Is the sudden discovery by campus leaders of political neutrality and freedom of speech for real?

• October 22, 2023

In the wake of Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel, many colleges and universities seem to have suddenly rediscovered the value of free speech and academic freedom. 

After a terrible free-speech track record over the last decade, schools like Stanford, Harvard, and the University of Florida have now issued statements defending free expression. They have even proposed political neutrality as advocated by the University of Chicago’s Kalven Report, which notes that “the university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic.”

I, along with my organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), applaud those statements and principles. But it’s hard to believe many of these universities will stand behind them. Unfortunately, these look more like positions of political convenience rather than principle.

Forgive my cynicism, but I’ve seen this all before. I started working at FIRE a couple of weeks after the September 11 attacks, and spent my first few years defending the more than a dozen college professors targeted for their 9/11-related speech. University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill was targeted for saying 9/11 victims were “little Eichmanns” who had it coming. University of New Mexico Professor Richard Berthold was disciplined for saying, “Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote.” The speech was understandably unpopular, but it was protected — so we defended it.

These calls for punishment generally came from off-campus organizations, alumni, and donors of all political stripes. In response to this external threat, universities found the backbone — or more likely, the self-interest — to defend free speech and academic freedom, which led to a brief moment of renewed appreciation for free expression on campus. Realizing you could still run afoul of speech codes despite being on “the right side of history” will do that.

But this commitment proved to be short-lived, as schools soon returned to being embarrassingly permissive of censorship.

Over the last ten years the state of campus free speech, viewpoint diversity, and groupthink have all gotten much worse. As I detail in my new book, “The Canceling of the American Mind,” co-authored with Gen-Z journalist Rikki Schlott, more than 1,000 campaigns to get professors punished for their speech have occurred since 2013, and nearly 200 professors ended up being fired or forced out as a result. 

In recent years, we’ve seen NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines being shouted down and chased through the hallways by angry students at San Francisco State University; violent protests disrupting a talk by conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at University of California, Davis; Dr. Carole Hooven targeted by administrators at Harvard for asserting that biological sex is real; and Ilya Shapiro suspended and investigated at Georgetown for a controversial tweet about President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee. 

Those are just a few examples, and they don’t inspire much confidence in American universities’ sudden recommitment to free expression.

A good case in point is Harvard. Despite President Claudine Gay’s recent statements affirming the value of tolerance and free speech, the university scored dead last in FIRE’s 2024 campus free-speech ranking due to its speech codes,  student opinion on the campus free speech climate, and its treatment of dissenting professors, students, and speakers. This means simple nods to free expression won’t be enough. Gay and other college administrators will have to walk the talk if they expect anyone to take them seriously.

Related Articles

Given the events on campus the last two weeks, it seems clear that some university leaders — as well as students and faculty — were too afraid to disagree with professor and student activists who take for granted that the pro-Palestinian position, and even the pro-Hamas position, is the only acceptable one. Given the number of vociferous past statements regarding issues like Black Lives Matter or the war in Ukraine, the sudden silence of university presidents and professors who may be sympathetic to Israel as well as the seeming certainty of student activists that everyone should agree with their anti-Israel opinions, is itself the product of years of cancel culture and fear.

Despite my skepticism, I would love to see universities commit to political neutrality, defend academic freedom, and promote freedom of speech. If they encouraged tolerance for differing viewpoints, listening to people, giving the benefit of the doubt, maintaining an open mind, and acknowledging the possibility of being wrong, it would represent a significant and welcome shift from the recent past — especially at elite colleges

While I appreciate and encourage their newfound emphasis on freedom of speech, it will take years for universities to demonstrate a genuine change, given their history of inconsistency. Given what I’ve seen in my two decades doing this work, I suspect that they might contradict themselves again in just a few months. I truly hope to be proven wrong.

