Erin Stone
is a reporter who covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published November 14, 2024 4:23 PM
Heat pumps require less energy to heat or cool a house.
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Schon
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Topline:
Clean energy rebates funded by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act are now available for single-family homes. Qualifying single-family homes can get up to $8,000 to install a heat pump HVAC system.
Why it matters: Heat pumps can both heat and cool your home. They’re extremely efficient, which means they can help you save money. They also improve indoor air quality and help lower climate pollution.
Keep reading... to learn how to find out if you're eligible and for more resources for upgrading your home with cleaner, energy-efficient appliances.
Heat pumps can both heat and cool your home and are extremely efficient, which means they can help you save hundreds of dollars a year on your electric bill. Heat pumps are up to five times more efficient than traditional heating and cooling systems, meaning they can provide five times more cooling or heating power than the electricity they consume.
And because they don’t burn fossil fuels (like a traditional gas furnace) and are a lot more efficient than traditional A/C units, heat pumps not only improve indoor quality, but can help significantly cut climate pollution as more households install them.
These rebates aim to spur the adoption of heat pumps to fight climate change, while helping people cut energy costs. So if your gas furnace or A/C is on the fritz, consider upgrading to a heat pump.
What do the rebates cover?
As we said earlier, this is the second piece of new federal rebates to increase the adoption of clean energy appliances at home. This particular rebate gives income-qualified, single-family homes between $4,000 to $8,000 to install a heat pump HVAC system.
You can get the rebates upfront as an instant discount or as a paper check from the contractor after installation.
Keep in mind these rebates don’t cover electrical panel upgrades, which may be necessary depending on your home. However, these rebates are stackable with other financial incentives. Learn more about state and local clean energy incentives at switchison.org and climateaction.ca.gov.
Who’s eligible?
Low- and medium-income single-family homes, as well as properties with four or fewer units — such as mobile homes, duplexes, and condos — are eligible.
Homeowners or tenants making between 80% and 150% of the area median income can get up to $4,000 toward a heat pump HVAC system, and those with incomes less than 80% of the area median income will be eligible for up to $8,000.
For example, a four-person household in Orange County with an income of $129,750 or less would be eligible for the $8,000 rebate, and an income of $236,700 or less for the $4,000 rebate. A four-person household in L.A. County with an income of $110,950 or less would be eligible for the $8,000 rebate, and an income of $208,050 or less for the $4,000 rebate. You can check your eligibility here.
Only the home or property owner can apply for the rebate, however, renters can encourage their landlord to apply. If your landlord pays the electric bill, tell them this can help them save money. If they don’t, tell them it will help you save money, improve your indoor air quality, and increase the value of their property.
If you’re worried about a heat pump HVAC upgrade leading to an increase in your rent, that’s valid, and something local nonprofits and researchers are working to address through policy (see our previous coverage on that here).
As the federal rebate rules currently stand, owners and landlords of low-income apartments or other rental properties who receive an income-qualified rebate are not allowed to raise rents due to energy upgrades or evict tenants to rent at higher rents for a minimum of two years.
You can check eligibility and apply for the rebates here. You need to work with a certified contractor, which you can find here.
What’s next?
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to “terminate” many of the clean energy rebates for consumers from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. California is still awaiting approval from the Department of Energy for additional consumer rebate programs, so many of these rebates may be at risk under a Trump administration.
If you’re considering going solar, getting an electric vehicle or need to upgrade your electrical panel and want to benefit from federal financial incentives, time is of the essence. Check out this guide from the nonprofit Rewiring America to learn more about all the existing federal incentives for clean energy home upgrades.
Energy Savings Assistance (ESA) Program is offered through utilities and provides no-cost weatherization services, such as adding insulation to low-income customers.
Libby Rainey
is a general assignment reporter. She covers the news that shapes Los Angeles and how people change the city in return.
Published January 14, 2026 3:34 PM
L.A. unions gathered outside the Tesla Diner in Hollywood to launch a ballot initiative aimed at companies with executive pay that vastly exceeds the average worker.
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Libby Rainey
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LAist
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Topline:
Progressive forces in Los Angeles are taking aim at companies with bloated executive pay through a ballot initiative.
What's happening: On Wednesday, a coalition led by hotel workers union Unite Here Local 11 launched a signature-gathering effort for a ballot proposition they called the "Overpaid CEO Tax."
What would the ballot proposition do? If it makes it on the November ballot, it will ask voters to impose an additional city business tax on large companies with CEO pay that is exponentially higher than worker pay.
