A six-step plan + ‘Beyond crazy’ California budget problem + Help for domestic violence shelters

Happy Wednesday! Here’s hoping your week is going well. Thanks as always for reading!

You heard the governor. Two more weeks, and then we can ask him again about re-opening California, provided that coronavirus hospitalizations and ICU visits flatten and decline over that period.

Gov. Gavin Newsom used the occasion of his regular noon COVID-19 emergency press conference to highlight six criteria that the state will use to consider re-opening for business.

The governor cautioned people that it’s going to be a process, that things won’t go back to normal overnight.

“There’s no light switch here. I would argue that it’s more like a dimmer,” he said.

Click here for a rundown of the six criteria and what they mean, as explained by Newsom and California Department of Public Health Director Sonia Angell.

LIKE SOMEONE TOOK A MONOPOLY GAME AND THREW IT

California lawmakers are cautiously optimistic they can avoid slashing tens of billions of dollars in spending from government services this year despite the economic hit of the coronavirus outbreak, but a prolonged recession could consume the state’s historic reserves and force deep cuts to programs.

The state’s economy has slowed to a near standstill since Gov. Newsom issued an indefinite stay-at-home order on March 19, ending nearly overnight the expansion California had enjoyed over the the last decade.

“It’s been a really good, 10-year run,” said Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. “What we didn’t anticipate, and obviously given the size of the pandemic, was how it doesn’t just affect a piece of California, but every part of California and everyone in the country.”

That run reached its peak in January, when Newsom proposed a $222 billion state budget that projected economic growth for at least a couple of more years.

“It’s like someone took a Monopoly game board and in the middle of the game, took the board and threw it,” said Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa-Mesa.

Unlike the last recession, California is heading into the downturn with significant reserves. California’s stash included $17.5 billion in reserves in February, according to a recent Legislative Analyst’s Office report.

“Thank God we did that,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys. He called coronavirus downtrun a “beyond crazy” budget challenge.

How the safety net will protect Californians from the long-term economic havoc is an open question.

It also might not buy much time. In a severe recession, California stands to lose tens of billions of dollars from projected revenue. One estimate predicted a hit of more than $170 billion over five years.

Read more in this piece by The Bee’s Hannah Wiley and Adam Ashton.

EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS

Eight California lawmakers have written a letter to Gov. Newsom asking for an emergency appropriation of $10 million for domestic violence shelters throughout the state.

The letter states that while crime has gone down since the governor issued his stay-at-home order, there has been an increase in domestic violence calls. Fresno County saw a 77 percent week-over-week increase in calls, according to the letter.

“As programs shift their practices to keep survivors and staff safe, they need the available funding to do so,” the letter said. “While (the shelters’) current funding streams include specific requirements for documentation and service delivery, the present situation demands trust and flexibility. Domestic violence service center providers are adapting their services so they can provide safety and support in ways that are new, creative, and innovative.”

The letter is signed by:

• Assemblyman Frank Bigelow, R-O’Neals
• Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, R-San Luis Obispo
• Assemblyman Heath Flora, R-Ripon
• Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale
• Assemblywoman Monque Limon, D-Santa Barbara
• Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Porterville
• Assemblyman Chad Mayes, I-Yucca Valley
• Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, R-Temecula

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There are circumstances where an elected official in America can exercise considerable authority. However, that authority is never absolute.”

- Doug Ose, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• One thing seems clear: the experience of attending school in California will be vastly different when life in the state begins a return to normalcy, via Sawsan Morrar.

• Has California turned the corner in its fight to slow the coronavirus? No public health official is talking quite that boldly. But Gov. Gavin Newsom’s health agency provided The Bee with perhaps the most telling numbers yet that the state is staving off the surge of serious cases that overwhelmed hospitals in New York, China, Italy and Spain, via Tony Bizjak, Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks and Sophia Bollag.

• Critical information about coronavirus pandemic is kept secret in California. Here’s why, via Dale Kasler and Ryan Sabalow

From the Opinion Page

• Elon Musk’s ventilator fiasco shows need for more oversight of Gavin Newsom’s mask deal, via The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board
• Church lawsuit against Gov. Newsom’s coronavirus shutdown is about politics, not prayer, via The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board