The Brief

On the final day of their session, California lawmakers sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a bill banning employers from forcing workers to sit through anti-union meetings — the latest attempt by Democratic politicians to support union activity amid a revived labor movement.

If Newsom signs Senate Bill 399, California would join nine other states that have recently passed laws prohibiting an employer from requiring workers to attend so-called captive audience meetings about their political or religious views.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, signed one such law last year, and has touted it on the campaign trail.

The California bill can cover discussions of employers’ views on political candidates or legislation, but it’s largely aimed at one specific kind of required workplace meeting — when bosses discuss whether workers should unionize.

California workers, following a nationwide trend, have increasingly sought unionization in recent years. Union elections have spiked in the last three years, with nearly 17,000 workers voting at more than 300 California workplaces in 2023. So far in 2024, more than 14,000 California workers have voted in a union election, according to a CalMatters analysis of National Labor Relations Board data.

The National Labor Relations Board has generally allowed “captive audience” meetings for decades — provided employers don’t threaten workers or withhold benefits for supporting a union. But the board’s general counsel under President Joe Biden has sought to crack down on them, arguing they are often used to intimidate employees.

Business groups say the bill would be much broader, and would infringe on employers’ free speech rights. State bans in Connecticut and Minnesota have been challenged in court. Wisconsin in 2009 was one of the first states to ban such meetings; when employers filed suit the following year, arguing it conflicted with federal law, the state backed down and agreed not to enforce it.

The California Chamber of Commerce made SB 399 one of their most fiercely contested bills this year. In a legislative alert on Tuesday, the chamber said the bill would “effectively chill any discussions related to legislation, regulations, or other ‘political matters.’”

In an August letter to lawmakers opposing the bill, business groups argued they already can’t coerce workers to vote for certain candidates or to vote against unionizing, and said because the bill could fine bosses for talking to employees about political views but not other matters, it’s a violation of the First Amendment.

The bill includes exemptions for “political organizations” that employ people whose job duties require them to engage in political activity, but chamber policy advocate Ashley Hoffman said in the letter that it’s too vague.

But supporters say the bill only targets intimidation in the workplace by penalizing employers who punish workers for refusing to attend a “captive audience” meeting.

“If an employer wants to share [their] beliefs at the worksite, that’s fine, but no one should be coerced to listen,” Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes, a San Bernardino Democrat, said on the Assembly floor Friday before voting for the bill.

The bill’s passage last week was a win for unions amid a number of losses this year in the Legislature, especially compared to the 2023 session.

And while the state in the past two years has increased wages for fast food workers and health care workers, and boosted worker benefits such as paid sick days, labor-backed demands to make it easier to unionize or go on strike have been a tougher sell.

“If we just keep doing legislation that makes things better for workers, that's good, but it's not the same power that you're giving workers in the workplace when they're able to strike, when they're able to organize without intimidation,” Lorena Gonzalez, leader of the California Labor Federation, told CalMatters this week.

In 2022, Newsom was reluctant to sign a bill making it easier for farmworkers to form unions by giving them an option to signal their support without employers knowing who was voting. He only gave his approval after the United Farm Workers drummed up political pressure from fellow Democrats, including Biden. That law has now been challenged by growers in court.

Last year, he vetoed a bill to allow striking workers to collect unemployment benefits, a proposal that Hollywood writers and actors said would have helped them through the “hot labor summer” of work stoppages. Unions attempted to revive the bill this year, and it passed the Senate but failed to get enough votes to clear an Assembly committee.

The captive audience meetings bill also passed the Senate last year, and then eked out of the Assembly last week with just over the minimum 41 votes needed to pass (though a handful of Democrats added “yes” votes later). It won final approval in the Senate Saturday on a 31-9 vote.

The chamber is urging Newsom to veto the bill. The governor has not taken a position, and has until the end of September to decide.

When last year’s Eaton Fire burned the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, cantor Ruth Berman Harris helped save what she could from the flames.

Despite best efforts, the campus and nearly everything in it was destroyed.

“I had a colleague calling me and asking me what I needed, and I wasn't able to say,” Berman Harris, one of the spiritual leaders of the synagogue, told LAist. “I don't think I was able to say what I needed for about a year.”

