SoCal's Metropolitan Water District approves two delta tunnels, the reason CA gas prices are so high, LA tentatively approves new Airbnb regulations.
What action Congress could take following Zuckerberg's testimony
Facebook CEO and co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg, was in front of Congress again Wednesday, testifying before the House. Tuesday, he was before the Senate.
The hearing follows allegations that research and political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, improperly gained access to the data of tens of millions of Facebook users.
Emily Cadei was in Washington D.C. covering the hearing for the Sacramento Bee. She said her biggest takeaway was that Congress is not particularly tech savvy, which means some are uncertain if regulating companies like Facebook is their job.
One of the things you're going to see is a lot of debate about what the role of Washington is going forward. You heard from some lawmakers urging [Facebook] to self regulate so that Washington does not have to intervene. Others took a more proactive stance.
The Honest Ads Act is one piece of legislation under Congressional consideration. This bill would make identifying where an online political ad comes from or who paid for it mandatory, Cadei said. That rule already applies to broadcast television and radio ads.
Another new bill could require platforms like Facebook to strengthen their data protection and increase the level of control that users are given over their data, Cadei said.
But Cadei added she doesn't expect to see major regulations pass anytime soon because this is an election year and Congress faces a lot of gridlock at the moment, making significant and potentially controversial legislation difficult to pass.
For those representing California in particular, there is pressure to not rock the boat with technology companies like Facebook, Cadei said.
What I heard from California lawmakers across the board is they do not want to upset the basic economic structure that has produced so much innovation. These firms are also constituents. Their employees are voters in California. They're donors in California. They pay taxes in California and so [Congress members] are trying to strike a balance between responding to the concerns but also not overdoing the regulation in a way that's going to strangle these companies' business models.
SoCal Metropolitan Water District defends $11 billion delta tunnel plan
The architects of the Delta tunnel plan has gone back and forth in recent weeks about whether to build one tunnel or two to bring water to the Southland. And Tuesday, Southern California's Metropolitan Water District voted to put up nearly $11 billion to go with a pair of tunnels.
Not everyone agrees with the idea. Water district representatives from Los Angeles, Santa Monica and San Fernando all voted no. Jeffrey Kightlinger is General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District. He explains where the tunnel project currently stands.
What led the MWD to decide on two tunnels
The original plan was for two tunnels. That was Jerry Brown's plan and proposal. It is expensive, and we have to finance a large part of it because Central Valley Agriculture wasn't part of it. We did take a hard look at scaling down and only building one [tunnel] at this time, but then my board of directors said, 'This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Let's build the entire project.' We're probably never going tp get another shot in our lifetimes again, so let's do it right.
L.A., San Fernando, Santa Monica and San Diego voted against the plan
They believe that money should be spent on local projects, recycling, etc., which would reduce our need for imported water. We have to do both... I understand that's going to raise rates, but that also means we have a more reliable water future.
Central Valley can't afford to buy in
They do want it. The question is whether they can afford it. The SoCal economy is huge. We spend billions on infrastructure. The Central Valley doesn't have that kind of money.
Where the $11 billion will come from
It's coming from you and me and all the rate payers here in SoCal. The nice thing is that we spread this across 20 million people. It's going to be between $2.50 and $4.50 a month [per affected household]. No one likes to raise rates, but we import two-thirds of our water in SoCal. We have to pay for this just like our parents and grandparents did to make life possible here.
When customers will see bills increase
A couple years from now. But it'll be about 30 cents per month, and it will build up. So $2 to $4 a month will take 15 years of layering in. So it will be gradual.
When the MWD will start building these tunnels
In about four or five years from now, and we expect to be finished somewhere around 2030.
*This interview has been edited for clarity.
A mysterious gas surcharge is costing Californians billions every year. Where is that money going?
The average price of regular gas in the Golden State is now $3.52 per gallon— the highest it's been since 2015. And while Californians are used to paying more for gas than the rest of the country, something didn't quite add up for UC Berkeley professor Severin Borenstein.
