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POLITICAL PULSE 8/19/16
Aug 19, 2016

POLITICAL PULSE

Friday, August 19, 2016

California Policy & Politics This Morning   

Raging Blue Cut fire leaves some homes in smoldering ruins, but scope of loss still a mystery -- Damage assessors have been hindered from surveying the destruction because of erratic fire behavior and intense flames that broke through retardants dropped by air crews, Eric Sherwin, an incident-response spokesman with the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said Thursday. Brittny Mejia, Angel Jennings, Ruben Vives and Corina Knoll in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

Why the LA’s Super Scoopers are not fighting the Blue Cut fire -- But geography is keeping the Super Scoopers – which arrived this month about three weeks early – out of the fire fight. “We’re not using the Super Scoopers on the fire because there are no large bodies of water that would work for them,” said Melody Lardner, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Inland Daily Bulletin$ -- 8/19/16

Legislator seeks to revise bill that would ban behind-the-scenes communications at the Coastal Commission -- Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said she wants to “revise, perfect and clarify” changes in SB 1190, her bill to stop coastal commissioners from having private, so-called ex-parte communications with developers, lobbyists, environmentalists or anyone else interested in the land use agency’s business. Dan Weikel in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

L.A. city attorney pressures pregnancy center to comply with state law, provide info about abortion services -- A Los Angeles pregnancy center that failed to comply with a state law requiring it to provide clients with information about free or low-cost family planning services, prenatal care, contraception and abortions has agreed to cooperate, City Atty. Mike Feuer announced Thursday. Erica Evans in the Los Angeles Times$ Rebecca Plevin KPCC -- 8/19/16

California lawmakers advance bill to decriminalize prostitution for minors -- A controversial bill that would decriminalize prostitution for minors squeezed out of the California Assembly on Thursday and is now headed back to the Senate for a final vote. Jazmine Ulloa in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

Talks stall on $400 million in California affordable housing -- California's Assembly speaker conceded defeat Thursday on negotiations over a plan to inject $400 million into affordable housing projects, a deal that was included in the $122 billion budget compromise legislative leaders negotiated with Gov. Jerry Brown this spring. Juliet Williams and Alison Noon Associated Press -- 8/19/16

Walters: Los Angeles’ politicians use Capitol power to affect local issues -- Los Angeles County contains more than a quarter of the state’s population. So naturally, it wields a big stick in the Legislature, including both of its top leadership positions. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/19/16

DOJ private prison phase-out doesn't affect immigrant detention, but a California bill could -- An announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice this week that it will phase out its use of private prisons for inmates doesn't affect immigration detainees -- and immigration officials said Thursday that they don't plan to stop using private contractors. But a state bill that's up for an Assembly vote next week could put a wrench in some private detention contracts in California. Leslie Berestein Rojas KPCC -- 8/19/16

Doug Ose was determined to talk about Babulal Bera’s crimes, one way or another -- Last month, Doug Ose was in Cleveland helping smooth Donald Trump’s path to the Republican presidential nomination. On Thursday, the former Sacramento-area congressman had matters closer to home to attend to. Christopher Cadelago in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/19/16

Two California bills to protect foster youth pass Assembly -- Two pieces of legislation that would address solutions to California's foster care system's reliance on psychiatric medications easily passed the Assembly floor Thursday, while a third bill that would complete the package will be voted on next week. Tracy Seipel in the East Bay Times -- 8/19/16

California's Democratic voter count hits all-time high -- Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Thursday that 45 percent of registered voters are now registered Democrats. That's nearly 8.2 million voters and the highest number of Democrats ever recorded. Republican registration has continued to slide and now stands at 27 percent. Associated Press -- 8/19/16

Taxes, Fees, Rates, Tolls     

Judge rejects $100M settlement in key case with Uber drivers -- A federal judge has rejected a legal settlement that would have divided up to $100 million among about 380,000 Uber drivers to resolve claims the ride-hailing service has been exploiting them by treating them as independent contractors instead of employees. Michael Liedtke Associated Press -- 8/19/16

