[UPDATED] The United Teachers of Pasadena has adopted a resolution calling for “fully staffed, stable, integrated” schools across Pasadena Unified. A union representative read a statement summarizing the resolution to the Board of Education during the board’s June 11 meeting.

“This resolution is built around a simple principle,” the union’s statement told the board: “every student in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre deserves access to a fully staffed, stable, integrated, and high-quality public school.”

The resolution arrives as the district works to close a projected 2026-27 budget shortfall its own figures put at $30 million to $35 million — pressures that have already driven layoffs and a now-paused school-consolidation review affecting campuses in Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre. The union casts its document as an alternative course: invest in neighborhood schools rather than manage decline.

It calls on PUSD to minimize layoffs and involuntary transfers, protect direct student services, and preserve programs the union says families value most — among them arts, music, libraries, counseling, world languages, athletics, special education services, mental health supports and strong classroom instruction at every campus.

The resolution also asks the district to pursue a long-term enrollment-recovery strategy that strengthens neighborhood schools, advances racial and socioeconomic integration, ensures a high-quality educational experience across the district, and rebuilds public trust in the district.

It sets conditions on any future restructuring. Should the district pursue transformation efforts “such as consolidations,” the union calls for transparency, independent equity analysis, meaningful community engagement, protections for displaced students and staff, class-size caps and equitable reinvestment across all campuses.

The resolution states that the union “rejects any restructuring in which some schools are systematically under-resourced, chronically understaffed, racially and socioeconomically segregated, or deprived of enrichment opportunities while others are allowed to flourish.”

The union ties its concerns to the district’s recent fiscal decisions. PUSD enrollment has fallen from 17,267 students in 2014-15 to 13,228 in the current school year, a decline of about 23% that district projections attribute to factors including declining birth rates, the expiration of one-time pandemic relief funds and the January 2025 Eaton Fire, which damaged campuses in Altadena.

The resolution offers a longer view, stating that enrollment has dropped “from more than 23,000 students in 2000 to approximately 13,000 students today, with further declines projected.”

To help close the budget gap, the board on Feb. 26 voted 6-1 to approve sweeping staff reductions for 2026-27. “The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education made the difficult decision to reduce approximately 151 full-time-equivalent positions to address our financial challenges and ensure the district’s stability,” Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said in a statement at the time. Blanco said the reductions were forced by declining enrollment, rising costs and the expiration of COVID-19 relief funds.

The union’s call for consolidation safeguards follows the district’s now-paused review of possible school closures. On May 28, the board voted against accepting a draft Equity Impact Analysis prepared as part of that process; the district subsequently said previously scheduled public hearings, a board retreat and board action on the process would not proceed as planned. The district’s School Consolidation Advisory Committee had concluded its work May 11. The review was launched under Board Resolution 2852, “Establishing Optimal School Sizes,” and the district adopted equity metrics outlined in AB 1912, a state law that calls for an equity impact analysis, community engagement and transparency. An earlier draft list had identified campuses including Don Benito, Webster, Norma Coombs, McKinley, Eliot Arts Magnet, Thurgood Marshall and Blair for possible closure or consolidation.

The district has not publicly responded to the union’s resolution. United Teachers of Pasadena President Jonathan Gardner has pressed the union’s staffing message in earlier appearances; at the February board meeting he said,”The best thing for kids and staff is always stability and making sure that we have full staff.”

The resolution further calls on the district to spend above what the union describes as a legally mandated 55% minimum on classroom instruction, to reduce central-office and non-classroom administrative costs where feasible, to minimize reliance on contracted services, and to adopt a districtwide Community Schools framework coordinating academic, health, social-service, after-school and family-engagement assets across all school sites.

The union says it will distribute the resolution widely — to local elected officials, community organizations, parent groups, labor partners and the broader Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre community.

“Our message is simple,” UTP said, “the path forward is not managed decline. The path forward is investing in stable, well-resourced, integrated schools that give families reasons to choose and remain in PUSD.”

