A Washington Post opinion piece written by UCLA’s Michael Manville explores where Los Angeles’ Measure ULA, nicknamed the “mansion tax,” went wrong. Manville, a professor and chair of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, argues that any potential revenue from the measure is overly reliant on a small group of people who avoid the tax by choosing not to sell. The fallout of this changed behavior among the ultra-rich in the region has competed with efforts to build, “cannibalized” funds by depressing the local property tax revenue that supports schools and other services, and failed to address the real source of the housing crisis: scarcity. Read more about UCLA in today’s Associated Press, CNN, and others.

More highlights from UCLA in the News: June 30, 2026

‘Impossible choices’ migrants now face after TPS ruling | KCRW 89.9-FM

“The decision says not that the Trump administration acted lawfully in trying to end the program for about 400,000 people from Haiti and Syria. But actually, even worse, in my view, what the court says is: courts have no power to review if the administration is acting lawfully or not when it was making these decisions,” said UCLA’s Ahilan Arulanantham. (Arulanantham was also quoted by The Hill.)

Trump’s fixation on voting has had mixed results | Associated Press

“Republicans believe him when he says the election is rigged. And then when Republicans try to change voting rules to tighten things up, that causes Democrats to also think that the election system is being rigged,” [UCLA’s Rick] Hasen said. “So, if what he’s trying to achieve is undermine voters’ confidence in the election process, he seems to have succeeded spectacularly.” (Hasen was also quoted by the Los Angeles Times and CNN.)

America 250: Hollywood industry in motion | Los Angeles Business Journal

With the U.S. gaining military dominance after World War II, Hollywood became pivotal in shaping American identity abroad. Kal Raustiala, a professor of law at University of California, Los Angeles, said Hollywood projected an American way of life, with democracy and material abundance at the center of its “soft power” — simply defined as the power to attract.

Big Pharma hits these communities hard, but a new bill can help | Times of San Diego

UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research projects that the number of Californians 65 and older will rise 59% by 2040, with the fastest growth among Latino and Asian older adults — precisely those most likely to rely on prescription drugs to manage chronic conditions.  

ER visits for smoke inhalation spiked during Boyle Heights fire | Los Angeles Times

David Eisenman, director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters, said urban industrial fires also can represent a hazard that standard PM 2.5 warnings don’t always address. Those advisories are “blunt instruments” that don’t adequately capture emissions from burning man-made goods — or convey that the source of pollution may include burning batteries or toxic refrigerants, he said.

Will runoff water from Boyle Heights warehouse contaminate LA River? | KNBC-TV

UCLA researchers are now testing the runoff water from the warehouse fire for contamination … “And so specifically, what we’re concerned about, and really only have capacity to test for right now, are for heavy metals,” said UCLA’s Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne (approx. 1:40 mark).

ICE raids impacted these small businesses. Then came the fire | Boyle Heights Beat

According to a report from the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute nearly 13,600 jobs are located within the smoke advisory zone, 66% are held by Hispanic or Latino individuals. The report notes that many small businesses in retail, accommodation, and food service closed or experienced a steep decline in clients.

Newsom vowed to help kids’ mental health. Schools are waiting | KFF Health News

Meanwhile, children and youths continue to struggle and have trouble accessing care. In 2024, nearly 14% of those ages 12-17, for example, reported delaying or skipping mental healthcare because they couldn’t get an appointment, while 1 in 4 teens said they did so because of cost, up from roughly 6.5% the previous year, according to data from the California Health Interview Survey. The share of young adults 18-24 who reported ever seriously considering suicide has stabilized but remains higher than pre-pandemic, according to the annual survey, conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.