Can CA Dems unite for midterms? + A week of action for workers + California still leads in unemployment
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
DEMOCRATS URGE UNITY AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES MIDTERMS
Via Lara Korte...
California Democrats gathered virtually this weekend for their annual endorsing convention, hoping to mobilize a party that in recent weeks has focused on internal fights.
At stake are several competitive house seats that are critical to holding power in Congress. To win them, Democrats will need big money and big voter turnout.
“It’s gut-check time,” party Controller April Verrett told delegates. “We are down by six, the ball is on their 30, and it’s the two-minute warning... We must have each other’s backs… It is not the time to argue over who gets the ball. We all just have to do our part to ensure the win.”
Delegates heard from top party brass, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who warned that a loss of power in Congress could threaten progress on climate change, abortion and voting rights.
But the more liberal party members weren’t stirred by calls to unity. Last month, an effort to prohibit the party from accepting money from law enforcement and fossil fuel companies came up short of what they wanted. Coupled with the demise of single-payer healthcare under AB 1400 in the Legislature, liberal-leaning activists weren’t sympathetic to party leaders’ pleas.
“Progressive Democrats should NOT contribute to the California Democratic Party so long as it cleans corporate money for Corporate Democrats that block bills that would decrease human suffering,” tweeted Progressive Caucus Chair Amar Shergill. “Give your money directly to corporate-free Democrats that represent real people.”
While most endorsements landed on the consent agenda without fuss, there was some competition for insurance commissioner, controller, and legislative district races.
Incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara swept 61.3% of votes over Assemblyman Marc Levine’s 30.4%. For controller, 62.3% voted to endorse Malia Cohen over Ron Galperin or Yvonne Yiu.
In the race to replace state Sen. Richard Pan in Sacramento’s 8th senate district, Dave Jones beat out City Council Member Angelique Ashby 69.8% to 25.5%.
A party endorsement doesn’t insurance a victory in the primaries, but it sure can’t hurt. Stay tuned!
WORKER WEEK OF ACTION ANNOUNCED
The California Labor and Workforce Development Agency on Monday announced a “Worker Week of Action,” as part of their California COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Project.
The weeklong event is intended to help California workers understand how to continue staying safe in the pandemic and to provide outreach and education on workplace health and safety, worker leave and pay benefits, and anti-retaliation protections, according to a statement from the agency.
“As part of our Safer at Work campaign to reach workers most at-risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, LWDA has funded over 60 organizations in key regions of California,“ said Natalie Palugyai, Secretary of the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency in a statement. “These trusted messengers have augmented greatly our ability to reach and educate Californians on the protections and benefits to keep the workplace safe.”
The week of action begins Monday and lasts through Sunday, March 13. The effort will target seven regions with a higher concentration of at-risk workers, with multiple in-person and virtual events, including vaccine and testing clinics, resource fairs, training opportunities and caravans being held.
It will kick off in Sacramento on Monday with a roundtable discussion featuring Palugyai, Department of Industrial Relations Director Katie Hagen, Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower and California Labor Federation incoming leader and former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, which you can view here beginning at 11 a.m. Monday.
CALIFORNIA TOPS NATION IN JOBLESS RATE
Via David Lightman...
California’s annual average unemployment rate last year was the nation’s highest, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. But by the end of the year, the state was enjoying robust job growth.
The state’s jobless rate last year averaged 7.3%, topping all states. Next was Nevada at 7.2%. Nebraska had the lowest rate, 2.5%. Nine states had rates higher than the national average of 5.3%.
California’s 2020 rate was 10.2%.
The state’s rate was higher for several reasons, notably its dependence on tourism, an industry hit by the COVID pandemic.
By December, though, the state’s unemployment rate was down to 6.5%. And the state had regained about 1.9 million jobs, or 72%, of the jobs lost in March and April 2020, when the pandemic triggered a major economic collapse.
The state’s Employment Development Department reported that the leisure and hospitality sector was “leading the way (in job gains) due to significant gains in food services and drinking places.
REDISTRICTING IS DONE AND DUSTED
Via Gillian Brassil...
Seems like that’s it for congressional redistricting in California, folks. Thought it was done months ago? Technically, they had some time for legal challenges to clean up.
But the February chair for the commission charged with California’s redistricting — the once-a-decade redrawing of legislative boundaries — just announced that the opportunity for any big issues had cleared. Russell Yee, one of the members of the 14-member commission charged with redistricting, wrote that the deadline for people to challenge districts under the Voting Rights Act cleared in early February.
“Defying all expectations, not one challenge was filed,” wrote Yee on March 4, though the deadline cleared on Feb. 10, 2022. “The absence of challenges is dramatic evidence of the effectiveness of open, public, independent redistricting.”
California lost a seat in the United States House of Representatives because of sluggish population growth between 2010 and now. One of the redistricting rules is to keep a certain number of minority-majority voting districts, which the Voting Rights Act sets forth to help ethnic minority groups to elect members of their choosing.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“NEW: More support for Ukraine coming from California. I’m ordering state agencies & departments to end contracts with anyone subject to US government sanctions on Russia.We are also calling on California companies to stop new investments & sharing technology with Russia.”
- Gov. Gavin Newsom, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee:
California’s battle with wildfires has never been more intense. Now, the state has a new leader, via Michael McGough.
The California State University system and former chancellor Joseph I. Castro have signed a settlement agreement following his resignation last month while under fire for his handling of sexual harassment allegations while president at Fresno State, via Robert Kuwada.