Millions of Californians don’t have healthcare + PG&E blackouts + Gender equity workshop
Happy Thursday, alerters! This weather has been delightful, and it looks like we’re going to have a sunny weekend as well. See you Monday!
STALLED
The rate of Californians without health insurance in 2018 remained the same as 2017, at 7.2 percent, according to the California Budget and Policy Center.
Close to 3 million people are uninsured, according to the new report. The budget center cited two primary factors in explaining the flat rate of uninsured: The federal government is working to roll back provisions of the Affordable Care Act and state lawmakers have shifted their focus to protecting, rather than boosting, coverage.
The number of Californians without coverage fell by nearly 4 million since 2013 and the state’s uninsured rate is below the national average of 8.9 percent.
“This means that around 3 million Californians missed out on the benefits of health coverage, including earlier diagnosis of chronic conditions, improved use of preventive services, better access to mental health treatment, a reduction in preventable mortality and protection from financial distress,” wrote the report’s authors, Scott Graves and Monica Davalos.
The two note that Californians without coverage face additional barriers to accessing health insurance since President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted the so-called Obamacare initiative, pushing state legislators toward a more protective policy stance.
However, because Gov. Gavin Newsom created a state individual mandate and signed new laws that will cover additional populations, the report said that nearly 230,000 Californians will likely enroll for coverage next year.
“If California’s near-term economic outlook remains positive, with growing state revenues,” the report concluded, “State policymakers will be strongly positioned in 2020 to prioritize additional investments aimed at further improving coverage and affordability, potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands of low and middle-income Californians.”
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Thanks to a red flag warning issued for much of Northern and Central California, PG&E announced on Wednesday that it would begin wildfire safety blackouts throughout 17 counties.
Nearly 180,000 households and businesses could have their power shut off as a result. The Sierra foothills and Bay Area will largely be impacted, The Sacramento Bee’s Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak report.
PG&E said it believed it could restore power to the “vast majority” of customers within 48 hours once weather conditions die down. But the reprieve might be short lived. Another blackout could happen again as soon as this weekend and into Monday.
The new round of shutoffs follows Newsom’s demand that the utility reimburse customers affected by shutoffs that happened earlier this month. Newsom asked the utility to issue $100 credits to households and $250 credits to small businesses.
“I believe the unacceptable scope and duration of the previous outage — deliberately forcing 735,000 customers to endure power outages — was the direct result of decades of PG&E prioritizing profit over public safety,” Newsom wrote in a letter on Tuesday to the utility’s CEO William Johnson. “PG&E’s lapse in planning to provide adequate, accurate, and accessible information to its customers and the public was inexcusable.”
Nope, said PG&E in response.
“Consistent with our policies and the state’s electric tariffs regarding weather-related outages, we are not considering reimbursements or bill credits,” spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo wrote in a statement.
GALS GALVANIZING
Empowered women empower women, or so goes the saying.
The United State of Women is hosting a summit on Saturday at Sacramento State with a slew of high-profile gender equity leaders scheduled lead the event.
The one-day summit, called GALVANIZE, is an opportunity for attendees to ‘hear from nationally and locally renowned activists and experts on issues impacting women in our community and across the country.”
Tina Tchen, president and CEO of TIME’S UP, civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, and Ebony Harper, director of the National Alliance for Trans Liberation and Advancement, are among the top names who will be speaking. Gun control activists, indigenous leaders, gender equity political advocates and others are also expected at the event.
The summit will also touch on how to run for office, find success as an entrepreneur and effectively lead a community.
The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the University Union Ballroom. You can find tickets here.
For your radar — California State Auditor Elaine M. Howle is holding press conference this morning to unveil the office’s new website that details a comprehensive analysis of the state’s top 18 “fiscally challenged cities.” More than 470 cities were ranked “using ten key financial indicators.” The briefing is scheduled for 10 a.m. at 621 Capitol Mall, Suite 1200.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
October 24 — Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside
October 24 — Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield
TWEET OF THE DAY
Best of The Bee:
- Petitions for a property tax change are coming to a grocery store near you. Here’s what to know by Sophia Bollag
Daylight Saving Time is coming to an end again – will California ever stop the clock-changing? by Andrew Sheeler
- Trump sues to undo California’s climate change pact with Canada, calls it rogue foreign policy by Kate Irby and Dale Kasler