Will GOP endorse? + More child care + Where we’re seeing job growth
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
via Katherine Swartz....
The California Republican Party over the weekend established the rules for a party endorsement in the recall election. But whether the process actually leads to an endorsement remains to be seen.
The party had considered whether to lower the threshold of delegates to reach an endorsement from 60% to 50%, but ultimately decided on Saturday to keep the threshold at 60%, making it less likely that one candidate will secure enough support. Delegates also have the choice to vote “no endorsement.”
Party delegates will vote on Aug. 7, which falls three days after five Republicans are scheduled to debate together for the first time, at Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda. In the 2003 recall, the state party endorsed Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor just one week before the election.
Having the party unite around a candidate might allow the party to devote its efforts to one personality against Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has a clear financial advantage because there are no contribution limits for the incumbent.
But the candidates don’t necessarily see the point. Recall candidate John Cox says an endorsement could disenfranchise voters and hurt turnout.
Cox, worried that the process would benefit San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, said he would reject any endorsement from “backdoor insiders” at the party. He said he’s relying on grassroots Republicans and independents to carry him ahead of the Sept. 14 election.
Faulconer, meanwhile, has said he doesn’t support the CA GOP pursuing an endorsement, since there’s no major Democrat running against Newsom, and thus no concern about splitting the party vote. Communications Director John Burke said the campaign remains focused on Newsom, not on “intraparty fights.”
The most recent polling, an Inside California Politics/Emerson College survey, shows Cox tied with Faulconer at 6% of the vote. Radio personality Larry Elder led with 16%.
NEWSOM SIGNS CHILD CARE LEGISLATION
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the budget trailer bill AB 131 to add 200,000 new child care slots by 2025-26, more than 145,000 new slots by 2022-23.
“I’m proud to sign this legislation lifting up women and working families while supporting our dedicated early childhood professionals,” Newsom said in a statement. “With 200,000 new child care slots to help meet the needs of parents as they balance the demands of work with raising a family, and increased compensation and supports for child care and preschool providers, this package will help reinvigorate our essential care economy and invests in the health and well-being of families across the state.”
The budget trailer bill gives child care and preschool providers a significant rate increase, as part of an agreement between the state and Child Care Providers United, according to the governor’s office.
“This is the first collective bargaining agreement between the state and the new union after the Governor in 2019 signed AB 378 – legislation by current Senator Monique Limόn that was championed by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins and other child care advocates in the Legislature – to give child care workers the right to join a union and collectively bargain with the state,” according to Newsom’s office.
The bill also spends $40 million in one-time funds on workforce education, training and professional development for family child care providers.
CALIFORNIA MOVES TOWARD JOB RECOVERY, PPIC SAYS
Between mid-May and mid-June of this year, California added 73,000 new jobs, a sign of slow-but-steady job recovery, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
In a blog post, PPIC found that most of the job growth occurred in the leisure and hospitality sectors, which were pummeled by the pandemic.
“While job growth is a critical indicator of California’s recovery, hours and wages matter for business costs and worker well-being. In the leisure and hospitality sector, weekly wages are up 14% in California compared to one year ago; this is the largest annual increase in any sector. However, wages in this sector are still far lower than those in any other sector: on average, leisure and hospitality workers make $604 per week; the next-lowest sectorwide wage is $990 per week, in other services,” the blog post read.
The PPIC found that wage growth likely reflects the fact that there is stiffer competition for workers, which may be attributable to those workers demanding better pay, facing challenges caring for dependents or being concerned about the safety of a face-to-face job.
“But wage increases may be permanent if they reflect worker transitions to new sectors, productivity increases (due to, for instance, investments in technology during the pandemic), or compositional changes in the type of workers businesses have been hiring (or have retained) since last year,” the post read.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If you’re a gunslinger, it’s hard to not be in the fight. Strategically, any attention paid to the 2nd ballot contenders hurts @GavinNewsom. Friends and surrogates should take aim at the positives even when soft targets appear.”
- Sen. Steven Glazer, D-Orinda, with a gentle chastisement of Democratic strategist Garry South, who was tweeting in response to Republican Assemblyman and gubernatorial candidate Kevin Kiley, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
Forced to reckon with a worsening drought, California’s water regulators are preparing to forbid thousands of farmers from tapping into the state’s major rivers and streams, via Dale Kasler.
The high cost of housing and childcare and the slow growth of workers’ incomes pushed nearly one-third of California households into situations where they struggled to pay for their basic needs, according to a report published Wednesday by United Ways of California, via Jeong Park.
As California absorbs the constant gut punches from global warming’s quickening pace, the added stress on the power grid has increased the state’s reliance on fossil fuels — even with Diablo Canyon’s 2,200 megawatts of energy still online. California is facing unnerving realities with its power supply that are undermining the transition to a 100% green energy grid by 2045, via The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board.
This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 4:55 AM.