[Photo credit: Keira Wight Creative]

The Altadena pharmacy — which its owners say is the community’s oldest operating retail business — held its centennial celebration Saturday, 16 months after the Eaton Fire forced a six-week closure

For six weeks after the Eaton Fire, Webster’s Community Pharmacy went dark.

The pharmacy, which its owners say has operated on Lake Avenue since 1926 — making it Altadena’s oldest continuously operating retail business — marked its 100th anniversary Saturday with a free, four-hour centennial celebration from noon to 4 p.m. at 2333 Lake Avenue.

The milestone comes 16 months after the January 2025 Eaton Fire, which destroyed more than 9,400 structures and killed 19 people according to Cal Fire, and forced the pharmacy to close for approximately six weeks. During that time, co-owners Meredith and Michael Miller coordinated with a neighboring Pasadena pharmacy to keep prescriptions flowing to their customers.

“We weren’t allowed back into the building for several weeks,” Miller said in a previously published interview. “We immediately coordinated with a neighboring pharmacy in Pasadena to ensure our patients continued to receive their life-saving medications without interruption.”

Webster’s reopened February 17, 2025. On Saturday, it turned 100.

The celebration drew county leaders, local vendors, community artists, and longtime customers to Lake Avenue for an afternoon that included live music, food from Altadena restaurants and food vendors, a marketplace of local artists and creators, pet adoptions through the Pasadena Humane Mobile Adoption Center, and hands-on children’s activities hosted by the Altadena Library’s Curiosity Connection. Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger was among the officials in attendance.

“Cheers to 100 years, Webster’s Community Pharmacy! I’m proud to join the Altadena community to celebrate the hope this beloved business represents,” Barger wrote on social media following the event.

Webster’s was founded in 1926 by Harold “Frank” Webster, who purchased an existing pharmacy on North Lake Avenue and renamed it. Webster’s son, William “Bill” Webster, eventually expanded the business across multiple storefronts on the same block. Meredith and Michael Miller purchased the pharmacy from Bill Webster in December 2010, rebranding it Webster’s Community Pharmacy and adding services including vaccinations, prescription delivery, and a modernized gift shop.

Altadena is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County and has no city government; oversight of the area falls to the county Board of Supervisors.

The pharmacy’s role in the community deepened after the fire. In July 2025, Webster’s opened a Village Post Office inside its Lake Avenue location after the Altadena Post Office at 2271 Lake Avenue was damaged and closed in the fire. The U.S. Postal Service partnered with the Millers, with support from county and community leaders, to restore mail services to the neighborhood. Miller said the community had asked directly.

“The fire hit, and everyone knows that since that time, life has changed dramatically for all of us,” she said at the post office opening last July. “We lost our post office, and the community asked us, ‘Is there a way you could ever do it again?’ It just felt incumbent on us to do this. You know we’re a fixture in this community, and we want to help our customers in any way we can.”

A longtime customer put it plainly in an interview with CBS Los Angeles on Saturday. “This is the perfect place to come and find gifts and get your prescriptions and get anything you need and it’s always been right down the street from my home,” the customer said.

On Saturday, Miller reflected on the years behind her. “We’ve been through everything possible in the last hundred years and specially in the last few years,” she told CBS Los Angeles. “So we’ve been hanging in there and just doing what we do best. Which is helping people walk through times of goodness and times of badness.”

Webster’s Community Pharmacy is located at 2333 Lake Avenue in Altadena. The pharmacy’s website is websterspharm.com.

A century ago, Frank Webster opened a drugstore on a street still served by red cars. On Saturday, the neighborhood he opened it for came back to Lake Avenue to celebrate. Many of them are still rebuilding. They showed up anyway.

Erratic White House policies and global instability are conspiring to keep California’s housing market in a suffocating holding pattern

The economic mood in America has grown as unpredictable as the administration setting the tone, and California’s housing market is absorbing the punishment in real time. According to a new report from the California Association of Realtors, the state’s real estate sector stumbled through March with neither the momentum its stakeholders had hoped for nor the clarity they desperately need.

Existing home sales dropped 3.5% from February and fell 2.5% compared to the same month last year — the third consecutive year-over-year decline and the steepest in eight months. The total sales figure of 265,320 units marks the 42nd straight month the market has failed to crack the 300,000-unit threshold, a benchmark that once seemed routine but now feels aspirational.

