Levi Sumagaysay

Latest news

CalMatters •

'No tax on tips' might not be a windfall for workers, experts say

No tax on tips, a campaign promise by President Donald Trump, is now part of the U.S. tax code, but experts across the political spectrum see limited benefits for California workers.

The Treasury Department and the IRS late last month released details of their proposed regulations around the new tax deduction, which Republicans included in their spending bill. 

Under the provision, taxpayers who make less than $150,000 a year, or $300,000 if filing jointly, could deduct up to $25,000 in tips f...
CalMatters •

H-1B visa fees, tariffs, a stake in Intel? How Silicon Valley has fared under Trump

In exchange for its embrace of Trump 2.0, Silicon Valley has received a grab bag of policies that some experts worry could hurt the U.S. tech industry in the long run. 

On the one hand, corporate tax rates will stay low and the cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence sectors can count on less stringent regulations. On the other hand, tech companies are facing higher costs because of tariffs on many goods, the threat of 100% tariffs on semiconductors and new H-1B visa fees. 

The tech industr...
CalMatters •

Ricardo Lara proposes insurance rule that critics call ‘revenge’

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is proposing more new insurance rules that critics are calling “vindictive,” and which they say will only make it easier for insurers to raise rates.

Home insurance costs in California are certain to rise in the near future because of Lara’s recent changes to the state’s insurance rules. Those changes are meant to encourage insurance companies to keep writing new policies and discourage them from canceling policies, especially in areas of high wild...
CalMatters •

California's insurer of last resort would face more scrutiny under bill heading to Newsom's desk

In the closing days of the legislative year, California lawmakers sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a bill that is meant to toughen scrutiny of the state’s embattled fire insurer of last result by insisting that two of their leaders join its governing committee.

Assembly Bill 234 would put the state’s two top lawmakers — currently Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas — on the governing committee of the FAIR Plan, the insurer that’s mandated by law to sell policies to hom...
CalMatters •

California Uber and Lyft drivers closer to being able to unionize after crucial vote

California ride-hailing drivers just won a crucial round in their pursuit of the right to unionize, but the political drama around the process and among the state’s drivers groups raises plenty of questions about what comes next.

Lawmakers sent Assembly Bill 1340 to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, but it’s merely a formality. The governor had already expressed support for the legislation in a deal he announced with Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas at the end...
CalMatters •

America's economy runs on data. What Trump’s firing of a top data chief means for California

Unemployment numbers and the consumer price index come out every month like clockwork, giving individuals, businesses and local and state government agencies across the nation critical information.  

Economists and others fear wide-ranging ramifications for California if the reliability of that information is uncertain, calling the data fundamental for making an array of policy and funding decisions.

President Donald Trump recently fired Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics commiss...
CalMatters •

Long-shot ballot initiative could have huge effect on California insurance

A proposed ballot initiative would drastically change the way property insurance is regulated in California by repealing a law voters passed almost four decades ago. 

Proposition 103 has regulated home, auto and other types of property and casualty insurance in the state since 1988. It requires insurance companies to seek approval from an elected insurance commissioner to raise their premiums, and allows members of the public to object to rate increases.

The initiative — which experts are call...
CalMatters •

California wine industry torn on Trump tariffs

Tariffs on European wine could be good or bad for California wine producers, depending on whom you ask. 

Some American winemakers, restaurateurs and others are urging President Donald Trump to exclude wine from tariffs on goods from Europe, saying European wines are important to the health of domestic wines.

But not all California wine producers are on board. They argue that European winemakers are already subsidized, so American companies having to bear tariffs on just about everything else...
CalMatters •

CalMatters panel: AI's effects on workers

AI and automation have affected low-wage jobs in ways big and small. Some workers have seen technology control every aspect of their work. Some are sharing warehouse floors with robots. Others have seen AI actually kill their jobs. We discuss the pros and cons — and the gray areas — of AI and automation in the workplace, and possible solutions for the displacement of workers.

Timestamps
00:00:00 Welcome and Introductions by Don Howard
00:06:50 Panel 1| Effects on low-wage and tiered workforces

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CalMatters •

What unionization could mean for California Uber and Lyft drivers — and riders

Uber and Lyft drivers in California have been fighting for years for higher wages and better working conditions — in the streets, before state lawmakers, in court and at the ballot. 

Now, a bill making its way through the state Legislature would allow ride-hailing drivers to unionize. 

If Assembly Bill 1340 passes, California would become the second state to give ride-hailing drivers the right to collectively bargain. Massachusetts was the first to do so after voters there approved a ballot me...
CalMatters •

Thousands of Californians lost work after LA immigration raids — including citizens

California saw a 3.1% drop in private-sector employment the week immediately after the Trump administration stepped up its immigration raids in the state, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census data. 

UC Merced researchers said the steep drop is second only to the unemployment surge the state experienced during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and greater than the immediate decline during the Great Recession in 2007 and 2008.

This appears to be the first analysis of the data...
CalMatters •

Los Angeles fire survivor is told State Farm’s $900K check on hold due to insufficient funds

Amelia McDonald couldn’t believe her ears. She had been navigating what she calls “a horrible experience” trying to get her claims paid by State Farm after the Eaton Fire burned down her Altadena home and ranch in January. She, along with her father, daughter and the goats that survived the fire, have been displaced since then.

Now a $876,354.07 check the insurer wrote her wouldn’t clear. 

