No guarantees in Newsom’s new budget + Animal activists at the Capitol + New Dem leadership
Good morning! As always, thank you for reading!
BUDGET REWRITE
Just two months ago Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a record-breaking $220 billion state budget proposal that pledged new funding for homeless, green technology and health care.
The deal he signs in June won’t look much like that.
The coronavirus outbreak ended California’s long economic expansion, and the assumptions that shaped Newsom’s earlier proposal are being reconsidered.
Newsom’s Department of Finance on Tuesday sent letters to the Legislature and to government agency secretaries advising them that the normal schedule for state budgeting is on hold and that the goals the governor described in January are up for renegotiation.
The letter to the agency secretaries and department directors warned them that they “should have no expectation of full funding for either new or existing proposals and adjustments.The only exception to this new evaluation criteria will be proposals or adjustments necessary to support the emergency response to COVID-19. New requests which fall outside these parameters will not be reviewed.”
The administration is adapting to the economic havoc caused by coronavirus.
The Department of Finance sent a letter to Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and the Assembly Budget Committee, informing them that the department will not be sending any “Spring Finance Letters” this year, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Finance is typically required to provide the California Legislature with updated expenditure and revenue information for policy adjustments related to the governor’s January budget by April 1, but that won’t be happening this year.
“Despite the sustained efforts, the virus continues to spread and is impacting nearly all sectors of California’s economy. Among these impacts Is a potentially severe drop in economic activity, with corresponding negative effects on anticipated revenues for the upcoming 2020-21 fiscal year and beyond,” the letter read, in part. “In light of this evolving situation, the Department of Finance will not propose any April 1 Finance Letter adjustments to the governor’s budget or any May l adjustments to the governor’s budget in appropriations for capital outlay.”
According to the letter, the Department of Finance now will reevaluate all budget changes within the context of a workload budget, that will include all April 1 and May 1 requests. All potential adjustments will be included in the May revision, as well as previously approved adjustments incorporated in the governor’s budget.
PROTESTS IN THE TIME OF SOCIAL DISTANCING
The California Legislature may be gone, but that didn’t stop the animal activist group Direct Action Everywhere from taking to the Capitol steps Tuesday morning to protest on behalf of ending animal agriculture in the Golden State.
Activists wore masks and gloves, and practiced social distancing as they set up caution tape and a sign that read “Cancel animal ag” on the Capitol steps.
The group says Newsom hasn’t gone far enough in his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We commend Governor Newsom for taking the drastic steps necessary to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, but what about the next pandemic, which could be 100 times worse? These farms are Petri dishes for pandemic disease, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Priya Sawhney, the demonstration organizer.
California has a $50 billion agriculture industry, and about $10 billion comes from dairy and cattle, according to the Department of Food and Agriculture. The industry broadly is exempt from the stay-at-home directives Newsom and local governments have issued to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Was Tuesday’s protest legal, in light of Gov. Newsom’s shelter-at-home order? Direct Action Everywhere acknowledged that the group was “arguably violating” the order, but said it was morally justified in doing so.
“The governor’s shelter-in-place order rightfully exempts ‘critical infrastructure,’” said Sawhney. “And with our current course accelerating us towards inevitable destruction, free expression is critical infrastructure for preserving life as we know it. Animal agriculture, on the other hand, is infrastructure which we critically need to end — yet ironically it’s one of the carve-outs under Gov. Newsom’s order, enabling the pandemic-brewing to persist as rapidly as ever.”
HEALTH CARE WORKERS NEED HELP
Health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic are asking Gov. Newsom for help in securing care for their children and senior relations.
More than 80 percent of health care workers report that their job is suffering due to a lack of child and senior care options, according to a survey conducted by SEIU-United Health Workers West.
“We want to know our children and parents are safe while we’re at work caring for a growing number of coronavirus patients, because it’s hard for us to have the kind of laser focus we need when we’re constantly wondering if our kids or parents are okay,” said Angela Smith, a certified nursing assistant at Doctors Hospital in Manteca. “For as long as this crisis lasts, we need the maximum number of healthcare workers on the job and at their best, and that means we need to solve these child and elder care problems.”
SEIU-UHW is asking Newsom and the Legislature for three things:
- To allow health care workers and first responders to transfer family leave to someone else who can care for their children.
- To create an emergency fund that health care workers and first responders can access to receive subsidized childcare.
- To create “pop-up” child care centers in public facilities, such as libraries, schools and recreation centers now vacant.
More than a third of SEIU-UHW survey respondents said that they have had to stay home from work to care for a loved one, with 69 percent saying that uncertainty about child care has affected their mental or physical health.
CA DEMOCRATS GET NEW LEADERSHIP
California’s Democratic Party announced on Tuesday it will soon get a new top leader.
Yvette Martinez, who works as regional director of Southern California for Gov. Newsom, will begin her new role as executive director of the state party on April 15.
Marinez had managed the 2019 campaign of Rusty Hicks, the party’s current chairman. She’ll succeed Kathy Bowler, who has worked as the interim executive director since December.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If you’re like me, a young millennial, you know 18 to 40, we love to go out on the town and party. But right now, we’ve got to stay home. ... So since we have to stay at home during this COVID-19 crisis, create your own party! Create your own club right here in the comfort of your own house. Stay safe everyone!”
- Noted millennial (and actor/comedian) Will Ferrell, in a public safety announcement put out by the state.
Best of the Bee:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken multiple steps this month to address the growing coronavirus crisis, signing a total of 11 executive orders since March 12, via Bryan Anderson.
Three weeks after California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency to help address the virus, many state workers say they are facing resistance, confusion and uneven responses when they ask to work remotely, via Wes Venteicher.
Inmate advocates are saying the state may need to release thousands of inmates to reduce overcrowding that could endanger countless people inside and outside the facilities, via Sam Stanton.
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 4:55 AM.