Wal-Mart, is eliminating part-time workers from coverage and hiking premium and co-payments for full-time employees. Also, San Francisco became the first city in the state to pass legislation to regulate Airbnb. Then, middle-class earners are trumping the wealthy when it comes to charity donations.
Wal-Mart to cancel health coverage for more part-time workers
The nation's largest private employer, Wal-Mart, is cutting back on its health-care costs by eliminating part-time workers from coverage, as well as hiking premiums and co-payments for full-time employees. About 30,000 workers who work less than an average of 30 hours a week are the latest class affected.
The move echoes that of other companies, such as Target, Home Depot and Trader Joe's, in the wake of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The federal law requires employers to insure staff that work more than an average of 30 hours a week. As The Wall Street Journal explains, “Several facets of the health-care overhaul are driving concerns about costs: one is the coming tax on so-called Cadillac plans, which carry high premiums and offer rich benefits, and another is the individual mandate that requires most workers to obtain coverage or else face a penalty.”
Will the affected workers be able to find affordable coverage readily? Has your employer altered your plan?
Guest:
Anna Mathews, Health Insurance Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
SF becomes first city in state to pass an “airbnb” law, should LA follow suit?
When it comes to tech innovation and the law, the latter is typically playing catch up. Such is the case with the short-term rental service AirBnB, which has been in existence for 6 years. On Tuesday, San Francisco became the first city in the state to pass legislation to regulate the controversial industry, which includes other sites such as VRBO, Homeaway and Flipkey.
Under San Francisco’s so-called “AirBnb law,” only permanent residents are allowed to offer short-term rents and rentals of entire homes are capped to 90 days a year. It also calls for the establishment of a short-term rental host registry and creates enforcement guidelines for the city’s Planning Department.
The law goes into effect February 2015.
Issues stemming from these short-term rentals have created tensions in neighborhoods all over Los Angeles, and the city is looking at creating legislation to control the problem. A look at the new San Francisco law and its impact on LA’s attempt to come up with a legislative solution.
Guest:
Carolyn Said, Business and technology reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. She covers the so-called “sharing economy” for the paper. She tweets at
Dodgers lose to the Cardinals, end postseason after four games
The Dodgers lost 3-2 to the Cardinals last night, ending their postseason run after only four games. Despite winning 94 games in the regular season, the Dodgers couldn’t move any further towards the World Series. The Cardinals defeated the Dodgers similarly 29 years ago in the 1985 postseason. This marks the 26th consecutive year that the Dodgers will not play in a World Series game.
While the Dodgers had done well in the regular season, approximately 70% of their Los Angeles fans could not watch the games on television due to a dispute between Time Warner Cable and pay-TV operators over an $8.35-billion contract. Unlike the telecom companies, however, fans and critics alike agree that the Dodgers ended their game and postseason all too quickly.
Are you upset that the Dodgers are out of the postseason? Why do you think they lost? Do you think the Dodgers have a good chance of bringing the World Series to Los Angeles next year?
Guest:
Ryan Fagan, MLB writer at Sporting News
Rare sighting: A sperm whale wonderland off the coast of Southern California
A lucky few caught the antics of what is thought to be at least fifty sperm whales and their kids socializing off the coast of California on Monday. Experts say they’re unaware that a sighting like this has ever happened in Southern California. Sperm whale behavior stands-out compared to most whales because they can spend a lot of time at the surface of the water, appearing to sleep. This is so they can re-oxygenate their tissues.
But, on Monday, the whales were very active, curling around each other, frequently touching each other, flipping their tails in the air and even making noises. (Typically, they make clicking noises when deep in the ocean, and grow silent before emerging above water.) Captains report that whales were surrounding the boats, staying at the surface for up to 45 minutes. The great mammals appeared curious about the boats by rolling on their sides keeping one eye staring at the crafts.
What caused this party in the water? Where are these warm blooded animals going? How familial are the sperm whales?
Guest:
Alisa Schulman-Janiger, a marine biologist and director of the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project
Dave Anderson, Owner of Captain Dave’s Whale and Dolphin Watching Safari
FBI “gag order” case pits national security interests against constitutional rights
Attorneys for the FBI are in court this morning defending a challenge that the “gag order” that comes with the thousands of national security letters the agency sends out each year, is a constitutional violation of free speech rights. The case originated three years ago, when an unnamed telecommunications company in the San Francisco Bay Area challenged an order it received from the FBI to turn over customers’ information said to be related to a terrorism investigation. The letter also barred the company from telling anyone about the FBI’s demand -- often referred to as a “gag order.”
A lower court last year ruled that gag orders and the letters themselves were unconstitutional and today it heads to the 9th circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The case pits civil libertarians who say that the letters trample individual rights, against government officials who maintain that secrecy is a necessary tool to protect the country against terrorism and other threats. On Monday, Twitter filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. Department of Justice prohibitions on publishing the exact number of national security letters the company receives last year. Earlier this year, five tech companies reached agreement with federal officials for a "transparency report" to publish a range of national security letters received, but Twitter wants to disclose more details.
A few months ago, the FBI withdrew a national security letter it sent Microsoft after the company filed a lawsuit. Google is also challenging receipt of several letters in court and several other Internet companies including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, have filed court papers supporting the unnamed telecommunications challenge to the national security letters.
Guests:
Andrew Crocker, Legal Fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which delivered oral arguments at today’s hearing at the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Robert Turner, Associate Director, Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia School of Law
New study finds that when it comes to charity giving, those with higher income are less generous
Charity donations from wealthier Americans have declined over the years, while those from middle and low-income households are giving more. So says a report released by The Chronicle, a publication that covers non-profit news. The report used tax data from the IRS to interpret charitable giving trends. Wealthier Americans, earning $200,000 or more, over the years 2006-2012 gave less by 4.6 percent. While those earning less than $100,000 donated 4.5 percent or more of the income to charity. The giving of Las Vegas residents -- a city hit hard by the recession -- grew the most in the country. But the giving of residents in the wealthier cities of Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, declined.
What could explain the stark difference in behavior? Do you tend to hold on to your earnings, or is donating money to charity part of your way of life? Are you experiencing signs of economic recovery?
Guest:
Alex Daniels, Staff writer at the Chronicle of Philanthropy.