Labor unions are renewing their push to place rules on self-checkout lanes in California stores. The latest proposal is a scaled-back version of a failed bill from last year, but business groups still caution it could drive up costs and frustrate shoppers.
New rules for self-checkout?: Senate Bill 442 would mandate one employee dedicated to monitoring self-checkout, a staffed lane at all times, and signs limiting customers to 15 items, though stores wouldn’t be penalized for exceeding that limit.
Grocers push back: Supporters of the bill say the move protects workers and improves service. Industry groups argue the proposed rules will increase labor costs and contribute to California’s already high grocery prices, without clear evidence the measures are necessary.
It’s been a long day at work, and you still need to stop by the store on your way home.
To spare yourself more social interaction, you make a beeline for the self-checkout station, praying for a quick and painless transaction.
“Please wait, help is on the way,” the machine’s feminine voice coos, taunting you as you try desperately to flag down a clerk.
Following a failed, union-backed effort last year to regulate self-checkout machines, California Democrats are trying again to set guidelines they say will improve the efficiency of self-service stations across the state’s grocery, drug and big box stores.
Senate Bill 442, from Los Angeles Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, who chairs the Senate committee on labor and public employment, would require stores to have at least one dedicated worker there to help self-service customers. Stores also would be required to operate at least one traditional staffed checkout lane at all times and restrict the type and number of items a customer can bring through self-checkout.
“This is about supporting our workforce, to make sure that they're safe but mostly to also make sure that they're providing the level of service that customers expect and deserve,” Smallwood-Cuevas said on the Senate floor earlier this summer before the bill passed that chamber 26-10.
But the state’s business community, especially its grocers, still opposes the effort. Instead, without pointing to concrete studies or evidence, businesses say more regulations will drive up prices due to added labor costs companies will pass along to consumers.
“This seems like a clear example of why Californians pay the highest prices for groceries, regardless of what checkout line they go through,” said Daniel Conway, a lobbyist for the California Grocers Association, at an Assembly Labor and Employment Committee hearing in June.
It’s not surprising that Smallwood-Cuevas, a former labor organizer herself, is carrying such a bill, given her close alignment with the two union heavyweights cosponsoring the legislation: the California Labor Federation and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. She votes their way more than 95 percent of the time, according to the Digital Democracy database, and has received nearly $30,000 in total campaign contributions from the groups since 2021.
Under the measure, stores would have to display signs that limit customers to 15 items or fewer in the self-checkout lanes and also designate one employee whose only assigned duties are to monitor the stands. Notably, the bill explicitly states stores would not be penalized for failing to enforce the item limit, a condition business groups say is nonsensical. Proponents of the provision argue signs will increase peer pressure and self-policing without strict enforcement.
More items banned from self-checkout
Building on a 2011 law that banned the sale of alcohol at self-checkout stations, another union-backed effort, Smallwood-Cuevas’ new bill would expand the ban to any items that require identification to buy, such as tobacco products, and anything with anti-theft security devices that must be removed by an employee.
Stores that want to add new self-service checkout stations must notify employees and their unions in writing at least 60 days in advance or face a $1,000 penalty per violation per day.
Democrats largely have voiced support for Smallwood-Cuevas’ bill, calling it a much needed remedy for the headache that is self-checkout.
Democratic Assemblyman Ash Kalra, of San Jose, scoffed at Conway’s assertion that self-checkout is an efficient and preferable choice for customers and said customers often are forced to use them since stores have reduced the number of cashiers.
“I don't know if I can disagree with more points that were just made from our friends with the grocers,” Kalra told Conway during the late June hearing. “You must not be going to the stores if you think there's an improved shopping experience from these self-checkouts.”
Opponents have expressed concern that a newly added provision in the bill would invite local municipalities to pass their own more stringent standards, as the city of Long Beach recently did, requiring stores to assign at least one clerk for every three self-checkout machines.
Companies warn that such a patchwork of laws would make it difficult to run stores with multiple locations, creating a burden for both owners and customers.
“Only a uniform, statewide approach can provide the consistency that both employers and employees need to thrive,” wrote Ryan Allain, a lobbyist for the California Retailers Association, which currently opposes to the bill.
Even though Republicans admitted they, too, despise the self-checkout process, lawmakers slammed the bill for overstepping businesses’ authority to regulate themselves and raise operating costs that ultimately would be passed along to the consumer.
“It's a labor thing. I get it,” said Republican Sen. Kelly Seyarto, of Murrieta, on the Senate floor in June. “I'd like as many people to work as possible, but I'd also like to afford the groceries.”
Democratic Sen. Ben Allen, of El Segundo, was among a few Democrats to express slight hesitation about the state preemption of local rules but voted for the bill anyway.
“I understand you're going to be working with the grocers on that challenge,” he said in June.
The bill must clear the Assembly Appropriations Committee after lawmakers return from their summer recess Aug. 18 before it goes to the floor for a vote.
Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom, wouldn’t state a position on SB 442, saying the governor’s office “doesn’t typically comment on pending legislation.”
The State Department said Wednesday it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.
Why now: The State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become "public charges" in the U.S.
Why it matters: The step builds on earlier immigration and travel bans by the administration on nearly 40 countries and is part of President Trump's ongoing efforts to tighten U.S. entry standards for foreigners.
Read on... for more on the list of countries affected by the suspension.
The State Department said Wednesday it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration has deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.
The State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become "public charges" in the U.S.
The step builds on earlier immigration and travel bans by the administration on nearly 40 countries and is part of President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to tighten U.S. entry standards for foreigners.
"The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America's immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people," the department said in a statement. "Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits."
The suspension, which will begin Jan. 21, will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas, who make up the vast majority of visa seekers. Demand for non-immigrant visas is expected to rise dramatically in the coming months and years due to the upcoming 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics both of which the U.S. will host or co-host.
Cable calls for screening of non-immigrant visa applicants
A separate notice sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates said that non-immigrant visa applicants should be screened for the possibility that they might seek public benefits in the United States.
"With the uncovering of massive public benefits fraud across the United States, the Trump administration is laser-focused on eliminating and preventing fraud in public benefits programs," said the cable that referred specifically to most non-immigrant visa applications and was sent on Monday.
The cable, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, urged consular officers to ensure that foreigners wanting to travel to the U.S. "have been fully vetted and screened" for whether they may rely on public services before they are issued a visa.
The cable noted several times that it is up to the applicant to prove that they would not apply for public benefits while in the U.S. and said consular officers who suspect the applicant might apply should require them to fill out a form proving their financial bona fides.
President Trump's administration has already severely restricted immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing for citizens of dozens of countries, many of them in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Consular officials must consider a range of personal details
The November guidance on which Wednesday's decision is based directed U.S. Embassy and consulate officials to comprehensively and thoroughly vet visa applicants to demonstrate that they will not need to rely on public benefits from the government any time after their admission in the U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio makes a statement to reporters while meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
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Cliff Owen
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AP
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While federal law already required those seeking permanent residency or legal status to prove they wouldn't be a public charge, Trump in his first term widened the range of benefit programs that could disqualify applicants, and the guidelines in the cable appear to go further in scope.
Immigrants seeking entry into the U.S. already undergo a medical exam by a physician who's been approved by a U.S. Embassy. They are screened for communicable diseases, like tuberculosis, and asked to disclose any history of drug or alcohol use, mental health conditions or violence. They're also required to have a number of vaccinations.
The new directive expanded those with more specific requirements. It said consular officials must consider a range of specific details about people seeking visas, including their age, health, family status, finances, education, skills and any past use of public assistance regardless of the country. It also said they should assess applicants' English proficiency and can do so by conducting interviews in English.
Experts said at the time it could further limit who gets to enter the country at a time when the Republican administration is already tightening those rules.
The countries affected by the suspension announced on Wednesday are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
After a tense day of confusion and backroom negotiations, the Trump administration moved Wednesday night to restore roughly $2 billion in federal grant money for mental health and addiction programs nationwide.
Why now: The money had been cut off late Tuesday without warning, sending shockwaves through a segment of the country's patchwork system of public health that relies on grant funding.
Why it matters: "After a day of panic across the country, non-profits and people with mental health conditions are deeply alarmed, but also hopeful that this money is being restored," said Hannah Wesolowski with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Read on... for more about the restoration of grants.
After a tense day of confusion and backroom negotiations, the Trump administration moved Wednesday night to restore roughly $2 billion in federal grant money for mental health and addiction programs nationwide.
The money had been cut off late Tuesday without warning, sending shockwaves through a segment of the country's patchwork system of public health that relies on grant funding.
"After a day of panic across the country, non-profits and people with mental health conditions are deeply alarmed, but also hopeful that this money is being restored," said Hannah Wesolowski with the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
An administration official confirmed to NPR that the cuts, first announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), were being reversed. They asked not to be identified because they didn't have permission to speak publicly about the decision.
