night , governor gavin newsom signed into law a wild fire insurance fund for the es statet utilities. also we will discuss the shifting political landscape in the 2020 presidential election and president trump's on-again off-again push to get citizenshipinformation as part of the 2020 census. c wi> plifornia is a step closer to allong student athletes to get paid. the fapay to play act. hello. welcome to the kqed news room. i am scott shafer. we begin with a wild fire update. governor gavin newsom signed a $21 billion wild fire insurance fund that would back the state's largest utilities. assembly bill 1054 will allow

california utilities to use the fund to cover the liability. if the california public utilities district determines the utility try to repvent wildfires. butthe utiliti would first ve to invest a combined million. pg&e would have to meet io additnal requirements including current claims an exiting bankruptcy by the end of next june. heny of those who oppose bill say it was rushed into law in that ratetoo much cost. payers are betoo much cost. joining me are kqed politics reporter katie. and retta, a former president of the california public utilities commission. the state agency that regulates utilities. katie, me begin withou. you were at the signing ceremony this morning. remind us what this legislation isntended to do.

>> it is really intended to give customers and financial markets some we've been having these massive wildfires in california that have been causing billions of dollars worth of damage. companies like pg&e are --no sure about whether or not it would be made whole something tragic happens to the o house or ctheir belongings. this gives some certainty that they will be paid back and made whole if they suffer one of ilese wildfires. >> so this $21on fund, how is it going to be funded? where is the money going to come from? >> half of the money will come from ratepayers. they won't see a direct increase on their bill. it will be a small monthly fee. right now it is about $2.50 thatratepayers are already paying. it is set to expire . they are going to stretch it out for another 15 years. il thatraise half of the 21 billion. the otr half will come from

utility companies,their edareholders. that will be divp based on percentages, based on how large the company is. >> loretta, this is being s described me as a balanced approach, balancing input from t the uts in terms of their funding plus ratepayers. how do you see it? is it balanced? >> the future victims fund, which is what katie is is describingomewhat balanced initially. i the probl that fund is used to wag a vebig dog of utility and wall street giveaways. we can compensate the victims and stabilize the markets just with the future victims fund. we don't need to repeal and rollback long-term regulatory issues. with the regulatory rollback, we could have an almost eight future, but the the legislature will have already big given the utilities to do that. >> this needed a two

thirds vote. is at part of e deal to get the additional votes that were needed? >> i don't know. this deal was negiated in ivate in the back room. the bill was just published for vee y first time two weeks ago. amendments that is the >> that's what the law requires. at least 72 hours. >> this monumental of the program that has to begin with $29 billion of cost and has all sorts of side cts inside deals that we start no the locations of, generally the legislature and the governor takes a lot more time and is a lot more public vetting. my conceris, what wain it that they really didn't want us to find? a >> katie, did the governor say today at the signing ceremony? did he address this criticism that we just heard from loretta , but others have been sayihi that has been rest. >> yeah, i think it's something that the governor and other suporters are feeling a bit

defensive abouts loretta said, the bill hasn't been out that long. the amended version of the cannot a week ago. whether or not lawmakers had enough time to comprehend the amendment to go through them. he said hey, [ inaudible ]. this is your job. read the amendment. he has been working on this for t actually some of started coming together before he was in office and the former governor jerry brown's. you are always can have criticism. certain deals don't have enough time in public. this one especially because of the amount of money and the comofexity t people are really saying, why did we need to do this so quickly i have mittee hearings back to back to back. we really should take more time. >> loretta, you were present in 2000 through 2002 at a erime

we had an energy crisis, came up out of nowhere seemingly. do you feel like the learned during that period of time have been learned and applied to this current crisis? >> sadly, no. the lesson that we learned back in the energy crisis was to get it right, not get it fast. the times we move too fast, we g got it wr what i do know is this. i doubt that most people who voted on this bill understood l the ins and outs and all the regulatory rollback they werpart of it. but they trusted the gover r and thok the plunge. the people who did understand every single word change and just how much they're going profit from it are the utility lawyers and wall street financiers. the end, the advocates for ratepayers signed onto the package. was that just sort of accepting reality that this was going to pass her there wasn't a better alternative that could make it through the legislature? >> you will have to ask them as

a k. this is what i do know. during energy deregulation, they stood silent. as the last pg&e bankruptcy ballot, they opposed it until they supported it. sadly, i don't but they havea lot of credibility on predicting ratepayers on these big deals. >> katie, what did the governor say today, af anythingut keeping the ion deflation that is gone now d how it may have to be amended in the future. >> the governor really try to get out ahead. he said i know you're going to be asking me about things we have to do in the future. is it started with in this area? he said yes, yes, yes they plan to have bills coming up. he says it is not the be all l and it is a step toward addressing the destructive wildfires and how e deal with them. in the fall [ inaudible ].

