CalChamber names ‘job killer’ targets + AAPI leaders fight recall + ‘Rape is rape’
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
CALCHAMBER RELEASES 2021 ‘JOB KILLER’ LIST
The California Chamber of Commerce is out with its 2021 list of so-called “Job Killer” bills — 18 bills that CalChamber argues would place employers and the state’s economy in harm’s way.
“Many of these bills — particularly the labor and employment ones — seem to be solutions in search of a problem,”CalChamber President and CEO Allan Zaremberg said in a statement. “Are policy makers unaware that unemployment filings increased last month? California employers cannot be the safety net for struggling workers. The billions of dollars coming to the state from the American Rescue Plan should be used to provide the safety net for struggling workers and help get businesses back up and running.”
So what’s got CalChamber so concerned?
Well, there’s Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s bill AB 1003, which would punish employers found guilty of wage theft with jail time.
“Despite California’s onerous, confusing, and always changing wage and hour laws, (the bill) proposes to criminalize small employers, managers, and supervisors, who in good faith, make a mistake in the application of the law, that even the Labor Commissioner and the courts disagree with on how to interpret,” CalChamber said.
Gonzalez took to Twitter to give her response.
“I didn’t think my view of them could get any lower. I was wrong,” she wrote.
What else made the cut? You can read the full list here.
And be sure to check out reporter Jeong Park’s coverage of several of those bills.
RECALL UNDER FIRE FOR ‘CHINESE VIRUS’ COMMENTS
Via Lara Korte...
Recall proponents are facing scrutiny for anti-Asian comments and rhetoric following the murders of eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent.
The San Francisco Chronicle this weekend pointed to a pattern of anti-Asian rhetoric used by recall leaders. The proponents have repeatedly called COVID-19 a “Chinese” virus, and on its website, the campaign referred to the virus as the “Communist Chinese Party” virus, the Chronicle reported.
State legislators gathered in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Monday to voice their support for Asian communities, and condemn the hateful language that has been on the rise over the past year.
Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, who was one of more than 125 API officials to come out in opposition to the Gov. Gavin Newsom recall, said the campaign’s rhetoric is insulting.
“We can add to the recall coalition, anti-Asian racists,” Chiu said.
Recall leader Orrin Heatlie said the campaign has removed the controversial language from its website out of “respect for recent events,” and said there are many Californians of Asian descent who support the movement.
It’s not the first time the recall has been scrutinized for flippant comments.
During a national press junket earlier this month, Newsom pointed out that Heatlie himself had made comments in support of microchipping immigrants. Heatlie told Bee reporter Sophia Bollag that the comments were hyperbole. You can read the full details of the incident here.
ICYMI: The latest report from the Secretary of State dropped Friday night, showing the recall had turned in more than 1.8 million signatures, and nearly 1.2 million had been validated, a rate of about 81%. Proponents said they turned in more than 2.1 million by the March 17 deadline. If the validity rate holds steady, the recall is likely to rake in 1.7 million valid signatures.
‘RAPE IS RAPE’
California is one of just 11 states to treat spousal rape as different from other forms of rape, with more lenient penalties. Now, two bills — AB 812 and SB 530 — aim to change that.
“This should absolutely not be the case. Rape is rape,” said bill author Evan Low, D-Campbell, during a press conference announcing the bill package.
Low, along with Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, and Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, introduced the package of bills aimed at rectifying an “antiquated” law.
“For instance, a person convicted of non-spousal rape is required to register as a sex offender, while a person convicted of spousal rape only must register as a sex offender if the act involved the use of force or violence that led to a prison sentence,” according to Cortese’s office. “These disparities also extend to plea bargains. A defendant accused in the non-spousal rape of an unconscious person cannot plea bargain. But, if a defendant is married to the unconscious victim of the rape, they are currently able to plea bargain.”
Among those speaking in support of the bill package were Michele Dauber, Frederick I. Richman Professor of Law and Professor at Stanford University; Kolieka Seigle, president of the California chapter of the National Organization for Women; and a pair of district attorneys: Chesa Boudin of San Francisco and Jeff Rosen of Santa Clara County.
“A marriage license and a wedding ring do not make rape a less serious offense,” Rosen said.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Today is my birthday. As I complete another trip around the sun, I feel a profound sense of gratitude. This past year has been rather unimaginable, but through it all I am thankful for my health, my family, and this incredible opportunity to serve the people of California.”
- Sen. Alex Padilla, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he has been “living through Zoom school and all of the challenge related to it.” The Sacramento Bee fact-checked that statement, via Lara Korte.
California has collected $14.3 billion more in taxes than it expected to in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced, painting an even rosier state budget picture than he outlined at the start of the year, via Sophia Bollag.
The California Department of Public Health changed its position Monday afternoon and now will now allow bands, drumlines and choirs to attend prep football games, via Cameron Salerno.
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 4:55 AM.