Latest news with #CaliforniaStateAssembly
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
California state mulls seizing assets left unclaimed for 3 years
California state mulls seizing assets left unclaimed for 3 years originally appeared on TheStreet. The California State Assembly has passed Assembly Bill (AB) 1052 with a 69-0 vote that mandates the state to seize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies left unclaimed for 3 years. Now, the Senate will vote on the bill. Introduced by Democrat member Avelino Valencia, the bill includes digital assets, including virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, or other digital-only assets in the already existing list of traditional assets such as bank accounts and safe deposits within the legal framework. To put it simply, the bill, once passed, allows the state of California to seize cryptocurrencies left unclaimed on exchanges for 3 years, which can then be claimed by their owners. Notably, the bill earlier mentioned crypto self-custody provisions which have been deleted. AB 1052 is the latest crypto-related bill to see progress in the California State Assembly. Only recently, the assembly unanimously passed AB 1180 on June 2. AB 1180 is another crypto-related bill that allows state agencies to accept crypto payments. If the Senate also passes the bill and it becomes the law, it will require the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to formulate rules to allow crypto payments under the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL). AB 1180 could come into force as early as July 1, 2026, and run as a pilot until January 1, 2031. It could then be fully implemented. California finds company among states such as Wyoming, Florida, Texas, and New Hampshire that are proactively pursuing crypto regulation. California state mulls seizing assets left unclaimed for 3 years first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 4, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
California Assembly Passes Film Tax Bill to Expand Production Incentives
The California State Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would overhaul the state's production tax incentive program, a key step in legislators' efforts to provide support to struggling Hollywood workers. The vote on Assembly Bill 1138 was 73 in favor and one against, and comes a day after a similar bill, SB 630, passed 34-1 out of the state senate. The bills now head to the opposite houses as its co-authors say they are looking to expedite the committee vote process so that they can be passed by the legislature, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and implemented by the California Film Commission all ideally before the legislative session ends for the year in September. 'We are in an emergency, given the unemployment levels and the loss of business in California due to the film industry, so we are working with the legislative leadership to find ways to have the bill go into effect this summer,' said Hollywood Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur, who is one of the co-authors on the bills. The two bills had language removed that calls for the program's cap to be increased from $330 million to $750 million, though that increase is still included in Gov. Gavin Newsom's revised proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. Zbur says that there is high confidence among supporters of the program expansion that the cap raise will be approved in the final budget. 'The structural support that we are receiving from all of the entertainment unions, all of the studios, independent producers, the sound stage managers and owners is uniform, and I've never seen anything like it,' he said. The two bills, known together as the California Film & TV Jobs Act, would expand the types of productions eligible for the tax credit, including animated productions and TV shows with a half-hour runtime. The bill also allows productions that shoot in Los Angeles County and other select nearby shooting locations in Southern California to be eligible for an increased tax writeoff of 35% of all eligible spending. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of film and TV production jobs in California in 2024 fell by approximately 40,000 from the all-time high recorded in 2022, when ongoing demand for streaming shows and a need to catch up on projects delayed by the 2020 pandemic helped fuel a surge in productions. But a variety of factors led to production jobs dropping not just in California but in other major American production hubs like Georgia and New York in 2024. Among them was an industry-wide cutback in production spending as media companies looked to make their streaming services profitable, as well as increased competition from other countries with their own production tax incentives. The combination of that drop in jobs and the loss of work caused by the 2023 strikes that shut down productions for 191 days has led to thousands of entertainment workers in California facing serious financial struggle and has called the future of a cornerstone of the state's economy into question. The post California Assembly Passes Film Tax Bill to Expand Production Incentives appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
California State Assembly Approves Bill Pausing Tax Hike on Legal Cannabis Retailers
California State Assembly Approves Bill Pausing Tax Hike on Legal Cannabis Retailers originally appeared on L.A. Mag. The California State Assembly unanimously voted on Monday to halt a slated 25% tax increase on the cannabis industry from going into effect on July a 74-0 vote, the Assembly approved AB564 by Asm. Matt Haney (D-San Francisco). The bill would prevent the retail excise tax from increasing to 19% from its current 15%."If we continue to pile on more taxes and fees onto our struggling small cannabis businesses, California's cannabis culture is under serious threat of extinction," Haney said in a to SFGATE, taxable cannabis sales in California amounted to $1.088 billion in 2025's first quarter, the lowest in five years. The figure also represents an 11% drop compared to the same quarter in 2024, marking the largest decline in legal cannabis sales in state are responsible for paying the tax regardless of consumer sales. Haney attributes the steady growth of cannabis sales in other states, such as Colorado and Michigan, to lower taxes and fewer barriers for businesses and consumers. "If we want to support our cannabis industry that drives millions of visitors to California every year, adding more costs makes absolutely no sense," said Haney."Nearly a decade after Californians overwhelmingly approved cannabis legalization, the industry is struggling under the crushing weight of a 15% excise tax,' said Caren Woodson, president of the California Cannabis Industry Association. 'Any increase, particularly a 25% increase, would not only be bad public policy, but devastating to operators already on the brink.'In 2016, voters passed Proposition 64 to legalize the possession, cultivation and sale of cannabis for recreational use with an initial retail excise tax of 15%.A 2022 law eliminated California's cultivation tax, making the excise tax adjustable to generate equivalent revenue. The new bill would eliminate the law's requirement to adjust the excise tax will go to the State Senate for consideration. This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hollywood Incentives Bill Passes the CA State Assembly Without $750 Million Specified, For Now
