Recall ballot takes shape + Meet our new reporter + Garment workers push for better pay
Good morning, and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
WEBER CERTIFIES RECALL BALLOT
Via Lara Korte...
Larry Elder will be on the ballot after all.
A Sacramento judge on Wednesday ordered the secretary of state to include the conservative talk radio host on the Gov. Gavin Newsom recall ballot, after he was initially disqualified for what the office said was incorrectly redacted tax returns.
Judge Laurie M. Earl, speaking in court, said the statute that requires gubernatorial candidates to submit tax returns technically doesn’t apply to recall races. Even if it did, she said, Elder seems to have substantially complied with the requirements.
In another Sacramento courtroom, Kevin Faulconer was not as lucky. The judge in his case denied his petition to be listed as the “former San Diego mayor” on the recall ballot. He’s likely to be listed as a businessman/educator, instead.
Kevin Paffrath, the famous Youtuber, also lost his request to include his nickname “Meet Kevin” on the ballot.
“My campaign is essentially destroyed with this ruling,” he told the judge.
With the disputes settled by the judicial system, Secretary of State Shirley Weber issued the final certified ballot list late Wednesday night, adding five candidates from the initial 41 for a final total of 46 candidates.
It’s a much lower number than the 135 candidates who ran in the 2003 recall of then Gov. Gray Davis, and doesn’t include any big-name Democratic challengers. But with 55 days until the election, the main question is whether Newsom and his allies can turn out his voters, who are statistically less enthusiastic and less engaged than recall supporters.
SAY ‘HI’ TO THE SACRAMENTO BEE’S NEWEST POLITICAL REPORTER
The Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Bureau welcomes Gillian Rose Brassil, who will report from Washington D.C. on how legislation and Congressional affairs impact Californians.
Brassil joins The Bee from a reporting fellowship at The New York Times, where she covered sports. At The Times, Brassil reported on bills, international regulations and studies concerning transgender athletes. She broke news about emotional abuse in artistic swimming. She covered the N.C.A.A. women’s basketball tournament from San Antonio and watched her alma mater, Stanford University, take home the title for the first time in 29 years.
Brassil earned a master’s degree in journalism and a bachelor’s degree in communication in December 2019. She was a varsity artistic swimmer. After graduating, she worked as an editing fellow at Business Insider before joining The Times.
Contact her with tips at gbrassil@mcclatchydc.com or on Twitter at @Gillian_Brassil. And say hi if you find her wandering around Capitol Hill in D.C.!
PUSH FOR BETTER PAY FOR GARMENT WORKERS
Via Jeong Park...
Labor advocates and unions are again pushing for a bill requiring employers to pay garment workers by hour, rather than tasks performed, after a similar effort failed to make it to Gov. Gavin Newsom last year.
Advocates on Wednesday held a press conference featuring clothing businesses advocating for Senate Bill 62, which would also hold retailers jointly liable for wage and hour violations committed by their contractors. The bill does carve out an exemption allowing workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to be paid by tasks performed.
“Many retailers look to have garment manufactured cheaply to the detriment of workers,” said Carrie Freiman, director of sustainability at Los Angeles-based clothing manufacturer Reformation. “We’re also dealing with large gaps in labor laws that don’t frankly match the current working conditions.”
Under the current law, garment workers are allowed to be paid per piece they work on, as long as they are paid at least minimum wage. However, proponents of SB 62 say the so-called “piece rate” practice makes it easier for companies to pay workers below minimum wage.
A 2015 report from the Garment Worker Center, which is co-sponsoring the bill, found that garment workers are paid $5 per hour on average.
The California Chamber of Commerce has labeled the bill a “job killer,” saying it will encourage companies to shift manufacturing out of the state. However, business leaders who spoke at Wednesday’s press conference said they believe the bill could establish California as a center of ethical manufacturing.
The bill by Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) is currently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“This is alarming: CA’s new COVID surge would have put many counties back into the most restrictive tier under our reopening blueprint.It’s time we do something uncomfortable: make vaccination mandatory—at schools, gyms, hospitals, workplaces, etc.”
- Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
In May, a Northern California sheriff’s office asked on Facebook for volunteers to help bulldoze the marijuana greenhouses that have recently popped up by the hundreds on private property in one small area of the remote county. Less than a week later, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office got an unlikely volunteer: The local congressman, via Ryan Sabalow.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced a crackdown on retail theft rings a day after high-profile California crime victims slammed his criminal justice policies, via Andrew Sheeler.
California is upping the amount of money it offers to the entertainment industry in annual tax credits designed to encourage producers to film TV shows in the Golden State, via Katherine Swartz.