ACA 9 eliminates elected position + Newsom, Bonta write Congress + Glazer quits committee
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT MAKES SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION AN APPOINTEE
If approved by two-thirds of state lawmakers and a majority of California voters, the next state superintendent of public instruction could be a political appointee, rather than an elected official.
ACA 9, introduced by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, would abolish the elected position, effective 2026, meaning whomever succeeds Gov. Gavin Newsom in the governor’s mansion would get to pick current Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s successor, subject to legislative confirmation.
“It’s time to reconsider the structure of the California superintendent of public instruction and state governance of public education,” McCarty said in a statement to EdSource. “ACA-9 is a good-government proposal that modernizes a relic of the past and better aligns California education leadership.”
Thurmond told EdSource that California shouldn’t take a step backward.
“We should empower voters and get more resources to the schools, not weaken or minimize them,” he told EdSource.
The position of superintendent of public instruction is officially nonpartisan, though Thurmond is a registered Democrat.
Conservative parents rights activist Lance Christensen, who unsuccessfully ran against Thurmond last year, took to Twitter to criticize the amendment, asking, “Does the Assemblyman hate democracy?”
Christensen lamented that the superintendent position could be powerful “if it weren’t controlled by the unions.”
He further suggested that, if the superintendent position were to be made a political appointee, why stop there? He suggested making the lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general positions appointees as well to discourage “office climbing.”
“And while we’re at it, triple the size & salary of the #caleg. We could do this without spending a single penny more than we’re paying right now, it would give us better members not beholden to special interests, they’d represent fewer people & there would be more compromise,” Christensen wrote.
NEWSOM, BONTA, PRIVACY AGENCY PEN LETTER TO CONGRESS OPPOSING PREEMPTION
California’s governor, attorney general and the head of the California Privacy Protection Agency have written a letter to congressional leaders, urging them not to let the American Data Privacy and Protection Act undermine existing state-level protections.
Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta and CPPA Executive Director Ashkan Soltani signed the letter, which read in part, “The path forward to a robust data privacy law is one that sets a federal floor, not a ceiling, to allow states to continue to innovate and be nimble in protecting their residents.”
The letter cites an example in the form of the federal health care privacy act known as HIPAA, which set a minimum level of medical privacy across the country but left room for states to go even further, as California did with the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.
The letter states that while the federal bill is an important step to protect privacy, “it should not come at the expense of the fundamental protections Californians already enjoy.”
“Any federal privacy framework must leave room for states to respond to changes in technology and data collection practices to allow rigorous enforcement in those areas most affecting our respective residents,” the letter continues.
The letter was sent to the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which is considering the federal legislation on Wednesday.
You can read the letter here.
GLAZER RESIGNS FROM SF BART OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Contra Costa, publicly quit the Senate Select Committee on Bay Area Public Transit on Tuesday, citing an unacceptable status quo.
“Bay Area leaders have not stepped up to fix the fiscal oversight problems with BART, as well as the underfunding of the inspector general’s office,” Glazer said in a statement. “When these problems are addressed, I will join with my colleagues and support greater transit funding.”
Glazer’s office pointed to a June 2022 Alameda County Grand Jury report that found that BART (which stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit) leadership had repeatedly blocked the BART inspector general’s authority and autonomy.
It was Glazer’s 2017 legislation that created the BART inspector general position.
In a letter to Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who chairs the select committee, Glazer wrote that Bay Area leaders’ failure to hold BART accountable “makes my participation in this transit support committee incompatible.”
Glazer’s resignation comes as public transportation agencies across the state face a looming “fiscal cliff” that they say requires lawmakers’ attention.
“As BART and other regional transit systems seek additional state funding to stave off upcoming fiscal problems, the Legislature must ensure that these systems spend public resources responsibly,” Glazer wrote in his letter.
The resignation also came the same day that BART board member Lateefah Simon announced her campaign to replace outgoing Rep. Barbara Lee in the U.S. House of Representatives.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“No matter how many classes they cancel or books they take off the shelves of our libraries, know that we will rise. There is no American history without Black history — this month, and every month.”
- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
Julie Su, the former California labor official who presided over the troubled state unemployment agency during the Covid pandemic, was nominated Tuesday as U.S. labor secretary by President Joe Biden, via David Lightman.
Ugh, Texas. That’s often Gov. Gavin Newsom’s view of the Lone Star State, a place he likes to chide for its tax burden, abortion restrictions, gun laws and more. So is California a better place to live? There’s no easy answer, via David Lightman.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento is facing insolvency following more than 200 lawsuits alleging the sexual abuse of minors, via Mathew Miranda.
Expanding California’s electricity grid to cooperate with neighboring states would bolster reliability and affordability while reducing carbon emissions, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy concluded in a new report, via Ari Plachta.