The Brief

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill legalizing balcony, or “plug-in,” solar Wednesday.

The device is a twist on rooftop solar: smaller, portable, and relatively inexpensive.

Balcony solar kits consist of just a few panels, an inverter that converts solar energy into the kind used in a home, and cables. In places where the technology is popular, like Germany, it can be plugged into a standard wall outlet.

The new law comes as Californians struggle to pay outsized electricity bills, which have risen substantially in recent years. Plug-in devices open the solar market to renters, people with unsuitable roofs, and those without the money to invest in a rooftop system.

“These small, easy-to-use solar panels will give everyone, including renters, the relief they desperately need on our outrageous energy bills,” said state Senator Scott Wiener (D – San Francisco) in a press release. Wiener authored the legislation.

Plug-in solar panels sit on top of an accessory dwelling unit in Agnes Chan’s backyard in Berkeley, California, for KQED on Aug. 23, 2026.

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The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support from state lawmakers before landing on Newsom’s desk.

Panels can hang from a balcony, out a window, or be tented in the backyard. Existing models range from $300 to $2200, depending on size.

One reason the technology is substantially less expensive than rooftop solar is that it cuts out the costs of installation. Customers themselves set it up, which some have said is straightforward and others have found more challenging than advertised.

California’s law comes with a wrinkle, however. Plug-in solar panels must be certified by an outside safety organization. Since the technology is new in the U.S., there is just one existing certification offered by Underwriters Laboratories. Depending on how manufacturers innovate and roll out products, some may require an electrician’s help to install, while others may be truly “plug and play.”

Electrical experts and other advocates of California’s new law are still calling its passage a massive win, and expect the safety certification to evolve and eventually allow the plug-in panels to connect to a standard wall outlet.

“We are celebrating,” said Cora Stryker, co-founder of plug-in solar advocacy group Bright Saver. “The market is sending a clear signal to manufacturers that they need to develop a California system.”

The new law will exempt plug-in panels from the typical way rooftop solar must be registered with utilities. Instead of paying upwards of a hundred dollars and waiting days to weeks, the new registration process will be free, straightforward, and immediate.

A handful of states have passed similar legislation within the past 18 months. Utah was the first, with a law passed in March 2025.

Ten states now have bills on the books that allow a relatively straightforward process for purchasing and setting up balcony solar systems, including Colorado, Virginia and Maine.

Supporters of the technology include hundreds of environmental and community groups, who argue plug-in solar democratizes access to solar power. They believe adoption by the most populous state would be a boon for the nascent U.S. balcony solar market.

Some of the state’s largest investor-owned utilities, including PG&E and SDG&E opposed the legislation, citing safety and a concern that the systems would shift energy costs to people without solar power in any form.

Labor unions representing firefighters and PG&E employees initially opposed the bill, but took a neutral stance once lawmakers included requirements that systems must comply with state and national electrical codes.

Some Californians have already installed plug-in solar panels, but utilities ask them to complete an interconnection agreement, citing state rules. If done through PG&E for example, representatives from the utility said that process would cost between roughly $100 to $800 and take about an hour. Typically, the approval comes through in three days, PG&E staff said.

Plug-in solar advocates argued that the interconnection process defeated the plug-and-play goal of the technology, and could double or triple its cost.

Their hope is to make the panels as ubiquitous and easy to install as any off-the-shelf appliance dotting the racks of a Home Depot or Costco.

Rupert Mayer installs power inverters on the solar panels at Matthew Milner’s home in Kensington on May 23, 2025.

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Proponents of the technology say it can meet up to 20% of a home’s electricity needs and save as much as $500 annually for a small apartment.

The new law outlines several device requirements. The balcony solar systems must not generate more than 1,200 watts per home — enough energy to power a window air-conditioning unit — and offset a customer’s onsite electricity use. They must be certified by an outside safety organization and have a feature that would prevent electricity from feeding back into the grid if there’s a power outage.

Plug-in solar products currently on the market do not yet meet the outlined requirements, and customers therefore must still register the available systems as though they are rooftop solar. The sale of non-compliant systems will become illegal in 2030.