How would it work? If passed by voters, the executive pay ordinance would impose an additional business tax on companies with at least 1,000 employees whose top executive makes more than 50 times the median worker pay in Los Angeles.
Read on ... for more on the bigger political fight over the coming Olympic Games.
Progressive forces in Los Angeles are taking aim at companies with bloated executive pay through a ballot initiative.
On Wednesday, a coalition led by hotel workers union Unite Here Local 11 launched a signature-gathering effort for a ballot proposition they called the "Overpaid CEO Tax." If the proposition makes the November ballot, it will ask voters to impose an additional city business tax on large companies with CEO pay that is exponentially higher than worker pay.
Representatives of some of Los Angeles' most powerful unions, including the Los Angeles teachers union UTLA, gathered in Hollywood to announce the launch. They spoke on the sidewalk outside of the Tesla Diner — a recently opened charging station and restaurant owned by world's richest man Elon Musk.
"A growing and dangerous divide is tearing Los Angeles apart. On the one side, corporate CEOs live in their own world," said Unite Here Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen. "On the other side, workers … juggle two and three jobs, they make impossible choices between medicine and rent."
The initiative takes aim at big corporations. If passed by voters, the executive pay ordinance would impose an additional business tax on companies with at least 1,000 employees whose top executive makes more than 50 times the median worker pay in Los Angeles. Those funds would go toward low-income housing projects, sidewalk repairs and other projects.
The additional tax would be one to 10 times the typical city business tax. According to the city clerk's office, the current city business tax is between 0.1% and 0.425% of gross receipts.
The campaign is part of a bigger political fight over the coming Olympic Games and who will benefit from them.
The executive pay initiative is one of a series of competing ballot propositions launched by union and business interests after the Los Angeles City Council voted last year to raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 an hour by 2028.
That vote set off a cascade of responses from the companies it affected. A business group backed by Delta and United Airlines launched a referendum to repeal the wage increase. That effort eventually failed.
The fight around the so-called "Olympic wage" is still playing out. A coalition of business interests has introduced its own ballot initiative to eliminate the city business tax entirely. In December, City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson introduced a motion to delay the $30 minimum wage by two years.
To land the ballot initiative on the November ballot, campaigners have 120 days to gather around 140,000 signatures from registered voters in the city of Los Angeles.
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published January 14, 2026 3:32 PM
Sarah Mahin, director of the county's new Homeless Services and Housing Department, detailed the proposed cuts at an L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting.
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L.A. County officials are considering $219 million in cuts to homeless programs for the coming fiscal year. The Board of Supervisors will vote on the plan Feb. 3.
The cuts: The county’s Department of Homeless Services and Housing proposes reducing the Pathway Home encampment clearing program, outreach efforts and a host of other programs to make up for a large budget deficit.
What's driving the deficit: The county has been facing a $303 million shortfall from three main factors: increased shelter bed operating costs, expiring state and federal grants, and declining projected sales tax revenue under Measure A.
Why it matters: Service providers warn that the cuts contradict what voters intended when they approved Measure A. The ordinance doubled L.A. County’s dedicated stream of homelessness-related funding to roughly $1 billion.
Facing a loss of state and federal funding and increased costs, Los Angeles County officials are considering cutting homeless services and programs by more than 25% in the next budget year.
If approved next month, the spending plan presented to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday would trim $219 million from homeless services and programs, slashing county street outreach efforts in half and closing most of the sites for the Pathway Home encampment clearing program.
Several supervisors pushed back on aspects of the spending plan and urged county staff to find ways to avoid some of the proposed cuts.
“ I'm not particularly happy with everything that I'm seeing,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said. “I've heard from my providers that their people are disappointed.”
L.A. County’s new Department of Homeless Services and Housing drafted the spending plan. In a presentation to supervisors, officials said the deep cuts were necessary because of the rising costs of operating existing shelter beds and the loss of tens of millions in temporary state and federal funding.
The proposal comes after county voters approved Measure A in 2024 to increase the sales tax rate and double county dollars dedicated to addressing the homelessness crisis.
“This is really challenging, and we’re making recommendations that nobody wants to be making,” department Director Sarah Mahin told supervisors.
After the department published a draft of the plan in November, authorities changed the proposal to avoid more than $80 million in additional program cuts. They did that by securing $39 million one-time state grants and implementing about $45 million in other cost-saving measures, officials said.
Dozens of homeless service providers on Tuesday thanked county officials for shrinking the initial $303 million shortfall and urged them to avoid further cuts to services.
