What's next: Unlike Social Security, some other kinds of benefits and social services will be disrupted during this shutdown — especially if it’s a long one. Read on to learn more about how benefits operate during a government shutdown, and what to watch out for when it comes to receiving your payments.
A spokesperson for the Social Security Administration confirmed Wednesday in an email to KQED: Following their September contingency plan, “Social Security beneficiaries would continue receiving their Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, and SSI payments.”
Almost 6.8 million people in California receive Social Security payments. But unlike social security, some other kinds of benefits and social services will be disrupted during this shutdown — especially if it’s a long one. Read on to learn more about how benefits operate during a government shutdown, and what to watch out for when it comes to receiving your payments.
To be absolutely clear: My Social Security payments will continue during the shutdown?
Yes, your social security payments — including retirement, disability and survivor benefits — will continue to go out.
This is because Social Security is funded by “mandatory spending” — meaning it’s not tied to the kind of annual budget negotiations by Congress that have resulted in this shutdown. Social Security’s funding is already authorized by the Social Security Act, and therefore secured by law.
An exception to this is Supplemental Security Income, which is funded through these annual Congressional budget votes. However, experts have told the New York Times that SSI payments are available through December.
Something else to know: Completely unrelated to the shutdown, on Tuesday the federal government began to phase out paper checks for most government programs, including Social Security, in favor of direct deposits. If the recipient does not have a bank account, they will receive a Direct Express card or — if no other options are available — they can still request a paper check. Nearly 34,000 Californians still rely on check payments.
Will my local Social Security Administration office be open during the shutdown?
Yes: Social Security Administration offices in the Bay Area will still be open during the government shutdown. You can find your local office on Social Security’s website.
While services at these offices will be reduced, you’ll still be able to receive the following services there:
Apply for benefits
Request an appeal
Change your address or direct deposit information
Report a death
Verify or change your citizenship status
Replace a lost or missing Social Security payment
Obtain a critical payment
Change a representative payee
Make a change in your living arrangement or income (SSI recipients only), and
Obtain a new or replacement Social Security card.
What Social Security-related services will be affected during the shutdown?
According to the Social Security Administration’s shutdown plan, almost 12% of the agency’s staff will be furloughed — that is, not working — during the shutdown. Services that will be disrupted include:
Benefit verifications
Earnings record corrections and updates unrelated to the adjudication of benefits
Payee accountings
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
IT enhancement activities, public relations and training
Replacement Medicare cards
Overpayments processing
If the shutdown were to continue, another disruption would be to SSA’s ability to calculate cost-of-living adjustment. According to the New York Times, this measurement adjusts payments for price inflation, and SSA is unable to do this without the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is ceasing operations during the shutdown.
What other benefits could be in jeopardy from a shutdown?
The longer the shutdown continues, the more programs could be at risk.
The last U.S. federal government shutdown, during the first Trump administration in 2018, was also the longest in history at 35 days. According to officials working for Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-10), 5 million Californians who are beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could eventually lose access to their funds if another shutdown of this length occurs.
Advocates at the Food Research and Action Center say that SNAP recipients should still receive their October payments, but expressed concern about the timeliness of payments after that.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) — another nutrition program geared toward women, infants and children, which serves more than 972,400 Californians — could also potentially be impacted by a longer shutdown.
Nearly 30% more students in Los Angeles County experienced homelessness from 2022-23 to 2023-24, making it the county’s highest rate in the past five years and far outpacing the rate of homelessness across the state in the same timeframe, as the resources to identify and support this student population have decreased.
Norwalk-La Mirada Unified: Researchers found that Norwalk-La Mirada Elementary Unified School District had the highest rate of student homelessness in the county — 1 in 3 students, meaning that over 4,700 students were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2023-24 school year out of a total cumulative enrollment of about 15,600.
Underidentifed students: Researchers also found that the Transformation of Schools focuses on the lack of dedicated funding for school staff to identify and support homeless students. Students and families facing homelessness do not always self-identify, whether due to fear, shame or being unaware that their housing situation is considered homelessness
Nearly 30% more students in Los Angeles County experienced homelessness from 2022-23 to 2023-24, making it the county’s highest rate in the past five years and far outpacing the rate of homelessness across the state in the same timeframe, as the resources to identify and support this student population have decreased.