The twice-monthly series, presented with West Altadena Wine + Spirits, continues June 12 with $5 admission and first-floor access to the 1908 Craftsman home

A Pasadena Craftsman landmark and an Altadena wine retailer will return to the Gamble House lawn Friday, June 12, for the next installment of a twice-monthly summer evening series that pairs picnics and live music with after-hours access to the historic home’s first floor.

The series, called “Friday Nights at The Gamble House with West Altadena Wine + Spirits,” opened May 8 and runs on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month through August, with eight evenings total. The remaining 2026 dates are June 12, June 26, July 10, July 24, August 14, and August 28, each from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Non-members pay $5 for general admission or $40 for admission with a wine tasting. Members enter free and pay $35 for the tasting. Children 12 and under are admitted at no charge.

The Pasadena–Altadena partnership is built into the name. West Altadena Wine + Spirits, located on North Lincoln Avenue in Altadena, pours the wine flights. Triple Beam Pizza fires slices from a mobile oven on the grounds. Picnics are permitted; outside alcohol and pets are not. Wine tasting is limited to guests 21 and older, who must show identification at check-in. Inside the house, docents are stationed in each room to answer questions about the architecture and its history.

“While people are on site, the first floor of the house is open for touring, and we have docents stationed inside the house to answer people’s questions,” Sheryl Scott, director of communications and operations for the Gamble House Conservancy, said in an interview with Pasadena Weekly. “So that’s part of the ticket price.”

The series is part of a broader push by the Conservancy to draw casual visitors who might not book a guided tour. “We have really increased our public programming to welcome the public in,” Scott said.

The Gamble House sits at 4 Westmoreland Place near Orange Grove Boulevard. The 1908 Greene & Greene house was created by architects Charles and Henry Greene as a winter residence for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter & Gamble Company. The home was deeded to the City of Pasadena in 1966 and designated a local, state, and National Historic Landmark in 1977. The nonprofit Gamble House Conservancy operates the property. Last year, the Conservancy installed the Hummingbird Cantina on the grounds in response to the Eaton Fire, according to NBC Los Angeles.

The series schedules a different musical act each Friday. According to the Gamble House website, upcoming performers include the rock band Maiden Names on June 26, reggae and ska musician Alfredo Gonzalez on July 10, the Wise Guys Big Band on July 24, R&B and soul artist Gal Pearl on August 14, and Pasadena Youth Night on August 28.

Tickets are available at gamblehouse.org or by calling (626) 793-3334. Free public parking is available on Westmoreland Place and along Orange Grove Boulevard.

“Not everyone wants to engage with the house in the same way,” Scott said. “It allows people to kind of dip their toe in and see what we have as far as programming.”

Friday Nights at The Gamble House — 4 Westmoreland Place, 5:30–7:30 p.m. | https://gamblehouse.org/mec-events/friday-nights/ newsnroses

[photo credit: Altadena Historical Society]

The Altadena Historical Society marks the holiday with a trail dedication, a scholarship luncheon and the voices of Eaton Fire survivors.

The Altadena Historical Society marks Juneteenth this year by walking the community’s history into the foothills. On Friday, June 19, its annual Juneteenth Celebration and Scholarship Awards begins at 8:30 a.m. at the JPL East Parking Lot, where participants gather before setting out on a 3.2-mile round-trip community hike along the El Prieto Trail. The destination is a newly installed handcrafted bench at the El Prieto Canyon trailhead, built by Eagle Scout candidate Elias Silva of Troop 333 as a permanent place to pause and reflect on the area’s layered Black and Indigenous history.

At noon, the celebration moves to Loma Alta Park for a community luncheon and program. The afternoon features a photo exhibit by award-winning local photographer Alfred Haymond, quilt displays by master quilters, and a program exploring the significance of Juneteenth while honoring the legacy of Ellen Garrison Clark, the 19th-century educator and civil rights activist who spent her final years in the Pasadena area and is buried in Altadena. Attendees will also get a preview of oral history recordings gathered from residents affected by the Eaton Fire — testimony the society is archiving to preserve the voices of Altadena’s African American community for future generations.

In tribute to Clark, the society will present scholarships to graduating seniors, continuing a tradition it launched in 2021 with support from local businesses and members. The Altadena Historical Society is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and sharing the community’s history.

