Maddy Institute – July 27, 2021

27Jul

POLICY & POLITICS

North SJ Valley:

COVID Update:

● Where Stanislaus stands on vaccines, cases and deaths Modesto Bee

● Editorial: It’s your moral duty, Modesto mayor, to speak up on COVID vaccine Modesto Bee

An unwinnable bidding war: How Modesto’s housing crisis prices out would-be homebuyers

Modesto Bee

For Tiffiny Jones and her fiance, the past few months have been marked by milestones. The couple is expecting their first child in the next few weeks, and they’ve been looking to buy their first home together.

Interviews set for this week for Modesto’s two finalists for police chief

Modesto Bee

City Manager Joe Lopez and Mayor Sue Zwahlen are set to interview the two finalists for Modesto police chief this week, but it is not known when the city will announce who is its next chief.

Senior lunch programs, closed by pandemic, reopen in-person in Stanislaus County

Modesto Bee

A senior lunch program is returning to community centers in Stanislaus County. The Area Agency on Aging said the majority of senior lunch sites are reopening for in-person dining Aug. 2, following shutdowns for COVID-19.

Central SJ Valley:

COVID Update:

● State employees, health workers must prove shots or mask up. What’s that mean in the Valley? Fresno Bee

● Kings County sees 84% increase of COVID cases, projects 700 new cases next week Hanford Sentinel

● Federal grants will help get more people COVID-19 vaccine in Tulare County Visalia Times Delta

Fresno renters, do you know your rights? Here are 14 things to know to protect yourself

Fresno Bee

A majority of Fresnans are renters, but the laws that protect them are not always clear. When The Bee spoke to renters living in substandard housing conditions, most were fearful of reporting issues or unsure of what they can do to improve the situation.

Editorial: Fresno’s great shame: City must apologize for its terrible legacy of racist policies

Fresno Bee

The Tulsa Race Massacre’s 100th anniversary was remembered in June, a shocking, sad event in U.S. history.

Fresno county DA files charges against Councilmember Hurtado

Hanford Sentinel

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has charged Kingsburg City Councilmember Jewel Hurtado with driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .08 % or higher, driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding.

Two heavily trafficked areas in Visalia are set to undergo roadway improvements

Visalia Times Delta

Starting Sunday night, two heavily trafficked areas in Visalia will undergo road work. The first project includes lane closures in Downtown Visalia and is set to begin Sunday night.

Kaweah Health emergency department expansion delayed by drug thefts, nursing shortages, CEO says

Visalia Times Delta

Kaweah Health's state-of-the-art emergency department is sitting vacant and unused as the medical center awaits approval from state regulators, who have raised concerns about the hospital's ability to adequately staff the $35 million expansion, CEO Gary Herbst said.

Lindsay City Council to consider rate increase for solid waste refuse service

Porterville Recorder

It looks like the Lindsay City Council will be able to approve rate increases for its solid waste refuse service at its next meeting.

South SJ Valley:

COVID Update:

● Kern Public Health reports 2 new coronavirus deaths, 305 new cases Monday Bakersfield Californian

Politicians, law enforcement groups pay tribute to fallen deputy

Bakersfield Californian

Kern County's law enforcement community pulled together Monday to show support for the family and memory of a sheriff's deputy killed Sunday in the line of duty.

State:

COVID Update:

● Is California’s vaccine pace picking up amid COVID surge? Here’s what the numbers show Fresno Bee

● California's coronavirus positivity rate skyrockets CalMatters

● Newsom faces COVID quandary CalMatters

Calif to require COVID vaccines for health care workers, state employees in Newsom order

Fresno Bee

California state workers and health care employees must demonstrate proof of vaccination or else continue to wear masks and undergo regular COVID-19 testing, under new rules announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration Monday morning.

