New names for attorney general pick + Police reform in 2021 + Californians challenging Biden’s win
Day six of 2021! How are we feeling so far?
WHO SHOULD BE CALIFORNIA’S NEXT ATTORNEY GENERAL?
It’s the final seat left open in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political chessboard after selecting Secretary of State Alex Padilla for the Senate and, hours later, tapping Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to take over as the state’s top elections official.
Current Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been called up to serve as Joe Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra has yet to undergo a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate, but that hasn’t stopped Californians from speculating on who should take his seat.
Support has been mounting for Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, who has served in the Assembly since 2012 and represents Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro. He was California’s first Filipino state legislator, and would be the first Filipino attorney general. He’s already received a swath of endorsements from Asian-Pacific Islander groups, and more are expected to back Bonta during a virtual statewide coalition kickoff Wednesday morning.
Backers say Bonta has a “bold and progressive track record” advancing criminal justice reform in the Legislature, and would be a historic pick during a challenging time.
On Tuesday, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus called on Newsom to appoint an LGBTQ+ person to the role, specifically, either Rick Chavez Zbur or State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.
Zbur, a civil rights leader who serves as a board member of Planned Parenthood LA, has spent his life fighting for equality and justice, the caucus said in a letter to Newsom. Zbur holds degress from Yale and Harvard, and was the first openly gay partner at the law firm Latham & Watkins. He would be the first openly LGBTQ+ person and first openly gay Latino to serve as California Attorney General.
“Growing up in a low-income farming community, Mr. Zbur knows firsthand the importance of economic justice for working families and our state’s most vulnerable residents,” the caucus said. “He would prioritize justice for our environment and the communities most impacted by pollution and climate change. He also has a proven track record advocating for criminal justice reforms and gun safety.”
Wiener also graduated from Harvard Law and spent 15 years as Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. He has served in numerous LGBTQ+ organizations, including sitting on the national board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.
He has received “legislator of the year” awards for his work reforming California’s criminal justice system, and has been recognized for his work on housing. IF appointed, Wiener would be the first openly LGBTQ+ person and the first openly gay Jewish person to serve as attorney general.
Those aren’t the only names being floated as candidates for the job. Everyone has an idea of who they want to see in the seat, and the only real requirement is passing the California bar exam. The California Latino Legislative Caucus last month proposed four Latina women as prospective picks, including Sen. Anna Caballero, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, Assemblywoman Eloise Gómez Reyes and former Sen. Martha Escutia.
AFTER EFFORTS STALLED IN 2020, LAWMAKERS ARE HOPEFUL FOR POLICE REFORM IN 2021
Via Hannah Wiley...
On June 9, California lawmakers gathered on the west steps of the Capitol for a ceremony to honor George Floyd, a Black man who died in May 2020 under the knee of a Minneapolis officer.
Floyd’s death sparked national outrage and monthslong protests against police brutality in America. In the California Legislature, lawmakers pledged a series of bills to fundamentally change the way police officers perform their work in the Golden State.
Those promises proved hard to keep, at least in 2020.
Divides within the Democratic party and time constraints due to COVID-19 initially delivered a death knell for ambitious ideas like Senate Bill 731, would would have decertified officers with concerning misconduct records, and Assembly Bill 66, which would have limited the use of crowd control tactics like tear gas and rubber bullets during demonstrations.
This year, however, the Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committees are hitting the ground running with renewed promises to keep working at police reform in California.
Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, in collaboration with Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, has already reintroduced the decertification plan via Senate Bill 2.
Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, proposed a bill to require officers to have a bachelor’s degree or be at least 25 before joining the ranks of law enforcement.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, unveiled last month Assembly Bill 48, a second attempt at restricting when officers can use less-lethal force.
Jones-Sawyer and Bradford previewed their 2021 agenda Tuesday at a press conference, and marked a historic moment of two Black men chairing the Legislature’s Public Safety Committees.
The two promised to review police practices in California, and to take a closer look at closing prisons in the Golden State.
“We’re both African Americans,” Jones-Sawyer said. “We all know this issue has disproportionately affected not only African Americans, but also Latinos. And we can now focus like a laser to make sure that our communities are not continuing to be oppressed.”
Bradford also pledged to pursue legislation that addresses “over-arrests, over-charging, over-sentencing,” and to build on the work started in 2020 in response to protests demanding more police accountability. Those ideas include more than just strengthening training for officers, Bradford said. They include targeting discriminatory hiring practices and scrutinizing recruitment efforts.
“These are the multitude of issues we are going to deal with and talk about this year,” Bradford said.
AT LEAST 2 CALIFORNIA CONGRESS OBJECT TO BIDEN’S WIN
If you thought November was over, you’re wrong.
The fight over the results of the 2020 presidential election continues, this time, in the halls of Congress. Republicans in both the House and Senate say they will object to certifying election results in certain swing states today, McClatchy DC reporters Kate Irby and David Lightman report.
At least two California Congressmen will join the effort.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville, said in a statement late Tuesday that there has been “an endless dripping of reports of mishandled ballots, numbers not adding up and outright violations of the U.S. Constitution’s clear director for setting election rules.”
“These questions must be answered and no amount of media spin or declarations of ‘nothing to see here, move along’ will change the concerns that many of us share,” LaMalfa said in a prepared statement.
Rep. Mike Garcia, a Republican from Santa Clarita, said Monday that he would vote to reject certain states’ election results, citing “enough evidence of compromised processes and break downs in election integrity by certain state legislatures that do in fact warrant a closer examination.”
The effort is likely to fail, and is the latest assertion by Republicans that the outcome of the election is fraudulent. President Donald Trump’s campaign has not backed up any of its accusations of widespread election fraud with evidence. Actual cases of proven voter fraud are on an incredibly small scale, and are not enough to flip any of the states that Biden won.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“He is a true hero for standing up to this un-American bullshit.”
- Former California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, applauding Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a piece for The Economist. In a call over the weekend, Raffensperger refused to bow to pressure from President Donald Trump to find votes to overturn the state’s election results.
BEST OF THE BEE:
Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to unveil his full 2021 budget proposal on Friday, but already announced that he wants to spend an additional $4 billion to help struggling businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic and invest in green technology. Via Sophia Bollag
People are frightened not only about the future of their small business as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, but about whether employees will take them to court. Going into 2021, businesses are looking for protections. Via David Lightman
California prisons are offering COVID-19 saliva tests as an alternative to nasal swabs starting this week. Via Wes Venteicher
BONUS: McClatchy, The Sacramento Bee’s parent company, names Colleen McCain Nelson as the Bee’s new exeuctive editor and regional editor for California, where McClatchy operates five newsrooms. Read more about Nelson here.