“We truly appreciate the progress you've made, but now the remaining shortfall is devastating for Los Angeles and for organizations like ours that are already stretched to the limit,” said Georgia Hawley of Midnight Mission, a homeless shelter in Skid Row.
Garrett Lee, of Department of Mental Health's HOME Team, collaborates with LAHSA’s Homeless Engagement Team during outreach in the targeted COVID-19 testing efforts in the homeless community in 2020.
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What’s driving the deficit?
Several factors are driving the budget deficit projected for the fiscal year that begins in July, according to L.A. County’s homelessness department.
Shelter bed cost increases: The rates L.A. County pays shelter bed operators went up last year. It will now pay 46% more — an increase of $86 million — to maintain the same 6,000 shelter beds, officials said.
Funds expiring: Severaltemporary funding sources — totaling about $185 million — have ended or will end in the next fiscal year, officials said. That includes $38 million in federal COVID relief and more than $80 million in state funding.
Consumer spending: Sales tax revenue from Measure A is projected to decrease by $14.5 million in the next fiscal year because consumer spending is down.
Carry-over funds: There are fewer one-time funds available from previous budget years that can be rolled into the coming budget year, officials say. That number is down by $18 million.
Measure A looms large
Last year, L.A. County started collecting revenue through Measure A. The additional 0.5% sales tax approved by voters to address homelessness is expected to generate about $1 billion for L.A. County next budget year. That’s double the revenue generated under the county’s previous homelessness sales tax ordinance.
On Tuesday, service providers said the county cuts don’t make sense to voters who approved Measure A.
“This is not what voters intended when they doubled the tax on themselves to address the homelessness crisis,” said Katie Hill, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services, a Pasadena homelessness nonprofit.
Dozens of homeless services employees lined up to echo that message and demanding officials restore the full budget.
" My request is that you please not approve this plan without filling the gap first,” said Erin Thompson of Inner City Law Center, a nonprofit law firm. “Please find the funds.
Deandra Davis, from the homeless service provider HOPICS, said cutting programs doesn't end up saving the county money in the long run. The costs get pushed elsewhere.
“We shift these costs to jails and hospitals," she said.
Under Measure A, about 60% of revenue has to go toward homeless services. That’s about $625 million for next budget year.
Nearly 36%, or $372 million, must go to the L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency to support housing development. County homelessness officials said that agency is expected to take on some of the homelessness prevention functions cut from the county’s homeless services budget.
“Measure A has given the overall system more tools to address the homelessness crisis, but fewer of them are held directly by the county,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said Tuesday.
Proposed reductions
L.A. County’s latest homelessness budget proposal includes a $92 million reduction for the county’s Pathway Home program, which moves unhoused Angelenos out of tent encampments by offering them hotel room beds. Pathway Home would be reduced from more than 1,200 beds at 20 project sites to 460 beds at seven sites, officials said.
Fewer beds for the program will mean more tent encampments in areas it serves, officials said.
Solis and fellow Supervisor Holly Mitchell said the program has been crucial for their constituents.
“This continuing attack on Pathway Home is problematic,” Mitchell said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We are clearly heading in a direction where our ability to ultimately resolve homelessness and address encampments and continue to make the progress we've seen in the last couple of years will be severely constrained."
Holly J. Mitchell, an LA County Supervisor who represents the second district.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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The budget plan also includes $127 million in reductions to other programs, including at least 100 frontline worker jobs. Outreach and prevention-related programs would be hit hardest, officials said.
Street outreach-related programs would be reduced by 60% and staffing in those programs would be cut by about half.
Mahin said parts of the county outside the city of Los Angeles will be disproportionately affected by reductions to outreach programs. Her department recommended reductions to certain outreach teams working outside city limits, but not in L.A.
That’s because of legal obligations under a settlement of a major homelessness lawsuit brought against the city and county by The L.A. Alliance for Human Rights.
“There is a requirement due to the L.A. Alliance for the county to maintain a certain level of outreach services in the city of L.A. through next fiscal year,” Mahin told LAist.
Critics of the spending plan urged supervisors to look at other parts of the budget to help save programs still on the chopping block.
Lily Clark of HOPICS told county officials the cuts would hurt her unhoused clients.
"What we can't do is eliminate the programs that prevent homelessness and expect the crisis to improve,” Clark said. “ Every subsidy cut, every outreach program lost, every navigation team dismantled, each one represents a person who will fall through the cracks.”
Next steps
Solis said on Tuesday that she hopes to see changes to outreach spending and other recommendations before approving the plan next month.
“ I know we're gonna have opportunity to try to make some adjustments,” she said.