Prospective buyers have not vanished — they have simply gone quiet, paralyzed by job market anxieties, gyrating stock prices and the kind of persistent economic white noise that makes a six-figure commitment feel reckless. Last-minute contract cancellations ticked up in March, another symptom of a populace grown skittish under the weight of unrelenting uncertainty.

Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com, put it plainly. “The war in Iran has seriously complicated the spring buying season,” he said, adding that the conflict’s upward pressure on mortgage rates “serves as the primary barrier preventing the spring housing market from capitalizing on otherwise favorable inventory and price conditions.”

Those inventory conditions offer scant relief. The CAR report shows the Unsold Inventory Index contracted 17.5% between February and March, landing 5.7% below year-ago levels — the second consecutive month active listings have trailed the prior year. Many potential sellers remain frozen in place, unwilling to surrender the low mortgage rates they locked in years ago for the punishing rates that await them on the other side of a sale.

The pain extends well beyond residential real estate. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index slid three points to 95.8 in March, slipping below its 52-year historical average for the first time since April. The companion Uncertainty Index climbed to 92, nearly 25 points above its long-term norm. The share of business owners reporting deteriorating profits plunged 11 points to a net negative 25% — more owners losing ground than gaining it.

Homebuilders are sending equally distressing signals. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped four points in April to 34, its weakest reading since September, remaining below the critical 50-point break-even mark for two full years running.

Amid all this, California home prices are managing a fragile hold. The statewide median rose a robust 7.1% month-over-month in March, consistent with historical seasonal norms, though the annual gain of just 0.4% reflects how thoroughly broader economic anxiety has capped any real upward momentum.

Spring is supposed to be when California’s housing market finds its footing.

This year, it is instead finding fresh reasons to hesitate — a fitting metaphor for an economy governed more by impulse than strategy.

Los Angeles County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 5.5% in February compared to January, but was below the 5.8% rate from the same month a year earlier, according to figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4% in February. That was the same rate as January and the same as February 2025. The comparable estimates for the nation were 4.4% in February, 4.3% in January and 4.2% a year ago.

Between January and February, total nonfarm employment in Los Angeles County increased by 9,700 to reach more than 4.58 million jobs.

The professional and business services sector led the way in the county by adding 7,600 positions, while professional, scientific and technical services added 4,400 jobs, particularly in accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services.

The trade, transportation and utilities sector saw the biggest decline, shedding 7,900 jobs.

[photo credit: LA County Department of Economic Opportunity]

More than 15 months after the Eaton Fire, the Shop Local LA County Gift Card Program reaches a funding milestone — with Altadena and Pasadena businesses among those still struggling to recover

The Altadena Chamber of Commerce has distributed $500 gift cards to 450 residents impacted by the Eaton Fire, directing roughly $225,000 in spending toward fire-affected small businesses in Altadena, Pasadena, and surrounding communities.

The distribution pushes the total funding generated through the Shop Local LA County Gift Card Program past $300,000, according to an announcement from the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose Fifth District includes both Altadena and Pasadena.

The cards — delivered electronically in mid-March through the county’s ShopLocal.LA platform — are redeemable only at verified small businesses listed in the county’s Recover Local Business Directory. Recipients were selected through a grant application process managed by the Altadena Chamber, with eligibility extended to anyone who lost a home, sustained property damage, or was displaced by the fire.

According to Barger’s office, more than 110 fire-impacted businesses are now listed in the Recover Local Business Directory, with 68 actively participating in the gift card program across Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and other affected communities.

“From day one, I’ve remained committed to standing with Eaton Fire survivors to help rebuild a better future,” Barger said in a statement released by her office. “This new investment supports a program that offers continued, steady support for residents and small businesses alike. I remain focused on driving the economic revitalization of Altadena and ensuring this community comes back stronger.”

The distribution is the latest step in a program Barger initiated through a motion approved by the Board of Supervisors in July 2025. That motion established the county’s “Shop Local. Dine Local. Recover Local.” campaign, run by the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity, to stabilize brick-and-mortar businesses in Altadena and other fire-impacted areas that had experienced steep declines in foot traffic and revenue following the January 2025 fire.

