GOP critical of Becerra selection + Bill to ban unwanted nudes + Overdose prevention program
Good morning and happy Wednesday! Let’s get into the news.
REPUBLICAN SENATORS ARE SKEPTICAL OF BECERRA
Via David Lightman ...
Xavier Becerra’s limited experience as a manager or a health care expert — as well as his views on abortion — are stoking concern among Republican senators whose votes will be crucial to his confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary.
Becerra, the California attorney general, is President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to head the massive federal agency. If confirmed, he would become the administration’s chief spokesman for his policies on health care reform, response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other related issues.
That bothers some GOP senators.
“I think he’s going to have a tough time,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.
“He’s pretty radical,” added Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
The Senate traditionally gives new presidents a chance to form and work with their own teams unless the nominee becomes politically toxic. But HHS is an unusually important job to both Democrats and Republicans, who view health care policy as an important political issue.
So far, Republicans will control 50 Senate seats and Democrats will have 48, while Georgia’s two seats go to a runoff election. Should Democrats win both Senate seats up in Georgia Jan. 5, Becerra would have an easier path because his party would run the Senate and the hearings and Vice President Kamala Harris would break a 50-50 tie.
At the moment, Republicans have questions about Becerra, but most say they’re keeping an open mind.
“I was surprised that it wasn’t an individual who had a health care background but ... I truly don’t know him,” said Susan Collins, R-Maine, a centrist Senate Republican.
Some Republicans don’t want to discuss a Biden administration until he’s clearly the winner in their eyes.
“I’m not going to comment on any Biden nominees until December 14th and then I’ll tell you,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, D-S.C. The electoral college meets on that date.
LAWMAKER REINTRODUCES BILL TO BAN UNSOLICITED NUDES
Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, has reintroduced a bill that would make it a criminal infraction to send unsolicited nudes.
Senate Bill 53 would make the first offense punishable by a fine of $500, with subsequent offenses punishable by fines of $1,000.
Leyva previously introduced the bill in February, but the bill was pulled as the Legislature was hit with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.
“It is critical that we hold perpetrators accountable for this offensive and intolerable behavior that is clearly a modern form of sexual harassment,” Leyva said in a statement. “No person should ever be sent a sexually explicit picture or video without their consent. Though some may view this behavior as harmless, cyber flashing is abusive and it is vital that we develop legal protections for those that receive these unwanted images or videos. Simply put, sexual harassment is never acceptable, whether it happens in person or online. Particularly as Californians have increased the use of technology and dating apps during the pandemic and resulting ‘stay at home’ orders, this issue is as pressing as ever. I look forward to working closely with Bumble and our SB 53 coauthors to protect Californians from this technology-based sexual harassment.”
The bill is sponsored by dating app company Bumble, whose CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd, said in a statement that, “an increasing majority of our time is spent online and there are simply not enough laws and deterrents in place to protect us, and women and children in particular. With the trend of more people turning to technology to facilitate social interactions, Bumble has seen a 70% increase in video calls on the platform after a State of Emergency was declared this spring and has seen nearly 7 billion messages sent this year.”
According to the Pew Research Center, 53% of young American women, and 37 % of young American men, report having received unsolicited explicit material while online, on platforms as varied as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn.
OVERDOSE PREVENTION PROGRAM BILL INTRODUCED
Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill that would authorize the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland to approve overdose prevention programs that would include providing a safe, hygienic place for people to use drugs.
If passed into law, the bill would go into effect until Jan. 1, 2027.
The bill, Senate Bill 57, is co-sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance, which recently notched a major victory in Oregon with a successful ballot measure effort to decriminalize small quantities of hard drugs.
“With COVID-19 exacerbating what was already a devastating overdose crisis in California and across the nation, overdose prevention programs provide an evidence-based, cost-effective approach for us to save lives now, prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and connect people with other vitally important services — such as treatment, housing and other healthcare resources — which have been shown to improve health outcomes in the long-term,” Jeanette Zanipatin, California state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement.
The coalition of co-sponsors for the bill represent public health and substance use disorder treatment professionals, addiction medicine doctors, people who use drugs, harm reduction and drug policy reform advocates, and HIV and hepatitis C service providers, according to a statement from Wiener’s office.
“SB 57 will focus on the urgent need for these life-saving programs in the wake of the nation’s growing overdose crisis, which kills more people than traffic accidents, homicides and suicides combined. In addition, the coalition will point to how other countries, states and cities across the nation have taken steps to implement these facilities, based on well-established research and practice,” the statement said.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Gov. Newsom is spending $80 million on ‘iconic’ billboards to educate the public about a virus we’ve been living with for nine months. We’ll now receive ‘smashmouth’ reminders to social distance while driving on the freeway.”
- Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
For their swearing-in session on Monday, Assembly leaders moved their house from the state Capitol to the Golden 1 Center to make sure lawmakers were appropriately spaced. COVID-19 safety concerns meant that families and guests were excluded from the event. Just hours later, however, five California state Assembly members dined together outside at a Sacramento restaurant, via Hannah Wiley.
President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as the next U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services could give Gov. Gavin Newsom the chance to fill not just one but two powerful political offices in the coming weeks, via Lara Korte and Sophia Bollag.
As the coronavirus pandemic unequally impacts the wages and health of California’s immigrant workers, state Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, is seeking to re-introduce legislation that expands health care for undocumented adults, via Kim Bojórquez.