Greg Lukianoff is the president and CEO of FIRE and the co-author of The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All—But There Is a Solution

​ Orange County Register 

Pac-12 rewind: Washington and Utah escape while Oregon and UCLA roll

• October 22, 2023

Recapping the best and worst of the Pac-12 in Week 8 …

Theme of the week I: CFP scenarios

No two-loss team has ever made the College Football Playoff, so the Pac-12 was guaranteed to lose a contender with the USC-Utah duel matching one-loss teams. The result? It’s Oct. 22, and the Trojans (6-2) are out of the playoff race, but the Pac-12 is not: Four teams have fewer than two defeats. How does that compare? The SEC also has four, while the Big Ten and ACC have three and the Big 12 has two.

Theme of the week II: Quiet quartet

Four teams were idle in Week 8, creating a relatively light lineup of four games. But we can say bye-bye to the byes: Every team is in action for the next four weeks. The only remaining week off belongs to USC on Thanksgiving weekend.

News of the week: Utah

After the victory at USC, coach Kyle Whittingham went public with the worst-kept secret in the conference: Quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe have been shut down for the rest of the season. They will take medical redshirts, allowing for the possibility that both could play for Utah next season. We won’t begin to guess their intentions, but the circle would come full for Rising, whose career began in the Big 12 (with Texas) and could conclude there.

Game of the week: Utah 34, USC 32

Another thriller between the former South division rivals was also their last scheduled meeting. And we suspect the Trojans won’t agree to a non-conference matchup so long as Whittingham’s in charge in Salt Lake City. The Utes led 28-14, but USC rallied for a 32-31 advantage with help from a Pick Six (by Calen Bullock). The Utes had the ball last and made the most of it as Cole Becker kicked the game-winning field goal with no time remaining.

Team of the week: Utah

The two-time defending champs sent a message that, despite their early loss to Oregon State and long list of injuries, they cannot be counted out in the race for a berth in the conference title game. The victory at USC was all about the pillars of Whittingham’s program: resilience, resolve, accountability and mental and physical toughness. And the schedule offers a golden opportunity to impact the race: Utah has a home date with Oregon and visits Washington.

Coach of the week: Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham

The first-year boss convinced his players they had a chance to beat Washington, and the Sun Devils nearly pulled off what would have been the upset of the year in college football. ASU held the Huskies’ high-octane offense to just one touchdown in a 15-7 loss. Despite the bowl ban, the Devils are playing with maximum effort every week.

Coach of the Year: Utah’s Kyle Whittingham

He just beat USC for the third time in 13 months and did it with a backup quarterback, Bryson Barnes, who wasn’t even on scholarship until this summer and a tailback, Sione Vaki, who usually plays safety. After the game, Whittingham announced another major injury: star linebacker Lander Barton is out for the rest of the season. Anyone else think that only makes the Utes more dangerous?

Offensive player of the week: Utah QB Bryson Barnes

The former walk-on was not intimidated by the environment in the L.A. Coliseum or going head-to-head with Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. Barnes completed 14 of 23 passes for three touchdowns and one interception (a Pick Six in the fourth quarter). He also made the play of the game, a 26-yard run with 16 seconds left that put Utah in field goal range.

Defensive player of the week: Washington CB Mishael Powell

The junior from Seattle helped save his hometown team from a major upset with an 89-yard Pick Six that propelled UW to a 15-7 victory over Arizona State. Powell stepped in front of a fourth-down pass by Trenton Bourguet midway through the fourth quarter and dashed down the left sideline for the score that gave UW the lead.

Hangover of the year: Washington

By our count, UW’s post-Oregon hangover lasted seven days, six hours and about 15 minutes. It wasn’t until late in the third quarter of the surprisingly tight matchup against Arizona State that the Huskies mustered enough urgency and efficiency to put away the Sun Devils and preserve their undefeated record. Had that sloppy performance (four turnovers) come against any other opponent, UW would have suffered its first loss.

Switch of the week: UCLA

The Bruins benched freshman quarterback Dante Moore, who had struggled on the road, and went back to Ethan Garbers, their Week 1 starter. He responded well against a porous Stanford defense, completing 20 of 28 passes. Next up for Garbers: Colorado’s turnstile defense.

Stat of the week: Stanford

The Cardinal converted 1 of 11 third downs and whiffed on all four conversion attempts on fourth down for a total of … wait for it … 1 of 15 conversions. It was just one negative nugget in the 42-7 loss to UCLA.

Stat of the month: Washington State

The Cougars have scored four offensive touchdowns in three October games. Their ongoing issues and mounting losses have conspired to narrow WSU’s path into the postseason. That said, the schedule is favorable with ASU, Stanford, Cal and Colorado before the finale against Washington.

Stat of the century: Washington

The Huskies had scored at least 31 points in their first six games but managed just 15 against ASU — and their only touchdown came on a Pick Six by the defense. It marked the first time since 2001 that Washington won a regular-season game without scoring an offensive touchdown.

Stat of forever: Oregon QB Bo Nix

The former Auburn transfer set an NCAA record by recording his 54th career start, exceeding by one the previous record held jointly by Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Texas’ Colt McCoy. Fittingly, Nix was highly efficient in the victory over Washington State, completing 64 percent of his passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns (and rushing for a third score).

Game of next week: Oregon at Utah

The showdowns just keep coming. One week after the Utes’ 34-32 victory at USC and two weeks after the Ducks’ 36-33 defeat at Washington, the one-loss teams collide in a playoff elimination game. The winner will have the crucial head-to-head advantage in any Pac-12 tiebreaker scenario. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. on FOX, and ESPN ‘College GameDay’ will broadcast live from Salt Lake City — its third trip to Pac-12 country this season.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

​ Orange County Register 

Justin Herbert, Chargers live updates vs. Kansas City Chiefs

• October 22, 2023

Follow along for live updates from Chargers reporter Elliott Teaford before, during and after the Chargers’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Viewing on a mobile device? Click here

Tweets by ElliottTeaford https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Chargers face Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, prepared for anything and everything https://t.co/swMYkSfcqJ

— O.C. Register (@ocregister) October 21, 2023

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Matthew Stafford, Rams live updates vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

• October 22, 2023

Follow along for live updates from Rams reporter Adam Grosbard before, during and after the Rams’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Viewing on a mobile device? Click here

Tweets by AdamGrosbard https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Rams have placed running back Kyren Williams on injured reserve with his sprained left ankle. Williams, who was seen in a cast this week, will miss the Rams next four games at minimum, meaning the earliest he can return is Week 12 at Arizona

— Adam Grosbard (@AdamGrosbard) October 21, 2023

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Will lower mortgage rates revive Los Angeles County’s housing market?

• October 22, 2023

Can falling mortgage rates – whenever that happens – revive homebuying in Los Angeles County?

Just how slow is the market? Well, consider that in the 12 months ending in August, just 65,140 Los Angeles County homes were sold, according to CoreLogic data. That’s 37% below the homebuying pace of two years earlier.

This drop can be linked to drastically falling affordability in the pandemic era.

August’s median price of $830,000 – the sixth-highest ever – is up 34% since February 2020. Meanwhile, mortgage rates went from 3.5% to 7.1%. A typical Los Angeles buyer saw house payments surge 100% to $4,462 monthly, assuming a 20% downpayment.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed how homebuying moved with big rate swings dating back to 1988. This 416-month span was sliced into thirds – ranking the results by one-year moves in the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate from Freddie Mac.

We contrasted the periods when rates surged the fastest vs. times when mortgages tumbled the most. Both groupings averaged 1 percentage-point moves over 35 years.

The swings

Ponder how LA homebuying gyrates during these rate-swing extremes.

Start with pricing. When mortgages were in their steepest jumps, home values in LA averaged 7.6% one-year gains.

Yet when mortgages were in their steepest drops, median home prices in LA had 1.6% gains.

By the way, the local median price has appreciated 4.7% since 1988.

So cheaper financing for house hunters could mean softer pricing, too.

And falling rates modestly boost the LA sales pace, historically speaking.

The largest rate drops came with 2.1% one-year gains in the number of closed transactions.

When rates increased rapidly, however, the sales pace fell – averaging 5.3% one-year losses.

The secret sauce

There’s a catch to lower rates – housing’s three magic words: “Jobs, jobs, jobs.”