How the program works

The gift card program operates through a public-private partnership between the county, technology platform Yiftee, and Southern California Grantmakers, with an initial $100,000 contribution from L.A. Care Health Plan. Under the consumer-facing component of the program, residents and supporters can purchase gift cards in $20, $50, and $100 increments at ShopLocal.LA, receiving bonus cards of $10, $25, and $50, respectively, while supplies last.

The Altadena Chamber’s $225,000 distribution — calculated from 450 cards at $500 each — represents a separate, targeted investment. Rather than relying on individual consumer purchases, the chamber used its own funding to place gift cards directly into the hands of fire-affected residents, with the dual aim of providing household relief and channeling that spending into Altadena’s commercial corridors.

Judy Matthews, president of the Altadena Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that the effort was designed to serve both residents and businesses simultaneously.

“By providing these gift cards, we are not only offering immediate financial relief to those affected, but also encouraging residents to shop locally, keep money circulating within our community, and help our small businesses recover and thrive,” Matthews said in the statement.

According to reporting by Pasadena Now, the chamber opened three rounds of applications on its website before closing the process, and demand exceeded the available funding. Although the cards are issued through the countywide Shop Local LA program and can technically be used at any participating business in the directory, the chamber has encouraged recipients to spend at Altadena-area businesses.

The Pasadena connection

While the Eaton Fire’s most devastating physical damage occurred in unincorporated Altadena — where more than 9,400 structures were destroyed and at least 19 people were killed, according to Cal Fire — the economic aftershocks have reached well into Pasadena.

North Pasadena is designated as an eligible area for the Recover Local Business Directory, and businesses in that part of the city can participate in the gift card program. The City of Pasadena is also listed as a partner in the broader Shop Local campaign.

Local business owners in Pasadena have described sustained revenue losses tied to the displacement of Altadena residents who had been part of their regular customer base. Some Pasadena businesses along the Altadena border sustained direct fire damage, including extended power outages that forced prolonged closures.

Separately, the City of Pasadena recently launched its own Microenterprise Recovery Grant Program, offering grants of up to $5,000 to small businesses with five or fewer employees that were impacted by the fire. Applications for that program, funded through federal Community Development Block Grant disaster relief funds, close April 16.

The Altadena Chamber of Commerce is itself fiscally sponsored by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce & Civic Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, for the purpose of receiving wildfire-related donations — a structural link that underscores the interdependence of the two communities’ recovery efforts.

The broader economic picture

The gift card milestone comes as Altadena’s small business landscape continues to face significant headwinds. According to a January 2026 report from the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity and the LA County Economic Development Corporation, wildfire impacts remain highly localized but economically interconnected, with severe job and business losses in burn areas continuing to shape recovery across the region.

An estimated half of Altadena’s businesses were destroyed in the fire. Many of the commercial losses were concentrated along Lake Avenue, one of the community’s main corridors. Businesses that survived have contended with sharply reduced customer counts as displaced residents have been slow to return. As of early April, the county reported that approximately 1,025 homes were under construction in the burn area, with roughly 2,000 building permits issued — but only about half of the more than 6,000 households that lost homes had applied to rebuild, according to Barger’s office.

Participating businesses that enroll through the Recover Local Business Registry gain access to visibility in the directory, direct consumer spending through the gift card program, marketing support, and connections to additional county resources, according to the Department of Economic Opportunity.

Eligible small businesses in designated fire zones — including Altadena, North Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and other impacted areas — can apply to join the directory at ShopLocal.LA. Residents can purchase gift cards and view participating businesses at the same site.

Robert Chuang, CEO and Founder of Enhaus Design Build, Speaks on the Complex Reality of Rebuilding in Altadena Following the Eaton Fire

Enhaus Design Build, a Los Angeles-based, full-service design-build firm with over 20 years of collective experience across commercial, multi-family, and custom residential construction and renovations relocated its headquarters to Altadena in January 2026; placing its team directly on the ground in the communities where many of its projects are taking shape.

In the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, which displaced a significant number of Altadena residents, rebuilding has emerged as a prolonged and technically complex process shaped by insurance timelines, county approvals, and rising construction costs. 

“Demand has increased significantly, with more homeowners actively seeking reliable contractors than ever before,” said Robert Chuang, CEO and Co-founder of Enhaus Design Build.