nobody thinks this bill is perfect. is what we have right now. we have to do something. >> loretta, the governor today appointed a n head, marybelle ba er, which he named just a few months ago. what you know about her and what kind oa learning curve is she going to be facing? >> mirabelle is an experienced government executive. however, to owledge, she doesn't have a utility regulatory or environmental background. nether did i when i was appointed by gray davis. not in a crisis situation. before the nted energy crisis hits. my learning curve is like this. it is very intense. even in a non-crisis situation, i was 24 seven learning the job. i did have one qualification that came in really handy during the energy crisis. i was a

lawyer. efense i knew how the enron's of the worldworked with they were guilty. i want after the right away. the problem here is, the utilities have already been briefed on this bill. they participated in creating it. so did wall street. creditors and tank ofrthe c are vying for control as pg&e. they know just how they are going t profit at just how they are going to slip through these rollbanes. so you somebody who is going to catch them doing it and stop them. >> all ght, loretta lynch, i'm sure we will be keeping a close eye on this. expert coming in, and thanks for katie o in sacramento. tom steyer announced he is joining n already crowded field of democratic candidates or the 2020 democratic. that came after one already dropped out. also friday morning, labor

secretary alex acosta abruptly resigned c democrats led for him to step down over his role in a secret settlement with billionaire child sex trafficker jeffrey epstein a decade ago. and president trump backs down from putting a citizenship queion on the 2020 census, insisting he will get the information some other way. joining me now to discuss all of this and more, our live senior writer carl and senior writer for the ansan sco chronicle, joe. welcome to you both. wants to talk about. et's talk with thomas stier. what do you think he brings >> he is a very big checkbook. he has a big mailing list. 1 million people have signed the need to impeach petition. he has a lot of experience.he is a rich white guy who has never been elected to anything. but we ve seen thplaybook before. in donald trump.

he is looking at this and saying he is a political outsider. he is not somebody who s inside the washington circles. h whethert is going to fly or not is another thing. >> what did he tell you this week, he would oube an sider? we have been to all the democratic adventures. he's got the speaking slots. >> he is a political outsider nt who have shundreds of billions of dollars on political campaigns. the worst thing he could ve done was when he said i'm going to spend $100 million on the race. who is going to give money to a billionaire who said i'm going to spend $100 million. >> is even going to try to raise money? has to. if he wants to be in the debates he has to raise, what? >> he will at least have a showing in the pls. >> for the september debates you have to have both. 130,000 donors and a super percent in the polls. >> what about getting corporate

money out of politics. is that something thaeven sonates with voters? >> i think it does. he has done more than 50 ton halls around the country this year alone. i have seen him. he does connect. s he dbring out baby boomers and millennials ikwho this message. e like id, it is one thing to go from being a cause to being a candidate. h whethercan actually connect and make voters feel like he understands their problems at a granular level. ch guy. very >> we have seen how tough it is to break out in a field as big as this onwh. t you imagine it would take other than interrupting joe biden -- >> i don't know what his passport is because of that. is also going to face a lot more scrutiny fihinces. how did you get to become a billionaire? a lot of those investments were in fossil fuels. even though he has become an environmental list and has

donated a lot f time amoney to energy, those things will come up. that's not a good stance, especially when so many democrats are talng about imate change. >> carla, as you pointed out, he has been pushing the need to impeach donald trump. that is not a message nancy pelosi is fond of. >> he told us that one of the reasons he is running. he is frustrated with where the whole drive is going. he feels the system is broken. he is hearing from voters that the system is but brokk . i ththat is going to be his message. weather is going to push through on the debate stage, if he evets there, is the question. he tells us that he is going to continue to funds democratic causes and the need to impeach issue and the climate changes to. that's a lot of money out there . tom steyer has the money. he can do it. >> is a great message, but is he the right messenger? that's . the thi because of all the reasons we are talking about. >> he doesn'really need the

