Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton gave a shout out to California’s paid family leave policy (knocking GOP candidate Carly Fiorina in the process) at last night’s debate of Democratic presidential candidates. The former Secretary of State did well according to reviews, as did Vermont senator Bernie Sanders – the others, not so much. Josh Richman reported from a Bay Area debate-watching party, and former Capitol Weekly/Sacramento Bee/LA Times reporter Shane Goldmacher has the national view on the debate at Politico.
In Sacramento, Mayor Kevin Johnson found himself facing calls for his resignation from the Democratic Party of Sacramento County yesterday, following renewed attention to claims that Johnson molested a teenage girl when he was a player with the Phoenix Suns. Ryan Lillis, Sacramento Bee:
“Kerri Asbury, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, told The Sacramento Bee on Tuesday she thinks Johnson should resign so that ‘the focus returns to the city’s needs and not more reports of impropriety.’
“Asbury said the party’s executive board has not taken a formal position on Johnson’s future and likely won’t until at least its Nov. 12 meeting. However, after speaking to other members of the party’s leadership, she said, ‘If I were putting down money on which way the committee would go, I would bet on a call for resignation.’
“’At a minimum, I think he needs to not seek re-election,’ Asbury said. ‘I feel the integrity of the mayor’s office has been broken.’”
A bipartisan coalition led by former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio have introduced two pension initiatives aimed at curbing state and local government spending on retirement benefits. Ed Mendel:
“By filing two initiatives, the group hopes to get at least one acceptable ballot summary from Attorney General Kamala Harris, a U.S. Senate candidate said by the reformers to be an ally of public employee unions opposed to their measures.
“The reformers need a ballot summary that polls well enough to attract major campaign donors. DeMaio has estimated that $2.5 million to $3.5 million will be needed to gather the voter signatures required (585,407) to place a state constitutional amendment on the November 2016 ballot.”
California passed plenty of landmark legislation in 2015 – some say the new laws will be national trendsetters. Juliet Williams, AP:
“California ends its legislative season having enacted some of the country's most aggressive social policies: Laws requiring student vaccinations, granting terminally ill people the right to take life-ending medications, and mandating equal pay for women were among dozens approved…
"’Both the vaccine bill and the right-to-die legislation will be seriously looked at by other states,’ said Sherry Bebitch-Jeffe, senior political science fellow at the University of Southern California. ‘If it can pass here and it is perceived to work here, I think the proponents have a big positive jolt out of the victory in California.’"
Speaking of landmark legislation, the Orange County Register ran a list of 10 bills that will change life in California.
But what about the bills that didn’t pass gubernatorial muster? Governor Brown vetoed 133 bills this year – many of which had passed the legislature with 2/3 majority votes, enough to override a governor’s veto. The Sacramento Bee’s Jim Miller says that would be a long shot.
“More than 100 of the 133 bills Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed this year cleared the Legislature with bipartisan super-majority support. That also happens to be the threshold needed for a gubernatorial veto override, should lawmakers so desire.
“They probably don’t.
“’There’s going to be no veto overrides,’ Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, said after a meeting with The Bee Editorial Board on Monday. The Legislature has other priorities, he said, such as the special sessions on transportation and healthcare…
“During the past century, the California governor who had his will reversed by the Legislature most often was Republican Gov. James “Sunny Jim” Rohlf, who had 17 of his vetoes overturned by the Republican-controlled Legislature at the time, according to Alex Vassar’s One California Project.”
Only last week, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy appeared to be a shoe-in for Speaker. Oh, how things can change. Chuck McFadden looks at the Bakersfield Republican’s options for Capitol Weekly:
“For now, California’s most powerful Republican stays as House majority leader. But rumors abound in California. Does he run for governor in 2018? Does he become a lobbyist? Does he leave Congress next year?
“It became apparent that the moderate McCarthy was headed for trouble when members of the conservative bloc of about 40 House Republicans began leaking complaints that McCarthy was not sufficiently conservative and would not be an effective firewall against the schemes of President Barack Obama. House conservatives have also mounted a campaign to weaken the powers of the speaker, talking about “bottom up” governance.
“Ironically, many of those same ultraconservatives were inspired by the Tea Party rhetoric of McCarthy, former GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Rep. Paul Ryan in “Young Guns,” a 2010 book they authored to extol the evils of Democrats and the failure of get-along, go-along Republicans. In the end, they decided McCarthy and others in the GOP leadership were selling them out.”
And, finally, a possible new clue in one of the great mysteries of California crime: what happened to the three men who escaped Alcatraz in 1962 and were never (officially) seen again?
“A new photo has surfaced that allegedly proves Alcatraz inmates John and Clarence Anglin didn't die during their infamous 1962 escape and actually survived--but the lone official investigator still assigned to this case isn't convinced.
"’I can't say yes or no on it,’ U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke, based in Oakland, said in an interview. ‘I've seen the picture. I'm doing analysis on the photo as we speak and having the FBI look at it. The important thing is to not draw any conclusions as it hasn't been vetted through regular investigative channels….’
“..The Anglins and Morris spent two years secretly planning their elaborate scheme to break free from the super-max prison that involved tucking dummy heads made from plaster and real human hair into their beds before squeezing through holes they spent months digging with spoons and butter knives. They clambered up a drainpipe and down a kitchen vent and climbed over two fences with barbed wire. From the "inescapable" island's shore, they set off across San Francisco Bay on an inflatable raft made from stolen rain coats….”
“But now relatives of the escapees who supposedly dodged FBI probes are stepping forward with their family secrets for the first time. The Anglin brothers' nephews Ken Widner, 54 and David Widner, 48, have handed over to authorities the image that allegedly shows John and Clarence living in Brazil in 1975.”