Researchers found that Norwalk-La Mirada Elementary Unified School District had the highest rate of student homelessness in the county — 1 in 3 students, meaning that over 4,700 students were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2023-24 school year out of a total cumulative enrollment of about 15,600.
The city of Norwalk, where the district is located in the eastern region of the county, was sued by the state in 2024 for banning emergency shelters and other support services for people experiencing homelessness. Last year, the state reached a settlement with the city, which was forced to overturn the ban and put $250,000 toward building affordable housing.
Student homelessness is defined differently under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law that requires every public school to count the number of students who are living on the street, in shelters, in motels, in cars, doubled up with other families, or moving between friends’ and relatives’ homes.
As a result of this expanded definition, McKinney-Vento includes doubled-up students in the count of homelessness. Doubled-up is a term used to describe children and youth ages 21 and under living in shared housing, such as with another family or friends, due to various crises.
There were a few other patterns seen in the L.A. County data analyzed by the UCLA researchers:
Latino students were disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness: they represent 65% of the county’s student population, but 75.5% of student homelessness
A third of homeless students were in high school
Many districts with the highest rates of homelessness had higher school instability but lower dropout rates
While McKinney-Vento has an expanded definition that includes more types of homelessness than several other definitions, identifying students remains difficult.
The second report from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools focuses on the lack of dedicated funding for school staff to identify and support homeless students. Students and families facing homelessness do not always self-identify, whether due to fear, shame or being unaware that their housing situation is considered homelessness under McKinney-Vento.
“A lot of these young people are dealing with a lot of trauma, so they don’t want to be identified. They don’t want to be pointed out; sometimes it’s scary for them, because they think we’re going to report them to the Department of Children and Family Services,” said L.A. County Office of Education staff interviewed for this report.
School staff, known as homeless liaisons, who work with homeless students received a historic influx of federal funds during the Covid-19 pandemic — $98.76 million for California, out of $800 million nationwide, from the American Rescue Plan-Homeless Children and Youth.
That funding has since ended, and there is no other dedicated, ongoing state funding set aside solely for the rising number of homeless students. This has led districts in California to “heavily depend on highly competitive and unstable federal streams,” the UCLA researchers wrote. Those federal streams have become increasingly precarious as the federal administration last year sought policy changes that would shift how they are structured.
Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment reporter and brings you the top news you need for the day.
Updated April 3, 2026 2:26 PM
Published April 3, 2026 1:59 PM
The Spring Fire around 11 a.m. in east Moreno Valley.
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Alert California
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UC San Diego
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Topline:
Multiple evacuation orders are in place for residents near the Spring Fire burning east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County. The fire was first reported around 11 a.m.
Multiple evacuation orders are in place for residents near the Spring Fire burning in east of Moreno Valley in Riverside County. The fire was first reported around 11 a.m.
As of this afternoon, the fire has reached about 1,500 acres.
West of the Spring, a separate bush fire near Acton also began Friday afternoon. The Crown Fire has burned 280 acres and is 0% contained.
The basics
Acreage: 1,500 acres as of Friday afternoon
Containment: 0%
Structures destroyed: None reported
Deaths: None
Injuries: 0
Personnel working on fire: 105
2 helicopters
23 engines
2 dozers
2 crews
Evacuation map and orders
Evacuation orders have been issued by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for the following areas:
MOE-0507
MOE-0747
MOE-0745
MOE-0641
MOE-0746
MOE-0744
RVC-0748
RVC-0826
RVC-0825
Evacuation warnings
Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.
MOE-0504
MOE-0505
MOE-0506
MOE-0633
MOE-0636
MOE-0637
MOE-0638
MOE-0639
MOE-0640
MOE-0743
MOE-0822
MOE-0823
Evacuation shelters
Valley View High School 13135 Nason St. Moreno Valley, 92555
Animal Shelter
San Jacinto Animal Shelter 581 S. Grand Ave. San Jacinto 92582
Road closures
Gilman Springs Road is closed from Alessandro Road to Bridge Street, according to Cal Fire.
