Convention schedule and speakers + Tenant protection stalemate + Another vaccine battle
What a week! Two days until House of Origin deadline, which comes right as half the presidential candidates flock to California for the party convention this weekend.
Grab some snacks and let’s get to it, shall we?
Senate and Assembly both start session at 10 a.m.
BLUE WAVE ROLLING
Thousands of Democrats are headed to one of the country’s most liberal cities this weekend to network, elect a new state party chair, exchange legislative ideas and, yes, campaign.
Around 5,000 delegates, media representatives, volunteers and staff members are registered for the California Democratic Party’s three-day convention in San Francisco, and names on the guest list include some of the nation’s and state’s most powerful and influential progressives.
They’re leading the impeachment crusade, pro-choice battle, healthcare debate and fight for the White House. It’s basically the largest gathering of President Donald Trump’s most threatening nuisances, sans former Vice President Joe Biden, who reportedly declined the invitation for the event.
Here are some of the scheduled heavy-hitter speakers:
Presidential candidates: Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Buttigieg, Eric Swalwell, Amy Klobuchar, John Hickenlooper, Jay Inslee, Bernie Sanders, Julián Castro and John Delaney
Congressional delegates: Nancy Pelosi, Zoe Lofgren, Adam Schiff and Maxine Waters
California officials: Gavin Newsom, Toni Atkins, Anthony Rendon, Eleni Kounalakis, Xavier Becerra, Betty Yee, Alex Padilla, Ricardo Lara, Fiona Ma, London Breed, Monique Limón
CDP heads: Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker, chair candidates Rita Ramirez, Rusty Hicks, Daraka Larimore Hall, Mike Katz-Lacabe, Kimberly Ellis, Mike Saifie, Lenore Albert
Organization leaders: Tom Steyer, Gilda Gonzalez, April Verrett
It’ll be a packed three “Blue Wave Rolling” convention days at the Moscone Center. No fear — Sophia Bollag and I will be there to catch it all. So keep an eye on breaking news pings, the Sac Bee Capitol Alert page and our twitter feeds (@Sophiabollag and @hannacwiley) to stay in the know.
TENANT PROTECTION STALEMATE
It’s crunch time to get bills across their original chamber’s finish line, and two highly anticipated Assembly housing proposals are up for a vote any day now.
Assembly Bills 1481 and 1482 are two powerful tenant protection bills that would establish just cause eviction and impose a rent increase cap, respectively. The proposals, authored by Assemblymembers Rob Bonta, Tim Grayson and David Chiu, have faced fierce opposition from realtor and landlord groups throughout the committee hearing process.
It appeared on Tuesday that tenant groups were ready to come to the table and accept amendments outlined by the California Realtor Association, which poured $417,986 into general lobbying efforts in this year’s first quarter alone.
Keep Families Home, a coalition of advocates supporting the bills, announced that it would accept a list of amendments CAR said it wanted. Some include:
- lowering the rent cap to 7 percent plus regional Consumer Price Index
- Exempting some owners with 10 or fewer single-family homes
- Applying just cause only to tenancies older than 12 months
- Limiting relocation assistance
“We’ve made one compromise after another. We’ve been giving and giving and giving,” said Amy Schur, campaign director with Californians for Community Empowerment.
And all that giving resulted in...maybe nothing?
After reaching out to CAR, a spokesperson told me that opposing stakeholders “weren’t able to reach a compromise after all.”
Schur said the stalemate leaves the decision in the hands of the California lawmakers who “have to get something done for tenants this year.”
“We have ceded to one demand from CAR after another. If the realtors are this unwilling to allow tenant protections to advance, the ball is squarely in the court of the legislators, the governor and the speaker.”
VACCINE WAR
A group of Parents United 4 Kids reps are rallying in opposition to Senate Bill 276 today. The proposal, authored by state Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat, restricts how doctors authorize vaccine medical exemptions in California. The bill passed the Senate floor last week and is now headed to the Assembly.
The legislation’s momentum is motivating vaccine-skeptical or denying parents and advocates who say the measure imposes on the doctor-patient relationship and puts kids’ lives at risk.
“We are fairly convinced that the legislators who voted on the bill don’t actually understand what the bill does,” said Stefanie Fetzer, a mom and organizer of the event. “We’re going in to set the record straight on what the bill does and what the new exemptions do.”
One person who is crystal clear on what SB 276 aims to do? Pan, a pediatrician and passionate advocate of #science.
“This is a very important public health measure that protects the public,” he said. “We have to protect our kids and protect our schools. If you really need an exemption, you need this bill.”
The lobbying day starts at 10 a.m. on the North Steps before group members head into the Capitol to speak with legislators. A rally will cap the day off at 4:30 p.m.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Best of The Bee:
- Kamala Harris wants to halt state abortion bans before they start by Emily Cadei
- California moves to divest from Turkey over Armenian Genocide despite pension fund objections by Wes Venteicher
- California growers discriminated against legal immigrants, Justice Department says by Kate Irby
This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 4:55 AM with the headline "Convention schedule and speakers + Tenant protection stalemate + Another vaccine battle."