What to do about cannabis tax revenue? + Longtime AIDS activist dies + ACLU launches ad

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

A LETTER TO NEWSOM ON CANNABIS TAX FUNDING

When California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his proposed 2022-23 budget earlier this year, buried in that proposal was a call to make changes to California’s cannabis tax system.

In a meeting with child care and youth prevention advocates in March, Newsom signaled that he intends to call for the suspension of the state’s cannabis cultivation tax for three years. He suggested he would continue to fully fund the child care and youth services that benefit from that revenue by either backfilling from the general fund or raising the state’s cannabis excise tax to compensate, a “revenue-neutral” approach, according to Jim Keddy of the group Youth Forward.

Now, a coalition of those same child care and youth services advocates are calling on the governor not to backfill from the general fund, out of concern that that could lead to those programs experiencing budget cuts in the future.

“We are greatly concerned that turning to a general fund backfill solution will threaten this funding stream in the long term and will result in cuts in the near future,” the letter reads in part. “We believe that a revenue neutral approach to cannabis tax reform is the best option. Kids living in poverty should not be the ones to pay the price as state policymakers seek to create a larger and more profitable cannabis industry.”

This letter comes as Newsom and state lawmakers are under pressure from those in the cannabis industry to alleviate a tax burden that the industry says is stifling growth and contributing to a burgeoning illicit market.

One California cannabis entrepreneur, Michael Steinmetz, has called for a tax revolt this summer if the state doesn’t eliminate the cannabis cultivation tax and issue a three-year tax holiday for the cannabis excise tax.

LONGTIME AIDS ACTIVIST DIES

Longtime California AIDS activist and former legislative staffer Ken Topper died unexpectedly on April 17 at his home in Arden, North Carolina.

Born in San Francisco, Topper, 65, was the founder and former executive director of the Sacramento chapter of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

“Ken worked for the state of California for over 20 years where he was influential in numerous projects at the State Legislature and the State Board of Equalization,” according to his obituary.

In 1990, during his time working as legislative aide to then-Senate President Pro Tem Dave Roberti, Topper was instrumental in getting a resolution passed to raise the LGBTQ Pride flag above the Capitol, the first time that had happened.

“It sends a message to all constituencies that we’re as much a part of this society as any other minority or cultural group,” Topper said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, adding that “the raising of that flag raises our visibility and it will enable people to be freer in acknowledging who they are.”

The flag was up for just a few hours before then-Gov. George Deukmejian ordered it taken down, according to the Bay Area Reporter.

Services for Topper will be held in both North Carolina and California, according to his obituary.

ACLU CALIFORNIA ACTION LAUNCHES RADIO AD SUPPORTING BILL

As California lawmakers consider a bill to permanently prohibit police from using facial recognition software or other biometric surveillance on their body cameras, ACLU California Action has released an ad intended to sway them into voting yes.

The one-minute radio ad, which you can listen to here, promotes SB 1038, authored by Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, which would indefinitely extend an already existing ban on police using facial recognition software on their body cameras. The existing ban is set to expire at the end of 2022.

“State legislators can either pass SB 1038 or support turning body cams into roving surveillance devices,” the ad says in part.

SB 1038 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee, and is set for a floor vote soon.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“After three days of party building, exceptional speakers, insightful trainings and official business, our delegates endorsed quality and talented candidates for statewide office. I look forward to supporting them as they challenge California Democrats’ failed one-party rule with visions for a brighter tomorrow.”

- California GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson, in a statement announcing the California Republican Party’s 2022 endorsements.

Best of the Bee:

• California mental health court won’t help homeless, advocates say. “This idea is broken,” via Lindsey Holden.

• Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby tested positive for COVID-19 last week, she said in recent social media posts, via Michael McGough.

• The Sierra Club’s Sacramento chapter is asking city and county officials to move hundreds of homeless residents along the American River Parkway into shelters and safe ground spaces, citing an increase in wildfires it says are often tied to homeless camps, via Patrick Riley.