June 22, 2021

22Jun

POLICY & POLITICS

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The Maddy Institute would like YOUR feedback! Please help us better serve you and our communities by taking a few moments to complete our annual survey.

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North SJ Valley:

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COVID Update:

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Why has Modesto area COVID rental program paid out $292K despite $20M in requests?

Modesto Bee

Since March, more than 2,700 low-income households in Stanislaus County who are behind in their rent and utilities because of COVID-19 have applied to a program for help. These families have asked for more than $20 million to bring them current.

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Free workshops to connect Latino business community with resources, local organizations

Modesto Bee

Opportunity Stanislaus is hosting a series of workshops geared toward Latino business owners across the county to provide information about business resources.

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A new bridge over the Tuolumne River would connect these parts of Modesto and Ceres

Modesto Bee

The public can comment on a proposed Tuolumne River bridge between the eastern sides of Modesto and Ceres. The $71.7 million project, if it’s funded, would connect Garner Road in Modesto with Faith Home Road in Ceres.

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Riverbank would grow to McHenry under plan for 2,400 homes. Not so fast, critics say

Modesto Bee

Riverbank has released a plan for about 2,400 homes, along with businesses and parks, on farmland to the west of town. The idea has drawn protests from farming advocates, who say this expanse is about as good as it gets for growing crops.

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Modesto forced to freeze open police positions. How big an impact can we expect?

Modesto Bee

Modesto is balancing its general fund in part by eliminating and freezing 20 unfilled positions.

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Central SJ Valley:

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COVID Update:

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Fresno homes are in high demand. Will ‘pay-to-play’ model get houses built faster?

Fresno Bee

As demand for housing soars locally, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer is exploring ways of expediting the building process in the city via his 2022 proposed budget, including improving existing systems, hiring more staff and adding fire inspectors.

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Hear how your Fresno council member views charging fees for faster planning services

Fresno Bee

The Fresno City Planning and Development department wants a 7-person team to provide 1-3 day turnarounds for developers or businesses willing to pay extra.

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South SJ Valley:

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COVID Update:

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With low vaccination rates, California City hasn't used thousands in federal funds dedicated for COVID-19 relief

Bakersfield Californian

California City is one of the least vaccinated communities in the state, yet city leaders have not touched hundreds of thousands of dollars that could help address the issue.

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Ordinance to allow all e-bikes on Kern River Trail fails to advance from committee

Bakersfield Californian

An attempt to allow all electronic bikes on the Kern River Trail failed to pass at a meeting of the city of Bakersfield’s Legislative and Litigation Committee on Monday.

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State:

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COVID Update:

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California weighs extending eviction protections past June

Fresno Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will pay off all the past-due rent that accumulated in the nation's most populated state because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a promise to make landlords whole while giving renters a clean slate.

See also:

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New bill would make it easier to transfer water throughout California

abc30

Growers are dealing with severe cutbacks in the surface water deliveries they normally receive from reservoirs. The lack of steady irrigation has already impacted spring cropping decisions made by farmers.

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Skelton: Many California kids can’t access Wi-Fi for schoolwork. Newsom wants the state to step up

Los Angeles Times

When private enterprise cannot provide a vital public service, then it is government’s responsibility to step up. In the last century, a growing California desperately needed reliable water deliveries, so state, federal and local governments responded with massive projects.

See also:

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Walters: Pushing California schools to help at-risk kids

CalMatters

Jerry Brown counts the awkwardly named Local Control Funding Formula as a signal achievement of his second governorship.

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9th Circuit revives suit against California law requiring women on corporate boards

Los Angeles Times

A federal appeals court on Monday revived a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a California law that requires women be placed on the boards of publicly owned companies.

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Walters: As independent redistricting shows, changing rules can change outcomes

CalMatters

The conflict du jour in Washington these days is the sweeping Democratic bill — passed by the House but hung up in the Senate — to overhaul voting procedures.

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How patriotic are Californians? Less than people in most other states, survey says

Fresno Bee

Californians may not be that patriotic compared to their peers in other states. At least that’s the conclusion of one new survey. The survey released Monday by the site Wallethub.com found only four states with lower rates of patriotic sentiment.