A bill set to dramatically expand California's incentives for film and television production companies to shoot in-state has passed the California State Assembly, albeit without a mention of the $750 million program cap promised by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Legislators voted 73 to one on Tuesday to pass AB 1138 and send it to the Senate, with Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of San Diego representing the sole 'no' vote. The vote comes after the state Senate passed a similar bill focused on the state's entertainment tax credit program earlier in the day, with the governor's promised cash infusion absent from the amended legislation. More from The Hollywood Reporter Where Did the $750 Million Go? Hollywood Incentive Bill Passes CA Senate Without Newsom's Pledge The 13 Commandments of Being a Background Actor After Strike Threat, Video Game Workers and Microsoft-Owned ZeniMax Media Reach Tentative Agreement The move adds momentum to union- and studio-backed attempts to provide a shot in the arm to filming in California even as the state faces significant budget deficit concerns. Newsom has pledged support to one of California's signature industries even while existing or proposed state services are likely to be cut or pulled back as a result of the budget situation. That's necessary, argued the bill's advocates on Tuesday. 'California's iconic film and television industry is in crisis,' said bill co-author Assemblymember Rick Zbur, who represents an area in L.A. stretching from Hollywood to Santa Monica, before the vote. 'The hardworking men and women and the small businesses that have built an industry that is intrinsic to California's identity are experiencing depression-level-eras of unemployment and loss of business as our iconic business is being lured away to other states and other countries with better credit programs.' Other champions of the bill, like Assemblymember Tom Lackey, Assemblymember Mike Gibson and Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, emphasized that the proposed legislation was a jobs bill, not a handout to Hollywood. 'What's happened is we got a little arrogant on this film situation and we thought we're all that and a bag of chips, and you know what, the other states decided they would compete with us,' said Lackey, who represents the High Desert. 'And not only that they would compete with us, but they would take this industry.' He said the legislation wouldn't save Hollywood, but it was an important step to make California more competitive with regard to incentives programs in other states and countries. But the bill's one critic in Tuesday's session, DeMaio, disagreed, framing the proposed legislation as an ineffective solution that essentially sought to reward influential political allies in Hollywood. 'We should make California prosperous for all and it's not by giving out the gifts of tax credits to those that have influence, those that might make the best case to the politicians in Sacramento but rather policies that will flatten the cost curve,' he said. DeMaio singled out California's heavily unionized Hollywood workforce and regulations as the reasons why productions fled the state, not the tax credit. 'Nothing in this bill deals with labor costs, nothing deals with the regulatory burden,' he said. DeMaio added that the bill is only attempting to 'soften the blow of some of those bad policies.' The amended bill removes mention of Newsom's pledge to increase the film and television incentives cap from $330 million to $750 million annually, as did its companion bill in the state Senate. Advocates say that figure doesn't need to be in the bills as long as Newsom's budget is passed. The $750 million figure survived in Newsom's revised budget, unveiled in May, even as providing Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented immigrants and Medi-Cal coverage for weight-loss drugs like Ozempic did not. The amended bill also expands the tax credit's program for training workers from historically underrepresented communities to work in the film and television business by opening up the program to additional nonprofits. In a sign that none of this is a done deal and the situation remains fluid, industry unions and the grassroots group Stay in L.A. have encouraged their members to continue writing to and calling their state representatives to support the bills. 'This is one of the many steps we have ahead of us, a coalition of entertainment unions told members after the Assembly and Senate bills passed on Tuesday. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to prevent California school defunding amid immigration raids passes Assembly
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The proposed bill that seeks to prevent the defunding of schools in California caused by low attendance rates due to immigration enforcement cleared the California State Assembly on Monday. Assembly Bill 1348, introduced by Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains, was approved by the California State Assembly. Ahead of the approval, Bains mentioned the case of the 4-year-old girl from Bakersfield who was facing possible deportation despite needing essential medical care, according to a press release from Bains' office. 'Her family came here legally; they have followed all of the rules, and yet they are still being targeted for deportation,' Bains said in her Floor testimony. 'The only purpose of allowing ICE to operate around schools is to instill fear and send a message that nowhere is safe.' Another 2026 congressional candidate? Breaking down Asm. Dr. Jasmeet Bains' healthcare ad After Bains' speech, Assemblymember Carl DeMaio spoke in opposition of the bill, calling it and the rhetoric surrounding the bill 'dangerous.' 'When a member who's elected stands in support of a bill and says that nowhere is safe because of these agents that the agents are engaging in quote, 'psychological warfare' against immigrants, it is outrageous,' DeMaio said. 'You know what's outrageous? It's trying to deport a 4-year-old child that came here legally and could die within days,' Bains replied. 'Instead of putting words and adding more rhetoric, please do the right thing and vote yes to protect our children and protect funding for our schools.' Late Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security granted humanitarian parole to the 4-year-old girl. Bakersfield high school students stage walkouts over immigration enforcement The bill is meant to protect California school districts from risks of defunding as immigration raids at schools discourage some children from attending school. If passed, the amended bill would include immigration enforcement activity to the list of conditions outside of the school's control that would make the school district eligible for funding protection until July 1, 2029. The list of conditions previously included natural disasters, safety threats and other issues that would pose challenges for a large number of students to attend schools. Never miss a story: Make your homepage The funding designated to a school district by the state of California depends on its Average Daily Attendance, which is calculated by dividing the total number of days of student attendance by the total number of school days. A decrease in a school district's ADA can cause the state to also decrease the funding for that school district. 'Twenty percent of California's school children live in mixed-status homes, meaning they are undocumented or living with someone who is undocumented,' EdTrust-West wrote in a letter of support to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, according to the release. 'Several LEAs (Local Education Agencies) have reported a decrease in attendance because immigrant parents are afraid federal immigration officials will detain children to screen for residency status or question the children about others in their household.' The California State Senate will now consider the bill, according to the release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