They said all of the roughly 2,000 organizations affected by the whiplash series of events were being notified that full funding would be restored.
NPR was unable to confirm who triggered the initial decision to terminate the grants by sending letters that abruptly signaled programs no longer "aligned" with the Trump administration's public health agenda.
After sending the letters, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services and SAMHSA went silent, offering no clarification to health care providers or the public about what would happen next or where patients should go for care.
The sudden defunding and lack of communication triggered a backlash from local officials and care providers, who said the American public would see a rapid dismantling of essential safety net programs.
"We provide treatment, life saving treatment," said Dan Lustig who runs the Haymarket Center, the largest non-profit addiction treatment program in Chicago, which treats people at high risk while using illicit drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamines.
"If people don't get access to treatment they just die. That's a fact," Lustig said. "You can spin this any way people want to, but people are going to die."
The American Medical Association weighed in, issuing a statement saying it was "deeply concerned" by the cuts and calling for grants to be restored.
"At a time when patients already face too many barriers to care, sudden funding disruptions risk leaving them without the support and treatment they urgently need," the statement said.
That message reached members of Congress. Republican and Democratic lawmakers scrambled to urge White House and Health and Human Services officials to reverse course.
"We heard from offices on both sides of the political aisle who were working on this issue throughout the day," said Wesolowski. The bipartisan pressure, she added, "really speaks to the power of the collaboration on this issue."
While most of the talks happened behind closed doors, some Democratic lawmakers publicly blasted the Trump administration and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for what they described as roughshod treatment of front-line care providers.
"After national outrage, Secretary Kennedy has bowed to public pressure and reinstated $2 billion in SAMHSA grants that save lives," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut.
"Our policy must be thoughtful – not haphazard and chaotic. This episode has only created uncertainty and confusion for families and health care providers," she added.
While confusion over funding was apparently short-lived, public health organizations and other sources told NPR that the termination letters demoralized staff in a system already weakened by deep cuts to Medicaid, enacted by the Republican-controlled Congress last year.
For 24 hours, it was unclear which programs would survive and who would still have jobs when the dust settled.
Dr. Yngvild Olsen, an addiction treatment physician who served as the director for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment inside SAMHSA until July 2025, said the turmoil also raised questions about who in the Trump administration is making key public health decisions.
"My understanding is that much of the staff at SAMHSA was caught unaware," Olsen said. "These were decisions made without the input of experts in these programs and experts in this [addiction and mental health] field."
For months, Trump administration officials have been signaling they think many of the country's current public health programs are ineffective and need to be replaced.
But public health experts told NPR there has been little or no communication with frontline groups that provide much of the actual in the U.S. Meanwhile, no clear plan from the administration has emerged. Instead, local government agencies and non-profits caring for patients have faced a series of threats, disruptions and funding chaos.
"This sparks a lot of uncertainty about who's making public health decisions in this country," said NAMI's Wesolowski.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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The Inner City Youth Orchestra performs at the Skirball Center to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Courtesy Skirball Center
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In this edition:
MLK Day celebrations, a nature-inspired photography show in Venice, bring your book to the park, make chopsticks in East L.A. and more of the best things to do this weekend.
Highlights:
An afternoon of poetry, music and art honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. awaits you at the Blu’ Arts gallery in Long Beach.
What better time to start woodworking than just ahead of the Lunar New Year with this chopstick-making workshop at Allied Woodshop in East L.A., led by Ali Chen?
This whole week has been summer in January, so keep the sunny vibes going and bring your book, a blanket and a donation for Project Angel Food to the L.A. Historic Park for the first Park Pages, a new monthly group read and hang. The Fleuria indie book truck will be there, along with plenty of fellow sun-loving bookworms.
The sounds of theInner City Youth Orchestra of L.A. will fill the Skirball Centerto honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at this free concert. The group is the largest Black-majority orchestra in the nation, with more than 100 musicians and choir singers total.
The big news in L.A. food-land this week is the $1500 price tag for Copenhagen restaurant Noma’s upcoming residency here in L.A. In this economy? I think I’d rather fly to Copenhagen. Nonetheless, if you’re lucky (and flush!) enough to snag a reservation, please report back.
While that did not make any of our staffers' resolution lists, Senior Marketing Manager Patricia Tumang has some food goals of her own, including getting a coffee at Quat L.A., trying some dipping ramen for lunch at Tsuke Artisan Noodle in Pasadena and getting a basturma sandwich at III Mass Bakery & Deli in Glendale (new). Much more reasonable (and probably just as tasty!).
