THE BUZZ: We’re getting right down to the nitty gritty, people.
Leaders in the Senate and Assembly this week unveiled their draft budget, laying out plans to ship almost $10 billion again to Californians and shore up the state’s reserves towards an apparently inevitable fiscal downturn in years to return. Budget talks are removed from over — now we enter into remaining negotiations between Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will work to reconcile the variations laid out in their respective plans to give you a budget invoice.
Legislators must cross the budget by June 15 in order to maintain getting paid, however anticipate trailer payments and budget payments junior to comply with with extra spending objects. The budget plan launched by legislators on Wednesday contained lots of the identical priorities leaders talked about earlier this yr, with some essential highlights.
Here’s what’s included (and omitted):
- They nonetheless need $200 checks for Californians — Atkins and Rendon are sticking to their plan to ship $200 to these making lower than $125,000, together with an additional $200 per dependent. The budget additionally contains $1.7 billion in help for small companies and people with little to no earnings.
- No budging on $400 checks for car house owners — Legislators nonetheless aren’t eager on Newsom’s proposal to ship reduction checks based mostly on automotive registration. The governor argues distributing reduction by way of the DMV is faster and can cowl weak individuals who in any other case wouldn’t be recognized by way of the franchise tax board. Newsom’s plan would additionally embrace a car worth cap, but to be decided.
- All sides need funds for abortion help — Legislators are proposing $20 million over three years to help the the CA Abortion Support Fund, which can present grants for nonprofit organizations and well being care suppliers that assist sufferers overcome boundaries to abortion care, in addition to the tens of hundreds of thousands Newsom has already proposed spending on abortion and reproductive healthcare entry.
Not included:
- More funding for county behavioral well being — This has been a constant criticism of Newsom’s CARE Court plan. The California State Association of Public Administrators, Public Guardians and Public Conservators argue that counties are already overwhelmed, and CARE Courts might refer much more sufferers to the struggling techniques. On Thursday, the affiliation mentioned it is “sounding alarms” and asking for an ongoing allocation of $200 million to reinforce annual county spending of $258 million. Despite county staff’ considerations about funding, the CARE Court invoice has obtained widespread help and just lately handed the Senate with a 38-0 vote.
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They need to change the Gann Limit — The Legislature’s budget plan retains the state $20 million below the disco-era spending restrict. But lawmakers say one thing wants to vary if California needs to stay fiscally wholesome in the coming years. The answer? A poll measure, put to the voters, asking them to offer lawmakers extra flexibility in spending the state’s tons of of billions of {dollars}.
Newsom has already mentioned he’s on board with such a measure. The difficult half can be convincing voters they need to change a regulation that requires the state to ship a refund to taxpayers if revenues are too excessive.
BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. While you had been sleeping, Alameda County reinstated its masks mandate in most indoor public settings. Alameda is probably the first county in the state to renew its indoor masks mandate after dropping it in February after the omicron spike. As of Tuesday the statewide positivity fee was 7.9 %, however we’ll get up to date numbers at this time.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We pray that you will draw us together in a unity that serves California well.” Assemblymember Tim Grayson (D-Merced) in floor prayer after a tense Democratic caucus debate earlier this week.
TWEET OF THE DAY: California labor advocate Cailtin Vega @unionista27 on the departure of Meta CEO Sheryl Sandberg: “Hopefully it’s the end of the era of telling women they need to ‘lean in’ to get ahead! We have been leaning, pushing, trying our best for a long time and the patriarchy is still here. New era—time for women to stand together and fight for each other and for all workers!”
WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official introduced.
A FAILING SYSTEM — “How California shuffles its mentally ill prisoners,” by CalMatters’ Byrhonda Lyons and Jocelyn Wiener: “Three decades after California’s prisons first came under court monitoring for rampant abuse and neglect of prisoners with mental illness, the system is still failing to protect its sickest inmates. For many of these men (the vast majority of people behind bars are male) prison is not a place to heal. It is a place to disappear.”
— “SFPD, Pride parade reach compromise — some police officers marching in uniform,” by SF Chronicle’s Ryan Kost: “San Francisco police officers and Pride Parade officials have reached a compromise that will enable a small number of police to march in uniform at the June 26 event, after an earlier ban.”
DEMS DROPPED THE BALL — “LA Democrats weren’t united against Sheriff Villanueva,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Connor Sheets: “Despite anger over Villanueva’s political shift, L.A. County Democratic clubs and progressive advocacy groups, hampered by infighting and indecision, have failed to unite behind any of the candidates seeking to unseat the sheriff, according to party officials, delegates and voters.”
THE LEGEND FACTOR — “Column: John Legend is on a mission to remind us why ‘local politics matter so much’,” by the LATimes’ Erika D. Smith: “So far, he has endorsed at least 25 candidates in multiple states, including three who are running in California. He’s also come out in support of Chesa Boudin, who is struggling to fend off a well-funded recall campaign and hang onto his job as district attorney of San Francisco.”
— “Meet the young, ambitious Black man who wants Devin Nunes’ old House seat,” by the LATimes’ Priscella Vega: “Hubbard is competing in a special election runoff on June 7 to serve the remainder of Devin Nunes’ term, which ends in early January. The 33-year-old Democrat faces an uphill climb for several reasons, not least the tiny share of Black voters in a district that historically has voted Republican.”
