What a day for California – the Golden State Warriors bring home a title for the first time in 40 years AND we have agreement on a budget. Legislative leaders bowed to the Governor, pruning nearly $700 million in spending from the budget proposed yesterday. David Siders, Christopher Cadelago and Jeremy White have the story at the Sacramento Bee:
“The accord includes slightly more spending on education and social service programs than Brown originally proposed – but significantly less than Democratic lawmakers sought.
“In announcing the agreement, Brown said the deal preserves his general fund revenue forecast and overall spending levels, a major concession by legislative leaders to the fourth-term governor. Total general fund spending of $115.4 billion was only $61 million more than Brown originally proposed, not the $749 million more that legislative Democrats wanted. The total budget, including all funds, was set at $167.6 billion.
“Brown also announced that he is calling two special sessions – one to address health care, the other to discuss funding road and other infrastructure repairs.”
The approved budget also includes funding for healthcare for children who are in the country illegally. Chris Megerian and Melanie Mason at LAT:
“An estimated 170,000 immigrants 18 and younger could qualify, marking another victory for advocates and lawmakers who have worked to make the state more welcoming to unauthorized residents.
“’With this budget, we’re saying that immigrants matter, irrespective of who you are or where you’re from,’ said state Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).
“Democratic leaders also won more money for state-funded child care, preschool and dental care as well as a boost for public universities. But they gave up other spending they wanted and acceded to Brown's revenue projection, which was about $3 billion lower than theirs.”
A state audit found that Medi-Cal patients may not have adequate access to doctors. Soumya Karlamangla at the Los Angeles Times:
“Prompted by complaints… the California state auditor last year began evaluating how the state oversees much of its health program for low-income residents. The resulting audit released Tuesday found that provider directories were riddled with errors and that the state Department of Health Care Services hadn’t properly regulated plans to guarantee patients adequate access to doctors.”
And speaking of audits, the Assembly has approved urgent legislation requiring reporting on the state’s troubled BreEZe computer system.
“The first report, which would be due in October, would have to explain how Consumer Affairs plans to move ahead with the project, whether the benefits justify the costs and whether it will make operations more efficient.
“Assembly Bill 507 is a response to harsh news reports and a state audit that said the Consumer Affairs wasn’t ready when it launched BreEZe in 2013.
Rep. Mike Honda has announced that he will seek a ninth term in congress, setting up a rematch with Ro Khanna. Josh Richman, San Jose Mercury News:
“Honda, D-San Jose, said he's the only candidate with a record of standing up for the entire valley, from high-skilled tech workers to people striving to earn a living wage and make ends meet.
"’I've got a lot more things to do. I've got a lot more projects I want to see to completion,’ Honda said Tuesday. ‘It's very engaging and energetic. I'm having fun, and I want to continue representing the people of Silicon Valley.’
“Khanna, 38, lost to the 73-year-old Honda last year by 3.6 percentage points after a nationally watched and often acrimonious campaign that pitted young against old and labor against business.”
San Francisco may have the Golden Gate, the waterfront, the Giants – but Sacramento has it all over SF in one regard: concealed weapons permits. Matt Drange, Center for Investigative Reporting:
“In California, a state with some of the strictest gun laws in the country, Sacramento County has become an oasis for gun owners wanting to carry their weapons in public. Thousands of residents have been issued concealed carry permits by the sheriff, Scott Jones, since he took office four years ago.
“During his campaign, Jones promised to loosen restrictions on issuing permits to carry concealed weapons. And he followed through. Gun owners now boast on online message boards that he hands out permits ‘like candy.’”
And from our “say it ain’t so” file: the wartime home of Marilyn Monroe was razed – three days before a hearing to consider landmark status. Dana Bartholomew, Los Angeles Daily News:
“I can’t even breathe. My neighbors and I are in mourning,” said Jennifer Getz, of Valley Village, who had nominated the so-called Dougherty House for designation as a city Historic-Cultural Monument. “It’s one of the biggest losses in the San Fernando Valley….
“A case for preserving a plain pair of single-story houses — the front one built during World War II, the rear thought to have been an early-century gabled farm house where Monroe then lived — was to have been heard Thursday by the Cultural Heritage Commission.
“But then neighbors discovered a heavy backhoe Monday ripping down both houses at 5258 Hermitage Ave. The owner, Joe Salem of Hermitage Enterprises LLC, could not be reached for comment. City officials said he’d sought a demolition permit last year to build condos.
“It was there that 17-year-old housewife Norma Jean Dougherty moved in with her in-laws in April 1944 while her sailor husband James was far away at sea.
“While at her wartime job inspecting parachutes, Dougherty was picked to model for morale-boosting military magazines by a photographer sent by U.S. Army Capt. Ronald Reagan. Her career took off, and she became an actress.
“She moved out of the North Hollywood area house in the summer of 1945, would soon divorce Dougherty and went on to become the iconic Marilyn Monroe.”