Reconstruction in Altadena is governed by Los Angeles County’s wildland-urban interface requirements, which impose stricter standards on how homes are designed and built in fire-prone areas.

“We’re prioritizing fire-resilient materials and integrating those considerations into the design process from the outset,” said Chuang. “By addressing these elements early and reviewing them closely with clients, we’re able to ensure each home is thoughtfully planned before construction begins.”

Cost remains a central pressure point, particularly for homeowners balancing insurance payouts against rising construction expenses. Enhaus Design Build approaches budgeting through a highly detailed, collaborative process built around itemized estimates rather than broad projections, ensuring alignment with each homeowner’s priorities and vision. 

“At the end of the day, when we hand the keys to their new home, we want to ensure our clients have enough money to furnish it nicely too,” said Chuang.  Project timelines vary significantly depending on site conditions, with factors such as lot type and terrain playing a key role in the overall process.

Clients are given clear visibility into progress through structured touchpoints, including weekly owner-architect-contractor meetings, as well as a construction portal that provides real time updates, photos, and detailed reporting. The firm also monitors external conditions on a weekly basis, identifying potential issues early and communicating how they will be addressed to maintain construction schedules.

The Altadena headquarters functions as an on-the-ground field base for these operations, where 25 team members, consisting of project managers, designers, and foremen meet with clients, coordinate materials, and support nearby job sites nearby.

Enhaus also works with architects seeking a builder with diverse experience in materials and styles to bring their vision to fruition, affordably, without compromising quality.

“Our goal is to remain a long-term partner for our clients; not just through construction, but well beyond move-in,” said Chuang. “A lot of the hesitation comes down to a lack of clarity – not knowing what the process looks like, what it will cost, or how long it will take, that’s why we are on a mission to redefine how residential construction is done,” Chuang added.

Enhaus Design Build will host an “OpEnhaus” tour of its Altadena headquarters on April 17th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., offering a small group of homeowners looking to rebuild with an opportunity to connect directly with the team, gain insight into the rebuilding process, and learn more about the firm’s long-term commitment to the community.

To RSVP, please visit www.enhausdb.com/enhausevents. For more information, please visit www.enhausdb.com

Los Angeles County officials Friday are moving ahead with the second funding cycle of a program aimed at helping small businesses and nonprofits acquire commercial properties and stabilize neighborhood business corridors.

The county Department of Economic Opportunity, in partnership with Genesis LA Economic Growth Corporation, will make about $2.6 million available through the Commercial Acquisition Fund, including $1 million in discretionary funding from Supervisor Holly Mitchell for projects in the county’s Second District, according to a statement.

The program offers forgivable financing to support property acquisitions by small businesses, nonprofit organizations and mission-aligned developers, with the goal of reducing displacement and promoting long-term economic growth in local communities, officials said.

The effort builds on the first funding cycle, officials said, which distributed $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to support seven property acquisitions, creating space for 39 small businesses, three nonprofits and more than 125 creative workspaces.

“LA County’s Anti-Displacement Commercial Acquisition Fund allows communities to directly own and shape the future of their neighborhoods — by the community, for the community,” Mitchell said in a statement.

“I’m proud to build on the success of the program’s first phase with additional funding to support more community-based organizations and developers to preserve and expand affordable commercial and mixed-use space to keep legacy businesses and residents in place and create opportunities for growing entrepreneurs.”

Applications for the new funding cycle are expected to open May 5, with outreach and informational sessions planned ahead of the launch to guide prospective applicants through the process.

County officials noted that demand for funding is expected to exceed available resources, but they said the program remains a key part of broader efforts to revitalize commercial corridors and expand community ownership opportunities.

The 102-year-old organization will be honored at BizFed’s annual ceremony in Glendale on April 17

The Altadena Chamber of Commerce and Civic Association has been named the 2026 Business Nonprofit of the Year for Los Angeles County’s 5th Supervisorial District, a recognition from the county’s largest business federation following the Chamber’s expanded role in Eaton Fire recovery.

The award, part of the annual Bizzi Awards presented by the Los Angeles County Business Federation known as BizFed, was announced in a newsletter distributed by the Altadena Chamber. BizFed, an advocacy alliance of more than 240 business organizations representing 420,000 employers across Southern California, designed the awards to honor companies, nonprofits and public officials in each of the county’s five supervisorial districts. As of publication, BizFed had not posted the full list of 2026 honorees on its website.