● California to require vaccination or testing for state employees and health care workers abc30

● State mandating vaccinations for state employees, health workers Business Journal

● Vaccination mandate for state workers, health care workers issued Porterville Recorder

● California Will Require Vaccination Or Testing For Health Care, State Workers Capital Public Radio

● California government, health workers must show proof of vaccination or be tested regularly Los Angeles Times

● California to require COVID vaccinations for health workers Mercury News

● California orders vaccine or testing for health care workers, state employees CalMatters

● 'A tipping point’: Government officials, health groups move to require coronavirus vaccines for workers Washington Post

● California will require many health care workers, and all state employees, to get shots or tested regularly. New York Times

● Medical groups call for mandatory vaccination of U.S. health care workers. New York Times

Gavin Newsom slams Tucker Carlson, other conservatives over vaccine misinformation

Fresno Bee

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called out right-wing provocateur Tucker Carlson during his Monday morning press conference, accusing the Fox News host and other prominent conservatives of spreading vaccine misinformation.

● Newsom blames ‘right-wing pundits’ for COVID surge CalMatters

Newsom report card: What he has done, and what he hasn’t

Visalia Times Delta

Backers of the campaign to fire Gov. Gavin Newsom are hoping that Californians will keep some things in mind when they cast their vote in the Sept. 14 recall election.

● Newsom promised big on California health care. Where do his bold plans stand

Public access expanded during the pandemic. Why do some cities want to take it away?

Los Angeles Times

Cities across the state found creative ways to maintain and even broaden public access and government participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, even as some are taking that away, state lawmakers are moving to keep the online access open.

Why are key California affordable housing bills bottled up?

CalMatters

Affordable housing advocates are asking why bills supported by state Senate leader Toni Atkins are stuck in the Assembly. One answer appears to be a labor provision pushed by the State Building and Construction Trades Council.

See also:

● California cities rank low on this ‘best places’ scorecard Los Angeles Daily News

Fired: California bill aims to decertify police for serious misconduct

CalMatters

California is one of only four states without the power to permanently remove law enforcement officers from their jobs. Democrat lawmakers are trying to change that.

Forever chemicals: California unveils health goals for contaminated drinking water

CalMatters

It’s California’s first big step toward regulating “forever chemicals,” which are ubiquitous in California and around the globe. The proposed goals — which aim to make the cancer risk negligible — are many times lower than federal guidelines for drinking water.

Bullet train budget battle: Should California spend more on urban transit, not high-speed rail?

CalMatters

Gov. Newsom wants $4.2 billion to finish the Central Valley link for the bullet train, but legislators aren’t sold. The governor and fellow Democrats are negotiating whether to spend more on urban transportation projects.

Federal:

COVID Update:

● Fauci Says US Is Heading In 'Wrong Direction' On COVID-19 Capital Public Radio

● Actual number of U.S. coronavirus cases may be more than double the official tally Los Angeles Times

● CDC to urge vaccinated people to resume wearing masks indoors in some circumstances as delta variant spreads Washington Post

● Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates Imposed on Some Government Workers Wall Street Journal

● FDA Asks Covid-19 Vaccine Makers to Expand Number of Children in Tests Wall Street Journal

● As Virus Cases Rise, Another Contagion Spreads Among the Vaccinated: Anger New York Times

● States scale back virus reporting just as cases surge AP News

● Opinion: Anthony Fauci, Rand Paul and Wuhan Wall Street Journal

● Op-Ed: America can help itself by assisting these COVID-racked nations AEI

Poll: 67% approve of Biden's handling of the pandemic

The Hill

About two-thirds of voters approve of President Biden's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds. 67% of registered voters in the July 20-21 survey said they approve of Biden's handling of COVID-19.

See also:

● Opinion: Biden and the Possibility of Nothing Wall Street Journal

● Opinion: Can Biden Walk the Walk on Democracy? The Dispatch

Jan. 6 select committee takes shape with Kinzinger addition

Roll Call

Kinzinger joins Liz Cheney of Wyoming as the only Republicans on the panel tasked with investigating and reporting the facts and causes relating to the Capitol attack. They were the only two Republicans to vote to establish the select panel.