What we know so far
The Spring Fire was first reported around 11 a.m. Friday near Gilman Springs Road as a 5-acre fire that grew to 1,000 acres by 1:45 p.m.
VEGETATION FIRE - rpt @ 10:59AM. 15900 block Gilman Springs Road, east of Moreno Valley. Firefighters are on-scene of 5-6 acres burning in light flashy fuels. Gilman Springs Road is closed from Alessandro Road to Bridge Street. #SpringsIC@RivCoNowpic.twitter.com/KsTOq4QxM5
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) April 3, 2026
Conditions are fairly windy and dry in that area, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts reached 20 to 30 mph from the east.The Santa Ana wind event is expected to last into tomorrow.
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The president’s budget request released Friday didn’t provide a dime of the $2 billion the countywide transportation agency seeks.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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Topline:
The Trump administration did not include funding in its federal budget proposal for Los Angeles Metro’s key plan to use thousands of buses to transport fans to scattered venues hosting the 2028 Games.
The plan: Metro plans to essentially double its bus fleet for the 2028 Games by temporarily acquiring, operating and storing nearly 1,750 additional buses for spectators. The agency says that will cost about $1 billion. The remainder of the $2 billion appropriations request would be for pedestrian improvements and designing a network of roads for Games vehicles, among other uses.
Final opportunity? California Democratic congressional representatives have repeatedly appealed to the Trump administration to provide funding for Metro. In their latest letter from February, they said this budget process is the “final opportunity” to secure Metro’s funding request.
Read on … for more details on Metro’s plan, how buses were used in the 1984 Olympics.
The Trump administration did not include funding in its federal budget proposal for Los Angeles Metro’s key plan to use thousands of buses to transport fans to scattered venues hosting the 2028 Games.
L.A. Metro’s Board and California Democrats have repeatedly appealed to the administration to provide federal dollars for the region’s "transit-first" Games. The president’s budget request released Friday didn’t provide a dime of the $2 billion the countywide transportation agency is seeking.
The 92-page document is a signal of the administration’s priorities for the budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Ultimately, the U.S. Congress decides how federal dollars are spent.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who represents Culver City and parts of Los Angeles, wrote a letter with her California Democratic colleagues to the administration in February calling this budget process the “final opportunity” to secure Metro’s funding request.
U.S. Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove is one of the California Democrats leading advocacy in Washington, D.C., to secure L.A. Metro's $2 billion federal funding request.
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Assembleymember Sydney Kamlager Facebook Page
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In a statement to LAist, Kamlager-Dove said she was “incredibly disappointed” that Metro was excluded in the president’s budget request.
“At the end of the day, Congress has the power to appropriate money,” she said. “Despite the president’s lack of foresight, I will continue to advocate to ensure this funding is included so L.A. Metro has what they need to succeed.”
Rep. Pete Aguilar, who has a seat on the Congressional subcommittee overseeing federal transportation appropriations, said President Donald Trump has talked about the Olympics “time and time again,” pointing to the most recent State of the Union as an example.
“Our charge is to ensure that they adequately fund this and that they put the resources behind it so they aren't just using it as a talking point, but they're actually leaning in,” Aguilar told LAist in an interview before the president’s proposed budget request was released.
What would the money be used for?
Metro plans to essentially double its bus fleet for the 2028 Games by temporarily acquiring, operating and storing nearly 1,750 additional buses for spectators. The agency says that will cost about $1 billion. The remainder of the appropriations request would be for pedestrian improvements and designing a network of roads for Games vehicles, among other uses.
Seleta Reynolds, Metro’s chief of innovation and Games mobility planning, said at a January Metro Board meeting that finding and preparing the real estate where the buses will be staged involves a lead time of two years, meaning the agency would need a “chunk of funding available by this summer.”
