GOP cheers dropped contract + Facebook whistleblower to speak + Poll shows dead heat
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
REPUBLICANS CLAIM VICTORY AFTER NEWSOM SCRAPS NO-BID CONTRACT
California Senate Republicans claimed victory on Wednesday afternoon, after news broke out that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration ordered that ties be cut with PerkinElmer, also known as Valencia Branch Laboratory, which the state had awarded a $1.7 billion no-bid contract to conduct COVID-19 testing and whose performance was troubled.
“The Newsom administration failed and this cancellation is cleaning up a mess that an accountable government should have prevented,” said Senate Republican Leader Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, in a statement. “It’s interesting that the no-bid contract was ‘quietly’ canceled unlike the massive fanfare that Newsom displayed when he celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the lab in October 2020.”
Wilk added that “This lab failed to serve Californians and the state delayed accountability for months — all at our expense. Senate Republicans have introduced accountability measures this year to ensure this can never happen again.”
Wilk is the author of three bills — SB 947, SB 1271 and SB 1367 — that would grant whistleblower protections to employees of no-bid state government contracts, require no-bid contracts of $25 million or more be subject to oversight from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and prohibit state agencies from awarding contracts to entities that have provided behested payments on the governor’s behalf in the preceding 12 months.
Those bills are currently working their way through the committee process.
FACEBOOK WHISTLEBLOWER TO SPEAK AT PANEL DISCUSSION
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is set to appear at a panel discussion in Sacramento on Thursday.
“The panel participants will discuss some of the solutions being proposed by the state legislature to create a better online world for California’s kids, including the California Age Appropriate Design Code (Assembly Bill 2273), which would require companies to prioritize the safety and privacy of children in the design of their platforms. The bill is up for its first hearing tomorrow (Tuesday, April 19) in the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee,” according to a statement from the group Common Sense Media, a sponsor of the event.
Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, D-Woodland Hills, who chairs that committee, also is set to appear at the event, along with Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer.
The event, which is being held at the Sacramento State University’s Center for California Studies, begins at noon Thursday and lasts one hour. It will be livestreamed here.
NEW POLL SHOWS AD-10 RACE IN DEAD HEAT
A new poll shows that the race for the newly created Assembly District 10 seat is a dead heat. Vying for the seat are Sacramento City Councilman Eric Guerra and Elk Grove City Councilwoman Stephanie Nguyen, both Democrats.
Guerra has the endorsements of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna and Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang, while Nguyen is endorsed by Assemblymen Kevin McCarty and Jim Cooper.
According to a poll conducted by Guerra’s camp, between March 22 and March 27, the race is a statistical dead heat.
The campaign also noted that Guerra had a 10 to one fundraising lead over Nguyen as of the last reporting period, and since then Guerra has crossed the threshold of $500,000 raised.
“As I said when I started this race, I want to represent a community that mirrors my life story. Assembly District 10 includes a large number of under-resourced communities who also want a shot at the middle-class. There must be a focus on equity and eliminating barriers to opportunities. I am ready to take on the challenge and look forward to talking to voters about why I am the best person to represent them in the Assembly,” Guerra said in a statement provided by his campaign.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Your annual 4.20 reminder: End the racist War on Drugs, legalize weed everywhere, stop incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders.”
- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, via Twitter.
Best of the Bee
A lobbyist trying to secure state aid for PG&E Corp. wildfire victims has been removed from his post over a sexual harassment scandal at a CSU campus where his wife is president, via Dale Kasler.
California state workers who want to speak publicly about harassment, discrimination or any other unlawful conduct in their workplaces have new legal protections under a 2022 law, via Wes Venteicher.
This tech billionaire wants to take on Tesla — on the way to the United States Senate, via Gillian Brassil.
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 4:55 AM.