● Jan. 6 Insurrection Committee Holds Its 1st Hearing, Questioning Police VPR

● Democrats look to move past partisan rancor and set serious tone for Jan. 6 investigation Washington Post

● Chairman of Jan. 6 Committee Casts Wide Net on Witnesses Wall Street Journal

● Democrats prep a somber yet TV-ready first hearing in Jan. 6 probe Politico

● ‘This Is How I’m Going To Die’: Officers Recall Harrowing Jan. 6 Experiences At Hearing Forbes

● Opinion: We have started investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Nothing will be off-limits. Washington Post

● Op-Ed: Senate Republicans’ unforced error on the Capitol riot commission AEI

Infrastructure negotiators’ new deadline: ‘ASAP’

Roll Call

Bipartisan negotiators worked to regroup after a brief breakdown in their efforts to craft an infrastructure bill Monday, with senators involved in the talks saying they’re still confident they’ll get a deal.

● Infrastructure-Bill Negotiators Try to Overcome Late Hurdles Wall Street Journal

● Opinion: Democrats are poised for big wins in Congress. So why the doom and gloom? Roll Call

Spending package headed for House debate

Roll Call

It will be a busy week as the House considers a package of appropriations bills and the Senate tries to nail down a deal on infrastructure legislation, with a potentially fraught first hearing of the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Bipartisan ADA celebration clouded by current climate

Roll Call

The White House’s Monday celebration of the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act did not escape some signs of modern partisanship. It was a bipartisan moment at a Rose Garden ceremony that looked back on the groundbreaking law’s bipartisan history.

See also:

● Long Covid May Qualify as Disability, Biden Admin Says Wall Street Journal

Senate bill leaves military sexual assault debate unsettled

Roll Call

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a defense authorization bill last week with seemingly contradictory instructions to the Pentagon on how to overhaul the military justice system in order to combat sexual assault and other crimes in the ranks.

Judge Extends Deadline for FTC to Refile Facebook Antitrust Suit

Wall Street Journal

The Federal Trade Commission has until Aug. 19 to file an amended version of its antitrust lawsuit against Facebook Inc. FB -1.14% after a judge granted the agency an extension.

Biden Administration Names Its First U.S. Attorneys

Wall Street Journal

President Biden put forward his first set of nominees to lead U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country, a group that includes a former fraud and public-corruption prosecutor who would oversee hundreds of criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Opinion: Should Big Tech be taxed to fill the broadband gap?

AEI

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has suggested acquiring funding from Big Tech. Some Senate Republicans agree and have introduced legislation that would have the FCC study the feasibility of Carr’s plan and develop suggestions.

Other:

The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online

New York Times

The article that appeared online on Feb. 9 began with a seemingly innocuous question about the legal definition of vaccines. Then over its next 3,400 words, it declared coronavirus vaccines were “a medical fraud” and said the injections did not prevent infections.

Can affirmative action survive?

New Yorker

The policy has made diversity possible. Now, after decades of debate, the Supreme Court is poised to decide its fate.

Critical Race Theory: A Brief History

New York Times

Culture wars over critical race theory have turned school boards into battlegrounds, and in higher education, the term has been tangled up in tenure battles. Dozens of United States senators have branded it “activist indoctrination.”

MADDY INSTITUTE PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMMING

Sunday, August 1, at 10 a.m on ABC30 – Maddy Report: "Nursing Homes: How COVID Revealed a Quality Care Problem"- Guest: Barbara Feder-Ostrov - CalMatters; Jocelyn Wiener - CalMatters. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

Sunday, August 1, at 10 a.m. on Newstalk 580AM/105.9FM (KMJ) – Maddy Report - Valley Views Edition: "Aging Better: What's the Plan?"- Guest: Kim McCoy Wade, Director - CA Department of Aging. Host: Maddy Institute Executive Director, Mark Keppler.

