Anti-recall ads begin + EDD reform bill clears committee + Assault on the governor
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
‘STOP THE REPUBLICAN RECALL’ AIRS ADS
Via Lara Korte...
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s team to stop the recall attempt released three new ads last week ahead of the election.
The ads, which include a Spanish-language spot, aim to highlight Newsom’s “historic California Comeback Plan” and explain who is “behind the Republican recall.”
The first ad, titled after one of the governor’s favorite slogans: “Roaring Back,” highlights Golden State stimulus checks, small business support and pre-k for California children.
“Election Rejection” takes a bit of a darker tone, warning voters that the “same Trump Republicans who refused to accept the presidential election are back.”
“Now they’ve set their sights on California,” the ad tells voters.
The third ad, “Microchipping,” is broadcast in Spanish, and rails against the supposed anti-immigrant sentiments held by recall leaders. You might remember that recall leader Orinn Heatlie received some backlash for a now-deleted Facebook post where he suggested microchipping immigrants. Heatlie has since told The Bee that the post was a hyperbole, made in jest, and he doesn’t support microchipping anyone.
“En California, han apoyado el seguir a los inmigrantes con microchips...(In California, they’ve supported tracking immigrants with microchips),” Newsom’s new ad says.
EDD FRAUD PREVENTION BILL CLEARS ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE
Senate Republican Leader Scott Wilk’s bill to require the Employment Development Department to no longer include full Social Security numbers in correspondence has made it out of the Assembly Committee on Privacy & Consumer Protection.
SB 58 also requires EDD to identify fraud prevention efforts to improve effectiveness during high periods of demand, and mandates the designation of a single unit responsible for coordinating fraud prevention, according to the Santa Clarita Republican’s office.
“38 million piece of mail containing full Social Security numbers is 38 million opportunities for identity fraud against Californians, SB 58 ensures that the agency tasked with helping Californians during the time of their greatest need, does not put them at risk of falling victim to identity fraud,” Wilk said in a statement.
Wilk’s office cites the statistic that over the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than $10.4 billion in potentially fraudulent claims were paid out in California.
SB 58 is part of a trifecta of Republican bills aiming to reform EDD. SB 39, authored by Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to cross-reference prisoner records with EDD, and SB 232, authored by Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Tehama, would codify a number of recommendations made by the California State Auditor’s Office.
MAN ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING THE GOVERNOR
Via Sophia Bollag...
California Highway Patrol officers arrested and charged a man with assaulting Gov. Gavin Newsom in Oakland on Thursday after he approached the governor aggressively, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said.
“Yesterday morning, the Governor was approached by an aggressive individual. Members of the Governor’s security detail removed the Governor from the situation and the individual was arrested by CHP officers,” Clader wrote in an email to The Bee. “The California Highway Patrol is investigating this incident.”
Newsom was visiting small businesses in the city for a press conference.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’m getting the feeling that when these folks & protestors say ‘don’t teach Critical Race Theory’ they actually just mean ‘don’t teach kids that our country has a history of racism, xenophobia, & genocide which still affects us today.’”
– Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
California residents can now access a digital vaccine card through the Department of Public Health’s website, state officials announced Friday, via Sophia Bollag.
A city of Sacramento staffer who’s facing a potential restraining order barring him from City Hall is fighting back, via Theresa Clift.
Two California Republicans running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom are calling for new laws curbing nonprofit donations to to the First Partner, arguing companies trying to influence state policy shouldn’t donate to nonprofits that employ elected officials’ family members, via Sophia Bollag.