The Juneteenth Celebration and Scholarship Awards will run on Friday, June 19, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the JPL East Parking Lot for the community hike and continuing at noon at Loma Alta Park, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave., Altadena. For more information and tickets, email altadenahistorical.society@yahoo.com or visit altadenahistoricalsociety.org.

My Tribe Rise hosts a Friday night Backyard Boogie and a Saturday festival as the community marks freedom and recovery.

For Altadena, Juneteenth this year is both a celebration and a statement of endurance. The community will mark the holiday with two events organized by My Tribe Rise, the Black-led Altadena mutual-aid group that has been a steady presence in the neighborhood’s recovery since the January 2025 Eaton Fire. More than 20 organizations have come together to present the celebrations.

The weekend opens Friday, June 19 with a Backyard Boogie night party from 5 to 10 p.m., featuring the band Jammetry and a performance by “American Idol” alum Edi Callier. The festivities continue Saturday, June 20 with a festival and community fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Metropolitan Baptist Church, 2283 N. Fair Oaks Ave. in Altadena.

The gatherings carry added weight in a community still rebuilding. My Tribe Rise, founded in 2019 around a peace-and-unity mission it calls the P.E.A.C.E. movement — positive energy activates constant elevations — shifted much of its work after the fire toward recovery navigation, food and housing assistance, and direct support for displaced families. Its annual Juneteenth celebration has long doubled as a day of music, food and fellowship that brings Altadena and Pasadena neighbors together.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. In Altadena, the holiday lands this year as a chance to celebrate both that history and the community’s hard-won resilience.

Altadena’s Juneteenth celebrations will run on Friday, June 19 from 5 to 10 p.m. (Backyard Boogie night party) and Saturday, June 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (festival and community fair) at Metropolitan Baptist Church, 2283 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Altadena. See the My Tribe Rise website for additional information.

The monthly meeting pairs a Southern California Edison presentation with legislative updates touching recovery and housing.

The Altadena Town Council holds its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, with an agenda that keeps the community’s two preoccupations — utility costs and the rules governing rebuilding — front and center. The session is open to the public, and residents will have time to address the council during general public comment.

Southern California Edison is scheduled to present on customer savings programs and provide updates, a perennial topic in a community where the January 2025 Eaton Fire and the utility’s response remain central concerns. The agenda also includes legislative updates on Senate Bill 9 and Senate Bill 1090, with the discussion expected to feature state Senator Sasha Renée Pérez and Assemblymember John Harabedian. Public safety reports are slated from the Altadena Sheriff’s Station, the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The Altadena Town Council serves as an ombudsman for the unincorporated community, conveying residents’ needs and wishes to county, state and federal agencies and providing a forum for neighbors to weigh in on issues of local concern. The council meets on the third Tuesday of each month, and its sessions are recorded.

Residents who cannot attend in person can watch the meeting on Pasadena Media’s YouTube channel.

The Altadena Town Council meeting will run on Tuesday, June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena. The meeting is open to the public and can be viewed on Pasadena Media’s YouTube channel.

The two California legislators whose bills now govern how Altadena rebuilds after the Eaton Fire will appear before residents Tuesday evening — and a Southern California Edison representative will take the microphone after them at the Altadena Town Council.

State Senator Sasha Renee Perez and Assemblymember John Harabedian, joined by Los Angeles County Deputy Supervisor for Planning and Development Anish Saraiya, are scheduled to brief the Altadena Town Council on Senate Bills 9 and 1090, the legislation the agenda describes as governing key aspects of the community’s ongoing rebuilding efforts. The public will be permitted to comment when they finish.

Then Edison takes its turn. A company representative is slated to present on customer savings programs and related utility matters. Public comment will follow that presentation as well.

The meeting convenes at 7:00 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, with a live broadcast on Pasadena Media’s YouTube channel.

The rest of the agenda reads less like a town council’s monthly business and more like the standing order of a community still running on recovery time. Updates are scheduled from the Council’s committees on Land Use; Renters Protection and Recovery; Rebuilding and Infrastructure; Safe Streets and Mobility; Legislative Affairs; Education; and Bylaws. Census tract reports for tracts 4610 and 4603.01 are set to close the night.