That's because around three years ago prices spiked. And they never fell back down like they should have. Borenstein calls it "California's mystery gasoline surcharge," and he’s on a mission to figure out where it's coming from.
His suspicions started with the Torrance refinery fire in 2015. That’s when the spike first happened.
The charges that already exist
Before understanding the mystery surcharge, it’s important to first comprehend the other charges that make California fuel so expensive. Borenstein breaks it down like this:
- The cleaner-burn gasoline we use adds about 5 to 10 cents more.
- The cap and trade program for greenhouse gases add about 12 cents a gallon.
- The low carbon fuel standard fluctuates, but it adds generally around 7 cents a gallon.
The higher taxes and the low carbon fuel standard and environmental programs are going to government programs to help low-income people afford energy, to build the high-speed rail and other public transit systems.
However, when all those charges are accounted for, that still leaves an additional roughly 20 cent surcharge that’s unaccounted for.
So, what is this mystery surcharge?
That's the thing; we don’t know. But Borenstein does have a few theories as to where the money could be going.
- It’s going to the sellers – Refiners have more market power and are not putting as much gasoline into the market as they could.
- Ports and logistics – There are many logistical constraints in the importing process. In the past when there have been refinery fires, the price spikes were only temporary. "Once the price went up, we started seeing imports come in from Washington state, Singapore, from the Gulf and we're not seeing that to the extent that we're used to," Borenstein said.
But those are just Borenstein's best guesses. There's still a lot that's unknown.
What can be done?
Borenstein has been on this crusade for some time. He’s let policymakers know but hasn’t seen any action.
A number of legislators have said that they're concerned, but I haven't seen any follow through at this point. I haven't seen any sort of legislative hearings or any bills to actually create this sort of committee with the sort of resources one would need to actually dig into that.
And that’s exactly what Borenstein is calling for: an entity wholly dedicated to figuring out where this money is going.
He speculated it would probably cost millions of dollars, but the surcharge is costing Californians roughly $10-12 million every day. You can find more on Borenstein’s investigation here.
The Golden Knights are winning on the ice, winning over Vegas
It can be a gamble to create an expansion team in a pro sports league, but it's paid off for the Vegas Golden Knights.
In its first year with the National Hockey League, the Knights aren't just good. They're one of the best teams on ice. That's despite their first game coming just days after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
So the bond between Las Vegas and the Golden Knights formed through grief, as well as the joy of winning games. They're in Vegas, tonight, playing the Kings for the playoffs.
Ed Graney from the Las Vegas Review-Journal joined Take Two to share more of their story.
How the Golden Knights got so good, so fast
No one thought this would happen in terms of how well they played in the division, but I do know the league did not want to give Las Vegas a team and have them be just absolutely awful. So they helped them a lot through the exposure of more players in the pool this time.
And I think George McPhee, their GM who ran the Washington Capitals for almost 20 years, knows what he's doing.
How the Knights responded to the Las Vegas shooting
A few days after the shooting, those guys were in hospitals first. They were at blood banks first. They were mourning with those who lost loved ones.
They did an incredible job – guys who knew nothing about Vegas and had just really arrived as a team here – of integrating themselves into that community right away after the tragedy.
So when the opening night came, first responders were taken out to the ice by each player, the names of the 58 dead were emblazoned on ice and there was a 58-second countdown. Then Deryk Engelland, the only player with Las Vegas ties and who lives here during the off season, gave a speech.
That brought this team into a realm of this city that no one thought possible.
No one is saying that winning hasn't helped. It has. But it was this perfect storm of a horrible, horrible tragedy, along with this new team arriving here and responding to these people in a way no one could've predicted.
How Las Vegas feels about its future as a major sports town once the Raiders move there
No matter what, the Golden Knights are always going to have a really special hold on these people's hearts here because of October.
And I think the Raiders will be more loved because it's the NFL and it's a big-time team.
But I can't see anyone coming in here in the future and taking over the hearts of Las Vegas like the Golden Knights have.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Why the Clippers and Lakers did poorly this year
Tonight marks the end of another NBA season, and for the first time in 13 years there won't be an L.A. team in the playoffs. Both the Lakers and the Clippers will be watching on TV just like the rest of us.
