Early announces U.S. Senate run + Thousands march on Capitol + Cancer advocates lobby for bill
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
CA AG ALSO-RAN ANNOUNCES REPUBLICAN BID FOR U.S. SENATE SEAT
Via Jenavieve Hatch...
Eric Early, a Los Angeles litigator and conservative talk radio host, announced his bid for Senate Tuesday afternoon on KABC Radio.
He’s the first Republican to enter the race for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat, with a field already crowded with Democratic candidates, including Reps. Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter.
”The three people I’m running against are doing nothing but making matters worse,” said Early, who ran for Attorney General in 2022 and finished third in the June primary. He challenged Schiff for his House seat in 2020.
Early called himself a “common sense conservative” as he discussed crime, immigration, fentanyl, trans athletes, and conflict in Eastern Europe.
”I am the only Republican in this race, and I believe firmly that we can be successful in this race,” he said. “People are living in fear all around the state, and I’m fighting for all Americans.”
THOUSANDS MARCH ON THE CAPITOL TO PROTEST NEWSOM’S ‘EQUITY MULTIPLIER’
More than 2,000 Black students, parents, teachers and civil rights leaders rallied at the California Capitol Tuesday against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “Equity Multiplier” budget proposal. They argued that it falls short of the goal of closing the academic gap between Black students and other demographic groups on state achievement tests.
The event’s sponsor, the Black in School Coalition, called out Newsom’s funding proposal for targeting just 5% of students in the state, mostly Latino, including about 6% of Black students statewide.
“California should be setting an example throughout the nation by opening doors of opportunity for all students and eliminating the barriers that too often keep students of color, particularly Black students, from pursuing their dreams for a better life,” said Brian Rivas of the group Education Trust-West in a statement.
The coalition noted that California’s Black students trail every other racial and ethnic group in classroom performance. In 2021-22, less than a third (30.3%) met English language arts standards and just 15.9% the math standard.
“The Governor’s current proposal targets low-income schools, not the lowest-performing students. There is a difference. Low-income students already receive supplemental and concentration grants under the Local Control Funding Formula. There are 81,000 Black students, the lowest-performing subgroup, who will still go unfunded because they are not low-income,” said Christina Laster of the National Action Network — Western Region in a statement.
CANCER ADVOCATES RALLY AT THE CAPITOL
Members of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network came to the Capitol on Tuesday to advocate on behalf of legislation they believe would benefit cancer patients across the state, SB 496 by Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara.
That bill would make certain that comprehensive biomarker testing is covered by more insurance plans, including Medi-Cal. Biomarker testing looks at genes, proteins and other substances in the body for information that allows doctors to select the most effective cancer treatment.
“Who wouldn’t want to avoid chemotherapy — and its side effects — if it wouldn’t provide any benefit? I was able to bypass chemotherapy thanks to my biomarker testing results indicating that the probability of cancer recurrence in my case was low,” said ACS CAN volunteer and breast cancer survivor Punita Khanna in a statement.
This is Limón’s second attempt to get this legislation passed; a version of this bill, SB 912, passed the Legislature last session but was vetoed by Newsom, who wrote that “While I appreciate the author’s efforts to provide biomarker testing coverage, these services are already covered by Medi-Cal. Furthermore, biomarker testing is valuable when it can inform a condition’s diagnosis and treatment, but this bill would require Medi-Cal to cover unnecessary testing that may not inform the best treatment to care for the beneficiary.”
SB 496 is set to be heard by the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If I don’t eat right at noon I get hangry.”
- Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, during a committee hearing Tuesday. Hat tip to the Twitter account GIF Caucus!
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