On the music calendar this weekend, our friends at Licorice Pizza recommend new-school SoCal punks Together Pangea at the Teragram on Friday, old-school SoCal punks Black Flag at the Roxy, or Beastie Boys associate Mix Master Mike at the Venice West. Saturday, there’s the big iHeartRadio ALTer EGO show at the Forum with Green Day, Cage The Elephant, Good Charlotte, Sublime, Twenty One Pilots, Gigi Perez, Myles Smith and Almost Monday. Nikka Costa is at the Venice West, or head to Riverside to see legendary teen idol Shaun Cassidy at the Fox Performing Arts Center. Plus, a treat on both Saturday and Sunday: Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra will be playing the Troubadour, with a 4 p.m. matinee on Saturday for those of us who like to be in bed early!
Through Sunday, February 8 Arcane Space 324 Sunset Ave., Venice COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Morleigh Steinberg
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Arcane Space
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The small gallery Arcane Space in Venice punches above its weight, with top-tier shows and a winding venue that lets out to a very cool, neighborhoody patio in the back. Choreographer and artist Morleigh Steinberg owns and operates the gallery, which has hosted inspiring new artists and group shows lately, but this time she’s showing her own work. Steinberg’s mesmerizing nature photos are printed on silver mylar substrate and show her adopted Ireland (she’s married to U2 guitarist The Edge) in a new — and possibly even more emerald — light that you can imagine.
I’m Not a Comedian, I’m Lenny Bruce
Sunday, January 18, 2 p.m. La Mirada Theatre 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada COST: FROM $19.80; MORE INFO
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Courtesy La Mirada Theatre
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Freedom of speech is in the news daily, and no one championed the right to say what you want in a more direct way than comedian Lenny Bruce. Directed by Tony Award-winning actor Joe Mantegna, this one-man show (written by and starring Ronnie Marmo) combines Bruce’s classic comedy bits with biographical insight.
DTLB Live
Saturday, January 17, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Promenade N. between Broadway and 3rd Street, Long Beach COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Downtown Long Beach Alliance
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Usher in the new year with the Big Butter Jazz Band as the Downtown Long Beach Alliance kicks off the first DTLB Live!, a new recurring monthly event series bringing live music, crafts and family-friendly activities to the Promenade every third Saturday of each month. There will also be live swing dancers, a maker’s market with local vendors, food, drink and much more.
NFL Playoffs & Mimosas
Saturday, January 17, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Chulita 533 Rose Ave., Venice COST: FREE; MORE INFO
Watch the playoffs, drink a mimosa, soak up some sun on the patio — what could be better? There will also be tunes from DJ El Cizzle, and bottomless mimosas are $35.
Park Pages
Sunday, January 18, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. L.A. Historic Park 1245 N. Spring Street, Downtown L.A. COST: FREE; MORE INFO
This whole week has been summer in January, so keep the sunny vibes going and bring your book, a blanket and a donation for Project Angel Food to the L.A. Historic Park for the first Park Pages, a new monthly group read and hang. The Fleuria indie book truck will be there, along with plenty of fellow sun-loving bookworms.
About Last Night
Saturday, January 17, 8 p.m. Three Clubs 1123 Vine Street, Hollywood COST: $23.10; MORE INFO
If you thought your dates were bad, just wait until you hear the unhinged horror stories of some of your fellow single Angelenos at About Last Night. The regular storytelling showcase features locals getting up on stage and sharing their funniest, most outrageous dating stories.
Chopstick-Making Workshop
Saturday, January 17, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Allied Woodshop 4160 Whiteside Street, East L.A. COST: $160, MORE INFO
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Courtesy Ali Chen Studio
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More than one of our LAist staffers had “go to a woodworking workshop” on their 2026 L.A. resolutions list. What better time to start than just ahead of the Lunar New Year with this chopstick-making workshop at Allied Woodshop in East L.A., led by Ali Chen?
Greatest Story Ever Told with Guillermo del Toro
Academy Museum 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile COST: $5; MORE INFO
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MGM
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This is for my fellow film nerds and our raison d’etre for living in L.A. The Academy Museum (for only $5!) hosts this screening of a 4K restoration of 1965’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, plus a lecture from Guillermo del Toro talking about George Stevens’ career on the film’s 60th anniversary.