Rates are usually rising when the overall economy is strong – even too strong – and hiring is plentiful. Remember, you need a solid paycheck to be a successful house hunter.

Yet rates tend to dip when the economy is sour, and that’s not a great backdrop for a major purchase such as a home. So, let’s peek at California’s job market since 1988.

When rates surged over the past 35 years, California employment grew at a 2.7%-a-year pace. But jobs shrank at a 0.7% annual pace when rates tumbled.

Bottom line

This isn’t just some local housing quirk. Falling rates come with pricing weakness in many places.

Across the six-county Southern California region, the sharpest rate jumps were in step with 8% average one-year price gains. The largest rate drops came with 2% average price gains.

And nationally, soaring rates meant an average 7.5% one-year gain in the Case-Shiller US index vs. 2% appreciation when rates were cascading.

History is not a forecast. And maybe it’ll be different this time. But 35 years is a good guide to what’s possible.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

Leaving California?

Which state ‘culture’ is your best alternative?
Where do ‘best state’ rankings tell you to move?
What states are the safest places to live?
Here are the healthiest states to consider
If you want ‘fun’ lifestyle, here are states to move to
States with the strongest job markets
What state is the best bargain?

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Senior Moments: Some early lessons in prejudice and bigotry

• October 22, 2023

“Girl Jews are not as bad as boy Jews,” he told me in a knowing tone. 

I was in the fourth grade at Willard Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia, when a classmate uttered this. He had only just learned that I was Jewish. Jews were a small minority in my suburban town in the 1950s, and even smaller at my school. I was the only one in my class. 

My mother, a New York transplant, had kept me home from school for Yom Kippur. She had been shocked to learn that the schools were not closed for the Jewish holidays as they had always been in New York. 

It was my absence on that day that signaled my ethnic affiliation to my schoolmates  – neither my name nor my physical appearance had up until then made me a target of the derogatory words often directed at Jewish people. 

But when I returned to school after the holiday antisemitism hit me squarely in the face. Only I didn’t realize it at the time.The sobering power of my classmate’s words put me immediately on the defensive. My first reaction was relief that he still wanted to be friends because I was, in his estimation, “not that bad.“

I didn’t understand yet that what seemed like a simple phrase was actually a big sign that read, “You’re not one of us.” Ergo, you are not good enough to be one of us.

And so I learned at an early age, how it felt not to be included. At an age when I so desperately wanted to be included that, for a brief moment, I was grateful just to be tolerated.

That I could even have such a thought taught me how prejudice seeks to diminish the people on the receiving end. I saw firsthand how it can sow seeds of doubt. One minute I was perfectly fine, and the next I was “not that bad.”

It was about a 20-minute walk home from my school through a grassy field with lots of trees, sort of a mini forest. Most of the time I walked with friends. But on this day I had stayed after school for a Brownie meeting. I was likely the only Jewish girl in my Brownie troop though I never thought about it at the time.  

So I was walking alone when I saw an older boy who I recognized as someone who acted strangely but none of us knew why. We tended to quicken our steps when he was about. 

I didn’t know the term ‘developmental disability’ and would not until I was an adult. I never knew his name, why he didn’t go to our school or why he walked the woods alone. 

I only knew that I was afraid of him because he was different. 

He never talked to me or approached me. After that, I would take a different route home if I was alone. Thus, I found myself on the other side of prejudice, being the perpetrator as ignorance manifested into fear. 

Perspective is one of the great benefits of growing older.Email patriciabunin@sbcglobal.net. Follow her on X @patriciabunin and patriciabunin.com

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Newport Beach battles California over group homes, claims ‘overconcentration’

• October 22, 2023

Screams in the night. A gunshot. Ambulance sirens. These sounds still haunt the little neighborhood of Santa Ana Heights.

It happened in the wee hours of the morning on a warm August night in 2021, when a delirious 23-year-old (who should have been in something more like a hospital) bolted from a licensed Newport Beach detox — which sounds fancy, but is just a tract home in a residential neighborhood —  and forced his way into a neighbor’s home, trying to evade the demons that plagued him. The terrified homeowner inside had a gun. In minutes, Henry Lehr was dead.

The company that runs that detox — Gratitude Lodge — has three licensed addiction treatment facilities in that little neighborhood. There’s one licensed care home for seniors. There’s a sober living home — those don’t have to be licensed by anyone — and now, a “social rehabilitation facility” has an application pending with the state to open there as well.

How much is too much? Who makes the rules? Who’s really protecting vulnerable people?

These questions arise in the latest skirmish between local governments and the state of California over the quantity and quality of mental health care — a front that may vastly expand as the state asks voters to approve $6 billion to expand treatment.

That treatment will happen in local neighborhoods. As things stand, local neighborhoods will have precious little input.

Too much?

This skirmish involves Newport Beach and the California Department of Social Services. The pending application at issue is from Pacific Coast Mental Health LLC, which seeks to operate a “social rehabilitation facility.”

Social rehabs are a new front here on the Rehab Riviera. In 2013, there were just 96 in the entire state, and only two of them were in Orange County. A decade later — after Orange County was declared the nation’s center of addiction industry fraud, and after new laws were passed to improve treatment quality — the number of addiction treatment facilities dropped and the number of social rehabs tripled, to 286, with another 34 licenses pending.

Social rehabs are expressly non-medical, just like licensed addiction treatment homes. They operate largely in tract houses, just like licensed addiction treatment homes. They can bill private insurers, just like licensed addiction treatment homes.

They say they can treat the very serious behaviors that often accompany addiction — depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, suicidal ideation, psychotic disorder, personality disorder, “dual diagnosis and co-occurring disorders,” etc. — just like many licensed addiction treatment homes. But they’re not bound by the toothier laws that govern addiction treatment homes.

Why? They’re, technically at least, a different beast, licensed by different state departments. Addiction treatment facilities are licensed by the Department of Health Care Services. Social rehabs are licensed by the Department of Social Services. Their missions are, again technically, somewhat different.

Newport Beach has asked the DSS to deny a social rehab license to Pacific Coast Mental Health. Pacific Coast’s facility is within 300 feet of a Gratitude Lodge home, the city argues: Because they’re so close, the state cannot issue Pacific Coast a license without Newport Beach’s consent.

“(I)ssuance of a license to Pacific at this location violates the overall intent of the laws that prevent overconcentration,” Seimone Jurjis, Newport’s assistant city manager, wrote to DSS on Oct. 5. “When the legislature adopted Health and Safety Code Section 1502(a), the legislature specifically declared that it is ‘the policy of the state to prevent over-concentrations of residential facilities that impair the integrity of residential neighborhoods.’

“Here, there are already four existing licensed facilities in the neighborhood. Approval of another facility … will only contribute to the institutionalization of this neighborhood, negatively impacting the recovery of the residents of these facilities. … Ensuring proper spacing between similar facilities is crucial for the welfare of the individuals receiving services and for maintaining the integrity and effectiveness of the services provided.”

Incorrect, the state said.

“Thank you for relaying your agency’s concerns regarding potential overconcentration of licensed residential care facilities in Santa Ana Heights,” wrote Hao Nguyen, a bureau chief with DSS, that same day.

“While we understand the concern and support overconcentration protections afforded in statute, we also are charged with protecting the rights afforded to each community member to live in their home communities. The individuals to be served at (Pacific Coast) need care and supervision due to their disabilities and are protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and their housing choices are additionally protected under the Fair Housing Act.”

There’s no overconcentration problem, Nguyen continued. Gratitude Lodge is licensed by DHCS, not DSS. And DHCS facilities don’t count toward the overconcentration protections spelled out in Health and Safety Code 1520.5 are not applicable.” Neither does the elderly care home, which is licensed via a different pathway.

Doesn’t count

The “They’re licensed by different state departments so it doesn’t count” argument strikes folks living in these neighborhoods as absurd. These are businesses, they argue — businesses that often charge by the bed and have highly transient residents who can change within days or weeks.

Newport Beach Police investigate the scene where the occupant of a home shot and killed a man on Aug. 26 2021, after the man forced his way into the residence, police said. (Photo by RICHARD KOEHLER,CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)

Those neighbors don’t give a rat’s patootie which branch of state government licenses a facility. All these facilities mean more deliveries, more cars, more trash, more ambulances, more noise, more people.

Newport is trying not to take no for an answer.

“We acknowledge the distinction made between community care facilities and DHCS facilities,” Newport’s Jurjis wrote back to Nguyen on Oct. 9. “However, the overarching goal of the legislation is aimed at preventing overconcentration and to maintain the integrity of residential neighborhoods. It’s vital to consider the spirit of the law in making determinations related thereto.

“As we previously mentioned, there are already four licensed facilities in the neighborhood. This raises not only concerns about overconcentration, but also about the impact on the residents’ recovery process, neighborhood infrastructure, and resources…. (I)t is our opinion that the broad definition of ‘residential facility’ … encompasses DHCS facilities and is not limited to CDSS facilities. While not directly under the purview of the CDSS, the implications of such facilities in residential areas remain similar, warranting a comprehensive evaluation and reconsideration.”

Given Newport’s “strong disagreement and the potential implications for our community,” the city asked to appeal the DSS’s determination and forward the dispute to its legal counsel, “as we believe our interpretation of this legislation is correct.”

Seems like, by DSS’s logic, there could be several more DSS facilities in this neighborhood, several more senior homes, several more DHCS-licensed addiction treatment facilities, and it wouldn’t be considered over-concentration because they’re licensed by different state departments and pathways.

That can’t be right, can it?

Apparently, yes.

The California Health & Safety Code section that the city invokes refers specifically to residential facilities licensed by DSS, and only those licensed by DSS, spokesman Jason Montiel said by email.

“The City of Newport Beach appears to apply the term ‘residential facilities’ broadly and that it should be used for all types of facilities, including those licensed by DHCS, in determining the overall potential overconcentration of facilities in a given neighborhood. This interpretation … does not align with the statutory definition of ‘residential facility.’”

The Legislature specifically defined residential facilities as “any family home, group care facility, or similar facility determined by the department, for 24-hour nonmedical care of persons in need of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of the individual.”

DSS may not license DSS facilities within 300 feet of one another. But they apparently can set up right next door to an addiction treatment facility licensed by DHCS, no problem.

The law does allow local governments to request license denials, Montiel said. DSS “will be examining the facts to see if there is an overconcentration violation of HSC §1520.5.”

Is a lawsuit brewing?

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Proposed tax credit could help landscapers transition to electric leaf blowers, lawn mowers

• October 22, 2023

When Sana Sirodan and her team launched Greenplace landscaping services out of Costa Mesa earlier this year after immigrating from Ukraine due to the war, she said they opted for all-electric equipment from the start.

They knew their new home state of California was pivoting away from polluting leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other gear with engines powered by pricey gasoline or diesel, Sirodan said. Electric tools also are quieter, a bit easier to operate and less expensive over time. And Greenplace now pitches their all-electric fleet of tools as an “eco-friendly” selling point for customers throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties.

But for established landscape businesses, such as Marques Blackman’s Simple Lawns Services in San Bernardino, which have already invested hundreds or thousands of dollars in more powerful gas-fueled tools, coming up with the capital to switch to electric equipment is no small feat.

Commercial-grade electric-powered gear can cost anywhere from 15% to 300% more upfront, before factoring in the cost of batteries, chargers and potential electrical upgrades needed to keep them running all day. And that financial hit will fall disproportionately on immigrant and non-White residents, who make up higher shares of lawn care workers in Southern California and beyond.

That’s why Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, introduced a bill that, if adopted, would let professional gardeners and landscapers claim a new business tax credit to recoup some of what they spend to upgrade to zero-emission equipment.

“I grew up in Orange County,” Correa said by phone Friday, as he walked to a caucus meeting at the Capitol. “In the ’60s and ’70s, there were summer days that you couldn’t go outside and play because the air quality was horrible. And if you did, you’d be coughing for the rest of the week, and you’d have chest pains for the rest of the week, because of the polluted air.”

