Editor's note: This is part 3 of our series asking California gubernatorial candidates how they would address our state's most pressing issues. Go here for part 1 and here for part 2.

We posed your questions to the candidates for governor on high tax payers and greenhouse gas emissions.

The big picture: The top two vote-getters in June will advance to the November runoff.

• We got responses from Democratic businessman Tom Steyer, fellow Democrat and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Republican political commentator Steve Hilton.
• Axios also reached out to Xavier Becerra, Chad Bianco, Katie Porter, Tony Thurmond and Antonio Villaraigosa and did not get a response.

Q: How do you plan to keep the highest-tax paying Californians in the state?

Steyer thinks California has a two-tiered tax system where the wealthy exploit loopholes while working people pay their fair share. He would:

• 🔒 Close corporate loopholes to raise $20 billion in new annual revenue.
• 📚 Fund education, health care, child care and home care without raising taxes on working people.

Mahan thinks tax proposals that sound good politically often backfire economically.

• "Billionaires have the resources to move, shift assets, or hire lawyers and accountants to avoid poorly designed taxes," he told Axios. He would:
• 🎯 Close loopholes, like wealthy individuals borrowing against unrealized gains or hiding money offshore, rather than broad tax hikes that the rich can dodge.

Hilton thinks California needs to cut taxes and regulations to stay competitive. He would:

• 💵 Eliminate state income tax on the first $100,000 of income to help working-class Californians.
• 📉 Move to a flat 7.5% tax rate above that to keep and attract businesses.

Q: How will you ensure California meets its legal requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035?

Steyer would:

• ☀️ Make home batteries, rooftop solar, heat pumps and EVs accessible to all Californians.
• 🔬 Continue California's leadership in climate R&D, clean energy technology and carbon sequestration.

Mahan would:

• ⚡ Fast-track clean energy, transmission and EV charging projects to support electrification without raising electricity costs.
• 🏘️ Build more housing near jobs and transit to reduce time spent in traffic.

Hilton would:

• 🚢 Reduce oil imports to cut emissions from supertanker shipping, one of the most polluting forms of transportation.
• 🌲 Improve forest management. "In 2020, more CO2 was emitted from those mega wildfires than was saved through climate policy in the previous 20 years," he said.

👉 Still unsure who to vote for? Take CalMatters' quiz here.

Anthropic has rolled out a new package for small businesses, betting that mom-and-pop shops, solo entrepreneurs and lean teams are the next big market for AI agents.

Why it matters: The push into small business reflects a broader race among AI companies to prove their tools can deliver value beyond big enterprises and tech-savvy consumers — even though many small firms have limited staff and little time to experiment with new software.

Driving the news: Claude for Small Business launched last week in an effort to connect Anthropic's AI agent to tools like QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, Docusign, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.

How it works: The product includes built-in workflows across finance, operations, sales, marketing, HR and customer service.

What they're saying: Lina Ochman, Anthropic's head of SMB, told Axios the company is targeting businesses that have largely been left out of the AI boom.

Reality check: Small businesses may look like a promising AI market, but they're notoriously difficult to win over.

• Many owners are cost-conscious, strapped for time and wary of sharing sensitive financial or customer data with AI tools.
• Half of respondents in Anthropic's recent small business survey cited data security as their top concern.

Yes, but: Anthropic says Claude operates with guardrails. Users must initiate tasks, approve proposed workflows and sign off before anything is sent, posted or paid.

• Existing account permissions also remain in place, limiting Claude's access to only what employees can already access.

What we're watching

🤝 President Trump appointed six new Presidio Trust board members. They include MAGA allies, tech executives and philanthropists such as Lynne Benioff and Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen. (SF Standard)

🪩 Bar Part Time received a $100,000 city grant to expand into the former Bissap Baobab space at 2243 Mission St., where it plans to open a larger music venue called Downtime. (SFGATE)

💼 Prop D — the proposed "Overpaid CEO Tax" on large companies whose executives earn at least 100 times their median worker pay — could raise $250–300 million annually, but may also cost the city about 950 jobs, an analysis by the controller's office shows. (SF Chronicle)

📉 Scott Sampson, the California Academy of Sciences' executive director, resigned last week amid mounting financial turmoil and backlash over recent layoffs. (SF Standard)

I spotted this sign in the Upper Haight recently and was surprised to find it linked to a database for reporting off-leash dogs.

• As someone who's mostly viewed off-leash dogs as part of San Francisco park culture, I now find myself wondering where people draw the line.

🐾 So fellow dog owners, when is it ok for dogs to be off-leash and when is it not?

• Maybe you're fine with it at the park, but not on sidewalks. Maybe only if the dog has perfect recall. Maybe never near kids or traffic.

📩 Share your thoughts: What's your off-leash etiquette rule? Hit reply or email [email protected] to be featured in an upcoming newsletter.