California
Newsom proposes defunding police, prisons, public safety as California faces massive deficit
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., proposed slashing budgets regarding public safety, such as prisons and law enforcement, as the state simultaneously grapples with a crippling deficit and doubles down on climate goals relating to equity.
The California Democrat’s proposed budget, released in May, notes that “difficult decisions” are necessary to address the estimated $27.6 billion deficit, which is projected to continue for years to come. It includes a $97 million cut to trial court operations, $10 million to the Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement and more than $80 million to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
A Newsom spokesperson initially told Fox News Digital that there were “no cuts to law enforcement.”
“The budget proposes numerous ways to make government more efficient and reduce costs for taxpayers, including cuts on inmate spending. Since Governor Newsom took office in 2019, the state has made record investments in law enforcement, including $1.1 billion to tackle crime, support police, and hold criminals accountable,” the spokesperson said.
“I look at what’s happening in California is just the greatest disrespect of taxpayers resources in the history of America,” the chief financial officer of the State of Florida, told Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital | Getty)
However, an official from the Department of Finance acknowledged a 1.6% reduction in the state’s Department of Justice’s overall proposed budget.
“What’s happening in California is just the greatest disrespect of taxpayer’s resources in the history of America,” Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy T. Patronis, told Fox News Digital. “They’re in a panic. They’re in a free fall. They’re looking for money to make up this enormous budget deficit they’ve got right now.”
Patronis argued that an exodus from California has helped fuel the budget deficit. The Golden State experienced the largest net loss of one-way movers, according to a United Van Lines study published earlier this year.
Moreover, California’s green energy policies have caused blue-collar businesses to suffer from stagnation and decline, a Chapman University study published in April found. Soaring home prices in California, exacerbated by environmental regulations, are also causing historically White middle class people to join the exodus, according to the study.
Nonetheless, Newsom proposed shifting money from the general fund, offering $1.7 billion for climate goals, particularly those related to “equity programs.”
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Patronis also said California’s deficit was partially due to businesses fleeing the state because of high crime. Newsom’s proposal to cut public safety funds will only fuel the “vicious cycle,” he added. Florida, on the other hand, has had budget surpluses.
“Ultimately, this vicious cycle where you’ve got a weaker prison system” will cause “weaker incarceration, which has been kind of the narrative that’s been coming out of California now,” Patronis said. “San Francisco has been kind of like the poster child for businesses fleeing a once-prosperous city.”
Since the beginning of the year, there have been 8,686 thefts in San Francisco, not including 1,962 burglaries and 2,298 motor vehicle thefts, according to the latest available crime stats.
This year alone, retailers such as Aldo, J.Crew and Madewell announced they were closing their stores at the San Francisco Centre. This follows a trend of major stores who have fled the Northern California city, leaving malls with major vacancies, according to a report. The North Face and Macy’s also closed down at the beginning of 2024, and Zara is expected to follow suit in 2025.
The governor’s office pointed to violent and property crime being down the first quarter of this year when compared to last year.
Homeless encampments line the streets in Oakland, California on Friday, March 15, 2024. The city remains plagued by homelessness as nearby businesses close their doors due to safety concerns. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
The $80 million cut from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is intended to eliminate 4,600 beds across 13 prisons. Newsom also proposed slashing law enforcement training and cutting $4.4 million from county probation departments.
The California State Legislature, meanwhile, is pushing against some of the proposed cuts regarding public safety, particularly a $15 million decrease from the DOJ, Department of Finance deputy director for external affairs H.D. Palmer told Fox News Digital.
“These proposed reductions are unallocated reductions, meaning that it would be up to the department as to how they would be implemented,” Palmer said.
The legislature has until June 15 to approve the budget, which would go into effect in July.
Patronis attributed Florida’s financial success, in part, to Newsom’s failures as governor to ensure Californians feel safe.
“The one that you have to hold responsible is Gavin Newsom,” he said. “When you create a safe environment, people want to relocate their businesses.”
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“You created an environment [in California] where … you are defunding the police and defunding law enforcement. So look, in the state of Florida, we’ve taken advantage of their poor governance,” Patronis continued. “We have offered incentive bonuses. We’ve actually recruited law enforcement officers for the state of Florida with a $5,000 recruitment bonus. And we have gotten law enforcement officers from all 50 states.”
One worker was injured, and a second killed after a truck veered onto the shoulder of a Southern California highway. (Fox News)
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Patronis also worried about Newsom’s future ambitions.
“I think he would love to be president one day … He could just lie straight through his teeth like nobody I’ve ever seen on camera,” he said. “I would hate to ever see somebody with that type of a deliberate mindset to be in charge of our country’s economy.”
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Fox News’ Hannah Panreck and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
California
Republican governor candidate Chad Bianco says he’s the ‘antithesis to California state government’
We are counting down to the California governor’s race. Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, is one of the two biggest names running on the Republican ticket.
In a one-on-one interview with Eyewitness News political reporter Josh Haskell, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said, “I am the antithesis to California state government because I am going to take a nuclear bomb into that building and absolutely destroy everything that they do to us behind closed doors.”
Although he’s been elected by the voters twice, Bianco says he’s not a politician — which is why he believes his campaign for California governor is resonating, as reflected in the polls.
