News

Publication: San Francisco Chronicle

California’s main rebate program to coax more drivers to buy electric cars has run out of money — and there’s no guarantee that buyers on the waiting list will get checks later.

The program, one of the largest electric-car rebate efforts in the world, is destined to end unless the Legislature goes against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to cut funding for it next fiscal year, starting July 1.

Newsom wants to redirect money that has gone to most buyers of new electric cars, spending it instead to increase incentives for lower-income buyers. He also wants to install more public charging stations.

But he faces resistance from some legislators and electric-car advocates, who say cutting rebates could undermine the state’s climate goals.

Money for the rebate program ran out last month. Electric vehicle sales surged in the first few months of this year, after plummeting in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

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“Without rebates, it would be a significant step backwards in this struggle to transform our vehicles into clean cars,” said Assembly Member Phil Ting, the San Francisco Democrat who chairs the Budget Committee.

Ting said Assembly Democrats will propose restoring funding for the program, though they have yet to set an amount. In the Senate, Democrats have proposed to spend $525 million on rebates over the next three years.

California lawmakers are expecting the state’s budget surplus to reach up to $20 billion.

State Democratic lawmakers in the assembly Wednesday laid out their financial priorities with more money available than initially expected.

“Our budget situation has drastically changed,” Assm. Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, said. 

Budget Chairman Phil Ting says while the assembly is still waiting on a final budget estimate for the year, lawmakers expect the state surplus to be between $15 billion to $20 billion.

That money coupled with $26 billion collected in federal stimulus makes this year a more flexible one for spending.

“We also want to make sure we’re protecting Californians. We have millions of vulnerable Californians living paycheck to paycheck, worried about evictions, homelessness jobs, and covid has just continued to exacerbate them,” Ting said.

Publication: Los Angeles Times

California legislators on Thursday pushed ahead with reforms targeting the state’s troubled unemployment agency as lawmakers condemned it for yet another significant error that has interrupted benefit payments to thousands of jobless residents.

Agency officials apologized for a new computer glitch that has prevented many people from filing new claims online, but lawmakers note it is just the latest in a string of technological problems that have plagued the state Employment Development Department since the pandemic began more than a year ago.

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Meanwhile, federal regulators have begun looking at how Bank of America, which contracts with the EDD to issue debit cards to deliver benefits, has handled a flood of fraudulent unemployment claims with actions that included freezing accounts, affecting some people who are legitimately in need of financial aid.

“Californians relying on unemployment benefits during the pandemic have been let down time and time again,” said Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee. “Whether they’re trying to resolve fraudulent charges, access their money or simply want to talk to a real person on the phone, significant delays in solving problems have caused needless suffering.”