Could Ire Over AI Data Centers Tilt the Midterm Elections?

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Opposition to AI data centers is rising in both red and blue states, stirring bipartisan outrage that could influence the outcome of many races in this fall’s midterm election, Rolling Stone reported.

Communities across the country have expressed concerns about electricity prices, water usage, environmental degradation, and tax breaks for developers. For many voters, a candidate’s stance welcoming or resisting the arrival of data centers could be a defining issue.

“Amid so much partisan division, opposition to data centers seems to be the thing that unites Americans right now,” said Megan Mullin, UCLA Luskin professor of public policy and faculty director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation.

“It’s tempting to attribute this resistance to a growing wariness about technology and the titans who control it, but in reality it’s rooted in the one thing that has always united Americans: our deep affinity for where we live.”

Samsung’s Bonus Dispute Sparks Calls for Structural Reform

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Samsung Electronics is facing mounting criticism over its newly approved wage and performance bonus system, which grants large payouts to employees across its semiconductor division, including support staff and workers in loss-making units, according to South Korean outlet Chosun.

Critics argue the compensation structure is inequitable, pointing to large bonuses awarded in underperforming semiconductor businesses while employees in consistently profitable divisions, such as smartphones, were excluded. The controversy has intensified concerns over growing divisions between Samsung’s semiconductor and consumer electronics operations.

Industry experts and academics say Samsung’s current model — which ties bonuses largely to business division performance and salary levels — is unsustainable for a diversified electronics company. Proposed reforms include company-wide bonus pools, individual performance-based compensation, and more transparent evaluation metrics. Some experts also advocated structural changes. Sanford Jacoby, a distinguished research professor at UCLA Anderson with appointments in public policy and history recommended the most structural solution, stating, “Samsung must consider spinning off the DS division.” Jacoby proposed that a spun-off DS division pay a fixed sum to headquarters for 10 years, with those funds redistributed across business units to reduce internal conflict.

Kauffman Study Shows Post-Pandemic Entrepreneurial Surge Alongside Growing Financial Uncertainty

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The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s latest 30-year study, as reported by KCUR’s Up To Date, shows that entrepreneurship in the United States has rebounded to post-pandemic levels, with millions of Americans launching new businesses in 2025. However, researchers also caution that the nature of entrepreneurship is shifting in important ways.

While startup activity is up, more individuals are beginning businesses out of financial necessity rather than opportunity, raising concerns about long-term economic stability and job quality. The study also highlights persistent barriers to entrepreneurship, particularly for women and historically underserved communities, including limited access to capital and uneven survival rates for new businesses.

Luskin professor of public policy Robert Fairlie and lead researcher of the Kauffman Indicators, notes that broader labor trends may be reshaping how Americans think about work. “Maybe it’s not just one job anymore,” Fairlie said. “People are piecing together income from multiple kinds of work… and entrepreneurship is becoming part of that mix.”

Rethinking Parking Lots to Combat Urban Heat and Flooding

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Cities across the U.S. are experimenting with alternatives to traditional asphalt parking lots to reduce urban heat and improve stormwater management as climate change intensifies. An Associated Press article highlighted new approaches include permeable pavement, reflective coatings, rain gardens, solar shade structures and reducing mandatory parking requirements altogether. Projects in cities such as New Orleans, Sacramento and Indianapolis aim to cool surfaces, absorb rainwater and cut pollution runoff into waterways.

According to urban planning professor Adam Millard—Ball, in some downtowns, parking takes up a quarter or more of the land, and studies show that more than a third of parking spaces can sit empty at any given time.

While alternative materials and redesigns can carry higher upfront costs, advocates argue their long-term environmental and public health benefits may outweigh initial expenses.

Manville Discusses Unintended Consequences of Los Angeles’ “Mansion Tax”

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Los Angeles’ “mansion tax,” Measure ULA, was created to fund affordable housing and homelessness programs through taxes on high-value property sales, but critics say it has also slowed apartment development amid the city’s housing shortage.

A recent article by The Wall Street Journal highlighted developers who abandoned multifamily housing projects after the tax increased costs on property transfers above $5.3 million, contributing to a sharp decline in multifamily construction permits and sales of multifamily-zoned properties.

“It’s a classic cautionary tale about this sort of ballot-box legislation,” said UCLA urban planning professor Michael Manville, pointing to the unintended consequences that can arise when complex housing policy is enacted through voter initiatives.

Supporters of the measure argue that high interest rates and broader economic conditions are largely responsible for the slowdown, and they defend the tax as an important funding source for tenant protections and affordable housing. Meanwhile, policymakers are considering amendments to the tax as opponents pursue a statewide repeal effort.