The 5th Annual Bizzi Awards ceremony is scheduled for Friday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chevy Chase Country Club in Glendale. Altadena, an unincorporated community directly north of Pasadena, falls within the 5th Supervisorial District represented by Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

The recognition comes roughly 15 months after the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena on Jan. 7, 2025, destroying more than 9,000 structures and displacing tens of thousands of residents. In the months since, the Chamber has taken on a central coordination role in supporting local businesses through recovery.

In April 2025, the Chamber launched “Back in Business,” a volunteer-driven program to help displaced Altadena businesses navigate recovery, find temporary space and access legal, real estate and architectural assistance at no cost. The initiative was led by Pasadena Planning Commissioner Julianna Delgado with the backing of Pasadena Councilmember Rick Cole, and it grew out of outreach efforts connected to the city’s North Lake Specific Plan Area Update, according to the Chamber’s website. The program partnered with the City of Pasadena’s Department of Economic Development, the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity.

More recently, the Chamber distributed $500 Shop Local LA gift cards to 450 residents in the Eaton Fire burn area, an effort aimed at providing direct financial relief to fire survivors while encouraging spending at Altadena businesses. The Chamber also hosted the Altadena Small Business Market at Mariposa Junction on Nov. 29, 2025, bringing together local vendors, food pop-ups and live music on Small Business Saturday.

The Pasadena connection runs deeper than program partnerships. The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and Civic Association serves as the Altadena Chamber’s fiscal sponsor for wildfire-related donations, according to the Altadena Chamber’s website. The Altadena Chamber also awards annual scholarships to Pasadena Unified School District seniors, according to the organization.

The Chamber is led by President Judy Matthews, who was recognized in March 2025 as the 2025 Woman of the Year for California Senate District 25 by Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena). In a statement posted on the senator’s official website, Pérez said Matthews “has been a tremendous leader in the community working to help the Altadena residents and particularly its small business community get back on their feet.”

According to the Chamber’s statement, the Bizzi Award selection honors organizations that drive economic progress and champion local business advocacy. The Chamber described the award as the result of a competitive review process led by business and policy leaders, according to its newsletter.

Incorporated in 1924, the Altadena Chamber operates as a nonprofit organization serving Altadena’s business community. It holds open board meetings on the first Tuesday of each month. BizFed launched the Bizzi Awards in 2022. Previous nonprofit winners have included the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which received the District 4 award in 2025, according to that organization’s website. Prior ceremonies were held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; this year’s event moves to the Chevy Chase Country Club.

Matthews said in a statement regarding the gift card distribution that supporting local businesses “is vital to rebuilding our community” and that encouraging residents to shop locally would help “our small businesses recover and thrive.”

The Dreamforce annual tech conference hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco on Sept. 18, 2024. Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

Big Tech spent $39 million to influence state politics last year, making 2025 a blockbuster year of spending for Meta, Google and other technology companies that want to push their agenda to California officials.

As CalMatters’ Jeremia Kimelman explains, the upcoming election, disputes over artificial intelligence regulation and the growth of the cryptocurrency industry have prompted Big Tech to spend big bucks on political campaigns, donate to nonprofit organizations and hire lobbyists.

The $39 million makes the tech industry the top political spender in California, alongside the oil and gas industry, giving tech companies an outsized influence in Sacramento, critics say.

• Catherine Bracy, founder of the nonprofit TechEquity, which is in favor of AI regulation: “There’s a question of why (tech companies) have to spend so much money. And that’s because they’re on the wrong side of history, and people don’t like them very much.”

Since the current two-year legislative session began in December 2024, the state Legislature has considered more than 50 bills that would regulate AI. Meta spent nearly $30 million in 2025 to influence California politics, including $20 million toward a political committee it created that supports candidates who are in favor of AI deregulation. On lobbying state officials alone, the company spent at least $4.6 million — far more than any other year since 2010, when it began advocating at the state Capitol.

Crypto companies — which are fairly new tech players buying influence across the state — have also ramped up their spending. Coinbase spent $200,000 on state lobbying last year, including $60,000 to the California Democratic Party.

