New California redistricting deadline + The ‘EnviroVoters’ + Prop. 22 ruling appealed
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Via Kim Bojórquez ...
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission will get a little more time to draw maps for next year’s elections, but not as much as it wanted.
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the state’s independent redistricting commission’s request to extend its deadline to turn in final district maps to the secretary of state by Jan. 14.
Instead, the court extended the commission’s final district map deadline from Dec. 15 to Dec. 27 of this year.
“The Commission is disappointed that the California Supreme Court did not agree with our justification for a January 14, 2022 deadline to submit final maps to the California Secretary of State,” said California Citizens Redistricting Commission Chair Neal Fornaciari. “While disappointed with the ruling, the Commission is committed to ensuring continued public participation in the process … and to delivering the final district maps to the Secretary of State by the court-mandated date.”
In August, the commission – for the second time – asked the California Supreme Court for an extension due to the release of Census data being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to their request, the Secretary of State’s Office submitted a statement opposing the extension, citing that it would “seriously jeopardize” election officials’ ability to prepare new maps in time for next year’s primary election on June 7.
Every 10 years since 2008, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission is tasked with redrawing the state’s political boundaries for congressional, state Senate, state Assembly and State Board of Equalization districts.
MEET THE ‘ENVIROVOTERS’
Via Lara Korte...
The organization formerly known as the California League of Conservation Voters announced a name change on Wednesday meant to reflect the expansion of the group’s focus in its battle against climate change.
The group, which has fought for policies addressing climate change since 1972, will now be known as California Environmental Voters, or “EnviroVoters” on second reference.
The name more accurately represents the evolution of the organization’s mission, the group said in a statement, which is to “build the power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a global roadmap for action.”
In addition to conservation, natural resources, and public lands, EnviroVoters will also prioritize policies in the areas of a clean energy economy, workforce transition, transportation and land use, and toxics and pollution.
“We’re going to need everyone in the fight against the climate crisis, and California Environmental Voters meets the current moment,” said CEO Mary Creasman. “Conservation remains a critical part of our mission, but solving the climate crisis will require a transformation of our economy towards clean energy solutions that phase out oil and gas industries, the single largest source of global warming.”
GIG COMPANIES APPEAL PROP. 22 RULING
Via Jeong Park...
It’s official: The state and a coalition of gig companies and community organizations are appealing an Alameda County judge’s ruling that called Prop. 22 unconstitutional.
The Attorney General’s office filed an appeal to have the case heard by an appeals court on Friday, seeking to uphold a ballot measure that exempted rideshare and food delivery drivers from the 2019 labor law known as Assembly Bill 5, which requires companies to give benefits to more workers. Prop. 22 passed with 58% of votes in November.
Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Coalition as well as representatives from Uber and DoorDash followed by filing their own paperwork Wednesday.
In an August ruling, Judge Frank Roesch wrote that Prop. 22 infringes on the Legislature’s constitutional power to set workplace standards on matters such as workers’ compensation. Because Prop. 22 is a ballot initiative, not a constitutional amendment, the measure can’t violate the Legislature’s authority on the subject, Roesch wrote.
In a statement, Saori Okawa, a rideshare and delivery driver who had filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Prop. 22, said the appeal comes as no surprise.
“We know they’ll do anything they can to take away our legally-protected rights and prevent us from having a voice on the job,” Okawa said. “But we also know that democracy cannot be bought: you cannot rewrite the state’s constitution even with a pen made of gold.”
But in a statement, spokesman for the coalition said it believes the appeal is necessary “to protect the overwhelming will of California voters and the desire of app-based drivers to work as independent contractors.”
“We are confident we will be successful,” Geoff Vetter at Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Coalition said in the statement.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I just heard a prominent national pundit say Larry Elder got 46% of the vote in the recall. Although 47% of people who cast a vote for a candidate voted for Elder, Elder has 3.1 million votes out of 11.6 mill counted so far. Math is hard, but I think that’s less than 27%.”
- Dan Morain, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed a pair of laws aimed at protecting reproductive health care in California, calling them urgent measures ahead of a new challenge to abortion rights that’s expected to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court, via Andrew Sheeler.
Three California ACLU affiliates are calling on the White House to uphold President Joe Biden’s efforts to phase out the federal government’s reliance on private, for-profit detention centers by closing a privately run detention center in downtown San Diego and preventing The GEO Group from partnering with a small Kern County city to operate the facility for the U.S. Marshals Service, via Rebecca Plevin.
More than 20,000 janitors across California ratified a new contract over the weekend that for many workers includes a $20 an hour minimum wage and an employers’ contribution to a union pension plan by 2023, via Jeong Park.
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 4:55 AM.