Rent increase sparks anger at Los Angeles city-owned senior building -- Adela De Nava, 81, and her husband John, 89, have dark memories of being forced out of Chavez Ravine, the hillside neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles that was bulldozed and eventually became the site for Dodger Stadium. More than 50 years later, the couple is again worried about being homeless. Dakota Smith in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/19/16

This is how a California wildfire can change your homeowners insurance rate -- Scores of Southern California residents living in or near the path of the latest wildfires have suffered damage to their homes — or barely avoided it. Will they see their insurance rates go up as a result? Kevin Smith in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/19/16

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions 

California wine country says goodbye to crop-threatening moth -- A moth that sparked quarantines and expensive pest-control measures in California’s wine country has been eradicated from the state, agricultural officials said Thursday. Geoffrey Mohan in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

Bay Area homes: Median price now $735,000 but July sales are lowest in 5 years -- Faced with famously high prices and a tight housing supply, homebuyers grew shy last month. Across the Bay Area, single-family home sales in July fell 13.4 percent from the year before -- the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in the number of houses sold. Richard Scheinin in the East Bay Times -- 8/19/16

Union Claims State Is Violating San Diego’s Minimum Wage Law -- Members of the United Domestic Workers union filed complaints on Thursday alleging the state is violating the city of San Diego's new minimum wage law in pay for in-home health care aides. KPBS -- 8/19/16

SDG&E shareholders and green groups headed for face-off? -- Regional environmental groups and some elected officials are bracing for a battle with San Diego Gas & Electric’s shareholders over increasingly popular programs that put local governments — not utility companies — in charge of how much renewable energy residents can buy. Joshua Emerson Smith in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/19/16

Transit   

Dublin: Uber, Lyft to partner in public transit -- In a first for California, a public transit agency next month plans to begin subsidizing fares of people who take private Uber and Lyft cars to local destinations rather than riding the bus. Denis Cuff in the East Bay Times -- 8/19/16

Capitol Corridor service changes a boon for commuters -- Capitol Corridor commuters heading to San Jose in the morning and leaving Oakland in the evening will soon have more trains to choose from during peak travel times, thanks to a robust economy and Bay Area job growth. Erin Baldassari in the East Bay Times -- 8/19/16

Education 

L.A. Unified targets well-known charter school for possible revocation -- The well-regarded El Camino Real Charter High School faces a possible shutdown following an investigation by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Issues cited by the school system in a letter to the school this week include possible inappropriate spending, poor accounting and oversight, and violations of public-meeting rules. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times$ Brenda Gazzar in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/19/16

Oversight of private special education schools begins at Oakland Unified -- The federal investigation involved one school district, one private special education subcontractor and one student. Jane Meredith Adams EdSource -- 8/19/16

What LAUSD's new 'one-stop shop' school choice system will (probably) look like -- Superintendent Michelle King wants Los Angeles Unified School District officials to speed their efforts to create a "one-stop shop" where parents can browse and apply for all the district's popular choice programs — like magnet schools, open enrollment and gifted programs — from a single website. Kyle Stokes KPCC -- 8/19/16

Cannabis 

California arrested nearly half a million people for pot over the past decade -- California residents will decide whether to fully legalize the recreational use of marijuana this November in a vote that's likely to have a major influence on marijuana policy in other states regardless of which way it goes. Christopher Ingraham in the Washington Post$ -- 8/19/16

Environment 

California Climate Program Faces Uncertain Future Beyond 2020 -- The opinion of lawyers working for California’s lawmakers became clear in the spring. Without new laws, the state’s prominent cap-and-trade program would be dead after 2020. John Upton KQED -- 8/19/16

Sen. Barbara Boxer on Salton Sea restoration: ‘Act faster’ -- Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., called Thursday for local, state and federal agencies to hurry up and restore the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake. Jim Steinberg in the Inland Daily Bulletin$ -- 8/19/16

Also . . . 