AGRICULTURE/FOOD

Valley farmers might face harshest ever water restrictions due to drought

abc30

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, farmers in the Central Valley are now facing more uncertainty. "Not only is this year already bad, it's about to get worse," said Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen.

Turlock’s Westside Ministries asks for community support as demand for free food rises

Modesto Bee

Westside Ministries of Turlock is asking for community support to fund its food literacy program, which allows it to provide food for the underserved.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/FIRE/PUBLIC SAFETY

Crime:

‘He was a star’: Kern sheriff mourns deputy killed during domestic violence call in Wasco

Fresno Bee

Visibly distraught, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood on Monday paid tribute to slain deputy Phillip Campas, who died Sunday trying to enter a home where multiple victims had been shot by a gunman armed with an assault rifle.

Fresno non-profit gets furry addition to help victims of human trafficking

abc30

Meet Joshua the puppy. He may be small in stature now but this service dog is training to have an impact much bigger than he'll ever grow. Joshua is the newest addition to Breaking the Chains Fresno.

New State Funding Boosts Prosecutor-Led Resentencing Efforts in California

KQED

A new state-funded program encourages district attorneys to resentence some incarcerated people serving long prison terms that many now consider excessive.

Public Safety:

More Calif prison employees to wear body cameras through new oversight measures

Fresno Bee

California prisons are preparing to require more correctional officers to wear body cameras through an expansion of employee oversight programs funded in the state budget Gov. Gavin Newsom signed earlier this month.

State Supreme Court says inmates who didn't kill and protest murder conviction have right to lawyer

San Francisco Chronicle

The California Supreme Court bolstered legislation allowing prisoners to challenge their murder convictions for killings committed by others, saying hundreds of inmates who want to use the law to set aside their life sentences have the right to a court-appointed attorney.

Fired: California bill aims to decertify police for serious misconduct

CalMatters

California is one of only four states without the power to permanently remove law enforcement officers from their jobs. Democrat lawmakers are trying to change that.

Op-Ed: Defund the tax police? Republicans better not

AEI

By refusing to adequately fund the IRS, congressional Republicans are leaving hundreds of billions of dollars on the table each year and undermining the rule of law. Congress should give the IRS enough money to ensure that individuals and businesses pay what they owe.

Fire:

Calif wildfires: More ‘extreme’ activity pushes Dixie Fire close to 200,000 acres

Fresno Bee

California’s largest wildfire of 2021, the Dixie Fire, continues to threaten thousands of homes in Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties.

● Dixie fire scorches nearly 200,000 acres, doubling in size in days Los Angeles Times

● Northern California’s Dixie Fire nears 200,000 acres Mercury News

● The utility PG&E says its equipment may have led to a 30,000-acre wildfire. New York Times

20-acre wildfire threatens to spread near SCICON in Tulare County mountains

Visalia Times Delta

A wildland fire burning above Springville has sparked road closures and evacuation warnings as authorities brace for a "major commitment" of resources to the growing blaze.

See also:

● Report of fire in Balch Park area Porterville Recorder

Peak Fire's containment grows slightly, acres burning holds

Bakersfield Californian

The Peak Fire remains steady at 2,098 acres and is 81 % contained as of Monday, the Californian Interagency Incident Management Team said in a news release.

The Climate Change Link To More And Bigger Wildfires

VPR

More than 3 million acres have already burned, and fire experts say this is just the beginning. A historic drought and heatwave have primed forests to burn big this year, just like they did last year.

See also:

· Wildfire Season Is Coming. Get Ready. New York Times

· Satellite images of wildfires are saving lives. The Pentagon might let the program expire Los Angeles Times

ECONOMY/JOBS

Economy:

What Does the Delta Variant Mean for the U.S. Economy?

New Yorker

Now that the spread of the Delta variant has pushed the seven-day average of new cases above fifty thousand, and the number of hospitalizations has jumped by more than fifty per cent in two weeks, economists and investors are reassessing the prospects.