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Federal:

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COVID Update:

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Senate Democrats press forward with For the People Act voting rights bill

abc30

Lawmakers will resume a slate of tense negotiations this week over voting rights, infrastructure and police reform as President Joe Biden's agenda enters an important week on Capitol Hill.

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Paid in full? Biden, GOP struggle over infrastructure costs

AP News

Congressional negotiators and the White House appear open to striking a roughly $1 trillion deal on infrastructure. But they are struggling with the hard part — how to pay for it.

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Biden and Congress face a summer grind to create legislation

AP News

Until recently, the act of governing seemed to happen at the speed of presidential tweets. But now President Joe Biden is settling in for what appears will be a long, summer slog of legislating.

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Sanders budget plan would spend more, tax less than Biden

Roll Call

Senate Budget chairman is just beginning to sound out other Democrats on the ambitious package.

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Questions Raised About Flexibility of $7B in FCC Connectivity Funds

RouteFifty

A $7 billion Federal Communications Commission’s program that aims to boost internet connectivity in schools and libraries will begin accepting applications for funding June 29.

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House antitrust bill embraces unjustified presumption against vertical integration

AEI

The House Judiciary Committee recently introduced five new antitrust-themed bills aimed at America’s largest tech firms. This alarm is long on rhetoric and short on evidence — which shows most such arrangements actually benefit consumers and competition.

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Speaker’s Lobby to reopen for the first time since the pandemic and insurrection

Roll Call

Seating arrangements unclear amid other big changes.

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Federal judge tosses most claims against Trump, Barr and U.S. officials in clearing of Lafayette Square

Washington Post

A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed most claims filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., Black Lives Matter and others who in lawsuits accused the Trump administration of authorizing an unprovoked attack on demonstrators in Lafayette Square last year.

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Opinion: Liz Cheney points to the plague of civic illiteracy. So what’s the cure?

Washington Post

A party that wallows in the “lie” of a stolen election, offers outlandish conspiracy theories and conducts a campaign of slander against the nation’s most esteemed immunologist should not be able to rely on the right-wing echo chamber to blot out inconvenient facts.

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Other:

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The U.S. Is Increasingly Diverse, So Why Is Segregation Getting Worse?

Time

The integration battles of the Civil Rights era happened more than half a century ago, but the U.S. is getting more, not less, segregated, as that past recedes.

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ER Visits for Suspected Suicide Spiked Among Teen Girls During Pandemic

PEW

In the four weeks ending March 20, emergency department visits involving suspected suicide attempts jumped 51% for girls age 12-17 compared with the same period in 2019. For boys, the rate increased by 4%.

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MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

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Sunday, June 27, at 10 a.m on ABC30 – Maddy Report: "Air Quality: Has the Valley Hit the Invisible Wall?" - Guest: Rachel Becker, Environmental Reporter - CalMatters. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

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Sunday, June 27, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: "Valley Air: Are We Breathing Any Easier?"- Guests: Tom Jordan, Senior Policy Advisor - San Joaquin Valley Air District; Dr. Tania Pacheco-Werner, Co-Director - Fresno State’s Central Valley Health Policy Institute. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

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AGRICULTURE/FOOD

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World Ag Expo to return to Tulare in 2022

Hanford Sentinel

World Ag Expo will return live to the International Agri-Center showgrounds in Tulare for the 2022 show. The COVID pandemic forced a transition to a digital format for the 2021 show year.

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Farmers and ranchers need support during drought

CalMatters

California farmland can be put to work in ways that build climate resilience and benefit people and wildlife.

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Universal basic income for farmworkers? Some leaders are pushing for it

CalMatters

A Fresno-area politician wants California to prioritize struggling San Joaquin Valley farmworkers in a proposed pilot program that would put cash in the hands of some the state’s impoverished residents.

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

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Crime:

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‘Deeply Destroyed My Sense of Safety’: Sexual Assault Survivors Say Police Interactions Often A Second Trauma

Capital Public Radio

Four days after her sexual assault, Penny decided to report to the Sacramento Police Department.

