hi there. i'm christine zee. you're watching getting answers on abc7. every day kristen: hi, there. i'm kristen sze. you're watching "getting

answers. san francisco supervisors passed a moratorium on new cannabis dispensaries, a good move for public safety or bad mood that stifles a growing industry? we talk with a supervisor who authored the bill for his take on a controversial move. also, homebuyers under distress in the wake of major insurance companies backing out of the california market, citing the high cost of rebuilding after wildfires. our media partner "the san francisco standard" will join us to show how people are scrambling to keep their home dreams alive. first, governor newsom today made a bold move to fight gun violence and mass shootings in america. he announced he wants sweeping federal gun safety measures enshrined in the constitution. >> so today, i am 28th amendment to the united states constitution to do just that. the 28th amendment permanently enshrines 4 additions to the

laws of our land. it raises the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21 because if you cannot buy a beer, you should not be able to buy a gun. kristen: and there is more. here to talk about this and other political news, including the presidential race getting more interesting, abc news political director rick klein. nice to have you on the show again. rick: thanks for having me. kristen: governor newsom always gives us a lot to talk about. constitutional amendment. talk to us about that. i think the last one was the 27th amendment in -- what was it? 30 years ago? >> yes, 30 years ago. there's no chance realistically speaking there will be an amendment to the constitution that changes gun rights in any meaningful way. they cannot even pass a bill. the idea of a constitutional amendment which would take 2/3 vote in the house and senate and 3/4 of the legislature to approve it, it's not going to

happen. i think governor newsom knows that from high school civics. i think he is saying the party needs to get more aggressive and address a real crisis, but i think governor newsom knows it will not be constitutionally solved initiative. kristen: yeah, you never want to say zero chance because you don't want to be absolute about it, but it is like as you said, he knows this is not really a viable option. in addition to pushing the conversation, are there other possibilities? people are always saying, is this a potential platform for him should he decide to run for president? next -- rick: sure. he has done this with the travel he has done, particularly to red states. he called up governor desantis over the migrant flights. this is a guy who has a lot to say and he's going to continue to do it. the democratic party is rallying behind joe biden and the

governor made it clear he will not challenge him, but there always remain questions out there to the moment of next november's election if by is in it, if he is capable of doing the job. these are real issues that are percolating. i think governor newsom just fill in whatever policy and political boy he can is something we will have to get used to. kristen: i think so. more on this political intrigue, but i think i should tell viewers more about the other three items in his proposal. he talked about raising the buying age from 18 to 21, universal background checks is another one, reasonable waiting periods, and banning civilians from buying assault weapons. is he selling this for all americans kind of vision, do you think? >> yes, saying make america more like florida. governor newsom is saying no, more like california.

the largest blue state and one of the largest red states are very much diametrically opposed these days in their politics. i think governor newsom would love to take the california story to as many corners of the country as he can. kristen: i wonder if by making each other the main villain in their story, does that elevate both of them in terms of national prominence? >> there is certainly an argument for that. dissent is has been elevated by his own party in the standing in the polls, the main alternative to donald trump -- desantis. governor newsom has recognized that and called him out and called him a bully. i think being singled out elevates the man over in florida as well. kristen: the things governor newsom is proposing, the gun safety laws, do those things have popular support in the u.s., even if they don't have congressional -- enough congressional support to pass? : with a lot

depends on how you framed it, but raising the minimum buying age, assault weapon bands are generally very popular things. universal background checks. they are things that pull very well. question about how you present it to the public is much different. that's why there is not a legislative solution. you talked about the i'll keep it at zero. the constitutional amendment process is so onerous there's a reason there's only been 27 amendments, including the 10 to the bill of rights in what? almost 250 years. kristen: right. the gop field certainly got a little bigger this week in the 2024 presidential race. with former governor chris christie and former vice president mike pence in the race. what kind of role do they each carve out in this race, and is either have a chance? >> the total number depends how you count it.

