President Trump’s megabill is now law and it’s sending shockwaves through California’s healthcare system. The legislation makes major cuts to Medicaid, known here as Medi-Cal, which covers about one in three Californians. Supporters say the bill reins in government spending. But critics warn it could shutter hospitals and force the state into painful budget choices. KQED Health Correspondent Lesley McClurg is joined by Angela Hart, senior correspondent for KFF Health News, to dig into what's at ...
Jul 08, 2025•29 min
Today marks the start of a new fiscal year in California, and the budget signed by Governor Gavin Newsom is going into effect now that the legislature met his demands for a major overhaul of California’s landmark environmental bill. Newsom and others have long seen the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, as a major impediment to building housing. Scott and Marisa are joined by Dustin Gardiner, the co-author of Politico's California Playbook, to analyze the potential impact and politic...
Jul 01, 2025•31 min
It’s crunch time in the state Capitol, with a new fiscal year starting Tuesday. However, the legislature blew past its legally mandated June 15th deadline to approve a spending plan and is continuing to negotiate with Governor Gavin Newsom until the last minute. Marisa and Guy are joined by KCRA 3's California Capitol Correspondent Ashley Zavala to discuss what is in the budget and what's still being hashed out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 27, 2025•29 min
It's officially summer, which for many Americans means camping and hiking in national parks. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, there's been a lot of upheaval in and around our federal open spaces, from budget cuts to proposals to sell off public lands. Marisa is joined by the San Francisco Chronicle's enterprise reporter Kurtis Alexander to discuss how all this will affect California's parks and monuments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 27, 2025•33 min
Over the weekend, the United States entered the conflict between Israel and Iran, dropping never-before-used bunker-buster bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran. President Donald Trump is now trying to hold both sides to a ceasefire, but his own objectives in ordering American involvement seem unclear. Marisa is joined by Politico senior foreign affairs correspondent Nahal Toosi to unpack why Trump chose to get involved and what could be ahead for the region and the U.S. Learn more about your ad ...
Jun 24, 2025•33 min
As immigration raids across the state disrupt workplaces and families, a new report describes the negative impact the federal raids and mass deportations could have on California’s economy. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss the report, plus the fallout from this week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling to uphold a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming medical care for minors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 20, 2025•26 min
President Donald Trump yesterday reversed his brief order instructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to stop raids on farms, hotels and restaurants. As federal immigration agents are told to increase the number of daily deportations, raids are stoking fear across California in workplaces, immigration courts, community flea markets and even churches. Scott is joined by the Los Angeles Times immigration reporter Andrea Castillo to describe what's happening in these communities. Lear...
Jun 17, 2025•20 min
After protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles, President Trump went over Governor Newsom’s head to activate the California National Guard troops. This prompted the state to sue, and Thursday afternoon a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Trump acted illegally — a major victory for Newsom. But just hours later, an appeals court temporarily paused that decision until a hearing next week. Plus, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly pushed out of and handcuffed during Homeland Security Sec...
Jun 13, 2025•25 min
The showdown continues between President Donald Trump and California over the president's move to send troops to quell anti-ICE protests. Marisa and Scott discuss the legal and constitutional implications of the confrontation and the state's lawsuit, which had its first hearing today at a federal court in San Francisco. Late Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued a ruling instructing the Trump administration to hand back control of the National Guard on Friday at noon. Mar...
Jun 13, 2025•33 min
President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Sunday in response to people protesting federal immigration raids. California is now suing the federal government, saying Trump is acting illegally by ignoring California's pleas not to inflame the situation by sending the troops. Scott and Marisa are joined by Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano to discuss the latest on what's happening, how we got here and where this might be heading. Learn more about your ad choi...
Jun 11, 2025•30 min
Just in time for LGBTQ Pride month, the Pentagon appears ready to rename a naval ship named for gay rights icon Harvey Milk. Milk was the first openly gay official elected in California and a Navy veteran who was discharged during the Korean War because he was gay. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss the latest in a series of attacks on the LGBTQ community by the administration. Also in President Trump’s crosshairs: California’s troubled high speed rail project. The Department of Transportation announ...
Jun 06, 2025•24 min
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is upending the nation’s public health system and he’s found some staunch supporters for his cause right here in the Bay Area. Marisa and Scott are joined by KQED health correspondent Lesley McClurg to talk about the Marin County town that's seen a political schism centered around distrust of government and public health. Then, they're joined by Dr. Céline Gounder, a physician, epidemiologist and editor-at-large for Public Health at KFF N...
Jun 05, 2025•33 min
Few books have captivated the nation’s capitol like “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” It describes in excruciating detail how a small circle of family and political insiders isolated and insulated President Joe Biden as his mental and physical condition declined throughout his term in the White House. Scott and Marisa are joined by the authors, CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson, who inter...
Jun 03, 2025•34 min
The 2026 governor’s race is still more than 500 days away, but there is already a crowded field of candidates. On the Democratic side, they're all waiting to see if Vice President Kamala Harris decides to jump in. KQED’s Marisa Lagos and Guy Marzorati are joined remotely by San Francisco Chronicle Senior Political Writer Joe Garofoli who is in Orange County where Democrats are gathering for their biannual state party convention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 31, 2025•31 min
As San Francisco’s elected assessor-recorder, Joaquín Torres’ office decides the value of property in San Francisco, and tells you how much you owe in taxes. But he’s also spent the last dozen years as president of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission, which oversees the city's public housing developments as well as its Section 8 program. Torres joins Scott and Marisa on his last day as president to reflect on his time there and talk about what’s next for both himself and the agency Le...