Public safety reports are expected from the Altadena Sheriff’s Station, the California Highway Patrol, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The Department of Parks and Recreation and the Christmas Tree Lane Association will deliver community reports.

Residents who want to address the Council during the general public comment period are asked to fill out a card at the back of the room and hand it to a Council Member before the period opens. Remarks are capped at two minutes. The Council will not respond in the room; anyone who wants an answer is asked to leave contact information on the card.

The Altadena Town Council will convene its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Altadena Community Center, located at 730 E. Altadena Drive. The proceedings will also be broadcast live on Pasadena Media YouTube channel for residents who are unable to attend in person.

Colorado Boulevard in its early days. [Pasadena Museum of History]

The free Pasadena Museum of History celebration runs noon to 4 p.m. on the Fényes Estate campus and marks the city’s 140th, Route 66’s centennial and Colorado Boulevard’s 150th anniversary

The Pasadena Museum of History and the City of Pasadena will throw the city its annual birthday party on Sunday, June 14, with a free, all-ages celebration that doubles this year as a tribute to two highway milestones — the centennial of Route 66 and the 150th anniversary of Colorado Boulevard.

Billed as “Happy Birthday Pasadena: Highway to Adventure!”, the event runs from noon to 4 p.m. on the museum’s Fényes Estate campus at 470 W. Walnut St. and marks Pasadena’s 140th birthday alongside the two road anniversaries. Admission and parking are free, and no reservations are required.

Mayor Victor Gordo and special guests are scheduled to cut a three-tiered birthday cake at 2 p.m., according to the museum’s event page, with cake, lemonade and popcorn served throughout the afternoon.

The museum’s event page lists a road-trip-themed lineup across the two-acre campus: vintage automobiles and motorcycles staged for photo opportunities by local collectors and clubs, including the Jewel City Model A Club and the Pasadena Motorcycle Club; a watercolor workshop with the Pasadena Society of Artists; an Art 2 Go craft station where children build cardboard race cars; face painting; Pump & Splash water toys; a Greetings Tour mini-mural station; and a 3D chalk mural by artist Alex J. Cabalu. A live music act billed on the page as “4 on the Floor” is scheduled to perform, and the day also includes Pasadena history trivia contests and on-campus scavenger hunts.

The party coincides with the opening weekend of the museum’s new exhibition, “Where History Meets the Road: Celebrating Route 66 & Colorado Boulevard,” which opened June 13 and runs through Jan. 24, 2027. Its centerpiece is a 70-foot-long, five-foot-high illustrated canvas scroll — the Route 66 Pathway Project from Claremont Graduate University’s Center for Humanities in Practice — tracing the highway’s California leg from the Santa Monica coast to Needles at the state’s eastern edge. The project, led by John Bohn with Joshua Goode, was inspired by 1915 road-map booklets from the Southern California Automobile Association. During regular hours the exhibition carries standard admission of $9 general and $7 for seniors and is free for members, students and visitors under 18; it is free during Sunday’s event.

Pasadena incorporated as a charter city on June 19, 1886 — the second city to incorporate in what is now Los Angeles County — placing its 140th anniversary in 2026. U.S. Route 66 was officially established on Nov. 11, 1926, eventually running 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica before its decommissioning in 1985; Colorado Boulevard, which originated in 1876 with a general store and post office at Fair Oaks Avenue, forms part of the historic Route 66 corridor through Pasadena and remains the route of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Community partners taking part include Pasadena Heritage, which contributed oral histories to the exhibition, and the Altadena Historical Society.

The museum, a private nonprofit dedicated to the history, art and culture of Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley, is at 470 W. Walnut St.; more information is at pasadenahistory.org or (626) 577-1660. The Route 66 programming continues through the summer with ticketed author talks and walking tours.

Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St., Pasadena. For more call (626) 577-1660 or visit pasadenahistory.org. Tickets: Free; no reservations required.

Senator Sasha Renee Perez via Facebook

State Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez this week unveiled new amendments to a wildfire recovery bill that would temporarily block California’s marquee housing density laws in fire-scarred Altadena, escalating a local fight over real estate speculation after the Eaton Fire.

SB 1090, known as the “Keep Altadena Land in Altadena Hands Act,” would impose a five-year moratorium on the ministerial approvals required by Senate Bills 9 and 1123 for projects in Altadena ZIP codes 91001 and 91003, covering applications filed from Jan. 7, 2025 through Jan. 7, 2030. The measure cleared the state Senate late last month and on June 11 was re-referred to Assembly housing and local government committees for hearings expected in the coming weeks.

Pérez, a Pasadena Democrat whose district includes Altadena, said the bill responds to reports that corporate investors are using SB 9 and SB 1123 to buy fire-damaged lots from distressed Eaton Fire survivors and pursue higher-density projects that could overwhelm local infrastructure. “Allowing up to ten homes to be rebuilt on a single-family lot will overwhelm the existing infrastructure and destabilize this special community as it works to recover,” Pérez said in a statement announcing the bill.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the unincorporated community and is sponsoring SB 1090, said many Eaton Fire survivors already face “an enormous emotional burden” as they attempt to rebuild and should not have to worry about speculative development reshaping their neighborhoods. “Altadena’s future should be shaped by the people who have long called it home and not by outside interests looking to capitalize on a tragedy,” Barger said.

The legislation also would bar individuals or entities that own 75 or more single-family homes from making unsolicited offers to purchase properties in wildfire disaster areas for five years after a state of emergency is declared, a provision aimed at out-of-town investors targeting burned-out homeowners with low cash bids.

Altadena Town Council Chair Nic Arnzen, who lost his own home in the 2025 fire, called SB 1090 a model of collaboration between local leaders and Sacramento. “We can do great things when we unite in this way,” Arnzen said.

Local coverage this week in Pasadena Now framed the measure as an effort to extend to Altadena the kind of SB 9 relief Gov. Gavin Newsom granted Pacific Palisades under a 2025 executive order, noting that most of Altadena’s burn area was left out of those protections.

Housing advocates and pro-growth groups are expected to scrutinize SB 1090 as it heads to the Assembly. First hearings have not yet been scheduled.

File photo of previous anti-ICE protest in Pasadena. [Eddie Rivera/Pasadena Now]

A year after immigration raids reached Pasadena, organizers say roughly a thousand people will line Woodbury Road from Lincoln Avenue to Lake Avenue on Saturday

The day laborers who hauled away ash and framed new walls across Altadena after last year’s fire plan to return to the same streets on Saturday — this time not to work, but to stand shoulder to shoulder.

Hundreds are expected b organizers to link arms Saturday morning in a human chain along Woodbury Road, from Lincoln Avenue to Lake Avenue, in an action the National Day Laborer Organizing Network calls “La Muralla Humana,” the Human Shield.

The Pasadena-based network timed the event to one year after immigration raids swept the Los Angeles region, and it says the chain is meant to protect the immigrant workers who rebuilt after the Eaton Fire and who now labor under the threat of detention.

In the weeks that followed the Eaton Fire, day laborers organized through NDLON and its Pasadena Community Job Center became early responders, clearing debris, hauling ash, and distributing donations, often at little or no cost to families returning to contaminated homes.

Advocates have called the immigrant laborers “second responders.” The job center channeled that effort into support for 27,000 people, the Christian Science Monitor reported.

Then the immigration raids reached Pasadena. Federal enforcement operations across the region began June 6; on June 18, ICE agents detained six people at a bus stop on Orange Grove Boulevard. Mayor Victor Gordo said the men had been waiting for a bus to Altadena to help rebuild.

The City Council voted days later to condemn the operations, and Rep. Judy Chu, who represents Pasadena, cited “multiple alarming ICE operations” in her District. The Department of Homeland Security has described its Los Angeles operations as targeting “criminal illegal aliens.”

The chain is set for 9 a.m. to noon, with participants carrying hand-painted banners reading “ICE Out. Hands Off Dena” and “Who Protects the Hands Rebuilding Our Homes?” NDLON has called it “a living act of love, protection, and solidarity.”

The sign above the front desk of the Department of Motor Vehicles in central Fresno on Dec. 13, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters

The California Legislature wants to stall plans to share information about California drivers — including more than 1 million immigrant license holders who lack federal authorization to live in the U.S. — with a little-known nonprofit agency made up of motor vehicle administrators across the nation.

