But opponents of Measure P say employers, not taxpayers, should contribute to the childcare fund. The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers has urged voters to reject the measure, warning it is among a “tsunami” of proposed taxes, bonds and fees coming before Marin County voters at a time when they’re already pinched by inflation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Affordability is at a breaking point,” the coalition said on its website. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103074\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The “Wobbly Walkers” head to the playground at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lucy Dilworth, a member of the coalition’s board, declined a request for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But proponents of the measure say it might be too risky to wait for another election. \u003ca href=\"https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/43/index.htm\">Proposition 43\u003c/a>, a statewide measure on this November’s ballot, would require future citizen-led ballot initiatives to secure a supermajority, or two-thirds support, to pass. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2016, voters in Marin County fell just 3 percentage points shy of meeting that supermajority threshold when it first tried to pass a childcare funding measure. But since then, a series of court decisions made it easier to pass similar citizen-led tax initiatives. But if voters approve Prop 43 this November, that may not be the case in the future. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joanne Webster, president of the North Bay Leadership Council, a public advocacy group backing the measure, said she sympathizes with people who are skeptical of new taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I agree that we should scrutinize every tax,” Webster said. “But we should also consider the cost of doing nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103075\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said, “Ten years ago, when we tried this and needed two-thirds [of the vote to pass], it was a slim margin, and that’s a shame because we could’ve collected some $50 million since then, and we wouldn’t be in this situation we’re in now.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers also said the measure lacks a clear plan for how the money will be spent, but supporters argue that flexibility is part of the design. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If approved, an advisory council appointed by county supervisors will assess the biggest needs and recommend a spending plan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s structured that way so we can be nimble and react to what’s happening in our local community with childcare, and be able to pivot if we need to lean heavily one year into [investing in the] workforce or lean more heavily into building more facilities another year,” Gilmore said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Ravenswood, the school district proposed the parcel tax to fund several priorities, including childcare, after conducting surveys and finding that it was a high priority for residents within its boundaries. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103076\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play in a yard at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voters passed the measure in 2024, and revenue from the tax began to reach the working-class community over the summer. Pace said home-based childcare providers are starting to get funding to cover tuition for families who qualify for subsidized care. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pace said her staff visits childcare programs to verify the money is directly benefiting residents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We are being hyper vigilant and intentional about the tax fund only serving families and providers in this community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the funding also goes toward recruiting people who live in the district to become early childhood educators. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That has helped stabilize staffing at All Five, a preschool in Menlo Park, and it’s given parents like Gloria Pirir a chance to go from volunteering in the classroom to working in one.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pirir said she was inspired to become an early educator after seeing her daughter’s teachers help young kids manage their emotions and resolve conflicts. She said the teachers helped her sign up for classes, and she connected to a county program that provided tuition assistance and coaching to help her earn an associate teacher permit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Everything became possible because the teachers encouraged me. They said, ‘I know you’re a single mom, but you can do it, Gloria,’” she said. “The teachers believed in me.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated how the parcel tax in the Ravenswood City School District gets distributed.\u003c/em> \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If voters approve Measure P, a parcel tax that would raise about $12.5 million per year over 15 years, Marin would become the fourth Bay Area county in eight years to come up with a dedicated funding stream for childcare. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If voters approve Measure P, a parcel tax that would raise about $12.5 million per year over 15 years, Marin would become the fourth Bay Area county in eight years to come up with a dedicated funding stream for childcare. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since 2018, San Francisco, Alameda and Sonoma counties have raised several hundred million dollars through special taxes to subsidize childcare spots for families, add more childcare facilities and increase wages for early childhood educators to help them stay in the field. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco, for example, uses revenue from a tax on commercial buildings to cover up to $36,000 per year in childcare for low-income families. Meanwhile, Alameda County uses funds from a sales tax to boost \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055336/alameda-county-is-giving-cash-to-child-care-providers-other-bay-area-counties-are-envious\">early childhood educators\u003c/a>’ wages to at least $25 per hour. A statewide survey shows their pay often starts \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-wages-2020-to-2025/\">below the $20 state minimum wage\u003c/a> for fast-food workers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Francisco, for example, uses revenue from a tax on commercial buildings to cover up to $36,000 per year in childcare for low-income families. Meanwhile, Alameda County uses funds from a sales tax to boost \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055336/alameda-county-is-giving-cash-to-child-care-providers-other-bay-area-counties-are-envious\">early childhood educators\u003c/a>’ wages to at least $25 per hour. A statewide survey shows their pay often starts \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-wages-2020-to-2025/\">below the $20 state minimum wage\u003c/a> for fast-food workers. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>More recently, revenue from a parcel tax approved by voters in 2024 in a small San Mateo County school district is starting to flow to families and childcare providers in East Palo Alto and a section of Menlo Park.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>More recently, revenue from a parcel tax approved by voters in 2024 in a small San Mateo County school district is starting to flow to families and childcare providers in East Palo Alto and a section of Menlo Park.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marcela Bonilla (left) works with Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, at All Five in Menlo Park on Sept. 25, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103078\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marcela Bonilla (left) works with Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, at All Five in Menlo Park on Sept. 25, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Advocates say a local fund is needed to \u003ca href=\"https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/The-Economics-of-Childcare-Supply-09-14-final.pdf\">fix a broken market\u003c/a> where parents struggle to afford the full cost of childcare, yet providers barely break even. To do so, they need to keep costs down by minimizing what they spend on labor. But low wages have also led to high turnover at childcare programs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-program-profiles-2024/\">research by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Advocates say a local fund is needed to \u003ca href=\"https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/The-Economics-of-Childcare-Supply-09-14-final.pdf\">fix a broken market\u003c/a> where parents struggle to afford the full cost of childcare, yet providers barely break even. To do so, they need to keep costs down by minimizing what they spend on labor. But low wages have also led to high turnover at childcare programs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-program-profiles-2024/\">research by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s a math problem,” said Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, a nonprofit receiving some of the parcel tax revenue from the Ravenswood City School District. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s a math problem,” said Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, a nonprofit receiving some of the parcel tax revenue from the Ravenswood City School District. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We need to charge tuition that matches what families can pay and still have a nice life, and we need to pay early childhood educators enough to live in the community and support their families and have a nice life,” she said. “There has to be other financial support.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We need to charge tuition that matches what families can pay and still have a nice life, and we need to pay early childhood educators enough to live in the community and support their families and have a nice life,” she said. “There has to be other financial support.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Statewide, demand for childcare far exceeds supply. Nearly 2 million children across California are eligible for state-subsidized childcare programs, but there isn’t enough funding to meet demand, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/understanding-californias-1-8-million-gap-in-publicly-funded-child-care/\">analysis by the California Budget and Policy Center\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Statewide, demand for childcare far exceeds supply. Nearly 2 million children across California are eligible for state-subsidized childcare programs, but there isn’t enough funding to meet demand, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/understanding-californias-1-8-million-gap-in-publicly-funded-child-care/\">analysis by the California Budget and Policy Center\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That was the scenario in Marin County a decade ago when hundreds of low-income families couldn’t get a spot. A coalition of parents and advocates put forward a sales tax measure to augment the state’s funding and subsidize childcare for residents. But the measure didn’t pass.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That was the scenario in Marin County a decade ago when hundreds of low-income families couldn’t get a spot. A coalition of parents and advocates put forward a sales tax measure to augment the state’s funding and subsidize childcare for residents. But the measure didn’t pass.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since then, the cost of licensed childcare in the county went up by nearly 40%, averaging $2,315 per month in 2024, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1727976979/marinschoolsorg/mgyhudxyu1ukj6pjmyzd/2024LPCNeedsAssessment.pdf\">report by the Marin County Child Care Commission\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Since then, the cost of licensed childcare in the county went up by nearly 40%, averaging $2,315 per month in 2024, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1727976979/marinschoolsorg/mgyhudxyu1ukj6pjmyzd/2024LPCNeedsAssessment.pdf\">report by the Marin County Child Care Commission\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the high cost of living in Marin has made it tough to attract and retain childcare staff, leading to reduced capacity and long waiting lists for families, the report said. Fewer than half of children in working families had access to a licensed childcare space in Marin County, and early childhood educators who can’t afford to live there often commute from other counties.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the high cost of living in Marin has made it tough to attract and retain childcare staff, leading to reduced capacity and long waiting lists for families, the report said. Fewer than half of children in working families had access to a licensed childcare space in Marin County, and early childhood educators who can’t afford to live there often commute from other counties.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When the North Bay Children’s Center opened a new facility in Novato a year ago, the center had state and federal funding to fill a classroom and more than 80 children on a waitlist for subsidized care. But it couldn’t enroll them because it couldn’t find qualified teachers, according to Susan Gilmore, the center’s CEO.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When the North Bay Children’s Center opened a new facility in Novato a year ago, the center had state and federal funding to fill a classroom and more than 80 children on a waitlist for subsidized care. But it couldn’t enroll them because it couldn’t find qualified teachers, according to Susan Gilmore, the center’s CEO.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It took us about eight months before we had the teaching team we needed to open that classroom,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It took us about eight months before we had the teaching team we needed to open that classroom,” she said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The shortage of childcare has rippling consequences for businesses like grocery stores and senior living facilities, said Paula Reynolds, director of strategic projects for the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The shortage of childcare has rippling consequences for businesses like grocery stores and senior living facilities, said Paula Reynolds, director of strategic projects for the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re so dependent on an enormous workforce showing up for work on a consistent basis,” she said. “It’s the reliability of childcare that has an impact on businesses and their ability to plan and get through their day.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“They’re so dependent on an enormous workforce showing up for work on a consistent basis,” she said. “It’s the reliability of childcare that has an impact on businesses and their ability to plan and get through their day.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But opponents of Measure P say employers, not taxpayers, should contribute to the childcare fund. The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers has urged voters to reject the measure, warning it is among a “tsunami” of proposed taxes, bonds and fees coming before Marin County voters at a time when they’re already pinched by inflation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But opponents of Measure P say employers, not taxpayers, should contribute to the childcare fund. The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers has urged voters to reject the measure, warning it is among a “tsunami” of proposed taxes, bonds and fees coming before Marin County voters at a time when they’re already pinched by inflation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Affordability is at a breaking point,” the coalition said on its website. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Affordability is at a breaking point,” the coalition said on its website. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103074\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The “Wobbly Walkers” head to the playground at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103074\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The “Wobbly Walkers” head to the playground at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lucy Dilworth, a member of the coalition’s board, declined a request for an interview.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But proponents of the measure say it might be too risky to wait for another election. \u003ca href=\"https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/43/index.htm\">Proposition 43\u003c/a>, a statewide measure on this November’s ballot, would require future citizen-led ballot initiatives to secure a supermajority, or two-thirds support, to pass. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But proponents of the measure say it might be too risky to wait for another election. \u003ca href=\"https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/43/index.htm\">Proposition 43\u003c/a>, a statewide measure on this November’s ballot, would require future citizen-led ballot initiatives to secure a supermajority, or two-thirds support, to pass. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2016, voters in Marin County fell just 3 percentage points shy of meeting that supermajority threshold when it first tried to pass a childcare funding measure. But since then, a series of court decisions made it easier to pass similar citizen-led tax initiatives. But if voters approve Prop 43 this November, that may not be the case in the future. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2016, voters in Marin County fell just 3 percentage points shy of meeting that supermajority threshold when it first tried to pass a childcare funding measure. But since then, a series of court decisions made it easier to pass similar citizen-led tax initiatives. But if voters approve Prop 43 this November, that may not be the case in the future. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Joanne Webster, president of the North Bay Leadership Council, a public advocacy group backing the measure, said she sympathizes with people who are skeptical of new taxes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I agree that we should scrutinize every tax,” Webster said. “But we should also consider the cost of doing nothing.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I agree that we should scrutinize every tax,” Webster said. “But we should also consider the cost of doing nothing.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103075\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103075\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She said, “Ten years ago, when we tried this and needed two-thirds [of the vote to pass], it was a slim margin, and that’s a shame because we could’ve collected some $50 million since then, and we wouldn’t be in this situation we’re in now.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She said, “Ten years ago, when we tried this and needed two-thirds [of the vote to pass], it was a slim margin, and that’s a shame because we could’ve collected some $50 million since then, and we wouldn’t be in this situation we’re in now.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers also said the measure lacks a clear plan for how the money will be spent, but supporters argue that flexibility is part of the design. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers also said the measure lacks a clear plan for how the money will be spent, but supporters argue that flexibility is part of the design. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If approved, an advisory council appointed by county supervisors will assess the biggest needs and recommend a spending plan.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s structured that way so we can be nimble and react to what’s happening in our local community with childcare, and be able to pivot if we need to lean heavily one year into [investing in the] workforce or lean more heavily into building more facilities another year,” Gilmore said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s structured that way so we can be nimble and react to what’s happening in our local community with childcare, and be able to pivot if we need to lean heavily one year into [investing in the] workforce or lean more heavily into building more facilities another year,” Gilmore said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Ravenswood, the school district proposed the parcel tax to fund several priorities, including childcare, after conducting surveys and finding that it was a high priority for residents within its boundaries. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103076\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play in a yard at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103076\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play in a yard at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Voters passed the measure in 2024, and revenue from the tax began to reach the working-class community over the summer. Pace said home-based childcare providers are starting to get funding to cover tuition for families who qualify for subsidized care. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Voters passed the measure in 2024, and revenue from the tax began to reach the working-class community over the summer. Pace said home-based childcare providers are starting to get funding to cover tuition for families who qualify for subsidized care. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Pace said her staff visits childcare programs to verify the money is directly benefiting residents.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We are being hyper vigilant and intentional about the tax fund only serving families and providers in this community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We are being hyper vigilant and intentional about the tax fund only serving families and providers in this community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some of the funding also goes toward recruiting people who live in the district to become early childhood educators. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That has helped stabilize staffing at All Five, a preschool in Menlo Park, and it’s given parents like Gloria Pirir a chance to go from volunteering in the classroom to working in one.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>That has helped stabilize staffing at All Five, a preschool in Menlo Park, and it’s given parents like Gloria Pirir a chance to go from volunteering in the classroom to working in one.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Pirir said she was inspired to become an early educator after seeing her daughter’s teachers help young kids manage their emotions and resolve conflicts. She said the teachers helped her sign up for classes, and she connected to a county program that provided tuition assistance and coaching to help her earn an associate teacher permit.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Pirir said she was inspired to become an early educator after seeing her daughter’s teachers help young kids manage their emotions and resolve conflicts. She said the teachers helped her sign up for classes, and she connected to a county program that provided tuition assistance and coaching to help her earn an associate teacher permit.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Everything became possible because the teachers encouraged me. They said, ‘I know you’re a single mom, but you can do it, Gloria,’” she said. “The teachers believed in me.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Everything became possible because the teachers encouraged me. They said, ‘I know you’re a single mom, but you can do it, Gloria,’” she said. “The teachers believed in me.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated how the parcel tax in the Ravenswood City School District gets distributed.\u003c/em> \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated how the parcel tax in the Ravenswood City School District gets distributed.\u003c/em> \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Marin County’s Measure P proposes adopting a special parcel tax to increase access to childcare. If it passes, the Bay Area county would be the fourth in eight years to create a local solution to a broken market. ",
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"title": "As Costs Crush Families, This Bay Area County Could Be Latest to Subsidize Childcare | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A regional movement to help families afford childcare and support its littlest learners is reaching Marin County, home to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/childcare/price-by-age-care-setting-2022\">some of the highest childcare prices in the nation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If voters approve Measure P, a parcel tax that would raise about $12.5 million per year over 15 years, Marin would become the fourth Bay Area county in eight years to come up with a dedicated funding stream for childcare. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2018, San Francisco, Alameda and Sonoma counties have raised several hundred million dollars through special taxes to subsidize childcare spots for families, add more childcare facilities and increase wages for early childhood educators to help them stay in the field. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">San Francisco, for example, uses revenue from a tax on commercial buildings to cover up to $36,000 per year in childcare for low-income families. Meanwhile, Alameda County uses funds from a sales tax to boost \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055336/alameda-county-is-giving-cash-to-child-care-providers-other-bay-area-counties-are-envious\">early childhood educators\u003c/a>’ wages to at least $25 per hour. A statewide survey shows their pay often starts \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-wages-2020-to-2025/\">below the $20 state minimum wage\u003c/a> for fast-food workers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More recently, revenue from a parcel tax approved by voters in 2024 in a small San Mateo County school district is starting to flow to families and childcare providers in East Palo Alto and a section of Menlo Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103078\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marcela Bonilla (left) works with Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, at All Five in Menlo Park on Sept. 25, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advocates say a local fund is needed to \u003ca href=\"https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/The-Economics-of-Childcare-Supply-09-14-final.pdf\">fix a broken market\u003c/a> where parents struggle to afford the full cost of childcare, yet providers barely break even. To do so, they need to keep costs down by minimizing what they spend on labor. But low wages have also led to high turnover at childcare programs, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/publications/data-snapshot/california-program-profiles-2024/\">research by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment\u003c/a> at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s a math problem,” said Karen Pace, executive director of Ravenswood Early Learning, a nonprofit receiving some of the parcel tax revenue from the Ravenswood City School District. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We need to charge tuition that matches what families can pay and still have a nice life, and we need to pay early childhood educators enough to live in the community and support their families and have a nice life,” she said. “There has to be other financial support.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Statewide, demand for childcare far exceeds supply. Nearly 2 million children across California are eligible for state-subsidized childcare programs, but there isn’t enough funding to meet demand, according to an \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/understanding-californias-1-8-million-gap-in-publicly-funded-child-care/\">analysis by the California Budget and Policy Center\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That was the scenario in Marin County a decade ago when hundreds of low-income families couldn’t get a spot. A coalition of parents and advocates put forward a sales tax measure to augment the state’s funding and subsidize childcare for residents. But the measure didn’t pass.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, the cost of licensed childcare in the county went up by nearly 40%, averaging $2,315 per month in 2024, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1727976979/marinschoolsorg/mgyhudxyu1ukj6pjmyzd/2024LPCNeedsAssessment.pdf\">report by the Marin County Child Care Commission\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, the high cost of living in Marin has made it tough to attract and retain childcare staff, leading to reduced capacity and long waiting lists for families, the report said. Fewer than half of children in working families had access to a licensed childcare space in Marin County, and early childhood educators who can’t afford to live there often commute from other counties.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the North Bay Children’s Center opened a new facility in Novato a year ago, the center had state and federal funding to fill a classroom and more than 80 children on a waitlist for subsidized care. But it couldn’t enroll them because it couldn’t find qualified teachers, according to Susan Gilmore, the center’s CEO.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It took us about eight months before we had the teaching team we needed to open that classroom,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shortage of childcare has rippling consequences for businesses like grocery stores and senior living facilities, said Paula Reynolds, director of strategic projects for the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re so dependent on an enormous workforce showing up for work on a consistent basis,” she said. “It’s the reliability of childcare that has an impact on businesses and their ability to plan and get through their day.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But opponents of Measure P say employers, not taxpayers, should contribute to the childcare fund. The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers has urged voters to reject the measure, warning it is among a “tsunami” of proposed taxes, bonds and fees coming before Marin County voters at a time when they’re already pinched by inflation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Affordability is at a breaking point,” the coalition said on its website. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103074\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The “Wobbly Walkers” head to the playground at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lucy Dilworth, a member of the coalition’s board, declined a request for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But proponents of the measure say it might be too risky to wait for another election. \u003ca href=\"https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/43/index.htm\">Proposition 43\u003c/a>, a statewide measure on this November’s ballot, would require future citizen-led ballot initiatives to secure a supermajority, or two-thirds support, to pass. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2016, voters in Marin County fell just 3 percentage points shy of meeting that supermajority threshold when it first tried to pass a childcare funding measure. But since then, a series of court decisions made it easier to pass similar citizen-led tax initiatives. But if voters approve Prop 43 this November, that may not be the case in the future. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joanne Webster, president of the North Bay Leadership Council, a public advocacy group backing the measure, said she sympathizes with people who are skeptical of new taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I agree that we should scrutinize every tax,” Webster said. “But we should also consider the cost of doing nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103075\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said, “Ten years ago, when we tried this and needed two-thirds [of the vote to pass], it was a slim margin, and that’s a shame because we could’ve collected some $50 million since then, and we wouldn’t be in this situation we’re in now.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers also said the measure lacks a clear plan for how the money will be spent, but supporters argue that flexibility is part of the design. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If approved, an advisory council appointed by county supervisors will assess the biggest needs and recommend a spending plan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s structured that way so we can be nimble and react to what’s happening in our local community with childcare, and be able to pivot if we need to lean heavily one year into [investing in the] workforce or lean more heavily into building more facilities another year,” Gilmore said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Ravenswood, the school district proposed the parcel tax to fund several priorities, including childcare, after conducting surveys and finding that it was a high priority for residents within its boundaries. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103076\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/260925-ChildcareBallotMeasure-08-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Students play in a yard at All Five, an early childhood education program in Menlo Park, on Sept. 25, 2026. The nonprofit serves children from 6 weeks old until they start kindergarten, drawing families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voters passed the measure in 2024, and revenue from the tax began to reach the working-class community over the summer. Pace said home-based childcare providers are starting to get funding to cover tuition for families who qualify for subsidized care. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pace said her staff visits childcare programs to verify the money is directly benefiting residents.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We are being hyper vigilant and intentional about the tax fund only serving families and providers in this community,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the funding also goes toward recruiting people who live in the district to become early childhood educators. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That has helped stabilize staffing at All Five, a preschool in Menlo Park, and it’s given parents like Gloria Pirir a chance to go from volunteering in the classroom to working in one.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pirir said she was inspired to become an early educator after seeing her daughter’s teachers help young kids manage their emotions and resolve conflicts. She said the teachers helped her sign up for classes, and she connected to a county program that provided tuition assistance and coaching to help her earn an associate teacher permit.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Everything became possible because the teachers encouraged me. They said, ‘I know you’re a single mom, but you can do it, Gloria,’” she said. “The teachers believed in me.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated how the parcel tax in the Ravenswood City School District gets distributed.\u003c/em> \u003cbr>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "santa-clara-county-rejects-trump-administration-voter-probe",
"title": "Santa Clara County Rejects Trump Administration Voter Probe",
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"headTitle": "Santa Clara County Rejects Trump Administration Voter Probe | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Santa Clara County officials on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s demand to set aside hundreds of ballots and vet the voters’ names amid an unprecedented \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106247/doj-orders-contra-costa-other-california-counties-to-verify-ballots\">investigation\u003c/a> of purported noncitizens on county voter rolls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defiant response comes as a legal battle between California and the federal government over the voter rolls escalates just over two weeks before Election Day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Department of Justice had sent letters to all of California’s county registrars this month directing them to provide information verifying the flagged voters’ citizenship and hold off on counting ballots from those voters in the meantime. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A district court judge in Los Angeles will hear the federal government’s request to expedite enforcement of the demand on Tuesday, after a federal appeals court ruled Monday that it was too soon for the higher court to step in. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Echoing the response of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106053/at-a-contra-costa-county-elections-office-workers-say-security-is-paramount\">local officials\u003c/a> facing similar demands across the state, Santa Clara County Executive James Williams said the DOJ had no authority to conscript local election officials in such an effort.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“A letter like that, and one that makes threats to election officials concerning criminal and other legal sanctions, is deeply disturbing and entirely inappropriate,” Williams said in an interview. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103669\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A vote-by-mail ballot for the Nov. 3, 2026, general election on Oct. 8, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration is ramping up its pressure on California in what federal officials have called a campaign to root out potential noncitizens registered to vote. Earlier this month, the Justice Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California and Los Angeles County\u003c/a> elections officials over the list of voters who the federal government “believes are likely noncitizens.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a rare Sunday hearing, lawyers for the federal government asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to halt ballot counting for 20,000 voters on that list. Election experts questioned the legality of the Trump administration’s move, which came as nearly 3 million Californians have already cast a ballot in the Nov. 3 midterm election. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What they say they’re trying to do is enforce a federal law that makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections,” Rick Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA School of Law, said on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915782/bracing-for-the-coming-wave-of-legal-challenges-to-midterm-voting\">KQED’s Forum\u003c/a>. “What I think they’re actually trying to do is to project the image that there’s a widespread voter fraud problem in this country, and to kind of mimic the claims that President Trump has made, that noncitizens are voting in droves and affecting the outcome of elections.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In letters to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Sunday, Williams and Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti argued that state and federal law prohibit the county’s registrar of voters from complying with the federal government’s request. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They argued that the Department of Justice has not presented the county with a warrant for the Social Security numbers and driver’s license information they are seeking. And they cited the National Voter Registration Act, which prevents systematic purges of ineligible voters from registration rolls within 90 days of an election. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Williams also questioned how the federal government produced the list of 902 names that it categorized as “likely aliens” on the county’s voter rolls, echoing doubts cast by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and others over the data and methodology behind the federal investigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There were three duplicates on the first page alone; the data looks very messy,” Williams said. “A significant number of random names appear not to be voters in Santa Clara County at all.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The county’s move won praise from Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, who said the Trump administration’s actions were intended to distract local election officials who are in the midst of administering California’s early voting period. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Our elections officials need to continue focusing on what they’re doing,” he said. “Our state Department of Justice will defend the system and push back against it in court and be successful.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 902 names are a subset of the 20,000-name roster that the U.S. Department of Justice sent to California’s secretary of state this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Sunday’s hearing before the 9th Circuit, attorneys with the DOJ called the probe an effort to prevent noncitizens from violating federal law by casting a ballot — and accused California officials of resisting partnership on the issue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/voter-registration-and-citizenship\">like most states\u003c/a>, asks that residents registering to vote attest under penalty of perjury that they are citizens. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Attestation is not verification,” Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2114509118702854448\">wrote\u003c/a> Sunday in a post on the social media platform X. “Ensuring only citizens vote isn’t political, it’s enforcing state and federal law.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But cases of actual voter fraud are incredibly rare. Last week, federal agents charged 28 noncitizen Californians, all of them legal residents, with illegally voting or registering to vote. None has been convicted, but those accused represent just 0.0001% of registered voters in the state.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its ruling rejecting the Justice Department’s request for an injunction, Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez concluded that the federal government “failed to allow the district court adequate opportunity to consider its application for a Temporary Restraining Order.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Highlighting that the Trump administration has levied allegations that California’s voter rolls contain noncitizens since the summer, the judges wrote that the government’s “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“At least part of the delay here is attributable to the United States’s own delay in filing suit,” they said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Justice had sent letters to all of California’s county registrars this month directing them to provide information verifying the flagged voters’ citizenship and hold off on counting ballots from those voters in the meantime. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Justice had sent letters to all of California’s county registrars this month directing them to provide information verifying the flagged voters’ citizenship and hold off on counting ballots from those voters in the meantime. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A district court judge in Los Angeles will hear the federal government’s request to expedite enforcement of the demand on Tuesday, after a federal appeals court ruled Monday that it was too soon for the higher court to step in. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Echoing the response of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106053/at-a-contra-costa-county-elections-office-workers-say-security-is-paramount\">local officials\u003c/a> facing similar demands across the state, Santa Clara County Executive James Williams said the DOJ had no authority to conscript local election officials in such an effort.