Capitol Alert

Remembering Parkland + D.C.’s spending bill + handy contact list

By Hannah Wiley
People huddle together in a parking lot in the aftermath of a mass shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks last month. San Luis Obispo County plans to hire an advocate for victims of mass shootings.
People huddle together in a parking lot in the aftermath of a mass shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks last month. San Luis Obispo County plans to hire an advocate for victims of mass shootings. Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times/TNS

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REMEMBERING PARKLAND

It’s been one year since 17 students and faculty were killed during a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The massacre was far from the first of its kind. It’s unfortunately not been the last.

But survivors of the Parkland shooting have helped ignite a national movement to end gun violence and have pushed state lawmakers to take up the issue in their legislative efforts.

The Associated Press aggregated 2018 gun law data from the nonprofit group Everytown for Gun Safety. Legislatures in 40 states passed firearm legislation, whether to restrict or expand gun rights, the AP found. California passed eight bills last year, though two were vetoed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and five were introduced prior to Parkland.

Three notable signed restriction measures:

AB 1968 — Permanently prevents anyone hospitalized for suicide prevention twice in one year from owning a gun.

SB 1100 — Raised the age to buy handguns and rifles from 18 to 21.

AB 2103 — Established an eight-hour training minimum to obtain a concealed carry permit.

Nine days until the legislative filing deadline.

CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS TELL TRUMP...

You’re not touching OUR disaster recovery funds.

The country is still recovering from the 35-day government shutdown that ended in January, and lawmakers in D.C. have since diligently worked on a bipartisan agreement to get a spending bill in front of President Donald Trump before another shutdown on Friday.

This week they accomplished a breakthrough, and as of Wednesday evening, were waiting for Trump to sign off on the deal.

The bill authorizes $1.375 billion to be used for more than 50 miles of additional border fencing, a considerable downgrade from Trump’s demand of $5.7 billion to build a steel wall. But, as the White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney noted, Trump will likely sign this deal and then “go off and find the money someplace else, legally, in order to secure that southern barrier,” Mulvaney said.

The Bee reported in January that Trump could be eying defense spending to make up the rest of the money. That includes cash out of the Army Corps of Engineers flood-control projects in California and Puerto Rico.

U.S. Rep John Garamendi, D-Calif., on Tuesday introduced HR 1137, which would prohibit Trump from doing that. Fifteen fellow California House Democrats signed on to the bill.

“Taking recovery funds from disaster victims as ransom for a border wall would be a new low, even for this President,” Garamendi said.

PUMPING THE (TRAIN) BRAKES, MAYBE?

What exactly did Gov. Gavin Newsom mean when calling for a slowdown to a high-speed rail project connecting the northern and southern parts of the state?


Three political newcomers offered very different answers on Wednesday at a Sacramento Press Club event.


Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, thought Newsom wanted to put the project on hold, while focusing more of his attention on connecting the Central Valley to other parts of the state.


Her Democratic colleague, Cottie Petrie-Norris of Laguna Beach, believed the governor wanted to stop the project since there wasn’t enough money to further pursue it.



Finally, state Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, thought Newsom pushed for a total end to a Bay Area/Los Angeles train connection.


Here’s the speech, so you can read what he said for yourself.


There was one other notable moment from the panel discussion between the three lawmakers.


Asked how the state would address the PG&E bankruptcy and tackle the rise in wildfires in recent years, none of them offered specific policy proposals. Instead, they reaffirmed their commitment to holding electric companies accountable while protecting ratepayers from huge price increases.


“My hope is that we could use this crisis as an opportunity to fundamentally rethink what our infrastructure looks like,” Wicks said.


Via Bryan Anderson

CALL ME, BEEP ME

Our team is working hard to bring you the most up-to-date Capitol coverage. We’ve added new staff members in the last few months. Our updated list is below, and our lines are open.

Amy Chance

Political editor

achance@sacbee.com

@Amy_Chance

Adam Ashton

Capitol Bureau chief

aashton@sacbee.com

@Adam_Ashton

Bryan Anderson

Politics, Capitol Alert, California Nation podcast

banderson@sacbee.com

@BryanRAnderson

916-326-5538

Sophia Bollag

Policy and politics

sbollag@sacbee.com

@SophiaBollag

916-326-5545

Jason Pohl

Criminal justice

jpohl@sacbee.com

@pohl_jason

916-326-5512

Andrew Sheeler

Breaking news, California

asheeler@thetribunenews.com

@andrewsheeler

805-781-7934

Wes Venteicher

State agencies

wventeicher@sacbee.com

@wesventeicher

916-321-1410

Hannah Wiley

Legislature, Capitol Alert

hwiley@sacbee.com

@hannahcwiley

916-321-1387

Facebook @capitolalert

Twitter @CapitolAlert

TWEET OF THE DAY

Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco — @Scott_Wiener “Stay in your lane, Congressman. is definitely going somewhere - specifically, San Francisco & Los Angeles.”

MUST-READ: 12 months, nearly 1,200 deaths: the year in youth gun violence since Parkland by Kevin G. Hall

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