corporate money. he has his own money. let's talk to a many about eric swallwell. tt he is g his losses. is there any damage done or any benefit for having run? >> he gets a little name recognition. what's interesting is the agnosis since he has left his he is playing nice. he is been a total good soldier. he says the democratic, the way the debates are chosen is not rigged. it has been fair. this is the best way to do it. i just got a fundraising email today that says give money to the democratic party. i was like hereally? is saying, they asked him at the farewell prescott, who are you going to endorse. he said i don't know t a specific person. one of the criteria is i want someone who is a next generation person. only 38. he has pushed that idea of the

next generation leading. he has plenty of time. he has increased his name recognition. he is a cable news regular. the guy is going to continue. that can only help them the future. >> a? question about alex acosta labor secretary stepping down. s what the message about the demonstration? >> how long is the list now of jump officials that have been shown the or? acosta, like so many of the others, insisted until the last minute that hwas safe and had the president's backing. that is going to create within the administration. trump didn't nt this distraction of the epstein taser any more questions about a. that was found to continue had acosta stage. >> when he departed they can't trump was right by his side. one of the reasons, acosta,

cuban-american from florida, flori is a majoing state. that is a big part of the republican vote. that is the key. he did not want to seem disrespectful. >> the president this week refusing to back off even though he sorta did back off on the census citizenship question. e, what are the politics of all this? >> the real world applications are that the damage is already done. by talking out it so much, and i spent some time this week , a actually a couple of weeks ago, with young american citizens and their parents are immigrants, some of them legal, some othem not. there is a little fear. a lot of chaos. one young person told me it's chaos. we are afraid. i don't know if i'm going to be separated in this cntry from appearance of the i.c.e. raids begin. he has freaked out a lot of people and has tempdown the latino vote. >> he didn't get the census question he wanted. he tried to portray that as a

win anyway. it was a hiwin-win for because he has created so much anxiety about this census qd stions about the integrity of the census the now the question is, will people, essentially immigrants, answer those questions? california is putting $187 million into e effort to make sure that they do because they have more at stake than any te other swhen it comes to billions of dollars in federal aid and potential steaks. >> adding to the fear there are going to be i.c.e. aids apparently this weekend in san francisco and elsewhere across the country. what are the politics grof immion? here in the bay area, everyone sort of thinks more or less the same about immigration to sanctuary cities. some controversy. but out there in the world, this is much more divisive, even among democrats, isn't it? >> yes we sasome of the divisions about whether crossing the border should be a criminal act or not. we saw some division in on that. debate the rest of the country the

republicans will win if tru can make this a bigger part of the national conversioion. immigr is not the number one issue for a lot of people, lot of americans. it is certainly one of the top issues for latinos. but even among the latinos the top ecsues are the omy and healthcare. because it's so divisive among democrats, that a wifor republicans. >> do you think it will empt dotino turnout in 2020? or will it motivate latinos to ister and vote? >> this is the question. democrats have to worry little bit about somof these immigration issues and how they may playllout especwith trump issue pushing issues like democrats want open borders, they are socialists, they towan pay for health care for undocumented immigrants. he some of e issues do not play as well as centrist democrats. i think trump may have another win in this case. >> that is sort of where joe biden's support iscoming from,

from some of those democrats who are maybe not so comfortable. >> even though biden put up his hand when he asked should have document to grantget healthcare, as in every other democrat, that is going to be a tough one for e democrats to either walk back or negotiate in the eneral election. >> as always, thanks so much for coming in. help when student athletes are one step closer to being allowed to earn compensation and sponsorships while in collee. th california assembly higher education committee unanimously passed senate bill 206, the fair pay to play act. is made into law, it willallow student athletes and california universities to earn compensation for the use of their name, image, and likeness starting in january 2023, and was the ncaa moves to block recently, the ncaa has been criticized for exploiting student athletes after reportedlyrmaking o $1 billion in revenue last year.

here now to talk about this is state senator nancy skinner who co-authored the bill and cisan fro sp welcome. ist. senator skinner, what wrong is this legislation expected to write? >> the issue of athletes eing exploited has been around for decades. you rememberrredwards book, the revolt of the black student athlete. every interview of kareem abdul- jabbar. recently the hbo special produced by jalebros. all about the fact that student athletes are the only category of people for whom someone, entities, benefit from their labor in huge monetary amount, and yet they are denied any access to any of tt revenue r that benefit. >> many of the students, not all, but many come from low income families. many of them are students of color. does that play into the i uness, the injustice?

