February 24, 2021

24Feb

POLICY & POLITICS

 

North SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

Is Modesto part of federal COVID vaccine program? California Democrat looks for answers

Fresno Bee

More COVID-19 vaccines should be coming to Stanislaus County as part of a program meant to get vaccine supplies to local health centers faster.

 

34-inch irrigation cap a possibility as drought continues

Turlock Journal

During what has been one of the driest water years on record for the Turlock Irrigation District, the water agency’s Board of Directors on Tuesday received information on how much irrigation water local farmers could potentially receive this season.

 

Carol Whiteside’s legacy: A vision for the Valley, and a generation to fight for it

Modesto Bee

Carol Whiteside — former Modesto mayor, city councilwoman, school board member, appointee of the governor, and founder of the nonprofit Great Valley Center — impacted countless lives, and we wish provide a glimpse into her lasting impact on the Central Valley.

 

Central SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

 

As COVID cases ease, here’s how close Fresno region is to easing restrictions

Fresno Bee

Four California counties have migrated to less-restrictive tiers within the state’s business-reopening coronavirus blueprint. But neither Fresno County nor its neighboring counties in the central San Joaquin Valley were among them.

 

Fresno’s Central Unified school board again delays vote to lay off 10 teachers

Fresno Bee

Superintendent Andrew Alvarado asked the board to hold off on voting until the next meeting on March 9. He didn’t explain why he made that request but said the resolution “may need” to be amended after high school registration is completed this week.

 

Some Clovis Unified junior high, high school students return for in-person learning

abc30

Clovis Unified will welcome back thousands of middle school and high school students for the first time in nearly a year on Tuesday. Campuses will be filled with students and teachers later Tuesday morning as the school district begins in-person hybrid instruction for seventh through 12th-grade students.

See also:

 

Fresno County promotes from within for next elections chief. Some wanted an outsider

Fresno Bee

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors appointed a county employee to take over as county clerk on Tuesday despite some calls to appoint an outsider.

 

Fresno’s former city manager has a new job nearby. It’s called ‘a perfect fit’

Fresno Bee

Wilma Quan, Fresno’s former city manager, has a new job just south on Highway 99. The Fowler City Council unanimously approved an employment agreement with Quan last week after a months-long search for a new city manager.

 

Bitwise raises $50 million in funding for growth in Fresno area, expansion to new markets

Fresno Bee

Fresno-based Bitwise Industries has raised $50 million in Series B funding for growth in the Valley and to expand into new markets across the country.

 

Lee Brand closes campaign account with $400K in donations

Business Journal

Former Fresno Mayor Lee Brand has announced plans to donate nearly $400,000 from his campaign account to eight community organizations.

 

South SJ Valley:

 

COVID Update:

Kern Public Health: 3 new coronavirus deaths, 288 new cases reported Tuesday Bakersfield Californian

Coronavirus cases in Kern steadily declining as county heads toward red tier Bakersfield Californian

 

Supervisors vote to retain control over redistricting process as they prepare to redraw political maps

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to oversee the redrawing of district boundaries this year.

 

KCSOS: Kern County's three biggest school districts saw academic performance take hit during distance learning period

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern County Superintendent of Schools and administrators from Kern High, Bakersfield City and Panama-Buena Vista Union school districts held a news conference Tuesday to discuss data showing a marked increase in Ds and Fs since fall semester last year.

 

Kern County Public Works Department to hold bulky waste collection events in Wasco, Shafter

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern County Public Works Department will be hosting two separate bulky waste collection events in March.

 

State:

 

COVID Update:

 

Gavin Newsom signs California stimulus laws. When will checks be sent?

Fresno Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Tuesday that will send state stimulus payments to low-income Californians and undocumented immigrants struggling financially amid the pandemic.

See also:

 

California is struggling to reopen schools. Could it spell trouble for Newsom in a recall?

Fresno Bee

The final day of the California Republican Party convention last weekend opened with an advertisement. Images of Gov. Gavin Newsom flashed on the screen, criticizing him for sending his children to private schools while public schools remain closed.

 

Following Biden’s lead, California Democrats want to strike illegal ‘alien’ from state laws

Fresno Bee

California Democrats introduced a bill last week that seeks to eliminate the term “alien” from state laws, an immigration classification used to describe undocumented immigrants and foreign-born individuals.