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“A letter like that, and one that makes threats to election officials concerning criminal and other legal sanctions, is deeply disturbing and entirely inappropriate,” Williams said in an interview. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“A letter like that, and one that makes threats to election officials concerning criminal and other legal sanctions, is deeply disturbing and entirely inappropriate,” Williams said in an interview. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103669\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A vote-by-mail ballot for the Nov. 3, 2026, general election on Oct. 8, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Trump administration is ramping up its pressure on California in what federal officials have called a campaign to root out potential noncitizens registered to vote. Earlier this month, the Justice Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California and Los Angeles County\u003c/a> elections officials over the list of voters who the federal government “believes are likely noncitizens.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Trump administration is ramping up its pressure on California in what federal officials have called a campaign to root out potential noncitizens registered to vote. Earlier this month, the Justice Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California and Los Angeles County\u003c/a> elections officials over the list of voters who the federal government “believes are likely noncitizens.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a rare Sunday hearing, lawyers for the federal government asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to halt ballot counting for 20,000 voters on that list. Election experts questioned the legality of the Trump administration’s move, which came as nearly 3 million Californians have already cast a ballot in the Nov. 3 midterm election. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a rare Sunday hearing, lawyers for the federal government asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to halt ballot counting for 20,000 voters on that list. Election experts questioned the legality of the Trump administration’s move, which came as nearly 3 million Californians have already cast a ballot in the Nov. 3 midterm election. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“What they say they’re trying to do is enforce a federal law that makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections,” Rick Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA School of Law, said on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915782/bracing-for-the-coming-wave-of-legal-challenges-to-midterm-voting\">KQED’s Forum\u003c/a>. “What I think they’re actually trying to do is to project the image that there’s a widespread voter fraud problem in this country, and to kind of mimic the claims that President Trump has made, that noncitizens are voting in droves and affecting the outcome of elections.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In letters to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Sunday, Williams and Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti argued that state and federal law prohibit the county’s registrar of voters from complying with the federal government’s request. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In letters to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Sunday, Williams and Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti argued that state and federal law prohibit the county’s registrar of voters from complying with the federal government’s request. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They argued that the Department of Justice has not presented the county with a warrant for the Social Security numbers and driver’s license information they are seeking. And they cited the National Voter Registration Act, which prevents systematic purges of ineligible voters from registration rolls within 90 days of an election. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>They argued that the Department of Justice has not presented the county with a warrant for the Social Security numbers and driver’s license information they are seeking. And they cited the National Voter Registration Act, which prevents systematic purges of ineligible voters from registration rolls within 90 days of an election. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Williams also questioned how the federal government produced the list of 902 names that it categorized as “likely aliens” on the county’s voter rolls, echoing doubts cast by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and others over the data and methodology behind the federal investigation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Williams also questioned how the federal government produced the list of 902 names that it categorized as “likely aliens” on the county’s voter rolls, echoing doubts cast by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and others over the data and methodology behind the federal investigation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There were three duplicates on the first page alone; the data looks very messy,” Williams said. “A significant number of random names appear not to be voters in Santa Clara County at all.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There were three duplicates on the first page alone; the data looks very messy,” Williams said. “A significant number of random names appear not to be voters in Santa Clara County at all.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The county’s move won praise from Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, who said the Trump administration’s actions were intended to distract local election officials who are in the midst of administering California’s early voting period. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our elections officials need to continue focusing on what they’re doing,” he said. “Our state Department of Justice will defend the system and push back against it in court and be successful.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The 902 names are a subset of the 20,000-name roster that the U.S. Department of Justice sent to California’s secretary of state this month. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Sunday’s hearing before the 9th Circuit, attorneys with the DOJ called the probe an effort to prevent noncitizens from violating federal law by casting a ballot — and accused California officials of resisting partnership on the issue. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In Sunday’s hearing before the 9th Circuit, attorneys with the DOJ called the probe an effort to prevent noncitizens from violating federal law by casting a ballot — and accused California officials of resisting partnership on the issue. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/voter-registration-and-citizenship\">like most states\u003c/a>, asks that residents registering to vote attest under penalty of perjury that they are citizens. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Attestation is not verification,” Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2114509118702854448\">wrote\u003c/a> Sunday in a post on the social media platform X. “Ensuring only citizens vote isn’t political, it’s enforcing state and federal law.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Attestation is not verification,” Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2114509118702854448\">wrote\u003c/a> Sunday in a post on the social media platform X. “Ensuring only citizens vote isn’t political, it’s enforcing state and federal law.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But cases of actual voter fraud are incredibly rare. Last week, federal agents charged 28 noncitizen Californians, all of them legal residents, with illegally voting or registering to vote. None has been convicted, but those accused represent just 0.0001% of registered voters in the state.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But cases of actual voter fraud are incredibly rare. Last week, federal agents charged 28 noncitizen Californians, all of them legal residents, with illegally voting or registering to vote. None has been convicted, but those accused represent just 0.0001% of registered voters in the state.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In its ruling rejecting the Justice Department’s request for an injunction, Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez concluded that the federal government “failed to allow the district court adequate opportunity to consider its application for a Temporary Restraining Order.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In its ruling rejecting the Justice Department’s request for an injunction, Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez concluded that the federal government “failed to allow the district court adequate opportunity to consider its application for a Temporary Restraining Order.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Highlighting that the Trump administration has levied allegations that California’s voter rolls contain noncitizens since the summer, the judges wrote that the government’s “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Highlighting that the Trump administration has levied allegations that California’s voter rolls contain noncitizens since the summer, the judges wrote that the government’s “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“At least part of the delay here is attributable to the United States’s own delay in filing suit,” they said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The county executive called federal demands to set aside hundreds of ballots and vet the voters’ citizenship “entirely inappropriate” just days before the Nov. 3 election.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Santa Clara County officials on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s demand to set aside hundreds of ballots and vet the voters’ names amid an unprecedented \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106247/doj-orders-contra-costa-other-california-counties-to-verify-ballots\">investigation\u003c/a> of purported noncitizens on county voter rolls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defiant response comes as a legal battle between California and the federal government over the voter rolls escalates just over two weeks before Election Day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Department of Justice had sent letters to all of California’s county registrars this month directing them to provide information verifying the flagged voters’ citizenship and hold off on counting ballots from those voters in the meantime. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A district court judge in Los Angeles will hear the federal government’s request to expedite enforcement of the demand on Tuesday, after a federal appeals court ruled Monday that it was too soon for the higher court to step in. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Echoing the response of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106053/at-a-contra-costa-county-elections-office-workers-say-security-is-paramount\">local officials\u003c/a> facing similar demands across the state, Santa Clara County Executive James Williams said the DOJ had no authority to conscript local election officials in such an effort.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“A letter like that, and one that makes threats to election officials concerning criminal and other legal sanctions, is deeply disturbing and entirely inappropriate,” Williams said in an interview. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12103669\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261008-ELECTIONSTOCKIMAGERY-14-BL-KQED-25395098-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A vote-by-mail ballot for the Nov. 3, 2026, general election on Oct. 8, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration is ramping up its pressure on California in what federal officials have called a campaign to root out potential noncitizens registered to vote. Earlier this month, the Justice Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">sued California and Los Angeles County\u003c/a> elections officials over the list of voters who the federal government “believes are likely noncitizens.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a rare Sunday hearing, lawyers for the federal government asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to halt ballot counting for 20,000 voters on that list. Election experts questioned the legality of the Trump administration’s move, which came as nearly 3 million Californians have already cast a ballot in the Nov. 3 midterm election. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What they say they’re trying to do is enforce a federal law that makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections,” Rick Hasen, director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at the UCLA School of Law, said on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101915782/bracing-for-the-coming-wave-of-legal-challenges-to-midterm-voting\">KQED’s Forum\u003c/a>. “What I think they’re actually trying to do is to project the image that there’s a widespread voter fraud problem in this country, and to kind of mimic the claims that President Trump has made, that noncitizens are voting in droves and affecting the outcome of elections.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In letters to the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Sunday, Williams and Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti argued that state and federal law prohibit the county’s registrar of voters from complying with the federal government’s request. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They argued that the Department of Justice has not presented the county with a warrant for the Social Security numbers and driver’s license information they are seeking. And they cited the National Voter Registration Act, which prevents systematic purges of ineligible voters from registration rolls within 90 days of an election. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Williams also questioned how the federal government produced the list of 902 names that it categorized as “likely aliens” on the county’s voter rolls, echoing doubts cast by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and others over the data and methodology behind the federal investigation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There were three duplicates on the first page alone; the data looks very messy,” Williams said. “A significant number of random names appear not to be voters in Santa Clara County at all.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The county’s move won praise from Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, who said the Trump administration’s actions were intended to distract local election officials who are in the midst of administering California’s early voting period. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Our elections officials need to continue focusing on what they’re doing,” he said. “Our state Department of Justice will defend the system and push back against it in court and be successful.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 902 names are a subset of the 20,000-name roster that the U.S. Department of Justice sent to California’s secretary of state this month. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Sunday’s hearing before the 9th Circuit, attorneys with the DOJ called the probe an effort to prevent noncitizens from violating federal law by casting a ballot — and accused California officials of resisting partnership on the issue. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/voter-registration-and-citizenship\">like most states\u003c/a>, asks that residents registering to vote attest under penalty of perjury that they are citizens. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Attestation is not verification,” Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2114509118702854448\">wrote\u003c/a> Sunday in a post on the social media platform X. “Ensuring only citizens vote isn’t political, it’s enforcing state and federal law.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But cases of actual voter fraud are incredibly rare. Last week, federal agents charged 28 noncitizen Californians, all of them legal residents, with illegally voting or registering to vote. None has been convicted, but those accused represent just 0.0001% of registered voters in the state.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its ruling rejecting the Justice Department’s request for an injunction, Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez concluded that the federal government “failed to allow the district court adequate opportunity to consider its application for a Temporary Restraining Order.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Highlighting that the Trump administration has levied allegations that California’s voter rolls contain noncitizens since the summer, the judges wrote that the government’s “claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“At least part of the delay here is attributable to the United States’s own delay in filing suit,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Marin County Lowers Lake Phoenix to Lessen Likelihood of Winter Flooding",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/marin-county\">Marin County\u003c/a> officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/marin-county-and-marin-water-partner-phoenix-lake-effort-help-reduce-flood-risk\">announced\u003c/a> last week they’ll begin lowering the water at the Lake Phoenix reservoir to reduce flood risk in San Anselmo and Ross ahead of heavy \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105518/this-years-powerful-el-nino-may-preview-californias-climate-future\">winter storms\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting Monday, officials plan on pumping out between 60 and 160 acre-feet of water — roughly 29 to 70 Olympic-size swimming pools — from the lake over the next four to six weeks, said Jessie Underhill, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"https://marinwater.org/\">Marin Municipal Water District\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“This effort is being done in advance of the winter,” Underhill said, “to help lower the reservoir level and provide extra room which will help absorb runoff from the first storms of the season.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lake Phoenix, west of Kentfield and Ross, provides safe drinking water to more than 191,000 people in Marin County, according to a county press \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/marin-county-and-marin-water-partner-phoenix-lake-effort-help-reduce-flood-risk\">release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials said they based the effort on an observation following the 2021 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-drought\">drought\u003c/a>, when the reservoir’s “lower water level provided room to capture runoff that otherwise would have flowed into Ross Creek and, ultimately, Corte Madera Creek.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, they cautioned that the benefits of their experiment would “depend on the timing, intensity and duration of storms and the lake’s water level when rain arrives.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In January, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068644/marin-county-looked-like-a-lagoon-after-king-tides-heavy-rain\">strong storms flooded\u003c/a> many parts of Marin County, leading to emergency service outages, road closures and property damage. Experts say the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104145/californias-el-nino-winter-could-be-profoundly-unsubtle-scientists-warn\">coming El Niño\u003c/a> is likely to produce similar effects, including torrential downpours, rain instead of snow events, flooding, temporarily elevated sea levels, severe thunderstorms and even isolated tornadoes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, told KQED earlier this month, “This might be a year when the Hollywood version of bad weather in California actually ends up coming true.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drawdown comes as cities and counties across the Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106001/san-francisco-declares-local-emergency-in-preparation-for-historic-el-nino\">steel bayshores and coastlines\u003c/a> against a possible wet winter. Last month, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved an additional \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/county-approves-3-million-investment-winter-storm-preparedness\">$3 million\u003c/a> in winter storm preparedness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials said preparedness can reduce risk, but cannot eliminate the possibility of flooding. The county encourages residents to sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.marincounty.gov/sign-alertmarin\">AlertMarin\u003c/a> for emergency updates.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/marin-county\">Marin County\u003c/a> officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/marin-county-and-marin-water-partner-phoenix-lake-effort-help-reduce-flood-risk\">announced\u003c/a> last week they’ll begin lowering the water at the Lake Phoenix reservoir to reduce flood risk in San Anselmo and Ross ahead of heavy \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105518/this-years-powerful-el-nino-may-preview-californias-climate-future\">winter storms\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Starting Monday, officials plan on pumping out between 60 and 160 acre-feet of water — roughly 29 to 70 Olympic-size swimming pools — from the lake over the next four to six weeks, said Jessie Underhill, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"https://marinwater.org/\">Marin Municipal Water District\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Starting Monday, officials plan on pumping out between 60 and 160 acre-feet of water — roughly 29 to 70 Olympic-size swimming pools — from the lake over the next four to six weeks, said Jessie Underhill, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"https://marinwater.org/\">Marin Municipal Water District\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This effort is being done in advance of the winter,” Underhill said, “to help lower the reservoir level and provide extra room which will help absorb runoff from the first storms of the season.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This effort is being done in advance of the winter,” Underhill said, “to help lower the reservoir level and provide extra room which will help absorb runoff from the first storms of the season.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lake Phoenix, west of Kentfield and Ross, provides safe drinking water to more than 191,000 people in Marin County, according to a county press \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/marin-county-and-marin-water-partner-phoenix-lake-effort-help-reduce-flood-risk\">release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Lake Phoenix, west of Kentfield and Ross, provides safe drinking water to more than 191,000 people in Marin County, according to a county press \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/marin-county-and-marin-water-partner-phoenix-lake-effort-help-reduce-flood-risk\">release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Officials said they based the effort on an observation following the 2021 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-drought\">drought\u003c/a>, when the reservoir’s “lower water level provided room to capture runoff that otherwise would have flowed into Ross Creek and, ultimately, Corte Madera Creek.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Officials said they based the effort on an observation following the 2021 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-drought\">drought\u003c/a>, when the reservoir’s “lower water level provided room to capture runoff that otherwise would have flowed into Ross Creek and, ultimately, Corte Madera Creek.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>However, they cautioned that the benefits of their experiment would “depend on the timing, intensity and duration of storms and the lake’s water level when rain arrives.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>However, they cautioned that the benefits of their experiment would “depend on the timing, intensity and duration of storms and the lake’s water level when rain arrives.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In January, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068644/marin-county-looked-like-a-lagoon-after-king-tides-heavy-rain\">strong storms flooded\u003c/a> many parts of Marin County, leading to emergency service outages, road closures and property damage. Experts say the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104145/californias-el-nino-winter-could-be-profoundly-unsubtle-scientists-warn\">coming El Niño\u003c/a> is likely to produce similar effects, including torrential downpours, rain instead of snow events, flooding, temporarily elevated sea levels, severe thunderstorms and even isolated tornadoes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In January, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068644/marin-county-looked-like-a-lagoon-after-king-tides-heavy-rain\">strong storms flooded\u003c/a> many parts of Marin County, leading to emergency service outages, road closures and property damage. Experts say the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104145/californias-el-nino-winter-could-be-profoundly-unsubtle-scientists-warn\">coming El Niño\u003c/a> is likely to produce similar effects, including torrential downpours, rain instead of snow events, flooding, temporarily elevated sea levels, severe thunderstorms and even isolated tornadoes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, told KQED earlier this month, “This might be a year when the Hollywood version of bad weather in California actually ends up coming true.” \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, told KQED earlier this month, “This might be a year when the Hollywood version of bad weather in California actually ends up coming true.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The drawdown comes as cities and counties across the Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106001/san-francisco-declares-local-emergency-in-preparation-for-historic-el-nino\">steel bayshores and coastlines\u003c/a> against a possible wet winter. Last month, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved an additional \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/county-approves-3-million-investment-winter-storm-preparedness\">$3 million\u003c/a> in winter storm preparedness.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The drawdown comes as cities and counties across the Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106001/san-francisco-declares-local-emergency-in-preparation-for-historic-el-nino\">steel bayshores and coastlines\u003c/a> against a possible wet winter. Last month, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved an additional \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/county-approves-3-million-investment-winter-storm-preparedness\">$3 million\u003c/a> in winter storm preparedness.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Officials said preparedness can reduce risk, but cannot eliminate the possibility of flooding. The county encourages residents to sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.marincounty.gov/sign-alertmarin\">AlertMarin\u003c/a> for emergency updates.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Officials said preparedness can reduce risk, but cannot eliminate the possibility of flooding. The county encourages residents to sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.marincounty.gov/sign-alertmarin\">AlertMarin\u003c/a> for emergency updates.\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Marin Water will start pumping lake water on Monday to reduce creek levels ahead of seasonal storms.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/marin-county\">Marin County\u003c/a> officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/marin-county-and-marin-water-partner-phoenix-lake-effort-help-reduce-flood-risk\">announced\u003c/a> last week they’ll begin lowering the water at the Lake Phoenix reservoir to reduce flood risk in San Anselmo and Ross ahead of heavy \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105518/this-years-powerful-el-nino-may-preview-californias-climate-future\">winter storms\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting Monday, officials plan on pumping out between 60 and 160 acre-feet of water — roughly 29 to 70 Olympic-size swimming pools — from the lake over the next four to six weeks, said Jessie Underhill, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"https://marinwater.org/\">Marin Municipal Water District\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“This effort is being done in advance of the winter,” Underhill said, “to help lower the reservoir level and provide extra room which will help absorb runoff from the first storms of the season.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lake Phoenix, west of Kentfield and Ross, provides safe drinking water to more than 191,000 people in Marin County, according to a county press \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/marin-county-and-marin-water-partner-phoenix-lake-effort-help-reduce-flood-risk\">release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials said they based the effort on an observation following the 2021 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-drought\">drought\u003c/a>, when the reservoir’s “lower water level provided room to capture runoff that otherwise would have flowed into Ross Creek and, ultimately, Corte Madera Creek.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, they cautioned that the benefits of their experiment would “depend on the timing, intensity and duration of storms and the lake’s water level when rain arrives.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In January, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068644/marin-county-looked-like-a-lagoon-after-king-tides-heavy-rain\">strong storms flooded\u003c/a> many parts of Marin County, leading to emergency service outages, road closures and property damage. Experts say the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104145/californias-el-nino-winter-could-be-profoundly-unsubtle-scientists-warn\">coming El Niño\u003c/a> is likely to produce similar effects, including torrential downpours, rain instead of snow events, flooding, temporarily elevated sea levels, severe thunderstorms and even isolated tornadoes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, told KQED earlier this month, “This might be a year when the Hollywood version of bad weather in California actually ends up coming true.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drawdown comes as cities and counties across the Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12106001/san-francisco-declares-local-emergency-in-preparation-for-historic-el-nino\">steel bayshores and coastlines\u003c/a> against a possible wet winter. Last month, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved an additional \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.gov/news-releases/county-approves-3-million-investment-winter-storm-preparedness\">$3 million\u003c/a> in winter storm preparedness.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials said preparedness can reduce risk, but cannot eliminate the possibility of flooding. The county encourages residents to sign up for \u003ca href=\"https://emergency.marincounty.gov/sign-alertmarin\">AlertMarin\u003c/a> for emergency updates.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-political-calculus-behind-newsoms-opposition-to-californias-billionaire-tax",
"title": "The Political Calculus Behind Newsom’s Opposition to California’s Billionaire Tax",
"publishDate": 1793041670,
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"headTitle": "The Political Calculus Behind Newsom’s Opposition to California’s Billionaire Tax | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To hear \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> talk about billionaires and inequality, you’d think he would be squarely behind a proposal on California’s November ballot that would levy a wealth tax on the richest Californians to help pay for healthcare.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a \u003ca href=\"https://gavinnewsom.substack.com/p/its-time-for-a-national-billionaires\">video\u003c/a> posted to his Substack and YouTube channel in June, Newsom argued that the country’s tax system is “fundamentally broken.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Think about this: Just 10% of the people, 10% of the people in the country, own two-thirds of the wealth. A 30-year-old, for the first time in American history, is not doing better than his or her parents. That’s a five-alarm fire,” he said. “It’s time for an economic reset, a true minimum tax. A true minimum tax on billionaires that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But like many high-profile Democrats and some of their strongest allies in this deep blue state, the governor is opposed to Proposition 40.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097035\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty-1536x1036.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A supporter with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition holds a placard during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ballot measure, proposed by a healthcare union, would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the overall wealth of the state’s approximately 200 billionaires. The money would be used to backfill deep federal budget cuts to Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income Americans — including nearly 15 million Californians.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Newsom has argued Proposition 40 is bad for California. He said this kind of tax should be imposed on the national level, so billionaires won’t just pack up and leave the state. And he insisted that the tax will ultimately hurt the state’s budget more than it will help, by chasing wealthy entrepreneurs and their businesses to other states with lower tax burdens. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some progressives think the governor — who is eyeing a possible 2028 presidential run — is just wary of angering a donor class with deep pockets. Tech industry billionaires like Chris Larsen, Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen have become increasingly involved in funding campaigns in recent years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There are a lot of elected officials who are so afraid of this billionaire class,” said California Federation of Labor Unions President Lorena Gonzalez, who supports Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saikat Chakrabarti, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in San Francisco this year, went farther. Chakrabarti is co-founder and president of the progressive think tank New Consensus. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“He’s made no secret of it — he’s going to run for president. And that’s why he’s not just opposed to Prop. 40. He’s vehemently campaigning against it because he needs those billionaires on his side,” Chakrabarti said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the billionaires may not be Newsom’s only audience. Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said he thinks Newsom’s opposition to the billionaire tax will help him with centrist Democrats he would need to capture the Democratic nomination in 2028.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It defuses him being the total lefty from California,” said Guerra, who predicted that the tax will get defeated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085913\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti addresses supporters during an election night event at The Chapel on June 3, 2026, in San Francisco. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If it loses, Guerra said, that only gives Newsom more fuel — especially because the coalition opposing the tax includes the California Teachers Association and some other big unions with political muscle. Guerra said that coalition allows Newsom to make a credibility argument and not just with moderate Democrats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If it loses, “he’s going to say, as he did with the (unsuccessful 2021 gubernatorial) recall and other things, hey, the voters have spoken, and they defeated this thing. And I was on the right side. I was on the side of the majority of the voters in California, just like I’ll be on the right side with you,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jim Kessler at the center-left think tank Third Way said that while more left-leaning candidates could attack Newsom in a presidential primary for opposing Proposition 40, those critiques could backfire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“That might help him, even in a Democratic primary, because the top issue for Democratic primary voters in presidential elections is, is this person electable? And they don’t think someone overly progressive is electable,” Kessler said. “No one believes that California is an under-taxed state. So there isn’t a belief out there that, oh, there’s all sorts of tax breaks for people and wealthy people in California.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the billionaires who plans to support Newsom in 2028 is Chris Larsen, who’s donated over $12 million to oppose Proposition 40. Larsen said on KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast that he thinks the AI explosion is one of Newsom’s biggest assets in a presidential run. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chris Larsen speaks with Marisa Lagos on Political Breakdown at KQED in San Francisco on Oct. 15, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“You mean that he comes from the fourth largest economy in the world that’s had the highest number of job growth?” he said, joking that the state is “so messed up that this is the center of the most powerful technology ever created.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those AI founders could have gone to Miami or Austin, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re not there. They’re all here,” he said. “California is kicking ass.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the politics of the proposition do appear to be more complicated than either side is letting on: Some high-profile California Democrats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/pelosi-harris-prop-40-california-22476930.php\">purposefully stayed mum on the tax\u003c/a> — including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seeming to want to stay out of a fight between deep-pocketed donors and labor unions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while polls indicate a tight race, some billionaires seem to be preparing for the possibility of the tax passing: Just last week, Meta struck a new deal with CEO Mark Zuckerberg to keep him in California after he had warned he was considering leaving the state if Proposition 40 passes — offering him a new non-voting class of shares he can sell to foot a multibillion-dollar tax bill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, backers of Proposition 40 are becoming increasingly aggressive about their disappointment with the governor — and their sense that his opposition to the tax is politically motivated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday, the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign announced new TV and digital ads calling out Newsom. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12035915\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg (center), attends the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump as he swears in as the 47th U.S. President in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Kenny Holston/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But those ads aren’t running in California, where the yes side is being heavily outspent: They’re running in key early presidential primary states, including South Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Virginia and New Hampshire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dave Regan is president of SEIU-UHW West and the architect of the billionaire tax. In a July interview with KQED’s \u003cem>Political Breakdown\u003c/em>, he noted reports that Google co-founder Sergey Brin — who’s been the most prolific contributor among the tech billionaires who oppose Proposition 40 — \u003ca href=\"https://fortune.com/2026/04/26/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-measure-sergey-brin-gavin-newsom-political-war/\">confronted Newsom about the wealth tax in a treehouse\u003c/a> at Larsen’s holiday party last winter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t go to treehouse parties with billionaires. I think most Californians don’t go to tree house parties with billionaires,” Regan said. “He is not living in the same world, and he is trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from these folks … he is acting like a politician with a campaign problem and not a governor with a healthcare problem.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Think about this: Just 10% of the people, 10% of the people in the country, own two-thirds of the wealth. A 30-year-old, for the first time in American history, is not doing better than his or her parents. That’s a five-alarm fire,” he said. “It’s time for an economic reset, a true minimum tax. A true minimum tax on billionaires that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Think about this: Just 10% of the people, 10% of the people in the country, own two-thirds of the wealth. A 30-year-old, for the first time in American history, is not doing better than his or her parents. That’s a five-alarm fire,” he said. “It’s time for an economic reset, a true minimum tax. A true minimum tax on billionaires that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But like many high-profile Democrats and some of their strongest allies in this deep blue state, the governor is opposed to Proposition 40.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097035\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty-1536x1036.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A supporter with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition holds a placard during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The ballot measure, proposed by a healthcare union, would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the overall wealth of the state’s approximately 200 billionaires. The money would be used to backfill deep federal budget cuts to Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income Americans — including nearly 15 million Californians.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Newsom has argued Proposition 40 is bad for California. He said this kind of tax should be imposed on the national level, so billionaires won’t just pack up and leave the state. And he insisted that the tax will ultimately hurt the state’s budget more than it will help, by chasing wealthy entrepreneurs and their businesses to other states with lower tax burdens. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some progressives think the governor — who is eyeing a possible 2028 presidential run — is just wary of angering a donor class with deep pockets. Tech industry billionaires like Chris Larsen, Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen have become increasingly involved in funding campaigns in recent years. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Some progressives think the governor — who is eyeing a possible 2028 presidential run — is just wary of angering a donor class with deep pockets. Tech industry billionaires like Chris Larsen, Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen have become increasingly involved in funding campaigns in recent years. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of elected officials who are so afraid of this billionaire class,” said California Federation of Labor Unions President Lorena Gonzalez, who supports Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Saikat Chakrabarti, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in San Francisco this year, went farther. Chakrabarti is co-founder and president of the progressive think tank New Consensus. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Saikat Chakrabarti, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in San Francisco this year, went farther. Chakrabarti is co-founder and president of the progressive think tank New Consensus. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“He’s made no secret of it — he’s going to run for president. And that’s why he’s not just opposed to Prop. 40. He’s vehemently campaigning against it because he needs those billionaires on his side,” Chakrabarti said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“He’s made no secret of it — he’s going to run for president. And that’s why he’s not just opposed to Prop. 40. He’s vehemently campaigning against it because he needs those billionaires on his side,” Chakrabarti said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the billionaires may not be Newsom’s only audience. Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said he thinks Newsom’s opposition to the billionaire tax will help him with centrist Democrats he would need to capture the Democratic nomination in 2028.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But the billionaires may not be Newsom’s only audience. Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said he thinks Newsom’s opposition to the billionaire tax will help him with centrist Democrats he would need to capture the Democratic nomination in 2028.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It defuses him being the total lefty from California,” said Guerra, who predicted that the tax will get defeated. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It defuses him being the total lefty from California,” said Guerra, who predicted that the tax will get defeated. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085913\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti addresses supporters during an election night event at The Chapel on June 3, 2026, in San Francisco.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If it loses, Guerra said, that only gives Newsom more fuel — especially because the coalition opposing the tax includes the California Teachers Association and some other big unions with political muscle. Guerra said that coalition allows Newsom to make a credibility argument and not just with moderate Democrats. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If it loses, Guerra said, that only gives Newsom more fuel — especially because the coalition opposing the tax includes the California Teachers Association and some other big unions with political muscle. Guerra said that coalition allows Newsom to make a credibility argument and not just with moderate Democrats. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If it loses, “he’s going to say, as he did with the (unsuccessful 2021 gubernatorial) recall and other things, hey, the voters have spoken, and they defeated this thing. And I was on the right side. I was on the side of the majority of the voters in California, just like I’ll be on the right side with you,” he said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If it loses, “he’s going to say, as he did with the (unsuccessful 2021 gubernatorial) recall and other things, hey, the voters have spoken, and they defeated this thing. And I was on the right side. I was on the side of the majority of the voters in California, just like I’ll be on the right side with you,” he said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jim Kessler at the center-left think tank Third Way said that while more left-leaning candidates could attack Newsom in a presidential primary for opposing Proposition 40, those critiques could backfire.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jim Kessler at the center-left think tank Third Way said that while more left-leaning candidates could attack Newsom in a presidential primary for opposing Proposition 40, those critiques could backfire.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That might help him, even in a Democratic primary, because the top issue for Democratic primary voters in presidential elections is, is this person electable? And they don’t think someone overly progressive is electable,” Kessler said. “No one believes that California is an under-taxed state. So there isn’t a belief out there that, oh, there’s all sorts of tax breaks for people and wealthy people in California.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“That might help him, even in a Democratic primary, because the top issue for Democratic primary voters in presidential elections is, is this person electable? And they don’t think someone overly progressive is electable,” Kessler said. “No one believes that California is an under-taxed state. So there isn’t a belief out there that, oh, there’s all sorts of tax breaks for people and wealthy people in California.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One of the billionaires who plans to support Newsom in 2028 is Chris Larsen, who’s donated over $12 million to oppose Proposition 40. Larsen said on KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast that he thinks the AI explosion is one of Newsom’s biggest assets in a presidential run. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One of the billionaires who plans to support Newsom in 2028 is Chris Larsen, who’s donated over $12 million to oppose Proposition 40. Larsen said on KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast that he thinks the AI explosion is one of Newsom’s biggest assets in a presidential run. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chris Larsen speaks with Marisa Lagos on Political Breakdown at KQED in San Francisco on Oct. 15, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104545\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chris Larsen speaks with Marisa Lagos on Political Breakdown at KQED in San Francisco on Oct. 15, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You mean that he comes from the fourth largest economy in the world that’s had the highest number of job growth?” he said, joking that the state is “so messed up that this is the center of the most powerful technology ever created.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“You mean that he comes from the fourth largest economy in the world that’s had the highest number of job growth?” he said, joking that the state is “so messed up that this is the center of the most powerful technology ever created.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Those AI founders could have gone to Miami or Austin, he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Those AI founders could have gone to Miami or Austin, he said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They’re not there. They’re all here,” he said. “California is kicking ass.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“They’re not there. They’re all here,” he said. “California is kicking ass.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the politics of the proposition do appear to be more complicated than either side is letting on: Some high-profile California Democrats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/pelosi-harris-prop-40-california-22476930.php\">purposefully stayed mum on the tax\u003c/a> — including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seeming to want to stay out of a fight between deep-pocketed donors and labor unions. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But the politics of the proposition do appear to be more complicated than either side is letting on: Some high-profile California Democrats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/pelosi-harris-prop-40-california-22476930.php\">purposefully stayed mum on the tax\u003c/a> — including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seeming to want to stay out of a fight between deep-pocketed donors and labor unions. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And while polls indicate a tight race, some billionaires seem to be preparing for the possibility of the tax passing: Just last week, Meta struck a new deal with CEO Mark Zuckerberg to keep him in California after he had warned he was considering leaving the state if Proposition 40 passes — offering him a new non-voting class of shares he can sell to foot a multibillion-dollar tax bill.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And while polls indicate a tight race, some billionaires seem to be preparing for the possibility of the tax passing: Just last week, Meta struck a new deal with CEO Mark Zuckerberg to keep him in California after he had warned he was considering leaving the state if Proposition 40 passes — offering him a new non-voting class of shares he can sell to foot a multibillion-dollar tax bill.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, backers of Proposition 40 are becoming increasingly aggressive about their disappointment with the governor — and their sense that his opposition to the tax is politically motivated.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, backers of Proposition 40 are becoming increasingly aggressive about their disappointment with the governor — and their sense that his opposition to the tax is politically motivated.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Friday, the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign announced new TV and digital ads calling out Newsom. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But those ads aren’t running in California, where the yes side is being heavily outspent: They’re running in key early presidential primary states, including South Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Virginia and New Hampshire.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dave Regan is president of SEIU-UHW West and the architect of the billionaire tax. In a July interview with KQED’s \u003cem>Political Breakdown\u003c/em>, he noted reports that Google co-founder Sergey Brin — who’s been the most prolific contributor among the tech billionaires who oppose Proposition 40 — \u003ca href=\"https://fortune.com/2026/04/26/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-measure-sergey-brin-gavin-newsom-political-war/\">confronted Newsom about the wealth tax in a treehouse\u003c/a> at Larsen’s holiday party last winter. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Dave Regan is president of SEIU-UHW West and the architect of the billionaire tax. In a July interview with KQED’s \u003cem>Political Breakdown\u003c/em>, he noted reports that Google co-founder Sergey Brin — who’s been the most prolific contributor among the tech billionaires who oppose Proposition 40 — \u003ca href=\"https://fortune.com/2026/04/26/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-measure-sergey-brin-gavin-newsom-political-war/\">confronted Newsom about the wealth tax in a treehouse\u003c/a> at Larsen’s holiday party last winter. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t go to treehouse parties with billionaires. I think most Californians don’t go to tree house parties with billionaires,” Regan said. “He is not living in the same world, and he is trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from these folks … he is acting like a politician with a campaign problem and not a governor with a healthcare problem.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Proposition 40 proponents say the tax would help backfill federal Medical cuts. But as Newsom weighs a presidential run, is he also looking ahead to how it might play to donors and voters?",
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"title": "The Political Calculus Behind Newsom’s Opposition to California’s Billionaire Tax | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To hear \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> talk about billionaires and inequality, you’d think he would be squarely behind a proposal on California’s November ballot that would levy a wealth tax on the richest Californians to help pay for healthcare.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a \u003ca href=\"https://gavinnewsom.substack.com/p/its-time-for-a-national-billionaires\">video\u003c/a> posted to his Substack and YouTube channel in June, Newsom argued that the country’s tax system is “fundamentally broken.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Think about this: Just 10% of the people, 10% of the people in the country, own two-thirds of the wealth. A 30-year-old, for the first time in American history, is not doing better than his or her parents. That’s a five-alarm fire,” he said. “It’s time for an economic reset, a true minimum tax. A true minimum tax on billionaires that ensures the people at the very top pay at least the tax rate their own workers pay.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But like many high-profile Democrats and some of their strongest allies in this deep blue state, the governor is opposed to Proposition 40.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12097035\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/Prop40BillionairesTaxGetty-1536x1036.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A supporter with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition holds a placard during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ballot measure, proposed by a healthcare union, would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the overall wealth of the state’s approximately 200 billionaires. The money would be used to backfill deep federal budget cuts to Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income Americans — including nearly 15 million Californians.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Newsom has argued Proposition 40 is bad for California. He said this kind of tax should be imposed on the national level, so billionaires won’t just pack up and leave the state. And he insisted that the tax will ultimately hurt the state’s budget more than it will help, by chasing wealthy entrepreneurs and their businesses to other states with lower tax burdens. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some progressives think the governor — who is eyeing a possible 2028 presidential run — is just wary of angering a donor class with deep pockets. Tech industry billionaires like Chris Larsen, Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen have become increasingly involved in funding campaigns in recent years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There are a lot of elected officials who are so afraid of this billionaire class,” said California Federation of Labor Unions President Lorena Gonzalez, who supports Proposition 40. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saikat Chakrabarti, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in San Francisco this year, went farther. Chakrabarti is co-founder and president of the progressive think tank New Consensus. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“He’s made no secret of it — he’s going to run for president. And that’s why he’s not just opposed to Prop. 40. He’s vehemently campaigning against it because he needs those billionaires on his side,” Chakrabarti said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the billionaires may not be Newsom’s only audience. Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University, said he thinks Newsom’s opposition to the billionaire tax will help him with centrist Democrats he would need to capture the Democratic nomination in 2028.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It defuses him being the total lefty from California,” said Guerra, who predicted that the tax will get defeated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085913\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/060226CHAKRABARTI_GH_007-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti addresses supporters during an election night event at The Chapel on June 3, 2026, in San Francisco. (Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If it loses, Guerra said, that only gives Newsom more fuel — especially because the coalition opposing the tax includes the California Teachers Association and some other big unions with political muscle. Guerra said that coalition allows Newsom to make a credibility argument and not just with moderate Democrats. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If it loses, “he’s going to say, as he did with the (unsuccessful 2021 gubernatorial) recall and other things, hey, the voters have spoken, and they defeated this thing. And I was on the right side. I was on the side of the majority of the voters in California, just like I’ll be on the right side with you,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jim Kessler at the center-left think tank Third Way said that while more left-leaning candidates could attack Newsom in a presidential primary for opposing Proposition 40, those critiques could backfire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“That might help him, even in a Democratic primary, because the top issue for Democratic primary voters in presidential elections is, is this person electable? And they don’t think someone overly progressive is electable,” Kessler said. “No one believes that California is an under-taxed state. So there isn’t a belief out there that, oh, there’s all sorts of tax breaks for people and wealthy people in California.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the billionaires who plans to support Newsom in 2028 is Chris Larsen, who’s donated over $12 million to oppose Proposition 40. Larsen said on KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast that he thinks the AI explosion is one of Newsom’s biggest assets in a presidential run. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12104545\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261015-CHRIS-LARSEN-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-4442b2c5-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chris Larsen speaks with Marisa Lagos on Political Breakdown at KQED in San Francisco on Oct. 15, 2026. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“You mean that he comes from the fourth largest economy in the world that’s had the highest number of job growth?” he said, joking that the state is “so messed up that this is the center of the most powerful technology ever created.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those AI founders could have gone to Miami or Austin, he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re not there. They’re all here,” he said. “California is kicking ass.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the politics of the proposition do appear to be more complicated than either side is letting on: Some high-profile California Democrats have \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/pelosi-harris-prop-40-california-22476930.php\">purposefully stayed mum on the tax\u003c/a> — including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seeming to want to stay out of a fight between deep-pocketed donors and labor unions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while polls indicate a tight race, some billionaires seem to be preparing for the possibility of the tax passing: Just last week, Meta struck a new deal with CEO Mark Zuckerberg to keep him in California after he had warned he was considering leaving the state if Proposition 40 passes — offering him a new non-voting class of shares he can sell to foot a multibillion-dollar tax bill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, backers of Proposition 40 are becoming increasingly aggressive about their disappointment with the governor — and their sense that his opposition to the tax is politically motivated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday, the Yes on Prop. 40 campaign announced new TV and digital ads calling out Newsom. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12035915\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/MetaGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg (center), attends the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump as he swears in as the 47th U.S. President in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Kenny Holston/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But those ads aren’t running in California, where the yes side is being heavily outspent: They’re running in key early presidential primary states, including South Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Virginia and New Hampshire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dave Regan is president of SEIU-UHW West and the architect of the billionaire tax. In a July interview with KQED’s \u003cem>Political Breakdown\u003c/em>, he noted reports that Google co-founder Sergey Brin — who’s been the most prolific contributor among the tech billionaires who oppose Proposition 40 — \u003ca href=\"https://fortune.com/2026/04/26/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-measure-sergey-brin-gavin-newsom-political-war/\">confronted Newsom about the wealth tax in a treehouse\u003c/a> at Larsen’s holiday party last winter. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t go to treehouse parties with billionaires. I think most Californians don’t go to tree house parties with billionaires,” Regan said. “He is not living in the same world, and he is trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from these folks … he is acting like a politician with a campaign problem and not a governor with a healthcare problem.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "health-sports-prison-wheelchair-california",
"title": "In Prison, Wheelchair Basketball Offers a Chance at Reinvention",
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"headTitle": "In Prison, Wheelchair Basketball Offers a Chance at Reinvention | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This article was published in partnership with \u003ca href=\"https://www.catchlight.io/\">CatchLight\u003c/a> as part of a three-year Mental Health Visual Desk Reporting Initiative, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/\">KQED\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before basketball practice begins, Larry Roach calls the men into a circle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It’s a Wednesday afternoon, and they are gathering inside the gym at the California Medical Facility, a prison about 55 miles from San Francisco for men, including those with physical disabilities and other serious health needs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The men come in a mix, some rolling in in the wheelchairs they use every day, others walking in. They ease, one by one, into the low chairs with slanted wheels built for basketball. Roach waits until everyone, at least 15 players and five coaches, settles. He is incarcerated here, too, and able-bodied, but in this gym, he has another role: the “inside” coach.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team always checks in before they play. The room takes on a focused energy, the faint rustling of bodies shifting in their seats and the soft scrape of wheels gliding across the room. Each man listens attentively as he awaits his turn to speak.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105851\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin and a beard, wearing a beanie and a light-colored hoodie sweatshirt, leaning against a wall with a light shining above him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105851\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Steven “Scooby Doo” Davis is the co-captain of the character-first rehabilitative sports team, alongside Quentin Murphy. Struggling off and on with the prison environment, Scooby credits the team and support of its coach, Jeremiah Holland, with helping him stay positive. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with dark-toned skin and glasses, wearing a light blue shirt. Barbed wire is visible behind him, in addition to some outdoor tables and people in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-12105852\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">William Rowe was a well-established basketball player when he lost his leg and thought he would never play basketball again. He found wheelchair basketball in prison and credits the program with giving him the mental fortitude to rehabilitate. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin, wearing a blue shirt and dark blue pants, sitting outdoors in a wheelchair. It is dark outside, and part of the prison yard is visible.\" class=\"wp-image-12105866\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rudy “Jump Shot” Martinez is a long-standing member of the team. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to share news from back home, say how your week went, spit out a motivational line or two, or welcome new players, this is the time to do it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On this day in late September, Roach talks about effort: “You can’t teach it. You gotta want it.” Then the men, still in their circle, all turn their fists to the men on either side, linking the whole team. Joe Chambers, a two-time Paralympian and one of the “outside” coaches, recites their slogan: “Everything we do, we do together.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With that, they disperse — and the gym erupts. Basketballs begin to bounce. A low rumble grows as hands slap wheels to accelerate red, green, black and silver chairs. They collide. Men tip sideways, falling over, and right themselves in a single beat. Someone calls, “Outlet!” to signal he’s open for a pass after his teammate regains possession of the ball.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Impulsivity works against you in wheelchair basketball. Someone on defense can block the path you wanted to take to the net, and you can’t sidestep around him like you do in stand-up basketball. You have to stop, assess what’s in front of you and find another way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roach has come to think about that lesson, finding another way, as bigger than basketball. “In wheelchair basketball … you got to slow your brain down and say, OK, I can’t do that no more,” he says. “So what’s the next best option?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It teaches you to find a way out, he says, especially if you grew up feeling like you didn’t have many choices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a basketball hoop in the middle of a prison yard empty of people, at dawn.\" class=\"wp-image-12105857\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Early morning on the court. The team aims to improve the mental health of incarcerated people by providing a place to exercise, see other people, set goals and work together. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105862\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows three people in wheelchairs wheeling themselves up a ramp. On the wall to their right is painted the word Re creation” with some small painted silhouettes of people playing wheelchair basketball.\" class=\"wp-image-12105862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The program’s core philosophy is painted on the wall of the prison gym. Physical recreation is paired with the idea of re-creation of character. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The message is painted in black on the gym wall: “RE CREATION.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The space is no accident. Jeremiah Holland, creator of the wheelchair basketball program and the facility’s recreation supervisor until about a month ago, believes recreation can be more than movement, that it can be re-creation, an opportunity to practice being a different person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It all starts with imagination, he says. Inside prison, where people are cut off from the outside world and expected to follow strict rules and play certain roles, “imagination contracts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“People are always larger than the role that was assigned to them,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sports can give people a chance to work on their character and build relationships in a “lonely, isolated” prison, Holland says. You learn something about yourself in how you react to frustration and losing a game — both teaching moments that push players to consider how they would handle similar situations outside of the gym. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over time, you learn to respond differently in your relationships with others and confront the painful parts of yourself, Holland says. This is why sports programs can change people for the better and “help people figure out how to look at the most difficult things in their life,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man with a gray beard and hair, wearing a long-sleeved shirt, standing on the outdoor basketball court in the morning.\" class=\"wp-image-12105869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Jeremiah Holland has spearheaded a character-first approach to sports at California Medical Facility. Team members are selected based on their willingness to be a positive and supportive teammate, instead of solely on athletic ability. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105868\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows six people gathered, either standing or in wheelchairs, around Coach Jeremiah Holland, a White man. The people have different skin tones ranging from dark-toned to light-toned.\" class=\"wp-image-12105868\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coaches say having able-bodied and disabled men play together creates a community that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the prison. It also teaches able-bodied players about disability, changing how they see the men in chairs. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California is leaning into the rehabilitative potential of sports. On Sept. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2204\">Second Chance Sports Act\u003c/a>, directing the state’s prison system to come up with a plan to expand sports programming. Those who participate in organized sports will \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-H6C9EfMs&t=7s\">reportedly\u003c/a> be able to earn credits that can lead to early release. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Holland has spent years weathering storms, like changes in prison leadership and a pandemic, to build recreation programs that embody this philosophy. Among them is this basketball team unlike most found in U.S. prisons, where able-bodied men and men with physical disabilities train for and play wheelchair basketball alongside one another.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He credits the community he built around the program as the reason it exists and has lasted. Holland brought in coaches and experts from the outside, gave incarcerated men, like Roach, increasing responsibility over the programs they joined, and fought hard to keep the prison administration invested. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Community engagement is really what allowed disability sport to happen,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Roach was a boy decades ago in South Sacramento, he played sports with his friend Landon Jackson. Gangs eventually redrew the lines in their neighborhood, and with that, their relationship.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" data-id=\"12105867\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a letter reads: “Coach, I’m humbled and honored that you have decided to include me in the article; however, I’ve been M.I.A. for nearly two years with cancer – and I had a serious heart attack on 9-11-26 that required an “emergency” coronary catheterization and stent placement because my coronary artery was 99% blocked. Given the seriousness of my health issues – namely, the cancer, heart attack, colostomy bag, and baclofen pump – I’m no longer able to be an active participant on the wheelchair basketball team. I’m sad to make that decision, but I’m not doing well. I do not feel I have the right to contribute to a meaningful article when I no longer contribute to the amazing program. I shall continue to cheer for and support the program in my limited capacity, but I don’t believe (for obvious reasons) I have the privilege of being in the article.”\" class=\"wp-image-12105867\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A letter from an incarcerated player to Coach Holland explained that he couldn’t attend practice because he had a heart attack. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In their late teens, Roach remembers shooting at him.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their paths did not cross again for many years, until one day, they saw each other coming down opposite sides of a hallway at CMF. Men who knew their history watched them, concerned. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They pulled each other into a hug. “That was the first time I got to hug him in 23 years,” Jackson says. “It’s the dude I played with when we were in middle school and elementary school. Kids. Innocence…”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roach had already begun trying to put that old life behind him. His change of heart had come during visitation one day, when his 5-year-old daughter asked when he was going to leave the gang alone. Bit by bit, he took action; he renewed his faith in God, stopped using his gang name, took a victims’ impact class and trained to counsel other men. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was this version of Roach who hugged Jackson and apologized. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jackson, by then, had also pulled himself out of the old life. He had become deeply embedded in the wheelchair basketball program, which launched publicly in \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/insidecdcr/2022/12/27/wheelchair-basketball-rolls-into-cmf/\">late 2022\u003c/a>. Able-bodied himself, he had joined because friends who used wheelchairs needed help, people to push them through the yard or to get them through a workout. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105925\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wheelchair basketball program at California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville gives incarcerated people with mobility impairments a chance to play a real team sport—to compete, work together, stay active, and be part of something outside the normal routine of prison life. But the value of the program goes beyond basketball. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“When you start getting in the wheelchair, you see what you can’t do no more,” he says. “It makes you honor people in a different way.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This kind of growth is what the coaches had in mind when they let able-bodied players join the program, says Mieko Chambers, the team’s head coach and the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. “All of a sudden, there’s this newfound respect for somebody that is looked to be weak or hurt.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At some point, the gym stopped being just a gym to Jackson. The program put him in a space of serving others, he says, which made him visible to people who could see the change he’d gone through. Holland put Jackson’s name up for resentencing, and the warden wrote the judge a letter of support that played a role in Jackson’s release.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024, Jackson walked out of CMF.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How he and other leaders ran things stuck with the team. “Prison tells you don’t address it if it’s not violence,” Jackson says. “This gym told you address it so it doesn’t get violent.” Which sometimes meant calling a guy out, face-to-face, when he crossed a line.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man wearing a black T-shirt in a wheelchair, wearing a sweatband around his head. He has tattoos on both his arms.\" class=\"wp-image-12105872\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joe Chambers is an American wheelchair basketball star, a two-time Paralympian, and a cancer survivor who coaches the team at the California Medical Facility (CMF). (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once, Roach recalls, a player cursed at a volunteer. The men stopped practice, formed a circle and told him the behavior was unacceptable. They sent the player away for the day to cool off.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We don’t just want to single somebody out,” Roach says. “We’re gonna say what behaviors we won’t tolerate, and then go from there.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other times it meant noticing when someone was struggling. At another practice, Steven Davis, an outgoing co-captain known as “Scooby Doo,” recalls walking in and sitting down. Normally, he would laugh, joke with others, get into his chair and get ready to play. The team noticed something was off and asked him what was on his mind. Davis had recently reconnected with his daughter, and he was afraid of losing her again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coaches hugged him. “We got you in here … We love you,” Joe Chambers told him. “We don’t want to see you like this.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Davis still remembers it. “For them to hug me and tell me that they see the good in me and I’m a good person, it made me go harder in wheelchair basketball,” he says. “… It made me want to come in here and be around these guys who actually show that they care.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105873\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man wearing a black T-shirt in a wheelchair, wearing a sweatband around his head and with his arms folded. The camera is focused on him and the left side of the image is out of focus.\" class=\"wp-image-12105873\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chambers plays for the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, alongside Lavonte McDowell, who he used to coach on the CMF wheelchair basketball team. He is also a former Team USA Paralympian bronze medalist, but continues to take practice at CMF. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" data-id=\"12105871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a light-skinned woman with dark brown hair smiling at the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12105871\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Mieko Chambers, the head coach, helped Coach Holland start the program at CMF. She is also the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. Both her husband, Joe Chambers, and Lavonte McDowell, play for the Chairmen. Mieko Chambers also won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Team USA’s women’s U25 wheelchair team in 2019. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Quentin Murphy moves through the traffic of chairs like a man playing chess, which is how Joe Chambers teaches the game: Think two and three moves ahead. Four years in the sport and over a decade in a wheelchair, Murphy is a co-captain alongside Davis and is considered one of the strongest players, the Michael Jordan of the team. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basketball had always been part of his life. But he was run over by a truck during the crime that landed him in prison, he says, and had his leg amputated while in custody. The following years were dark. “There was those times where I had suicidal thoughts,” Murphy says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recreation options available to a man in a wheelchair were bingo, shuffleboard, resistance bands, chair yoga. “Those kinds of sports to someone like me is some boring stuff,” he says. “I’m really competitive, and I like just being physical.” Disabled men who wanted competition didn’t have much to do, he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-8 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" data-id=\"12105864\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with dark-toned skin and wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue pants, leaning against a pole while holding a basketball on the prison yard.\" class=\"wp-image-12105864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quentin “Q” Murphy at early morning practice on the yard. He lost his leg right before he arrived at prison. He is co-captain of the team, alongside Steven Davis. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-9 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105850\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man sitting in his living space, which has a bed, which is among many beds in the open space. There is a cabinet with a postcard or stickers with the Dodger’s logo on it and another with the Laker’s logo on it. There are tupperwares on top of the cabinet, which also serves as a desk.\" class=\"wp-image-12105850\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Murphy returns to his housing unit after an early morning practice and prepares for his day. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105858\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man speeding across the court in a blur in a wheelchair while reaching up for a basketball.\" class=\"wp-image-12105858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">He practices with his team in the prison gymnasium. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man sitting on his bed, while a prosthetic leg lies next to him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105865\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Basketball had always been a part of his life, but he had to learn the sport again through a different body. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Murphy had to learn basketball again in a different version of his body. Even though the instincts were similar, the mechanics were not. You have to generate speed using your arms, and make turns while protecting your momentum. You need to coast into your shots to get the ball up to a rim that is still 10 feet high. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now Murphy is one of the players others watch. His sisters, daughters and family friends know what he’s up to now and are proud of him, he says. When he comes into the gym, he doesn’t think about anything else. “It’s just a place of peace,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wheelchair basketball also gave him a new way to mull over his future. A decades-long sentence has made a future difficult for him to imagine. But he considers all of the programs he’s done while in prison, and looks to a player who left the gym and played professionally on the outside as a testament to what’s possible for him… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That player is Lavonte McDowell, whom the coaches consider the team’s success story. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many ways, McDowell’s story unfolded the same way as Murphy’s. He was shot in the commission of his crime, became a paraplegic, went straight from the hospital room to a jail cell, and learned everything about his disability on his own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows the bleachers of a gym. In front of the bleachers is a wheelchair with a prosthetic leg in it.\" class=\"wp-image-12105859\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quentin “Q” Murphy’s prosthetic leg rests in his everyday wheelchair while he is at practice in his sports wheelchair. He had to navigate prison life for the first time while newly being an amputee. He found wheelchair basketball to be a solace. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He joined the team as it was finding its footing. It wasn’t too long before coaches were telling him men were starting to look at him as a leader, but McDowell didn’t see it right away. He just knew that he wanted to change and couldn’t do it alone. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I felt like I needed people to hold me accountable for my own actions because I couldn’t help myself or hold myself accountable,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His name was the first thing to go. Around the prison, men knew him by a street name from his gang days: “Everybody in the prison knew me by Chaos,” he says. About two months after joining the team, he stopped answering to it. “This is a false belief. This is not even my name,” he says. From then on, he told people his name was Lavonte.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast-forward to the fall of 2024: McDowell and Joe Chambers remember the team gathered in a circle. Joe Chambers, who was already playing for the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, had some news to share. The Chairmen wanted McDowell to come play for them. McDowell cried tears of joy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-10 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105855\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of wheelchair basketball players on the court in the early morning outdoors. In the foreground is a Black man laughing joyfully in a wheelchair.