Today on AirTalk, we discuss the latest on California's new $214.8 billion budget as it heads to Governor Newsom's desk for review. We also examine Uber and Lyft's push back against a California bill that would classify their drivers as employees, which would entitle them to a wide range of benefits; and more.
What’s In – And Not In – California’s New $214.8-Billion Budget
The California Senate has passed a $214.8 billion budget.
That sends it next to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
The budget includes money to give taxpayer-funded health insurance to some low-income adults living in the country illegally.
It authorizes $2.4 billion in spending to address the state’s housing and homelessness crisis.
And it bolsters the state’s top firefighting agency following the most devastating wildfire season in state history.
Newsom has 12 days to review the bill and is likely to sign it.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Judy Lin, staff reporter for CALmatters, covering the economy, finance, and budget
H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the California Department of Finance
Uber And Lyft Push Back Against California Bill That Would Make Drivers Employees
Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft say they are willing to change the way they treat drivers in California as long as state lawmakers don’t require them to classify drivers as employees, a move that would entitle them to a wide range of benefits.
The California-based tech firms face state legislation that would strictly limit how businesses can label workers as independent contractors.
While some other industries have negotiated exceptions under the proposal, it’s unclear if leading Democratic lawmakers will be open to a deal with the companies amid mounting scrutiny of labor practices in the burgeoning gig economy.
The legislative clash shaping up this year over the rights of independent contractors follows a state Supreme Court decision last year that put a question mark over the way businesses classify many employees.
Supporters of the legislation argue that it is key to protecting access to fundamental benefits, such as workers compensation and unemployment insurance.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle reporter covering business, tech and the on-demand economy; she tweets
Paul Oyer, professor of economics at Stanford University; he tweets
Arun Sundararajan, professor of entrepreneurship and technology at New York University (NYU) and author of the book , “The Sharing Economy” (MIT Press, 2016); he tweets
Who, What, Where – Details Firmed Up For First Democratic Presidential Debates
NBC has announced how it will divvy up the 20 Democratic candidates for the first debate of the 2020 election campaign, which will be held over two nights in Miami later this month.
The lineup for the first two-hour session on June 26 features Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Beto O'Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Julián Castro, Bill de Blasio, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Tim Ryan and Jay Inslee.
The lineup for the next night features Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Michael Bennet, Marianne Williamson, Eric Swalwell, Kirsten Gillibrand, Andrew Yang and John Hickenlooper.
The Democratic National Committee says it divided the candidates at random but ensured that contenders considered front-runners would not be stacked on one night to avoid the impression that one night was more important than the other.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Zach Montellaro, campaign reporter and author of the Morning Score newsletter at POLITICO; he tweets
FilmWeek: ‘Men in Black: International,’ ‘Shaft,’ ‘The Dead Don't Die’ And More
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson, Justin Chang and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases.
"Men in Black: International" in wide release
"Shaft" in wide release
"Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese" on Netflix and at the Vintage Los Feliz & Laemmle Monica Film Center
"Funan" at the Laemmle Glendale
"The Reports On Sarah and Saleem" at the Laemmle Royal, Laemmle Playhouse & Laemmle Town Center
"The Dead Don't Die" in select theaters
"Murder Mystery" on Netflix
"5B" in select theaters
"American Woman" at the Laemmle Playhouse & AMC Century City
"The Edge of Democracy" on Netflix and at the Laemmle Monica Film Center on Wednesday June 19
"The Raft" at Laemmle Glendale
CRITICS' HITS:
Amy:' 'Men in Black: International,' 'The Dead Don't Die,' 'American Woman' and 'The Raft'
Justin: 'Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese,' 'The Edge of Democracy' & 'The Reports On Sarah and Saleem'
Charles: 'Funan' & '5B'
MIXED FEELINGS:
Justin: 'Shaft' & 'Murder Mystery'
Guests:
Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘Unspooled’ and the podcast miniseries “Zoom”; she tweets
Justin Chang, film critic for KPCC and the Los Angeles Times; he tweets
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
After The Box Office Failure Of ‘Dark Phoenix,’ We Look Back At Hollywood’s Biggest Flops
Weeks before “Dark Phoenix” was released, things were looking bleak for the newest installment of Fox’s X-Men film series.
Early projections showed the film on track to gross around $50 million it’s opening weekend, lower than any other X-Men movie. When “Dark Phoenix” opened last week, it defied expectations – by doing significantly worse than anyone had predicted.
It earned a mere $32.8 million this past weekend. For comparison, that’s approximately half what it’s predecessor, “X-Men: Apocalypse”, earned in its first three days ($65.7 million) and a third of what “X-Men: Days of Future Past”’s bow ($90.8).
“Dark Phoenix” is on track to lose over $100 million dollars, a number matched by last years biggest box office bombs “Mortal Engines” and “A Wrinkle In Time.”
2019 has seen a number of big films underperform at the box office, with wide releases like “UglyDolls”, “Poms”, “Hellboy” and “Serenity” losing money for their respective studios. All those films received negative reviews, but bad things also happen to good movies: “The Kid Who Would Be King”, released in January, has a 90% on RottenTomatoes but failed to make even half its $59 million budget back.
The Ringer’s editor-in-chief Sean Fennessey joins Larry and the critics to discuss some of the most notable box office bombs of all time, from “Ishtar” to “Heaven’s Gate” to “Battlefield Earth” and beyond.
Guests:
Sean Fennessey, editor-in-chief and chief content officer at the sports and pop culture website and podcast network The Ringer; he is also the host of The Big Picture podcast; he tweets
Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘Unspooled’ and the podcast miniseries “Zoom”; she tweets
Justin Chang, film critic for KPCC and the Los Angeles Times; he tweets
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine