Daily Business Report: March 3, 2026
Sacramento Report: Another Rail Corridor Nothingburger
by Nadia Lathan | Voice of San Diego
For years, transit enthusiasts have urged the state to throw more dollars at the troubled 351-mile-long Southern California rail corridor that stretches from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. They want to revive its crumbling infrastructure and address its declining ridership and infrequent service.
Local agencies and Encinitas lawmaker Catherine Blakespear, who chairs a legislative subcommittee dedicated to the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo rail corridor, known as LOSSAN, have said they’re committed to fixing its numerous problems. And yet, there’s been little to show for it.
Built in the late 1800s, the rail corridor is a relic and a core piece of California iconography. Segments of the track hug the Pacific Ocean, which has given riders for more than a century breathtaking views of the very bluffs that are eroding beneath it due to climate change.
PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government
by Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Lauren Mora, and Deja Thomas | PPIC
PPIC conducted its latest statewide survey soon after a series of unprecedented events unfolded on the world and national stage. US military action in Venezuela that led to the capture and removal of its president was followed by a US threat to take over Greenland. Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis–St. Paul by the Department of Homeland Security resulted in thousands of arrests, two fatal shootings by federal agents, and a flurry of protests. The California governor proposed a 2026–27 state budget that raised concerns about federal cutbacks and a structural deficit. The Federal Reserve paused further interest rate cuts amid signs of US job growth and lower inflation, and California has continued its rapid expansion into the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.
These are the key findings of the Californians and Their Government survey on the 2026 elections, the state budget and taxes, state issues, and national issues that was conducted February 3–11, 2026:
Jones, Niello introduce energy and gasoline accountability and affordability legislative package
By Brian W. Jones | Senate Minority Leader
Today, Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) and Senator Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) announced the introduction of an electricity and gasoline affordability legislative package aimed at increasing transparency, oversight, and accountability at the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Together, the lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 929, Senate Bill 1239, and Senate Bill 981, a coordinated set of reforms focused on regulatory accountability and consumer cost transparency.
“These two unelected bureaucracies were never meant to be the most powerful levers in the state government machine and yet, today, the CEC and CARB combined are the single greatest driver of California’s highest-in-the-nation cost of living,” said Jones. “They are completely nonresponsive to the legislature and unaccountable to the voters, yet they impose policies and mandates that make our gas and energy the most expensive in the nation. It’s frankly disgusting. We’ve called for transparency and accountability – they’ve refused– now we’re making it law.”
