CA advances gun control bills amid school shooting- CalMatters

Note: My wonderful colleague Ben Christopher will likely be visitor internet hosting the e-newsletter by June 3. I’ll see you on Monday, June 6 — simply in time for California’s major election!

As news traveled across the nation Tuesday of a mass taking pictures at a Texas elementary school that left at the very least 22 lifeless — together with 19 youngsters, two adults and the 18-year-old gunman — California lawmakers had been advancing a package deal of gun control bills, together with one sponsored by Gov. Gavin Newsom that co-opts the construction of Texas’ abortion ban to crack down on unlawful firearms.

The putting timing highlighted a shared problem dealing with California, Texas and different states: lowering gun deaths, which have ticked up dramatically nationwide amid the pandemic.

But it additionally served as a launchpad for Newsom — a relentless critic of Texas — and different high Democratic officers to castigate Republicans for refusing to help more durable restrictions on weapons.

• Newsom tweeted: “Another shooting. And the GOP won’t do a damn thing about it. Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe. This is preventable. Our inaction is a choice.”
• Attorney General Rob Bonta tweeted: “These are our children. Our babies. This is sick. And I’m damn angry. The GOP continues to prioritize the gun lobby over the LIVES of our children.”

Democratic legislators invoked the Texas taking pictures on a number of events throughout a marathon Senate ground session Tuesday: “One more gun death is too many,” stated state Sen. Anthony Portantino of Glendale, urging help for the invoice impressed by Texas’ abortion ban that will give personal Californians the proper to sue producers, sellers and distributors of unlawful assault weapons, ghost weapons and sure different firearms and to gather at the very least $10,000 in civil damages per weapon.

• The proposal handed on a close-to-party-line vote: Democratic state Sen. Melissa Hurtado of Sanger voted with the Republicans in opposition.

Following final week’s culling of greater than 200 bills in a extremely secretive and opaque course of, the Assembly and Senate are speeding to move tons of of bills forward of a Friday deadline for proposals to clear the home during which they had been launched.

Here’s a take a look at different gun proposals transferring ahead:

And right here’s a rundown of different high-profile bills that superior to the opposite home:

One final tidbit of Capitol news: In case final week’s warning that California might be heading towards a “fiscal cliff” wasn’t dire sufficient, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office on Tuesday launched a report reiterating its issues that Newsom’s $301 billion finances proposal “does not include a plan” to handle “looming budget problems.”

The coronavirus backside line: As of Monday, California had 8,853,498 confirmed instances (+0.6% from earlier day) and 90,488 deaths (+0.1% from earlier day), in accordance with state information now up to date simply twice per week on Tuesdays and Fridays. CalMatters can also be monitoring coronavirus hospitalizations by county.

California has administered 75,916,321 vaccine doses, and 75.3% of eligible Californians are totally vaccinated.

Other Stories You Should Know

1
California experiences first suspected monkeypox case

Because rising COVID charges aren’t sufficient, California on Monday reported its first suspected case of monkeypox in Sacramento County. Although the California Department of Public Health reassured residents that the “risk of monkeypox to the public is currently very low based on the information available,” the suspected case — in a person who lately returned from a visit to Europe — has nonetheless raised alarm as a result of monkeypox is extraordinarily uncommon outdoors of West and Central Africa. So what will we learn about California’s suspected case? What are the signs of monkeypox, how is it transmitted and handled, and why is it spreading now? CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra and Kristen Hwang reply all of these questions and extra on this extraordinarily useful piece.

• A postscript to your peace of thoughts: “It’s absolutely 100% not going to be the next COVID-19,” Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF epidemiologist, informed Ana and Kristen. “It’s a difficult-to-transmit disease and it’s not a particularly severe disease.”
• Today, Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan of Sacramento and native public well being leaders are anticipated to carry a press convention citing the suspected monkeypox case as one more reason why Newsom and state lawmakers ought to make investments extra funding in public well being departments.
• Pan: “Well-funded and fully staffed public health departments equipped with necessary viral surveillance and testing tools help us quickly identify emerging health threats, and isolate infectious individuals, helping protect life and treat people resulting in the best possible health outcomes.”

2
State approves stricter drought guidelines

From CalMatters water reporter Rachel Becker: California’s companies and establishments will likely be barred from irrigating ornamental, non-functional lawns with drinkable water and water programs should ramp up their drought responses beneath a package deal of guidelines the state’s water regulators authorised Tuesday. 

• The irrigation ban, which Newsom ordered in March, may take impact in as quickly as 10 days. It doesn’t apply to individuals’s yards, sports activities fields, grass the place individuals commonly recreate, or timber and shrubs.
• And, beginning in mid-June, water programs should escalate their drought responses as in the event that they’re dealing with at the very least a ten% to twenty% water scarcity, no matter native situations. So far, 145 water programs have reached or surpassed this stage of conservation and 227 haven’t, in accordance with state information.
• Some water suppliers stated the mandate ought to permit extra flexibility for native situations: “Achieving a 10 to 20% reduction will equate to $2.6 million to $5.2 million loss in revenue,” stated Kathleen Coates Hedberg, the board president of Helix Water District, which serves Eastern San Diego County — and, she stated, just isn’t at present experiencing a water scarcity. “We can either defer water infrastructure projects and maintenance, thereby reducing reliability, or we can increase water rates. What option should we choose?” 

Also Tuesday, California tribes and environmental teams filed a proper petition urging the State Water Resources Control Board to revamp water high quality requirements and stream necessities for the Bay-Delta, the essential water hub the place the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers meet to stream out into the San Francisco Bay. 

• The petition follows state and federal businesses’ current deal with irrigation districts and different water suppliers, which officers say goals to enhance watershed situations and habitats. 
• The petition reads: “It has been over fifteen years since the Board last completed a comprehensive review of Bay-Delta water quality standards. And the steps it has taken toward doing so have been harmful half-measures … the Board has prioritized closed-door negotiation of voluntary agreements with water districts, which fall well short of restoring sufficient flows and alienate California tribes and Delta communities of color most directly harmed by that shortfall.”

3
Nursing house staff, legislative workers rally at Capitol

Tuesday was a day of employee organizing: Hundreds of nursing house and residential care staff marched to the state Capitol in Sacramento and rallied in Los Angeles and Anaheim to attract consideration to the trade’s “dangerously low” staffing ranges and reinforce their demand for a Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Standards Board. Senate Democrats have proposed allocating $10 million to ascertain the board — which might permit nursing house staff to assist set statewide staffing and wage requirements — however advocates need to guarantee it’s within the closing model of the finances lawmakers should ship to Newsom’s desk by June 15. (An analogous proposal working its approach by the Legislature would allow the state to negotiate wages, hours and work situations for your complete fast-food trade.)

Also Tuesday, CalMatters political reporter Sameea Kamal writes, Democratic lawmakers gathered outdoors the Capitol to unveil the newest model of a invoice that will permit legislative workers to collectively discount. The proposal is sponsored by the California Labor Federation, whose incoming chief, Lorena Gonzalez, tried as an assemblymember to move comparable bills in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

• Legislative staff are at present barred from forming a union beneath the State Employer-Employee Relations Act. But proponents say staff must be allowed to collectively discount, pointing to points resembling pay gaps, sexual harassment and the shortcomings of the Legislature’s Workplace Conduct Unit.
• Aubrey Rodriguez, who has labored for the Assembly for seven years: “There’s this huge narrative of just being able to exploit people’s passion. I didn’t come in here for the money, admittedly, but I also didn’t want to come here to get exploited because I want to try and fight for other people to not be excluded anymore.”

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