Opinion: Biden and the Possibility of Nothing

Wall Street Journal

President Joe Biden could succeed by doing nothing to disrupt a rebounding economy. To date he hasn’t chosen to pursue this strategy but today brings fresh hope that Mr. Biden and the country can thrive in the months ahead.

Jobs:

Who will take care of the disabled and elderly? California faces ‘unprecedented’ labor shortage

Modesto Bee

As the pandemic took hold, many families grappled with a shortage in the direct care workforce caused by decades of sub-minimum wage rates. The average annual turnover rate for the direct support professionals workforce was 45% even before the pandemic.

States that cut unemployment early aren’t seeing a hiring boom, but who gets hired is changing

Washington Post

The 20 Republican-led states that reduced unemployment benefits in June did not see animmediate spike in overall hiring, but early evidence suggests something did change: The teen hiring boom slowed in those states, and workers 25+ returned to work more quickly.

Biden Administration Moves to Tilt Pay and Power Toward Workers

Wall Street Journal

President Biden is advancing a series of regulatory changes aimed at increasing workers’ pay and gaining them other benefits, moves that opponents say could burden businesses amid an uneven economic recovery.

Digital transformation in labor and education systems

Brookings

The COVID-19 crisis offers a unique opportunity to hit the reset button on these systems and embark on a more holistic redesign guided by basic principles of continuous improvement grounded in user experience and improving equity in access.

EDUCATION

K-12:

Clovis schools superintendent gets pay raise - her first since taking over the district

Fresno Bee

Clovis Unified schools Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell last week received a pay bump for the first time since taking over the district in 2017, putting her salary on par with other superintendents from similar-sized school districts in California.

PUSD to return to full, in-person learning; masks required

Porterville Recorder

In an update posted on the Porterville Unified School District Facebook page and website on Friday afternoon, PUSD superintendent Nate Nelson officially announced a full opening of schools for the 2021-2022 school year.

School districts prepare for universal expansion of transitional kindergarten

Bakersfield Californian

Currently, transitional kindergarten is available to students who turn will turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2 of the upcoming school year. The latest budget will phase in younger students each year until the year 2025-26, when all 4-year-olds will be eligible for the program.

Regardless of schools’ mask policy, how to fight COVID with better nutrition & PE

Modesto Bee

Of 599,543 COVID deaths reported by the Center for Disease Control, 303,523 deaths also included hypokinetic (low-activity) diseases such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes on the death certificate, all of which can be mitigated by physical activity.

Walters: California educators battle over woke math

CalMatters

From balancing a checkbook to calculating rocket trajectories, human beings rely on their ability to understand and use mathematical tools, and we expect our schools to develop those tools in their young charges.

Plummeting test scores are a symptom; remote instruction is the disease

The Hill

Falling test scores, for those who discount them, are aligned with many factors more closely linked to the students’ own experiences and underscore the pitfalls of remote learning.

Home schooling exploded among Black, Asian and Latino students. But it wasn’t just the pandemic.

Washington Post

When school buildings were shuttered last year, Torlecia Bates had not given much thought to home schooling her two school-aged children.

Higher Ed:

California is failing to meet demand for UC admission. Why it’s a crisis

Los Angeles Times

A troubling undercurrent belies the UC’s celebratory news that it admitted the largest and most diverse class for fall 2021: There are not enough seats for qualified students at most campuses, a worsening capacity crisis that threatens to break the promise of a UC education.

ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

Environment:

Warming rivers in US West killing fish, imperiling industry

Bakersfield Californian

Baby salmon are dying by the thousands in one California river, and an entire run of endangered salmon could be wiped out in another.

Climate Scientists Meet As Floods, Fires, Droughts And Heat Waves Batter Countries

VPR

More than 200 of the world's leading climate scientists will begin meeting today to finalize a landmark report summarizing how Earth's climate has already changed, and what humans can expect for the rest of the century.