 

Brozen on the Safety of the Metro Influencing D Line Ridership

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Wilshire Boulevard is one of Los Angeles County’s most congested streets, sometimes taking nearly half an hour to move half a mile along the road. The recent opening of the D Line extension— a project decades in the making —promises dramatically shorter commutes between downtown, Beverly Hills, and the Westside. The line is predicted to move traffic through the entire city in approximately twenty-five minutes, but it remains to be seen how often residents of Los Angeles will use it.

One deterrent to use, according to several residents, is safety. Residents shared incidents where they felt unsafe, such as men screaming at them and following them, and a study found that about half of the university students who used the Metro were sexually harassed. An article by The New Yorker quoted deputy director of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies Madeline Brozen, who shared, “What we found is that frequency of how often a bus or train arrived is the No. 1 solution that helps people feel safer…Once riders are on the bus or train, they’re in the safest part of the system.” Metro has taken measures over the years to increase the safety of its services, including implementing the Ambassador program and stricter fare gates, but it will take some time for Los Angeles to shift its perspective on the Metro as well.

Why Trees Are Still Disappearing After the Palisades Fire

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The Palisades Fire that swept through southern California in January of 2025 led to not only the destruction of numerous buildings and homes, but also a large population of trees, according to an article by the Los Angeles Times. Although many of the trees have since recovered, researchers from UCLA recently discovered that nearly 20% of surviving street trees have already disappeared since the fires, raising concerns about the long-term loss of shade, cooling, air quality, and neighborhood character.

Several possible reasons have been proposed, such as insufficient efforts by local governments to ensure the trees are watered, mistakes in identification of dead trees by debris removal crews, and rapid removal for construction. 

Edith de Guzman, a researcher at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation investigating the trees affected by the fires, found these numbers concerning, as their study was focused only on public spaces, where the trees should have been under the protection of the city and county. She stated, “we are still seeing removals that are unnecessary, and the city is not sure who is responsible.”

Local groups are making efforts to save the remaining trees by supplying watering trucks, conducting property tree surveys, and planning a long-term planting program, ensuring that the trees which are vital to cooling California’s communities are protected.

Will the Opening of the D Line Change Commuter Behavior?

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The D Line connects several of Los Angeles’s most populated communities and includes stations near major destinations such as Beverly Hills and The Grove. While the extension is expected to provide a faster and more reliable alternative to driving, transportation experts question how much the new line will actually change commuter behavior

An article by the Los Angeles Times quoted Brian Taylor, professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA, who shared that the line must be “the best way to get around,” more so than driving, which is still relatively underpriced.

Residents in southern California have also expressed mixed opinions about using the D line, with some planning on using the new line regularly, and others stating that the long wait times would deter their usage. A spokesperson for Metro acknowledged the longer wait times, but described them as a starting point limited by factors like funding and staffing. According to Metro officials, they view this line as the beginning of a longer campaign for shifting more Angelenos towards using mass transit.

Michael Stoll Appointed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors

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California Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Michael Stoll, professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA, to the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of leading scholars and policy experts that advises the Governor and the California Department of Finance on key economic issues facing the state.

The council analyzes economic trends and provides guidance on state and federal developments, including trade policy, tariffs, technological change, and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on California’s economy. The newly announced council leadership includes Chair Renee Bowen of Georgetown University and Vice Chair Valentin Bolotnyy of Stanford University.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Newsom said the council’s expertise will help California navigate “federal shifts, global disruptions, and emerging challenges with creativity, resilience, and confidence” while strengthening the state’s position as the nation’s leading economy. “Together, we’re going to keep California moving forward and strengthening our position as the nation’s leading economy,” said Newsom.

Read the full press release here.

Data Center’s Water Use Draws Community Outrage

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A recent article by POLITICO examines growing tensions in Fayetteville, Georgia, after residents discovered a massive data center had used nearly 30 million gallons of water through untracked utility connections. The developer, Quality Technology Services (QTS), later paid nearly $150,000 in retroactive charges after county officials found two industrial-scale hookups were not properly monitored or billed.

The controversy intensified amid drought conditions and local calls for water conservation, fueling broader concerns about the environmental impact of rapidly expanding data centers. Greg Pierce, senior director of the Luskin Center for Innovation and the director of the Human Right to Water Solutions Lab, questioned why the company avoided penalties.

“I don’t know exactly what’s happening here, but they probably don’t want to upset one of their new and largest customers,” Pierce said.