\" class=\"wp-image-12105855\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The men check in before they play, sharing news from back home and welcoming new players. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-11 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105860\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of men playing wheelchair basketball. The skintones of the men range from dark-toned to light-toned.\" class=\"wp-image-12105860\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Two men reach up high for the basketball during a game at practice. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105870\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man with long hair speeding across the court in a blur in a wheelchair.\" class=\"wp-image-12105870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man speeds by in a wheelchair, the room blurring around him. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-12 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105861\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows Coach Mieko Chambers, a woman with light-toned skin and dark brown hair, talking to a man with medium-toned skin sitting in a wheelchair. Another man with light-toned skin, in a wheelchair sits nearby.\" class=\"wp-image-12105861\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Mieko Chambers counsels players during a practice at the prison gymnasium. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-13 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105854\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man in a wheelchair reaching up with the basketball in the air a few inches above his fingers. He is outdoors at dawn while another person stands nearby.\" class=\"wp-image-12105854\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Holland coaches Rudy “Jump Shot” Martinez during the early hours of the morning. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was released in early November 2024 and has since played for the team \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwba.org/page/show/9145206-la-clippers-chairmen?subseason=950002\">during the 2025-26 season\u003c/a>, traveling to games in states he had never been to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, he works with Project Rebound, an organization that helps connect formerly incarcerated people with higher education. “I just wanted to be of service,” he says. “I took from so many people. Did so much destruction in people’s lives, and in my own life and my family’s life … I was tired of being evil and stupid.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for the coaches, they never cut him loose. They stayed in touch, met his family, and when he needed a chair of his own, they found pieces of old chairs, built one and sent it to him. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s wonderful to have somebody to actually give you chances. That’s all individuals want in prison,” he says. “… I feel that this program can give people that. I’m living proof.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Partway through last month’s practice, Holland appears near the door holding a stack of identification cards. “Here’s all the IDs,” he tells the players. “I’m putting them up on that door. If you go to chow, grab your ID and meet me at the door.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A player looks toward the door. “Hey, coach, what if they don’t want to let us back in?” he asks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re gonna let you back in,” Holland responds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It’s a harmless question about dinner, but it’s also a reminder of the controlled prison environment they’re in. Even for the volunteer coaches, getting through the gate is not always guaranteed. Some drive nearly an hour one way and have at times been turned away because searches have taken over the gym, lockdowns have wiped out programming for the day or staffing decisions have canceled practice, the coaches say. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says that it tries to minimize disruptions to programs, but staffing, training and emergencies have sometimes required temporary changes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through the uncertainty and the many hours of driving and labor, including fixing the chairs, the coaches still show up, even on days when they or the players can’t get into the gym. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t want them to think we’ve given up on it,” Joe Chambers says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, the team has played only a handful of games against outside teams. Joe Chambers has brought friends in, for example, and a Berkeley-based organization that has taught adaptive sports for decades has also played against them, Holland says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coaches are hopeful for a future where games with outside teams happen more consistently. In their biggest dream for the program, they imagine registering the team with the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and bringing outside teams into the facility to play enough sanctioned games to ultimately build a record and earn a national ranking. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If all of those pieces fall into place, there still is one more obstacle: The CMF team can’t travel. So opponents would have to come to them and go through security, just like any other visitor at the facility. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In mid-October, after spending more than two decades behind bars, Roach walked out of CMF, uncertain but excited about his future. His family threw a homecoming party for him, and all of the wheelchair basketball program’s coaches showed up. “They’re a part of my family now,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He’s also reconnected with Jackson and McDowell. Roach knew how much wheelchair basketball meant to him inside prison, but he’s appreciative of the support network it is giving him in the free world. “When you feel isolated and alone, and you get into a program like that where it’s love, and it’s support,” he says, “like, yo, my circle expanded.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he adjusts to his new life, he gets a chance to test the emotional regulation and character work he picked up through the program. Getting out and being around so many people so quickly, for example, has called for breathwork. “Breathe, it’s OK,” he tells himself. And having lived for so many years with so few choices in prison, the pressure to spend money on things you don’t need once you’re out is really high, Roach says. Even with small decisions, “not being impulsive” can benefit you, he says, instead of spending money and realizing later that you needed it for something more important. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He’s approaching his future in the same way: Roach has already been offered a job at a transitional home, he says, but he doesn’t want to rush into anything. He’s considering the options to make the best choice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one thing he knows for sure is that he wants to stay connected to the wheelchair basketball team at CMF. “Whatever role they need me in,” he says. The process for getting approved to go back in, and how long that’ll take, is unclear to him.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe one day, Roach will be back at the gym, gathering the men into a circle again. But this time, he’ll be an “outside” coach. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-14 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of wheelchair basketball players all reaching up simultaneously for a basketball while in an indoor court.\" class=\"wp-image-12105874\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The players reach upward for the basketball during a scrimmage practice. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-15 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows Coach Jeremiah Holland, a White man, holding hands with wheelchair basketball players with varying skin tones, who have their hands linked while outdoors at dawn.\" class=\"wp-image-12105856\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Holland and the players gather in a circle before and after every game to support each other and talk about challenges they are facing. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-16 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105863\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows Coach Jeremiah Holland, a White man, walking down a hall with a person in a wheelchair away from the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12105863\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coaches Jeremiah Holland and Darwin Walters head home for the day after staying late at a practice. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” He tries to remind people of their potential. “People are always larger than the role that was assigned to them,” Holland says. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was published in partnership with \u003ca href=\"https://www.catchlight.io/\">CatchLight\u003c/a> as part of a three-year Mental Health Visual Desk Reporting Initiative, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/\">KQED\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was published in partnership with \u003ca href=\"https://www.catchlight.io/\">CatchLight\u003c/a> as part of a three-year Mental Health Visual Desk Reporting Initiative, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/\">KQED\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Before basketball practice begins, Larry Roach calls the men into a circle.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Before basketball practice begins, Larry Roach calls the men into a circle.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s a Wednesday afternoon, and they are gathering inside the gym at the California Medical Facility, a prison about 55 miles from San Francisco for men, including those with physical disabilities and other serious health needs.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s a Wednesday afternoon, and they are gathering inside the gym at the California Medical Facility, a prison about 55 miles from San Francisco for men, including those with physical disabilities and other serious health needs.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The men come in a mix, some rolling in in the wheelchairs they use every day, others walking in. They ease, one by one, into the low chairs with slanted wheels built for basketball. Roach waits until everyone, at least 15 players and five coaches, settles. He is incarcerated here, too, and able-bodied, but in this gym, he has another role: the “inside” coach.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The men come in a mix, some rolling in in the wheelchairs they use every day, others walking in. They ease, one by one, into the low chairs with slanted wheels built for basketball. Roach waits until everyone, at least 15 players and five coaches, settles. He is incarcerated here, too, and able-bodied, but in this gym, he has another role: the “inside” coach.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The team always checks in before they play. The room takes on a focused energy, the faint rustling of bodies shifting in their seats and the soft scrape of wheels gliding across the room. Each man listens attentively as he awaits his turn to speak.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The team always checks in before they play. The room takes on a focused energy, the faint rustling of bodies shifting in their seats and the soft scrape of wheels gliding across the room. Each man listens attentively as he awaits his turn to speak.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped\">\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin and a beard, wearing a beanie and a light-colored hoodie sweatshirt, leaning against a wall with a light shining above him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105851\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Steven “Scooby Doo” Davis is the co-captain of the character-first rehabilitative sports team, alongside Quentin Murphy. Struggling off and on with the prison environment, Scooby credits the team and support of its coach, Jeremiah Holland, with helping him stay positive.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin and a beard, wearing a beanie and a light-colored hoodie sweatshirt, leaning against a wall with a light shining above him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105851\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Steven “Scooby Doo” Davis is the co-captain of the character-first rehabilitative sports team, alongside Quentin Murphy. Struggling off and on with the prison environment, Scooby credits the team and support of its coach, Jeremiah Holland, with helping him stay positive.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with dark-toned skin and glasses, wearing a light blue shirt. Barbed wire is visible behind him, in addition to some outdoor tables and people in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-12105852\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">William Rowe was a well-established basketball player when he lost his leg and thought he would never play basketball again. He found wheelchair basketball in prison and credits the program with giving him the mental fortitude to rehabilitate.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with dark-toned skin and glasses, wearing a light blue shirt. Barbed wire is visible behind him, in addition to some outdoor tables and people in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-12105852\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">William Rowe was a well-established basketball player when he lost his leg and thought he would never play basketball again. He found wheelchair basketball in prison and credits the program with giving him the mental fortitude to rehabilitate.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin, wearing a blue shirt and dark blue pants, sitting outdoors in a wheelchair. It is dark outside, and part of the prison yard is visible.\" class=\"wp-image-12105866\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rudy “Jump Shot” Martinez is a long-standing member of the team.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin, wearing a blue shirt and dark blue pants, sitting outdoors in a wheelchair. It is dark outside, and part of the prison yard is visible.\" class=\"wp-image-12105866\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rudy “Jump Shot” Martinez is a long-standing member of the team.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you want to share news from back home, say how your week went, spit out a motivational line or two, or welcome new players, this is the time to do it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On this day in late September, Roach talks about effort: “You can’t teach it. You gotta want it.” Then the men, still in their circle, all turn their fists to the men on either side, linking the whole team. Joe Chambers, a two-time Paralympian and one of the “outside” coaches, recites their slogan: “Everything we do, we do together.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With that, they disperse — and the gym erupts. Basketballs begin to bounce. A low rumble grows as hands slap wheels to accelerate red, green, black and silver chairs. They collide. Men tip sideways, falling over, and right themselves in a single beat. Someone calls, “Outlet!” to signal he’s open for a pass after his teammate regains possession of the ball.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>With that, they disperse — and the gym erupts. Basketballs begin to bounce. A low rumble grows as hands slap wheels to accelerate red, green, black and silver chairs. They collide. Men tip sideways, falling over, and right themselves in a single beat. Someone calls, “Outlet!” to signal he’s open for a pass after his teammate regains possession of the ball.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Impulsivity works against you in wheelchair basketball. Someone on defense can block the path you wanted to take to the net, and you can’t sidestep around him like you do in stand-up basketball. You have to stop, assess what’s in front of you and find another way. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Roach has come to think about that lesson, finding another way, as bigger than basketball. “In wheelchair basketball … you got to slow your brain down and say, OK, I can’t do that no more,” he says. “So what’s the next best option?” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a basketball hoop in the middle of a prison yard empty of people, at dawn.\" class=\"wp-image-12105857\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Early morning on the court. The team aims to improve the mental health of incarcerated people by providing a place to exercise, see other people, set goals and work together.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a basketball hoop in the middle of a prison yard empty of people, at dawn.\" class=\"wp-image-12105857\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Early morning on the court. The team aims to improve the mental health of incarcerated people by providing a place to exercise, see other people, set goals and work together.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows three people in wheelchairs wheeling themselves up a ramp. On the wall to their right is painted the word Re creation” with some small painted silhouettes of people playing wheelchair basketball.\" class=\"wp-image-12105862\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The program’s core philosophy is painted on the wall of the prison gym. Physical recreation is paired with the idea of re-creation of character.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows three people in wheelchairs wheeling themselves up a ramp. On the wall to their right is painted the word Re creation” with some small painted silhouettes of people playing wheelchair basketball.\" class=\"wp-image-12105862\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The program’s core philosophy is painted on the wall of the prison gym. Physical recreation is paired with the idea of re-creation of character.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The message is painted in black on the gym wall: “RE CREATION.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The space is no accident. Jeremiah Holland, creator of the wheelchair basketball program and the facility’s recreation supervisor until about a month ago, believes recreation can be more than movement, that it can be re-creation, an opportunity to practice being a different person.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The space is no accident. Jeremiah Holland, creator of the wheelchair basketball program and the facility’s recreation supervisor until about a month ago, believes recreation can be more than movement, that it can be re-creation, an opportunity to practice being a different person.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It all starts with imagination, he says. Inside prison, where people are cut off from the outside world and expected to follow strict rules and play certain roles, “imagination contracts.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“People are always larger than the role that was assigned to them,” he says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sports can give people a chance to work on their character and build relationships in a “lonely, isolated” prison, Holland says. You learn something about yourself in how you react to frustration and losing a game — both teaching moments that push players to consider how they would handle similar situations outside of the gym. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Over time, you learn to respond differently in your relationships with others and confront the painful parts of yourself, Holland says. This is why sports programs can change people for the better and “help people figure out how to look at the most difficult things in their life,” he says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Over time, you learn to respond differently in your relationships with others and confront the painful parts of yourself, Holland says. This is why sports programs can change people for the better and “help people figure out how to look at the most difficult things in their life,” he says. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man with a gray beard and hair, wearing a long-sleeved shirt, standing on the outdoor basketball court in the morning.\" class=\"wp-image-12105869\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Jeremiah Holland has spearheaded a character-first approach to sports at California Medical Facility. Team members are selected based on their willingness to be a positive and supportive teammate, instead of solely on athletic ability.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man with a gray beard and hair, wearing a long-sleeved shirt, standing on the outdoor basketball court in the morning.\" class=\"wp-image-12105869\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Jeremiah Holland has spearheaded a character-first approach to sports at California Medical Facility. Team members are selected based on their willingness to be a positive and supportive teammate, instead of solely on athletic ability.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows six people gathered, either standing or in wheelchairs, around Coach Jeremiah Holland, a White man. The people have different skin tones ranging from dark-toned to light-toned.\" class=\"wp-image-12105868\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coaches say having able-bodied and disabled men play together creates a community that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the prison. It also teaches able-bodied players about disability, changing how they see the men in chairs. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California is leaning into the rehabilitative potential of sports. On Sept. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2204\">Second Chance Sports Act\u003c/a>, directing the state’s prison system to come up with a plan to expand sports programming. Those who participate in organized sports will \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-H6C9EfMs&t=7s\">reportedly\u003c/a> be able to earn credits that can lead to early release. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California is leaning into the rehabilitative potential of sports. On Sept. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2204\">Second Chance Sports Act\u003c/a>, directing the state’s prison system to come up with a plan to expand sports programming. Those who participate in organized sports will \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-H6C9EfMs&t=7s\">reportedly\u003c/a> be able to earn credits that can lead to early release. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Holland has spent years weathering storms, like changes in prison leadership and a pandemic, to build recreation programs that embody this philosophy. Among them is this basketball team unlike most found in U.S. prisons, where able-bodied men and men with physical disabilities train for and play wheelchair basketball alongside one another.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Holland has spent years weathering storms, like changes in prison leadership and a pandemic, to build recreation programs that embody this philosophy. Among them is this basketball team unlike most found in U.S. prisons, where able-bodied men and men with physical disabilities train for and play wheelchair basketball alongside one another.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He credits the community he built around the program as the reason it exists and has lasted. Holland brought in coaches and experts from the outside, gave incarcerated men, like Roach, increasing responsibility over the programs they joined, and fought hard to keep the prison administration invested. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He credits the community he built around the program as the reason it exists and has lasted. Holland brought in coaches and experts from the outside, gave incarcerated men, like Roach, increasing responsibility over the programs they joined, and fought hard to keep the prison administration invested. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Community engagement is really what allowed disability sport to happen,” he says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When Roach was a boy decades ago in South Sacramento, he played sports with his friend Landon Jackson. Gangs eventually redrew the lines in their neighborhood, and with that, their relationship.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a letter reads: “Coach, I’m humbled and honored that you have decided to include me in the article; however, I’ve been M.I.A. for nearly two years with cancer – and I had a serious heart attack on 9-11-26 that required an “emergency” coronary catheterization and stent placement because my coronary artery was 99% blocked. Given the seriousness of my health issues – namely, the cancer, heart attack, colostomy bag, and baclofen pump – I’m no longer able to be an active participant on the wheelchair basketball team. I’m sad to make that decision, but I’m not doing well. I do not feel I have the right to contribute to a meaningful article when I no longer contribute to the amazing program. I shall continue to cheer for and support the program in my limited capacity, but I don’t believe (for obvious reasons) I have the privilege of being in the article.”\" class=\"wp-image-12105867\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A letter from an incarcerated player to Coach Holland explained that he couldn’t attend practice because he had a heart attack.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a letter reads: “Coach, I’m humbled and honored that you have decided to include me in the article; however, I’ve been M.I.A. for nearly two years with cancer – and I had a serious heart attack on 9-11-26 that required an “emergency” coronary catheterization and stent placement because my coronary artery was 99% blocked. Given the seriousness of my health issues – namely, the cancer, heart attack, colostomy bag, and baclofen pump – I’m no longer able to be an active participant on the wheelchair basketball team. I’m sad to make that decision, but I’m not doing well. I do not feel I have the right to contribute to a meaningful article when I no longer contribute to the amazing program. I shall continue to cheer for and support the program in my limited capacity, but I don’t believe (for obvious reasons) I have the privilege of being in the article.”\" class=\"wp-image-12105867\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A letter from an incarcerated player to Coach Holland explained that he couldn’t attend practice because he had a heart attack.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In their late teens, Roach remembers shooting at him.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Their paths did not cross again for many years, until one day, they saw each other coming down opposite sides of a hallway at CMF. Men who knew their history watched them, concerned. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They pulled each other into a hug. “That was the first time I got to hug him in 23 years,” Jackson says. “It’s the dude I played with when we were in middle school and elementary school. Kids. Innocence…”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>They pulled each other into a hug. “That was the first time I got to hug him in 23 years,” Jackson says. “It’s the dude I played with when we were in middle school and elementary school. Kids. Innocence…”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Roach had already begun trying to put that old life behind him. His change of heart had come during visitation one day, when his 5-year-old daughter asked when he was going to leave the gang alone. Bit by bit, he took action; he renewed his faith in God, stopped using his gang name, took a victims’ impact class and trained to counsel other men. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jackson, by then, had also pulled himself out of the old life. He had become deeply embedded in the wheelchair basketball program, which launched publicly in \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/insidecdcr/2022/12/27/wheelchair-basketball-rolls-into-cmf/\">late 2022\u003c/a>. Able-bodied himself, he had joined because friends who used wheelchairs needed help, people to push them through the yard or to get them through a workout. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105925\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wheelchair basketball program at California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville gives incarcerated people with mobility impairments a chance to play a real team sport—to compete, work together, stay active, and be part of something outside the normal routine of prison life. But the value of the program goes beyond basketball. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105925\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wheelchair basketball program at California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville gives incarcerated people with mobility impairments a chance to play a real team sport—to compete, work together, stay active, and be part of something outside the normal routine of prison life. But the value of the program goes beyond basketball. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When you start getting in the wheelchair, you see what you can’t do no more,” he says. “It makes you honor people in a different way.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This kind of growth is what the coaches had in mind when they let able-bodied players join the program, says Mieko Chambers, the team’s head coach and the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. “All of a sudden, there’s this newfound respect for somebody that is looked to be weak or hurt.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This kind of growth is what the coaches had in mind when they let able-bodied players join the program, says Mieko Chambers, the team’s head coach and the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. “All of a sudden, there’s this newfound respect for somebody that is looked to be weak or hurt.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At some point, the gym stopped being just a gym to Jackson. The program put him in a space of serving others, he says, which made him visible to people who could see the change he’d gone through. Holland put Jackson’s name up for resentencing, and the warden wrote the judge a letter of support that played a role in Jackson’s release.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At some point, the gym stopped being just a gym to Jackson. The program put him in a space of serving others, he says, which made him visible to people who could see the change he’d gone through. Holland put Jackson’s name up for resentencing, and the warden wrote the judge a letter of support that played a role in Jackson’s release.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2024, Jackson walked out of CMF.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>How he and other leaders ran things stuck with the team. “Prison tells you don’t address it if it’s not violence,” Jackson says. “This gym told you address it so it doesn’t get violent.” Which sometimes meant calling a guy out, face-to-face, when he crossed a line.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man wearing a black T-shirt in a wheelchair, wearing a sweatband around his head. He has tattoos on both his arms.\" class=\"wp-image-12105872\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joe Chambers is an American wheelchair basketball star, a two-time Paralympian, and a cancer survivor who coaches the team at the California Medical Facility (CMF).\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man wearing a black T-shirt in a wheelchair, wearing a sweatband around his head. He has tattoos on both his arms.\" class=\"wp-image-12105872\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joe Chambers is an American wheelchair basketball star, a two-time Paralympian, and a cancer survivor who coaches the team at the California Medical Facility (CMF).\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Once, Roach recalls, a player cursed at a volunteer. The men stopped practice, formed a circle and told him the behavior was unacceptable. They sent the player away for the day to cool off.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We don’t just want to single somebody out,” Roach says. “We’re gonna say what behaviors we won’t tolerate, and then go from there.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Other times it meant noticing when someone was struggling. At another practice, Steven Davis, an outgoing co-captain known as “Scooby Doo,” recalls walking in and sitting down. Normally, he would laugh, joke with others, get into his chair and get ready to play. The team noticed something was off and asked him what was on his mind. Davis had recently reconnected with his daughter, and he was afraid of losing her again.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Other times it meant noticing when someone was struggling. At another practice, Steven Davis, an outgoing co-captain known as “Scooby Doo,” recalls walking in and sitting down. Normally, he would laugh, joke with others, get into his chair and get ready to play. The team noticed something was off and asked him what was on his mind. Davis had recently reconnected with his daughter, and he was afraid of losing her again.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The coaches hugged him. “We got you in here … We love you,” Joe Chambers told him. “We don’t want to see you like this.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Davis still remembers it. “For them to hug me and tell me that they see the good in me and I’m a good person, it made me go harder in wheelchair basketball,” he says. “… It made me want to come in here and be around these guys who actually show that they care.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Davis still remembers it. “For them to hug me and tell me that they see the good in me and I’m a good person, it made me go harder in wheelchair basketball,” he says. “… It made me want to come in here and be around these guys who actually show that they care.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man wearing a black T-shirt in a wheelchair, wearing a sweatband around his head and with his arms folded. The camera is focused on him and the left side of the image is out of focus.\" class=\"wp-image-12105873\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chambers plays for the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, alongside Lavonte McDowell, who he used to coach on the CMF wheelchair basketball team. He is also a former Team USA Paralympian bronze medalist, but continues to take practice at CMF.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a light-skinned woman with dark brown hair smiling at the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12105871\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Mieko Chambers, the head coach, helped Coach Holland start the program at CMF. She is also the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. Both her husband, Joe Chambers, and Lavonte McDowell, play for the Chairmen. Mieko Chambers also won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Team USA’s women’s U25 wheelchair team in 2019. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a light-skinned woman with dark brown hair smiling at the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12105871\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Mieko Chambers, the head coach, helped Coach Holland start the program at CMF. She is also the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. Both her husband, Joe Chambers, and Lavonte McDowell, play for the Chairmen. Mieko Chambers also won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Team USA’s women’s U25 wheelchair team in 2019. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Quentin Murphy moves through the traffic of chairs like a man playing chess, which is how Joe Chambers teaches the game: Think two and three moves ahead. Four years in the sport and over a decade in a wheelchair, Murphy is a co-captain alongside Davis and is considered one of the strongest players, the Michael Jordan of the team. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Quentin Murphy moves through the traffic of chairs like a man playing chess, which is how Joe Chambers teaches the game: Think two and three moves ahead. Four years in the sport and over a decade in a wheelchair, Murphy is a co-captain alongside Davis and is considered one of the strongest players, the Michael Jordan of the team. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Basketball had always been part of his life. But he was run over by a truck during the crime that landed him in prison, he says, and had his leg amputated while in custody. The following years were dark. “There was those times where I had suicidal thoughts,” Murphy says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Basketball had always been part of his life. But he was run over by a truck during the crime that landed him in prison, he says, and had his leg amputated while in custody. The following years were dark. “There was those times where I had suicidal thoughts,” Murphy says. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The recreation options available to a man in a wheelchair were bingo, shuffleboard, resistance bands, chair yoga. “Those kinds of sports to someone like me is some boring stuff,” he says. “I’m really competitive, and I like just being physical.” Disabled men who wanted competition didn’t have much to do, he says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The recreation options available to a man in a wheelchair were bingo, shuffleboard, resistance bands, chair yoga. “Those kinds of sports to someone like me is some boring stuff,” he says. “I’m really competitive, and I like just being physical.” Disabled men who wanted competition didn’t have much to do, he says. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with dark-toned skin and wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue pants, leaning against a pole while holding a basketball on the prison yard.\" class=\"wp-image-12105864\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quentin “Q” Murphy at early morning practice on the yard. He lost his leg right before he arrived at prison. He is co-captain of the team, alongside Steven Davis. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man sitting in his living space, which has a bed, which is among many beds in the open space. There is a cabinet with a postcard or stickers with the Dodger’s logo on it and another with the Laker’s logo on it. There are tupperwares on top of the cabinet, which also serves as a desk.\" class=\"wp-image-12105850\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Murphy returns to his housing unit after an early morning practice and prepares for his day.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man sitting on his bed, while a prosthetic leg lies next to him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105865\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Basketball had always been a part of his life, but he had to learn the sport again through a different body.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man sitting on his bed, while a prosthetic leg lies next to him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105865\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Basketball had always been a part of his life, but he had to learn the sport again through a different body.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Murphy had to learn basketball again in a different version of his body. Even though the instincts were similar, the mechanics were not. You have to generate speed using your arms, and make turns while protecting your momentum. You need to coast into your shots to get the ball up to a rim that is still 10 feet high. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Murphy had to learn basketball again in a different version of his body. Even though the instincts were similar, the mechanics were not. You have to generate speed using your arms, and make turns while protecting your momentum. You need to coast into your shots to get the ball up to a rim that is still 10 feet high. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now Murphy is one of the players others watch. His sisters, daughters and family friends know what he’s up to now and are proud of him, he says. When he comes into the gym, he doesn’t think about anything else. “It’s just a place of peace,” he says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now Murphy is one of the players others watch. His sisters, daughters and family friends know what he’s up to now and are proud of him, he says. When he comes into the gym, he doesn’t think about anything else. “It’s just a place of peace,” he says. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Wheelchair basketball also gave him a new way to mull over his future. A decades-long sentence has made a future difficult for him to imagine. But he considers all of the programs he’s done while in prison, and looks to a player who left the gym and played professionally on the outside as a testament to what’s possible for him… \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Wheelchair basketball also gave him a new way to mull over his future. A decades-long sentence has made a future difficult for him to imagine. But he considers all of the programs he’s done while in prison, and looks to a player who left the gym and played professionally on the outside as a testament to what’s possible for him… \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That player is Lavonte McDowell, whom the coaches consider the team’s success story. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In many ways, McDowell’s story unfolded the same way as Murphy’s. He was shot in the commission of his crime, became a paraplegic, went straight from the hospital room to a jail cell, and learned everything about his disability on his own.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In many ways, McDowell’s story unfolded the same way as Murphy’s. He was shot in the commission of his crime, became a paraplegic, went straight from the hospital room to a jail cell, and learned everything about his disability on his own.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows the bleachers of a gym. In front of the bleachers is a wheelchair with a prosthetic leg in it.\" class=\"wp-image-12105859\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quentin “Q” Murphy’s prosthetic leg rests in his everyday wheelchair while he is at practice in his sports wheelchair. He had to navigate prison life for the first time while newly being an amputee. He found wheelchair basketball to be a solace. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows the bleachers of a gym. In front of the bleachers is a wheelchair with a prosthetic leg in it.\" class=\"wp-image-12105859\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quentin “Q” Murphy’s prosthetic leg rests in his everyday wheelchair while he is at practice in his sports wheelchair. He had to navigate prison life for the first time while newly being an amputee. He found wheelchair basketball to be a solace. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He joined the team as it was finding its footing. It wasn’t too long before coaches were telling him men were starting to look at him as a leader, but McDowell didn’t see it right away. He just knew that he wanted to change and couldn’t do it alone. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He joined the team as it was finding its footing. It wasn’t too long before coaches were telling him men were starting to look at him as a leader, but McDowell didn’t see it right away. He just knew that he wanted to change and couldn’t do it alone. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I felt like I needed people to hold me accountable for my own actions because I couldn’t help myself or hold myself accountable,” he says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>His name was the first thing to go. Around the prison, men knew him by a street name from his gang days: “Everybody in the prison knew me by Chaos,” he says. About two months after joining the team, he stopped answering to it. “This is a false belief. This is not even my name,” he says. From then on, he told people his name was Lavonte.