May 30, 2025•33 min
Buffy Wicks is a leading champion in Sacramento for building more housing in California. Her early political activities include working on both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. Now she represents parts of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties in Sacramento where she chairs the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee. To get more housing built, Wicks is taking on a sacred cow in state politics, the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. Wicks joins Scott and Marisa to talk about w...
May 28, 2025•30 min
San Francisco is looking for a new police chief after Bill Scott announced earlier this month that he is stepping down after eight years on the job through three mayoral administrations. Although the city’s civilian-led police commission will draw up a short list of candidates, Mayor Daniel Lurie will make the final decision. Scott and Marisa are joined by KQED Politics Reporter Sydney Johnson to talk about that choice and what the next chief’s success or failure may mean for the mayor. They’ll ...
May 24, 2025•30 min
Two young leaders are making waves in the Democratic Party. Oakland Congresswoman Lateefah Simon joins Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos, just hours after the House narrowly passed a sweeping policy bill that would cut trillions in taxes and slash safety net programs, including Medicaid and SNAP. Plus, Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg, who became a gun control activist after surviving the Parkland school shooting in 2018, explains his plan to bring fresh perspectives — and elect y...
May 23, 2025•36 min
President Trump’s four-day visit to the Middle East featured splashy business deals, very little talk about human rights abuses and plenty of ethical questions – like ones raised by the gift of a lavish $400 million plane from Qatar for Trump to use as a temporary Air Force One. In many ways trip was a reset of relations – especially with Saudi Arabia, whose president was shunned by the Biden Administration, and Syria, whose new leader will benefit from Trump ending U.S. economic sanctions despi...
May 21, 2025•30 min
Earlier this week, Governor Newsom unveiled his new plan to balance the California's $12 billion budget deficit--with cuts that are raising controversy. The governor wants to put the scalpel to Medi-Cal -- California’s version of Medicaid. Newsom said that he wants to save the state money by capping enrollment of adult immigrants that are here illegally. He also proposed charging these individuals a $100 monthly co-pay for Medi-Cal access. Hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined by KQED P...
May 17, 2025•26 min
Republican State Sen. Brian Jones heads the Senate GOP caucus, and represents parts of San Diego County-- a decidedly purple Southern California district. After stints in both houses of the legislature, He's serving his final term in Sacramento. Although Republicans make up a minority of lawmakers at the state capital, they've made headway in recent months pushing against Democrats on issues like public safety. On this episode of Political Breakdown, Sen. Jones joins hosts Marisa Lagos and Scott...
May 16, 2025•32 min
In November, Orange County Congressman Derek Tran became the first Vietnamese American to represent Little Saigon in Washington, D.C. Tran barely defeated Republican incumbent Michelle Steel, helping Democrats flip three California House seats from red to blue. Scott and Marisa talk with Tran about representing a very purple district and his father's harrowing story as a refugee after the Vietnam War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 13, 2025•27 min
On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The administration has barred journalists from The Associated Press from the White House press pool for refusing to adopt the renaming in its coverage. Scott and Marisa are joined by The AP's White House reporter Chris Megerian to discuss the president's renaming orders, including his plans to announce whether the U.S. will start referring to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf. Plus, they dig i...
May 09, 2025•27 min
Marisa and Scott talk to two Golden State politicians representing California in Washington, D.C. First, they're joined by Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley, who represents the state's third congressional district, which spans most of the California-Nevada border. Kiley is an ally of the president and shares his perspective on Trump's agenda including deportation flights and federal budget cuts. Later, they're joined by Senator Adam Schiff for a very different take on how the Trump administrati...
May 08, 2025•33 min
The Political Breakdown team is reporting from Washington D.C. all this week. Today, Scott and Marisa sit down with Senator Alex Padilla at his office building on Capitol Hill to discuss the Trump administration’s actions on deportations and immigration, including the recent appearance of ICE agents at two elementary schools in Los Angeles. Then, they sit down with Suzan DelBene, who represents Washington State’s first congressional district and also chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign ...
May 06, 2025•33 min
After months of laying low, former Vice President Kamala Harris steps out with a speech in San Francisco, taking aim at President Trump and warning of a constitutional crisis. Plus, the Trump administration is taking aim at sanctuary city laws limiting local law enforcement's cooperation with federal immigration agents. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss all that on this Friday roundtable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 02, 2025•27 min
California’s Secretary of State Shirley Weber is speaking out against federal Republican policies and proposed laws she says will disenfranchise voters. Weber is the daughter of southern sharecroppers and knows what voter suppression looks like. Her grandfather was never given the opportunity to vote and her father didn’t cast a ballot until his 30s, after fleeing a lynch mob in Arkansas and moving to California when Weber was a toddler. She joins Marisa and Scott to discuss threats to voting ri...
May 02, 2025•32 min
Join host Xorje Andrés Olivares and guests to explore what it means to live within a hyphenation. Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to have easy conversations about hard things: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. Hyphenación—where conversation and cultura meet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 30, 2025•3 min
One hundred days into President Donald Trump's second term, East Bay Representative Eric Swalwell joins Marisa to discuss how his party should be responding. In 2012, Swalwell was elected to represent Hayward, Livermore and Pleasanton in Congress and helped lead both impeachments of Trump. He's become a frequent critic and target of the president and his allies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 29, 2025•29 min
In San Francisco, the county Democratic Party this week adopted resolutions aimed at repositioning themselves on issues like public safety, education and, most controversially, possible age limits for elected officials. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass is trying to overcome the damage from being out of the country when the devastating fires struck her city while also dealing with a huge budget deficit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 25, 2025•24 min
