Rough&Tumble California Policy and Politics

Updating . .

Deputies sue former high-ranking sheriff's official and former prosecutor, alleging vendetta -- Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies say they were framed for lying about a drug bust and that prosecutors knowingly withheld evidence that would have spared them a trial, lost wages and public humiliation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. Maya Lau in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

Pioneering media mogul and L.A. philanthropist Jerry Perenchio dies at age 86 -- Andrew Jerrold Perenchio, the man behind the curtain who deftly pulled the levers of power to create cultural defining media events, propel political candidates, collect masterpiece artworks and become one of the richest men in Los Angeles, has died. He was 86. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

GOP health bill would raise deductibles, lessen coverage and leave 23 million more uninsured, CBO says -- The Republican healthcare bill that passed the House earlier this month would nearly double the number of people in the U.S. without health insurance over the next decade, according to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Noam N. Levey in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

Xavier Becerra: The Golden State Warrior? -- State Attorney General Xavier Becerra is leading California’s increasingly tense challenge to the policies of Donald Trump’s administration. It’s a role that gives him high visibility — and headaches. Michael Warren Mott Capitol Weekly -- 5/24/17

California climate change program has struggled. Why did it suddenly rebound? -- California’s market-based program for fighting climate change had struggled badly over the past year. On Wednesday, it bounced back sharply. Industrial companies spent more than $1 billion in the latest state-run auction of carbon-pollution credits, state officials announced Wednesday. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/17

The Big One is going to happen, no matter how much you want to deny it, California scientists say -- Fear of earthquakes is part of life in California. But people experience this anxiety in different ways. For some, the fear prompts them to take steps to protect themselves: strapping down heavy furniture, securing kitchen cabinets and retrofitting homes and apartments. Rong-Gong Lin II in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

Oroville Dam update: Demolition of spillway begins -- More than three months after a near disaster forced the emergency evacuation of thousands of downstream residents, California officials announced Wednesday that permanent repairs have begun on the dam’s damaged flood control spillways. Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/17

Trump's 'fossil-fuel fetish' doesn't make economic sense, legislator says -- While leaders of the U.S. wind industry sounded a diplomatic tone Tuesday about dealing with the Trump administration, the keynote speaker at the industry’s biggest conference did not hold back. “President Trump’s fossil-fuel fetish, economically, does not make any sense,” California state Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) told a few hundred of the estimated 7,000 attendees at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) WindPower 2017 Conference and Exhibition at the Anaheim Convention Center. Rob Nikolewski in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/24/17

This California county will see its school population dwindle the most, state predicts -- Schools in the El Dorado County community of Georgetown thrived a decade ago, with close to 2,000 students enrolled in classes. Today, barely 1,250 students attend Georgetown schools – a number that will likely continue to fall. Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/17

Fox: End Run Around Spending Limit Likely Headed for the Courts -- The state’s nearly 40-year-old spending limit law is on the fast track to a date in court. While the state senate budget committee yesterday agreed with the governor’s framework for the budget, which excludes $22 billion from the spending limit, a number of lawyers have concerns or outright disagree. Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 5/24/17

San Diego DROP pensioners return for more city pay -- San Diego has brought back hundreds of retired city employees in recent years to receive part-time paychecks on top of their pensions — and it turns out the workers are often the same ones who took part in the much-maligned DROP program. Lauryn Schroeder in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/24/17

Trump official in charge of food stamps departs from Trump’s plan to gut the program -- Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is departing from the president’s plan to overhaul U.S. food aid, reaffirming on Wednesday that he still does not believe the food stamp system is “broken” or requires any fundamental change. Caitlin Dewey in the Washington Post$ -- 5/24/17

Report: Tesla factory suffers higher injury rate than average -- Tesla’s Fremont factory in recent years recorded far higher injury rates than the automotive industry’s average, according to a report released Wednesday by workplace safety group. David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/17

Bay Area home price reach record highs, but sales tumble -- For the first time ever, median prices for a previously owned single-family home in the Bay Area climbed to $800,000 — an all-time high — and eclipsed the prior record of $752,000 that was set in June 2016, the CoreLogic real estate information service stated in a new report about the sky-high residential realty sector in the nine-county region. George Avalos in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/24/17

Homeless ‘war zone’: Oakland officials under fire to solve crisis -- Magnitude of encampments, and the dangers that go with them, alarms activists. Tammerlin Drummond in the East Bay Times -- 5/24/17

San Francisco mayor ups money for homeless as new Navigation Center opens -- A long-anticipated Navigation Center opens Wednesday in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, one in a string of projects that Mayor Ed Lee is rolling out as he pushes for big investments to solve the homeless crisis. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/17