The industry’s political spending has proven consequential before: Two years ago, it poured $10 million into a campaign blitz that helped knock out then-Rep. Katie Porter, a critic of the crypto industry, from the California Senate race.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

The change to SBA loans could have a huge impact on California, which has the most small businesses and the largest immigrant population in the nation. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Green-card holders no longer qualify for loans from the Small Business Administration, eliminating a longtime source of financing for immigrants that advocates say will discourage job creation and harm the economy.

The SBA limited access to its loans to U.S. citizens and nationals only starting in March, and expanded that policy to SBA-backed loans beginning in April. On top of that, any business that’s even partly owned by a permanent legal resident with a green card is no longer eligible for the loans.

California — which has the most small businesses and the largest immigrant population in the nation — could be most affected. SBA loans have been important to immigrant entrepreneurs because they typically are low-interest and available to those without an established credit history. The agency has also backed loans by private funders, providing a government guarantee for people banks may deem riskier. Now, all those loans are off the table for owners and would-be owners of restaurants, bake shops, law practices, medical clinics, taxi medallions, nail salons and more who hold green cards.

Small business owners are responsible for 99% of net new jobs in the state, according to the California Office of the Small Business Advocate. Immigrant entrepreneurs make up 40% of the state’s business community and generated $28.4 billion in income in 2023, according to GO-Biz, the governor’s office of business and economic development.

Small Business Majority, a national business advocacy group, wrote to the SBA in mid-March, urging the federal agency to reconsider the changes. The letter, signed by dozens of state and national groups and chambers of commerce, called the new policies “a misguided approach that ignores critical economic data underscoring the job creating power of the immigrant community.”

The SBA has a limited lending capacity, said Maggie Clemmons, a spokesperson for the agency. “The agency’s rule change will help ensure more American citizens have access to funding previously granted to noncitizens,” she said in an email.

The SBA approved 3,358 loans for small businesses owned partly by a lawful permanent resident in fiscal year 2025, largely during the Biden administration, Clemmons said. That represented 4% of the 85,000 loans approved by the agency.

In California, the changes could affect about 220,000 small business owners who hold green cards, said Carolina Martinez, chief executive of CAMEO Network, a national association of organizations that support small businesses.

“The most important thing for us is to really understand that this SBA decision… is really bad for the American economy,” Martinez said.

Pursuing the American Dream

Cristina Foanene, a Romanian immigrant who arrived in the United States 20 years ago, was a green-card holder when she obtained an SBA loan in 2018 that allowed her and her husband to buy a building and expand their glass company, MCS Glass, in Fresno. They now have 30 employees.

“The loan gave us an opportunity to create more jobs, to have an even greater impact in our community,” Foanene said. Their goal is to manufacture more products and create more positions, she added.

She said she doesn’t know where the business would be today without the SBA loans they received over the years. They just signed their third loan last month, Foanene said, their first as American citizens.

She called herself loyal to this country and said she’s sad that others like her may not have the same opportunities to pursue the American Dream by securing SBA loans while “respecting the laws.”

“It literally breaks my heart,” Foanene said. “There are so many good people with good intentions. I feel it’s unfair.”

Other entrepreneurs or independent contractors also lose a possible safety net that SBA loans once provided.

“During the pandemic, these loans were crucial to people’s survival,” said Dung Nguyen, program and organizing director for California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, an organization that advocates for Vietnamese immigrants, many of whom work in the nail-salon industry. The group signed the Small Business Majority’s letter to the SBA.

Nguyen said the nail-salon workers and owners who took out those loans during the pandemic are still paying them back.

‘A new kind of status’

Kenia Zamarripa, spokesperson for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which also signed the letter to the SBA, said this latest policy change is another example of how immigrants are more vulnerable as federal funds for other programs have been taken away. Her group and others are pushing for immigration reform that includes a standardized path to citizenship, she said.

“This is a community that’s doing things the right way, looking for a legal path,” she said. “It’s like you’re punishing them for doing the right thing.”

The SBA changes push green-card holders to “informality,” Zamarripa said. “What’s next? What other resources will be taken away? How else will immigrants continue to be targeted?”

Others echo that concern.

“This dialog is really challenging our concept of what undocumented means,” said Gabriela Alemán, a spokesperson for Mission Asset Fund, a San Francisco organization that supports and lends to small business owners. “These are community members that are now being pushed into a new kind of status.”