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>His name was the first thing to go. Around the prison, men knew him by a street name from his gang days: “Everybody in the prison knew me by Chaos,” he says. About two months after joining the team, he stopped answering to it. “This is a false belief. This is not even my name,” he says. From then on, he told people his name was Lavonte.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Fast-forward to the fall of 2024: McDowell and Joe Chambers remember the team gathered in a circle. Joe Chambers, who was already playing for the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, had some news to share. The Chairmen wanted McDowell to come play for them. McDowell cried tears of joy. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of wheelchair basketball players on the court in the early morning outdoors. In the foreground is a Black man laughing joyfully in a wheelchair.\" class=\"wp-image-12105855\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The men check in before they play, sharing news from back home and welcoming new players.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of men playing wheelchair basketball. The skintones of the men range from dark-toned to light-toned.\" class=\"wp-image-12105860\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Two men reach up high for the basketball during a game at practice.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows Coach Mieko Chambers, a woman with light-toned skin and dark brown hair, talking to a man with medium-toned skin sitting in a wheelchair. Another man with light-toned skin, in a wheelchair sits nearby.\" class=\"wp-image-12105861\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Mieko Chambers counsels players during a practice at the prison gymnasium.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He was released in early November 2024 and has since played for the team \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwba.org/page/show/9145206-la-clippers-chairmen?subseason=950002\">during the 2025-26 season\u003c/a>, traveling to games in states he had never been to.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Today, he works with Project Rebound, an organization that helps connect formerly incarcerated people with higher education. “I just wanted to be of service,” he says. “I took from so many people. Did so much destruction in people’s lives, and in my own life and my family’s life … I was tired of being evil and stupid.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Today, he works with Project Rebound, an organization that helps connect formerly incarcerated people with higher education. “I just wanted to be of service,” he says. “I took from so many people. Did so much destruction in people’s lives, and in my own life and my family’s life … I was tired of being evil and stupid.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As for the coaches, they never cut him loose. They stayed in touch, met his family, and when he needed a chair of his own, they found pieces of old chairs, built one and sent it to him. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As for the coaches, they never cut him loose. They stayed in touch, met his family, and when he needed a chair of his own, they found pieces of old chairs, built one and sent it to him. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s wonderful to have somebody to actually give you chances. That’s all individuals want in prison,” he says. “… I feel that this program can give people that. I’m living proof.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Partway through last month’s practice, Holland appears near the door holding a stack of identification cards. “Here’s all the IDs,” he tells the players. “I’m putting them up on that door. If you go to chow, grab your ID and meet me at the door.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A player looks toward the door. “Hey, coach, what if they don’t want to let us back in?” he asks. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s a harmless question about dinner, but it’s also a reminder of the controlled prison environment they’re in. Even for the volunteer coaches, getting through the gate is not always guaranteed. Some drive nearly an hour one way and have at times been turned away because searches have taken over the gym, lockdowns have wiped out programming for the day or staffing decisions have canceled practice, the coaches say. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says that it tries to minimize disruptions to programs, but staffing, training and emergencies have sometimes required temporary changes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Through the uncertainty and the many hours of driving and labor, including fixing the chairs, the coaches still show up, even on days when they or the players can’t get into the gym. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t want them to think we’ve given up on it,” Joe Chambers says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So far, the team has played only a handful of games against outside teams. Joe Chambers has brought friends in, for example, and a Berkeley-based organization that has taught adaptive sports for decades has also played against them, Holland says. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The coaches are hopeful for a future where games with outside teams happen more consistently. In their biggest dream for the program, they imagine registering the team with the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and bringing outside teams into the facility to play enough sanctioned games to ultimately build a record and earn a national ranking. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The coaches are hopeful for a future where games with outside teams happen more consistently. In their biggest dream for the program, they imagine registering the team with the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and bringing outside teams into the facility to play enough sanctioned games to ultimately build a record and earn a national ranking. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If all of those pieces fall into place, there still is one more obstacle: The CMF team can’t travel. So opponents would have to come to them and go through security, just like any other visitor at the facility. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If all of those pieces fall into place, there still is one more obstacle: The CMF team can’t travel. So opponents would have to come to them and go through security, just like any other visitor at the facility. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In mid-October, after spending more than two decades behind bars, Roach walked out of CMF, uncertain but excited about his future. His family threw a homecoming party for him, and all of the wheelchair basketball program’s coaches showed up. “They’re a part of my family now,” he says.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He’s also reconnected with Jackson and McDowell. Roach knew how much wheelchair basketball meant to him inside prison, but he’s appreciative of the support network it is giving him in the free world. “When you feel isolated and alone, and you get into a program like that where it’s love, and it’s support,” he says, “like, yo, my circle expanded.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As he adjusts to his new life, he gets a chance to test the emotional regulation and character work he picked up through the program. Getting out and being around so many people so quickly, for example, has called for breathwork. “Breathe, it’s OK,” he tells himself. And having lived for so many years with so few choices in prison, the pressure to spend money on things you don’t need once you’re out is really high, Roach says. Even with small decisions, “not being impulsive” can benefit you, he says, instead of spending money and realizing later that you needed it for something more important. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As he adjusts to his new life, he gets a chance to test the emotional regulation and character work he picked up through the program. Getting out and being around so many people so quickly, for example, has called for breathwork. “Breathe, it’s OK,” he tells himself. And having lived for so many years with so few choices in prison, the pressure to spend money on things you don’t need once you’re out is really high, Roach says. Even with small decisions, “not being impulsive” can benefit you, he says, instead of spending money and realizing later that you needed it for something more important. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But one thing he knows for sure is that he wants to stay connected to the wheelchair basketball team at CMF. “Whatever role they need me in,” he says. The process for getting approved to go back in, and how long that’ll take, is unclear to him.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "At California Medical Facility, playing a sport helps men practice new ways of thinking and form bonds that remain outside of prison walls.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This article was published in partnership with \u003ca href=\"https://www.catchlight.io/\">CatchLight\u003c/a> as part of a three-year Mental Health Visual Desk Reporting Initiative, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/\">KQED\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before basketball practice begins, Larry Roach calls the men into a circle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It’s a Wednesday afternoon, and they are gathering inside the gym at the California Medical Facility, a prison about 55 miles from San Francisco for men, including those with physical disabilities and other serious health needs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The men come in a mix, some rolling in in the wheelchairs they use every day, others walking in. They ease, one by one, into the low chairs with slanted wheels built for basketball. Roach waits until everyone, at least 15 players and five coaches, settles. He is incarcerated here, too, and able-bodied, but in this gym, he has another role: the “inside” coach.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team always checks in before they play. The room takes on a focused energy, the faint rustling of bodies shifting in their seats and the soft scrape of wheels gliding across the room. Each man listens attentively as he awaits his turn to speak.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105851\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin and a beard, wearing a beanie and a light-colored hoodie sweatshirt, leaning against a wall with a light shining above him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105851\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-02-9b90ce35-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Steven “Scooby Doo” Davis is the co-captain of the character-first rehabilitative sports team, alongside Quentin Murphy. Struggling off and on with the prison environment, Scooby credits the team and support of its coach, Jeremiah Holland, with helping him stay positive. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with dark-toned skin and glasses, wearing a light blue shirt. Barbed wire is visible behind him, in addition to some outdoor tables and people in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-12105852\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-03-ed3a3e7d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">William Rowe was a well-established basketball player when he lost his leg and thought he would never play basketball again. He found wheelchair basketball in prison and credits the program with giving him the mental fortitude to rehabilitate. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with medium-toned skin, wearing a blue shirt and dark blue pants, sitting outdoors in a wheelchair. It is dark outside, and part of the prison yard is visible.\" class=\"wp-image-12105866\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-17-68571607-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rudy “Jump Shot” Martinez is a long-standing member of the team. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to share news from back home, say how your week went, spit out a motivational line or two, or welcome new players, this is the time to do it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On this day in late September, Roach talks about effort: “You can’t teach it. You gotta want it.” Then the men, still in their circle, all turn their fists to the men on either side, linking the whole team. Joe Chambers, a two-time Paralympian and one of the “outside” coaches, recites their slogan: “Everything we do, we do together.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With that, they disperse — and the gym erupts. Basketballs begin to bounce. A low rumble grows as hands slap wheels to accelerate red, green, black and silver chairs. They collide. Men tip sideways, falling over, and right themselves in a single beat. Someone calls, “Outlet!” to signal he’s open for a pass after his teammate regains possession of the ball.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Impulsivity works against you in wheelchair basketball. Someone on defense can block the path you wanted to take to the net, and you can’t sidestep around him like you do in stand-up basketball. You have to stop, assess what’s in front of you and find another way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roach has come to think about that lesson, finding another way, as bigger than basketball. “In wheelchair basketball … you got to slow your brain down and say, OK, I can’t do that no more,” he says. “So what’s the next best option?” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It teaches you to find a way out, he says, especially if you grew up feeling like you didn’t have many choices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105857\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a basketball hoop in the middle of a prison yard empty of people, at dawn.\" class=\"wp-image-12105857\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-08-02d55a10-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Early morning on the court. The team aims to improve the mental health of incarcerated people by providing a place to exercise, see other people, set goals and work together. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105862\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows three people in wheelchairs wheeling themselves up a ramp. On the wall to their right is painted the word Re creation” with some small painted silhouettes of people playing wheelchair basketball.\" class=\"wp-image-12105862\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-13-0796265f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The program’s core philosophy is painted on the wall of the prison gym. Physical recreation is paired with the idea of re-creation of character. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The message is painted in black on the gym wall: “RE CREATION.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The space is no accident. Jeremiah Holland, creator of the wheelchair basketball program and the facility’s recreation supervisor until about a month ago, believes recreation can be more than movement, that it can be re-creation, an opportunity to practice being a different person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It all starts with imagination, he says. Inside prison, where people are cut off from the outside world and expected to follow strict rules and play certain roles, “imagination contracts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“People are always larger than the role that was assigned to them,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sports can give people a chance to work on their character and build relationships in a “lonely, isolated” prison, Holland says. You learn something about yourself in how you react to frustration and losing a game — both teaching moments that push players to consider how they would handle similar situations outside of the gym. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over time, you learn to respond differently in your relationships with others and confront the painful parts of yourself, Holland says. This is why sports programs can change people for the better and “help people figure out how to look at the most difficult things in their life,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man with a gray beard and hair, wearing a long-sleeved shirt, standing on the outdoor basketball court in the morning.\" class=\"wp-image-12105869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-20-0cec44cb-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Jeremiah Holland has spearheaded a character-first approach to sports at California Medical Facility. Team members are selected based on their willingness to be a positive and supportive teammate, instead of solely on athletic ability. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105868\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows six people gathered, either standing or in wheelchairs, around Coach Jeremiah Holland, a White man. The people have different skin tones ranging from dark-toned to light-toned.\" class=\"wp-image-12105868\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-19-291b5aa9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coaches say having able-bodied and disabled men play together creates a community that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the prison. It also teaches able-bodied players about disability, changing how they see the men in chairs. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California is leaning into the rehabilitative potential of sports. On Sept. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab2204\">Second Chance Sports Act\u003c/a>, directing the state’s prison system to come up with a plan to expand sports programming. Those who participate in organized sports will \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-H6C9EfMs&t=7s\">reportedly\u003c/a> be able to earn credits that can lead to early release. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Holland has spent years weathering storms, like changes in prison leadership and a pandemic, to build recreation programs that embody this philosophy. Among them is this basketball team unlike most found in U.S. prisons, where able-bodied men and men with physical disabilities train for and play wheelchair basketball alongside one another.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He credits the community he built around the program as the reason it exists and has lasted. Holland brought in coaches and experts from the outside, gave incarcerated men, like Roach, increasing responsibility over the programs they joined, and fought hard to keep the prison administration invested. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Community engagement is really what allowed disability sport to happen,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Roach was a boy decades ago in South Sacramento, he played sports with his friend Landon Jackson. Gangs eventually redrew the lines in their neighborhood, and with that, their relationship.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" data-id=\"12105867\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a letter reads: “Coach, I’m humbled and honored that you have decided to include me in the article; however, I’ve been M.I.A. for nearly two years with cancer – and I had a serious heart attack on 9-11-26 that required an “emergency” coronary catheterization and stent placement because my coronary artery was 99% blocked. Given the seriousness of my health issues – namely, the cancer, heart attack, colostomy bag, and baclofen pump – I’m no longer able to be an active participant on the wheelchair basketball team. I’m sad to make that decision, but I’m not doing well. I do not feel I have the right to contribute to a meaningful article when I no longer contribute to the amazing program. I shall continue to cheer for and support the program in my limited capacity, but I don’t believe (for obvious reasons) I have the privilege of being in the article.”\" class=\"wp-image-12105867\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-18-10ddddf1-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A letter from an incarcerated player to Coach Holland explained that he couldn’t attend practice because he had a heart attack. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In their late teens, Roach remembers shooting at him.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their paths did not cross again for many years, until one day, they saw each other coming down opposite sides of a hallway at CMF. Men who knew their history watched them, concerned. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They pulled each other into a hug. “That was the first time I got to hug him in 23 years,” Jackson says. “It’s the dude I played with when we were in middle school and elementary school. Kids. Innocence…”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roach had already begun trying to put that old life behind him. His change of heart had come during visitation one day, when his 5-year-old daughter asked when he was going to leave the gang alone. Bit by bit, he took action; he renewed his faith in God, stopped using his gang name, took a victims’ impact class and trained to counsel other men. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was this version of Roach who hugged Jackson and apologized. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jackson, by then, had also pulled himself out of the old life. He had become deeply embedded in the wheelchair basketball program, which launched publicly in \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/insidecdcr/2022/12/27/wheelchair-basketball-rolls-into-cmf/\">late 2022\u003c/a>. Able-bodied himself, he had joined because friends who used wheelchairs needed help, people to push them through the yard or to get them through a workout. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12105925\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-26-8edd8451-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The wheelchair basketball program at California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville gives incarcerated people with mobility impairments a chance to play a real team sport—to compete, work together, stay active, and be part of something outside the normal routine of prison life. But the value of the program goes beyond basketball. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“When you start getting in the wheelchair, you see what you can’t do no more,” he says. “It makes you honor people in a different way.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This kind of growth is what the coaches had in mind when they let able-bodied players join the program, says Mieko Chambers, the team’s head coach and the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. “All of a sudden, there’s this newfound respect for somebody that is looked to be weak or hurt.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At some point, the gym stopped being just a gym to Jackson. The program put him in a space of serving others, he says, which made him visible to people who could see the change he’d gone through. Holland put Jackson’s name up for resentencing, and the warden wrote the judge a letter of support that played a role in Jackson’s release.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024, Jackson walked out of CMF.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How he and other leaders ran things stuck with the team. “Prison tells you don’t address it if it’s not violence,” Jackson says. “This gym told you address it so it doesn’t get violent.” Which sometimes meant calling a guy out, face-to-face, when he crossed a line.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man wearing a black T-shirt in a wheelchair, wearing a sweatband around his head. He has tattoos on both his arms.\" class=\"wp-image-12105872\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-23-6f590b54-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joe Chambers is an American wheelchair basketball star, a two-time Paralympian, and a cancer survivor who coaches the team at the California Medical Facility (CMF). (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once, Roach recalls, a player cursed at a volunteer. The men stopped practice, formed a circle and told him the behavior was unacceptable. They sent the player away for the day to cool off.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We don’t just want to single somebody out,” Roach says. “We’re gonna say what behaviors we won’t tolerate, and then go from there.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other times it meant noticing when someone was struggling. At another practice, Steven Davis, an outgoing co-captain known as “Scooby Doo,” recalls walking in and sitting down. Normally, he would laugh, joke with others, get into his chair and get ready to play. The team noticed something was off and asked him what was on his mind. Davis had recently reconnected with his daughter, and he was afraid of losing her again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coaches hugged him. “We got you in here … We love you,” Joe Chambers told him. “We don’t want to see you like this.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Davis still remembers it. “For them to hug me and tell me that they see the good in me and I’m a good person, it made me go harder in wheelchair basketball,” he says. “… It made me want to come in here and be around these guys who actually show that they care.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-7 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105873\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a White man wearing a black T-shirt in a wheelchair, wearing a sweatband around his head and with his arms folded. The camera is focused on him and the left side of the image is out of focus.\" class=\"wp-image-12105873\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-24-6cbb86ca-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chambers plays for the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, alongside Lavonte McDowell, who he used to coach on the CMF wheelchair basketball team. He is also a former Team USA Paralympian bronze medalist, but continues to take practice at CMF. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" data-id=\"12105871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a light-skinned woman with dark brown hair smiling at the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12105871\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-22-12570d73-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Mieko Chambers, the head coach, helped Coach Holland start the program at CMF. She is also the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association team. Both her husband, Joe Chambers, and Lavonte McDowell, play for the Chairmen. Mieko Chambers also won a gold medal as an assistant coach for Team USA’s women’s U25 wheelchair team in 2019. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Quentin Murphy moves through the traffic of chairs like a man playing chess, which is how Joe Chambers teaches the game: Think two and three moves ahead. Four years in the sport and over a decade in a wheelchair, Murphy is a co-captain alongside Davis and is considered one of the strongest players, the Michael Jordan of the team. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basketball had always been part of his life. But he was run over by a truck during the crime that landed him in prison, he says, and had his leg amputated while in custody. The following years were dark. “There was those times where I had suicidal thoughts,” Murphy says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recreation options available to a man in a wheelchair were bingo, shuffleboard, resistance bands, chair yoga. “Those kinds of sports to someone like me is some boring stuff,” he says. “I’m really competitive, and I like just being physical.” Disabled men who wanted competition didn’t have much to do, he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-8 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" data-id=\"12105864\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man with dark-toned skin and wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue pants, leaning against a pole while holding a basketball on the prison yard.\" class=\"wp-image-12105864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-15-4047e8fa-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quentin “Q” Murphy at early morning practice on the yard. He lost his leg right before he arrived at prison. He is co-captain of the team, alongside Steven Davis. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-9 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105850\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man sitting in his living space, which has a bed, which is among many beds in the open space. There is a cabinet with a postcard or stickers with the Dodger’s logo on it and another with the Laker’s logo on it. There are tupperwares on top of the cabinet, which also serves as a desk.\" class=\"wp-image-12105850\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-01-67d9a049-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Murphy returns to his housing unit after an early morning practice and prepares for his day. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105858\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man speeding across the court in a blur in a wheelchair while reaching up for a basketball.\" class=\"wp-image-12105858\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-09-58255c65-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">He practices with his team in the prison gymnasium. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man sitting on his bed, while a prosthetic leg lies next to him.\" class=\"wp-image-12105865\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-16-abb63a7e-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Basketball had always been a part of his life, but he had to learn the sport again through a different body. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Murphy had to learn basketball again in a different version of his body. Even though the instincts were similar, the mechanics were not. You have to generate speed using your arms, and make turns while protecting your momentum. You need to coast into your shots to get the ball up to a rim that is still 10 feet high. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now Murphy is one of the players others watch. His sisters, daughters and family friends know what he’s up to now and are proud of him, he says. When he comes into the gym, he doesn’t think about anything else. “It’s just a place of peace,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wheelchair basketball also gave him a new way to mull over his future. A decades-long sentence has made a future difficult for him to imagine. But he considers all of the programs he’s done while in prison, and looks to a player who left the gym and played professionally on the outside as a testament to what’s possible for him… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That player is Lavonte McDowell, whom the coaches consider the team’s success story. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many ways, McDowell’s story unfolded the same way as Murphy’s. He was shot in the commission of his crime, became a paraplegic, went straight from the hospital room to a jail cell, and learned everything about his disability on his own.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows the bleachers of a gym. In front of the bleachers is a wheelchair with a prosthetic leg in it.\" class=\"wp-image-12105859\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-10-9e5a6907-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Quentin “Q” Murphy’s prosthetic leg rests in his everyday wheelchair while he is at practice in his sports wheelchair. He had to navigate prison life for the first time while newly being an amputee. He found wheelchair basketball to be a solace. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He joined the team as it was finding its footing. It wasn’t too long before coaches were telling him men were starting to look at him as a leader, but McDowell didn’t see it right away. He just knew that he wanted to change and couldn’t do it alone. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I felt like I needed people to hold me accountable for my own actions because I couldn’t help myself or hold myself accountable,” he says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His name was the first thing to go. Around the prison, men knew him by a street name from his gang days: “Everybody in the prison knew me by Chaos,” he says. About two months after joining the team, he stopped answering to it. “This is a false belief. This is not even my name,” he says. From then on, he told people his name was Lavonte.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast-forward to the fall of 2024: McDowell and Joe Chambers remember the team gathered in a circle. Joe Chambers, who was already playing for the Los Angeles Clippers Chairmen, had some news to share. The Chairmen wanted McDowell to come play for them. McDowell cried tears of joy. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-10 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105855\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of wheelchair basketball players on the court in the early morning outdoors. In the foreground is a Black man laughing joyfully in a wheelchair.\" class=\"wp-image-12105855\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-06-eb72ab0c-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The men check in before they play, sharing news from back home and welcoming new players. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-11 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105860\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of men playing wheelchair basketball. The skintones of the men range from dark-toned to light-toned.\" class=\"wp-image-12105860\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-11-5dad377e-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Two men reach up high for the basketball during a game at practice. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105870\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a Black man with long hair speeding across the court in a blur in a wheelchair.\" class=\"wp-image-12105870\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-21-bb51b698-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A man speeds by in a wheelchair, the room blurring around him. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-12 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105861\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows Coach Mieko Chambers, a woman with light-toned skin and dark brown hair, talking to a man with medium-toned skin sitting in a wheelchair. Another man with light-toned skin, in a wheelchair sits nearby.\" class=\"wp-image-12105861\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-12-ad785b96-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Mieko Chambers counsels players during a practice at the prison gymnasium. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-13 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105854\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a man in a wheelchair reaching up with the basketball in the air a few inches above his fingers. He is outdoors at dawn while another person stands nearby.\" class=\"wp-image-12105854\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-05-e022dbd7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Holland coaches Rudy “Jump Shot” Martinez during the early hours of the morning. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was released in early November 2024 and has since played for the team \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwba.org/page/show/9145206-la-clippers-chairmen?subseason=950002\">during the 2025-26 season\u003c/a>, traveling to games in states he had never been to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, he works with Project Rebound, an organization that helps connect formerly incarcerated people with higher education. “I just wanted to be of service,” he says. “I took from so many people. Did so much destruction in people’s lives, and in my own life and my family’s life … I was tired of being evil and stupid.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for the coaches, they never cut him loose. They stayed in touch, met his family, and when he needed a chair of his own, they found pieces of old chairs, built one and sent it to him. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s wonderful to have somebody to actually give you chances. That’s all individuals want in prison,” he says. “… I feel that this program can give people that. I’m living proof.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Partway through last month’s practice, Holland appears near the door holding a stack of identification cards. “Here’s all the IDs,” he tells the players. “I’m putting them up on that door. If you go to chow, grab your ID and meet me at the door.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A player looks toward the door. “Hey, coach, what if they don’t want to let us back in?” he asks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They’re gonna let you back in,” Holland responds.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It’s a harmless question about dinner, but it’s also a reminder of the controlled prison environment they’re in. Even for the volunteer coaches, getting through the gate is not always guaranteed. Some drive nearly an hour one way and have at times been turned away because searches have taken over the gym, lockdowns have wiped out programming for the day or staffing decisions have canceled practice, the coaches say. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says that it tries to minimize disruptions to programs, but staffing, training and emergencies have sometimes required temporary changes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through the uncertainty and the many hours of driving and labor, including fixing the chairs, the coaches still show up, even on days when they or the players can’t get into the gym. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t want them to think we’ve given up on it,” Joe Chambers says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, the team has played only a handful of games against outside teams. Joe Chambers has brought friends in, for example, and a Berkeley-based organization that has taught adaptive sports for decades has also played against them, Holland says. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coaches are hopeful for a future where games with outside teams happen more consistently. In their biggest dream for the program, they imagine registering the team with the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and bringing outside teams into the facility to play enough sanctioned games to ultimately build a record and earn a national ranking. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If all of those pieces fall into place, there still is one more obstacle: The CMF team can’t travel. So opponents would have to come to them and go through security, just like any other visitor at the facility. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In mid-October, after spending more than two decades behind bars, Roach walked out of CMF, uncertain but excited about his future. His family threw a homecoming party for him, and all of the wheelchair basketball program’s coaches showed up. “They’re a part of my family now,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He’s also reconnected with Jackson and McDowell. Roach knew how much wheelchair basketball meant to him inside prison, but he’s appreciative of the support network it is giving him in the free world. “When you feel isolated and alone, and you get into a program like that where it’s love, and it’s support,” he says, “like, yo, my circle expanded.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As he adjusts to his new life, he gets a chance to test the emotional regulation and character work he picked up through the program. Getting out and being around so many people so quickly, for example, has called for breathwork. “Breathe, it’s OK,” he tells himself. And having lived for so many years with so few choices in prison, the pressure to spend money on things you don’t need once you’re out is really high, Roach says. Even with small decisions, “not being impulsive” can benefit you, he says, instead of spending money and realizing later that you needed it for something more important. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He’s approaching his future in the same way: Roach has already been offered a job at a transitional home, he says, but he doesn’t want to rush into anything. He’s considering the options to make the best choice. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one thing he knows for sure is that he wants to stay connected to the wheelchair basketball team at CMF. “Whatever role they need me in,” he says. The process for getting approved to go back in, and how long that’ll take, is unclear to him.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe one day, Roach will be back at the gym, gathering the men into a circle again. But this time, he’ll be an “outside” coach. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-14 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105874\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows a group of wheelchair basketball players all reaching up simultaneously for a basketball while in an indoor court.\" class=\"wp-image-12105874\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-25-97833ce3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The players reach upward for the basketball during a scrimmage practice. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-15 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows Coach Jeremiah Holland, a White man, holding hands with wheelchair basketball players with varying skin tones, who have their hands linked while outdoors at dawn.\" class=\"wp-image-12105856\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-07-e226ca33-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coach Holland and the players gather in a circle before and after every game to support each other and talk about challenges they are facing. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-16 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"aligncenter size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12105863\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea.jpg\" alt=\"A photo shows Coach Jeremiah Holland, a White man, walking down a hall with a person in a wheelchair away from the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-12105863\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261022-WHEELCHAIR-BASKETBALL-BF-14-87d308ea-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Coaches Jeremiah Holland and Darwin Walters head home for the day after staying late at a practice. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” He tries to remind people of their potential. “People are always larger than the role that was assigned to them,” Holland says. (Brian L. Frank for CatchLight/The Marshall Project)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "at-a-contra-costa-county-elections-office-workers-say-security-is-paramount",
"title": "At a Contra Costa County Elections Office, Workers Say Security Is ‘Paramount’",
