SB 277, the controversial bill that would mandate vaccinations for most schoolchildren will head for a Senate vote as early as Thursday. Alexei Koseff at the freshly-redesigned Sacramento Bee:
“California’s controversial proposal to eliminate the personal and religious belief exemptions for vaccinations could come up for a vote in the Senate as early as Thursday after amendments were quietly made to the bill last week.
“Senate Bill 277 no longer includes a provision that would require schools to notify parents of their immunization rates, removing the financial costs associated with the legislation and allowing it to skip the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, said he amended SB 277 so that his goal of raising vaccination rates ‘wouldn’t get entangled in other issues.’
“’This bill now is really about abolishing the’ personal belief exemption, Pan said. ‘We don’t want to get distracted by a discussion’ about how schools would notify parents or what it would cost.”
GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul spoke in San Francisco yesterday, defending his opposition to net neutrality to a crowd of tech industry insiders. Carla Marinucci at SFGate:
“’The marketplace will charge more for something that is faster,’ he said, and trying to regulate will ‘ultimately lead to problems, like when they started to control the price of bread in Russia — you get no bread.’
“…The talk took place at the “Disrupting Democracy” Forum sponsored jointly by Lincoln Labs and Brigade, and held at the StartUpHouse, a South of Market incubator where the Paul campaign will have shared office space with tech entrepreneurs.”
After years of budget cuts, education funding is poised for a comeback – a big one. Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times:
“[In] an incredible reversal of fortune that the Capitol is now awash in what one lawmaker described as "98 envy," a reference to Proposition 98, the decades-old constitutional amendment that guarantees schools a major slice of state revenue.
“As Gov. Jerry Brown prepares to release his updated budget proposal Thursday, the funding formula is expected to direct billions of dollars in unexpected revenue to schools and community colleges.”
Google says its self-driving cars have been involved in 11 collisions since testing began six years ago. What, are they trying for Carol Migden’s record?
Justin Pritchard at AP: “The company released the number after The Associated Press reported that Google had notified California of three collisions involving its self-driving cars since September, when reporting all accidents became a legal requirement as part of the permits for the tests on public roads.
“The director of Google's self-driving car project wrote in a web post that all 11 accidents were minor — ‘light damage, no injuries’ — and happened over 1.7 million miles of testing, including nearly 1 million miles in self-driving mode.
"’Not once was the self-driving car the cause of the accident,’ wrote Google's Chris Urmson. …Google has not made public any records, so both enthusiasts and critics of the emerging technology have only the company's word on what happened.”
The head of the Bay Bridge’s oversight panel said that saltwater intrusion and anchor-rod failures could be “game changers.” Jaxon Van DerBeken at SFGate:
“The head of the panel overseeing the new Bay Bridge eastern span acknowledged Monday that revelations of possible saltwater flooding at the base of the landmark tower and anchor-rod failure ‘are game changers,’ as he and his colleagues approved spending up to $4 million in toll payers’ money to find out how bad the problems are.
“’We need to get to the bottom of the situation at the tower — if we’ve got problems, we need to fix them,’ said Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and chairman of the three-member bridge oversight panel that also includes the heads of Caltrans and the state Transportation Commission.”
The California Citizens Compensation Commission yesterday approved raises for Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers. (Cue candidates claiming that they won’t accept the raise in 3… 2… 1…)
“Citing the post-recession boom in tax revenue, the panel that establishes state government politician salaries unanimously agreed to the 3 percent increases beginning Dec. 1. The California Citizens Compensation Commission on Monday also moved to restore previous cuts to the state’s contribution toward monthly health and dental premiums.
“The raises will boost Brown’s annual salary by $5,324, to $182,791, while the pay for rank-and-file lawmakers will climb by $2,915 to $100,112, although that doesn’t include roughly $33,000 in annual tax-free per diem payments.”
The Assembly advanced two gender-equity bills yesterday, both authored by San Diego Dem Lorena Gonzalez. Chris Nichols has the story at U-T San Diego:
“Under AB 202, employers including the National Football League would be required to provide professional cheerleaders with the same rights and benefits as other employees.
“The other measure, AB 305, would prohibit the state’s worker’s compensation system from discounting a female worker’s claim based on conditions that predominantly affect women, including pregnancy, breast cancer, menopause, osteoporosis or a psychiatric disability related to those diseases.”
Sure, their marriage may seem like an extended Jerry Springer episode, but Bill and Nadia Lockyer have their happy days, too. Matier & Ross, SFGate:
“Former state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and his wife, Nadia — whose tawdry sex and drug scandal cost her her job as an Alameda County supervisor and nearly ended their marriage — are expecting their second child.
“Nadia Lockyer, 43, made the announcement on her Facebook page Sunday — and now Bill has confirmed the happy news to us.
“’This Mother’s Day is beyond special — we are pregnant!’ Nadia Lockyer wrote. ‘Yes, the Lockyers are expecting to give another beautiful gift to this world. Love and blessings to all the glorious mothers out there — Thank You for making the world a better place through your mother love…’”
The Political Director for Rand Paul’s New Hampshire campaign found a novel way of showing his displeasure for a Democratic tracker yesterday- licking the man’s camera lens. From The Hill:
“The progressive American Bridge PAC tweeted out a video of David Chesley, Paul's political director for New Hampshire, licking their tracker's camera lens during a town hall in Londonderry, N.H., and the video quickly went viral.
“Playing off New Hampshire's state motto of ‘live free or die,’ the group joked that Chesley ‘has a new slogan for the state: Lick Free or Die.’"