>> the civil rights issue of it definitely pl historically, it has been something that black athletes in the black community has really raised as a significant issue. but i think wt need to j look at it as an issue for all athletes. you and i, everyone in california, has the right to their name, image, and likeness. d no one else can monetize you are mine image likeness without our permission without giving us a chair of that, except student athletes. every other student can. why should a student athlete have to right away that right to do something that they love? >> of course, the sc ncaa, they are pushing back very hard on this. was their argument? do they have a leg to stand on? >> i think they think they have a historic like to stand on. they been the ones exploiting and manipulating throughout time. they don't want to change things. they are making a ton of money.

the ncaa has historically liked to strike fear to the hearts of student athletes everywhere. that is pretty much their gam plan of how they operate. they have a lot of heavy hitters, a lot of presidents of universities that are beholden to them. it y a vcomplicated issue. california, i love this bill cause once again, california is on the cutting edge of something that is in a conversation nationally, has been for a decade. and finally, eathis a in a couple of other states to push rward and try to rectify. itois a . personally, i could little nervous. i was just talking to nancy about iti . when hear about people, athletes being paid, i always think about title ix and gender equity in the fact that o e want to pay the quarterback. they don't uthink athe lacrosse a female lacrosse

player. n or the an for that matter. >> who is doing the exact same job and has her schedupt interd as well. why they don't produce revenue for the school, they do the me thing. this is about a person's likeness or image. i think that's obvious. in such an obvious thing. you should be able, if omeone using your imagyou should be able to share in that revenue. >> who is going to decide? is it just the marketplace? >> i love tt annie brought up the issue about our athletes and title ix. they've recently allowed for basket players to have agents. but only mail basket ballplayers. we have female basketball players. a female professional league. but they are not allowed agents. they've also allowed for tennise players, bothand women, to take home a $10,000 purse if they get such a winning.

no other athlete. why only tenn players? interestingly, when i introduced the bill, rewho hed out to me? i thought all kinds of student athletes would. only women athletes. erin, a rower for cal. she said nanci didn't get a r schoip for my senior year. i had to cover all the costs of all my yet, as an olympic athlete, i had the right to market, to take endorsements, toeven silly t-shirt with my name on it, and yet, under the ncaa rules, i could not. >> in terms of unintended consequences, could thi shorted discourage students who get benefits from being athletes from studying, from graduating? lp you can them graduate. they don't have the same motivation to quit school. there's a young woman, i don't know her name right ow, california, 14 years old. she is a soccer phenom. she is now taking endorsements because her family have had to

bear such costs. her family were interview. her parents said yeah, we are forfeiting llege because of that. >> that horse has left the barn. akif you can money in whatever, programming, computer programming, youtube, anything, you might choose to do that instead of get your college educataton. that's kind of protective argument that the ncaa will want to make. 18-year-old to make their own choices. >> but the computer person can market an apple they are in sicool. the mustudent can sell their music. >> they could be in california schools participating in ncaa >> that is there threat, buit is a violation of antitrust law. so far, the various court challenges, the times they've ried to things that have been brought to court around the antitrust issue,they have lost. >> to what extent has this

become a bipartisan issue? a republica supporting this. >> huge. i have republican co-authors. the sport is completely bipartisan. there's a bill in congress ht riow, it is a bipartisan bill introduced by a republicane conional member and a democrat. >> if this happens here, if the governor signs it, has he indicated he will sign it? governor newsom? >> we have not sat down and talked. >> is this going to sort of be the dam opening up in other states if not the federal government doing something like this? >> i think it could be. we have the story in the clinical that was funny about dathletes being recrui if you are being recruited by ucla and arkansas, thought you can make money at ucla, why would you go there? i think from a competitive standpoint, yes, other states would. i also think that there would student ure from the athletes themselves across the board that this is the way it

should be. >> qrealckly, do you see this as fitting in th what w are seeing with the pay equity call for the national women's soccer team. >> absolutely. we concentrate a lot on lead athletes. t's talk about every single athlete, no matter what their sport is. the men, they woue able to promote themselves. demoting themselves promotes women's athletics which maybe brings an audience. >> we want to leave it there. we are met of thank you. that will do it for us. as always you can find more of r our coge online. thanks for joining us.

robert: another cabinet member steps down. and deportation rates loom. i' robert costa. welcome to "washington week." >> until thi u came there was never an ounce of problem with this very good man. robert: president trump accepts abor signation of secretary alex acosta. the exit comes ascosta's handling of epstein's case i under scrutiny and epstein faces new charges in new york. >> we cannot have as one of the leading appointed officials in america, someone who has done this. >> they came in illegally, they go out legally. >> iigration crackdown. nationwide raids are planned for this weekend. and the president drops his