Whitesides bill would ban betting on wildfires
U.S. Rep. George Whitesides (D-Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Lancaster) introduced bipartisan legislation to ban betting on wildfires on prediction markets, after more than $1 million was wagered on the January 2025 Los Angeles fires.
Prediction markets like Polymarket let users bet on the outcome of real-world events. During the LA fires, users placed bets on how many acres would burn, which cities would be hit and when firefighters would contain the blazes, according to Whitesides’ office.
Beyond profiting from disaster, lawmakers worry that such bets could create a financial incentive to start or influence a fire. The No Bets on Wildfires Act would bar federally regulated exchanges from listing or clearing any contract involving a wildfire, no matter how it starts.
Reps. James Gallagher and Vince Fong, both California Republicans, and Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR) co-led the bill.
“It is abhorrent that anyone would attempt to profit off of the damage caused by wildfires, particularly after the devastation and suffering that Los Angeles County experienced last year. My bill is simple – no one, on any prediction market or betting platform, should be allowed to gamble on any issue relating to wildfires,” said Whitesides.
“This commonsense bill will stop anyone who would try to enrich themselves off people losing their lives, families seeing their homes burned to the ground, and firefighters putting themselves in harm’s way,” the lawmaker added.
Kamlager-Dove presses State on Bolsonaro’s flight to U.S.
U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Culver City, Crenshaw, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, West Adams, Mid-City), co-chair of the Congressional Brazil Caucus, and Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) led 25 members of Congress in demanding to know whether the State Department helped defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro leave Brazil in defiance of a court order and enter the United States.
Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator and son of jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro, lost the country’s Oct. 25 presidential runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and refused to concede.
The next day, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered him to surrender his passports and barred him from leaving the country, citing the risk he would flee. Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged money laundering and tax evasion, which he denies. He left anyway, traveling through Argentina and Ecuador before landing in Miami on Oct. 28, after the State Department said it would issue visas to him and his family, Reuters reported.
President Trump confirmed allowing him into the country, and Bolsonaro said he would lead Brazil’s opposition from the United States, calling the cases against him political persecution, CNN reported.
“The central question is straightforward: did the Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Brazil, or any other U.S. government agency assist Senator Bolsonaro in traveling to or entering the United States despite the reported Brazilian judicial restriction on his departure?” the lawmakers wrote.
“The American people and Congress have a legitimate oversight interest in understanding whether U.S. diplomatic and immigration resources were used to facilitate the travel of a foreign political figure under these circumstances.
“Transparency is particularly important where the reported events implicate a foreign judicial proceeding, sensitive bilateral relations, and the consistent application of U.S. immigration and diplomatic policies,” the lawmakers added in their letter.
The letter asks for a congressional briefing by Nov. 13.
Schiff, Padilla press tech platforms on election-eve disinformation
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said social media companies’ efforts to stop false voting information remain uneven, as voters head to the polls Tuesday.
“Social media companies hold enormous power over the content voters see. Americans’ right to vote shouldn’t be undermined by deceptive election information online like false dates, locations, times, and methods for voting. And it is platforms’ responsibility to address inaccurate content where it exists,” said Schiff.
Padilla charged the Trump Administration with gutting efforts to protect voters from election interference, but social media companies still have a responsibility to combat election mis- and disinformation.
“So far, their responses are incomplete and raise serious questions about who’s protecting American elections from malign influence operations. Social media companies must take concrete steps to identify and address false claims about voting, shut down foreign influence operations, and enforce their policies consistently. With the midterms underway, I’ll keep pressing for answers and meaningful action to protect voters and our democracy,” said Padilla.
Voters can find official information on vote centers, hours and ballot drop-off from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk at lavote.gov.