— “Dividing issue in the race for state controller pits Californians’ hearts against their wallets,” by SF Chronicle’s Joe Garofoli: “Nevertheless, the typically low-profile controller’s race has drawn prominent candidates this year to replace termed-out Democrat Betty Yee as California’s chief fiscal officer, someone who holds the power to audit any government agency that spends state funds. The controller also sits on 78 state boards and commissions, ranging from the protection of the state’s coastline to those overseeing health care facilities.”
RENDON’S TIMELINE: ¯_(ツ)_/¯ — “A Conversation With Anthony Rendon After a Leadership Challenge,” by the New York Times’ Jill Cowan: When requested how lengthy he needs to be speaker, Rendon mentioned “I don’t want to comment on that. The timing’s bad. I don’t want to poke any bears.”
PERSONAL ACCOUNT — “People are attacking Chesa Boudin for diversion programs. I actually went through one,” by SF Gate’s W.E. Banks: “I’ve been reading with disappointment some of the recent attacks on diversion programs in San Francisco, and some of the blame cast on Chesa Boudin, our district attorney, for supporting these programs, which offer an alternative to conviction and incarceration. As someone who directly benefited from diversion, I know all too well how valuable these programs are.”
LATE ATTEMPT: For the third time, 4 a.m. is on Sen. Scott Wiener’s agenda. The San Francisco Democrat is making an attempt once more, together with Assembly member Matt Haney, to let some cities hold bars open to the wee hours after he was thwarted in 2018 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown (“we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem”) and in 2019 by weary Assembly colleagues. The car is a to-be-amended SB 930 that began its legislative life as a housing invoice.
SENTENCING STRUGGLE: An appeals court docket yesterday upheld components of a previous ruling blocking Los Angeles DA George Gascón’s directives barring his deputy prosecutors — who sued to problem the boss — from pleading prior severe and violent three strikes convictions and in search of particular circumstances allegations that would end result in life with out parole. Gascón has modified different sentencing orders amid public pushback.
MORE TIME FOR CRIME: Democratic legislators on Thursday launched a brand new invoice geared toward upping the punishment for individuals who attempt to commit violent felonies at church buildings and colleges in the wake of a string of assaults in California and throughout the nation. Senate Bill 699 would create two enhancements for particular felonies tried or dedicated at colleges and church buildings: an additional two to 4 years for felonies together with manslaughter, mayhem, kidnapping, theft, carjacking and rape, and an additional 10 years for the fee or tried fee of homicide.
The invoice is sponsored by Sen. Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton) and Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach).
FORMULA SHORTAGE: The California Department of Public Health’s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program is increasing its checklist of child components manufacturers coated by WIC advantages from 5 to 130, the division introduced Thursday.
NO MORE KOREAN BBQ? — “The end of Korean BBQ in L.A.? What the gas stove ban means for your fave restaurants,” by the LATimes’ Jenn Harris: “All that may change by 2023 — at least in new Los Angeles buildings. The L.A. City Council last week passed a motion that would ban most gas appliances in new residential and commercial construction in the city, citing an effort to combat climate change.”
THAT’S GOTTA STING — “Bees are legally fish in California, court rules. Here’s why and what led to it,” by Sacramento Bee’s Noor Adatia: “Bees are now legally considered fish in California under the state’s endangered species law, an appeals court in Sacramento ruled Tuesday.”
SECRETARY FUDGE IN LA — “HUD secretary joins Karen Bass in LA to see homelessness crisis, housing,” by Spectrum News 1: “U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge visited Los Angeles Thursday at the request of Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, to get a firsthand look at the city’s homelessness crisis and how federal dollars are being used to address it.”
— “Is San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s transgender homeless plan constitutional,” by SF Gate’s Alec Regimbal: “Because Breed’s plan would prioritize transgender individuals, and because the state courts just struck down a law that requires companies to appoint women to their boards of directors, one may wonder whether the proposal violates the Equal Protection clauses in the U.S. and California constitutions.”
— “How Kamala Harris took down Corinthian Colleges as California’s attorney general, in her words,” by Sac Bee’s Gillian Brassil: “Vice President Kamala Harris’ decade-long “journey for justice” on behalf of Corinthian Colleges college students will quickly come to a detailed as the Biden administration guarantees to alleviate debtors of their remaining federal pupil loans.”
PELOSI VOWS ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN — by POLITICO’s Jordan Carney: Speaker Nancy Pelosi is vowing that Democrats will dig into an assault weapons ban, however she’s going through a numbers crunch as she weighs whether or not to offer it a flooring vote.
iTAXI — “California regulators approve state’s 1st robotic taxi fleet,” by the AP’s Michael Liedtke: “California regulators on Thursday gave a robotic taxi service the green light to begin charging passengers for driverless rides in San Francisco, a first in a state where dozens of companies have been trying to train vehicles to steer themselves on increasingly congested roads.”
AMBER WANTS TO APPEAL — “As Amber Heard plans appeal, her lawyer says she can’t pay Johnny Depp $10.4 million,” by the LATimes’ Christi Carras: “Amber Heard will “absolutely” attraction the verdict reached this week in her defamation trial towards ex-husband Johnny Depp, her lawyer introduced Thursday morning.”
METH USE — “California jail deputy suspected of meth use while on duty,” by the AP.
— “California man allegedly groped women on cross-country flight,” by FOX News’ Paul Best.
— “The Revolt Against Homelessness,” by the Atlantic’s Olga Khazan.
SANDBERG’S DEPARTURE — “What Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ Has Meant to Women,” by the New York Times’ Emma Goldberg.
— “Black Alumni Criticize Cal Poly’s Use Of Their Images On Banners,” by Mustang News’ Omar Rashad.
Steve Leder … Jason Moss … Eric Schmeltzer
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