i think christie and intriguing because they no-trump just about better than anyone. you could argue that without the support of christie early in the primaries and pens on the ticket, donald trump never becomes president. they gave him a huge amount of credibility and they also turned on him in about as dramatic and major a way as you might imagine. they have an argument they can bring to him directly that i think is an interesting one. i also think that they have laws and baggage that is carried by the fact that they are kind of mistrusted by both ends of the party at the same time. i think the fact that you will have these two individuals who were very loyal for a long time, who broke with him in the aftermath of the election is powerful. the fact that they know him as well as they do -- pence, of course, at his side all the time, christy someone who actually ran against him before, endorsed him early, then turned on him very dramatically after the election -- these are people that know the loss and the good and the bad of donald trump, and

they could be positioned to exploit it. kristen: right. recent polls show desantis losing steam a little bit and trump really pulling ahead of the pack. can anyone at this point that you can see -- maybe someone undeclared at this point -- can someone wrestle this nomination away from trump? rick: yeah, no one has voted yet. we are still seven months away from the beginning of the process. the dynamics right now do not really offer much of an opportunity. until voters vote, there's a lot of information that will come out before then. we could help more trump indictment's, trials, more scandals. could there be a health issue? there's a lot of possibilities i think the other candidates -- frankly, they have to bank on some of those things happening. right now, i don't see a straight ahead way for any of these men or women to become the nominee, but if this happens and that happens and these people kind of play off each other, at

least you have the possibility. kristen: right. we will see. where it is the second indictment of trump could come as soon as this week, this time over the mishandled classified documents. let's talk about the democratic side. we have president biden, of course. he is going to be the nominee -- there's nothing to think that he won't be, but by that coming to the bay area in 11 days -- biden is coming to the bay area in 11 days and he will be here for two days. what do you think he will try to do here? rick: raise money. i hate to be so blunt about it, but i think the point of the trip is to raise money, 10 to the base. clearly, there are lots of supporters he has in the bay area. california is not a battleground state. i think it is about showing some face time with donors. campaign-wise, he has done almost nothing so far. i would not expect there's much to be done in most of calendar year 2023. there's always the possibility he responds to the news of the day or addresses them think that

is in the headlines locally, but i think the main reason by far for the trip is for cash. kristen: yeah, silicon valley tends to be kind of the wallet, the campaign war chest for democratic candidates, but i do wonder if there might be a tendency to run a little farther away from california, the liberal left label as we get closer to election day? rick: that would make a lot of sense. governor newsom notwithstanding, taking the california message is probably not the best message that joe biden f future to bring across the country. clearly, california is important, and it is not a place you are going to ignore, and there's a lot of great stories to be told for democrats out of california, but we talked about six or eight battleground states that are going to determine the election, and spoiler alert, california is not one of them. kristen: wow, that's a real spoiler. really appreciate you joining us.

rick: thanks. giving you the heartaches, no constitutional amendment, no battleground california. kristen: the board of supervisors just voted to put a ban on new cannabis (bell dinging) how's john? oh, much better. that was quite a scare. got us thinking about a lot of things. like life insurance. if something happened to either one of us, we'd really be in trouble. but where can we get coverage with john's health problems on a fixed income? go with a sure thing. colonial penn. friends have been telling friends about colonial penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance for more than 50 years, and with good reason. if you're between the ages of 50 and 85, it's a sure thing. your acceptance is guaranteed because full benefits are not paid in the first two years. you don't need a physical exam and we won't ask about your health. you cannot be turned down. and the price? options start at $9.95 a month,

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kristen: welcome back. no more new cannabis dispensaries -- at least not until 2020 eight. the san francisco board of supervisors unanimously passed a proposal placing a moratorium on new dispensaries. the vote was unanimous, not everyone is happy. joining us live now is the author of the bill to talk more about this. supervisor, thank you so much for your time today.