Mission Asset Fund’s lending circles — modeled after the Mexican community-based lending practice called tandas — can provide up to $2,500 in loans to small business owners. The group just got its California lenders’ license and will eventually be able to provide larger loans, Alemán said.

But it will be tough for groups like it to fill the gap left by the SBA’s new policies for permanent legal residents who may want to start or grow their businesses.

“There are not any other options at this scale (that the SBA provides),” said Brian Kennedy Jr., entrepreneur ecosystem director at AmPac Business Capital, a Los Angeles-area community development financial institution and SBA partner. “We’re talking about $35,000 up to $30 million.”

What’s next

Many small business owners already use — and may increasingly rely on — community development financial institutions and other lenders whose mission is to help people with limited options, credit histories and savings.

They could also turn to the state for help. State-funded options include a small business loan guarantee program through its IBank, and programs through the treasurer’s office that reduces risks to lenders by pledging state funds as collateral, or contributing to loan-loss reserves.

Microenterprise Collaborative of Inland Southern California works with lenders, technical assistance providers and community partners to help small business owners in Inland Southern California.

Pamela Deans, the group’s executive director, said the SBA’s policy change will alter how the organization refers entrepreneurs to sources of capital. Rather than pointing them to “a relatively straightforward” SBA process, she said the group will have to inform them of a more fragmented set of options and warn them about predatory lending.

“Many of these would-be owners will have a much harder time piecing together enough safe, affordable capital to lease a space, buy equipment or cover early working capital — so the taquería, the child care business, the trucking startup may never open in the first place,” Deans said.

Bianca Blomquist, California director for Small Business Majority, also is concerned about small business owners turning to unscrupulous lenders. She said her group found out recently that an owner of a child care business in downtown L.A. took out a $10,000 loan at what she thought was 13% interest. It was actually closer to 250%.

Other advocates are hoping philanthropy and impact investors will step up and make more capital available to small lenders.

“Women, entrepreneurs, immigrants and communities of color always have had to think outside the typical paths,” said Leticia Landa, executive director of La Cocina, a small business incubator in San Francisco. “I do hope, especially in California, that we’re going to come up with something.”

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

The Dreamforce conference hosted by Salesforce in San Francisco on Sept. 18, 2024. Dreamforce is an annual tech conference attracting thousands of participants and is the largest AI event in the world, according to Salesforce. Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

As California gears up for high-stakes elections this year, including an open governor’s race, major companies focused on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency invested more than $39 million to influence state politics in 2025, according to a CalMatters analysis.

The companies contributed that money to political campaigns, hired lobbyists to influence policy and donated to nonprofit organizations at the request of lawmakers. In all cases, critics say, the companies used their money to build relationships that give them outsized influence over the legislative process. The companies themselves say that they’re supporting candidates and policies who align with their corporate priorities.

Tech giants step up spending

Last July, Meta, which made $201 billion in revenue last year, transferred $20 million to a new political committee it created with the goal of supporting candidates in favor of fewer AI regulations. A month later, the company gave the California Democratic Party $150,000 and a bipartisan group of 20 incumbents in the California Legislature up to $5,900 each.

“There’s a question of why (tech companies) have to spend so much money,” said Catherine Bracy, founder of TechEquity, a nonprofit in favor of AI regulations that spent nearly $200,000 on state issue advocacy last year. “And that’s because they’re on the wrong side of history, and people don’t like them very much.”

When contacted, Meta sent a statement saying the money is “to help elect state political candidates in California — no matter their party affiliation — that support and defend the American tech industry.” The parent company of social media apps Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram spent nearly $30 million last year to influence politics in California. Part of that effort included contributions worth more than $25 million to 44 committees.

In one example, Meta and Google each contributed $5 million to ‘California Leads,’ a committee exclusively funded by the pair along with SV Angel, a venture capital firm. At the end of last year, the committee reported having more than $9.5 million in cash to spend on upcoming elections.In addition to contributing directly to election campaigns, companies also spent millions of dollars to push their position directly to lawmakers and regulators. Meta, which has been public about its policy drive against AI regulations across the country, spent at least $4.6 million lobbying state officials, far more than any other year since it started advocating in Sacramento in 2010.

Meta spent more to lobby in California in 2025 than any previous year. By a lot

That’s because California is in the infancy stages of AI regulation right now, said Sean McMorris of Common Cause California, a nonprofit focused on government transparency. “These industries are going to pump a ton of money into shaping these policies favorably to… their advantage.”