 

California lawmaker wants to outlaw gun and ammo shows on state property, fairgrounds

Fresno Bee

A Southern California Democrat hopes Gov. Gavin Newsom will ban all guns and ammo sales on all state property, a move that would effectively end firearms shows at dozens of local fairs across the state.

 

Cop collected $600,000 in disability pension for a broken finger. CalPERS wants some back

Fresno Bee

Former Oakland police officer Michael Shinn was on leave with a broken finger when he found out his boss planned to fire him for failing to file a report, according to an account in a recent ruling from an administrative law judge.

 

California public employees disabled by COVID-19 could get tax-free pensions under proposal

Sacramento Bee

Assembly Bill 845, introduced last week by Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez, D-Chino, would temporarily create a presumption that employees disabled by COVID-19 were infected on the job for the purposes of pension eligibility.

 

Q&A: What you need to know about the attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom

Los Angeles Times

Every California governor in modern history has faced recall attempts to oust them from office. All but one have failed, but there is an active effort aimed at Gov. Gavin Newsom that appears to be gaining momentum amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Finance Bulletin

California Department of Finance

There were 1.5 million fewer employed Californians in December 2020 than in February 2020, with half a million fewer people in the labor force. California’s unemployment rate increased by 0.9 percentage point to 9.0 percent in December 2020, its first increase since April 2020.

 

Net neutrality law to take effect in California after judge deals blow to telecom industry

Washington Post

California may soon begin enforcing its first-in-the-nation net neutrality law after a federal judge on Tuesday ruled against broadband providers that had sought to scuttle the state’s open-Internet safeguards.

 

What Californians Can Learn From Texas Republicans

New York Times

After four years of life in the headquarters of the Trump resistance, many Californians are adjusting to life under the Biden administration.

 

California’s Shifting Relationship With the Supreme Court

New York Times

If anyone had​​ lingering doubts that a new administration was fully in charge, a lengthy news conference on Tuesday heralding​​ the opening of a mass vaccination center at Cal State Los Angeles should have taken care of that.

 

Editorial: Single-payer bill is a big waste of California Legislature’s time

Mercury News

The San Jose Democrat’s bill is an exercise in politics that has zero chance of being implemented until it comes with a prudent financial plan that benefits consumers, health care providers and the business community.

 

Federal:

 

J&J’s Covid-19 Vaccine Is Safe and Effective, FDA Says, Paving Way for Approval

Wall Street Journal

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was 66.1% effective in preventing moderate to severe virus disease and appeared safe.

See also:

 

GOP questions Becerra’s experience to run Health agency at his first confirmation hearing

Los Angeles Times

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra emerged relatively unscathed Tuesday from the first of two hearings this week on his nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary, as Democrats brushed aside Republican assertions that his experience is insufficient for the post.

See also:

 

Biden to order review of critical U.S. supply chains

Los Angeles Times

President Biden is taking steps to secure access to key components in computers, electric cars and medical drugs, senior administration officials said Tuesday, an acknowledgment that the United States has been too reliant on China for critical manufacturing.

 

House Democrats prep changes to coronavirus relief package

Roll Call

A $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill continued to take shape Tuesday, with suspense building over whether a minimum wage increase would survive.

See also:

 

Trump to tell CPAC he is Republican 'presumptive 2024 nominee' – report

The Guardian

Donald Trump will reportedly tell the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida this week he is Republicans’ “presumptive 2024 nominee” for president.

 

On Federal Appeals Courts, a Spike in Partisanship

New York Times

For many decades, there was little evidence of partisan behavior in what can be the most bare-knuckled power play in the federal judicial system: when all the active judges on a federal appeals court reconsider the decisions of three-judge panels of their colleagues, a practice that lawyers call en banc review.

 

Supreme Court to Hear Cases on Abortion Referrals and Immigration

New York Times

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to rule on two Trump administration initiatives: one placing limits on a federal health program in an effort to restrict access to abortions, and the other denying green cards to immigrants who were considered likely to make occasional use of public benefits like food stamps.

 

Commentary: House Dems' Misguided Effort to Muzzle Conservative Media

Real Clear Politics

On Feb. 24, House Democrats will hold a hearing on “traditional media’s role in promoting disinformation and extremism.” This hearing is a dangerous threat to American democracy and goes entirely against what the Founders intended when they made a free press Americans’ guaranteed First Amendment right in the Constitution.

