Democrats form vaccine work group + New poll on Capitol Annex + Chen’s $$ + Sheriff investigation
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
FIRST UP: A group of eight lawmakers on Wednesday announced they’re forming a Vaccine Work Group to investigate whether and how the state can enhance vaccine requirements.
One avenue: Tightening vaccine requirements for workplaces after the Supreme Court shot down the Biden administration’s vaccine or test mandate for large employers.
“That’s something we should definitely be looking at,” said Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento.
Our Lara Korte and Sophia Bollag have more in this report today.
CALIFORNIANS OPPOSE CAPITOL ANNEX PLAN, SURVEY SAYS
In a recent survey commissioned by the group Save Our Capitol!, more than 76% of Californians said that they oppose the state’s plan to tear down and replace the Capitol Annex.
Activist groups like Save Our Capitol! are working to prevent the Capitol Annex from being demolished.
California lawmakers have already moved from the offices in the annex to make way for the structure’s demolition. Gov. Jerry Brown approved the plan in 2018, when lawmakers voted to replace the annex rather than renovate it because of a range of safety and security concerns.
The telephone survey of 800 likely November 2022 voters found that 71% of Californians oppose uprooting 100 trees for the Annex project, while nearly 69% said they oppose the Legislature’s lack of transparency concerning the project, according to a statement released by Save Our Capitol!.
“The results from this survey validate our major concerns with this project: the residents of California do not support the California Legislature spending $1.4 billion to decimate Capitol Park and demolish the historic Capitol Annex to build expanded new office spaces, a visitor center, and an underground parking garage, particularly when rehabilitation is feasible and cost-effective,” said Richard Cowan, former chair of the Historic State Capitol Commission, in a statement.
The survey found that 61% of respondents favor rehabilitating, not demolishing, the annex.
REPUBLICAN REPORTS $1.5 MILLION IN CONTROLLER CAMPAIGN
Via Lara Korte...
Republican Lanhee Chen today announced he has raised $1.5 million in his campaign for controller.
Chen, a well-known fiscal policy expert and lecturer at Stanford, is running to succeed Democrat Betty Yee when she terms out this year. Chen holds four degrees from Harvard, including a law degree and doctorate in political science, and has served as an adviser to four Republican presidential campaigns, including Mitt Romney.
In the primaries he’ll face off against two Democrats: Ron Galperin, the Los Angeles City Controller, and Malia Cohen, a member of the State Board of Equalization.
Per Chen’s campaign, he has raised a total of $1.5 million from 462 unique donors, with $1.34 million in cash-on-hand.
“When elected, I will put California taxpayers first. I won’t be afraid to take on the Sacramento politicians who want free rein over the state’s checkbook,” Chen said in a statement.
BONTA ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION OF SANTA CLARA SHERIFF’S OFFICE
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday announced that his office is launching a “pattern and practice” investigation of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.
The attorney general said that the investigation comes as part of an effort to restore trust in law enforcement.
“Trust generates safety and safety generates trust. However, we are here today because there is a deficit of trust in Santa Clara County,” Bonta said.
Bonta did not specify what allegations led his office to investigate the sheriff’s office, but said that there has been extensive public commentary and media coverage of alleged misconduct at the sheriff’s office.
“I will say there has been much written and discussed about how individuals within the jail in Santa Clara County have been treated,” Bonta said during a Wednesday morning press conference.
That includes deaths and injuries in custody and allegations of questionable uses of force, he said.
“As with any investigation, we will go wherever the facts and the law take us,” Bonta said.
In the fall of 2021, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo called on Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith to step down, alleging that she has presided over wrongdoing including jail brutality, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
This investigation is the latest in a series of “pattern and practice” investigations that the California Attorney General’s Office has initiated, including investigations of the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and the Bakersfield Police Department.
Bonta said there also is a pending investigation of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, as well as “more targeted reform efforts” with the police departments in Vallejo, Torrance and San Francisco.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“California’s recall process has to be improved. Right now it’s almost exclusively being utilized as a costly mechanism for a disgruntled minority attempting to subvert the electoral will of the people. We can do better. We will do better. Stay tuned.”
- Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
California’s most flammable forests targeted by Biden wildfire plan. Here’s how they will change, via Gillian Brassil
In a sign of changing norms and attitudes regarding drug use, the California State Personnel Board is considering making minor changes toward its pre-employment drug screening policy, via Andrew Sheeler.