Mahin told LAist her department has been “turning over couch cushions” looking for other sources of funding to help address the planned cuts and reductions.
“Unless people are bringing other funding solutions to the table,” Mahin said, “My question is: we can make changes, but what would you like to cut instead?”
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said local programs are getting cut because state and federal dollars dried up and costs rose, not because L.A. County cut spending.
“ We cannot invent dollars we no longer receive,” Horvath said. “We're the only level of government that has actually increased our investment. Every other level of government has decreased, and we cannot backfill these gaps.”
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Makenna Sievertson
breaks down policies and programs with a focus on the housing and homelessness challenges confronting some of SoCal's most vulnerable residents.
Published January 14, 2026 3:28 PM
A trailer attachment is parked on an East L.A. street.
Either that, or explain to the court at a hearing next month why the city hasn’t done so, the judge said.
Why it matters: The city had planned to implement a new state law that gives L.A. County authority to dispose of abandoned or inoperable RVs worth up to $4,000.
But the court order, issued Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin, puts that on pause and holds L.A. to a previous law that allowed the city to dispose of RVs worth $500 or less.
The backstory: The order stems from a legal challenge by a coalition of housed and unhoused residents in West L.A. who argue Assembly Bill 630, which became law Jan. 1, gives the authority for expanded RV enforcement only to the county of Los Angeles — not the city.
The L.A. City Council voted in December to approve a motion instructing various city departments to “immediately implement” the law.
The CD11 Coalition for Human Rights asked a judge to intervene, claiming L.A. is “recklessly charging ahead” with a program it’s not authorized to execute, according to court documents.
What officials say: Councilmember Traci Park, who introduced the council motion in October, told LAist previously that the city needs to have tools to get unsafe and unsanitary RVs off public streets for good.
“These vehicles create unacceptable health, environmental, and safety risks, putting entire neighborhoods, critical infrastructure, and sensitive environmental areas at risk,” Park, who represents communities including Venice and Mar Vista, said in a statement. “Residents want solutions, not ideological wars, delay tactics, and frivolous lawsuits.”
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto’s office did not respond to LAist’s multiple requests for comment on the city’s implementation of AB 630.
Mayor Karen Bass proposed AB 630 in partnership with Assemblymember Mark González, who introduced the California assembly bill. González said in a statement to LAist Wednesday that his office is “working with our partners to clarify the law to ensure the City can fully implement AB 630."
Bass’ office didn’t immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.
LAist also reached out to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, whose office is involved with coordinating the removal of RVs from L.A. streets, but Szabo didn’t respond immediately.
What's next: A hearing is set for Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. in L.A. County Superior Court.
California's attorney general is investigating the spread of AI-generated explicit imagery on Elon Musk's X social media platform. Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters in downtown San Francisco on July 28, 2023.
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Noah Berger
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AP Photo
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Topline:
California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced an investigation into how and whether Elon Musk’s X and xAI broke the law in the past few weeks by enabling the spread of naked or sexual imagery without consent.
The backstory: xAI reportedly updated its Grok artificial intelligence tool last month to allow image editing. Users on the social media platform X, which is connected to the tool, began using Grok to remove clothing in pictures of women and children. Research obtained by Bloomberg found that X now produces more non-consensual naked or sexual imagery than any other website online. In a posting on X, Musk promised “consequences” for people who made illegal content with the tool. On Friday, Grok limited image editing to paying subscribers.
The investigation: One potential route for Bonta to prosecute xAI is a law that went into effect just two weeks ago creating legal liability for the creation and distribution of “deepfake” pornography. Bonta urged Californians who want to report depictions of them or their children undressed or committing sexual acts to visit oag.ca.gov/report. In an emailed response, xAI did not address questions about the investigation.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced an investigation into how and whether Elon Musk’s X and xAI broke the law in the past few weeks by enabling the spread of naked or sexual imagery without consent.
xAI reportedly updated its Grok artificial intelligence tool last month to allow image editing. Users on the social media platform X, which is connected to the tool, began using Grok to remove clothing in pictures of women and children.
“The avalanche of reports detailing the non-consensual sexually explicit material that xAI has produced and posted online in recent weeks is shocking,” Bonta said in a written statement. “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet. I urge xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further.”
Bonta urged Californians who want to report depictions of them or their children undressed or commiting sexual acts to visit oag.ca.gov/report. In an emailed response, xAI did not address questions about the investigation.
Research obtained by Bloomberg found that X now produces more non-consensual naked or sexual imagery than any other website online. In a posting on X, Musk promised “consequences” for people who made illegal content with the tool. On Friday, Grok limited image editing to paying subscribers.