 

Other:

 

1 in 6 Gen Z adults are LGBT. And this number could continue to grow.

Washington Post

One in six adults in Generation Z identifies as LGBT, according to survey data released early Wednesday from Gallup, providing some of the most detailed and up-to-date estimates yet on the size and makeup of the nation’s LGBT population

 

Committee Issues Advice to Judges: Campaign Contributions from Political Action Committees

California Courts Newsroom

A state Supreme Court committee issued an advisory opinion explaining when a judge may accept campaign contributions from a political action committee when the contribution includes funds from another political action committee organized and funded by court employees.

 

Gil Duran: His life was ruled by Rush Limbaugh, Fox News. What happened when he quit cold turkey

Sacramento Bee

Rush Limbaugh got his start at KFBK in Sacramento, but he touched millions of lives around the nation. When he died last week, I immediately thought of a Limbaugh fanatic I knew in high school.

 

Commentary: If it’s Broke, Fix it

Brookings

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” So goes the old adage. Its corollary, however, is equally important, particularly to U.S. governance and its constant reinventions over the past almost 250 years: If it is broken, do fix it.

 

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

 

Sunday, February 28, at 10 a.m. on ABC30 – Maddy Report: “State Legislative Response to the Pandemic” - Guest: State Sen. Andreas Borgeas; State Sen. Anna Caballero; Asm. Rudy Salas. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

Sunday, February 28, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: “State Legislative Agendas” - Guests: Asm. Heath Flora; Asm. Devon Mathis; State Sen. Anna Caballero; Asm. Rudy Salas. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

 

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

 

Thousands of COVID-19 vaccines for farmworkers headed to Central Valley

abc30

More vaccines are headed to the Central Valley in an effort to get them in the arms of the most vulnerable. On Monday, Governor Newsom announced the state is allocating 34,000 doses to vaccinate food and farmworkers through 11 mobile sites across the Valley.

 

What you see is the largest pollination event on Earth: California’s almond blossom

Sacramento Bee

There’s something in the California air. The state’s spectacular almond bloom—the largest single pollination event in the world—has begun. Orchards are blooming and honey bees are buzzing.

 

Tom Vilsack confirmed for a second stint as agriculture secretary with strong Republican support

Washington Post

The former Iowa governor served in the same role for eight years in the Obama administration and has pledged to focus on racial justice and climate change.

 

Editorial: Limit smoke pollution and support a healthy ag future. It’s time to ban field burning

Fresno Bee

San Joaquin Valley old-timers can recall that scent of wood-fire smoke in the fall, wafting over the region where farmers lit fires to harvested fields, piles of old trees and uprooted vines, and other ag waste. It was a time-tested way to get rid of diseased material and pests.

 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

 

Crime:

 

‘It’s not kids being kids.’ Fresno street racing crackdown by police will continue

Fresno Bee

Police, sheriff’s deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and officials from the state Bureau of Automotive Repair hit the streets Saturday night targeting street racers, many of whom gather near Blackstone and Bullard avenues on weekends.

See also:

 

California passes bill allocating $1.4 million to track anti-Asian bias and hate crimes

Modesto Bee

California legislators approved $1.4 million in state funding to help combat anti-Asian violence and racism through the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center on Monday.

See also:

 

Public Safety:

 

Security officials cast blame for January 6 failures during Capitol insurrection

abc30

Testifying publicly for the first time about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former security officials say that bad intelligence was to blame for the disastrous failure to anticipate the violent intentions of the mob. That left them unprepared for the attack that was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

 

California prisons launched a unit to investigate staff misconduct. Wardens aren’t using it

Sacramento Bee

California prison wardens have largely ignored a new system set up to handle prisoner complaints of staff misconduct, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General.

 

40% of inmates in California’s corrections system have been vaccinated for COVID-19

Los Angeles Times

About 40% of people in the custody of California’s corrections system have received the COVID-19 vaccine, a figure praised by prison advocates who say that only a fraction of the state’s vaccine is needed to protect a population that’s one of the most vulnerable to the virus.

See also:

 

Protesters Urged Defunding the Police. Schools in Big Cities Are Doing It.

New York Times

After a monthslong push by students in the nation’s second-largest public school system, leaders in Los Angeles approved a plan on Tuesday to cut the district’s security force by a third, joining a growing number of cities that have reduced the presence of police officers in school hallways.