MLK Celebration: Dream @ Blu’
Sunday, January 18, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Blu' Arts & Wellness Gallery 580 Pine Ave., Long Beach COST: FREE, DONATIONS WELCOME; MORE INFO
An afternoon of poetry, music and art honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. awaits you at the Blu’ Arts gallery in Long Beach. The day features acoustic jazz and spoken word poetry curated and hosted by Tommy Domino, an author, poet and teacher. Plus, enjoy the gallery’s work by current artists-in-residence, Shelton Gillis, Mohammed Mubarak and Wan Jean the Artist.
MLK Day Concert
Saturday, January 17, 7:30 p.m. Skirball Cultural Center 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., West L.A. COST: FREE; MORE INFO
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Courtesy Skirball Center
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The sounds of the Inner City Youth Orchestra of L.A. will fill the Skirball Center to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at this free concert. The group is the largest Black-majority orchestra in the nation, with more than 100 musicians and choir singers total.
Jam Session Friday, January 16, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. SteepLA 970 N. Broadway, Ste. 112, Chinatown COST: FREE; MORE INFO
One of my favorite discoveries of 2025 was the charming SteepLA, a teahouse in a Chinatown plaza that also houses restaurants and art galleries. They are launching jazz jam sessions, starting with one on Friday in their courtyard. Tea cocktails and their after-dark menu will be available.
For homeowners, the battle to collect insurance money after the Eaton and Palisades fires has exacerbated a grueling recovery that's far from over. Some fire survivors have had to scramble for other sources of funding to try to rebuild. Others have gone into debt while bouncing between rental housing, as they wrangled with State Farm and other insurers over coverage.
Why now: State Farm is California's top home insurer, and many customers around Los Angeles started to get checks in November after L.A. County announced it was investigating complaints about how the company had handled claims from last January's wildfires, says Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network.
The background: The insurance industry says it has been dealing with years of rising disaster costs that have forced companies to raise premiums and to limit coverage in some high-risk areas. And the cost of disasters is increasing in part because climate change fuels more-intense storms, floods and wildfires that damage and destroy property.
Read on ... to learn what fire survivors are dealing with and about how this issue is cropping up in other states.
Nine months had passed since a wildfire destroyed Mark Johnson's southern California home, and he was still waiting for State Farm to pay his claim. Desperate for a resolution, Johnson asked the insurer in October to negotiate a settlement so his family could rebuild.
"I was on the verge of leaving money on the table," Johnson recalls, "just to get some kind of assurance of what we could move forward with."
Then, just before Thanksgiving, a State Farm representative told him the money was on its way.
"Needless to say, it was a huge relief," Johnson says, fighting back tears.
Johnson isn't alone. State Farm is California's top home insurer, and many customers around Los Angeles started to get checks in November after L.A. County announced it was investigating complaints about how the company had handled claims from last January's wildfires, says Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network.
For homeowners, the battle to collect insurance money after the Eaton and Palisades fires has exacerbated a grueling recovery that's far from over. As Johnson's case with State Farm languished, he had to scramble for other sources of funding to try to rebuild. Other fire survivors have gone into debt while bouncing between rental housing, as they wrangled with State Farm and other insurers over coverage.
The struggle Los Angeles residents have faced with insurers mirrors what's happening in communities around the United States. Years of rising premiums, due in part to threats from climate change, have added to the frustration with insurance companies.
"This is a national issue," Rep. John Garamendi, a California Democrat, told reporters recently. He added, "the first commandment of the insurance industry is to pay as little, as late as possible."
Asked about its handling of insurance claims, State Farm sent NPR a statement from its website that says the company takes every claim seriously and tries to provide customers with appropriate coverage.
"The rebuilding process [in Los Angeles] is underway, but frustration with the pace is understandable," David Sampson, chief executive of American Property Casualty Insurance Association, an industry group, said in a statement to NPR. "Insurers have paid tens of billions of dollars to policyholders impacted by the fires, and that process continues."
Insurers face 'staggering' costs from LA fires
The Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures around Los Angeles. They rank as the most expensive blazes ever globally, with $40 billion of insured losses, according to Swiss Re Institute, the research arm of reinsurance company Swiss Re.
Soon after the fires were extinguished, homeowners started to complain about how insurance companies were responding to the disaster.
"The price tag is so staggering for the insurers here that they are bringing strategies to try to limit the pain" they experience financially, says Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a national consumer advocate. "But it's nothing new under the sun what we're seeing."
In November, the Los Angeles County counsel opened an investigation of State Farm following reports from residents that the company delayed, underpaid and denied valid insurance claims. The county counsel's office declined to comment on the state of the investigation.