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As homicides soar nationwide, mayors see few options for regaining control

Washington Post

The killings rolled over the country like a fast-moving storm. From Savannah to Austin, from Chicago to Cleveland. In six hours one night this month, four mass-shooting attacks.

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Public Safety:

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MADD will honor law enforcement, prosecutors in ceremony

Bakersfield Californian

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Kern County will honor law enforcement, prosecutors and other community members who fight against DUI crimes in a virtual ceremony this Thursday.

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CHP and other agencies across the West to focus on speeding violations this weekend

Bakersfield Californian

Beginning Friday, and continuing through the weekend, the speed enforcement campaign comes in response to a significant increase in speed-related crashes and traffic fatalities in 2020.

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Appeals court blocks federal judge’s ruling to overturn California’s assault weapons ban

Washington Post

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has blocked a federal judge’s ruling overturning California’s longtime ban on assault weapons, in which he likened an AR-15 to a Swiss Army knife.

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Some police budgets are increasing, but evidence of national trend falls short

Politifact

Many police budgets shrank in 2020 — partly in response to the defunding movement and partly because of the fiscal impact of the pandemic and recession.

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Fire:

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California wildfire victims face their toughest foe: Insurance companies

Fresno Bee

They held a potluck picnic on Sunnyside Road a few weeks ago. It was more like group therapy with a side of chicken wings.

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Rebuilding for a Resilient Recovery

Next 10

California must comprehensively reshape how we rebuild after wildfires—or risk an unthinkable surge in costs and major setbacks to the state's housing supply amidst a record housing crisis.

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ECONOMY/JOBS

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Economy:

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The cost of lumber is making homes unaffordable for some people. Home builders say it’s better to wait a year until volatile prices settle down

Fresno Bee

Home builders and lumber yards are whipsawed by rapidly rising lumber prices that are keeping home buyers out of the market just as COVID-19 retreats, powering rising demand for housing.

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Free workshops to connect Latino business community with resources, local organizations

Modesto Bee

Opportunity Stanislaus is hosting a series of workshops geared toward Latino business owners across the county to provide information about business resources.

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Rising Inflation Looks Less Severe Using Pre-Pandemic Comparisons

Wall Street Journal

Annual inflation hit a 13-year high in May, but annualized price growth from 2019 was more modest

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Opinion: Erratic Data Is an Economic Symptom of the Pandemic

Wall Street Journal

Among the conundrums: How do you seasonally adjust for a socially distanced Christmas?

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Op-ed: The US economy’s next crisis: A massive asset price bubble

AEI

Through its truly massive bond-buying program, the Reserve has created and continues to create asset price and credit market bubbles. This hardly bodes well for the economy having a soft-landing next year when the music of ultra-easy money eventually stops playing.

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Jobs:

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One application sent to multiple Stanislaus employers. How finding jobs just got easier

Modesto Bee

To make both the hiring and application processes easier, Opportunity Stanislaus is partnering with local employers on Hiring Head Start, a centralized online job application portal for Stanislaus and Merced counties.

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Will California investment in new job training programs pay off?

CalMatters

A state effort to create green jobs after the Great Recession fell short. Will new California job training programs do any better coming out of the pandemic?

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Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying work: ‘My life isn’t worth a dead-end job’

Washington Post

Some 649,000 employees gave notice in April, the sector’s largest one-month exodus in over 20 years, a reflection of pandemic-era strains and a strengthening job market.

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Who’s hiring? These 8 charts show job sectors recovering, lagging

Sacramento Bee

Thousands of jobs were added last month as the pandemic receded and shutdowns ended, but the recovery is uneven as some sectors thrive and others languish, according to the latest figures from the state Employment Development Department.

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EDUCATION

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K-12:

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Delhi Unified unveils plans for $15M Career Technical Education building, plus new school

Merced Sun-Star

Delhi Unified School District students can look forward to more vocational training opportunities, as the district moves forward to develop its new Career and Technical Education building.

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Skelton: Many California kids can’t access Wi-Fi for schoolwork. Newsom wants the state to step up

Los Angeles Times

When private enterprise cannot provide a vital public service, then it is government’s responsibility to step up. In the last century, a growing California desperately needed reliable water deliveries, so state, federal and local governments responded with massive projects.

