California labor leader predicts Latinos will determine outcome of Prop. 50
SEIU LOCAL 2015 MOBILIZING LATINOS FOR PROP. 50
Via Lia Russell…
A recent Latino Community Foundation poll shows Latinos, the largest voting bloc in California, are split on Proposition 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Nov. 4 ballot initiative to shore up Democratic House seats by redrawing congressional boundaries.
Arnulfo De La Cruz, the president of SEIU Local 2015, is leaning on both his identity as the union’s first Latino president and his members’ concerns about rising health care costs, part of the state’s ongoing affordability crisis, to bolster support.
SEIU Local 2015 represents 500,000 nursing and homecare givers across California, many of whom rely on Medicare both for their health care and to fund their jobs. De La Cruz said he has cited cuts to Medicare in President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful tax bill” in his messaging for why members should vote for Prop. 50, which would gerrymander district boundaries to include more liberal voters in five districts currently held by Republican Reps. David Valadao, Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa, Darrell Issa, and Ken Calvert.
“The cuts to Medicare are tied to cuts for taxes for some of the wealthiest people and corporations in the world,” De La Cruz said. He pointed out that many of his members are immigrants, and are uniquely vulnerable as immigration officials have targeted Latinos – with the Supreme Court’s approval – for deportation on the basis of their skin color and ethnicity.
Citing California Latinos’ cooling support for Democrats, De La Cruz said he and his fellow union representatives were educating members via “block walks” with coalition partners, social media and digital ads, and speaking at in-person and monthly meetings.
“The Latino vote is not guaranteed for any issue or for either party,” De La Cruz said. Still, “I believe the Latino vote will determine the outcome of Prop. 50.”
BONTA URGES TENANTS TO TALK
Attorney General Rob Bonta is taking a California landlord to court, and he’s signaling he wants to take more action.
In June, the California DOJ filed a lawsuit against Swarangit “Mike” Nijjar, an LA-based “rental housing tycoon,” and his management companies, which own thousands of units in the state, including in Stockton and Sacramento. That case is ongoing.
On Tuesday, Bonta signaled his team wants to hear from more renters who feel their concerns about the habitability of their residences have been ignored. In Sacramento and Stockton, those renters may have rented from Nijjar’s company Equity Management.
The June complaint lists various infractions in Sacramento, including those at a 128-unit property that Sacramento County code enforcers inspected repeatedly.
“During one January 2022 inspection, County inspectors inspected 44 units, and found violations in all 44, ranging from visible mold growth, to lack of or non-functional smoke alarms, to cockroach infestations, among other serious problems,” the complaint reads.
Bonta encouraged people with experiences with the group, or other landlord issues, to report them at oag.ca.gov/report, or in Spanish to oag.ca.gov/reportar.
“Regardless of how much money you have, what language you speak, or where you may be from, you have the right to eat dinner without being joined by cockroaches,” Bonta said during Tuesday’s conference.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Ricardo Lara has made his priorities clear, and they don’t include the people of California. If he’d rather spend his time on vacation than doing his job, then he should step aside and pursue that full time. It’s time for Lara to resign.”
-- Assemblymember David Tangipa, D-Fresno, as the Fair Political Practices Commission assesses a state complaint against State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara for findings of a KGO-TV investigation.
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