Initially, Metro had asked for $3.2 billion to support a plan to temporarily use 2,700 buses. Metro reduced the estimate for the number of buses needed after LA28, the Games organizing committee, refined the venues and schedule for events.
That reduction, plus other federal funding that Metro has received to partially support station and light rail improvements, brought the total amount of money in the federal appropriations request down to $2 billion, the countywide transportation agency said.
“Without the full level of funding requested, the complete scope of the [Games Enhanced Transit System] would not be feasible, as the cost of operating this temporary system exceeds Metro’s available operating resources,” the agency said in its statement.
Jacie Prieto Lopez, a spokesperson for LA28, told LAist in a statement before the president released his budget request that the organizing committee was supporting partners in Congress and the administration, who are leading the budget and appropriations process.
"With the full support of federal transit money for the games, we can collectively create a positive commuting experience," Prieto Lopez said.
Success with buses during LA84
A bus system similar to the one Metro is planning for 2028 was critical to the success of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Metro's predecessor, Southern California Rapid Transit District, deployed 550 additional buses, hundreds of new drivers and 24 routes to move people around the city for the Olympics.
A view of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles, 12th August 1984.
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Steve Powell
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Getty Images Europe
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In the run-up to those Games, one California Highway Patrol official warned the L.A. Times that congestion around the L.A. Memorial Coliseum would be so extreme that drivers would abandon their cars on the freeway. Headlines warned of "traffic woes."
Rich Perelman, who led press operations for the 1984 Olympics and edited the official report on the Games, told LAist that in 1984, no public funds were used for the additional bus fleet. Bus tickets and some donations and corporate sponsorships covered the cost.
Perelman said organizers pulled off the bus system by staying focused on the areas where parking was sparse, such as the Coliseum. According to the official report, nearly 80% of rides on the bus system were to Exposition Park.
" It was a transit-smart approach," Perelman said. " If there was plenty of parking, we didn't say you have to take the bus. We didn't make any nonsensical claims of 'no-car Games' or 'transit only Games.’"
Security funding from the federal government
Transportation funding is just one bucket that the federal government is expected to contribute for the Olympics.
The budget released by the Trump administration Friday contained major increases for the Department of Homeland Security, including some linked to Olympics preparations. It asks for additional funding for the FBI and Secret Service, which leads security planning for the Games.
But exactly how that money will be distributed has yet to be determined — and L.A. politicians have expressed concern that the funds may come with strings attached that the city of L.A. will find hard to swallow.
It's also possible that money could face delays that could disrupt Olympics planning. The federal government was late in awarding hundreds of millions of dollars that it promised for security for the World Cup this year — a delay the Trump administration attributed to the Homeland Security shutdown.
Across from an auto shop on Venice Boulevard and Albany Street sits a narrow, sunken strip of land lined with overgrown shrubs and cacti. It’s mostly filled with trash — from plastic bags and cups to containers, straws, chip bags and aluminum foil.
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Marina Peña
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The LA Local
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Topline:
Bioswales — narrow, sunken strip of land along some L.A. streets — are meant to capture and filter storm water runoff, helping reduce flooding and keep pollutants from flowing into the ocean. But citywide, there are about 23 bioswales that appear abandoned.
Why it matters: The sidewalk features were installed during former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Complete Streets program around 2018. The initiative aimed to improve streets, add greenery and better manage stormwater along key corridors across the city. But residents, like some in Pico Union, say that bioswales have become dumping grounds. In some cases, the concrete structures were installed but left without vegetation for years, presenting safety concerns.
What's being done about them? Steve Kang, president of the city’s Board of Public Works, said his office is now working to create a program similar to “Adopt-a-Median” that would allow community members and organizations to formally maintain bioswales. Under the proposal, participants would enter into agreements with the city, with support from the Office of Community Beautification, which can provide tools like gloves, trash bags and gardening supplies.
Across from an auto shop on Venice Boulevard and Albany Street sits a narrow, sunken strip of land lined with overgrown shrubs and cacti. It’s mostly filled with trash — from plastic bags and cups to containers, straws, chip bags and aluminum foil.