See also:

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Walters: Pushing California schools to help at-risk kids

CalMatters

Jerry Brown counts the awkwardly named Local Control Funding Formula as a signal achievement of his second governorship.

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Opinion: Critical Race Theory Is the Opposite of Education

Wall Street Journal

It’s more of a religion. Its practitioners reject the idea of evaluating the merits of competing ideas.

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Higher Ed:

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Graduate student researchers at University of California seek union representation

CalMatters

In one of the largest public employee organizing drives California has seen in over a decade, some 17,000 graduate student researchers at the University of California may soon become union members.

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High court sides with former athletes in dispute with NCAA

abc30

In a ruling that could help push changes in college athletics, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously sided with a group of former college athletes in a dispute with the NCAA over rules limiting certain compensation.

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The swoon in college enrollment

Axios

The pandemic's effects, along with a decline in the number of young adults, have depressed college enrollment, with community colleges bearing much of the brunt.

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Is There a College Financing Crisis?

National Affairs

A second impetus behind the party's acceptance of higher-education policies is the fact that contemporary debates over the subject are dominated by claims that access to college is severely inequitable and unaffordable, and that matters have grown worse in recent years.

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ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

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Environment:

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Will coastal wind farms hurt California fishing industry? ‘We’re basically screwed’

Fresno Bee

Bill Blue has been commercially fishing Dungeness crab and black cod near the shores of Morro Bay for 47 years. It’s a business that he got into when he was 19 years old.

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Editorial: As sea levels rise, California must increase Coastal Commission funding

Los Angeles Times

Sea level rise is not some future dystopian fantasy. It is here on the California coast. At high tide, water gushes over stairways leading down bluff trails to beaches and up to some oceanfront homes.

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We Need to Manage a Careful Retreat From Climate Change, Scientists Urge

Sciencealert

It's imperative that human societies factor a strategic 'managed retreat' into the ways they respond and adapt to climate change, researchers say, and figuring out how is a conversation that needs to be happening now.

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‘Preventing more, picking up less.’ Proliferating plastic pollution sparks change in approach

Merced Sun-Star

As plastic pollution soars — filling waterways, air, soil and living things with the material — some in St. Louis are joining efforts to confront the crisis through new approaches.

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Energy:

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Power back for most after early outages across Valley

Fresno Bee

PG&E reported scattered power outages across the central valley, but by mid-morning, it was back on for most customers. The outages occurred early Monday after thousands lost power the day before in the Fresno area, though most of those had regained electricity.

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Company wins tax credit to convert local poop to energy

Business Journal

AgLand Renewables LLC (AgLand) and with locations in Merced, Hanford, and Lemoore, has been selected by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to receive a $1.7 million tax credit from the California Competes program.

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Can America’s Solar Power Industry Compete with China’s? One Firm Tries

Wall Street Journal

It has just committed to building a new $680 million panel factory in Ohio. A key reason is the company’s confidence that Washington will have its back.

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HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

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Health:

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California’s digital COVID-19 vaccination record has glitches. Here’s how to fix yours

Los Angeles Times

When California officials unveiled a new system to provide digital COVID-19 vaccine records last week, they billed it as a convenience, an easy way for residents to demonstrate and verify their inoculation status.

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COVID-19 might shrink parts of the brain, scientists say

Los Angeles Times

The study‘s results were mentioned by Dr.Gottlieb as another example of why it is important that people get inoculated. The results also underscore how evidence is mounting that people can still suffer from illness related to COVID-19 many months after infection.

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Watchdog: Nursing home deaths up 32% in 2020 amid pandemic

AP News

Deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year, with two devastating spikes eight months apart, a government watchdog reported Tuesday in the most comprehensive look yet at the ravages of COVID-19 among its most vulnerable victims.

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The pandemic has scrambled the health cost-control debate

AEI

The all-consuming COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many pressing matters off of the national agenda, including better control of rising health expenses. It also upended political assessments of what an acceptable cost-control plan would entail.