In the months that followed the fire, people from around the world stepped up to replace what was lost, including prayer books, clothes and candlesticks. Several donated challah covers, a decorative cloth that’s placed over the braided bread before being blessed and eaten on Shabbat.

A parking sign at the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center after the Eaton Fire.

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And while much of the community’s focus is directed toward larger items that need to be replaced — the buildings included — smaller, ceremonial items can make a big difference, too.

Karen Fink, a Van Nuys resident, donated a hand-woven challah cover that she made for the temple. Her weaving guild was already making dish towels for L.A. fire survivors.

“You've got so many things that need to be done and replaced,” Fink said.

“I just always like to think about who it's going towards, what it's going to be used for, that it should be used well and loved,” she continued.

‘Love through the threads’

On Jan. 7, 2025, as the flames closed in on the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, Berman Harris rushed through smoke and falling embers to rescue all 13 sacred Torah scrolls, pieces of parchment with Hebrew text used at services, including weekly on Shabbat.

Berman Harris now works out of an office building in Pasadena, a few miles away from where the center stood.

More than 400 families gathered to worship at the temple before the fire. About 30 families lost their homes, and 40 others were displaced, she said. The congregation has been gathering at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena.

The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, which burned during the Eaton Fire, in January 2025 (top) and in January 2026 (bottom).

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“The silver lining of when you go through a traumatic loss is that you don't realize A, how strong you are and B, how not alone you are,” said Berman Harris, who has been a part of the congregation for 14 years.

She said the temple has received many gifts to help them rebuild, but Fink’s challah cover will be used for communal celebrations and holidays to give it an extra layer of “kavod” — of holiness.

Challah covers, usually embroidered with Hebrew words and symbols, are a traditional sight on a table prepared for a Shabbat meal, where both the bread and a cup of wine are blessed before eating. The decorative cover is a symbolic way of honoring the bread, while the wine is being blessed first.

“Because you say the blessing over the bread last,” Fink told LAist. “It gets to have this lovely cover so it doesn't get embarrassed.”

Fink said she used one of her more intricate patterns, featuring white and blue threads in a repeating pattern of the Star of David.

The challah cover woven by Karen Fink when it was fresh off the loom.

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She said it took a couple of hours to wind the thread, about a day to get the project set up on her small loom and another three days to get through the top six rows of stars.

Once the challah cover was complete, it took a few months to get it to Berman Harris, but Fink said she wanted to help in a way that felt more personal than mailing a check.

“They were able to get their Torah scrolls out,” Fink said. “But all the other things that maybe aren't required, but are helpful in enhancing the spirit of Shabbat, the spirit of a synagogue, you know, that was all lost.”

Starting to settle

Berman Harris said the donations have not only helped rebuild their ritual spaces, they were gifted “with love.”

“They're not things you buy on Amazon,” she said. “These are things that you cherish because you can feel the love through the threads.”

Cantor Ruth Berman Harris showing off the handmade challah cover Karen Fink weaved for the congregation.

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The synagogue has received other challah covers that they’ve distributed to families in the congregation.

On the anniversary of the fire, Josh Ratner, senior rabbi at the temple, told LAist’s AirTalk program that Jewish people have overcome “so much” throughout history.

People embrace inside a tent on the grounds of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center during a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire on Jan. 6.

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“I think that that gives us some firm foundation to know that we can recover from this as well,” he said. “And not just recover, but really our [history] … is one of rebuilding even stronger than before.

“Each time there's been a crisis, we've been able to reinvent different aspects of Judaism and to evolve."

Students carry lanterns they created as symbols of hope as they enter the grounds of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center during a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire.

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The Santa Ana City Council approved a $75,000 agreement with the digital service Hoopla to offer for digital lending for movies, music, audiobooks and E-books services through its library department.

The deal comes as digital equity programming becomes more at-risk of losing funding. The federal government pulled back $2.75 billion in funding by slashing the Digital Equity Act. Last October, the Federal Communications Commission also ended e-rate discounts to libraries and schools for digital lending programs, which included hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi.

The city first purchased Hoopla services in 2022. Brian Sternberg, Santa Ana’s library services director, told LAist the service has become increasingly popular with residents. Over the last year, Hoopla usage has been up 109%, with 4,435 people borrowing 24,340 items, according to Sternberg.