San Francisco to honor Tony Bennett with statue, festivities -- For as long as anyone can remember, Tony Bennett has been giving to the city where he first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" at the Fairmont Hotel in 1961. And now, the city is set to pay him back. Kristin J. Bender Associated Press -- 8/19/16

Member of Olympic fencing team loses new home in Clayton Fire -- It was the last thing anyone at the Rio Olympics would expect to hear after an exuberant string of medal wins: that a catastrophic wildfire was racing toward his home. But that’s the unfortunate news Matthew Porter, armorer for the U.S. Olympics fencing team, received over the weekend from his wife. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 8/19/16

DA looking at price-gouging amid Blue Cut fire -- The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is investigating possible price gouging of Blue Cut fire evacuees after fielding numerous complaints about local hotels charging exorbitant rates. Yet on that first night as tens of thousands fled the flames, the sold-out Courtyard Marriott Hesperia opened its ballroom and lobby to at least 60 weary evacuees who slept there at no charge. Suzanne Hurt in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 8/19/16

Friends mourn 'Mother Teresa of the homeless,' who lived in an alley for 30 years -- Ida Mae Prince survived 30 years in a Westlake alley, sharing food and her makeshift plywood shanty with other homeless people, and helping many get off the streets that held her to the last. Gale Holland in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

Beltway 

State Dept. confirms $400 million Iran payment conditioned on hostage release -- 'He lied about the hostages – openly and blatantly – just like he lied about Obamacare,' Trump says. Louis Nelson Politico -- 8/19/16

Trump advisers waged covert influence campaign -- A firm run by Donald Trump's campaign chairman directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine's ruling political party, attempting to sway American public opinion in favor of the country's pro-Russian government, emails obtained by The Associated Press show. Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, never disclosed their work as foreign agents as required under federal law. Jeff Horwitz and Chad Day Associated Press -- 8/19/16

Regretful Trump pivots 107 days late -- The Republican nominee delivers one of the most comprehensive, on-message rationales for his candidacy to date. Ben Schreckinger and Cristiano Lima Politico -- 8/19/16

Trump shows a new emotion — regret -- For a candidate who proudly stands behind his most caustic comments, it was a mea culpa of sorts. Kurtis Lee in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

Decker: New poll analysis finds a wasted summer for Donald Trump and a boost for Hillary Clinton -- The last six weeks have been a time of tumult in the presidential campaign — two conventions and a fistful of controversies, many of them created by Republican nominee Donald Trump himself. Cathleen Decker in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

Hey, Los Angeles: There's a naked statue of Donald Trump on Hollywood Boulevard -- A stark-naked likeness of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appeared on a Los Angeles street corner early Thursday morning — and boy, is it unflattering. Annie Z. Yu and Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/19/16

Supervisor tries to save naked Trump statue in San Francisco’s Castro -- An overweight naked man in San Francisco’s Castro district? How is that unusual? “Well,” said Linda Calderone, standing at the corner of Market and Castro and regarding the sight, “it isn’t Pride Week, and there’s no sock.” C.W. Nevius in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 8/19/16

-- Thursday Updates 

Affordable housing proposal is “dead” for year, Assembly leader says -- Attempts to craft an end-of-session affordable housing package are “dead” for the year, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said Thursday, saying there continues to be intense opposition to Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to relax local land-use rules in return for $400 million for housing projects. Jim Miller and Anshu Siripurapu in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/18/16

Camera captures rolling gunfight that had Emeryville residents scrambling -- A high-speed rolling gunbattle in a residential neighborhood of Emeryville sent people diving for cover as bullets whizzed by, police said. Police are asking the public for help in identifying the gunmen who apparently traded shots from two cars racing down Adeline Street near 45th Street about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Bill Hutchinson in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 8/18/16

Electric car bill gets unplugged -- A hasty attempt to boost electric vehicle sales in California – an idea the governor likes – died in the final days of the legislative session amid intense lobbying and fast-approaching deadlines. John Howard Capitol Weekly -- 8/18/16

New transportation funding plan calls for gas tax hike of 17 cents per gallon -- The plan, highlighted by an increase of 17 cents per gallon in the gas tax, comes from Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) and Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) in an attempt to unify the disparate proposals the pair had previously introduced in their respective houses. Liam Dillon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/16