Forever chemicals: California unveils health goals for contaminated drinking water

CalMatters

What It Means to Store Water for the Environment

PPIC

We’re interested in expanding the options for flexibly managing that water. We are thinking about storage as a way to manage water, so that it could be traded, stored for later use, exchanged with other users, or released to support ecosystem function.

The great white shark next door

Washington Post

If wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides and drought were not concerning enough, the geographic range of young great whites has expanded north along the California coast by hundreds of miles.

Opinion: A New National Climate Army

Wall Street Journal

As the U.S. recovers from a pandemic, with workers in services and manufacturing in short supply across the economy, here’s what no one sensible thinks America urgently needs: a huge new federal Civilian Climate Corps.

Energy:

Temporary use of phased-out power plants could help keep the lights on

CalMatters

The state water board is considering a two-year extension for ocean-cooled power plants that are due to be shut down. Given the effects of the climate crisis, legislators should support it.

HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES

Health:

Valley fever diagnoses delayed by lack of local medical resources, knowledge

Hanford Sentinel

Amanda Barbosa saw the first signs that something was wrong with her husband, Gemini, on a Wednesday evening when he called her coughing and saying he wasn’t feeling well.

Calif doctors support Gavin Newsom’s new COVID-19 vaccine rules. Here’s why

Fresno Bee

California medical organizations on Monday endorsed the state’s new COVID-19 vaccine rules for private and public health care workers, saying the requirements will help increase rates among professionals and protect patients receiving care.

Newsom promised big on California health care. Where do his bold plans stand now?

Cal Matters

Three of the California governor’s boldest health care promises — including affordable medications and universal health care — have made little progress so far.

Covid Treatment Options Remain Elusive, Despite Months of Effort and Rising Delta Cases

Wall Street Journal

Nearly a year and a half into the pandemic, researchers are still struggling to find effective, easy-to-use drugs to treat Covid-19. Ten drugs have been cleared or recommended in the U.S. for use.

Never too late: Cancer centers push patients to quit smoking

AP News

When cancer patients stop smoking, they heal faster, experience fewer side effects from treatment and lower their chances of tumors returning. Now, top cancer hospitals are helping patients quit as evidence mounts that it’s never too late.

Human Services:

Kaweah Health emergency department expansion delayed by drug thefts, nursing shortages, CEO says

Visalia Times Delta

California to require COVID vaccines for health care workers, state employees in Newsom order

Fresno Bee

● California to require vaccination or testing for state employees and health care workers abc30

● Vaccination mandate for state workers, health care workers issued Porterville Recorder

● California Will Require Vaccination Or Testing For Health Care, State Workers Capital Public Radio

● California government, health workers must show proof of vaccination or be tested regularly Los Angeles Times

● California orders vaccine or testing for health care workers, state employees CalMatters

● 'A tipping point’: Government officials, health groups move to require coronavirus vaccines for workers Washington Post

● California will require many health care workers, and all state employees, to get shots or tested regularly. New York Times

● Medical groups call for mandatory vaccination of U.S. health care workers. New York Times

Proposed Law Would End Health Insurance 'Birthday Rule' That Snags New Parents

VPR

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, introduced "Empowering Parents' Healthcare Choices Act," a bill that would do away with the birthday rule and a "coordination of benefits policy" that trips up first-time parents up when it's time to sign up a new baby for insurance.

IMMIGRATION

Democrats step up calls to add immigration to budget plan

Roll Call

Democrats and activist groups are getting more strident in their push to legalize undocumented immigrants as part of an upcoming $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, putting immense pressure on the Senate parliamentarian when the matter is adjudicated later.

LAND USE/HOUSING

Land Use:

Sustainable Development and Land Use Update

JDSupra

From building sea walls to nurturing “living” seashores, an array of potential solutions to rising sea levels have been discussed by local authorities up and down the coast, but all are expensive and none had come up with a way of addressing the cost - until now.