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"headTitle": "At a Contra Costa County Elections Office, Workers Say Security Is ‘Paramount’ | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a Friday morning at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/contra-costa-county\">Contra Costa County\u003c/a> Clerk-Recorder’s Office in Martinez, dozens of people were at work answering the phones or hand-counting ballots. In an adjoining warehouse, dozens more fed tally machines and operated behemoth mail sorters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The workers — a mix of temporary, full-time, and volunteer staff — were of all ages and backgrounds. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s the same thing we’ve always been doing, we haven’t changed,” said Melinda McGee, an election services technician since 2022. McGee and others in her role are responsible for voter registrations, sending out vote-by-mail ballots, and verifying signatures. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A poll worker prepares mail-in ballots for sorting at the Contra Costa County Elections Operation Center in Martinez on March 5, 2024. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Of course, as a county agency, we are following the guidelines of the election code … so all we can do is relay the messages given to us and make sure the voters are fully informed of the information we have.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A big part, McGee said, of the election workers’ job starts before the votes even come in, handling tasks like answering questions from voters and offering assurances.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said she’s hearing the usual worries that they receive every year, like questions about registering, or if a ballot was received. But in recent elections, more people have also asked to come to the office and physically observe the ballot count — something available to the public. She said there’s been more interest lately, with discussion of voter fraud and stolen ballots in the news and online. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We’re here for you. We’re working for you. We want you to know what you want to know, and there’s nothing to hide,” McGee said. “You want to come in and observe? By all means, I’ll take you myself. You want to see all the steps? I’ll be happy to show you what’s going on.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Understanding election security is always important,” McGee added. “It’s paramount to our business.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the vote just over a week away, elections officials in Contra Costa County and across the country are preparing for everything — ranging from skepticism to outright legal challenges. President Donald Trump has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/us/politics/documents-china-2020-election-trump.html\">warned\u003c/a> that our nation’s voting systems are vulnerable to foreign interference. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105068/judge-blocks-dhs-from-sending-armed-agents-to-question-voters-in-search-for-noncitizens\">armed federal agents\u003c/a> are scouring state voter registrations, trying to find proof of noncitizen voters. Just last week, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/19/nx-s1-6007908/election-tensions-escalate-in-california-as-doj-charges-28-people-with-voting-crimes\">DOJ charged 28 people in California\u003c/a> with voting-related crimes, and claimed many “likely non-citizens” on the state’s voting rolls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“All those developments affect the conduct of the election,” said Travis Ebbert, a supervisor with the elections department for 15 years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What could happen, what potential law changes … what effect that will have on voters’ behavior, their turnout, their voting patterns. Will they distrust the mail? Will they use dropboxes or show up in person more? All of that goes into our planning process,” Ebbert said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11999255\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A polling station in the city of Concord in 2024. (Brittany Hosea-Small/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While some Contra Costa County residents expressed worry to election workers about federal agents arresting people at polling places around Election Day, Ebbert said local law enforcement has assured them that’s not happening. They’re prepared with a contingency plan anyway, drafted with the help of local sheriffs, county council and the regional FBI coordinator. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ebbert and other election workers at the office say that they leave politics at the door, but when speaking to the public about concerns around elections integrity, that can be hard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nena Manuel has worked elections there for two years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We are very nonpartisan, and so what we do is focus on what the election code book says, and we follow it to a T,” Manuel said. “It doesn’t matter what political party anyone affiliates with, we are going to serve you just as we would everyone else. Everyone come as you are and we will accept you and assist you and get you to vote if you are eligible.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ebbert says since 2016, officials have faced more skepticism from the public about their elections process — but more appreciation, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“For the last 6 to 8 years, I get ‘Thank you for your service’ like I’m a veteran or something,” said Ebbert, with a laugh. “I show up to work at a government job everyday in an office building and sit at my computer. I thought that was very strange, but I appreciate the sentiment.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manuel said when she answers the phones, she’s been told the same thing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They are very thankful, because I think when they hear what the process is, and that you have a genuine interest in ensuring that their ballots are being processed in a safe manner, they are happy to hear that,” Manuel said. “It’s very interesting to get that kind of reaction.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McGee, who used to work for a political lobbying group, said she started working in elections to get away from politics. She noted a clear throughline in her career. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Service. It’s about service,” she said. “That is basically my mission in life, helping people. Whether it’s here in this office or outside in my private life, I’m always going to try and help someone. So it’s just lucky I get paid to do it now.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She said she’s hearing the usual worries that they receive every year, like questions about registering, or if a ballot was received. But in recent elections, more people have also asked to come to the office and physically observe the ballot count — something available to the public. She said there’s been more interest lately, with discussion of voter fraud and stolen ballots in the news and online. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We’re here for you. We’re working for you. We want you to know what you want to know, and there’s nothing to hide,” McGee said. “You want to come in and observe? By all means, I’ll take you myself. You want to see all the steps? I’ll be happy to show you what’s going on.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Understanding election security is always important,” McGee added. “It’s paramount to our business.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>With the vote just over a week away, elections officials in Contra Costa County and across the country are preparing for everything — ranging from skepticism to outright legal challenges. President Donald Trump has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/us/politics/documents-china-2020-election-trump.html\">warned\u003c/a> that our nation’s voting systems are vulnerable to foreign interference. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105068/judge-blocks-dhs-from-sending-armed-agents-to-question-voters-in-search-for-noncitizens\">armed federal agents\u003c/a> are scouring state voter registrations, trying to find proof of noncitizen voters. Just last week, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/19/nx-s1-6007908/election-tensions-escalate-in-california-as-doj-charges-28-people-with-voting-crimes\">DOJ charged 28 people in California\u003c/a> with voting-related crimes, and claimed many “likely non-citizens” on the state’s voting rolls. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>With the vote just over a week away, elections officials in Contra Costa County and across the country are preparing for everything — ranging from skepticism to outright legal challenges. President Donald Trump has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/us/politics/documents-china-2020-election-trump.html\">warned\u003c/a> that our nation’s voting systems are vulnerable to foreign interference. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105068/judge-blocks-dhs-from-sending-armed-agents-to-question-voters-in-search-for-noncitizens\">armed federal agents\u003c/a> are scouring state voter registrations, trying to find proof of noncitizen voters. Just last week, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/19/nx-s1-6007908/election-tensions-escalate-in-california-as-doj-charges-28-people-with-voting-crimes\">DOJ charged 28 people in California\u003c/a> with voting-related crimes, and claimed many “likely non-citizens” on the state’s voting rolls. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“All those developments affect the conduct of the election,” said Travis Ebbert, a supervisor with the elections department for 15 years. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While some Contra Costa County residents expressed worry to election workers about federal agents arresting people at polling places around Election Day, Ebbert said local law enforcement has assured them that’s not happening. They’re prepared with a contingency plan anyway, drafted with the help of local sheriffs, county council and the regional FBI coordinator. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We are very nonpartisan, and so what we do is focus on what the election code book says, and we follow it to a T,” Manuel said. “It doesn’t matter what political party anyone affiliates with, we are going to serve you just as we would everyone else. Everyone come as you are and we will accept you and assist you and get you to vote if you are eligible.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“For the last 6 to 8 years, I get ‘Thank you for your service’ like I’m a veteran or something,” said Ebbert, with a laugh. “I show up to work at a government job everyday in an office building and sit at my computer. I thought that was very strange, but I appreciate the sentiment.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They are very thankful, because I think when they hear what the process is, and that you have a genuine interest in ensuring that their ballots are being processed in a safe manner, they are happy to hear that,” Manuel said. “It’s very interesting to get that kind of reaction.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>McGee, who used to work for a political lobbying group, said she started working in elections to get away from politics. She noted a clear throughline in her career. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Service. It’s about service,” she said. “That is basically my mission in life, helping people. Whether it’s here in this office or outside in my private life, I’m always going to try and help someone. So it’s just lucky I get paid to do it now.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a Friday morning at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/contra-costa-county\">Contra Costa County\u003c/a> Clerk-Recorder’s Office in Martinez, dozens of people were at work answering the phones or hand-counting ballots. In an adjoining warehouse, dozens more fed tally machines and operated behemoth mail sorters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The workers — a mix of temporary, full-time, and volunteer staff — were of all ages and backgrounds. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s the same thing we’ve always been doing, we haven’t changed,” said Melinda McGee, an election services technician since 2022. McGee and others in her role are responsible for voter registrations, sending out vote-by-mail ballots, and verifying signatures. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/240305-MARTINEZ-VOTING-FILE-MD-04_qed-51570973-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A poll worker prepares mail-in ballots for sorting at the Contra Costa County Elections Operation Center in Martinez on March 5, 2024. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Of course, as a county agency, we are following the guidelines of the election code … so all we can do is relay the messages given to us and make sure the voters are fully informed of the information we have.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A big part, McGee said, of the election workers’ job starts before the votes even come in, handling tasks like answering questions from voters and offering assurances.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said she’s hearing the usual worries that they receive every year, like questions about registering, or if a ballot was received. But in recent elections, more people have also asked to come to the office and physically observe the ballot count — something available to the public. She said there’s been more interest lately, with discussion of voter fraud and stolen ballots in the news and online. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We’re here for you. We’re working for you. We want you to know what you want to know, and there’s nothing to hide,” McGee said. “You want to come in and observe? By all means, I’ll take you myself. You want to see all the steps? I’ll be happy to show you what’s going on.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Understanding election security is always important,” McGee added. “It’s paramount to our business.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the vote just over a week away, elections officials in Contra Costa County and across the country are preparing for everything — ranging from skepticism to outright legal challenges. President Donald Trump has \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/us/politics/documents-china-2020-election-trump.html\">warned\u003c/a> that our nation’s voting systems are vulnerable to foreign interference. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105068/judge-blocks-dhs-from-sending-armed-agents-to-question-voters-in-search-for-noncitizens\">armed federal agents\u003c/a> are scouring state voter registrations, trying to find proof of noncitizen voters. Just last week, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/10/19/nx-s1-6007908/election-tensions-escalate-in-california-as-doj-charges-28-people-with-voting-crimes\">DOJ charged 28 people in California\u003c/a> with voting-related crimes, and claimed many “likely non-citizens” on the state’s voting rolls. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“All those developments affect the conduct of the election,” said Travis Ebbert, a supervisor with the elections department for 15 years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“What could happen, what potential law changes … what effect that will have on voters’ behavior, their turnout, their voting patterns. Will they distrust the mail? Will they use dropboxes or show up in person more? All of that goes into our planning process,” Ebbert said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11999255\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/161108_ConcordPolling_bhs02-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A polling station in the city of Concord in 2024. (Brittany Hosea-Small/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While some Contra Costa County residents expressed worry to election workers about federal agents arresting people at polling places around Election Day, Ebbert said local law enforcement has assured them that’s not happening. They’re prepared with a contingency plan anyway, drafted with the help of local sheriffs, county council and the regional FBI coordinator. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ebbert and other election workers at the office say that they leave politics at the door, but when speaking to the public about concerns around elections integrity, that can be hard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nena Manuel has worked elections there for two years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We are very nonpartisan, and so what we do is focus on what the election code book says, and we follow it to a T,” Manuel said. “It doesn’t matter what political party anyone affiliates with, we are going to serve you just as we would everyone else. Everyone come as you are and we will accept you and assist you and get you to vote if you are eligible.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ebbert says since 2016, officials have faced more skepticism from the public about their elections process — but more appreciation, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“For the last 6 to 8 years, I get ‘Thank you for your service’ like I’m a veteran or something,” said Ebbert, with a laugh. “I show up to work at a government job everyday in an office building and sit at my computer. I thought that was very strange, but I appreciate the sentiment.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manuel said when she answers the phones, she’s been told the same thing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They are very thankful, because I think when they hear what the process is, and that you have a genuine interest in ensuring that their ballots are being processed in a safe manner, they are happy to hear that,” Manuel said. “It’s very interesting to get that kind of reaction.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McGee, who used to work for a political lobbying group, said she started working in elections to get away from politics. She noted a clear throughline in her career. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Service. It’s about service,” she said. “That is basically my mission in life, helping people. Whether it’s here in this office or outside in my private life, I’m always going to try and help someone. So it’s just lucky I get paid to do it now.” \u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After hollowing out during the pandemic, San Francisco’s office vacancy rate is hovering at around 30%. Pair that volume of empty space with an escalating housing crisis, and it’s enough to make you wonder: Could you turn those empty offices into apartments? Today, we talk with two developers about what it actually takes to make these conversion projects a reality.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-scaled-1-496feabf.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-scaled-1-496feabf.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-160x107-1-2eb3d543.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-2000x1333-1-9186bac0.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-1536x1024-1-b974c687.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-2048x1365-1-8ce27e9d.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-1012x674-1-d1a66efa.jpg 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">150 Hayes Street, an office building which will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-scaled-1-155d53e8.jpg\" alt=\"\" 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/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cubicles inside 150 Hayes Street, an office building that will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-scaled-1-640249d2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106192\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-scaled-1-640249d2.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-160x107-1-66bc2db8.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-2000x1333-1-ea0211d0.jpg 2000w, 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src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-scaled-1-2d7dd3cf.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106195\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-scaled-1-2d7dd3cf.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-160x107-1-11207baf.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-2000x1333-1-5e7c2ffe.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-1536x1024-1-fbdd5e87.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-2048x1365-1-7cf0881f.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-1012x675-1-18b232b2.jpg 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Moving boxes inside 150 Hayes Street, an office building that will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-scaled-1-ddf440aa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106189\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-scaled-1-ddf440aa.jpg 2560w, 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Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>After hollowing out during the pandemic, San Francisco’s office vacancy rate is hovering at around 30%. Pair that volume of empty space with an escalating housing crisis, and it’s enough to make you wonder: Could you turn those empty offices into apartments? Today, we talk with two developers about what it actually takes to make these conversion projects a reality.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After hollowing out during the pandemic, San Francisco’s office vacancy rate is hovering at around 30%. Pair that volume of empty space with an escalating housing crisis, and it’s enough to make you wonder: Could you turn those empty offices into apartments? Today, we talk with two developers about what it actually takes to make these conversion projects a reality.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-scaled-1-496feabf.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-scaled-1-496feabf.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-160x107-1-2eb3d543.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-2000x1333-1-9186bac0.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-1536x1024-1-b974c687.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-2048x1365-1-8ce27e9d.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-36-83ef18ec-1012x674-1-d1a66efa.jpg 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">150 Hayes Street, an office building which will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-scaled-1-155d53e8.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106190\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-scaled-1-155d53e8.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-160x107-1-0723c8ea.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-1536x1024-1-1e3a9e6e.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-2000x1333-1-0637cdd1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-2048x1365-1-afab22d7.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-18-88a8e3cb-1012x675-1-ad3b6f7d.jpg 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cubicles inside 150 Hayes Street, an office building that will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-scaled-1-640249d2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106192\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-scaled-1-640249d2.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-160x107-1-66bc2db8.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-2000x1333-1-ea0211d0.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-1536x1024-1-528106cd.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-2048x1365-1-0dfe48bc.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-27-aaa1487d-1012x675-1-cc299e47.jpg 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cubicles inside 150 Hayes Street, an office building that will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-scaled-1-2d7dd3cf.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106195\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-scaled-1-2d7dd3cf.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-160x107-1-11207baf.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-2000x1333-1-5e7c2ffe.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-1536x1024-1-fbdd5e87.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-2048x1365-1-7cf0881f.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-32-784c8ed3-1012x675-1-18b232b2.jpg 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Moving boxes inside 150 Hayes Street, an office building that will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-scaled-1-ddf440aa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106189\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-scaled-1-ddf440aa.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-160x107-1-effea28a.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-1536x1024-1-531d56ad.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-2000x1333-1-3b71e733.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-2048x1365-1-95a9080f.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261009-Office-to-apartment-building-conversions-NG-16-6c376f0b-1012x675-1-5552aff7.jpg 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The view of San Francisco City Hall from inside 150 Hayes Street, an office building that will be converted to housing, in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Oct. 9, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "medi-cal-cuts-could-push-seniors-and-people-with-disabilities-off-of-coverage",
"title": "Medi-Cal Cuts Could Push Seniors and People With Disabilities Off of Coverage",
"publishDate": 1792936800,
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"headTitle": "Medi-Cal Cuts Could Push Seniors and People With Disabilities Off of Coverage | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Julia Feinberg feels like she’s living in a sinister version of Groundhog Day. For the second year in a row \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers have made it tougher for seniors and people with disabilities to qualify for state-funded health benefits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feinberg, 37, who has a degenerative neuromuscular disorder, said without Medi-Cal she would be confined to a nursing home rather than living and working as a therapist in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We keep having to have the same fight over and over and over again,” Feinberg said. She requires a power wheelchair and about 19 hours of caregiving each day, which Medi-Cal covers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California is cutting Medi-Cal after a decade of expansion, part of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/08/medi-cal-the-cut-healthcare-threatened/\">sweeping federal and state cuts\u003c/a> that experts estimate will kick more than 2.2 million Californians off coverage in the next four years, doubling the state’s uninsured rate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12063947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A senior woman at home receiving health care. (LPETTET via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest cut came in June, when state leaders approved a budget that will lower the asset limit for low-income seniors and people with disabilities to $21,000 to qualify for Medi-Cal, starting in July 2027. Feinberg, who has built up emergency savings, will have to spend about $10,000 to get under the cap.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024, the state eliminated longstanding Medi-Cal asset limits, but since then lawmakers have chipped away at that policy. At the beginning of this year, state leaders reinstated an asset limit of $130,000, and the June budget lowered it further. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A primary residence and one vehicle are exempt from the new limit, but people 65 and older as well as those with disabilities cannot own a second home or car, and they can’t have more than $21,000 in \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/MC007-ENG.pdf\">savings accounts, certain retirement accounts, life insurance policies or even burial plots\u003c/a>. They must still meet \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/medi-cal/qualify/qualify-for-medi-cal-eligibility-chart/\">Medi-Cal income eligibility limits\u003c/a> of about $1,800 a month for a single person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advocates say the rules unfairly target older people and those with disabilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106309\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caretaker Lexi Marsh assists Elizabette Guéçamburu with various day-to-day tasks. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s really expensive to be disabled,” said Elizabette Guéçamburu, 44, who like Feinberg has spinal muscular atrophy and requires a power wheelchair as well as daily caregiving.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guéçamburu said she’s saving up for a used wheelchair-accessible van, which costs about $75,000. Home modifications such as adding ramps and making bathrooms accessible also cost tens of thousands of dollars, none of which are covered by Medi-Cal. Guéçamburu said those expenses would be impossible to afford if she couldn’t save.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guéçamburu lives on her family’s farm in Patterson where they grow walnuts, almonds and alfalfa. She works part time as the farm’s bookkeeper. In 2024, doctors diagnosed Guéçamburu’s father with prostate cancer, and he could no longer act as her caregiver. The same year, California eliminated asset limits for people with disabilities and seniors — Guéçamburu cried, able to qualify for Medi-Cal for the first time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The timing was a godsend,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12106310\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caretaker Lexi Marsh helps Elizabette Guecamburu get inside her van in the garage of her home outside Patterson on Oct. 16, 2026. Guecamburu is afraid that recently passed state Medi-Cal cuts will disqualify her from benefits. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12106311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106311\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caretaker Lexi Marsh feeds Elizabette Guéçamburu her food. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, her aging father is unable to take care of her should she lose Medi-Cal, and Guéçamburu is struggling to figure out what to do with money left to her by her grandmother. She’ll likely have to put it into a special needs trust controlled by a family member and give up financial independence. She also had her family strike her from inheriting any portion of their 100-year-old farm. \u003ca href=\"https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/long-term-care-affordability-report/\">Private home care costs thousands of dollars a month\u003c/a>, making it hard for lower- and middle-income people to pay for it out-of-pocket.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I have to surrender our legacy just to have medical security and have the ability to live my life,” Guéçamburu said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Asset limit flip-flop\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gov. Gavin Newsom eliminated Medi-Cal asset requirements in 2024 after a yearslong campaign by senior and disability rights advocates. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/01/governor-newsom-proclaims-older-californians-month-2023/\">statement before the elimination\u003c/a>, Newsom said he was proud of the “bold investments” his administration was making to “protect life savings and homes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But two years later, faced with a $12 billion budget shortfall, Newsom proposed reinstating the former $2,000 limit, arguing that more than twice as many people enrolled as previously estimated. The Legislature opposed that proposal and compromised at the current higher limit of $130,000, lowering it again to $21,000 starting next July. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lindsay Imai Hong, California director for Hand In Hand, an advocacy group supporting families that need caregiving, said organizers are looking to the next governor for change.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We would love to see the asset test permanently taken off of the chopping block,” Imai Hong said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said in a statement to CalMatters that he opposes asset limits. He criticized the state for extending other Medi-Cal benefits beyond what it could afford, including coverage for immigrants without legal status.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Seniors and people with disabilities shouldn’t lose their coverage because they’ve managed to save some money. They’ve done the responsible thing. Why punish them for it?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democratic gubernatorial candidate and front-runner Xavier Becerra did not answer specific questions about the asset limit policy, but a campaign spokesperson blamed the Trump administration’s federal cuts for “squeezing” California’s Medi-Cal program.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106312\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Elizabette Guecamburu does her circulation exercises in the living room of her home outside of Patterson on Oct. 16, 2026. Guecamburu is afraid that recently passed state Medi-Cal cuts will disqualify her from benefits. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Becerra will be “focused on protecting access to care and demand savings that are real, measurable and sustainable,” spokesperson Johnathan Underland said. On the campaign trail, Becerra has called himself California’s next “healthcare governor” and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/27/xavier-becerra-wants-to-be-the-health-care-governor-00532691\">previously floated raising taxes\u003c/a> to reverse Medi-Cal cuts, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/09/california-governor-healthcare-plans-2026/\">has not released detailed health policy plans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Camille Nguyen, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, said most people who struggle to stay under the limit have little financial security.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They have all of their life savings in cash savings instead of a house. That’s their retirement. That is the amount they are expecting to live off of for the rest of their life,” Nguyen said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">State data shows about 600 people lost Medi-Cal when California reinstated the $130,000 limit. Advocates expect many more to lose Medi-Cal at the lower limit, but the state never released budget estimates before lawmakers approved the $21,000 limit. If the state reinstated the much lower $2,000 limit, the Department of Finance estimated 62,000 seniors and people with disabilities would lose Medi-Cal over two years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Limit fuels anxiety, anger among people with disabilities\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feinberg said the prospect of losing Medi-Cal is especially scary because she would also lose access to a special disability program that pays for extra caregiving hours and has a multiyear waitlist. Caregivers help Feinberg get in and out of bed, dress and prepare her meals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the limit was erased in 2024, Feinberg said she checked her bank account every day to make sure the balance was low. At the time, Feinberg was a graduate student and did not earn very much money. Now, as a licensed therapist Feinberg has been able to squirrel away some money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t want to spend down that money. I want to save that for retirement, maybe buying a house in the future,” Feinberg said. “The prospect of not being able to have a nest egg is very unsettling.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guéçamburu said she’s angry and frustrated that the state views services for people with disabilities as expendable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s exhausting to have to justify your existence every legislative cycle,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/10/california-medi-cal-asset-limit-cut/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Julia Feinberg feels like she’s living in a sinister version of Groundhog Day. For the second year in a row \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers have made it tougher for seniors and people with disabilities to qualify for state-funded health benefits. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Julia Feinberg feels like she’s living in a sinister version of Groundhog Day. For the second year in a row \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers have made it tougher for seniors and people with disabilities to qualify for state-funded health benefits. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Feinberg, 37, who has a degenerative neuromuscular disorder, said without Medi-Cal she would be confined to a nursing home rather than living and working as a therapist in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Feinberg, 37, who has a degenerative neuromuscular disorder, said without Medi-Cal she would be confined to a nursing home rather than living and working as a therapist in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We keep having to have the same fight over and over and over again,” Feinberg said. She requires a power wheelchair and about 19 hours of caregiving each day, which Medi-Cal covers.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“We keep having to have the same fight over and over and over again,” Feinberg said. She requires a power wheelchair and about 19 hours of caregiving each day, which Medi-Cal covers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California is cutting Medi-Cal after a decade of expansion, part of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/08/medi-cal-the-cut-healthcare-threatened/\">sweeping federal and state cuts\u003c/a> that experts estimate will kick more than 2.2 million Californians off coverage in the next four years, doubling the state’s uninsured rate. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>California is cutting Medi-Cal after a decade of expansion, part of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/08/medi-cal-the-cut-healthcare-threatened/\">sweeping federal and state cuts\u003c/a> that experts estimate will kick more than 2.2 million Californians off coverage in the next four years, doubling the state’s uninsured rate. \u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12063947\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A senior woman at home receiving health care.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (LPETTET via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The latest cut came in June, when state leaders approved a budget that will lower the asset limit for low-income seniors and people with disabilities to $21,000 to qualify for Medi-Cal, starting in July 2027. Feinberg, who has built up emergency savings, will have to spend about $10,000 to get under the cap.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The latest cut came in June, when state leaders approved a budget that will lower the asset limit for low-income seniors and people with disabilities to $21,000 to qualify for Medi-Cal, starting in July 2027. Feinberg, who has built up emergency savings, will have to spend about $10,000 to get under the cap.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2024, the state eliminated longstanding Medi-Cal asset limits, but since then lawmakers have chipped away at that policy. At the beginning of this year, state leaders reinstated an asset limit of $130,000, and the June budget lowered it further. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2024, the state eliminated longstanding Medi-Cal asset limits, but since then lawmakers have chipped away at that policy. At the beginning of this year, state leaders reinstated an asset limit of $130,000, and the June budget lowered it further. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A primary residence and one vehicle are exempt from the new limit, but people 65 and older as well as those with disabilities cannot own a second home or car, and they can’t have more than $21,000 in \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/MC007-ENG.pdf\">savings accounts, certain retirement accounts, life insurance policies or even burial plots\u003c/a>. They must still meet \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/medi-cal/qualify/qualify-for-medi-cal-eligibility-chart/\">Medi-Cal income eligibility limits\u003c/a> of about $1,800 a month for a single person.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A primary residence and one vehicle are exempt from the new limit, but people 65 and older as well as those with disabilities cannot own a second home or car, and they can’t have more than $21,000 in \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/MC007-ENG.pdf\">savings accounts, certain retirement accounts, life insurance policies or even burial plots\u003c/a>. They must still meet \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/medi-cal/qualify/qualify-for-medi-cal-eligibility-chart/\">Medi-Cal income eligibility limits\u003c/a> of about $1,800 a month for a single person.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Advocates say the rules unfairly target older people and those with disabilities. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Advocates say the rules unfairly target older people and those with disabilities. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106309\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> Caretaker Lexi Marsh assists Elizabette Guéçamburu with various day-to-day tasks.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s really expensive to be disabled,” said Elizabette Guéçamburu, 44, who like Feinberg has spinal muscular atrophy and requires a power wheelchair as well as daily caregiving.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Guéçamburu said she’s saving up for a used wheelchair-accessible van, which costs about $75,000. Home modifications such as adding ramps and making bathrooms accessible also cost tens of thousands of dollars, none of which are covered by Medi-Cal. Guéçamburu said those expenses would be impossible to afford if she couldn’t save.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Guéçamburu lives on her family’s farm in Patterson where they grow walnuts, almonds and alfalfa. She works part time as the farm’s bookkeeper. In 2024, doctors diagnosed Guéçamburu’s father with prostate cancer, and he could no longer act as her caregiver. The same year, California eliminated asset limits for people with disabilities and seniors — Guéçamburu cried, able to qualify for Medi-Cal for the first time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, her aging father is unable to take care of her should she lose Medi-Cal, and Guéçamburu is struggling to figure out what to do with money left to her by her grandmother. She’ll likely have to put it into a special needs trust controlled by a family member and give up financial independence. She also had her family strike her from inheriting any portion of their 100-year-old farm. \u003ca href=\"https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/long-term-care-affordability-report/\">Private home care costs thousands of dollars a month\u003c/a>, making it hard for lower- and middle-income people to pay for it out-of-pocket.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now, her aging father is unable to take care of her should she lose Medi-Cal, and Guéçamburu is struggling to figure out what to do with money left to her by her grandmother. She’ll likely have to put it into a special needs trust controlled by a family member and give up financial independence. She also had her family strike her from inheriting any portion of their 100-year-old farm. \u003ca href=\"https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/long-term-care-affordability-report/\">Private home care costs thousands of dollars a month\u003c/a>, making it hard for lower- and middle-income people to pay for it out-of-pocket.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I have to surrender our legacy just to have medical security and have the ability to live my life,” Guéçamburu said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Asset limit flip-flop\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom eliminated Medi-Cal asset requirements in 2024 after a yearslong campaign by senior and disability rights advocates. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/01/governor-newsom-proclaims-older-californians-month-2023/\">statement before the elimination\u003c/a>, Newsom said he was proud of the “bold investments” his administration was making to “protect life savings and homes.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom eliminated Medi-Cal asset requirements in 2024 after a yearslong campaign by senior and disability rights advocates. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/01/governor-newsom-proclaims-older-californians-month-2023/\">statement before the elimination\u003c/a>, Newsom said he was proud of the “bold investments” his administration was making to “protect life savings and homes.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But two years later, faced with a $12 billion budget shortfall, Newsom proposed reinstating the former $2,000 limit, arguing that more than twice as many people enrolled as previously estimated. The Legislature opposed that proposal and compromised at the current higher limit of $130,000, lowering it again to $21,000 starting next July. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But two years later, faced with a $12 billion budget shortfall, Newsom proposed reinstating the former $2,000 limit, arguing that more than twice as many people enrolled as previously estimated. The Legislature opposed that proposal and compromised at the current higher limit of $130,000, lowering it again to $21,000 starting next July. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Lindsay Imai Hong, California director for Hand In Hand, an advocacy group supporting families that need caregiving, said organizers are looking to the next governor for change.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We would love to see the asset test permanently taken off of the chopping block,” Imai Hong said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said in a statement to CalMatters that he opposes asset limits. He criticized the state for extending other Medi-Cal benefits beyond what it could afford, including coverage for immigrants without legal status.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said in a statement to CalMatters that he opposes asset limits. He criticized the state for extending other Medi-Cal benefits beyond what it could afford, including coverage for immigrants without legal status.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Seniors and people with disabilities shouldn’t lose their coverage because they’ve managed to save some money. They’ve done the responsible thing. Why punish them for it?” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Democratic gubernatorial candidate and front-runner Xavier Becerra did not answer specific questions about the asset limit policy, but a campaign spokesperson blamed the Trump administration’s federal cuts for “squeezing” California’s Medi-Cal program.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106312\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Elizabette Guecamburu does her circulation exercises in the living room of her home outside of Patterson on Oct. 16, 2026. Guecamburu is afraid that recently passed state Medi-Cal cuts will disqualify her from benefits.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Becerra will be “focused on protecting access to care and demand savings that are real, measurable and sustainable,” spokesperson Johnathan Underland said. On the campaign trail, Becerra has called himself California’s next “healthcare governor” and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/27/xavier-becerra-wants-to-be-the-health-care-governor-00532691\">previously floated raising taxes\u003c/a> to reverse Medi-Cal cuts, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/09/california-governor-healthcare-plans-2026/\">has not released detailed health policy plans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Becerra will be “focused on protecting access to care and demand savings that are real, measurable and sustainable,” spokesperson Johnathan Underland said. On the campaign trail, Becerra has called himself California’s next “healthcare governor” and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/27/xavier-becerra-wants-to-be-the-health-care-governor-00532691\">previously floated raising taxes\u003c/a> to reverse Medi-Cal cuts, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/09/california-governor-healthcare-plans-2026/\">has not released detailed health policy plans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Camille Nguyen, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, said most people who struggle to stay under the limit have little financial security.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Camille Nguyen, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, said most people who struggle to stay under the limit have little financial security.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They have all of their life savings in cash savings instead of a house. That’s their retirement. That is the amount they are expecting to live off of for the rest of their life,” Nguyen said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“They have all of their life savings in cash savings instead of a house. That’s their retirement. That is the amount they are expecting to live off of for the rest of their life,” Nguyen said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>State data shows about 600 people lost Medi-Cal when California reinstated the $130,000 limit. Advocates expect many more to lose Medi-Cal at the lower limit, but the state never released budget estimates before lawmakers approved the $21,000 limit. If the state reinstated the much lower $2,000 limit, the Department of Finance estimated 62,000 seniors and people with disabilities would lose Medi-Cal over two years. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>State data shows about 600 people lost Medi-Cal when California reinstated the $130,000 limit. Advocates expect many more to lose Medi-Cal at the lower limit, but the state never released budget estimates before lawmakers approved the $21,000 limit. If the state reinstated the much lower $2,000 limit, the Department of Finance estimated 62,000 seniors and people with disabilities would lose Medi-Cal over two years. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Feinberg said the prospect of losing Medi-Cal is especially scary because she would also lose access to a special disability program that pays for extra caregiving hours and has a multiyear waitlist. Caregivers help Feinberg get in and out of bed, dress and prepare her meals.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Feinberg said the prospect of losing Medi-Cal is especially scary because she would also lose access to a special disability program that pays for extra caregiving hours and has a multiyear waitlist. Caregivers help Feinberg get in and out of bed, dress and prepare her meals.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Before the limit was erased in 2024, Feinberg said she checked her bank account every day to make sure the balance was low. At the time, Feinberg was a graduate student and did not earn very much money. Now, as a licensed therapist Feinberg has been able to squirrel away some money.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to spend down that money. I want to save that for retirement, maybe buying a house in the future,” Feinberg said. “The prospect of not being able to have a nest egg is very unsettling.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Guéçamburu said she’s angry and frustrated that the state views services for people with disabilities as expendable.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s exhausting to have to justify your existence every legislative cycle,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s exhausting to have to justify your existence every legislative cycle,” she said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/10/california-medi-cal-asset-limit-cut/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Next July, new Medi-Cal rules prohibit seniors and people with disabilities from saving more than $21,000. Senior and disability rights advocates say the cuts unfairly target vulnerable groups.",
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"title": "Medi-Cal Cuts Could Push Seniors and People With Disabilities Off of Coverage | KQED",
"description": "Next July, new Medi-Cal rules prohibit seniors and people with disabilities from saving more than $21,000. Senior and disability rights advocates say the cuts unfairly target vulnerable groups.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Julia Feinberg feels like she’s living in a sinister version of Groundhog Day. For the second year in a row \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> lawmakers have made it tougher for seniors and people with disabilities to qualify for state-funded health benefits. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feinberg, 37, who has a degenerative neuromuscular disorder, said without Medi-Cal she would be confined to a nursing home rather than living and working as a therapist in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We keep having to have the same fight over and over and over again,” Feinberg said. She requires a power wheelchair and about 19 hours of caregiving each day, which Medi-Cal covers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California is cutting Medi-Cal after a decade of expansion, part of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/08/medi-cal-the-cut-healthcare-threatened/\">sweeping federal and state cuts\u003c/a> that experts estimate will kick more than 2.2 million Californians off coverage in the next four years, doubling the state’s uninsured rate. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12063947\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/CaregiverGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A senior woman at home receiving health care. (LPETTET via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest cut came in June, when state leaders approved a budget that will lower the asset limit for low-income seniors and people with disabilities to $21,000 to qualify for Medi-Cal, starting in July 2027. Feinberg, who has built up emergency savings, will have to spend about $10,000 to get under the cap.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024, the state eliminated longstanding Medi-Cal asset limits, but since then lawmakers have chipped away at that policy. At the beginning of this year, state leaders reinstated an asset limit of $130,000, and the June budget lowered it further. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A primary residence and one vehicle are exempt from the new limit, but people 65 and older as well as those with disabilities cannot own a second home or car, and they can’t have more than $21,000 in \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/MC007-ENG.pdf\">savings accounts, certain retirement accounts, life insurance policies or even burial plots\u003c/a>. They must still meet \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/medi-cal/qualify/qualify-for-medi-cal-eligibility-chart/\">Medi-Cal income eligibility limits\u003c/a> of about $1,800 a month for a single person.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advocates say the rules unfairly target older people and those with disabilities. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106309\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_04-a244a4ca-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caretaker Lexi Marsh assists Elizabette Guéçamburu with various day-to-day tasks. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s really expensive to be disabled,” said Elizabette Guéçamburu, 44, who like Feinberg has spinal muscular atrophy and requires a power wheelchair as well as daily caregiving.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guéçamburu said she’s saving up for a used wheelchair-accessible van, which costs about $75,000. Home modifications such as adding ramps and making bathrooms accessible also cost tens of thousands of dollars, none of which are covered by Medi-Cal. Guéçamburu said those expenses would be impossible to afford if she couldn’t save.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guéçamburu lives on her family’s farm in Patterson where they grow walnuts, almonds and alfalfa. She works part time as the farm’s bookkeeper. In 2024, doctors diagnosed Guéçamburu’s father with prostate cancer, and he could no longer act as her caregiver. The same year, California eliminated asset limits for people with disabilities and seniors — Guéçamburu cried, able to qualify for Medi-Cal for the first time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“The timing was a godsend,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12106310\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926-ASSET-LIMIT-LV_CM_24-4689659e-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caretaker Lexi Marsh helps Elizabette Guecamburu get inside her van in the garage of her home outside Patterson on Oct. 16, 2026. Guecamburu is afraid that recently passed state Medi-Cal cuts will disqualify her from benefits. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-id=\"12106311\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106311\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_20-967a950c-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caretaker Lexi Marsh feeds Elizabette Guéçamburu her food. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, her aging father is unable to take care of her should she lose Medi-Cal, and Guéçamburu is struggling to figure out what to do with money left to her by her grandmother. She’ll likely have to put it into a special needs trust controlled by a family member and give up financial independence. She also had her family strike her from inheriting any portion of their 100-year-old farm. \u003ca href=\"https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/long-term-care-affordability-report/\">Private home care costs thousands of dollars a month\u003c/a>, making it hard for lower- and middle-income people to pay for it out-of-pocket.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I have to surrender our legacy just to have medical security and have the ability to live my life,” Guéçamburu said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Asset limit flip-flop\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gov. Gavin Newsom eliminated Medi-Cal asset requirements in 2024 after a yearslong campaign by senior and disability rights advocates. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/05/01/governor-newsom-proclaims-older-californians-month-2023/\">statement before the elimination\u003c/a>, Newsom said he was proud of the “bold investments” his administration was making to “protect life savings and homes.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But two years later, faced with a $12 billion budget shortfall, Newsom proposed reinstating the former $2,000 limit, arguing that more than twice as many people enrolled as previously estimated. The Legislature opposed that proposal and compromised at the current higher limit of $130,000, lowering it again to $21,000 starting next July. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-33-BL-KQED-7273678d-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lindsay Imai Hong, California director for Hand In Hand, an advocacy group supporting families that need caregiving, said organizers are looking to the next governor for change.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We would love to see the asset test permanently taken off of the chopping block,” Imai Hong said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said in a statement to CalMatters that he opposes asset limits. He criticized the state for extending other Medi-Cal benefits beyond what it could afford, including coverage for immigrants without legal status.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Seniors and people with disabilities shouldn’t lose their coverage because they’ve managed to save some money. They’ve done the responsible thing. Why punish them for it?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democratic gubernatorial candidate and front-runner Xavier Becerra did not answer specific questions about the asset limit policy, but a campaign spokesperson blamed the Trump administration’s federal cuts for “squeezing” California’s Medi-Cal program.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106312\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/101926_ASSET-LIMIT_LV_CM_07-2a2066eb-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Elizabette Guecamburu does her circulation exercises in the living room of her home outside of Patterson on Oct. 16, 2026. Guecamburu is afraid that recently passed state Medi-Cal cuts will disqualify her from benefits. (Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Becerra will be “focused on protecting access to care and demand savings that are real, measurable and sustainable,” spokesperson Johnathan Underland said. On the campaign trail, Becerra has called himself California’s next “healthcare governor” and has \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/27/xavier-becerra-wants-to-be-the-health-care-governor-00532691\">previously floated raising taxes\u003c/a> to reverse Medi-Cal cuts, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/09/california-governor-healthcare-plans-2026/\">has not released detailed health policy plans\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Camille Nguyen, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, said most people who struggle to stay under the limit have little financial security.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“They have all of their life savings in cash savings instead of a house. That’s their retirement. That is the amount they are expecting to live off of for the rest of their life,” Nguyen said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">State data shows about 600 people lost Medi-Cal when California reinstated the $130,000 limit. Advocates expect many more to lose Medi-Cal at the lower limit, but the state never released budget estimates before lawmakers approved the $21,000 limit. If the state reinstated the much lower $2,000 limit, the Department of Finance estimated 62,000 seniors and people with disabilities would lose Medi-Cal over two years. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Limit fuels anxiety, anger among people with disabilities\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feinberg said the prospect of losing Medi-Cal is especially scary because she would also lose access to a special disability program that pays for extra caregiving hours and has a multiyear waitlist. Caregivers help Feinberg get in and out of bed, dress and prepare her meals.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the limit was erased in 2024, Feinberg said she checked her bank account every day to make sure the balance was low. At the time, Feinberg was a graduate student and did not earn very much money. Now, as a licensed therapist Feinberg has been able to squirrel away some money.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I don’t want to spend down that money. I want to save that for retirement, maybe buying a house in the future,” Feinberg said. “The prospect of not being able to have a nest egg is very unsettling.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guéçamburu said she’s angry and frustrated that the state views services for people with disabilities as expendable.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s exhausting to have to justify your existence every legislative cycle,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2026/10/california-medi-cal-asset-limit-cut/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "doj-orders-contra-costa-other-california-counties-to-verify-ballots",
"title": "DOJ Orders Contra Costa, Other California Counties to Verify Ballots",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">may belong to noncitizens\u003c/a>, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letters are the latest escalation in a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/doj-california-elections-e08ec04efdb1110c0e3f815f2ce6a3db\">legal battle\u003c/a> between California and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-justice-department-midterms-noncitizen-voting-09b8391612fc87676267a254c55eaee8\">root out noncitizen voting\u003c/a> ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/noncitizens-voting-republicans-election-2024-immigration-09b86e6768f755fd875f3c51b0e8ea70\">incredibly rare\u003c/a>, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, the federal government targeted \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-justice-department-voting-noncitizens-lawsuit-12c62cf12a7db6480c60975b6dea49b8\">Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State’s office\u003c/a> in a lawsuit that aimed to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizen voters. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087182\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ballots sit in crates before being counted at the City Hall Voting Center in San Francisco on Oct. 30, 2025, ahead of last year’s statewide special election. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit barring a decision from the district judge assigned to the case. They set a deadline for Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, according to the LA County registrar’s office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters. They have been given a 48 hour deadline from Friday to provide identifying information corresponding with ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote. The letter requests that county officials also sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, whose district includes parts of Contra Costa County, said in a statement that Contra Costa election officials were among those that received a letter.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12014671\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) speaks during a House Rules Committee hearing on the impeachment against President Donald Trump on Dec. 17, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I have confidence that local elections officials are conducting this election in accordance with all state and federal laws and working to protect the Constitutional rights guaranteed to American citizens, including ensuring that every eligible voter who wants to participate in the upcoming election has the opportunity to do so,” DeSaulnier said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Justice Department is asking counties to send information about the voters it suspects are noncitizens including social security numbers, ID information, a copy of their registration and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That information can help the government and state quickly assess each person suspected of illegally registering to vote, said the letter sent to San Bernardino County voting officials. The letter says the government’s list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from the inland Southern California county.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have opposed the federal government’s demands. In legal filings, lawyers for California say the request threatens to delay the certification of the vote and undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They have also argued that the federal government’s data is unreliable and that their demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voting is underway in California, with the state’s more than 23 million registered voters receiving ballots in the mail earlier this month. The state said in legal filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letters came on the heels of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-election-naturalization-voting-62ebeea82da863d93ee4e112e5b9f86e\">statewide sweep by federal authorities\u003c/a> earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Alex Padilla, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee with oversight over federal elections, said in a statement that the Trump administration is “afraid and desperate” and attempting to interfere in the state’s elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Trump’s DOJ has not provided any evidence for their claims of massive voter fraud. They’ve admitted that the data they point to is inaccurate and unreliable,” Padilla said. “No matter how many lawsuits they file or how many election officials they threaten, they do not have the authority to interfere.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/skennedy\">Samantha Kennedy\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">may belong to noncitizens\u003c/a>, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">may belong to noncitizens\u003c/a>, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The letters are the latest escalation in a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/doj-california-elections-e08ec04efdb1110c0e3f815f2ce6a3db\">legal battle\u003c/a> between California and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-justice-department-midterms-noncitizen-voting-09b8391612fc87676267a254c55eaee8\">root out noncitizen voting\u003c/a> ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/noncitizens-voting-republicans-election-2024-immigration-09b86e6768f755fd875f3c51b0e8ea70\">incredibly rare\u003c/a>, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The letters are the latest escalation in a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/doj-california-elections-e08ec04efdb1110c0e3f815f2ce6a3db\">legal battle\u003c/a> between California and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-justice-department-midterms-noncitizen-voting-09b8391612fc87676267a254c55eaee8\">root out noncitizen voting\u003c/a> ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/noncitizens-voting-republicans-election-2024-immigration-09b86e6768f755fd875f3c51b0e8ea70\">incredibly rare\u003c/a>, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the federal government targeted \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-justice-department-voting-noncitizens-lawsuit-12c62cf12a7db6480c60975b6dea49b8\">Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State’s office\u003c/a> in a lawsuit that aimed to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizen voters. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the federal government targeted \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-justice-department-voting-noncitizens-lawsuit-12c62cf12a7db6480c60975b6dea49b8\">Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State’s office\u003c/a> in a lawsuit that aimed to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizen voters. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087182\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ballots sit in crates before being counted at the City Hall Voting Center in San Francisco on Oct. 30, 2025, ahead of last year’s statewide special election.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit barring a decision from the district judge assigned to the case. They set a deadline for Saturday.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit barring a decision from the district judge assigned to the case. They set a deadline for Saturday.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, according to the LA County registrar’s office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters. They have been given a 48 hour deadline from Friday to provide identifying information corresponding with ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote. The letter requests that county officials also sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Now, according to the LA County registrar’s office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters. They have been given a 48 hour deadline from Friday to provide identifying information corresponding with ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote. The letter requests that county officials also sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, whose district includes parts of Contra Costa County, said in a statement that Contra Costa election officials were among those that received a letter.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, whose district includes parts of Contra Costa County, said in a statement that Contra Costa election officials were among those that received a letter.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12014671\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) speaks during a House Rules Committee hearing on the impeachment against President Donald Trump on Dec. 17, 2019 in Washington, D.C.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I have confidence that local elections officials are conducting this election in accordance with all state and federal laws and working to protect the Constitutional rights guaranteed to American citizens, including ensuring that every eligible voter who wants to participate in the upcoming election has the opportunity to do so,” DeSaulnier said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I have confidence that local elections officials are conducting this election in accordance with all state and federal laws and working to protect the Constitutional rights guaranteed to American citizens, including ensuring that every eligible voter who wants to participate in the upcoming election has the opportunity to do so,” DeSaulnier said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Justice Department is asking counties to send information about the voters it suspects are noncitizens including social security numbers, ID information, a copy of their registration and more.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Justice Department is asking counties to send information about the voters it suspects are noncitizens including social security numbers, ID information, a copy of their registration and more.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That information can help the government and state quickly assess each person suspected of illegally registering to vote, said the letter sent to San Bernardino County voting officials. The letter says the government’s list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from the inland Southern California county.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That information can help the government and state quickly assess each person suspected of illegally registering to vote, said the letter sent to San Bernardino County voting officials. The letter says the government’s list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from the inland Southern California county.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have opposed the federal government’s demands. In legal filings, lawyers for California say the request threatens to delay the certification of the vote and undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They have also argued that the federal government’s data is unreliable and that their demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have opposed the federal government’s demands. In legal filings, lawyers for California say the request threatens to delay the certification of the vote and undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They have also argued that the federal government’s data is unreliable and that their demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Voting is underway in California, with the state’s more than 23 million registered voters receiving ballots in the mail earlier this month. The state said in legal filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Voting is underway in California, with the state’s more than 23 million registered voters receiving ballots in the mail earlier this month. The state said in legal filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The letters came on the heels of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-election-naturalization-voting-62ebeea82da863d93ee4e112e5b9f86e\">statewide sweep by federal authorities\u003c/a> earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The letters came on the heels of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-election-naturalization-voting-62ebeea82da863d93ee4e112e5b9f86e\">statewide sweep by federal authorities\u003c/a> earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sen. Alex Padilla, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee with oversight over federal elections, said in a statement that the Trump administration is “afraid and desperate” and attempting to interfere in the state’s elections.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Sen. Alex Padilla, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee with oversight over federal elections, said in a statement that the Trump administration is “afraid and desperate” and attempting to interfere in the state’s elections.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Trump’s DOJ has not provided any evidence for their claims of massive voter fraud. They’ve admitted that the data they point to is inaccurate and unreliable,” Padilla said. “No matter how many lawsuits they file or how many election officials they threaten, they do not have the authority to interfere.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Trump’s DOJ has not provided any evidence for their claims of massive voter fraud. They’ve admitted that the data they point to is inaccurate and unreliable,” Padilla said. “No matter how many lawsuits they file or how many election officials they threaten, they do not have the authority to interfere.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/skennedy\">Samantha Kennedy\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/skennedy\">Samantha Kennedy\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Election officials across California, including in Contra Costa County, received letters demanding officials verify ballots that may belong to noncitizens. ",
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"title": "DOJ Orders Contra Costa, Other California Counties to Verify Ballots | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Federal prosecutors sent letters to county registrars across California on Friday demanding that local officials set aside and verify ballots that the Department of Justice said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12104425/california-officials-denounce-trump-dojs-demands-to-prove-voters-citizenship\">may belong to noncitizens\u003c/a>, according to the Los Angeles County registrar and a letter obtained by The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letters are the latest escalation in a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/doj-california-elections-e08ec04efdb1110c0e3f815f2ce6a3db\">legal battle\u003c/a> between California and President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, which has recently focused on the state in its efforts to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-justice-department-midterms-noncitizen-voting-09b8391612fc87676267a254c55eaee8\">root out noncitizen voting\u003c/a> ahead of the midterm elections. Data shows illegal voting by people who aren’t U.S. citizens is \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/noncitizens-voting-republicans-election-2024-immigration-09b86e6768f755fd875f3c51b0e8ea70\">incredibly rare\u003c/a>, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, the federal government targeted \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-justice-department-voting-noncitizens-lawsuit-12c62cf12a7db6480c60975b6dea49b8\">Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State’s office\u003c/a> in a lawsuit that aimed to block them from counting the votes of roughly 20,000 people who are “likely” noncitizen voters. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12087182\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/06/251030-BayAreaVoters-25-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ballots sit in crates before being counted at the City Hall Voting Center in San Francisco on Oct. 30, 2025, ahead of last year’s statewide special election. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration asked the 9th Circuit court of appeals to rule on the lawsuit barring a decision from the district judge assigned to the case. They set a deadline for Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, according to the LA County registrar’s office, at least 18 counties across the state have received similar letters. They have been given a 48 hour deadline from Friday to provide identifying information corresponding with ballots that the federal government believes were sent to noncitizens illegally registered to vote. The letter requests that county officials also sequester any ballots where citizenship cannot be verified.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Any election official who knowingly processes the ballot of a noncitizen is opening themselves to legal jeopardy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, whose district includes parts of Contra Costa County, said in a statement that Contra Costa election officials were among those that received a letter.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12014671\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/MarkDeSaulnierGetty-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) speaks during a House Rules Committee hearing on the impeachment against President Donald Trump on Dec. 17, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I have confidence that local elections officials are conducting this election in accordance with all state and federal laws and working to protect the Constitutional rights guaranteed to American citizens, including ensuring that every eligible voter who wants to participate in the upcoming election has the opportunity to do so,” DeSaulnier said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Justice Department is asking counties to send information about the voters it suspects are noncitizens including social security numbers, ID information, a copy of their registration and more.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That information can help the government and state quickly assess each person suspected of illegally registering to vote, said the letter sent to San Bernardino County voting officials. The letter says the government’s list of suspected noncitizen voters includes 1,133 people from the inland Southern California county.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">California’s secretary of state and the Los Angeles County registrar have opposed the federal government’s demands. In legal filings, lawyers for California say the request threatens to delay the certification of the vote and undermine the legitimacy of the November midterms. They have also argued that the federal government’s data is unreliable and that their demands risk disenfranchisement of citizens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voting is underway in California, with the state’s more than 23 million registered voters receiving ballots in the mail earlier this month. The state said in legal filings that over 330,000 mail-in ballots have already been counted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letters came on the heels of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-election-naturalization-voting-62ebeea82da863d93ee4e112e5b9f86e\">statewide sweep by federal authorities\u003c/a> earlier in the week, where 28 people from the list of 20,000 were charged with illegally registering to vote. Some were also charged with illegally voting and lying on naturalization paperwork. Those charges could lead to years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Alex Padilla, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration Committee with oversight over federal elections, said in a statement that the Trump administration is “afraid and desperate” and attempting to interfere in the state’s elections.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Trump’s DOJ has not provided any evidence for their claims of massive voter fraud. They’ve admitted that the data they point to is inaccurate and unreliable,” Padilla said. “No matter how many lawsuits they file or how many election officials they threaten, they do not have the authority to interfere.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/skennedy\">Samantha Kennedy\u003c/a> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-democrats-rally-to-deliver-on-proposition-50-was-it-really-needed",
"title": "California Democrats Rally to ‘Deliver’ on Proposition 50. Was It Really Needed?",
"publishDate": 1792857600,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "California Democrats Rally to ‘Deliver’ on Proposition 50. Was It Really Needed? | KQED",