Here’s why your BART train is extra-crowded this week -- If your BART commute is taking longer and feels more crowded this week, it’s because the system is short 43 cars systemwide. That’s roughly four 10-car trains, each capable of holding up to 1,000 commuters. Matier & Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/17

Blame ‘Amazon Effect’ for proposed bump in San Francisco garbage bills -- The increase in cardboard and other forms of packaging — cellophane, polystyrene, clamshell containers, puffy plastic shipping pillows — is part of what’s driving Recology to seek a 14 percent hike in the city’s garbage rates in July, which already has approval from Public Works. Rachel Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/17

Lopez: ‘Does everything have to be a Starbucks?’ A quirky L.A. landmark fights to survive gentrification -- Nick Metropolis went to court Monday with $6,000 in his pocket and everything on the line. Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

Hoping to climb Yosemite's Half Dome? You'll have to wait until June, thanks to lingering snow -- Park officials have delayed installing the Half Dome cables until at least June 2 because of the heavy snowpack and other hazardous conditions on the trail. The cables were originally slated for installment Friday. Sarah Parvini in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

California Policy & Politics This Morning

Legislative lawyers suggest Gov. Jerry Brown’s interpretation of a long-standing state spending limit is wrong -- Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle raised concerns Tuesday that Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget plan relies on a faulty calculation of a spending limit imposed by voters in 1979. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

Tempers flare as troubled California tax board weighs audit reforms -- Tempers flared at a testy Tuesday meeting where elected members of a troubled state tax board began restricting their own powers while they braced for changes that may be forced on them by the governor and Legislature. Adam Ashton in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/17

Assembly Dems Lay Out Budget Priorities -- Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) says caucus priorities include more money for preschool, child care and after school programs. The proposal would also raise Medi-Cal provider rates and allow first-year community college students to attend classes tuition-free. Ben Adler Capital Public Radio -- 5/24/17

Walters: Will Legislature raise taxes by $200 billion for universal health care? -- The timing of Monday’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing was exquisite. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/17

California lawmakers move to take control of UC president’s budget -- California lawmakers are proposing a change to the state Constitution and a new budget measure that would help them wrest control of spending by University of California President Janet Napolitano’s office. Melody Gutierrez in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/17

California to pay about $1.3 billion for Medi-Cal expansion in first year of state contributions -- This year marks the first time states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act will have to pitch in to help fund their expansion of the program. Their share of the overall price tag compared with federal contributions is small – 5 percent of the cost to cover newly eligible enrollees – but that still equates to real money in the Golden State. Emily Bazar in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 5/24/17

With LA election certification on fast track, Valley district could soon have its caretaker -- Council President Herb Wesson is expected to wait until after election results are certified before taking steps to appoint a caretaker for a northeast San Fernando Valley district that has been vacant since September, a council aide said Tuesday. Elizabeth Chou in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 5/24/17

Fox: Dems Aplenty Running for Gov. What about the Reps? -- So many Democrats running for governor, you’ll soon near a scorecard to keep them straight. Is there room for a Republican in the governor’s race in Deep Blue California? Joel Fox Fox & Hounds -- 5/24/17

LA County Supervisors OK plan to hike food stamp enrollment -- Hoping to ease pressure on area food banks and secure $1.8 billion in federal funding, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to create a special unit to boost enrollment in the state’s CalFresh food stamp program. Susan Abram in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 5/24/17

Frustrated with campus discourse limits, California Republicans take on 'free speech zones' -- In the realm of political odd couples, state Sen. Jim Nielsen of Gerber and aspiring public interest lawyer Nicolas Tomas may be among the oddest. Tomas, a 26-year-old Democrat, is a promoter of the vegan lifestyle. Nielsen, a 72-year-old Republican, is a cattleman and dairyman by trade. Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

State Highway Damage From Winter Storms Tops $1B -- State officials say highway damage from storms has topped $1 billion for the first time in California history. Mark Dinger, a spokesman with the state Department of Transportation, said Tuesday that the assessment to state highways is preliminary. Associated Press -- 5/24/17

Massive landslide brings new level of isolation to Big Sur -- The magic of Big Sur lies in its seclusion, the twisty, mountain roads that carry residents — and visitors — to dense forests and dramatic cliffs high above the sea that seem worlds away. This year, though, the detachment has gotten to be a bit much. Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle$ Joseph Serna and Bettina Boxal in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

Cut off again, Big Sur visited only by helicopter -- For prices ranging from $4,300 to $13,500, the posh Post Ranch Inn will carry you and a friend to the resort by helicopter from the Del Monte Aviation’s tarmac at Monterey Regional Airport for a two- to four-night stay — meals and yoga included. Lisa M. Krieger in San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/24/17

