Coming to you live from Dodger Stadium + Bernie on the recall + Lawsuits for the deceased
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
STATE OF STATE UPDATE
Via Sophia Bollag...
Gov. Gavin Newsom will break from tradition today and give his State of the State address from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The speech, normally delivered to lawmakers in the Assembly chamber, will not have an in-person audience because of the coronavirus pandemic. Newsom chose Dodger Stadium because it was among the first mass-vaccination sites established in California and represents both loss and hope, Newsom spokeswoman Sahar Robertson said.
“To mark our path to a brighter future, the governor will deliver his address from the home of last year’s World Series champions, which has now become one of the nation’s largest vaccination sites,” Robertson said in a statement. “Stands once filled with roaring crowds are now silent and empty. The governor will deliver his address as the state expects to near 55,000 Californians who have been lost to COVID-19 – nearly the same number of empty seats in the stadium.”
During an event in Earlimart yesterday, Newsom said his State of the State address will be shorter than usual.
”This is not going to be a state of the state laden with policy announcements,” he said.
He said he would discuss homelessness, farmworkers, women, and other groups disproportionately affected by the pandemic. His message will be sober, he said, but also optimistic.
BERNIE’S IN NEWSOM’S CORNER
Via Lara Korte...
For the record, Bernie Sanders is not a fan of the recall effort.
Of course, you probably could have guessed that the progressive Vermont senator wasn’t going to support the attempt to unseat Gavin Newsom, but he made it official in a tweet on Monday, echoing attempts by California Democrats’ to paint it as a partisan political matter.
“Right-wing Republicans in CA are trying to recall @GavinNewsom for the crime of telling people to wear masks and for listening to scientists during COVID,” Bernie tweeted. “Extremist Republicans have done enough to undermine democracy already. We must all unite to oppose the recall in California.”
Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, rebuffed Sanders’ assertion, tweeting “Fact check: many of Bernie’s own supporters have signed.”
It’s unclear exactly how many Bernie supporters may have signed a recall petition, and without having each name in front of us, it’s impossible to verify. At a press conference on Sunday, recall organizers said based on their own internal analysis, 31.5% of signers are something “other than Republican.” That doesn’t necessarily mean Bernie supporters are heading out in droves to recall Newsom, but it does point to the idea that the effort may not be as partisan as Democrats are trying to paint it.
A few big-name liberals have donated to the recall. Chamath Palihapitiya, the former Facebook exec who now runs the investment firm Social Capital, pitched in $100,000 earlier this year. In the past, Palihapitiya has donated to dozens of Democrats across the country. The same goes for San Francisco investor David Sacks and his wife Jacqueline, who have donated a combined $90,000 to the recall effort.
Sanders wasn’t the only big name calling out the recall Monday. Labor giant United Farm Workers, the union started by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, tweeted its support of Newsom as well.
“The United Farm Workers opposes the effort to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom,” the union said. “If a recall election is certified in the coming months, we will be urging CA voters to vote against recalling Governor Newsom.”
LET DEAD PEOPLE’S FAMILY SUE, BILL SAYS
When a person suing for pain, suffering or disfigurement dies before their case is resolved, California law prohibits the recovery of damages by that person’s loved ones. A new bill, SB 447 aims to change that.
Sen. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, introduced the bill, which specifically permits damages for a decedent’s pain, suffering or disfigurement to be recoverable by that decedent’s personal representative or successor in interest.
“When it comes to giving families a chance to recover non-economic damages, California is one of only five states in the entire nation that rewards defendants for prolonging court procedures — leaving victims unable to obtain justice,” Laid said in a statement. “SB 447 will end a decades-old injustice in California by finally extending a victim’s right, and the right of their loved ones, to pursue accountability for human suffering – even if they die prior to case resolution.”
SB 447 is sponsored by Consumer Attorneys of California and the Consumer Federation of California, who argue that the current law favors wrongdoers’ simply waiting victims out with delayed court hearings until they die.
“Allowing bad actors to pocket a windfall of cash simply because a victim of their own negligence has died is grossly unfair,” said CAOC Legislative Director Nancy Peverini in a statement. “Especially now, as California’s court system strains under a 1.4 million case backlog due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our outdated laws leave victims and their families with no recourse to pursue accountability for the suffering their loved one has experienced. SB 447 will restore the right of every Californian to pursue the compensation they deserve in spite of court delays and ill-intentioned wrongdoers.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Right-wing Republicans in CA are trying to recall @GavinNewsom for the crime of telling people to wear masks and for listening to scientists during COVID. Extremist Republicans have done enough to undermine democracy already. We must all unite to oppose the recall in California.”
- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
California job seekers found new careers with help from a rent relief program. Here’s how, via Jeong Park
GOP targets California’s underfunded pensions in effort to sink Biden’s COVID stimulus plan, via David Lightman.
Simon Chan, the founder and proprietor of Simon’s Bar & Cafe in downtown Sacramento, died Sunday night, via Benjy Egel.