$1.1 billion for coronavirus + Speeding teacher credentials + ICE at courthouses
Good morning and happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here’s to staying safe (and sane) as we continue to endure the COVID-19 pandemic. The Guinness and Jameson can wait, I promise!
Sláinte!
COVID-19 UPDATES
Here’s what happened on Monday.
More restaurant restrictions — Gov. Gavin Newsom late Monday issued new guidance urging restaurants, movie theaters and gyms to close most of their operations. The state is asking restaurants to end table service. Newsom wants grocery stores and other food providers to clean more frequently and limit the number of customers they allow in lines.
Legislature in suspense — California lawmakers late Monday voted to break from March 20 to April 13. They say they have work to do in their districts, where school are closed and businesses are hurting.
The money is moving — The Legislature approved Newsom’s request to immediately allocate up to $1.1 billion to battle the coronavirus that’s infected hundreds of Californians and killed at least six. The spending bill frees up $500 million, to be increased by $50 million as needed until reaching $1 billion, to lease and activate two hospitals, help public health officials access necessary equipment and lend support to hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities.
Quotable: “The fact is that it can’t be business as usual and it can’t be no business at all. We have to find the balance between the two,” Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins on calling lawmakers and Capitol staff to work.
You’re grounded — Six Bay Area counties issued a sweeping “shelter in place” order Monday, directing residents to stay at home as much as possible to quell the spread of coronavirus. The directive is scheduled to last through April 7, and bans all non-essential travel and social activities, even having friends over for dinner.
Trouble ahead — The U.S. economy has entered its first recession in 11 years, and it’s likely to be slightly more severe in California than the rest of the nation, a new forecast from the UCLA Anderson School of Management said Monday.
When will it end? — President Donald Trump says the crisis could last well into summer.
Protecting public employees — California state workers — and many Capitol employees — are anxious for Newsom to hand down new rules allowing more of them to work at home.
OPPOSITION TO TEACHER BILL
The group EdVoice has announced it’s opposition to a bill introduced by Republican San Luis Obispo Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham that would exempt certain teaching applicants from having to take a basic skills proficiency test.
Assembly Bill 1982 specifically would exempt anyone who earned a “B” or better in qualifying course work, determined by a credential preparation program, from taking the test.
“The bill would also exempt an applicant who a credential preparation program determines has demonstrated proficiency in the basic skills through a combination of qualifying coursework and other existing exemptions from the basic skills proficiency test requirement,” according to the Legislative Counsel’s digest.
AB 1982 “would address California’s teacher shortage by giving good college students the ability to skip taking an antiquated and expensive standardized test,” according to Cunningham’s office.
The president of EdVoice, Bill Lucia, called AB 1982 a mistake.
“There is no need to lower the bar even further for new teachers. Families should be confident that their child is being taught by a teacher who has a basic understanding of reading, writing and math,” Lucia said in a statement. “AB 1982 does not address the underlying reasons for reluctance of competent people to enter the teaching profession, including skyrocketing housing costs and low starting teacher salaries. Watering down the basic skills requirements we ask of our teachers is not the answer to the teacher shortage. Our kids deserve better.”
In response to EdVoice’s statement, Cunningham said, “It is possible to make it easier to become a teacher without lowering the standards. This bill does that by increasing flexibility for high achieving college graduates.”
Cunningham’s office also pointed out that the bill is co-sponsored by the California Teachers Association.
“Teachers would not be supportive of something that would hurt their ability to attract new talent to the profession or negatively affect their salaries,” Cunningham’s office said in a handout titled, “AB 1982: Myth vs. Fact.”
BLOCKING ICE
An attorneys group is calling on Attorney General Xavier Becerra to enforce a recently enacted law blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, from carrying out courthouse arrests.
“When people don’t feel safe showing up to court to act as a witness, pay a fine, or file papers because they may be subjected to civil arrest due to their immigration status, the system is broken,” Joe Capurro, president of the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, said in a letter to Becerra. “We are writing to urgently seek your help to protect immigrants’ rights and access to the courts without fear of arrest, and to permit the courts to fulfill their responsibility to ensure safe and orderly administration of justice.”
Assembly Bill 668 prohibits the civil arrest of anyone visiting a courthouse to attend a court hearing or take care of legal business.
Regardless of the new law, ICE agents have continued to carry out courthouse arrests.
“Our officers will not have their hands tied by sanctuary rules when enforcing immigration laws to remove criminal aliens from our communities,” David Jennings, ICE’s field office director in San Francisco, said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
“Access to courts is part of the right to free speech enshrined in the California and United States constitutions. Our state is harmed when our judicial system is interfered with in any way,” Capurro said in the letter to Becerra.
Becerra’s office said that they are reviewing the letter but that they are unable to provide legal advice or analysis.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“By taking this action, we are placing an extraordinary amount of trust in Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, these are extraordinary times.”
— Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, right before the Assembly approved more than $1 billion in coronavirus aid.
Best of the Bee:
Empty cafes, empty offices, empty bread aisles: Sacramento confronts life with coronavirus, via Dale Kasler
Self-isolation hits California during coronavirus spread. Here’s expert advice on how to plan, via Tony Bizjak
Caltrans and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System both closed offices Monday as a result of COVID-19 concerns, via Wes Venteicher.
The coronavirus relief package now moving through Congress is a threat to any economic recovery and “opens the door for anyone who wants to game the system,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, one of only 40 lawmakers to vote against the plan, via David Lightman.