 

How Berkeley Could Remove the Police From Traffic Stops

New York Times

The Berkeley City Council will consider a proposal next week to prohibit the city’s police officers from conducting traffic stops and shift that responsibility to unarmed public works officials.

 

Fire:

 

First fire, then flood: Inside Caltrans’ effort to repair washed out Highway 1 in Big Sur

Modesto Bee

In Big Sur, mother nature is hard at work healing from the Dolan Fire. In many places, it’s a peaceful transition. Fresh, green growth covers fire-blackened hillsides, hiding the remains of the massive blaze that scorched the region and shut down one of the world’s most scenic routes last summer.

 

ECONOMY/JOBS

 

Economy:

 

California waiving millions of dollars in state business fees in new COVID stimulus

Fresno Bee

Hundreds of thousands of small businesses from restaurants to nail salons will not have to pay licensing fees until 2023, under California’s $7.6 billion stimulus measure signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday.

 

Bitwise is going national. Here’s where it is headed

Business Journal

This week, it was announced that the tech-centered real estate company would open a new campus in Toledo, Ohio — possibly as soon as next year.

 

SBDC webinar looks at federal, city business-recovery programs

Bakersfield Californian

A local business webinar Wednesday will look at temporary changes to the federal Paycheck Protection Program and the city of Bakersfield's new Microenterprise ReStart Grant Program for companies with fewer than six employees.

 

CalChamber Issues Statement on Economic Relief Programs for Small Businesses

CalChamber Advocacy

The California Chamber of Commerce today issued the following statement following Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of legislation to provide relief to Californians experiencing pandemic hardship

 

Where to Open Shop: New Report Ranks the Best Places to Do Business in the U.S.

Ogletree Deakins

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the global economy, and employers are increasingly considering which are the most and least employer-friendly places for new offices, distribution centers, and operational locations, both during the pandemic and after emerging from it.

 

Biden to order sweeping review of U.S. supply chain weak spots

Washington Post

President Biden on Wednesday will formally order a 100-day government review of potential vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains for critical items, including computer chips, medical gear, electric-vehicle batteries and specialized minerals.

 

Jobs:

 

CRC lays off 50 Bakersfield engineers, scientists, support staff amid post-bankruptcy restructuring

Bakersfield Californian

Local oil producer California Resources Corp. said it is laying off 50 Bakersfield workers in positions ranging from administrative support positions to engineers, scientists and technicians.

 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell Warns Of Long Road Ahead To Recover Millions Of Lost Jobs

VPR
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned on Tuesday the United States has a "long way" to go to return to full employment, even as he expressed cautious optimism that the economy will recover from the pandemic this year.

 

How Is the Fed Thinking About Unemployment?

New York Times

As he guides the financial system through the coronavirus pandemic, Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, has worked to keep cash flowing through the economy. He’s done it by tamping down interest rates and sometimes speaking up — to a degree that’s rare for a Fed director — to urge legislative action on behalf of workers and businesses.

 

EDUCATION

 

K-12:

 

Fresno’s Central Unified school board again delays vote to lay off 10 teachers

Fresno Bee

Superintendent Andrew Alvarado asked the board to hold off on voting until the next meeting on March 9. He didn’t explain why he made that request but said the resolution “may need” to be amended after high school registration is completed this week.

 

Some Clovis Unified junior high, high school students return for in-person learning

abc30

Clovis Unified will welcome back thousands of middle school and high school students for the first time in nearly a year on Tuesday. Campuses will be filled with students and teachers later Tuesday morning as the school district begins in-person hybrid instruction for seventh through 12th-grade students.

See also:

 

KCSOS: Kern County's three biggest school districts saw academic performance take hit during distance learning period

Bakersfield Californian

The Kern County Superintendent of Schools and administrators from Kern High, Bakersfield City and Panama-Buena Vista Union school districts held a news conference Tuesday to discuss data showing a marked increase in Ds and Fs since fall semester last year. The three districts together represent 45 percent of students in Kern County.

 

Rosedale Union School District organizes onsite clinic to vaccinate hundreds of employees

Bakersfield Californian

Teachers who for months have been dealing with the challenges of distance learning — or extreme social distancing efforts in classrooms — seem to be ready for a change. Many are counting on newly available vaccines to help pave the way.