But while the Lakers looks like a team on the rise, the Clippers seem to be at a crossroads with some difficult decisions to make.
"When 'What went right' is 'We managed to get out of the horrible decision we made over the summer by trading [Blake Griffin],' it does lead neatly into the problems," says sports contributor Brian Kamenetzky.
Brian and Andy Kamenetzky joined Take Two for more.
LA tentatively approves new Airbnb regulations
On Tuesday, L.A. lawmakers tentatively approved new rules for short-term rentals offered through services like Airbnb. The proposed regulations would prevent Angelenos from renting their homes or apartments on a nightly basis if they are not the owner, and also reduce the number of nights hosts can rent out space to 120 times per year. Hosts who'd like to exceed that limit would need to go through a city approval process that includes neighbor input.
Arthi Varma is Principal Planner with LA's City Planning Department. She explained the latest proposed regulations.
Why regulations are needed for short-term rentals
The City Council was exploring ways to balance the need to preserve our city's housing supply for long-term renters in the face of the housing crisis with preserving residential neighborhood character. At the same time, many short-term rental operators are good operators and not creating negative impacts and using short-term rentals to stay in their homes in the face of this affordable housing crisis.
What the new regulations propose
The issue at hand yesterday was the proposed cap on the number of short-term rentals that a host can engage in. So the cap is 120 days -- anybody who wants to engage in short-term rentals as long as it's a primary home, not rent stabilized, have their landlord's permission and don't do it for 120 days. The Planning and Land Use Management committee directed the Planning Department to create a two-tiered system to go above that cap.
How the two-tier system works
The first tier is a simple administrative sign off that would be approved if the host didn't have any nuisance violations. So no tickets or fines from various departments in the city. The action they took, it couldn't be a neighbor complaint; it had to be an enforcement action. If hosts could do that, they could get administrative sign off.
The second tier is discretionary, where if there was a nuisance violation, hosts could still apply to go above that cap. If it's a one-time issue, they could show that they are still good operators. They're continuing to find guests who are compatible with the neighborhood.
The process for going above 120 rental days
It includes an application with the Planning Department and a discretionary review. There would be findings that the host is not taking a viable unit off of the long-term housing market to allow short-term rentals in the neighborhood.
Next steps for short-term rental regulations
The next steps are going to the Housing Committee, then another subcommittee of City Council to provide us further direction and then go to full City Council for direction. Because this is a whole new system, we would have to go back to the City Planning Commission for their input.
Why L.A. taking so long to figure this out
L.A. has a much larger supply of these short-term rentals happening. Depending on the day, anywhere between 22,000 and 24,000 short-term rentals happening in L.A. A lot of other cities who have regulations such as San Francisco and New York have a much smaller pool. The other issue is we have a unique housing crisis in the city of L.A. where the rent burden that Angelenos bear is much higher than cities like San Francisco. We're really looking at a balance. The folks who support short-term rentals are homeowners or renters that are looking to supplement their income to pay the rent and mortgage. The council was looking at a way to balance the multiple sides of this.
Here's the wealthiest zip code in SoCal (and it isn't 90210)
If you're looking to hang out with the Richie Riches of L.A., 90210 isn't it. Bloomberg did a deep dive into Internal Revenue Service data for the whole country. And the richest zip code in SoCal is actually 90067 — in Century City.
Just 2,400 people live in the area bounded by Beverly Hills to the north, Beverlywood to the south, with the Avenue of the Stars cutting straight through. The entire zip code covers just a third of a square mile.
As for who exactly is rich in that area, they're SINKs — Single Income No Kids. And they're golden girls and guys. The median age is 65.
As for how they get their money, a lot of it comes from their retirement, pulling cash from their IRAs, mostly.
But the 90067 isn't the richest zip code in the country. It's seventh. If you really want to meet the absolute richest, hop on a flight to Miami, then charter a boat to get to what was once the Vanderbilts' private property — Fisher Island.