California State Association of Counties CEO warns federal health care budget puts rural hospitals at risk | California Politics 360
One of the companies impacted by this new law is OpenAI. OpenAI is known for its online AI chatbot known as Chat GPT. Joining us now is Chan Park, OpenAI’s head of US public policy. Chan, thank you so much for being with us. Ashley. Well, first, let’s start with Senate Bill 53 here in California. I mean, how is OpenAI feeling now that it’s going into effect, and do you have any concerns? You know, we’re really pleased that the bill, as it turned out, actually creates *** pathway for harmonization towards federal and state government oversight. I think one of the concerns we raised was that Ah, we thought there was *** particular role for states to play and *** particular role for federal governments to play, and I think seeing that, but the governor as well as the bill itself reflect the fact that there’s *** pathway to harmonization where there can be *** really important role for states to play, but more importantly for national security matters, things like chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear weapons, things like that, that are important for our national security and global competitiveness, that there’s *** pathway for harmonization there. On that harmonization for those that have concerns about this general patchwork of state laws trying to regulate AI, do you see SB 53 really actually guiding federal policy on this just given the politics right now in this country? I think it’s *** good example for how we can have *** bill that actually does create that pathway. I think what we’re worried about, along with some other folks and companies and industry players out there is that there’s going to be this disparate patchwork of state laws like you mentioned, and that there really wouldn’t be an opportunity for there to be some harmonization and consistency. So that you aren’t dealing with 50 or more different uh laws out there. Uh, so I think the fact that SB 53 does reflect that there’s that opening, that pathway for that harmonization is really an important step forward. Generally in this regulation discussion with AI, I mean, what role does open AI think the federal government should play in all of this? Should it take larger steps than it has? I mean, I think they, the federal government has always played an important role, certainly in the development of the science here and the standards, we were one of the first companies in the world, frankly, to sign on. Ah, and agree with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, now called the KC, the federal government to, uh, work with them to try and develop these standards, to work on safety testing. I think the federal government has real expertise when it comes to matters of national security that would require classified information or really um high level technical expertise, um, that you can centralize at the federal government level, and so I think that’s one of the reasons why we still do believe that the federal government can and should be leading in this space. John, bringing you back to SB 53, what is OpenAI doing to prevent catastrophe risks that you can share that I guess you’ll have to share with the state eventually? Yeah, I’m glad you asked that question and I really appreciate um kind of the ways in which we have led ah in this space, or rather, I’m proud of the way we’ve led in the space, um, preventing catastrophic risks is really central to how we design or test or deploy our systems. It’s really fundamental to who we are, it’s open AI and what we’ve really been doing for *** number of years. Um, we were the first in the industry to really um develop and publish *** preparedness framework. Uh, we were pioneering in the ways we published and developed our model cards, explaining the technology, explaining the safeguards we put in place. We do red teaming on new release, new releases of models, uh, where we try to uncover potential risks related to cyber or nuclear che chemical, biological ah uses, and we make that all transparent and available for people to review and test and to examine. And so I think we’re really proud of that work. Um, I think it’s *** testament to the really hard work that *** lot of the researchers and engineers at OpenAI have done for *** number of years and so it’s really um In some ways gratifying to see not just SP 53, but laws around the country and the world start to model some of that industry leading work. All right, John Park, we really appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ashley. Well, 30 days out until the special election and *** change in voter registration trends, which party is gaining traction? We are 30 days out from the special election on redistricting. Voters will decide whether or not to adopt new congressional maps. They were designed by Democrats to try to counteract President Trump’s push to add more Republican seats in other states. This week, more than 23 million California voters will receive their ballots in the mail. Checking in on the numbers, as of last month, nearly. Half of all voters are registered with the Democratic Party. 25% of voters are registered with the Republican Party, and 22% are no party preference. But throughout the year there’s been some changes in voter registration, and with which party voters want to identify. Since February 10th, 82,000 people chose no party preference when registering to vote. There was also *** jump for the Republican Party with it gaining 48,000 voters. But Democrats only gaining 190 voters in 200 plus days. For *** closer look into the statistics and the impact on the special election, we welcome two political strategists Democratic strategist Stephen Mirviglio, Republican Tim Rosales, thank you both for joining us. Thank you. All right, Stephen, I want to start with you here, especially looking at those Democratic numbers. What is happening here and is any of this surprising to you? Well, I think it’s *** But it’s certainly not *** wave. You’ve got to remember that 20 years ago 1 in 3 voters was Republican. Now it’s 1 in 4. The number of Democrats is certainly flattened out, but there was only so much farther lower the Republicans actually could go. I think there’s certainly energy because they have the president in office and he’s fired up *** lot of people who vote, and there’s certainly been erosion among blacks and Latinos and younger voters among Democrats. Tim, what do you see happening here? Well I think you see not only Republicans gaining *** little bit in California, but also no party preference. We saw some gains there, those independent voters, and so whether people are moving to this notion that they’re not necessarily partisan, but they’re ideological. They have positions on opinions, but they’re not necessarily ready to join one party or the other, and I think that’s instructive and as political folks, that’s something we look at. All the time, is it surprising though for the Democratic Party with President Trump in office, you know, maybe some would expect that there would be more pushback in those voter registration numbers, but anything, any thoughts on that? Well, in the old days, you know, there used to be *** surge when things were on the ballot. People would register to vote just because they were interested in what was on the ballot. But now in California we have virtually automatic registration at DMV and switching parties is actually sort of *** longer term. trend to see because before you switch party you’re probably voting for that other party long before you