 

New county COVID-19 case rate numbers out. Are we ready for some football?

Modesto Bee

Local counties are moving the chains and inching closer to a touchdown with San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties showing major decreases in their weekly adjusted coronavirus case rate, which the state released on Tuesday.

 

Update: In plan to reopen high schools, MCS considers sticking with block schedule

Modesto Bee

At a special meeting Monday, the Modesto City Schools Board of Education approved a plan to open junior high and high schools on a hybrid learning schedule that would have students on campus two days a week.

 

What tech tools are helping Stanislaus teachers, students? Districts share highlights

Modesto Bee

Even as school districts in Stanislaus County work to increase in-person learning time for primary grade students and possibly return junior high and high school kids to campuses in mid-March, distance learning remains a mainstay of education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

COVID-19: Data show California far behind in reopening schools

Mercury News

California parents frustrated over the sluggish pace of reopening public schools have long sensed the state was falling behind many others in getting kids back into classrooms, and now an analysis demonstrates with stunning clarity that the Golden State is running almost dead last.

 

California students in richer areas far more likely to be back in classrooms

CalMatters

As pandemic drags on, a CalMatters data analysis reveals that students who currently have no option to attend class in person are much more likely to live in poorer areas.

 

Walters: School reopening row nears climax

CalMatters

California’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been, to say the least, erratic with ever-changing state decrees on business openings and closings and personal conduct and, most recently, a chaotic rollout of vaccinations.

 

Higher Ed:

 

More Black Californians attending for-profit colleges. Why experts want to change that

Fresno Bee

Black Californians are being steered toward for-profit colleges at double the rate than their white counterparts, a new study by the Campaign for College Opportunity found, a trend that carries with it higher debt and poorer graduation rates than public colleges.

 

Tens of thousands of community college students still taking unnecessary remedial classes

CalMatters

A 2017 law started to phase out remedial courses at community colleges, but while there’s been progress, many students still end up taking classes experts say they don’t need.

 

California needs 'common application' for its public college and universities, higher ed panel urges

EdSource

In a development that would no doubt be welcomed by many aspiring college students and their parents, California should develop a common application form for admission to all levels of public higher education in California, including the state’s community colleges system.

 

California lawmakers propose Cal Grant reforms to help low-income students

EdSource

Hundreds of thousands of students attending California’s colleges and universities may soon become newly eligible for financial aid awards if lawmakers have their way with a proposal to reform how the state distributes that aid.

 

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

 

Environment:

 

California will fail to meet carbon reduction goals, scathing audit of state predicts

Fresno Bee

The state auditor criticized California’s air-pollution agency for mishandling some of its climate-change programs Tuesday, saying the state is in danger of failing to meet the Legislature’s targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

See also:

 

Newsom pushes private seawater desalting plant over local and environmental opposition

Los Angeles Times

When Gov. Gavin Newsom was photographed dining at an opulent Napa Valley restaurant during a surge in coronavirus cases, many Californians saw it as hypocrisy. For opponents of a planned $1-billion desalination plant along the Orange County coast, however, the optics were menacing.

 

How far will Biden go to fix the climate crisis? Pay attention to this gas project

Los Angeles Times

A few days after Joe Biden claimed victory in the presidential election, a San Diego company quietly asked federal officials for permission to send 5 million tons of natural gas each year across the U.S.-Mexico border to an export terminal the company hopes to build along the Gulf of California.

 

Energy:

 

How About Wind? California Explores Plan For Wind Energy Along Coast To Combat Climate Change.

Capital Public Radio

About an hour-and-a-half southwest of Sacramento, hundreds of nearly 20-stories tall windmills line the Montezuma Hills in Solano County. On back roads through these rolling peaks, the windmills’ shadows steadily move with the sun over farms, sheep and cows.

 

California's electricity prices are so high that researchers worry people won't ditch fossil fuel

San Francisco Chronicle

California’s electricity prices are growing so high that they threaten the state’s ability to convince enough people to ditch fossil fuel-powered cars and appliances, new research says.

 

Designing Electricity Rates for An Equitable Energy Transition

Next10

California has achieved notable success in decarbonizing its electricity supply, now getting over one-third of its power from renewable generation and nearly two-thirds from carbon-free sources. This makes it possible to decarbonize transportation and buildings by powering them with electricity from renewable resources.

