Bills, Bills, Bills

‍

True to form, California is doing what it does best this week: trying to fix everything at once, loudly, and under deadline. As lawmakers scramble to pass last-minute bills, a coastal startup turns waves into watts, a Marin hamlet stages a housing meltdown worthy of Greek tragedy, and the feds gut college grants with surgical indifference. Plus: a podcast tribute to a pioneering architect, and a California economic listicle that doesn’t make you want to cry. Imagine that?

‍

Forward, march!

‍

SESSION IMPOSSIBLE

California lawmakers are wrapping up a mad dash of big-ticket policymaking as the legislative session draws to a close, pushing bills to regulate AI, provide lawyers for immigrant kids, cap insulin costs, and offer reparations for racial injustice. The progressive surge, though, is running headlong into Governor Gavin Newsom’s fiscal buzzsaw. After staring down a $12 billion deficit in June and weathering an avalanche of federal cuts to safety net programs, anything with a hefty price tag is on the chopping block. Newsom has already iced similar proposals before, especially those seen as too costly or too risky for the state’s tech-dependent economy. Lawmakers are gambling that moral urgency, political optics, or the governor’s own AI task force will tip the scales. But the clock’s ticking: Newsom has until Oct. 12 to sign or veto, and the bill pileup is getting expensive.

‍

<READ MORE>

‍

🤫 Everything you should know

‍

🌊 🔌 🆒  - WATT THE SWELL? — In the Port of Los Angeles, a bobbing fleet of blue steel floaters — part industrial art, part ocean tech — is quietly generating America’s first onshore wave power. Eco Wave Power’s pilot project, attached to a defunct oil tank wharf, turns swell into electricity with zero emissions and no land grabs. For now, it’s small-scale, pumping out just enough juice to prove the concept, but it could eventually power 60,000 homes. “The world has waves, 70% of the world is covered by ocean,” said Terry Tamminen, president and CEO of the port’s AltaSea ocean institute, home to the Eco Wave project. “And we can harness all of that clean energy now.” In a grid-choked, AI-hungry era, that’s no small splash. — Associated Press

‍

🏗️ 🏢 😤   - NIMBY FRENZY IN FAIRFAX  — In Fairfax, a quaint Marin County town more known for its mountain bike museum and painfully charming local shops than brass-knuckled politics, a six-story, 243-unit apartment proposal — complete with 49 affordable units — has ignited a political firestorm. The towns NIMBYs have tipped into full revolt against Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman for daring to follow California’s housing laws, working to recall both officials for backing a project they’ve declared “an eyesore.” (Also an eyesore: this chart of housing affordability in California) “My voting actions have always been mindful of protecting the town from liability, litigation and penalties,” argues Hellman. As California cracks down on housing holdouts, Fairfax is yet another battlefield in the ongoing ‘IMBY wars. — Wall Street Journal

‍

🎓 ✂️ 🧾  - GRANT THEFT ACADEMIA — Under the banner of “equal treatment,” the Trump administration has done what it does best: erase dollars and call it progress. By scrapping $350 million in funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions — 167 of which are in California alone — it’s effectively dismantling a quiet engine of social mobility. These grants funded everything from STEM pathways to helping students graduate faster. Now? Colleges are scrambling for stopgaps while D.C. polishes its race-neutral talking points. What’s left is a masterclass in bureaucratic erasure, student support quietly gutted with all the warmth of a tax audit. — EdSource

‍

We rely on word of mouth to expand our Bear Essentials community. If you know others who share our desire for common sense, pragmatic solutions to California’s biggest problems, please urge them to subscribe for free! Just send them here.

‍

🎙️ 💬 🎧 - ON THE POD: FINDING JULIA MORGAN

Julia Morgan, trailblazing architect of Hearst Castle and hundreds more throughout the Golden State, shattered barriers as the first woman admitted to Paris’s acclaimed École des Beaux-Arts architecture school and licensed in California. This episode of New Angle: Voice, from 99% Invisible, explores her colossal legacy through voices of historians, family, and peers who reflect on her enduring impact on architecture. — Finding Julia Morgan

‍

👏 🏆 🥳  - 39 REASONS TO CHEER CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY

‍

It’s easy to go full doomer when you’re in the business of fixing the things that ail California. You have a tendency to focus on the work in front of you at the expense of fully celebrating the gifts in your back pocket. That’s why we were so delighted to read Jonathan Lansner’s rundown of 39 reasons to cheer California’s economy, coinciding with his 39th anniversary as a California journalist. It’s a chest-swelling list for any Golden Stater. Check it out! — Orange County Register

‍

🏃‍♂️ 💨 ✋ FAST FIVE

‍

1. 🤔 SF Leaders reflect on 175th anniversary of CA statehood. SF Examiner
2. 💸 UCLA prof, “Mozart of Math,” has funding cut by Trump admin. Washington Post
3. 🫣 Dozens of cargo containers tumble into Port of Long Beach. LA Times
4. 🛢️ Enviro groups run into affordability buzz saw with Kern County oil. POLITICO

👀 UC Berkeley gives 160 names to feds in antisemitism probe. Daily Californian