Gov. Brown's 'environmental justice' tour of southeast L.A. shows growing influence of polluted neighborhoods -- Gov. Jerry Brown slipped quietly into southeast Los Angeles County on Tuesday to tour some of California’s most polluted neighborhoods and meet with activists who have criticized his administration for doing too little to protect the health of the people living there. Tony Barboza and Chris Megerian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

Al Sharpton Pushes State Lawmakers to Renew Focus on Police Reforms -- Rev. Al Sharpton met with California lawmakers on Tuesday and urged legislators to pick up their effort on police reforms, which civil rights leaders say have slipped this session. Guy Marzorati KQED -- 5/24/17

Tucked in Trump budget plan, a new bid to punish sanctuary cities -- President Trump proposed a dramatic expansion of the law at the center of the administration’s fight against sanctuary cities — changes that could enable the federal government to punish cities like San Francisco for shielding immigrants. Hamed Aleaziz in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/24/17

How Trump's proposed budget could affect San Diego County -- President Donald Trump’s full proposed budget for fiscal year 2018, released Tuesday, could have a major impact on some cornerstone segments of San Diego County. The item is in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/24/17

Economy, Employers, Jobs, Unions, Pensions

Uber admits it underpaid New York drivers tens of millions of dollars -- The ride-hailing company said each affected driver would get a refund of about $900, which includes interest. Uber did not give an exact figure on how many drivers it has in the city, but said it was in the tens of thousands. Tom McElroy Associated Press -- 5/24/17

Southern California Edison to offer $450 rebate for all-electric, plug-in hybrid vehicle owners -- The Rosemead-based investor-owned utility joined others in the state in passing along revenues they’ve received in the form of credits from the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program to customers using electricity as a low-carbon transportation fuel. Steve Scauzillo in the Los Angeles Daily News$ -- 5/24/17

San Diego city attorney raises concerns about SoccerCity proposal -- City Attorney Mara Elliott says the SoccerCity initiative doesn’t guarantee San Diego a professional soccer stadium or a river park, and could burden taxpayers with hefty costs for environmental clean-up of the Qualcomm Stadium site. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 5/24/17

Transit

Sluggish ridership prompts Metro to consider overhauling bus system -- Amid declining bus ridership, Metro is looking into overhauling and updating its transit network as a way to bring more people back to its system. While train ridership is up, the number of people using buses throughout the Metro system fell 18 percent in April, compared with the same month two years ago. Elizabeth Chou in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 5/24/17

Education

After raising tuition, Cal State trustees grapple with smaller budget increase in governor's latest proposal -- California State University’s Board of Trustees, which recently approved a controversial tuition hike, grappled Tuesday with Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget proposal, which takes away some additional funding on the grounds that the rise in tuition will cost the state more in aid to low-income students. Rosanna Xia in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

More And More Teachers Aren’t Fully Trained — And That Could Be A Good Thing -- To staff their classrooms for the 2015-2016 school year, districts in San Diego and Imperial counties hired more than 700 teachers who had not yet completed their training. That alarming statistic is the kind many use to illustrate just how severely the state needs teachers. Megan Burks KPBS -- 5/24/17

7 things you need to know about how Trump's budget would affect schools in California and nationwide -- President Trump’s budget proposal, released Tuesday, seeks to cut education funding by $9.2 billion overall. It would take away some federal support, such as money for the Special Olympics and a reading initiative, while promoting school vouchers and boosting dollars for charter schools. Joy Resmovits in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/24/17

California would lose $400 million in federal K-12 education funding under Trump budget -- Programs run by the U.S. Department of Education, which distributes funding for numerous programs to all states, would be cut by $9 billion under the Trump administration’s proposed federal budget for the fiscal year beginning in October. Mikhail Zinshteyn EdSource -- 5/24/17

Cannabis

Santa Rosa rejects ban on outdoor marijuana gardens for personal use -- The City Council on Tuesday soundly rejected an immediate temporary ban on growing pot outdoors for personal use as council members questioned whether enough safety or nuisance issues existed to warrant emergency restrictions on pot gardens in the city. Kevin McCallum in the Santa Rosa Press -- 5/24/17

POTUS 45

Brennan: Russia may have successfully recruited Trump campaign aides -- Former CIA Director John Brennan said on Tuesday that he had concerns that Russian officials may have successfully recruited aides from Donald Trump’s campaign to help in the Kremlin’s efforts to influence last year’s presidential election. Austin Wright Politico -- 5/24/17

