Redistricting a done deal + CDCR disciplines employees + Skinner unveils ‘baby bonds’ bill
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
COMMISSION DELIVERS FINAL DISTRICT MAPS
Via Lara Korte...
After months of meetings, debates, and more than 36,000 public comments, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission on Monday delivered its final maps to the California Secretary of State, solidifying the next 10 years of Congressional, assembly, and state senate districts.
This is only the second time the nonpartisan commission has drawn California districts. Prior to passage of the 2008 Voters First Act, legislators drew the districts. The goal of the commission is to redraw the districts based on a decade of population shifts, and do so in a way that is transparent and takes public input into account.
But the process this year was fraught with data delays from the U.S. Census Bureau, COVID-19 complications and, briefly, a lawsuit accusing the commission of holding closed-door meetings with partisan attorneys. (The judge dismissed the suit).
Commissioners on Monday defended their work, and said California was doing more than any other state to ensure transparency in the redistricting process.
“The maps we created and approved are far from perfect, but they represent the wishes of the people of California to transform the redistricting process from one that used to take place behind closed doors to one that is public and fully transparent,” said Commission Chair Isra Ahmad, a no-party-preference voter.
Jane Andersen, a Berkeley Republican, called the process of drawing districts live and in view of the public “unprecedented.”
“No other state actually does live line drawing,” Anderson said. “It’s a very complicated, difficult procedure, and we did it live for many, many days over and over again.”
Now, the maps go to the Secretary of State and will be implemented for the 2022 elections. Be sure to check back in another 10 years for more redistricting news.
CDCR MOVES TO FIRE 2 OFFICERS FOLLOWING HAZING INVESTIGATION
Via Wes Venteicher...
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has moved to fire two officers while disciplining 10 other employees at a prison near Sacramento where two officers died after making claims of harassment, hazing and corruption within a specialized investigative unit.
Most of the employees are appealing the discipline to the State Personnel Board, according to three current and former corrections employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation.
Valentino Rodriguez, who was 30, died of a fentanyl overdose at his home in West Sacramento in October 2020. Rodriguez was an officer in the Investigative Services Unit at California State Prison, Sacramento, a high-security institution in Folsom.
Kevin Steele, 56, a sergeant in the unit, was found dead at a home in Miller County, Missouri in August. The county’s coroner ruled his death a suicide.
Rodriguez left on his phone a record of harassment, hazing and threats by his coworkers.
After Rodriguez died, Steele filed whistleblower memos to corrections executives accusing prison officials of ignoring Rodriguez’s mistreatment. Steele, who called Rodriguez a friend, also accused officers in the memos of tampering with evidence, and he relayed allegations he said Rodriguez had made that officers planted evidence on inmates.
The FBI has been investigating some of Steele’s claims — including allegations that officers helped inmates coordinate a stabbing — and other misconduct at the prison, one of the state’s most dangerous. The corrections department’s Office of Internal Affairs also has been digging into the prison’s handling of inmates’ allegations, interviewing dozens of employees in recent weeks, according to two corrections sources.
SKINNER ANNOUNCES ‘HOPE SAVINGS ACCOUNTS’ BILL
Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, on Monday announced that she plans to introduce legislation that would open up savings accounts for children whose parents or caregivers have died of COVID-19.
“The Hope for Children Act will offer a more secure future to children who lost their parents to this deadly pandemic,” Skinner said. “Children who are long-term wards of California’s foster care system and others disproportionately impacted by extreme poverty also face uncertain futures, so the Act creates the possibility of Hope Accounts for these children.”
The legislation would create so-called “baby bonds” for children from lower income families, up to $3,000 would be deposited for kids up to age 9, up to $5,000 for children aged 10 to 17. The bill also would make children who are ineligible for federal survivor benefits to still receive such benefits from a new state program called the CalHope Program.
Skinner’s office says that there are an estimated 20,000 California children who have lost a parent or primary caregiver due to COVID-19. Nationally, that number is more than 140,000. Of those children, 67% are non-white, and many of those who died were low-wage workers forced to keep working during the pandemic, according to Skinner’s office.
“At a time when California has immense wealth, we can afford to ensure that children who have suffered an inconceivable loss will be comforted knowing they’ll have a little help at a time when they no longer have parents to rely on,” Skinner said.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’m honored to announce that I will be running for re-election in Silicon Valley’s newly formed Assembly District 26. The last two years have shown that the Legislature has more work to do on behalf of South Bay residents and I am excited for the opportunity to continue serving.”
- Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell, via Twitter. (This means Low will not be going head-to-head with fellow Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, who is running in Assembly District 23.)
Best of the Bee:
What new California laws mean for the workplace in 2022, from warehouses to pay disputes, via Jeong Park.
End of inflation? Here’s when experts think gas, housing prices could stabilize in California, via David Lightman.
Devin Nunes said he will leave Congress. Why is he still trying to sue a Twitter cow? Via Gillian Brassil.