Domestic workers could soon have extended overtime pay protections as bill heads to governor -- Legislators in the Assembly approved Thursday a measure to extend overtime pay protections for domestic workers such as nannies and housekeepers. Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/16

No respite for rapists under California bill tied to Cosby case -- Rape charges could be brought against alleged perpetrators no matter how much time has elapsed under a bill that passed the California Assembly on Thursday. Jeremy B. White in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/18/16

Uber says rides in self-driving cars are weeks away, plus it makes 2 autonomous-vehicle deals -- The San Francisco-based ride-hailing company will start ferrying Pittsburgh passengers in self-driving cars in the next several weeks. Samantha Masunaga in the Los Angeles Times$ Carolyn Said in the San Francisco Chronicle Justin Pritchard and Tom Krisher Associated Press -- 8/18/16

Babulal Bera gets one year prison sentence for election fraud -- Babulal Bera, father of Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison Thursday for election fraud involving the finances of his son’s campaign committee. Denny Walsh in the Sacramento Bee$ John Myers and Sophia Bollag in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/16

Why do arsonists set fires? ‘Life’s not going the way they planned’ -- In separate courtrooms at opposite ends of California, two men faced charges Wednesday, accused of being serial arsonists. Claudia Buck in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 8/18/16

California lawmaker drops electric-vehicle bill -- A California lawmaker says she's giving up on her proposal to require that 15 percent of new cars be emission free by 2025. A spokeswoman for Democratic Assemblywoman Autumn Burke of Los Angeles says the measure ran into steeper opposition than she expected. Associated Press -- 8/18/16

One dead after deputy-involved shooting in Poway -- A man who stole a deputy's patrol car and carjacked an SUV in Poway early Thursday died after deputies shot at him and he crashed into a ravine, a sheriff's official said. Four deputies fired at the man at two locations along Poway Road. Pauline Repard and Lyndsay Winkley in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 8/18/16

Santa Rosa Residents Wonder Why Promote Deputy Who Shot 13-Year Old -- Dozens of people took to the streets in downtown Santa Rosa last week to protest the news that Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas had promoted Erick Gelhaus, the deputy who was not charged with any criminal wrongdoing after he shot and killed 13-year old Andy Lopez in 2013. Farida Jhabvala Romero KQED -- 8/18/16

Borenstein: Is BART tax only down payment? -- BART promises voters that if they pass a $3.5 billion bond and property tax increase on the November ballot, trains will run more frequently and reliably. But it's unclear when riders will see the improvements from Measure RR or how much more the district will need from taxpayers in the future. Daniel Borenstein in the East Bay Times -- 8/18/16

'We don't sit around saying 'woe is me.'' Napolitano prepares to fill sudden chancellor vacancies at UC Berkeley, UC Davis -- For months, University of California President Janet Napolitano had been hearing about problems with two of her chancellors, at UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/16

Politifact CA: Top California Democrat seizes on 9/11 omission by Donald Trump backer Rudy Giuliani -- California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton seized on a major gaffe this week by former New York City mayor and Donald Trump backer Rudy Giuliani. Chris Nichols Politifact CA -- 8/18/16

Study Projects 3 Million Uninsured Californians Next Year -- More than 100,000 people living in the Sacramento region may be uninsured next year, according to projections by UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Ja'Nel Johnson Capital Public Radio -- 8/18/16

Is Putin playing Trump like he did Berlusconi? -- U.S. officials see parallels between Putin's courtships of Trump and the former Italian leader. Michael Crowley Politco -- 8/18/16

Clinton campaign goes nuclear on health rumors -- Hillary Clinton’s campaign is pushing back even harder Thursday against allegations about her health amid multiple “deranged conspiracy theories,” as one top aide put it earlier in the week, as Donald Trump continues to stoke doubts about the Democratic nominee’s “mental and physical stamina.” Nick Gass Politico -- 8/18/16

Before Trump, Americans hadn't worried this much about nuclear weapons since the Cold War -- Gov. Jerry Brown, who has seen much to worry about in his five decades in public office, said recently that he had a particularly heavy concern: the nation’s obliviousness to how close it is to nuclear catastrophe. Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/18/16


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