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"content": "\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feeling buoyant about their chances to retake the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/house-of-representatives\">House of Representatives\u003c/a> in November, California’s leading Democrats took a victory lap on Friday over the congressional maps they drew last year to flip Republican-held seats amid a nationwide redistricting battle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Donald Trump’s presidency as we know it ends on November 3rd, as long as we do our job,” Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> said at a rally in a San Francisco union hall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064834/how-prop-50-just-rewrote-californias-2026-congressional-map\">passage of Proposition 50\u003c/a> in a special election last November won Newsom praise from Democrats across the country who saw the daring redistricting move as a powerful counterpunch against Republican gerrymanders in Texas and other states. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd listens to speakers during a rally with California Democratic Party members, labor leaders, and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, Newsom pitched the gerrymandering measure as an existential fight: “If Californians don’t act now, Donald Trump will seize total power for two more years,” the governor wrote in the official voter guide argument.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But a year later, that outcome seems increasingly unlikely, and the gains made through what some Democrats called “emergency maps” could be rendered a mere drop in a blue wave. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nonpartisan analysts now project Democrats could capture as many as 20 Republican-held seats nationwide in the Nov. 3 midterm election — raising the possibility that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092388/the-roadblocks-on-democrats-path-to-retaking-the-house-in-2026\">Democrats could claim a majority\u003c/a> regardless of results in California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dragged down by President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval rating, the political environment has gotten so dire for the GOP that multiple California Republicans likely would have been endangered even under the state’s old maps. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It very well could be [Democrats] would have taken back Congress anyway, it turns out,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist. “But at the time it did make a lot of political sense.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supporters of Proposition 50 said the new maps, which paved the way for Democrats to add up to five additional seats in California, were an appropriate response to what they described as an emergency for democracy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spurred on by Trump, Republicans in Texas had launched an effort to redraw their maps to add five seats to the GOP column, followed by similar plans in North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and a handful of southern states that together could have tilted anywhere from seven to 15 seats toward Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Proposition 50 passed with over 64% of the vote. But in the process of wading into the gerrymandering battle, California voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050983/californias-political-maps-are-drawn-independently-will-newsom-change-that\">cast aside political lines\u003c/a> drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission — an independent panel of citizens who seek to group communities together in districts based on shared needs, not political aims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commission collected months of testimony about shared commute patterns, natural boundaries and local industries to inform their district lines.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“And that matters because one would hope that the elected official that a community elects would represent those issues in Congress,” redistricting commissioner Pedro Toledo told KQED last year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062669\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Proposition 50 sign sits on a chair during a rally with Governor Gavin Newsom, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and local elected officials in support of Proposition 50 at IBEW Local 6 in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What’s more, the Proposition 50 lines have brought headaches for some Democratic incumbents, who suddenly were forced to run for reelection in reshaped districts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked after Friday’s rally whether he would still consider Proposition 50 worthwhile if Democrats win a big victory in the House, Newsom said the measure signaled “a pivotal moment when we stood up, and we fought back.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We fought fire with fire, and that moment I think is coming full circle,” Newsom said. “But we’ve got to deliver on the promise and the promotion, and that’s why it’s critical that we get those five seats and not just redraw those five districts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defenders of Proposition 50 said the message was just as important as the math. At a time when liberal voters \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/12050346/will-newsoms-maps-bring-the-fight-democrats-desire\">were yearning\u003c/a> for a fight, the redistricting push showed Democrats willing to take their gloves off. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106172\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I think it started that momentum,” said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “It was voters having a chance to stand up and say that they want to stop what Washington is doing…. I think the whole country was looking at California.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The measure added hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters to two GOP-held seats in Northern California — and drastically reconfigured the Inland Empire district held by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert. The Proposition 50 maps also bolstered Democrats’ chances in two additional seats held by Republicans: the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105844/randy-villegas-has-a-theory-of-how-to-win-in-the-central-valley\">22nd District in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">48th District\u003c/a>, which covers parts of San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the national political climate suggests Democrats are likely to win back the House, even without the Proposition 50 redraw.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump’s approval rating has fallen below 40% in public polling as tariffs, health care cuts and rising gas prices driven by the war in Iran have roiled many voters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nationwide, voters now prefer a generic Democratic candidate over a generic Republican by 8 points, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/generic-congressional-vote\">Real Clear Polling\u003c/a>, and nonpartisan analysts are increasingly bullish about Democrats’ chances in the House.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia have Democrats winning around 235 seats on the high end of likely outcomes — well past the 218 needed for a majority. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“At this point not only would it be a shock if Republicans held the House, but it would also be a surprise if Democrats did not at least exceed the tiny-sized majorities of the last three Congresses,” managing editor Kyle Kondik wrote in Sabato’s Crystal Ball this week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats are running competitive races in deep red territory and continue to be hopeful about their chances to pick up seats in Iowa, Texas and Montana that Trump won by 10 points or more in 2024. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under a wave of that size, Democrats could have realistically won a handful of seats in California even without the Proposition 50 redraw, said Eric McGhee, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bakersfield-area 22nd District held by Republican Rep. David Valadao shifted toward Trump in 2024 but would have remained competitive under the old maps. In Southern California, Trump won the old 41st District, held by Calvert, by less than 6 points in the last election and the 40th District, represented by Republican Rep. Young Kim, by less than 3 points. And in Northern California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085346/californias-3rd-congressional-district-race-pits-longtime-politician-against-progressive-newcomer\">Rep. Kevin Kiley\u003c/a> would have been tasked with defending a Sacramento-area seat that Trump won by less than 4 points. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) listens to testimony as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight holds a field hearing on violent crime in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. In a recent interview on Morning Edition, he discusses his decision to continue showing up to work during the government shutdown, advocating for the House to resume its functions.\" class=\"wp-image-12062547\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Kevin Kiley listens to testimony during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight field hearing on violent crime on Sept. 29, 2025. Kiley responded to Proposition 50 gerrymandering by running as an independent in a neighboring district. (Nell Redmond/AP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s not clear in a midterm election with an unpopular president that the Democrats wouldn’t just pick up these seats anyway,” McGhee said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, the Proposition 50 lines moved Calvert’s seat to a safe blue part of Los Angeles and forced Kim and Calvert into a head-to-head matchup that will ensure one incumbent will be leaving Congress after the election. Kiley responded to the gerrymandering of his seat by running as an independent in a neighboring district. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats running in safe blue seats were also affected by the line changes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the North Bay, Rep. Mike Thompson is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087322/democrat-eric-jones-set-up-for-runoff-battle-against-longtime-napa-valley-congressman\">facing a challenge\u003c/a> from fellow Democrat Eric Jones in a district that lost tens of thousands of Democratic voters that Thompson had previously represented in Sonoma. Rep. Doris Matsui faces a similar dynamic as she seeks reelection in Sacramento against Democratic City Councilmember Mai Vang. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be sure, Proposition 50 did more than simply elevate Democrats’ chances of flipping Republican-held seats in 2026. The new maps also increased the party’s margins in competitive districts already held by Democrats — providing a firewall against a more unfavorable political climate in 2028 or 2030. Under current law, the independent redistricting commission won’t resume its work until after the 2030 election.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106167\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd listens to speakers during a rally with California Democratic Party members, labor leaders, and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There’s definitely opportunities for a harder year for Democrats to come along, and this plan is helpful to them for those kinds of years,” said McGhee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And few politicians seemed to grasp the desire for a partisan scrap more than Newsom, who emerged from the Proposition 50 campaign as a leading contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“He’s positioned himself as a fighter against Trump,” said former Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting. “You see Democrats across the country feeling kind of helpless — they’re saying, ‘Hey Democratic leaders, who is fighting for us?’ And they see our governor fighting.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for the prospect of a big Democratic wave washing away the relevance of Proposition 50? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Ting said. “Absolutely it was worth it because you had to set the tone … are we just going to stand and watch or are we going to fight?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump’s presidency as we know it ends on November 3rd, as long as we do our job,” Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> said at a rally in a San Francisco union hall. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Donald Trump’s presidency as we know it ends on November 3rd, as long as we do our job,” Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> said at a rally in a San Francisco union hall. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064834/how-prop-50-just-rewrote-californias-2026-congressional-map\">passage of Proposition 50\u003c/a> in a special election last November won Newsom praise from Democrats across the country who saw the daring redistricting move as a powerful counterpunch against Republican gerrymanders in Texas and other states. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd listens to speakers during a rally with California Democratic Party members, labor leaders, and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106174\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd listens to speakers during a rally with California Democratic Party members, labor leaders, and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the time, Newsom pitched the gerrymandering measure as an existential fight: “If Californians don’t act now, Donald Trump will seize total power for two more years,” the governor wrote in the official voter guide argument.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At the time, Newsom pitched the gerrymandering measure as an existential fight: “If Californians don’t act now, Donald Trump will seize total power for two more years,” the governor wrote in the official voter guide argument.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But a year later, that outcome seems increasingly unlikely, and the gains made through what some Democrats called “emergency maps” could be rendered a mere drop in a blue wave. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But a year later, that outcome seems increasingly unlikely, and the gains made through what some Democrats called “emergency maps” could be rendered a mere drop in a blue wave. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nonpartisan analysts now project Democrats could capture as many as 20 Republican-held seats nationwide in the Nov. 3 midterm election — raising the possibility that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092388/the-roadblocks-on-democrats-path-to-retaking-the-house-in-2026\">Democrats could claim a majority\u003c/a> regardless of results in California. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Nonpartisan analysts now project Democrats could capture as many as 20 Republican-held seats nationwide in the Nov. 3 midterm election — raising the possibility that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092388/the-roadblocks-on-democrats-path-to-retaking-the-house-in-2026\">Democrats could claim a majority\u003c/a> regardless of results in California. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Dragged down by President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval rating, the political environment has gotten so dire for the GOP that multiple California Republicans likely would have been endangered even under the state’s old maps. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Dragged down by President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval rating, the political environment has gotten so dire for the GOP that multiple California Republicans likely would have been endangered even under the state’s old maps. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It very well could be [Democrats] would have taken back Congress anyway, it turns out,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist. “But at the time it did make a lot of political sense.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It very well could be [Democrats] would have taken back Congress anyway, it turns out,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist. “But at the time it did make a lot of political sense.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Supporters of Proposition 50 said the new maps, which paved the way for Democrats to add up to five additional seats in California, were an appropriate response to what they described as an emergency for democracy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Supporters of Proposition 50 said the new maps, which paved the way for Democrats to add up to five additional seats in California, were an appropriate response to what they described as an emergency for democracy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Spurred on by Trump, Republicans in Texas had launched an effort to redraw their maps to add five seats to the GOP column, followed by similar plans in North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and a handful of southern states that together could have tilted anywhere from seven to 15 seats toward Republicans.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Spurred on by Trump, Republicans in Texas had launched an effort to redraw their maps to add five seats to the GOP column, followed by similar plans in North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and a handful of southern states that together could have tilted anywhere from seven to 15 seats toward Republicans.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Proposition 50 passed with over 64% of the vote. But in the process of wading into the gerrymandering battle, California voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050983/californias-political-maps-are-drawn-independently-will-newsom-change-that\">cast aside political lines\u003c/a> drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission — an independent panel of citizens who seek to group communities together in districts based on shared needs, not political aims.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Proposition 50 passed with over 64% of the vote. But in the process of wading into the gerrymandering battle, California voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050983/californias-political-maps-are-drawn-independently-will-newsom-change-that\">cast aside political lines\u003c/a> drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission — an independent panel of citizens who seek to group communities together in districts based on shared needs, not political aims.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The commission collected months of testimony about shared commute patterns, natural boundaries and local industries to inform their district lines.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The commission collected months of testimony about shared commute patterns, natural boundaries and local industries to inform their district lines.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“And that matters because one would hope that the elected official that a community elects would represent those issues in Congress,” redistricting commissioner Pedro Toledo told KQED last year. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“And that matters because one would hope that the elected official that a community elects would represent those issues in Congress,” redistricting commissioner Pedro Toledo told KQED last year. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062669\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Proposition 50 sign sits on a chair during a rally with Governor Gavin Newsom, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and local elected officials in support of Proposition 50 at IBEW Local 6 in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062669\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Proposition 50 sign sits on a chair during a rally with Governor Gavin Newsom, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and local elected officials in support of Proposition 50 at IBEW Local 6 in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 2025.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What’s more, the Proposition 50 lines have brought headaches for some Democratic incumbents, who suddenly were forced to run for reelection in reshaped districts. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>What’s more, the Proposition 50 lines have brought headaches for some Democratic incumbents, who suddenly were forced to run for reelection in reshaped districts. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Asked after Friday’s rally whether he would still consider Proposition 50 worthwhile if Democrats win a big victory in the House, Newsom said the measure signaled “a pivotal moment when we stood up, and we fought back.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Asked after Friday’s rally whether he would still consider Proposition 50 worthwhile if Democrats win a big victory in the House, Newsom said the measure signaled “a pivotal moment when we stood up, and we fought back.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We fought fire with fire, and that moment I think is coming full circle,” Newsom said. “But we’ve got to deliver on the promise and the promotion, and that’s why it’s critical that we get those five seats and not just redraw those five districts.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We fought fire with fire, and that moment I think is coming full circle,” Newsom said. “But we’ve got to deliver on the promise and the promotion, and that’s why it’s critical that we get those five seats and not just redraw those five districts.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Defenders of Proposition 50 said the message was just as important as the math. At a time when liberal voters \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/12050346/will-newsoms-maps-bring-the-fight-democrats-desire\">were yearning\u003c/a> for a fight, the redistricting push showed Democrats willing to take their gloves off. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Defenders of Proposition 50 said the message was just as important as the math. At a time when liberal voters \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/12050346/will-newsoms-maps-bring-the-fight-democrats-desire\">were yearning\u003c/a> for a fight, the redistricting push showed Democrats willing to take their gloves off. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106172\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106172\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I think it started that momentum,” said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “It was voters having a chance to stand up and say that they want to stop what Washington is doing…. I think the whole country was looking at California.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I think it started that momentum,” said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “It was voters having a chance to stand up and say that they want to stop what Washington is doing…. I think the whole country was looking at California.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure added hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters to two GOP-held seats in Northern California — and drastically reconfigured the Inland Empire district held by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert. The Proposition 50 maps also bolstered Democrats’ chances in two additional seats held by Republicans: the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105844/randy-villegas-has-a-theory-of-how-to-win-in-the-central-valley\">22nd District in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">48th District\u003c/a>, which covers parts of San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The measure added hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters to two GOP-held seats in Northern California — and drastically reconfigured the Inland Empire district held by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert. The Proposition 50 maps also bolstered Democrats’ chances in two additional seats held by Republicans: the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105844/randy-villegas-has-a-theory-of-how-to-win-in-the-central-valley\">22nd District in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">48th District\u003c/a>, which covers parts of San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the national political climate suggests Democrats are likely to win back the House, even without the Proposition 50 redraw.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Trump’s approval rating has fallen below 40% in public polling as tariffs, health care cuts and rising gas prices driven by the war in Iran have roiled many voters. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nationwide, voters now prefer a generic Democratic candidate over a generic Republican by 8 points, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/generic-congressional-vote\">Real Clear Polling\u003c/a>, and nonpartisan analysts are increasingly bullish about Democrats’ chances in the House.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia have Democrats winning around 235 seats on the high end of likely outcomes — well past the 218 needed for a majority. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia have Democrats winning around 235 seats on the high end of likely outcomes — well past the 218 needed for a majority. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“At this point not only would it be a shock if Republicans held the House, but it would also be a surprise if Democrats did not at least exceed the tiny-sized majorities of the last three Congresses,” managing editor Kyle Kondik wrote in Sabato’s Crystal Ball this week. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“At this point not only would it be a shock if Republicans held the House, but it would also be a surprise if Democrats did not at least exceed the tiny-sized majorities of the last three Congresses,” managing editor Kyle Kondik wrote in Sabato’s Crystal Ball this week. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Democrats are running competitive races in deep red territory and continue to be hopeful about their chances to pick up seats in Iowa, Texas and Montana that Trump won by 10 points or more in 2024. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Democrats are running competitive races in deep red territory and continue to be hopeful about their chances to pick up seats in Iowa, Texas and Montana that Trump won by 10 points or more in 2024. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Under a wave of that size, Democrats could have realistically won a handful of seats in California even without the Proposition 50 redraw, said Eric McGhee, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Under a wave of that size, Democrats could have realistically won a handful of seats in California even without the Proposition 50 redraw, said Eric McGhee, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Bakersfield-area 22nd District held by Republican Rep. David Valadao shifted toward Trump in 2024 but would have remained competitive under the old maps. In Southern California, Trump won the old 41st District, held by Calvert, by less than 6 points in the last election and the 40th District, represented by Republican Rep. Young Kim, by less than 3 points. And in Northern California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085346/californias-3rd-congressional-district-race-pits-longtime-politician-against-progressive-newcomer\">Rep. Kevin Kiley\u003c/a> would have been tasked with defending a Sacramento-area seat that Trump won by less than 4 points. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Bakersfield-area 22nd District held by Republican Rep. David Valadao shifted toward Trump in 2024 but would have remained competitive under the old maps. In Southern California, Trump won the old 41st District, held by Calvert, by less than 6 points in the last election and the 40th District, represented by Republican Rep. Young Kim, by less than 3 points. And in Northern California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085346/californias-3rd-congressional-district-race-pits-longtime-politician-against-progressive-newcomer\">Rep. Kevin Kiley\u003c/a> would have been tasked with defending a Sacramento-area seat that Trump won by less than 4 points. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) listens to testimony as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight holds a field hearing on violent crime in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. In a recent interview on Morning Edition, he discusses his decision to continue showing up to work during the government shutdown, advocating for the House to resume its functions.\" class=\"wp-image-12062547\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Kevin Kiley listens to testimony during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight field hearing on violent crime on Sept. 29, 2025. Kiley responded to Proposition 50 gerrymandering by running as an independent in a neighboring district. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nell Redmond/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) listens to testimony as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight holds a field hearing on violent crime in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. In a recent interview on Morning Edition, he discusses his decision to continue showing up to work during the government shutdown, advocating for the House to resume its functions.\" class=\"wp-image-12062547\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Kevin Kiley listens to testimony during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight field hearing on violent crime on Sept. 29, 2025. Kiley responded to Proposition 50 gerrymandering by running as an independent in a neighboring district. \u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Nell Redmond/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s not clear in a midterm election with an unpopular president that the Democrats wouldn’t just pick up these seats anyway,” McGhee said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Instead, the Proposition 50 lines moved Calvert’s seat to a safe blue part of Los Angeles and forced Kim and Calvert into a head-to-head matchup that will ensure one incumbent will be leaving Congress after the election. Kiley responded to the gerrymandering of his seat by running as an independent in a neighboring district. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Instead, the Proposition 50 lines moved Calvert’s seat to a safe blue part of Los Angeles and forced Kim and Calvert into a head-to-head matchup that will ensure one incumbent will be leaving Congress after the election. Kiley responded to the gerrymandering of his seat by running as an independent in a neighboring district. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Democrats running in safe blue seats were also affected by the line changes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the North Bay, Rep. Mike Thompson is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087322/democrat-eric-jones-set-up-for-runoff-battle-against-longtime-napa-valley-congressman\">facing a challenge\u003c/a> from fellow Democrat Eric Jones in a district that lost tens of thousands of Democratic voters that Thompson had previously represented in Sonoma. Rep. Doris Matsui faces a similar dynamic as she seeks reelection in Sacramento against Democratic City Councilmember Mai Vang. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the North Bay, Rep. Mike Thompson is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087322/democrat-eric-jones-set-up-for-runoff-battle-against-longtime-napa-valley-congressman\">facing a challenge\u003c/a> from fellow Democrat Eric Jones in a district that lost tens of thousands of Democratic voters that Thompson had previously represented in Sonoma. Rep. Doris Matsui faces a similar dynamic as she seeks reelection in Sacramento against Democratic City Councilmember Mai Vang. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>To be sure, Proposition 50 did more than simply elevate Democrats’ chances of flipping Republican-held seats in 2026. The new maps also increased the party’s margins in competitive districts already held by Democrats — providing a firewall against a more unfavorable political climate in 2028 or 2030. Under current law, the independent redistricting commission won’t resume its work until after the 2030 election.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>To be sure, Proposition 50 did more than simply elevate Democrats’ chances of flipping Republican-held seats in 2026. The new maps also increased the party’s margins in competitive districts already held by Democrats — providing a firewall against a more unfavorable political climate in 2028 or 2030. Under current law, the independent redistricting commission won’t resume its work until after the 2030 election.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106167\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd listens to speakers during a rally with California Democratic Party members, labor leaders, and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s definitely opportunities for a harder year for Democrats to come along, and this plan is helpful to them for those kinds of years,” said McGhee. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There’s definitely opportunities for a harder year for Democrats to come along, and this plan is helpful to them for those kinds of years,” said McGhee. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And few politicians seemed to grasp the desire for a partisan scrap more than Newsom, who emerged from the Proposition 50 campaign as a leading contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And few politicians seemed to grasp the desire for a partisan scrap more than Newsom, who emerged from the Proposition 50 campaign as a leading contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“He’s positioned himself as a fighter against Trump,” said former Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting. “You see Democrats across the country feeling kind of helpless — they’re saying, ‘Hey Democratic leaders, who is fighting for us?’ And they see our governor fighting.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“He’s positioned himself as a fighter against Trump,” said former Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting. “You see Democrats across the country feeling kind of helpless — they’re saying, ‘Hey Democratic leaders, who is fighting for us?’ And they see our governor fighting.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As for the prospect of a big Democratic wave washing away the relevance of Proposition 50? \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Ting said. “Absolutely it was worth it because you had to set the tone … are we just going to stand and watch or are we going to fight?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Ting said. “Absolutely it was worth it because you had to set the tone … are we just going to stand and watch or are we going to fight?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Supporters of the redistricting measure argued the state needed “emergency maps” to counter Republican gerrymanders. But Democrats appear likely to retake the House regardless of California’s results. ",
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"title": "California Democrats Rally to ‘Deliver’ on Proposition 50. Was It Really Needed? | KQED",
"description": "Supporters of the redistricting measure argued the state needed “emergency maps” to counter Republican gerrymanders. But Democrats appear likely to retake the House regardless of California’s results. ",
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"headline": "California Democrats Rally to ‘Deliver’ on Proposition 50. Was It Really Needed?",
"datePublished": "2026-10-24T09:00:00-07:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feeling buoyant about their chances to retake the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/house-of-representatives\">House of Representatives\u003c/a> in November, California’s leading Democrats took a victory lap on Friday over the congressional maps they drew last year to flip Republican-held seats amid a nationwide redistricting battle. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“Donald Trump’s presidency as we know it ends on November 3rd, as long as we do our job,” Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> said at a rally in a San Francisco union hall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064834/how-prop-50-just-rewrote-californias-2026-congressional-map\">passage of Proposition 50\u003c/a> in a special election last November won Newsom praise from Democrats across the country who saw the daring redistricting move as a powerful counterpunch against Republican gerrymanders in Texas and other states. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-25-BL-KQED-0cc8fdc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd listens to speakers during a rally with California Democratic Party members, labor leaders, and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, Newsom pitched the gerrymandering measure as an existential fight: “If Californians don’t act now, Donald Trump will seize total power for two more years,” the governor wrote in the official voter guide argument.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But a year later, that outcome seems increasingly unlikely, and the gains made through what some Democrats called “emergency maps” could be rendered a mere drop in a blue wave. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nonpartisan analysts now project Democrats could capture as many as 20 Republican-held seats nationwide in the Nov. 3 midterm election — raising the possibility that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12092388/the-roadblocks-on-democrats-path-to-retaking-the-house-in-2026\">Democrats could claim a majority\u003c/a> regardless of results in California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dragged down by President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval rating, the political environment has gotten so dire for the GOP that multiple California Republicans likely would have been endangered even under the state’s old maps. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It very well could be [Democrats] would have taken back Congress anyway, it turns out,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist. “But at the time it did make a lot of political sense.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supporters of Proposition 50 said the new maps, which paved the way for Democrats to add up to five additional seats in California, were an appropriate response to what they described as an emergency for democracy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Spurred on by Trump, Republicans in Texas had launched an effort to redraw their maps to add five seats to the GOP column, followed by similar plans in North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and a handful of southern states that together could have tilted anywhere from seven to 15 seats toward Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Proposition 50 passed with over 64% of the vote. But in the process of wading into the gerrymandering battle, California voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050983/californias-political-maps-are-drawn-independently-will-newsom-change-that\">cast aside political lines\u003c/a> drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission — an independent panel of citizens who seek to group communities together in districts based on shared needs, not political aims.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commission collected months of testimony about shared commute patterns, natural boundaries and local industries to inform their district lines.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“And that matters because one would hope that the elected official that a community elects would represent those issues in Congress,” redistricting commissioner Pedro Toledo told KQED last year. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12062669\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251103-NewsomProp50Rally-01-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Proposition 50 sign sits on a chair during a rally with Governor Gavin Newsom, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and local elected officials in support of Proposition 50 at IBEW Local 6 in San Francisco on Nov. 3, 2025. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What’s more, the Proposition 50 lines have brought headaches for some Democratic incumbents, who suddenly were forced to run for reelection in reshaped districts. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked after Friday’s rally whether he would still consider Proposition 50 worthwhile if Democrats win a big victory in the House, Newsom said the measure signaled “a pivotal moment when we stood up, and we fought back.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“We fought fire with fire, and that moment I think is coming full circle,” Newsom said. “But we’ve got to deliver on the promise and the promotion, and that’s why it’s critical that we get those five seats and not just redraw those five districts.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defenders of Proposition 50 said the message was just as important as the math. At a time when liberal voters \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/12050346/will-newsoms-maps-bring-the-fight-democrats-desire\">were yearning\u003c/a> for a fight, the redistricting push showed Democrats willing to take their gloves off. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106172\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-16-BL-KQED-7b217a58-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi speaks at a rally alongside California Democratic Party members, labor leaders and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I think it started that momentum,” said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “It was voters having a chance to stand up and say that they want to stop what Washington is doing…. I think the whole country was looking at California.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The measure added hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters to two GOP-held seats in Northern California — and drastically reconfigured the Inland Empire district held by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert. The Proposition 50 maps also bolstered Democrats’ chances in two additional seats held by Republicans: the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12105844/randy-villegas-has-a-theory-of-how-to-win-in-the-central-valley\">22nd District in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12102409/local-loyalties-and-trump-opposition-collide-in-san-diego-house-race\">48th District\u003c/a>, which covers parts of San Diego and Riverside counties. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the national political climate suggests Democrats are likely to win back the House, even without the Proposition 50 redraw.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump’s approval rating has fallen below 40% in public polling as tariffs, health care cuts and rising gas prices driven by the war in Iran have roiled many voters. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nationwide, voters now prefer a generic Democratic candidate over a generic Republican by 8 points, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/generic-congressional-vote\">Real Clear Polling\u003c/a>, and nonpartisan analysts are increasingly bullish about Democrats’ chances in the House.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia have Democrats winning around 235 seats on the high end of likely outcomes — well past the 218 needed for a majority. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“At this point not only would it be a shock if Republicans held the House, but it would also be a surprise if Democrats did not at least exceed the tiny-sized majorities of the last three Congresses,” managing editor Kyle Kondik wrote in Sabato’s Crystal Ball this week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats are running competitive races in deep red territory and continue to be hopeful about their chances to pick up seats in Iowa, Texas and Montana that Trump won by 10 points or more in 2024. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under a wave of that size, Democrats could have realistically won a handful of seats in California even without the Proposition 50 redraw, said Eric McGhee, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bakersfield-area 22nd District held by Republican Rep. David Valadao shifted toward Trump in 2024 but would have remained competitive under the old maps. In Southern California, Trump won the old 41st District, held by Calvert, by less than 6 points in the last election and the 40th District, represented by Republican Rep. Young Kim, by less than 3 points. And in Northern California, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12085346/californias-3rd-congressional-district-race-pits-longtime-politician-against-progressive-newcomer\">Rep. Kevin Kiley\u003c/a> would have been tasked with defending a Sacramento-area seat that Trump won by less than 4 points. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) listens to testimony as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight holds a field hearing on violent crime in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. In a recent interview on Morning Edition, he discusses his decision to continue showing up to work during the government shutdown, advocating for the House to resume its functions.\" class=\"wp-image-12062547\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-2000x1333.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/ap25272590477547-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Kevin Kiley listens to testimony during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight field hearing on violent crime on Sept. 29, 2025. Kiley responded to Proposition 50 gerrymandering by running as an independent in a neighboring district. (Nell Redmond/AP)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“It’s not clear in a midterm election with an unpopular president that the Democrats wouldn’t just pick up these seats anyway,” McGhee said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, the Proposition 50 lines moved Calvert’s seat to a safe blue part of Los Angeles and forced Kim and Calvert into a head-to-head matchup that will ensure one incumbent will be leaving Congress after the election. Kiley responded to the gerrymandering of his seat by running as an independent in a neighboring district. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats running in safe blue seats were also affected by the line changes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the North Bay, Rep. Mike Thompson is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12087322/democrat-eric-jones-set-up-for-runoff-battle-against-longtime-napa-valley-congressman\">facing a challenge\u003c/a> from fellow Democrat Eric Jones in a district that lost tens of thousands of Democratic voters that Thompson had previously represented in Sonoma. Rep. Doris Matsui faces a similar dynamic as she seeks reelection in Sacramento against Democratic City Councilmember Mai Vang. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be sure, Proposition 50 did more than simply elevate Democrats’ chances of flipping Republican-held seats in 2026. The new maps also increased the party’s margins in competitive districts already held by Democrats — providing a firewall against a more unfavorable political climate in 2028 or 2030. Under current law, the independent redistricting commission won’t resume its work until after the 2030 election.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12106167\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/10/261023-PROP50VICTORYLAP-01-BL-KQED-0891b709-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A crowd listens to speakers during a rally with California Democratic Party members, labor leaders, and advocates in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2026. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“There’s definitely opportunities for a harder year for Democrats to come along, and this plan is helpful to them for those kinds of years,” said McGhee. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And few politicians seemed to grasp the desire for a partisan scrap more than Newsom, who emerged from the Proposition 50 campaign as a leading contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“He’s positioned himself as a fighter against Trump,” said former Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting. “You see Democrats across the country feeling kind of helpless — they’re saying, ‘Hey Democratic leaders, who is fighting for us?’ And they see our governor fighting.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for the prospect of a big Democratic wave washing away the relevance of Proposition 50? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Ting said. “Absolutely it was worth it because you had to set the tone … are we just going to stand and watch or are we going to fight?”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
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