actually make that move. And in terms of the Republican Party, is the president having any impact here? I think the national rhetoric is having an impact and what we see nationally, I think, is that we’ve heard it talked about, which is the Democratic Party is kind of in this tussle between the AOC wing and you see the Chuck Schumer. Old guard democratic wing. And so whether or not people are siding with one or the other, I think some that aren’t necessarily set into either camp might be kind of taking *** step back and asking for *** little bit of time out when it comes to their own personal political beliefs or where they want to line up. So I think that’s *** problem that Democrats have to figure out. Tim, on that note, how do you see these numbers, the situation impacting Prop 50? Well, I mean, still, Democrats have *** huge advantage in California, no question about that, and certainly Republicans have *** lot of work to do, and I think the question always has been for Prop 50, is this *** fairness issue? This is *** fairness issue, but which side of the fairness issue are the voters going to decide? And you know Californians have this kind of weird purple streak sometimes, and I think right now it’s about *** 50/50. Chances on both sides. Stephen, thoughts, I mean, do Democrats have this in the bag just based on the numbers? Well, you would think so, and I think that’s why the yes campaign is running nothing but anti-Trump ads and not talking about maps and redistricting and boundaries. The obvious choice is to make it *** referendum on Donald Trump because Democrats have the numbers. All right, Stephen Loveglio, Tim Rosales, we appreciate your insight. Thanks so much for joining us. All right, well, *** critical lifeline is under threat, rural Californians losing their hospitals, the trend we are seeing across the state and the factors at play. *** critical lifeline for Glen County communities is closing. The Glen Medical Center will close in *** matter of weeks, and this week they were forced to close their emergency room. We are *** lifeline for *** lot of folks in the Willows community, but also greater Glenn County. Um, people in this community, they don’t have transportation. They don’t have reliable gas money to get to places like Elo or Clos if they have an emergency. The hospital administrator says the federal government will no longer consider them *** critical access hospital, meaning the loss of *** key lifeline of funding. They are just one of several rural hospitals that have been at risk of closing for other financial reasons. Others are in IYO, Modoc, San Benito counties. With Medi-Cal, not paying what it costs to serve the public. Um, and with Medi-Cal essentially going bankrupt because of bad policy decisions by the Democrats and Gavin Newsom. Um, so, you know, the blame, you know, really needs to go at some of these policies that have really undermined the ability of rural hospitals. To survive. When they did an expansion on Medi-Cal, they expanded *** broken program without fixing the issues that our hospitals are going through when it comes to the utility costs, insurance costs, employee payroll tax, um, that we expanded *** program that doesn’t reimburse properly. It’s the result of issues that both state and federal lawmakers have known for years. Joining us now, the CEO of the California State Association of Counties, Graham Knas. Thank you so much for being with us. Good to be here. All right, so first I want to start with just what is the impact broadly. On counties across California if even just one of these hospitals close, well, it’s significant, Ashley, it’s truly significant. These hospitals are the lifeline in communities and the communities that we’re talking about IYO, San Benito, Modoc, even in rural Riverside, they’re no longer going to have access to *** hospital. So if *** person. Uh, if *** person wants to, uh, give *** childbirth, have childbirth, for example, in Nino County, they’ll need to drive nearly 4 hours to do that, 4 hours. There’ll be no emergency room in Glenn County. So and these don’t just impact those that are on Medi-Cal. These hospital closures impact the entire community. So for those that have private insurance, they too will not have *** place to go. So it impacts everyone in the community. An emergency and ambulance services. I mean, how could there be ripple effects on those services across the state? Well, those ripple effects happen when they need to now rely on larger health systems that are 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours away in order to help when there’s *** specialty service that is necessary, when there’s *** significant Injury or trauma that occurs in those locations because they won’t have the capacity to deal with those. And from our perspective that’s completely unacceptable and it was avoidable. I mean avoidable how? Well, we’ve had challenges in the rural health care system and the health care system for many years, so that’s not that part of it isn’t new. Federal government’s part of that state government’s part of that, sir, absolutely. California receives bottom of the barrel in terms of federal funding per eligible.
California State Association of Counties CEO warns federal health care budget puts rural hospitals at risk | California Politics 360
Updated: 8:30 AM PDT Oct 5, 2025
Graham Knaus, the CEO of the California State Association of Counties, is sounding the alarm about the rural hospital risks in the state. California is at risk of losing several rural hospitals because of financial issues related to both state and federal policies. “From our perspective, it’s completely unacceptable and it was avoidable,” Knaus said on California Politics 360. He noted people in communities such as Inyo, San Benito, parts of Riverside, Modoc and Glenn counties may need to go to larger hospital systems that are hours away. | RELATED | Watch this week’s full episode of California Politics 360 below”We’re just at the beginning,” Knaus said, stating the federal health care budget lawmakers recently passed will pull $1 trillion out of the health system in the country. “A substantial portion of that is going to happen in California. When that happens, hanging on by a thread will turn into a free-fall.” To see the full conversation with Knaus, watch the video player above. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channelWatch California Politics 360 Sundays at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Graham Knaus, the CEO of the California State Association of Counties, is sounding the alarm about the rural hospital risks in the state.
California is at risk of losing several rural hospitals because of financial issues related to both state and federal policies.
“From our perspective, it’s completely unacceptable and it was avoidable,” Knaus said on California Politics 360.
He noted people in communities such as Inyo, San Benito, parts of Riverside, Modoc and Glenn counties may need to go to larger hospital systems that are hours away.
| RELATED | Watch this week’s full episode of California Politics 360 below
“We’re just at the beginning,” Knaus said, stating the federal health care budget lawmakers recently passed will pull $1 trillion out of the health system in the country. “A substantial portion of that is going to happen in California. When that happens, hanging on by a thread will turn into a free-fall.”
To see the full conversation with Knaus, watch the video player above.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
Watch California Politics 360 Sundays at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.