Housing:

Fresno renters, do you know your rights? Here are 14 things to know to protect yourself

Fresno Bee

An unwinnable bidding war: How Modesto’s housing crisis prices out would-be homebuyers

Modesto Bee

Why are key California affordable housing bills bottled up?

CalMatters

Opinion: It’s Hard to Have Faith in a State That Can’t Even House Its People

New York Times

Even if you don’t live in California, you’ve probably seen the pictures of tents lining Venice Beach. Or maybe you’ve seen photographs of Oakland’s sprawling homeless encampments, or the crowds of people living on the street in Los Angeles’s Skid Row neighborhood.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Coupal: The tax implications of SB 9 and 10

Daily Breeze

The Legislature has gone into summer recess leaving a lot of unfinished business. When they return, among the most controversial proposals left unresolved are bills addressing the state housing crisis.

Awash in Cash, State Lawmakers Ask How Long the Boom Will Last

Pew Trusts

Now, rather than fretting about a downturn, state budget writers are wondering how long the boom can last. Some lawmakers worry new spending and tax cuts this year went too far, with criticism falling along familiar partisan lines.

The States That Have Cut Income Taxes So Far This Year

Route Fifty

Eleven states have cut individual or corporate income taxes—or both—so far in 2021, with 10 reducing individual income tax rates and five lowering corporate rates, according to a report by the conservative-leaning Tax Foundation.

Opinion: Republicans are refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Go figure.

Washington Post

A Democrat is back in the White House. Which means, right on schedule, Republicans are again trying to take the economy hostage — by refusing to raise the U.S. debt limit.

Opinion: Should Big Tech be taxed to fill the broadband gap?

AEI

TRANSPORTATION

U.S. Senator Alex Padilla says there will be federal funding for high-speed rail

abc30

I also invite people to think of it not just as a California high-speed rail project, because if we're really thinking long term, it's one but an important leg of a national rail infrastructure plan.

● New plans for California high-speed rail Daily Journal

● Bullet train budget battle: Should California spend more on urban transit, not high-speed rail? CalMatters

● Opinion: Mass Spending for Mass Transit Wall Street Journal

Two heavily trafficked areas in Visalia are set to undergo roadway improvements

Visalia Times Delta

Starting Sunday night, two heavily trafficked areas in Visalia will undergo road work. The first project includes lane closures in Downtown Visalia and is set to begin Sunday night.

Editorial: Speed kills. It’s time for California to slow down cars

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles City Council was recently forced to raise speed limits on sections of Olympic and Overland boulevards in West L.A. — where a woman was killed this year by a recklessly speeding driver.

Airports in the US West dealing with shortage of jet fuel

Business Journal

A shortage of jet fuel, coupled with supply chain issues and an urgent demand from firefighting aircraft, continues to cause problems at airports around the West. In California, recent flights in Fresno were disrupted by jet fuel shortages blamed on the lack of tanker truck driver deliveries.

U.S. to Keep Covid-19 Travel Restrictions Due to Delta Variant, Official Says

Wall Street Journal

The U.S. won’t lift restrictions on international travel at this point, a White House official said Monday, citing rising coronavirus cases at home and abroad caused by the Delta variant.

WATER

Water crisis reaches boiling point on Oregon-California line

Los Angeles Times

Ben DuVal knelt in a barren field near the California-Oregon state line and scooped up a handful of parched soil as dust devils whirled around him and birds flitted between empty irrigation pipes.

Biden Administration to curb toxic wastewater from coal plants with new rule

Washington Post

The EPA announced it will set stricter requirements for how coal-fired power plants dispose of wastewater full of arsenic, lead and mercury — a major source of water pollution in rivers, lakes and streams near electric generators, from Wyoming to Pennsylvania.

“Xtra”

Bethany Clough: Newest restaurant by Annex Kitchen is opening in Fresno — and it’s all about pizza

Fresno Bee

A good old fashioned pepperoni pizza. A pizza slathered in pesto and cheese. And pineapple pizza topped with smoked prosciutto and Fresno chiles.

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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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