McDonald called the check-hold department of her bank, Chase, Tuesday, asking why the funds from the chec...
CalMatters •

Congress is fighting over this tax deduction. Here’s how it affects Californians

A provision in the Republicans’ tax and spending bill will help determine a limit on what high-income Californians can deduct on their taxes, but Congress disagrees on how much. 

After the passage of the 2017 tax bill during President Donald Trump’s first term, California taxpayers who itemize deductions saw their ability to deduct their full state and local income taxes and property taxes go away — to help the federal government pay for corporate tax cuts. The new cap that was established, $10...
CalMatters •

From San Diego to the Bay Area, California restaurants are on edge over immigration raids

Brandon Mejia usually spends his weekends conducting a symphony of vendors serving pupusas, huaraches and an array of tacos at his two weekly 909Tacolandia pop-up events.

Half food festival, half swap meet, the events draw 100-plus vendors a week in Pomona and San Bernardino. They offer a way to “legalize” street food — vendors get a reliable location, cities collect taxes and enforce health codes — while patrons enjoy delicacies from all over Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicara...
CalMatters •

California investigates State Farm over claims from Los Angeles fires

California’s Insurance Department has launched a formal investigation into State Farm over its handling of claims from the Los Angeles County fires. 

The investigation, expected to take months, will allow for a more comprehensive regulatory review, the department said in a press release today. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in the release that the review will help determine whether State Farm has complied with the state’s consumer-protection and claims-handling laws.

“No one should b...
CalMatters •

Could California really withhold tax money from the U.S. if Trump cuts federal funds?

Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested last week that California may withhold taxes it pays to the United States if President Donald Trump slashes federal funding to the state.

It could be another front in the escalating battle between the Trump administration and the Golden State, which are at the moment wrestling over the president summoning the military to handle protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles. But how it would all work — on both sides — is anyone’s guess.

CalMatters asked several t...
CalMatters •

‘An endless game of whack-a-mole’: California tariffs lawsuit thrown out, but it’s not over

A judge threw out California’s lawsuit against President Trump’s tariffs this week, but the case will keep going because the state itself asked for the dismissal. 

State Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said he will immediately appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

The Trump administration had requested that the California lawsuit, filed in April, be transferred to the U.S. Court of International Trade. The federal court judge in San Francisco rejected the transf...
CalMatters •

Trump trade war has already had huge effect on California ports

California’s port traffic is beginning to look worse now, under the effects of President Donald Trump’s fickle tariff policy, than it did at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The vessel calls, or cancellations, that we’re seeing today (are) starting to exceed the number that we saw in COVID-19,” Mario Cordero, chief executive of the Port of Long Beach, said in an interview with CalMatters in early May.

At Port of Los Angeles, Executive Director Gene Seroka said during a media briefing las...
CalMatters •

How State Farm's emergency rate hike approval in California will affect you

State Farm can raise homeowner and other rates starting next month, becoming the first insurance company to win approval to do so on an emergency interim basis in California. 

The state’s largest insurer made the unprecedented request for emergency rate hikes earlier this year, after it said it was in financial distress and expected more than $7 billion in claims because of the Los Angeles County fires in January. 

The state Insurance Department staff recommended approval of the company’s requ...
CalMatters •

L.A. fire survivors accuse State Farm of delaying claims. Should it get OK for a rate hike?

Rossana Valverde’s Pasadena home of 35 years is still standing after Los Angeles County’s devastating January fires — but more than 100 days later, she and her husband still can’t move back in.

That’s because they’re waiting for their insurer, State Farm, to approve and process their claims. 

“We were lucky our house made it through,” Valverde said. “At first we thought unscathed. But it definitely still smells like smoke. The windowsills have a thick layer of black ash and soot.”

After getti...
CalMatters •

How Trump tariffs could upend California farms, wine businesses and ports

President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs are putting many California businesses, jobs and the state budget at risk. They’re affecting not only long-term relationships with trading partners, but an intricate web of ecosystems and supply chains. 

The California business owners and groups grappling with the tariffs — wine shop owners, winery founders, farmers — say the precise effects on their industries are unclear so far. They hope there will be an upside. 

But for those who have a...
CalMatters •

State Farm moves one step closer to emergency California rate hike

State Farm could soon win final approval to raise premiums for California homeowners and others on an interim basis, a move meant to help prop up the finances of the state’s biggest provider of property insurance, after a public hearing this week.

In early February, State Farm asked California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to approve emergency interim rate increases, saying the Los Angeles Country fires had worsened its financial situation as it awaited the Insurance Department’s decision...
CalMatters •

Canadians pull back on travel to California because of Trump: 'I will miss the desert'

California tourism could lose billions of dollars because of President Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs, immigration and gender identity, as well as his talk of annexing Canada. 

Visit California, a nonprofit organization that promotes tourism in the Golden State, recently revised its overall visitor spending forecast for this year from $166 billion to $160 billion, saying international travel into California is already beginning to slow. Canada, the second-largest source of international tou...
CalMatters •

State Farm can hike rates on California homeowners — if it pauses cancellations and proves need

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California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said today he will grant State Farm’s request to raise home insurance premiums by 22% on average if the company agrees to certain conditions — and wins approval at a public rate hearing next month. 

Lara’s conditions are that State Farm, the state’s biggest provider of homeowners insurance, commit to pause canceling and not renewing policies through the end of this year. He also is asking that its parent company, State...
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