 

California And Texas Vie To Be America’s Hydrogen Capital

Forbes

California and Texas have enjoyed a friendly – and at times not so friendly – rivalry as to which state offered the highest standard of living, featured the best climate for doing business and supplied the most fertile ground for technological innovation and progress.

 

Opinion: More Green Blackouts Ahead

Wall Street Journal

You’d think the Texas blackouts would trigger some soul-searching about the vulnerability of America’s electrical grid. Not in today’s hothouse of climate politics. The Biden Administration is already moving to stop an examination of grid vulnerability to promote unreliable renewable energy sources.

 

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

 

Health:

 

Blood supplies critical low in the Central Valley

Business Journal

The Central California Blood Center (CCBC) is calling on Central Valley residents to donate blood to get local supplies back up.

 

California’s coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: ‘The devil is already here’

Los Angeles Times

A coronavirus variant that probably emerged in May and surged to become the dominant strain in California not only spreads more readily than its predecessors but also evades antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines or prior infection and is associated with severe illness and death, researchers said.

See also:

 

‘If not us, then who?’

Washington Post

Beyond spending their working hours in hospitals and clinics, many doctors and nurses have also voluntarily entrenched themselves in “the information war,” as Nakhasi calls it.

 

Human Services:

 

Vaccine eligibility expanding in Fresno County. Here’s who can get COVID shots next week

Fresno Bee

Fresno County will see an expansion in the number of people eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine next week, as clinics open up to begin providing shots to workers in education and the food/agriculture industries.

 

States rush to catch up on delayed vaccines, expand access

Bakersfield Californian

From coast to coast, states were scrambling Tuesday to catch up on vaccinations a week after winter storms battered a large swath of the U.S. and led to clinic closures, canceled appointments and shipment backlogs nationwide.

 

Race Versus Time: Targeting Vaccine To The Most Vulnerable Is No Speedy Task

VPR
This week, the federal government will start supplying more vaccine to community health centers, whose patients tend to be minorities, homeless and the poor. But what those centers are learning is that speed and equity do not necessarily go hand in hand.

 

Stanislaus County reopens COVID vaccination clinics. Who is eligible this week?

Modesto Bee

Stanislaus County will reopen public clinics for coronavirus vaccinations Tuesday after a one-day hiatus attributed to delayed shipment of vaccine.

 

Newsom vows changes after vaccine earmarked for hardest-hit communities improperly used by others

Los Angeles Times

Intended to address inequities in the distribution of the vaccine, the program instead was being misused by wealthier residents who work from home and were grabbing appointments for themselves.

 

Bills to Block Mandatory Worker Vaccines Falter in the States

PEW
Lawmakers in at least 23 states, often encouraged by vaccine skeptics, have proposed banning employers from requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or other infectious diseases.

 

Opinion: Extend Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented adults

CalMatters

We need bold legislation like SB 56 and AB 4 to end the systematic exclusion of low-income undocumented adults from Medi-Cal.

 

Shots in arms: How to get more military service members vaccinated

Brookings

Recent reporting indicates that as many as one-third of U.S. servicemembers, despite being eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, have refused to receive it.

 

IMMIGRATION

 

Why Biden Is Tackling Immigration Now

New York Times

President Biden took a major step last week to slow deportations, and his allies in Congress unveiled a bill that would represent the country’s most sweeping immigration overhaul in generations.

 

Commentary: Extend Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented adults

CalMatters

The Biden administration’s current decisions will have dire consequences for Americans who have borne the brunt of deaths, illness and economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

 

Commentary: The US can learn a lot from Colombia about giving rights to undocumented immigrants

Brookings

Colombia is about to embark on one of the largest-ever humanitarian gestures in modern history: Providing a 10-year, renewable, regular migratory status to over 1.7 million Venezuelan refugees living within its borders.

 

LAND USE/HOUSING

 

Land Use:

 

Sustainable Development and Land Use Update

JDSupra

The city of Huntington Beach lost a lawsuit against the state of California, in which the city sought exemption from recently passed housing bills, including SB 35 and SB 1333.

 

Warszawski: Fresno-area parks attract huge pandemic crowds. We need more room to walk, hike, ride

Fresno Bee

Central San Joaquin Valley residents need more room to recreate. Over being cooped up by COVID-19, we’re utilizing our parks, bike trails and open-space areas at levels heretofore unseen in my 23 years of living here. So much that they’re almost ready to burst.