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Human Services:

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With low vaccination rates, California City hasn't used thousands in federal funds dedicated for COVID-19 relief

Bakersfield Californian

California City is one of the least vaccinated communities in the state, yet city leaders have not touched hundreds of thousands of dollars that could help address the issue.

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For California Nurses, The COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Their Lives

Capital Public Radio

In early 2020, when the coronavirus began making it difficult for many worldwide to breathe, hospitals became a central front against a disease, eventually killing nearly 4 million people and counting, according to the Associated Press.

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Models predict U.S. coronavirus infections could surge this fall if vaccination rates lag, former FDA chief says

Washington Post

The transmission of the more contagious delta variant in the United States could spur a fall surge in coronavirus infections if only 75 percent of the country’s eligible population is vaccinated, former Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb said Sunday.

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IMMIGRATION

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Biden admin again flying migrants who cross border in one place to another place before expelling them

NBCNews

The Biden administration is restarting what are known as “lateral flights,” in which migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in one area are transported to another part of the border and often sent back into Mexico from there.

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Desperate for Covid Care, Undocumented Immigrants Resort to Unproven Drugs

New York Times

Shut out from mainstream medicine, some immigrants are buying expensive, unproven Covid therapies from “wellness” clinics or turning to the black market.

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LAND USE/HOUSING

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Land Use:

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Riverbank would grow to McHenry under plan for 2,400 homes. Not so fast, critics say

Modesto Bee

Riverbank has released a plan for about 2,400 homes, along with businesses and parks, on farmland to the west of town. The idea has drawn protests from farming advocates, who say this expanse is about as good as it gets for growing crops.

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Build, burn, build again. Why is California still constructing homes in wildfire red zones?

Sacramento Bee

The scenery is breathtaking — rolling hills, steep canyons and stately vineyards, a pastoral landscape, sheep and the occasional coyote. But there are also grim markers of the worst wildfire season in modern California history, in the form of blackened oaks and pines.

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Yosemite National Park May Hike Camping Fees By October

Capital Public Radio

Yosemite National Park overnight campers will be seeing a fee increase this fall. While current prices currently range from about $6 for an individual camper to $50 for group campsites, those fees just may be rising soon.

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Housing:

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Fresno homes are in high demand. Will ‘pay-to-play’ model get houses built faster?

Fresno Bee

As demand for housing soars locally, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer is exploring ways of expediting the building process in the city via his 2022 proposed budget, including improving existing systems, hiring more staff and adding fire inspectors.

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Why has Modesto area COVID rental program paid out $292K despite $20M in requests?

Modesto Bee

Since March, more than 2,700 low-income households in Stanislaus County who are behind in their rent and utilities because of COVID-19 have applied to a program for help. These families have asked for more than $20 million to bring them current.

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California weighs extending eviction protections past June

Fresno Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will pay off all the past-due rent that accumulated in the nation's most populated state because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a promise to make landlords whole while giving renters a clean slate.

See also:

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California Has a Plan to Pay the Back Rent for Low-Income Tenants. All of It.

New York Times

Swimming in cash from an unexpected budget surplus and federal stimulus money, California is planning rent forgiveness on a scale never seen before in the United States.

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Report: How to Prioritize Housing and Right-Size Parking at Transit Stations

StreetsBlog Cal

TransForm analyzed plans for housing at several urban rail stations, offering ideas about how to best achieve goals on reducing single occupant vehicle trips to transit stations.

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PUBLIC FINANCES

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California Has a Plan to Pay the Back Rent for Low-Income Tenants. All of It.

New York Times

The state is poised to embark on an ambitious, complex effort to cover the unpaid rent of low-income renters who struggled during the pandemic.

See also:

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Medicaid Enrollment Surged During Covid-19 Pandemic, Report Shows

Wall Street Journal

Nearly 9.9 million people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program

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Opinion: ‘Free’ Money Can Make Life Worse

Wall Street Journal

Social workers, not check writers, address problems like substance abuse and domestic violence.

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Opinion: The Attack on an Alzheimer’s Drug

Wall Street Journal

Progressives suddenly discover federal spending they don’t like.