>> absolutely. thanks for having me on. actually, i would say we did a pretty good job given the state of the market and the state of this contentious issue, to have a unanimous vote, and we worked with top existing operators, talk with community members, and we felt that oversaturation as well as the operators themselves , kind of oversaturation in the market, that this was the right time to pause, that we would take a pause, do an economic analysis in a couple years, and determine what the right way to proceed would be from there, but the essential theme we heard from everyone is that this market is oversaturated. we have more cannabis per 10,000 residents than any other place in the state of california, so this is the right time to do a pause and say, let us look out how we can support the existing

industry but also protect those that might want to come in in the future. kristen: wow. you speak of saturation. how many shops are there in the city right now? >> there's almost 70 and more in the pipeline, ones that have submitted their applications that have already had their applications process. it is a difficult task to find a location, secure a lease, to get the funding to get your business going, but what this says is we are not going to accept any new applications. there is a bit of a backlog, and there's also existing operators that need help and assistance from the government that are not getting them. kristen: you talk about are there too many, is there enough of a market to sustain them? is there another aspect to this moratorium, and that is public safety, in terms of the break-ins that have been happening? >> absolutely. what we have heard from existing operators and residents is that these places have been targeted for a very violent crime.

we had one situation where an actual store clerk was kidnapped, forced to go back to the place of business and open it up after hours, and there was a lot of theft of product and actual cash, so they are very much targeted for the fact that they are a cash-heavy business. these businesses cannot bank. they cannot get lending, and they have to pay a significant amount of money in taxes. again, all in cash. then you have the crime aspect because they are cash heavy. they become magnets and i have been for significant violent break-ins. that's another thing we are dealing with. kristen: it sounds like as you pause and think about what needs to be done, public safety and crime are your concerns as well. i think we should point out to viewers that you are running for mayor next year. i want to ask you -- what is your vision with regard to issues of crime and also perhaps

even drugs in the city? >> first and foremost, one of the biggest differences between me and this mayor is we are putting a ballot measure forward that says we no longer want to have a debate about how we should fund academy classes, how we should fund the police department, so there will be a ballot measure on next year that says we have to have a consistent level of funding for our academy classes so we can get those numbers back. right now, we are about 500 officers short, so we cannot play political football with safety. another thing we have to focus on is making sure that the money that we allocate right now is focused on where the crimes are being committed. if there's drug dealing heavily happening around the federal building and state building, resources should be allocated there. if you go out on the street right now, that is just not happening. but i will tell you, we were super happy today, we have been working with the sheriff's department to expand their

presence in san francisco alongside our police department. the sheriff announced they will be patrolling, suppressing crime, and arresting people that are involved in criminal activity with a focus on drug dealing, so we are really happy about that announcement today and we support that effort. kristen: if it's cannabis dispensaries or other types of businesses in the city, what do you think the city's role is in terms of making sure that there's not a lot of red tape, that they can also move forward and the cost of doing business is lower? >> that's another reason why having the shift from new applications over to existing applications that have already been processed and those that are opportunity should be there to help businesses thrive and expand.

response here. this moratorium, this pause does not affect that in any way. kristen: there are some folks who worry that if you have fewer businesses, if it is less competition, that could lead to higher prices. is that a concern for you at all? >> no, you know why? one of the biggest things people do not realize is this is not free economic environment for cannabis operators. they cannot get lending. they cannot get access to capital in a way that most traditional businesses do. they are operating on heavily cash, and 60% of the market is still illicit sales, so when you are competing against a market that is illicit sales, that is heavily undermining existing operators, it is not really about are we creating a very narrow group of people that will benefit tremendously?

