Lending a paw on the Capitol steps + Slashing building fees + Ninth Circuit sides with Trump
Top of the Tuesday morning to you, California. Lots happening these days.
Here’s what we’ve got.
GET YOUR DOG FIX AT THE CAPITOL
Expect to see plenty of adoptable dogs from the Front Street Shelter on the north steps of the Capitol today.
They’ll be lending a paw to support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $50 million proposed budget allocation aimed at ending the euthanasia of adoptable animals in California.
Oh, and they’ll be joined by a bevy of lawmakers, animal advocates and experts, including Kate Hurley, head of the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, which would oversee the funds proposed by the governor.
Back in January, Hurley told The Bee that Newsom’s proposal is “not a trivial investment,” that it could allow her program to help struggling shelters in poorer communities to turn things around by attracting new volunteers, grants and donations.
Hurley has a heavy lift ahead of her. While California euthanasia numbers are down, there is still a significant number of healthy, adoptable animals being put down in the Golden State. In 2016, the most recent year for which there’s public data, the state euthanized more than 150,000 animals.
Tuesday’s event coincides with World Spay Day. It begins at 1 p.m. In addition to live dogs, there will also be “hundreds of small stuffed animals (dogs and cats) wearing e-collars,” according to a statement put out by Best Friends Animal Society.
BUILDING MORE HOMES
California Democrats unveiled on Monday a package of eight proposals that attempt to spur construction of new homes by slashing some of the fees that local governments charge for building permits.
Those fees can run into the tens of thousands of dollars per house, driving up the cost of construction and leading developers to favor luxury homes over affordable ones, advocates say.
Fees can hike development costs on new homes by 17 percent and dollar signs that challenge construction and burden renters, according to a 2018 UC Berkeley Terner Center report.
One new proposal would direct cities to set charges on the square footage of a project, which could free developers to build smaller units for a lower cost. Another would use state funds to reimburse local governments that waive impact fees on affordable units.
One more would create a “ceiling” for fees based on the region’s average home price.
“From Oakland, to Fresno to Los Angeles to San Diego, I heard from both affordable and market-rate builders that development impact fees were a major cost driver,” said Assemblyman Tim Grayson, D-Concord. “In some cases, adding so much to the cost of construction that a project had to be scrapped entirely.”
The League of California Cities — “Finding the most effective strategies to spur housing is a top priority in California and the League is currently reviewing the proposals in the recently introduced package of housing bills,” said spokeswoman Jill Oviatt. “The League is a ready partner to find approaches that effectively address housing and homelessness.”
Also — Approved housing units also dipped from 118,000 in 2018 to 111,000 in 2019, a near 6 percent fall, according to a Monday report by the Department of Finance.The League is a ready partner to find approaches that effectively address housing and homelessness.” More on that in this story.
TITLE X DECISION
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that it would allow President Donald Trump administration’s restrictions on Title X funding go forward, overturning three lower court injunctions in the process and raising the prospect of cuts to women’s health clinics.
Under the Trump administration rule, programs and clinics that receive Title X funds to treat low-income patients will be barred from referring them to abortion providers and required to offer alternatives to abortion.
“We are pleased by the en banc Ninth Circuit’s decision upholding (the administration’s) rule forbidding the use of taxpayer money to subsidize abortion through Title X grants,” Justice Department spokesperson Mollie Timmons said in a statement to Fox News. “Congress has long prohibited the use of Title X funds in programs where abortion is a method of family planning and (the administration’s) recent rule makes that longstanding prohibition a reality. We look forward to continuing to defend this vital rule against all challenges.”
The court minority offered a dire warning of the consequences of Monday’s decision.
“The consequences will be borne by the millions of women who turn to Title X-funded clinics for lifesaving care and the very contraceptive services that have caused rates of unintended pregnancy—and abortion—to plummet,” the minority wrote in their opinion.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called the court ruling “troubling” in a statement on Monday.
“This reckless rule is just another attempt by the Trump-Pence Administration to roll back women’s access to reproductive healthcare. The rule targets the Title X program — which serves low income women, LQBTQ individuals, young people, and families — and obstructs access to care by gagging medical professionals from discussing all available options with their patients,” Becerra said in his statement.
The attorney general vowed in his statement to “continue to fight for comprehensive reproductive health care, including safe and legal abortion.”
ICYMI - Trump has flipped the 9th Circuit — and some new judges are causing a shock wave, by Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Katherine Johnson was a true American hero, who not only defied society’s expectations of her, but also broke countless barriers to help Americans reach the stars. May your legacy live on in the women and girls who follow you.”
- Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and other local leaders are defending City Councilman Steve Hansen against what they called a “smear campaign” against the council’s first openly gay member, by Theresa Clift
PG&E Corp. said Monday it fired a company that was hauling Camp Fire debris from Paradise after discovering the company was over-billing the utility and paying “large sums of money and gifts” to two PG&E supervisors, by Dale Kasler