Widening gap between rich and poor + Border wall contractor’s California deal + NARAL scorecard

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PPIC POLL ON CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY

Via Jeong Park...

More Californians are expressing optimism about the state’s economy, but nearly 70% of the state believes the gap between the rich and the poor in their region is increasing, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll of more than 2,000 California residents.

The poll released on Tuesday night also found that 25% of Californians worry every day or almost every day about housing costs and that more than 60% of Californians believe those growing up in the state today will be worse off than their parents.

“While job conditions and economic circumstances have been recovering from the COVID-19 crisis over the past year, glaring disparities in economic well-being have taken center stage in policy discussions,” PPIC researchers said in their report.

Economic optimism has reached the pre-pandemic levels, with 47% of those polled believing the state’s economy will be good in the next 12 months. A majority of Latinos and African Americans said good times are ahead, compared to 43% of Asian Americans and 39% of whites.

Some 90% of employed adults polled were at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs, an increase from 82% in last November, according to the poll.

Still, 21% of those polled said they considered moving out of the state because of the lack of well-paying jobs. The rate was higher for those in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire, at 26%.

And about one in five Californians said they were unable to pay monthly bills such as rent in the last 12 months, according to the poll. One in five Californians said they are worried almost every day about the amount of debt they have.

The poll also asked Californians about their thoughts on workforce policies.

On unions, 81% of Californians said it’s important for workers to organize. More than 70% supported expanding the earned income tax credit, as well as increasing government funding to provide childcare programs for more lower-income parents.

The full survey is available at PPIC’s website at ppic.org.

GONZALEZ EXPRESSES ‘DISCOMFORT’ OVER STATE CONTRACTOR

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, has qualms about California’s $350 million no-bid COVID-19 services contract to a company that helped build former President Donald Trump’s border wall.

As first reported by Capitol Public Radio’s Scott Rodd, Gonzalez penned a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office “to express my discomfort” with the contract being awarded to SLSCO.

“This instance, along with others throughout the pandemic, have raised important questions about the state’s no-bid contracting process during a state of emergency,” Gonzalez wrote in the letter. “In particular, it was disheartening to learn that SLSCO was awarded contracts for constructed portions of former President Trump’s border wall in California.”

Gonzalez pointed out in the letter that California has taken Trump to court to block the border wall from being built, include portions built by SLSCO.

“As the state continues its efforts to manage and ultimately end the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we continue to build and maintain trust with historically marginalized and underserved communities. Any practice that may undermine this trust — even in an effort to expedite the delivery of care throughout the state — should be carefully reviewed to ensure services are ultimately delivered in a culturally sensitive manner,” she wrote.

NARAL RELEASES LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD

NARAL Pro-Choice California has released it’s 2021 Reproductive Freedom Legislative Scorecard, ranking California lawmakers based on their committee and floor votes on bills on the topic of reproductive rights.

Seventeen lawmakers, all Democrats, scored an A+ from the abortion rights group: Sens. Lena Gonzalez, Scott Wiener, Nancy Skinner, Connie Leyva, Dave Min and Toni Atkins and Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Wendy Carrillo, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Buffy Wicks, Autumn Burke, Laura Friedman, David Chiu, Robert Rivas, Mark Stone and Blanca Rubio.

With the exception of Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (who earned a C), every single Republican in the Legislature got an F from NARAL. Independent Chad Mayes also got an F from the group.

In a statement, NARAL Pro-Choice California Director Shannon Olivieri Hovis said, “The legal right to abortion is hanging by a thread in our country, but this scorecard — NARAL Pro-Choice California’s first in more than 20 years — demonstrates that California legislators are stepping up to champion reproductive freedom and meet this moment. If Roe falls, California, which is currently home to a quarter of the nation’s healthcare facilities providing abortion care, will have an outsized role to play in helping pregnant people all across the country access the care they need. Our lawmakers must ensure California is prepared to provide care to the potentially thousands upon thousands of people who soon may not be able to access abortion in their own states.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“As a dad, I know that there is no greater job in the world. We miss a lot of family moments as public servants, which makes the time we do spend with our kids very special. The Newsoms did the right thing to prioritize their children and family.”

- Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, via Twitter.

“California needs a Governor who takes the responsibilities of public office seriously.”

- Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• After more than a week of silence, Gov. Gavin Newsom finally revealed the reason he canceled his trip to Scotland for the United Nations climate conference: spending Halloween with his kids, via Sophia Bollag.

• Thousands of lecturers at the University of California. Tens of thousands of nurses and health care workers at Kaiser Permanente. Tens of thousands of workers in Hollywood. They are a few of the groups who are threatening to go on strike in California, via Jeong Park.

• California Assemblyman Rudy Salas announced his campaign for Congress in late October, entering the race to contest Rep. David Valadao. Less than three weeks later, a right-leaning federal watchdog filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over whether his campaign misappropriated funds from his state Assembly run for his national one based on taped-up signs used at his launch event, via Gillian Brassil.