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The value-added tax brings in billions for other countries, but the U.S. doesn’t have one

CNBC

Many want to fix the country’s infrastructure. Lawmakers still haven’t agreed on how to pay for it. Biden has called for tax increases on the wealthy, including hikes on income and capital gains, along with estate tax reforms and increased IRS enforcement.

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Government Accountability Office report offers more questions than answers on unemployment benefit collection

AEI

A new report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office discusses racial disparities in the receipt of unemployment benefits since early 2020.

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TRANSPORTATION

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Automaker’s zero-emission maintenance program coming to Valley

Business Journal

Valley Clean Air Now (Valley CAN) has teamed up with General Motors (GM) and local community colleges to expand a ZEV training program that will be available to students at five community college campuses throughout the San Joaquin Valley.

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Ordinance to allow all e-bikes on Kern River Trail fails to advance from committee

Bakersfield Californian

An attempt to allow all electronic bikes on the Kern River Trail failed to pass at a meeting of the city of Bakersfield’s Legislative and Litigation Committee on Monday.

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CA DMV waiving REAL ID fees for those who got new licenses, IDs during pandemic

abc30

Californians who received their driver's licenses or identification cards from the Department of Motor Vehicles during the pandemic are eligible to upgrade those cards for a REAL ID at no additional charge.

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Travelers can fly nonstop to 16 world destinations from Seattle — but should you? Know the COVID-19 rules, risks

Fresno Bee

With Seattle becoming the first major city to vaccinate 70% of eligible residents, people are increasingly booking flights and making their way to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

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American Airlines cancels 950 July flights, with its workforce stretched thin

Los Angeles Times

American Airlines Group Inc. dropped about 1% of its scheduled daily flights for July after a faster-than-expected surge in summer travel led to crew shortages.

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Airlines want unruly passengers to face more criminal charges

Los Angeles Times

U.S. airlines and their unions want the Justice Department to send a strong message against the rise in unruly passengers with additional federal criminal charges.

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Transit Agencies Are Trying Everything to Lure You Back

Wired

Last Week In Washington, DC, the board of the Metropolitan Area Transit Authority did something almost unheard of: It offered riders more service for less money.

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Report: How to Prioritize Housing and Right-Size Parking at Transit Stations

StreetsBlog Cal

TransForm analyzed plans for housing at several urban rail stations, offering ideas about how to best achieve goals on reducing single occupant vehicle trips to transit stations.

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WATER

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New bill would make it easier to transfer water throughout California

abc30

Growers are dealing with severe cutbacks in the surface water deliveries they normally receive from reservoirs. The lack of steady irrigation has already impacted spring cropping decisions made by farmers.

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As drought intensifies, state warns users to stop pumping water from major rivers

CalMatters

About 4,300 users were issued notices to halt diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Some growers and municipalities will have to rely on other sources, while many can invoke their senior water rights to keep pumping from the rivers — at least for now.

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Historic drought in California and West is getting biblical: What to know

CNET

This month, the western US is seeing records toppled as an early-season heat wave sends temperatures into the triple digits. It's a worrying sign for a region already in the grips of a historic drought and recovering from last year's destructive wildfires.

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A Northern California reservoir is expected to fall so low that a hydro-power plant will shut down for first time

Mercury News

Water in a key California reservoir will fall so low this summer that its hydroelectric power plant will be forced to shut down for the first time, officials said Thursday, straining the state’s already-taxed electric grid.

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“Xtra”

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Garth Stapley: July 3, July 4 — what’s the difference? Modesto can celebrate all weekend

Modesto Bee

Somehow, I don’t see the sky falling because Modesto’s Fourth of July parade will be held on the third of July. I was mildly amused when we received a recent letter to the editor of The Modesto Bee whining about the change.

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Support the Maddy Daily

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Maddy Institute Updated List of San Joaquin Valley Elected Officials HERE.

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The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute was established to honor the legacy of one of California’s most principled and effective legislative leaders of the last half of the 20th Century by engaging, preparing and inspiring a new generation of governmental leaders for the 21st Century. Its mission is to inspire citizen participation, elevate government performance, provide non-partisan analysis and assist in providing solutions for public policy issues important to the region, state and nation.

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