Last day for recall regrets + A do-over for students’ COVID year + Climate equity

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

THE RECALL CLOCK IS TICKING

Via Lara Korte...

Today is the last day county election officials have to report the number of signatures that were withdrawn for the Gov. Gavin Newsom recall, which could mean we see an election scheduled soon.

It’s unlikely that the withdrawal period will have a real effect on the recall. Petitioners submitted 1.7 million signatures, which is about 200,000 more than needed to qualify for the ballot.

After the Secretary of State’s office confirms that the recall still has enough signatures, there are two more steps before Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis can schedule a special election.

The first is a review period by the Department of Finance, in which it has 30 days to issue an estimate of the costs of a recall election. And, well, the department already kind of did that.

In order to include the costs in the annual state budget, counties were asked to submit their estimates for recall costs before the June 15 deadline. Finance said earlier this month that the total cost for counties came out to around $215 million. The final bill will include costs to the state, too, but it’s unlikely the Department of Finance will use the full 30-day period to come up with that figure.

The second step is another 30-day review by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. But after receiving the $215 million budget line item from counties, legislative leaders said they’ll waive that review period.

What it all means: What could have been a 60-day review process will likely be shortened drastically, opening the option for Kounalakis to schedule the recall sooner than later, which Democrats say will be better for Newsom.

STUDENT BILL GOES TO GOVERNOR’S DESK

California Gov. Gavin Newsom now has 12 days to sign, approve without signing or veto a bill aimed at helping K-12 students recover from the setbacks imposed by COVID-19.

The bill, AB 104, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, requires school officials to implement a temporary process for students to be able to retake their grade level if they are not passing at least half their courses.

The bill also empowers high schools to implement a “pass/no pass” system in lieu of letter grades, to keep students’ grade point averages from being negatively impacted.

“Kids who struggled with distance learning during the pandemic shouldn’t be penalized for falling behind during such a difficult year,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “For some students in California, the next school year will begin as early as July. There’s more urgency than ever to ensure AB 104 becomes law so families can immediately make use of these options that can help get their children back on track for the next school year.”

REPORT FINDS INEQUITY IN CLIMATE RESILIENCE FUNDING

A new report from the Gender Equity Policy Institute is critical of the state’s proposed $5.7 billion in climate resiliency spending, arguing that a disproportionate amount of the funds are going to mostly rural, most white and most male regions of the state.

Specifically, the North Coast and Sierra Nevada regions.

With 1% of the state’s population, the North Coast is slated to receive 7% of climate resilience funds, while the Sierra Nevada region, with 3% of the population, is set to receive 9% of funds.

“This translates to a per capita investment of $1124 in the North Coast Region and $516 in the Sierra Nevada region,” according to a statement released along with the report.

This contrasts with the Los Angeles region, which is the least white, most populous and second most female region in the state. Comprising 45% of the state’s population, the region will receive 21% of climate resiliency funding, a per capita investment of just $84, according to the Gender Equity Policy Institute.

The report points out that nearly a quarter of climate resiliency funds are going to regions comprising just 7% of the state’s population — the North Coast, Sierra Nevada and Inland Deserts regions.

“The Sacramento Valley, the most female region in the state, is the only other region besides the Los Angeles region projected to receive less than its fair share of funding,” according to the report.

You can read the full report, titled “Failing the Climate Justice Test,” for yourself by visiting here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The NCAA’s bankrupt model is finally starting to come apart. Sickening that colleges reap BILLIONS from student athletes but block them from earning a single dollar. This brings us one step closer to fixing that.”

- Gov. Gavin Newsom, via Twitter, responding to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in favor of student athletes.

Best of the Bee:

• Practically everywhere he goes these days, Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to brag about California’s economy — how well it withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, its performance compared to rivals like Texas, and the stunning boom that’s still to come. The reality is somewhat complicated, via Dale Kasler.

• Will offshore wind hurt the Morro Bay fishing industry? “We’re basically screwed,” via Mackenzie Shuman.

• Junteenth is the newest federal holiday, but California state workers aren’t likely to get it as a paid day off anytime soon, via David Lightman and Hannah Wiley.