So Correa said he fully supports efforts to continue improving local air quality. He just wants to make sure that some of the most vulnerable members of our communities aren’t “unduly” paying the price for changes that benefit everyone.

Traditional lawn equipment relies on two-stroke engines, which burn a dirty mix of fuel and oil. Operating a commercial leaf blower for one hour puts out the same level of smog-forming pollution as driving a car from Los Angeles to Denver, per the California Air Resources Board, with total emissions from these small off-road engines already exceeding emissions from light-duty passenger cars in California.

That exhaust has been found to contribute to headaches, asthma and other respiratory symptoms.

“Pollution impacts everyone’s health, but it is particularly dangerous for those who spend time outdoors like children or the outdoor workers operating the equipment,” said Harold Wimmer, CEO of the American Lung Association, in a statement supporting Correa’s bill.

The noise from gas leaf blowers, in particular, is also a problem for wildlife and for people’s quality of life.

With such effects in mind, California air quality regulators voted in December 2021 to ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers, weed trimmers and chainsaws starting Jan. 1, 2024. New power washers and portable generators will have to be zero-emission starting in 2028.

The rules don’t apply to existing gas-powered equipment, which will still be legal to use or resell in California.

California isn’t alone in tackling these loud, polluting tools. There are more than 300 restrictions on gas-powered lawn equipment across the country, according to data collected by the National Association of Landscape Professionals.

The association “fully supports the responsible transition” from gas to electric equipment, said Andrew Bray, vice president of Government Relations for the trade group. But Bray said their members just want more time and resources to make the switch. That’s why they’ve signed on to support Correa’s bill, joining a diverse and growing coalition of backers that includes environment, health and business groups, from landscapers to golf courses.

Under Correa’s bill, landscape businesses could write off up to 40% of what they spent the prior year to buy emission-free gear, including plug-in or cordless tools plus any batteries or chargers that power those tools. The credit also can be used to help upgrade existing equipment to make it zero-emission. Businesses could get up to $25,000 back on purchases each year, for no more than $100,000 in credits over a 10-year period. And the credit would apply to any equipment purchased on or after Jan. 1, 2023.

Gas-powered tools have been such an industry standard that Blackman said he didn’t even consider buying electric gear when he worked his way up from doing landscaping as a chore growing up to doing it as a side hustle to launching his own business five years ago. He’s been reading about the coming switch to electric equipment, though, and has been setting aside money for when he has to buy new gear.

“That’s going to be hard on a lot of people that have other expenses,” he said. “But as a business owner, you have to adapt with the times, you know, and be like a chameleon.”

He also noted that, much like with an electric vehicle, buying electric landscaping equipment tends to be more expensive upfront and become cheaper over time.

The price for consumer-grade, handheld leaf blowers is now about the same whether they’re gas and electric. But for commercial gear, an electric backpack leaf blower might cost $100 or more than a comparable gas version, while an electric sit-down lawn mower might cost $30,000 vs. a $12,000 gas-powered version. Gas tools are more powerful, too, Blackman said. And landscapers who use them don’t yet need to worry about upgrading electrical systems in their shops to handle the voltage needed to charge zero-emissions gear.

But electric tools require much less maintenance, since they don’t have the same complex moving parts. They also don’t require pricey oil, gasoline or diesel to operate.

To care for 60 lawns throughout the San Bernardino area this past week, Blackman said he spent about $200 in gasoline for his equipment.

Electric gear is also a bit lighter, with no chain to pull to start it up. And Sirodan said they don’t have to worry as much about disturbing customers or their neighbors even when they start work early, since the tools are much quieter.

Despite the broad coalition of support for his bill, Correa acknowledged it will likely be tough to get this tax credit added to Section 46 of the Internal Revenue Code.

“There’s a lot of people in Congress, on the other side of the aisle primarily, that don’t won’t support any tax credits for going green,” he said.

“But we’re not playing the odds. We’re advocating for what’s right for our taxpayers, our small businesses in our district.”

​ Orange County Register