Will George Floyd inspired bills reach Newsom? + Rally for PPE + Meet our new reporter
It’s a busy week in the Capitol! Let’s get right into it!
First up: Last week we told you Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t take the pay cut he pledged when he called wage reductions for California state workers three months ago.
This week, we have more on that theme. Five of 120 California lawmakers asked to have their wages reduced along with the state workforce last month. They are Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo; and Assembly members Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego; Susan Eggman, D-Stockton; Todd Gloria, D-San Diego; and Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita.
Red more in Wes Venteicher’s report today.
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY BILLS ON TIGHT DEADLINES
via Hannah Wiley
It’s one thing for lawmakers to take a knee and attend a memorial for Black Americans killed by police officers, as we saw California lawmakers do at the Capitol earlier this summer in response to George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
It’s another thing to actually commit to passing measures that would change policing practices, an effort that requires negotiating, debating and, finally, voting on those proposals.
In recent days, we’ve seen proof that pledge is easier said than done.
During Senate Appropriations last week, a bill to make it a crime for officers not to intervene during an excessive force situation failed, as did a proposal to expand compensation eligibility for families who’ve lost loved ones to police violence.
Yesterday Assembly Democrats struggled to secure the two-thirds needed to bring Senate Bill 731 — a proposal that would decertify officers with a concerning history — out of Rules and into the Judiciary Committee for a hearing.
Now, with days left until the end of session, pressure is mounting to pass the police accountability package lawmakers have promised for the last three months.
To start, Assemblywoman Gonzalez, D-San Diego, is hosting a press conference at 9:30 this morning for Assembly Bill 66, a measure to limit what “less lethal” options, like rubber bullets or pepper spray, officers can use during protests or large demonstrations. The bill would also ban officers from using tear gas as a way to control crowds.
Also on lawmakers’ agendas this week and next are the following:
AB 1185 - establishes sheriff oversight boards
AB 1299 - makes it harder to hire officers with problematic histories
AB 2054 - funding for community organizations to respond to crises
AB 1196 - bans chokeholds
AB 1506 - normalizes AG investigating deadly force incidents
SB 629 - allows media access during protests/demonstrations
You can follow me here for updates during the press conference and for vote tallies during floor sessions this week.
RALLY FOR PPE
Health care and other essential workers from across the state are set to rally Tuesday morning in favor of a bill that would require California to maintain a pandemic-level stockpile of personal protective equipment, or PPE.
The rally in Sacramento begins at 10:15 a.m. on the west steps of the Capitol in support of SB 275, with rallies taking place in 10 other cities, including Walnut Creek, Stockton, Mountain View, Baldwin Park, Riverside, Fresno, Bakersfield, Lancaster, Anaheim and Oceanside.
“Never again can we find ourselves being forced to choose between our own lives, our families’ lives and our patients’ lives because we don’t have enough protective equipment to do our jobs safely,” said Liz Grigsby, a respiratory therapist at Kaiser Roseville Medical Center. “Almost 30,000 California healthcare workers have gotten the virus and over 140 have died – along with countless more first responders and other essential workers. We simply cannot fail to pass this legislation, and shame on us if we don’t learn from the failures of the current pandemic.”
We wrote about SB 275, which you can read here.
The bill would require the state to maintain a 90-day supply of PPE in preparation for the next pandemic, at an estimated cost of $250 million.
The bill also would mandate that hospitals and nursing homes maintain their own supply of PPE.
WELCOME, LARA KORTE!
The Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Bureau welcomes reporter Lara Korte, who will be covering California politics and the Golden State’s influence on the nation. Korte comes to The Sacramento Bee from The Austin American-Statesman, where she covered higher education.
In Texas, Korte worked to shed light on the pitfalls and challenges faced by college students. She reported on sexual assault, food insecurity, and the sweeping policy changes introduced by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Over the course of the pandemic, she has documented how the coronavirus outbreak exacerbated existing inequities in higher education and how universities have struggled to address them.
Prior to the Statesman, Korte was a fellow for The Texas Tribune, where she covered access to women’s healthcare and the aftermath of the El Paso shooting in 2019.
Korte interned at The Kansas City Star, The Wall Street Journal, The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Wichita Eagle. In 2017, she completed a journalism program abroad where she wrote about the tightening restrictions on Morocco’s press corps for the Middle East Eye. Born and raised in Kansas, Korte has degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Kansas.
Korte is excited to move to California and live close to the ocean for the first time in her life, but for now will be staying in Austin to weather out the rest of the pandemic. She is looking forward to getting to know the California political scene through phone calls, emails and long Zoom meetings.
Please connect with her at lkorte@sacbee.com or on Twitter @Lara_Korte.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When (Assemblywoman Shirley Weber) speaks, everyone listens. When I grow up, I want to speak like her. #SB793 is about health, not culture.”
- Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Santa Rosa, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
California’s embattled unemployment agency will combine its call centers, which should make it much easier for claimants to get help with more personal, often vexing questions — but not until October, via David Lightman.
A bill to ban the sale of most flavored tobacco products in California cleared a major hurdle Monday when lawmakers in the Assembly voted overwhelmingly to pass it, via Andrew Sheeler.
California is asking nursing home inspectors to take a more cooperative approach with the hundreds of facilities they regulate — something akin to a consultant role to help the disease-battered industry comply with health and safety laws, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Sacramento Bee, via Ryan Sabalow and Jason Pohl.