Free Republic

The California lawmaker who wrote a consequential law requiring employers to provide benefits to more workers announced on Monday that she is resigning from the Assembly to become the chief executive of the state’s most powerful labor organization.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Friday that his company’s move to Texas was, in part, inspired by a California lawmaker's incendiary tweet to him.

On Saturday’s “Fox News Live,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) argued against funding for electric vehicle charging stations in the $1.2 trillion spending bill by saying that the government doesn’t build gas stations and “General Motors and Tesla should be paying for these.” Nehls said that while he does support spending on roads and bridges, he objects to spending on charging stations for electric vehicles, and “We shouldn’t be using taxpayer dollars to fund that. When’s the American — when has government ever built a gas station? So, why are we spending billions of dollars on putting these electrical vehicle stations...

About 17% of Cadillac’s 880 U.S. dealerships decide against spending for necessary upgrades About 150 General Motors Co . dealers have decided to part ways with Cadillac, rather than invest in costly upgrades required to sell electric cars, according to people familiar with the plans, indicating some retailers are skeptical about pivoting to battery-powered vehicles. GM recently gave Cadillac dealers a choice: Accept a buyout offer to exit from the brand or spend roughly $200,000 on dealership upgrades—including charging stations and repair tools—to get their stores ready to sell electric vehicles, these people said. ~snip~ Most dealers who accepted the...

By Rob McLean, CNN Business Tesla HQ is getting a new home. "I'm excited to announce that we're moving our headquarters to Austin, Texas," CEO Elon Musk said Thursday during a Tesla shareholders meeting. The electric car company is currently based in Palo Alto, California, near its original headquarters in San Carlos, and its first factory, in Fremont. Musk said Thursday that there is a "limit to how big you can scale in the Bay area."

Tesla Inc. is moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas, cementing Chief Executive Elon Musk’s commitment to the Lone Star State and adding to a handful of Silicon Valley companies that have relocated there.

Tesla is moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas, CEO Elon Musk announced at the company’s shareholder meeting on Thursday. The meeting took place at Tesla’s vehicle assembly plant under construction outside of Austin on a property that borders the Colorado River, near the city’s airport. However, the company plans to increase production in its California plant regardless of the headquarters move. “To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California,” Musk said. “Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory...

You may remember the controversial and rude statement from California’s Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (District 80) from last year regarding Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, which specializes in both electric vehicles and home energy solutions that include rooftop solar. Recently, Gonzalez not only backed but amended AB 1139, which could bring the state’s rooftop solar and storage market to a halt. The bill, nicknamed the “Anti-Solar Bill,” would kill the net energy metering policy that has allowed rooftop solar to grow sustainably Introduce new “grid access” monthly charge that will add $50–$86/month for the typical residential solar use. Adds prevailing...

Anti-police Seattle City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Lorena González pressured the Seattle Police Department to rescind an invite to a law enforcement appreciation dinner. The May event is being hosted by Rev. Franklin Graham and the Ministry of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The SPD Wellness Unit forwarded a link to the invite without commentary on April 14. But in Seattle, you don’t get to appreciate law enforcement — not if Gonzalez has anything to do with it. APRIL 18, 2021 AT 4:30 PM Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez. (Seattle Channel) Anti-police Seattle City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Lorena González pressured the Seattle...

Seattle’s City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday evening to override Mayor Jenny Durkan's veto of a bill that would cut police funding by around $3 million. "We cannot look away from this and we can no longer accept the status quo if we truly believe that Black lives matter," Council President Lorena Gonzalez said, according to MyNorthwest.com. The bill would also remove as many as 100 officers from various police units and limit staff pay to $150,000, The Seattle Times reported.

California has claimed victory over the horrible abuse and exploitation of workers at the hands of evil employers with a new bill, AB666, which will make it a crime to work for a living. The new bill, signed into law by Governor Newsom Thursday, will stop the mistreatment of workers forever by making it illegal to work. "Employers used to do bad things -- well, not anymore," said Newsom at the bill signing. "Not on my watch. This solution is guided by SCIENCE. Leading SCIENTISTS say that when you can't work, you can't be exploited by evil corporations and wicked...

SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Tuesday called on City Council President Lorena González to take action against Councilmember Kshama Sawant for a series of recent events that the mayor suggested broke the law and threatened the safety of others. In a scathing two-page letter, Durkan said Sawant was essentially playing political games in order to boost the council member's standing. "Disagreements on policy contribute to a robust public debate," Durkan said. "However, policy disagreements do not justify a Councilmember who potentially uses their position in violation of law or who recklessly undermines the safety of others, all for...

As president, Biden would replicate California’s repressive AB5 law. “Last year California passed AB5 affording gig workers protections and benefits like a minimum wage and overtime pay,” Joe Biden tweeted on Tuesday. “Now, gig economy giants are trying to gut the law and exempt their workers. It’s unacceptable. I urge Californians to vote no on the initiative this November.” The initiative, qualified for the ballot on May 22, establishes criteria for determining whether rideshare drivers are “employees” or “independent contractors.” AB5 also targets freelance writers and independent contractors in dozens of professions, including health care. Joe Biden was all in...

Dallas Mavericks Owner and billionaire investor Mark Cuban pushed back Wednesday on Tesla CEO Elon Musk for reportedly calling states' coronavirus shelter-in-place orders “fascist.” “Anything that negatively impacts Tesla, Elon hates, period, end of story,” Cuban said on “Fox News @ Night” on Wednesday. “I don’t think he has other people’s interests at heart. I mean, I don’t really know him at all, but that’s just my take.” During an earnings call on Wednesday, The Verge reported that Musk said, “The expansion of shelter-in-place, or as we call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes, against all their constitutional rights,...

The founder of Tesla thinks that "politicians and unelected bureaucrats" who have abused their power during the coronavirus pandemic deserve to be punished for their decisions to shut down state economies across the country.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Mich., criticized Tesla CEO Elon Musk for calling on the United States to reopen amid coronavirus in a Wednesday morning tweet. "Billionaires want to continue profiting off your labor even if it means risking millions of lives," Omar wrote. "They call this 'freedom.'"

<p>“Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be depend on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.”</p>

Californian independent contractors and freelancers got quite a shock Thursday evening when a state senator compared lost jobs to “lollipops.” Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson represents the 19th District in western Ventura County and Santa Barbara County. In a Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement meeting officials heard arguments for and against pushing forward SB 806 and SB990. The bills — put forth by Republican senators John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) and Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) — aimed to immediately suspend and amend the disastrous AB5 legislation that killed independent contracting/freelance jobs across the state. Moorlach and Grove have been two politicians at the...

<p>A California assemblywoman has drawn outrage with a blunt attack on Tesla’s plans to quit the Golden state — tweeting, “F–k Elon Musk.”</p> <p>Lorena Gonzalez sent the tweet late Saturday night shortly after Musk, 48, said he would move his pioneering tech company to either Texas or Nevada because of an ongoing spat about reopening in California.</p>

Since California’s controversial anti-freelancer bill was signed into law in September 2019, one (not unpredictable) result has been staffing shortages in the healthcare industry, particularly in fields generally staffed by contractors or locum tenens providers: physicians assistants, nurses, nurse anesthetists, and respiratory therapists. As the Wuhan coronavirus made its way into California, advocates who’ve been pushing to fix/amend/repeal AB5 let Asm. Lorena Gonzalez, the bill’s author, know in no uncertain terms that unless enforcement of AB5 was suspended until the crisis passed Californians who needed care from these professionals would die. Gonzalez didn’t listen, and people are dying. The populations...