“The great people of Santa Ana deserve the same services, programs and collections that would be afforded anywhere else in the county,” Sternberg said. “That's my goal, to find ways to deliver that to our residents.”

What is Hoopla? 

Hoopla offers a variety of popular content like movies, television shows, music, audiobooks and e-books.

“Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, Max … the way those models are set up, there's not a good way for public libraries to purchase that content due to cost and just due to the way those content deliverers are structured,” Sternberg said.

Digital equity programming can extend beyond educational material, he added.

“There are kids, and they want to see Spider-Man,” Sternberg said. “And we want to be able to offer that, especially for our residents who might not have all the financial means to sign up for all these 10 different subscriptions. They're all like, $15, $20 a month.”

Hoopla provides content in English and Spanish, and there’s content for all age groups, Sternberg added.

The company uses a “pay-in-advance” model, which means the library is buying digital “credits” that are then used whenever a borrower checks out an audiobook, E-book or other content.

“They have different scales,” Sternberg said. “If you want the newest popular movies, it's this particular price point.”

How else is Santa Ana addressing digital inequities? 

Sterberg said Santa Ana libraries are still lending out Wi-Fi hotspots for three weeks.

The library also carries its “Library of Things” where residents can borrow baking tools, video games, musical instruments, cameras and more.

The Main Library and Newhope Library are still closed for major renovations but are expected to reopen by the end of this year. Residents can still visit the library at the Delhi Center and the outdoor library at Jerome Park.

Santa Ana became the latest city in Orange County to approve the use of drones as first responders after a heated debate.

Santa Ana Police Chief Robert Rodriguez told the council the drones will help the department improve response times.

“It will reduce the air support costs associated with the Orange County Sheriff's Department helicopter contract. That contract currently right now sits about approximately half a million dollars a year,” he said. “It will provide responding officers with valuable information before they arrive on scene, which enhances community and officer safety.”

But some on the City Council and in the audience expressed concerns with the vendor, Axon Enterprise Inc., which contracts with the Department of Homeland Security. As Orange County’s only sanctuary city, Santa Ana has grappled with a deep mistrust in the police department as the federal government ramped up immigration raids and ICE detentions last summer. As immigrant families already contend with a fear of coming outside, the increased surveillance, they said, would make them even more afraid.

Ultimately, the council voted 4-3 to allow the city manager to enter into an agreement with Axon Enterprise for a three-year period, joining cities like Newport Beach, Irvine and Huntington Beach who all have drone programs.

Details of the program

The drones will cost the city around $700,000, which will come from a state grant.

All data collected from the drones will be the property of the city and will only be released in accordance with state and city laws. The drones will also be the latest in surveillance technology purchased by the Police Department after they approved the purchase of 57 license plate readers last year.

How will the drones be deployed

The three first responder drones will be docked across the city at fire stations. When the Police Department receives an emergency call, the drones will be deployed within minutes, arriving before first responders. The live video stream, the Police Department says, will allow officers “to coordinate their actions more effectively and gather information in direct support of the Department’s de-escalation strategy.”

In addition to the first responder drones, the city will also purchase two patrol drones to use indoors and in tight spaces “to identify potential dangers.”

Last year, Santa Ana Police Commander Mat Sorenson said the department was looking to add drones to their repertoire as a “reactionary tool,” not for surveillance.

“ I'm not gonna make any promises here right now, but we are more than likely not going down the facial recognition route," he said. "For all intents and purposes, our drones will be a flying body, you know, use it deployed on actual calls for service where somebody's called the police. We're not randomly gonna be using it to surveil people or just fly around looking for crime.”

Community concerns

Carlos Perea, who sits on the Police Oversight Commission, and Tanya Navarro, organizing director with Chispa OC, both expressed concerns with the drone program.

“The vendor selected for this agreement, Axon Enterprise, profits from surveillance and policing infrastructure that is deeply entangled with systems of immigration enforcement and detention. Axon and its subsidiaries maintain contracts with ICE and other federal enforcement agencies at a time when immigrant communities across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of surveillance, raids, and violence,” Perea wrote in an email to the City Council.

Navarro called the drone program “reckless” for public safety and fiscally.

The language in the policy, she said, “gives police broad latitude to decide when and where drones fly, including over protest, public gathering, and community events. This is exactly how tools get justified for emergencies and then become normalized in everyday surveillance.”