Daily Business Report: August 17, 2026
By Alysa Horton | Times of San Diego
California senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff have joined a call to demand financial regulators restrict prediction market activity on wildfires, citing concerns that the bets could incentivize arson or other destructive interventions.
“Offering bets on destructive wildfires threatens to minimize communities’ suffering all so the rich and powerful can profit,” reads a letter sent by nine senators to Michael Selig, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“There’s also the heightened risk — according to state and local fire officials — that individuals could be tempted to commit arson in order to make sure their bets are successful.”
They’re Really Trying to Make Midway Rising Happen
by Nadia Lathan| Voice of San Diego
A new bill related to San Diego’s Midway Rising project was set in motion Thursday as lawmakers began a process to gut and amend an unrelated bill that would potentially give broader environmental exemptions for the planned dual sports arena and housing complex.
New bill language isn’t available yet, but it’s expected to appear next week ahead of an Assembly Natural Resources Committee meeting where it’ll be taken up in a public hearing. State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson is expected to be the primary author and several San Diego delegates will be co-authors.
New rent limits take effect in California
by Robert Matteson | The Center Square
Landlords across the state of California face new limits in how much they can increase the rent of their tenants.
Under Assembly Bill 1482, the California Tenant Protection Act of 2019, landlords are prohibited from increasing their rental rate more than 5% plus the rate of inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower, over a 12-month period.
The new statewide cap came into effect on Aug. 1 and will last until July 31, 2027.