“President Trump, in one year, from 2025 when he took over, until now, did absolutely nothing to harm California. What’s harming California is 30 years of Democrat one-party rule that have created an environment here that no one can live in anymore. They’ve only been successful here in California because we vote D no matter what. You vote D or die. I mean, that’s it. Charles Manson would be elected in California if he was the only Democrat on the ballot,” Bianco said.
Bianco isn’t the only conservative Republican running for governor, and according to polling, he’s neck-and-neck with former Fox News host Steve Hilton.
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Leading in some polls in the wide-open California Governor’s race as the June primary creeps closer is Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.
“Steve has no chance of winning in November. The Democrats know that I’m going to win in November, and so they have to do everything they can to keep me out of that,” Bianco said.
When asked about the affordability crisis in the state, Bianco said, “Almost the entire issue of affordability in California is because of regulation, excessive regulation imposed by government. Every single regulation can be signed away with the governor’s signature.”
“It is a drug and alcohol addiction problem that, and a mental health problem,” he said about the homelessness crisis. “Every single bit of money that is going to these nonprofits that say ‘homeless,’ zero money. You’re getting absolutely nothing. I can’t tell you that we would end what we see in the homeless situation within a year, but I guarantee you we would never see it again after two years.”
When challenged on that prediction, pointing to how the state doesn’t have the facilities to treat the number of people living on our streets, Bianco responded, “We have been conditioned to believe that buildings take five years to build. It takes 90 days or less to build a house, but in California, it takes three to five years because the government won’t allow it. The regulations that are destroying this state are going to be removed with me as the governor.”
Bianco also said California jails shouldn’t have to play the role of treatment facilities.
Although he says he supports the Trump administration and wants the president’s endorsement, Bianco has been traveling the state — meeting not just with Republicans, but Democrats and independents as well. He says all of our state government officials have failed.
The primary election is June 2.
No clear front-runner in race for California governor, new poll shows
A new poll shows there’s still no clear front-runner in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
California
PlayOn Sports fined $1.1 million by California watchdog over student data violations
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (FOX26) — California’s privacy watchdog has ordered PlayOn Sports to pay a $1.10 million fine and change how it handles consumer data after finding the company’s practices violated state law in ways that affected students and schools in the state.
The California Privacy Protection Agency Board issued the decision following a settlement reached by CalPrivacy’s Enforcement Division.
The decision is the first by the board to address privacy violations involving students and California schools.
Schools across the country use PlayOn Sports’ GoFan platform to sell digital tickets to high school sporting events, theater performances, and homecoming and prom dances, with attendees presenting tickets at the door on their mobile phones.
Schools also use PlayOn Sports’ platforms for other sports-related activities, including attending games, streaming them online, and looking up statistics about teams and players.
In California, about 1,400 schools contract with PlayOn Sports for these services.
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GoFan is also the official ticketing platform for the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports.
According to the board’s decision, PlayOn Sports used tracking technologies to collect personal information and deliver targeted advertisements to ticketholders and others using its services.
The company allegedly required Californians to click “agree” to tracking technologies before they could use their tickets or view PlayOn Sports websites, without providing a sufficient opt-out option.
“Students trying to go to prom or a high school football game shouldn’t have to leave their privacy rights at the door,” said Michael Macko, CalPrivacy’s head of enforcement. “You couldn’t attend these events without showing your ticket, and you couldn’t show your ticket without being tracked for advertising. California’s privacy law does not work that way. Businesses must ensure they offer lawful ways for Californians to opt-out, particularly with captive audiences.”
The decision also describes students as a uniquely vulnerable population and warns that targeted advertising systems can subject students to profiling that can follow them for years, expose them to manipulative or harmful content, and develop sensitive inferences about their lives.
Instead of providing its own opt-out method, PlayOn Sports directed students and other users to opt out through the Network Advertising Initiative and the Digital Advertising Alliance, which the decision said violated the company’s responsibility to provide its own way for consumers to opt out. The company also allegedly failed to recognize opt-out preference signals and did not provide Californians with sufficient notice of its privacy practices.
“We are committed to making it as easy as possible for all Californians — from high school students to older adults, and everyone in between — to make the choice of whether they want to be tracked or not,” said Tom Kemp, CalPrivacy’s executive director. “Californians can opt-out with covered businesses, and they can sign up for the newly launched DROP system to request that data brokers delete their personal information.”
Beyond the $1.10 million fine, the board’s order requires PlayOn Sports to conduct risk assessments, provide disclosures that are easy to read and understand, and implement proper opt-out methods.
The order also requires the company to comply with California’s privacy law prohibiting the selling or sharing of personal information of consumers between 13 and 16 without their affirmative opt-in consent.
California
California bill to bar police from taking second job with ICE advances in state Assembly
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 4:43AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KABC) — A bill that would prevent police officers from moonlighting with federal immigration enforcement agencies, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is advancing through the California State Assembly.
AB 1537 passed the State Assembly’s committee on public safety on Tuesday.
The bill also requires that officers report any offers for secondary employment related to immigration enforcement to their place of work.
Those failing to comply could face decertification as a peace officer in California.
The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, whose district includes Mar Vista, Ladera Heights, Mid-Wilshire and parts of South Los Angeles.
Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
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