Groups that sponsored the bill said there are a few companies already developing systems meeting the specific California standards, and they expect these models to hit the market in the spring.

The legislation goes into effect in 2027, and sunsets Jan. 1, 2030, “making it a fight that continues,” said Stryker.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is undergoing a drastic restructuring of its funding model — one that will reduce federal support and require states to shoulder a larger share of the bill.

Historically, the federal government and states have evenly split the food aid program's operational costs, such as paying for state workers and training staff. But starting on Thursday, states will need to cover 75% of that tab while federal funding shrinks by half.

By the federal government's own calculations, the new rule will lead to a $16.9 billion reduction in federal spending for SNAP over the next five years, or $3.4 billion annually.

The Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger advocacy group, estimates that states would need to shore up anywhere between $3 million and $670 million to fully offset the loss in federal funding for administrative costs. California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Michigan are expected to be especially hard hit.

Over the past year, states have been rebalancing their budgets to account for the new costs. But they will likely need to tighten their belts even further as more funding changes are on the horizon.

Currently, food benefits are covered entirely by federal dollars. But starting in October 2027, states may have to pay for a portion of the food aid if their error rate — a measure of overpayments and underpayments to SNAP recipients — is at or above 6%.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, estimates that nearly half of states could each pay $100 million or more if they do not lower their error rates. California and New York could each be on the hook for over $1 billion if they are unable to do so, according to the think tank.

In a report published last year, the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality estimated that these changes together will force states to spend two to three times more to keep the food assistance program running.

These mounting costs will put states in a bind, where they will likely have to find new sources of revenue, cut funding from other programs or further restrict access to SNAP, according to Katie Bergh, a senior policy analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"And we may see some states decide that they need to withdraw from the program entirely," Bergh says.

The funding changes were triggered by President Trump's signature domestic policy law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was enacted in July 2025. The White House said the legislation preserves and strengthens the food assistance program, adding that it was "so bloated that it is leaving fewer resources for those who truly need help."

But Bergh says SNAP's previous funding structure served a purpose.

"That essentially ensured that eligible families who were seeking benefits could get them even if they lived in a state that had much higher rates of poverty or a smaller tax base," she says.

The Agriculture Department, which administers SNAP, has not yet responded to a request for comment.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also introduced other sweeping changes, adding stricter work requirements and ending food aid eligibility for the small pool of noncitizens who previously qualified.

Since Trump's second term began, the number of people receiving SNAP benefits dropped from 42 million to 36 million, as of June. Most of that decline happened after the One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law.
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The Trump administration would require U.S. taxpayers to disclose their citizenship and work authorization status to the IRS as part of a proposed change to the annual tax form that nearly all workers file each year.

Administration officials argue the new requirement will help the federal government stop immigrants lacking permanent legal status from collecting federal benefits they are not eligible for, potentially saving taxpayers up to $2 billion. But taxpayer and privacy advocates say the data could be used to help find and deport those people.

“It could be used as an immigration enforcement tool and that is probably the reason why they are doing this,” said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.

Most Americans will see it as a new checkbox that gives the government even more information on taxpayers. But those living in the country illegally face a more complicated choice: Declare on a tax return that they are not authorized to live in the U.S. or lie on the return, which is a felony. Some may stop filing their taxes altogether.

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“It’s dragging the IRS into this administration’s immigration policies,” said Nina Olson, executive director for the Center for Taxpayer Rights.

The IRS posted its draft 1040 form for 2026 in late August. It includes the question, “At the time you file your return, are you, and your spouse if filing jointly, a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or an alien lawfully authorized to work in the U.S.?” There are “Yes” or “No” checkboxes for both the filer and their spouse. A draft of a second form, known as Schedule 3-A used to claim refundable tax credits, asks a similar question.

The questions are not optional. Every tax filer must certify under penalty of law their immigration or citizenship status to the IRS to file their return.

The Treasury Department says the new question is meant to keep immigrants lacking permanent legal status from taking advantage of refundable tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit. These are credits for which low- and middle income workers and families may qualify that often result in a refund back to the taxpayer.

In a statement, a Treasury Department official said the information will be “subject to a variety of privacy, disclosure and other legal protections.” The statement did not say whether the information will be shared with immigration enforcement agencies.

