Former legislative staffer speaks out + Californians think taxes are too high
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
FORMER LEGISLATIVE STAFFER SPEAKS OUT
Thursday was a whirlwind of a day for Ruth Ferguson, a former legislative staffer for Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto.
Ferguson was the featured source for a big San Francisco Chronicle story, written by former Bee reporter Sophia Bollag, that examined the complaints of several women against the Legislature’s Workplace Conduct Unit, which was formed to deal with allegations of misconduct in the Legislature in the aftermath of #MeToo.
To go with the story, the Chronicle also ran a guest column, written by Ferguson, where she shared what happened in her own words. Ferguson also posted a thread on Twitter on the subject.
In the column, Ferguson details her allegations of misconduct, stonewalling and retaliation after she reported that misconduct.
Ferguson said the response to her coming out with her story has been heartwarming.
“I’ve spent so much time being really afraid and just not knowing what the repercussions might be,” Ferguson said in an interview with the Bee.
Asked why she decided to come forward, Ferguson said that she tried to be a team-player, to work behind the scenes to lobby lawmakers to address problems in the system. But, she said, time and again she was met with institutional resistance, including from the leadership of the Legislative Women’s Caucus.
Ferguson said she wants to see more transparency and accountability from the Legislature and the Workplace Conduct Unit, as well as for the process of reporting to be “trauma-informed.”
“There were many things throughout the process that made me feel like it wasn’t a level playing field,” she said.
Reached for comment, Berman’s office provided the following statement:
“I deeply regret that Ms. Ferguson had a negative experience working in my office. The Workplace Conduct Unit (WCU), an independent investigatory authority that was proposed by the Joint Subcommittee on Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response in the wake of the #MeToo movement, conducted a remarkably thorough and extensive investigation into the allegations brought by Ms. Ferguson as well as additional issues that were identified during their investigation. I respect the conclusions reached by the WCU, and I support the remedial actions that were taken as a result. Due to the active threat of litigation from Ms. Ferguson against my office and the legislature, as well as the laws protecting the confidentiality of personnel matters, I am unable to comment further on the specifics of this matter.”
Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, took to Twitter on Thursday evening to call for an evaluation of the Workplace Conduct Unit and how it can work better.
“We created the Legislature’s Workplace Conduct Unit (WCU) so legislative staffers can safely come forward to report misconduct. We clearly have work to do to ensure the WCU lives up to what we need. Recent revelations about the WCU’s treatment of Ruth Ferguson make that clear,” Wiener said in the Twitter thread.
CALIFORNIANS THINK TAXES ARE TOO HIGH
Tax day has arrived, and Golden State residents think they owe the government too much money, according to a recent Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll.
Californians believe their state and federal income taxes are too high, and they’re pessimistic about their economic futures, the poll showed.
About 64% of registered voters surveyed in April 2022 think they pay too much in taxes, compared to 54% in April 2016.
Twenty-six percent of those surveyed in 2022 think their income taxes are about right, 1% think they’re too low and 9% had no opinion.
About 85% of those who identified as strongly conservative think taxes are too high, as do 70% of self-identified moderates and 38% of those who say they’re strongly liberal.
Those who earn the most money were the most dissatisfied with the taxes they pay.
About 57% of those surveyed who earn less than $40,000 per year think their taxes are too high. On the other end of the economic spectrum, 68% of those who take in $200,000 per year or more think they pay the government too much money.
The poll also asked whether voters think about their financial well-being compared to 2021, as well as their expectations for next year.
About 21% of those surveyed think they’re better off now, 37% think there’s been no change and 42% think they’re worse off.
When asked about their financial futures, 21% of those surveyed think they’ll be better off next year, 49% think there won’t be a change and 30% think they’ll be worse off.
Registered Democrats and Republicans have different views on well they’re doing financially.
On the Democrat side, 28% of those surveyed think they’re better off now than they were last year, while 43% think there’s been no change and 29% think they’re worse off now. Next year, 27% think they’ll be better off, 56% think there will be no change and 17% think they’ll be worse off.
On the Republican side, 9% of those surveyed think they’re better off now, 24% think there’s been no change and 67% think they’re worse off now.
Next year, 8% think they’ll be better off, 37% think there will be no change and 55% think they’ll be worse off.
LEGISLATURE IS BACK
After a week-long spring recess, the Assembly and the Senate will reconvene today.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Just joined CDCR’s call for public comment on proposed regulations that would allow for the permanent implementation of accelerated good conduct credit earning rates for most inmates. To put it plainly, it is a *hot mess.*”
- CalMatters reporter Emily Hoeven, who live-tweeted the public comment fiasco.
Best of the Bee:
Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a school COVID-19 vaccine requirement, and Sen. Richard Pan wanted to close the personal belief exemption loophole in the mandate. But the Newsom administration and Pan ended up delaying their plans this week, via Lindsey Holden.
CalPERS’ decision to abandon development plans for the tallest office tower in Sacramento will end up costing the pension plan tens of millions of dollars once all the tallies are calculated, via Randy Diamond.
One of the suspects in the downtown Sacramento mass shooting had his 2021 bid for release on parole rejected after he committed battery on another prisoner, via Sam Stanton.