It’s original purpose was to capture and filter storm water runoff, helping reduce flooding and keep pollutants from flowing into the ocean. But neighbors in Pico Union say that this bioswale and many others across the city have become dumping grounds.
The sidewalk features were installed during former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Complete Streets program around 2018. The initiative aimed to improve streets, add greenery and better manage stormwater along key corridors across the city.
Local resident Aurora Corona — a longtime Pico Union community organizer involved in local environmental and cleanup efforts — said in some instances it looks like the bioswales were not fully installed.
Citywide, there are about 23 bioswales that appear abandoned, Corona said. Many are located in central and South Los Angeles and spread across at least eight council districts.
In some cases, the concrete structures were installed but left without vegetation for years, Corona said, raising concerns that they were never able to function as intended.
Heberto Portobanco, owner of the Nicaraguan restaurant Portobanco in Pico Union, first noticed the bioswale outside his business about eight years ago, but it became hard to ignore about two years ago when it became a hazard.
“We had an accident, one of the people who does maintenance for us came and fell into it,” he said.
The bioswale was deeper and not fully finished, Portobanco said. After multiple people reported what happened to the city, Portobanco said the city added more soil to level it out.
“The idea might be nice, but if it’s not maintained, it’s a problem,” Portobanco said.
The biggest concern for Portobanco remains safety, especially as he said that people continue to use the space improperly or fail to notice it altogether.
He would be willing to help maintain the bioswale outside his restaurant if the city created a formal program to do so.
For him, keeping the space clean is also about pride and perception.
“I don’t want people to think that Latinos are careless and that we don’t take care of our surroundings,” he said, adding that a well-kept space could encourage others to take better care of the neighborhood.
Corona, the local organizer, has experienced similar issues to the ones Portobanco described.
She lives near two bioswales, including the one near Portobanco’s restaurant.
She first encountered them while organizing a cleanup around 2024 and said she didn’t initially know what they were. What she did know was that they were not being taken care of.
“I was tired of seeing this being a dumping ground, they would just throw trash here all the time,” she said.
That frustration pushed her to take action. She thought of what she had already done with other public spaces in her community.
In 2024, she helped transform a neglected dirt space on Venice Boulevard and Union Avenue into a small community green area — also known as a median — using local grant funding. With the help of volunteers, they removed contaminated soil and planted drought-tolerant greenery.
“It’s only been here since November and it’s grown a lot,” she said about the green belt, pointing to plants that started as small pots and are now taking root.
Corona continues to organize cleanups and, through the city’s “Adopt-a-Median” program, works with neighbors to maintain the space. She said she’d like to see a similar model applied to bioswales — essentially an “Adopt-a-Bioswale” program that would allow residents to take ownership of the ones near them.
“I think people would step up if they were given the chance and the support,” she said.
Across from an auto shop on Venice Boulevard and Albany Street sits a narrow, sunken strip of land lined with overgrown shrubs and cacti. It’s mostly filled with trash — from plastic bags and cups to containers, straws, chip bags and aluminum foil.
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Marina Peña
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The LA Local
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The program for the bioswales, as she envisions it, would involve planting California natives such as dudleya edulis, dudleya pulverulenta and other species that can withstand the weather. It would also call for improving their visibility by painting the bioswale borders in colors that reflect the neighborhood.
That idea has already been discussed at the city level.
Steve Kang, president of the city’s Board of Public Works, agrees that many bioswales now sit “barren” and are treated as “more of a trash repository.”
He said his office is now working to create a program similar to “Adopt-a-Median” that would allow community members and organizations to formally maintain bioswales.
“My intention is to make the process as seamless and easy as possible,” Kang said, adding that the goal is to launch the program sometime in 2026.
Under the proposal, participants would enter into agreements with the city, with support from the Office of Community Beautification, which can provide tools like gloves, trash bags and gardening supplies.
For residents like Corona and business owners like Portobanco, that kind of partnership could turn what are now neglected strips of land into something more useful.
“If we take care of these spaces, they can become something people are proud of,” Corona said. “It changes how people see the neighborhood and how they treat it.”