it is like the market is oversaturated not just with legal operators but also illicit operators that still account for 60% of sales. kristen: is legal cannabis a valued industry in san francisco? can you put a price tag on how much it generates? >> we have foregone local taxes on it. they estimate the tax on that will be somewhere around $10 million a year and rising, but we have seen a number of operators that were intending to open or that were currently open shut down because they cannot compete with the illicit market. i think you have put a lot of energy and effort into cultivating -- no pun intended -- a market of people that unfortunately casualties of the war on drugs and giving them a pathway into opening legal businesses and benefiting from this industry. we ensure there would be parity in the market, so of the 65 or so, 67 or so operators, there's

an equal number of those that are equity operators, communities of color, those that might have been incarcerated that live in san francisco, going to school in san francisco growing up, that may want to turn their lives around, so we definitely heavily value that, but we also want to be respectful of those saying we feel like there might be too many in this neighborhood. we want the diversity of economic uses. that is what our economic analysis is going to do. analyze the industry. is there the right number? should we expand and should we sunset this completely, or should the moratorium continue a little while longer? kristen: sunsetting at the end of 2027. there are some districts that definitely want to study this a little bit more. thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much and thanks for your time today and having me on. kristen: coming up next, two major insurance companies are no longer offering new

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kristen: the recent moves by two of the largest insurance companies in the s. to stop writing new homeowners policies in california or are having unintended consequences. our media partner has a new article out today explainwhy homebuyers are stressed as state farm, allstate pullback in california. joining us live now is reported with our media partner, "the san francisco standard." thank you for coming on. refresh our memories. why have state farm and allstate stopped writing new insurance policies in california? >> there are a number of reasons. one is simply exposure to risk from things like wildfire, the cost of construction of repairing homes that have been damaged, and also the cost of reinsurance when real estate companies sell their risk to other companies which allows them to ensure more people in the state. it seems to be the perfect storm

of multiple factors. kristen: this part is what your article really focuses on. how does this affect potential homebuyers? >> having home critical component of buying a home with a mortgage, and most people especially in the bay area, buy homes with mortgages. state farm was the largest home insurer in california, and allstate was the fourth as of recently, so these are two of the biggest players, and they are no longer an option. that means people may have trouble getting insurance for the homes they are trying to purchase, and that is particularly the case if they live in areas where wildfire or other ecological issues could be a threat, so this could potentially make buying a home more difficult and more out of reach for people in the bay area, there are a lot of things remain in the air at the moment. kristen: if buyers cannot insurance for their property, can they backed out of the contract? >> is one of the issues people are dealing with. a number of realtors told me

this is something they discuss with clients. as they look at homes, a look at if the home can be insured, but it looks like some are beginning to include an insurance clause in the contract, which says if we cannot get insurance for this house, then we can back out. kristen: what options do homebuyers have? i understand there is kind of a last resort option. >> there are still over 100 insurance companies operating in california, but not all of them will ensure every kind of property, and not all of them work in every area. there is also something called the california fair plan, which is the insurer of last resort primarily for people who cannot get insurance because of fires. it provides basic fire insurance coverage. the problem is it is pricier than other regular market insurance and also simply covers less. and it is not to be a permanent solution. i think right now, there are a lot of people who feel they don't know what the solution to this problem is for homebuyers

and for homeowners. kristen: obviously, there is a worry other insurance companies might follow. could this potentially cool off our housing market here? >> that certainly is an idea that is being discussed. i think one of the challenges is that you could see -- i was told by a realtor, this was quite interesting -- you could see housing prices going down, but in fact, the costs are just being shifted. maybe if someone now cannot get insurance for the home they are going to buy, rather than backing out of the contract, they might ask the seller for a credit, so it might look like the price went down, but in fact, the price was just shifted to someone else. kristen: this is all really fascinating. i encourage folks to read more about it in your article today. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. kristen: you can check out more of "the standard's" other original reporting on their website, sfstandard.com.

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♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ kristen: thank you so much for joining us today for "getting answers." we will be here every day at 3:00. "world news tonight" with david muir is next and i will see you back here >> tonight, the stunning images, the toxic air, 120 million americans at risk and at least half the wildfires in canada are still out of control. hazardous smoke stretching down through the northeast all the way down to