 

Housing:

 

Legal showdown brewing between homeless, Tulare County

Visalia Times Delta

Tulare County has more chronically unsheltered people than any other similarly sized community in the nation, according to a 2018 congressional report

 

Waiting for apartments where the pavement ends

CalMatters
State housing planners continue to allocate tens of thousands of low-income units in Riverside County despite a lack of suitable land and willing developers.

 

PUBLIC FINANCES

 

Finance Bulletin

California Department of Finance

There were 1.5 million fewer employed Californians in December 2020 than in February 2020, with half a million fewer people in the labor force. California’s unemployment rate increased by 0.9 percentage point to 9.0 percent in December 2020, its first increase since April 2020.

 

Who gets a California stimulus check? When?

CalMatters

California will send out roughly 5.7 million Golden State Stimulus payments of $600 to residents struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic. For most recipients, the money could come in as soon as a month.

See also:

 

Tax Hikes for High Earners Are on the Table in Some States

Wall Street Journal

State officials across the U.S. have grappled for months with the budgetary effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, some governors are proposing tax increases.

 

Video: Child tax credit: Should Congress expand the benefit?

AEI

Should Congress expand the child tax credit? AEI’s Alex Brill explains the benefits and consequences, as well as detailing what the current child tax credit entails for taxpayers.

 

Commentary: This a good time for the Legislature to invest in California by taxing large, profitable corporations

CalMatters

A year into the COVID-19 crisis, the gap between corporate profits and economic security for the average American is wider than ever. Since March 2020, 45 out of 50 of America’s largest companies have made a profit and in some cases the profit has been quite substantial.

 

TRANSPORTATION

 

California’s REAL ID deadline is back. The DMV is bracing for a surge of late applicants

Sacramento Bee

The federal government last year gave California drivers a one-year reprieve from a deadline to obtain a REAL ID, conceding to fears that requiring millions of people to visit the DMV in a pandemic would spread the coronavirus.

 

Going cheap on section of high-speed rail project in Calif. has created hefty cost overruns

Railway Track and Structures

The Los Angeles Times has hit the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) with another black eye in the form of a report that claims the agency went with the lowest bidder on a 65-mile section in Kings County and is now paying the ultimate price.

 

Buttigieg makes equity a top priority for DOT

Roll Call

Criticized during his 2020 presidential bid for not adequately addressing systemic racism when he was mayor of South Bend, Ind., Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has now made the fight against that issue a centerpiece of his new job.

 

Report: California Outpaces Other States on Electric Vehicles

U.S. News

As the push for transportation electrification in the U.S. grows under the Biden administration, California has far outpaced others with its policy efforts, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

 

WATER

 

Westlands GM: Initial water allocation 'devastating'

Business Journal

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced an initial water allocation Tuesday of 5% based on estimates of availability. Water allocation is based on levels of reservoir storage, precipitation and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

California Republican Delegation urges Biden administration to ensure continued California water supply

Hanford Sentinel

Tuesday, Congressman David G. Valadao and the entire California Republican delegation sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Commerce to emphasize California’s water needs and to express strong support for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s new coordinated long-term operations plan for the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the California State Water Project (SWP).

 

34-inch irrigation cap a possibility as drought continues

Turlock Journal

During what has so far been one of the driest water years on record for the Turlock Irrigation District, the water agency’s Board of Directors on Tuesday received information on just how much — or how little — irrigation water local farmers could potentially receive this season.

 

Red alert sounding on California drought, as Valley gets grim news about water supply

Sacramento Bee

A government agency that controls much of California’s water supply released its initial allocation for 2021, and the numbers reinforced fears that the state is falling into another drought.

 

Newsom pushes private seawater desalting plant over local and environmental opposition

Los Angeles Times

Poseidon boasts that the facility will provide a local, inexhaustible source of water for Southern California. Critics complain that Newsom and his political appointees are exerting heavy influence to benefit a private company that would produce some of the state’s most expensive supplies.

 

“Xtra”

 

Your Modesto, Central Valley restaurant delivery could be coming from a ghost kitchen

Modesto Bee

Restaurant delivery is nothing new. But, thanks to the pandemic, these days the food you order in the Central Valley could be coming from a “ghost kitchen” instead of a regular restaurant.

 

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

 

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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