Despite not being authorized to live and work in the U.S., immigrants that do not have permanent legal status do pay taxes. A 2024 report by the National Taxpayer Advocate found 3.8 million tax returns where a taxpayer used an Individual Tax Identification Number, or ITIN. While an ITIN can be issued for a variety of purposes, undocumented workers who cannot obtain a Social Security number are among those who use them.

IRS data show that taxpayers who filed those nearly 4 million returns paid $14.4 billion in income taxes and $6.5 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes.

A valid Social Security Number, not an ITIN, is required to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. The IRS checks Social Security Numbers against Social Security Administration records for each claim of the EITC.

Because of this process, Olson said she believes the new proposal is unnecessary.

“Your citizenship or residency status is not information the IRS needs to process a return. It’s not even information the IRS needs to process these tax credits,” she said. “The IRS already has Social Security data on taxpayers, as well as ITIN information. It already has what it needs to process a return.”

Immigrants lacking permanent legal status are generally not eligible for federal benefits after Congress overhauled federal welfare programs in the mid-1990s. A tax filer needs to be a U.S. citizen or a green card holder to claim the EITC or CTC, with some limited exceptions.

But some immigrants in the U.S. who presently qualify for some of these credits would not under the new policy. This would include people covered under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, those with temporary protected status and temporary workers in the country under H1-B visas.

The Trump administration argues in its proposal that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, the law that governs who is eligible for benefit programs, should be applied to refundable tax credits as well. The research paper published this week estimates that 671,000 people, including 309,000 children, will lose the Earned Income Tax Credit under this policy. Another roughly 1.1 million people, including 574,000 children, will lose the Additional Child Tax Credit.

Most of the children that would lose eligibility to these credits are U.S. citizens, according to these researchers at Boston University, Columbia University and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, because one or more of their parents’ citizenship or immigration status.

The Trump administration has tried to use the IRS to implement its immigration policies before. Last year, the Treasury Department agreed to share confidential taxpayer information of immigrants with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of identifying and deporting people.

The data-sharing agreement was halted by a federal judge, which found that it violated federal taxpayer privacy laws, and the halt remains in effect as the case works its way through the courts. However, before it was stopped, it was found that the IRS had already turned over the addresses of 47,000 people to ICE.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

The annual Día de los Muertos celebration by Self Help Graphics & Art is coming home to Boyle Heights this year. 

The block party will be held Nov. 7 outside its building on 1st and Anderson streets, and will feature live performances by Los Lobos and La Santa Cecilia. 

Self Help Graphics has been under renovation for years, with its Día de los Muertos celebration often held at the East LA Civic Center. The building is expected to reopen in 2027.

“Día de los Muertos at Self Help Graphics has always been a homecoming — a day when our community gathers to remember our loved ones through art, music, and ceremony,” said Self Help Graphics executive director Paulina Flores in a statement. “This year, that word carries even more meaning as we celebrate block-party style on Anderson Street and begin our return to our Boyle Heights home.”

The 12,000-square-foot building is being transformed into a cultural center that meets museum standards, featuring seismic retrofitting, an expanded printmaking studio, upgraded gallery lighting and a larger multipurpose room for community gatherings.

A key player in the Chicano movement of the 1970s, Self Help Graphics & Art was founded in the East LA garage of Sister Karen Boccalero, a Franciscan nun and printmaker. It started with a small group of young Latino artists who used their medium to spread social justice messages. 

From the onset, these artists involved members of the community in the process of making art and organizing programs, such as a 1972 Día de los Muertos event considered to be the first public commemoration in the United States of a tradition rooted in Mexico’s Indigenous origins. Community art workshops will also be offered this year.

Here’s what to know:

53rd Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration

Attendees will have an opportunity to record interviews with community members at an oral history station hosted by the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Self Help Graphics teaching artists will help attendees create miniature altars.

Details:

2 p.m. — A ceremonial procession featuring Aztec dancers will guide attendees from Mariachi Plaza to Self Help Graphics & Art

Community art workshop series

Self Help Graphics & Art is offering a series of Día de los Muertos community art workshops from 12 to 3 p.m. beginning this Saturday.