In the News

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law aimed at cracking down on the underground market fueling the surge in copper wire theft that has left many communities, including Boyle Heights, in the dark.

AB 476, authored by State Assemblymember Mark González and signed on Monday, is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026. 

Little resistance to the bill: Assemblymember Mark González, who represents areas of L.A. that include downtown and Boyle Heights, introduced the bill in 2025. It had passed the state Assembly and Senate floors unanimously before landing on Newsom's desk. Reaction from Gonzalez: In an Oct. 13 news release, González thanked the governor for signing the bill and said it will lead to California "turning the lights back on." He added that the bill removes "any incentive to steal copper wire or critical public infrastructure," referring to the idea that increased regulation of recyclers will leave

What’s the status of the bill: Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, who represents downtown L.A. and Boyle Heights — among the neighborhoods most affected by copper wire theft — introduced the bill in February. It passed the state Assembly and Senate floors unanimously. Now, it’s up to Newsom.

Local officials in Los Angeles are urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would help curb copper wire theft across the state.

At a news conference in downtown LA on Monday, Assemblymember Mark González was joined by LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna and other officials calling on Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 476 (AB 476) Metal Theft.

Local and state leaders gathered under the 6th Street Bridge on Monday to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign AB 476, a bill aimed at curbing copper wire theft across California.

Authored by Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, the bill seeks to address a growing issue that has affected a vital part of infrastructure, particularly in communities like Boyle Heights, where copper wire theft has left the 6th Street Bridge dark for nearly two years.

My mom is no stranger to hardship. She raised me as a single mother working long hours, living paycheck to paycheck, while facing the loss of three sons — one to drowning, one to an aneurysm and one to an epileptic seizure.

She turned her grief into strength and taught me what resilience looks like, even when it feels like the world is against you.

"When ICE grabbed me, they never showed a warrant or explained why," the lead plaintiff, Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, said in a statement released by his lawyers. "I was treated like I didn't matter — locked up, cold, hungry and without a lawyer. Now, the Supreme Court says that's OK? That's not justice. That's racism with a badge."

"This ruling puts millions of citizens and immigrants under suspicion simply for existing," said Assembly Member Mark Gonzalez, D-Los Angeles.  "That's not law and order — that's discrimination wearing the mask of justice."

"When I see them on the street, I'm not their assigned primary care provider, and I can't order basic things for them," Feldman said. "Only the person who they're not seeing can order those things."

Assembly Bill 543, which Feldman helped craft with the bill's author Assemblymember Mark González, would change that. Co-authors include Assemblymembers Sade Elhawary, John Harabedian, Celeste Rodriguez, Pilar Schiavo and Matt Haney.

AB 543 (Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez) would prohibit care delays based on managed care network assignments and provide patients four to six weeks of care while their Medi-Cal eligibility is verified. Feldman said this change would allow doctors to make an immediate and large impact on patient health. The bill also seeks to create a patient identification and data-sharing network so street medicine teams can more quickly identify patients most in need of care.

"It's so hard because you just don't know what's going to happen next," said state Assemblymember Mark González, a Democrat who represents Boyle Heights and other Latino communities downtown. "It's like a game of Whac-A-Mole."

Just as the city has been perceptibly changed by Trump's migrant clampdown, so has its mayor. Bass, who's long operated as an understated consensus-builder, has assumed the role of combatant for her embattled hometown.