President Trump’s ‘balanced’ budget relies on $2,062,000,000,000 in mystery money -- White House officials are boasting that President Trump's budget would balance federal finances in 10 years. Yet despite extreme reductions in spending on health care for the poor, food stamps, education, science and other basic government programs, Trump's staff could only balance the budget by claiming vague savings and unspecified sources of new revenue — in other words, with trillions of dollars in mystery money. Max Ehrenfreund in the Washington Post$ -- 5/24/17

-- Tuesday Updates

California takes many hits, large and small, in Trump’s 2018 budget proposal -- Some Central Valley farm spending would fall. Nutrition programs would shrink. Certain school grants would be handcuffed, University of California research would be curtailed and reimbursements ended for the state’s incarceration of law-breaking unauthorized immigrants. Michael Doyle and Sean Cockerham McClatchy DC -- 5/23/17

State lawmakers and advocates for the poor warn that Trump’s budget will hit hard for California's most vulnerable -- President Trump’s proposed budget would likely result in billions of dollars of cuts to vital health and human services programs in California, state Democratic lawmakers and advocates for the poor said on Tuesday. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/23/17

Conservative group runs ads thanking California GOP for health care vote -- A conservative advocacy group will run television ads thanking six California Republicans for voting for the GOP bill to roll back the Affordable Care Act. Sarah D. Wire in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/23/17

California’s stem cell agency confronts uncertain future -- C. Randal Mills, the 45-year-old CEO of California’s $3 billion stem cell research program, is a man who loves his milestones. David Jensen Capitol Weekly -- 5/23/17

NFL moves Super Bowl at Inglewood Stadium back to 2022 -- The delay of the opening of the Rams and Chargers new Inglewood stadium will also delay the Super Bowl’s return to Los Angeles. NFL owners on Tuesday voted to move L.A.’s Super Bowl hosting duties from 2021 to 2022. Los Angeles was awarded the 2021 Super Bowl last May after the Rams had been approved to relocate from St. Louis to Los Angeles in early 2016. Vincent Bonsignore in the Los Angeles Daily News -- 5/23/17

Keith Foster found guilty of conspiracy to distribute heroin, marijuana -- Keith Foster, who swore to uphold the law as a deputy chief of the Fresno Police Department but ended up tarnishing his badge to commit crimes, was found guilty Tuesday of federal drug-trafficking charges. Foster, 53, dropped his jaw when the verdict was announced in U.S. District Court in Fresno. Family members openly cried in the court. Pablo Lopez in the Fresno Bee -- 5/23/17

LAPD officer spared time behind bars in high-profile South L.A. assault case caught on video -- Richard Garcia, 36, quietly struck the deal with prosecutors last year, pleading no contest to a felony charge of assault under color of authority. Kate Mather in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/23/17

State senator to introduce a constitutional amendment to limit UC's 138-year-old autonomy -- The amendment suggested by state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa) would give the Legislature the power to directly fund the UC Office of the President, which is currently supported by campus fees. Such legislative control was recommended in a recent state audit, which found that central administrators in the office failed to disclose a $175 million surplus, did not adequately justify spending on presidential initiatives and paid unusually generous salaries. Teresa Watanabe in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/23/17

L.A. County median home price ties record high as housing market sizzles -- The median home price in Los Angeles County rose nearly 6% in April from a year earlier, hitting $550,000 and tying a record reached in summer 2007. Andrew Khouri in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/23/17

Examination of ballots cast in race for California Democratic Party leader begins in Sacramento -- Supporters of Kimberly Ellis, who lost her bid to lead the California Democratic Party by a razor-thin margin last weekend, started sifting through boxes of ballots at the state party headquarters in Sacramento on Tuesday to see if there were any voting irregularities. Phil Willon in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 5/23/17

Burned by winter heating bills? California Senate proposal offers relief -- A proposal to buffer Californians from unpredictable and sky-high energy costs to heat their homes in the winter is cruising through the state Legislature with bipartisan support, unanimously passing the state Senate this week. Katy Murphy in the San Jose Mercury$ -- 5/23/17

Democrats mum on whether Feinstein should run for re-election -- There are two questions that California Democrats whisper incessantly, yet no one can answer definitively. The first: Is Sen. Dianne Feinstein running for re-election next year? Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle$ -- 5/23/17

Trump the deal maker leaves Israel with no sign that a deal is in the making -- President Donald Trump wrapped up a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday without evidence of progress toward renewing talks between Israel and the Palestinians. While the president reiterated his desire to broker a peace deal, his visit produced no announcement on steps toward renewing negotiations. Joel Greenberg McClatchy DC -- 5/23/17