X and xAI appear to be violating the provisions of that law, known as AB 621, said Sam Dordulian, who previously worked in the sex crimes unit of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office but today works in private practice as a lawyer for people in cases involving deepfakes or revenge porn.
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, author of the law, told CalMatters in a statement last week that she reached out to prosecutors, including the attorney general’s office and the city attorney of San Francisco, to remind them that they can act under the law. What's happening on X, Bauer-Kahan said, is what AB 621 was designed to address.
“Real women are having their images manipulated without consent, and the psychological and reputational harm is devastating,” the San Ramon Democrat said in an emailed statement. “Underage children are having their images used to create child sexual abuse material, and these websites are knowingly facilitating it.”
A global concern
Bonta’s inquiry also comes shortly after a call for an investigation by Gov. Gavin Newsom, backlash from regulators in the European Union and India and bans on X in Malaysia, Indonesia, and potentially the United Kingdom. As Grok app downloads rise in Apple and Google app stores, lawmakers and advocates are calling for the smartphone makers to prohibit the application.
Why Grok created the feature the way it did and how it will respond to the controversy around it is unclear, and answers may not be forthcoming, since an analysis recently concluded that it’s the least transparent of major AI systems available today. xAI did not address questions about the investigation from CalMatters.
The investigation announced today is the latest action by the attorney general to push AI companies to keep kids safe. Late last year, Bonta endorsed a bill that would have prevented chatbots that talk about self harm and engage in sexually explicit conversations from interacting with people under 18. He also joined attorneys general from 44 other states in sending a letter that questions why companies like Meta and OpenAI allow their chatbots to have sexually inappropriate conversations with minors.
California has passed roughly half a dozen laws since 2019 to protect people from deepfakes. The new law by Bauer-Kahan amends and strengthens a 2019 law, most significantly by allowing district attorneys to bring cases against companies that “recklessly aid and abet” the distribution of deepfakes without the consent of the person depicted nude or committing sexual acts. That means the average person can ask the attorney general or the district attorney where they live to file a case on their behalf. It also increases the maximum amount that a judge can award a person from $150,000 to $250,000. Under the law, a public prosecutor is not required to prove that an individual depictured in an AI generated nude or sexual image suffered actual harm to bring a case to court. Websites that refuse to comply within 30 days can face penalties of $25,000 per violation.
In addition to those measures, two 2024 laws (AB 1831 and SB 1381) expand the state’s definition of child pornography to make possession or distribution of artificially-generated child sexual abuse material illegal. Another required social media platforms to give people an easy way to request the immediate removal of a deepfake, and defines the posting of such material as a form of digital identity theft. A California law limiting the use of deepfakes in elections was signed into law last year but was struck down by a federal judge last summer following a lawsuit by X and Elon Musk.
Future reforms
Every new state law helps give lawyers like Dordulian a new avenue to address harmful uses of deepfakes, but he said more needs to be done to help people protect themselves. He said his clients face challenges proving violation of existing laws since they require distribution of explicit materials, for example with a messaging app or social media platform, for protections to kick in. In his experience, people who use nudify apps typically know each other, so distribution doesn’t always take place, and if it does, it can be hard to prove.
For example, he said, he has a client who works as a nanny who alleges that the father of the kids she takes care of made images of her using photos she posted on Instagram. The nanny found the images on his iPad. This discovery was disturbing for her and caused her emotional trauma, but since he can’t use deepfake laws he has to sue on the basis of negligence or emotional distress and laws that were never created to address deepfakes. Similarly, victims told CNBC last year that the distinction between creating and distributing deepfakes left a gap in the law in a number of U.S. states.
“The law needs to keep up with what’s really happening on the ground and what women are experiencing, which is just the simple act of creation itself is the problem,” Dordulian said.
California is at the forefront of passing laws to protect people from deepfakes, but existing law isn’t meeting the moment, said Jennifer Gibson, cofounder and director of Psst, a group created a little over a year ago that provides pro bono legal services to tech and AI workers interested in whistleblowing. A California law that went into effect Jan. 1 protects whistleblowers inside AI companies but only if they work on catastrophic risk that can kill more than 50 people or cause more than $1 billion in damages. If the law protected people who work on deepfakes, former X employees who detailed witnessing Grok generating illegal sexually explicit material last year to Business Insider would, Gibson said, have had protections if they shared the information with authorities.
“There needs to be a lot more protection for exactly this kind of scenario in which an insider sees that this is foreseeable, knows that this is going to happen, and they need somewhere to go to report to both to keep the company accountable and protect the public.”
