Universal vote-by-mail clears committee + A Twitter rebuke for a state official

It’s finally Wednesday. We’re getting through the week!

MAIL-IN BALLOTS PASSES COMMITTEE

A universal vote-by-mail election in California this November just moved a little closer to becoming reality.

The Senate Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments on Tuesday voted 4-1 to pass Assembly Bill 860 on to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Republican Sen. Jim Nielsen of Tehama was the lone opposing vote.

That bill would put the Legislature’s imprint on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order that every registered California voter receive a mail-in ballot for the 2020 general election. Newsom’s order faces two federal lawsuits, one from Republican congressional candidate Darrell Issa and one from the Republican National Committee, both of which contend that the order conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.

Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, authored the bill and spoke on its behalf Tuesday. Berman took exception to the group Election Integrity Project of California’s warning about the bill “that the cure is not more lethal than the disease.”

“I find that argument to be incredibly offensive and in poor taste,” Berman said.

Berman, as well as Robert Abelon of the Secretary of State’s Office, argued that vote-by-mail would make voting safer in a time of COVID-19.

Speaking in opposition to the bill was Ruth Weiss of the Election Integrity Project of California.

“We have chaos and unreliability in our state’s voter rolls,” Weiss argued, adding that there would be problems if a ballot was sent to every person on the voter rolls, including inactive voters.

Weiss said 75 percent of California voters already vote by mail, and if the remaining 25 percent wish to do so, they can make a phone call to receive a ballot.

When asked by committee chair, Sen. Thomas Umberg, D-Garden Grove, if there were any examples of voting improprieties during the last two vote-by-mail special elections in California, in which Republicans U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia and state Sen. Melissa Melendez were winners, Weiss said it is very difficult for improprieties to come to light after the fact.

Asked whether she felt those elections should be overturned, Weiss said, “I’m not looking at past elections. I’m looking at protecting future elections.”

Weiss had company in opposing AB 860. Dozens of people from around the state called in to register their strong objections to the bill. A much smaller group of people also called in to register their support.

Berman noted his appreciation for the people who called in to register their opinions on the bill from the safety of their own homes.

“That’s what this bill is trying to accomplish,” he said.

The committee voted 4-1 against Nielsen’s amendment to exclude inactive voters in the bill’s language.

A TWITTER MIS-STEP

Tensions over the death of George Floyd are at a peak, so now probably isn’t a good time to tie his death to your personal cause.

California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols learned that lesson the hard way, when she took to Twitter to write, “’I can’t breathe’ speaks to police violence, but it also applies for the struggle for clean air. Environmental racism is just one form of racism. It’s all toxic. Government needs to clean it up in word and deed...”

Nichols later deleted her tweet, though a copy of it was preserved by the California Globe, and not before earning a Twitter tongue-lashing from Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove.

“How dare you take this moment of pain and anguish our nation is facing to discus your crooked Enviro policies,” Cooper wrote in one tweet.

He followed that up by writing, “How dare you use a dying man’s plea for help as a way to discuss your agenda. Have you no shame? How dare you talk about Enviro racism when historically your policies favor your coastal elitists friends. While leaving communities of color out and left to foot the bill.”

Cooper finished off his Twitter rebuke by writing, “Now that you’ve disrespected the thousands of people peacefully protesting and not to mention the family of Mr. Floyd. Do you have any other insights to provide about racism from a wealthy white woman’s prospective?”

Nichols later tweeted an apology, writing “I apologize for speaking at the wrong time about the wrong topic. Racism comes in many forms and I believe we must fight every instance of it in our society.”

Nichols wasn’t the only one to get chastised by Cooper.

Sen. Henry Stern, D-Los Angeles, likewise earned a rebuke when he waded into the fray on Tuesday.

“I know I’m in no position to question your outrage over moral equivalencies in a convo about racism and injustice. But now doesn’t seem like the right moment to recycle big polluters’ stats to sow racial division over clean air. Here are some other stats to consider,” Stern wrote.

“You are right, you aren’t in any position to question my frustration as a black man about (Mary Nichols’) inappropriate use of a dying man’s last words,” Cooper replied.

Stern responded that he agreed, writing “those tragic words ‘I can’t breathe’ shouldn’t be appropriated. There is too much pain here to find any equivalence.”

But Cooper wasn’t done with Stern.

“Also, I’m glad you’ve noted that people of color in CA suffer from the states worst air quality. So why as Chair of Senate Natural Resources do you pass (Mary Nichols’) flawed policies that favor Tesla liberals and not communities of color?” Cooper wrote.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The issue we face in this country is the direct result of the enslavement, the continued mistreatment, the lynching and the attempts at genocide of blacks. This country has taught itself to hate African Americans. The death of George Floyd is a brutal illustration that we have not come to terms with that.”

- Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, speaking as chairwoman of the California Legislative Black Caucus.

Best of the Bee:

• As police brutality protests grip the nation, a clutch of progressive present and former prosecutors are demanding new conflict-of-interest rules barring California district attorneys and DA candidates from taking campaign cash from police unions, via Darrell Smith.

• Ever since national protests against racism and police brutality have gripped the country after George Floyd died in police custody, President Trump and other members of his administration have blamed antifa for violence at demonstrations, via Summer Lin.

• California’s Employment Development Department needs help in a hurry. It’s hiring more than 1,800 people to manage the surge in unemployment benefit claims that followed the coronavirus outbreak, via Matt Kristoffersen.