State Farm said in a statement on its website that the investigation is a distraction from its efforts to help fire victims recover.
Chen of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network says State Farm's alleged behavior was devastating for its customers.
"Around February or March, I realized that whether a family was recovering or not depended largely on which insurance company they were with, which was shocking," Chen says. "These are all people who have been paying [their] insurance premiums faithfully for 20 or 30 years, but only some of them were getting the benefits."
The Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures around Los Angeles.
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Ryan Kellman
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NPR
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The fight for insurance money has been especially hard for homeowners whose houses survived the fires but were contaminated with lead and other toxins from the smoke, according to survivors and consumer advocates.
"With total loss, it's a very clear-cut, 'OK, we either rebuild or we sell. And if we rebuild, it's this. And if we sell, it's that.' And we do not have any paths to take," says Krista Copelan, whose Altadena home suffered smoke damage and lead contamination in the fires. "It's 100% trying to figure it out, fighting every step of the way, having no clear-cut answers."
Until about Thanksgiving, Andrew Wessels says State Farm resisted replacing his family's personal belongings, like clothes and bedding, that had been contaminated with lead, insisting the items could be cleaned instead. As the one-year anniversary of the fires approached, Wessels still didn't know how much State Farm would pay to remediate lead contamination in his Altadena house. To get rid of all the toxic ash, Wessels says floorboards need to be pulled up and walls torn down.
"We're here almost a year later, and we haven't taken one step forward," Wessels said in December.
As they've waited, Wessels, his wife and two young children have moved a dozen times, and the family has taken on tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
A lot of families are in similar situations. In Altadena, 65% of residents are still in temporary housing, according to a report this month from Department of Angels, a nonprofit that was set up to help victims of last year's fires. In Pacific Palisades, the number is even higher, with nearly three-quarters of residents still displaced.
As the recovery has dragged on, the toll on residents has grown, according to the Department of Angels report. Around half of respondents said they have depleted much or all of their savings. And about the same share said they worry about their mental health.
"I think everyone has been overwhelmed and drained for, literally, the past 11 months," Copelan, a State Farm customer, said in December.
'They're trying to make it difficult'
More than a thousand miles east, in Oklahoma, State Farm faces separate allegations that it has shortchanged policyholders. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, recently accused the insurer of running a scheme to deny and minimize payments for roof damage from hail and wind.
"Oklahomans are paying rising homeowners insurance premiums yet receiving less protection in return, as State Farm simultaneously pursues additional rate increases while allegedly escalating its claims denials and underpayments practices," Drummond wrote in a December court filing.
Drummond's complaint is part of a growing wave of frustration with insurers nationwide as rising premiums strain household budgets.
In Texas, Democratic state Rep. Mihaela Plesa recently told reporters that homeowners who are struggling to pay for insurance in her district near Dallas routinely have their claims denied.
"That's not insurance, that's extraction," Plesa said. "That's a system that's designed to pull maximum dollars out of Texas pockets and providing minimum protection when disaster strikes."
And in southwest Florida, Jessica Gatewood, a Realtor, told NPR that home insurance feels like "a scam."
"You pay into it for, like, 30 years, 40 years, and then you have to make a claim, and they don't want to pay you what you actually need," Gatewood says.
The insurance industry says it has been dealing with years of rising disaster costs that have forced companies to raise premiums and to limit coverage in some high-risk areas.
The cost of disasters is increasing in part because climate change fuels more-intense storms, floods and wildfires that damage and destroy property. Additionally, people continue to move to coastal regions vulnerable to hurricanes and to forested areas prone to wildfires. That means more property is in harm's way. Then, when homes get damaged or destroyed, inflation has made it more expensive to rebuild.
Robert Gordon, a senior vice president at American Property Casualty Insurance Association, the industry group, says Florida and other states have also been plagued by cases of what Gordon described as insurance "fraud" related to alleged roof damage from storms, which he says have contributed to rising costs.
Construction workers build a home in the Palisades fire zone on the one-year anniversary of the fires.
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Allen J. Schaben
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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In California, Mark Johnson hopes to move into his rebuilt Altadena home by fall. Reflecting on his ordeal with State Farm, part of him wonders if the insurer was just overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. But he can't shake the feeling that all of the delays he faced were intentional.
"They're just trying to push you away," Johnson says. "They're trying to make it difficult for you so that you won't ask for much, so you'll be happy with whatever you get."
