What will happen to SB 50? + Equality California’s revenge + Juvenile justice reform
Happy Wednesday, California. It’s Hannah and Andrew here, bringing you the Capitol news you need.
But first — Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove posted yesterday to her personal Facebook that she was in Washington, D.C., a day before President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign a new trade deal that Grove, of Bakersfield, strongly supports.
A quick check on Twitter confirms that Grove was invited to the nation’s capital for the so-called USMCA signing ceremony.
Her office also confirmed the trip. Not too often you see the president embrace a California politician, huh?
KEEP AN EYE OUT
It’s go time for Senate Bill 50, a high-profile housing bill that could dramatically change how California builds houses.
The bill will likely face a floor vote today, though it has until Friday to meet a two-year bill deadline.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, amended his signature bill earlier this month to allow for greater local control over planning for more housing around transit- and jobs-rich areas. His chamber’s Appropriations Committee killed the bill last May, and Wiener spent the remaining months of 2019 negotiating with stakeholders to reach an agreement.
“We have a multi-million unit home deficit in California,” Wiener said when he announced the revisions giving cities and counties more authority. “And we want to make sure that as we build those homes that we definitely need, we aren’t building sprawled.”
It’s not that simple.
It’s true that Wiener and bill sponsor California YIMBY, an affordable housing organization, have racked up endorsements from a list of local officials and nonprofit organizations. But Wiener has his work cut out for him among at least a handful of his Senate colleagues, and certainly when and if the bill crosses into the Assembly. Not to mention, social justice groups are knocking SB 50 as yet another threat to low-income communities vulnerable to gentrification.
In a Jan. 22 letter to the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom, dozens of organizations said Wiener’s multiple SB 50 iterations are continued disappointments.
“A bill that encourages the building of mostly market rate units, especially in cities that are already meeting their luxury housing goals while underbuilding for all other income levels, cannot be called ‘an equity bill, an affordability bill, and a climate bill’ as its author touts,” the letter states. ‘The rise in displacement, super-commuting and homelessness will continue unless our housing solutions tackle inequality, implement real rent control and develop deeply affordable housing for those who can’t wait for market-rate housing to trickle down.”
Expect some fireworks, folks. And follow reporter Hannah for SB 50 updates.
HOW GLAZER LOST AN ENDORSEMENT
State Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, is facing the consequences of allowing a controversial bill backed by the state’s most powerful LGBTQ organization to die in his committee.
Back it up — Senate Bill 201 would have prohibited cosmetic medical intervention on babies born with intersex characteristics. The bill, written by Sen. Wiener, was always going to be a tough sell. Medical organizations staunchly opposed the effort and lambasted the legislation as potentially dangerous.
Glazer let the bill die in his Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development on Jan. 13.
So, Equality California pulled its endorsement of Glazer on Tuesday, saying his refusal to support the bill allows for the continued “irreversible, medically unnecessary surgeries aimed at ‘normalizing’” intersex babies’ bodies.
“Equality California is proud to support leaders of both parties — or no party at all — who stand up for LGBTQ civil rights and social justice,” said the group’s executive director, Rick Zbur. “By siding with powerful special interest groups and refusing to defend California children against clear human rights abuses, Senator Glazer no longer meets Equality California’s endorsement standard of a 100 percent commitment to the fight for full LGBTQ equality. East Bay voters deserve a pro-equality champion in the Senate, and Steve Glazer has shown us that he’s not willing to be that champion.”
It’s quite rare for Equality California to knock a Democrat, especially in liberal California. Only a handful of Democrats earned a less-than perfect score in 2019, including Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, a Stockton Democrat who identifies as gay. Assemblyman Chad Mayes, a former Republican and now Independent from Yucca Valley, however, earned an A+ score.
Other dinged Dems:
- Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego - 86 percent
- Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Discovery Bay - 80 percent
- Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park - 91 percent
- Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger - 91 percent
TROPICAL WOOD
California Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, is spearheading an effort to preserve tropical rainforests.
He introduced a bill, AB 2002, that would require all state contracts involving tropical “forest-risk commodities” such as palm oil, soy, cattle, rubber, paper and timber come from contractors who maintain a “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” policy. It’s meant to keep the state from buying businesses that exploit rainforest or abuse indigenous people.
“By introducing this bill, we’re giving California the opportunity to take real leadership in the fight against rainforest destruction by making our purchases – and our global impact – more transparent, more sustainable and more ethical,” Kalra said in a statement. “With our tropical forests increasingly at risk of fires like the ones we witnessed in 2019, we can no longer afford to ignore the global deforestation crisis.”
The animal activist group Social Compassion in Legislation is a co-sponsor of the bill. You may remember them from the several bills they managed to get turned into laws in 2019.
SCIL founder Judie Mancuso issued a statement of support for the bill.
“We must take a stand to stop the destruction of tropical forests before there are no tropical forests or animals left that depend on them,” Mancuso said. “AB 2002 builds a framework to reward companies that are doing the right thing by giving them exclusive access to do business with the state of California and puts necessary pressure on others to do the same.”
A QUESTION OF AGE
State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a longtime criminal justice reformist, introduced legislation yesterday to modify the age when someone could face criminal charges as an adult.
Skinner argues that 18- and 19-year-olds aren’t mature enough to do prison time if they break the law. So Senate Bill 889 instead would raise that age to 20.
“When teenagers make serious mistakes and commit crimes, state prison is not the answer,” The Berkeley Democrat said. “Processing teenagers through the juvenile justice system will help ensure they receive the appropriate education, counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation services necessary to achieve real public safety outcomes.”
Skinner’s office pointed to data showing that 18- and 19-year-old brains are not yet fully developed.
But she’ll have some convincing to do.
Larry Morse, legislative director for the California District Attorneys Association, said the reasoning behind the bill is inconsistent.
“The obvious response is that when someone turns 18, the government declares them old enough to, among other things, marry, bind themselves in contracts, vote and, most importantly, decide to put their life on the line in service to their country,” Morse said. “You’re old enough to make all those decisions at 18 yet not old enough to be held as an adult when committing crimes?”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“My district is still recovering from the fires that devastated California over the summer. These fires are all too common in my district and across the state of California. What we are witnessing is the undeniable impact of climate change.”
- Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter.
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