The fight about whether to regulate artificial intelligence, or how it should be done, doesn’t seem to be going away this year. Since the current legislative session began in December 2024, more than 50 bills that regulate AI are being considered according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database.

Federal legislative gridlock and President Donald Trump’s hostile stance toward AI regulation mean that California, where Democrats have a supermajority in the Legislature, is one place where such regulations may happen.

Meta isn’t the only company spending on possible AI legislation.

Google, whose parent company Alphabet made about $403 billion in revenue in 2025, spent more than $3.5 million on lobbying related to “technology budget funding and generative artificial intelligence” that year, although it was less than the $10 million Google spent the year before to defeat AI regulations and a bill to fund journalism.

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, started lobbying California officials for the first time in 2024 when it spent nearly $140,000. In 2025, the company spent more than $155,000. Meanwhile, Anthropic, maker of the popular large language model Claude, spent more than $200,000 to lobby state representatives last year, the first year it reported such expenses.

Meta and Google also contributed to nonprofits directly at the request of California officials in what are called behested payments. Meta made 34 payments totalling $1,245,000 at the request of California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and a bipartisan group of legislators in both chambers.

“These transparent and public contributions to independent nonprofits and charities do not influence the governor or any state decision-making,” said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom.

Google made a single behested payment in June 2025 worth $10,000 at the request of Sen. Scott Wiener, Democrat from San Francisco, the author of Senate Bill 53, that imposed some requirements on the makers of large AI models.

Wiener’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Crypto companies spend currency

While the well-known AI companies have been ramping up their spending in recent years, a new tech player is also buying influence across the state: the cryptocurrency industry.

Two years ago, a cryptocurrency Super PAC spent $10 million on ads against Democrat Katie Porter in the U.S. Senate primary. Last year, both Coinbase, which facilitates cryptocurrency transactions, and A16Z, one of the largest venture capital funds in the world with financial stakes in cryptocurrency companies, spent a record amount on state lobbying: $200,000 and $300,000, respectively.

Recently, two crypto-aligned billionaires made clear that they plan to spend tens of millions of dollars in state politics.

Last year was a relatively big year for Coinbase’s state political operations. The company contributed $155,000 to campaigns, including $60,000 to the California Democratic Party and $60,000 to a corporate political action committee. It also made behested payments for the first time, spending $95,000 at the request of five legislators — three Democrats and two Republicans.

Coinbase did not respond to requests for comment.

So what can one buy for $39 million?

“It sounds like a lot of money, it is a lot of money, but in statewide politics it’s not a huge amount of money,” said Jim Ross, a campaign consultant who worked on over 100 campaigns in California across 30 years.

But $39 million puts tech at the top of the money-for-influence leaderboard alongside the oil and gas industry, which is historically one of the largest spenders. Last year, fossil fuel companies spent almost $34 million lobbying the state, according to an analysis from Politico, and $5.3 million in campaign contributions, according to a CalMatters analysis.

Corporate political spending goes up because businesses want a particular outcome when the government is thinking about regulation, Ross added. “That is when they’re going to engage.”

“It’s so worth their bottom line to spend the money up front,” said Jeremy Mack, executive director of the Phoenix Project, which monitors money in Bay Area politics. It’s cheaper, he said, “to buy out the politicians, as opposed to going up against them if they get someone in there that’s opposed to their interests.”

The money also serves as a signal to elected officials and advocates that the companies are well capitalized and willing to spend to win. Even those legislators who might not accept money from a company are still aware of the large sums being invested, especially if it’s for an opponent.

“It has a chilling effect on all the other legislators who may or may not be getting money spent against them, but they see that war chest and they worry about what it might mean if it is spent against them,” said Bracy, of TechEquity. “They would worry about what it would mean for them in some future election.”

Even so, the companies may think of the money they’re spending now as an investment to perhaps avoid statewide campaigns later. Since January, wealthy Silicon Valley investors have already put millions of dollars into fighting a proposed wealth-tax initiative.

“Of course, it’s not the case that money wins every single time,” said McMorris. “But that doesn’t change the fact that it gives an advantage, extreme advantage, to the wealthy and the powerful special interests, and even when they lose, they’re still, to some degree, buying influence.”

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.