The Assembly and Senate’s budget agreement, released Thursday night, withholds $55 million in funding for the California Department of Motor Vehicles to link to a database that would begin fulfilling requests for information from other states about California drivers early next year.

The governor’s office and DMV want to share that information with the State-to-State system and SPEX platform, which lets states check for duplicate licenses and is operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

Because the system records the last five digits of a driver’s Social Security number and uses a placeholder such as “99999” for people without one, opponents of the plan warned it could easily flag drivers who lack a Social Security number.

Immigrant advocates worry the upload could leave undocumented Californians vulnerable to deportation if the information goes to Border Patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  Californians are eligible to obtain a standard driver’s license regardless of their immigration status under a 2014 law known as Assembly Bill 60.

State officials say the data sharing is needed to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, which sets requirements for accepting state identification at federal facilities such as airports.

In response to the Legislature’s budget proposal, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson encouraged people who lack federal authorization to live in the U.S. to leave the country.

The Senate released its budget proposal Tuesday evening, and the funding for the DMV’s State-to-State Verification program was not included. The Legislature must adopt a budget by June 15 but has until June 30 to negotiate budget details with the governor.

Leaving out the $55 million from the state budget would not completely kill the DMV’s plan, advocates said. Budget negotiations between the two houses and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office could continue. Lawmakers could still revive the appropriation through follow-up budget legislation or a separate budget bill.

But it could mean the DMV is unlikely to receive the funding by July 1, the date it had targeted to begin sharing the data, according to Jessie Schmitte, a state policy manager with Alliance San Diego, a community-based human rights organization, which has been tracking the proposal. Nearly 200 organizations signed on to a letter by the coalition in opposition to the DMV data sharing plan. The data sharing plan also attracted protestors to a San Francisco branch of the DMV earlier this month.

Some advocates credited CalMatters with bringing the issue to light in a news story earlier this year.

“As you probably know, a lot of organizations weren’t aware of these conversations until, thankfully, the CalMatters article came out and brought air into this conversation for everybody who has not had a seat at the table,” said Schmitte. “If you were really serious about protecting Californians and doubling down on privacy concerns, you wouldn’t be running away from these conversations.”

The DMV needs more than funding to carry out the plan. State law prohibits the DMV from sharing a Social Security number obtained through the licensing process for most purposes, which means the state needs additional legislation before providing information to the national nonprofit, a step the DMV’s own budget request notes.

The state wants to provide the information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is made up of DMV officials from across the country. It would be used to help other states ensure that people don’t simultaneously hold identification documents elsewhere. Advocates worry local officials in those states might pass to the federal government information from the association database on apparent unauthorized immigrants. The association has said its database can’t be searched in bulk or without specific information like name and date of birth.

A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said discussions about the California DMV funding are ongoing. Staff for two other lawmakers did not respond to a request for information about negotiations.

Newsom’s office referred questions to the Department of Finance. Spokesperson H.D. Palmer said “discussions have been underway and are continuing.”

At this late hour, it seems unlikely a compromise could be reached by the deadline the DMV gave, said Andrea Guerrero, the founding executive director of Alliance San Diego.

“It’s hard to imagine what kind of change could be made while we’re standing at the end of a plank,” she said.

Ed Hasbrouck with civil liberties group The Identity Project attended protests against the data sharing plan at DMV offices in San Francisco earlier this month and joined a call with the governor’s office and DMV about the data sharing plan in April.

He’s pleased lawmakers decided to put off the funding for now, but said going forward the most important thing for the public and legislators to understand is that once data about California drivers enters a multi-state database, guardrails are no longer possible, because the plan requires sharing data about all license holders.

Ultimately, he said, the state is going to have to make a choice: Either to overturn the promises made in AB 60 and place immigrant and other Californians at risk, or decide not to comply with the Real ID Act and defend those Californians.

“It’s been postponed but that’s a choice the state is going to have to make. It can’t just avoid it,” he said.

CalMatters reporter Yue Stella Yu contributed to this story.

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