Voters are set to decide on two things for this November ballot: a strengthened rainy day fund and MICRA.
Fenit Nirappil reports for the Associated Press: “Lawmakers voted 75-0 in the Assembly and 36-0 in the Senate to replace a rainy day fund measure already scheduled to go before voters this fall. The proposed constitutional amendment required a two-thirds vote in both houses and easily surpassed that threshold.”
“It does not require action by Gov. Jerry Brown, who negotiated the deal with legislative leaders of both parties.”
John Howard reports in Capitol Weekly: “The initiative, backed by Consumer Watchdog, would increase the cap to account for inflation. The original cap, part of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, or MICRA, has not been changed since it was approved in 1975, when it was signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. In today’s dollars, the cap would be about $1.06 million, according to westegg.com.”
Gov. Jerry Brown thinks UC should follow Stanford’s lead and consider disinvesting from the coal industry.
Larry Gordon reports for the Los Angeles Times: “On Thursday, Brown, who is a regent and attended the board’s meeting in Sacramento, said he would be open “to some targeted disinvestment” that would focus on just coal instead of the entire fossil fuel industry. “There could be something there,” he said.”
“Regents said they are seeking a report about various options and impacts of such divestments by July and that they might develop a new policy in the fall.’
Former Assembly Speaker and Mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown changes his perspective on internet poker.
From Capitol Weekly: ““I was once on the wrong side of this issue – speaking for and supporting internet poker – but I have since learned about some of the tactics used by online gaming companies to lure young people,” Brown wrote in an open letter released Thursday, referring to the use of cartoon characters in promotional materials and the young’s access to computers.’
The two GOP chief gubernatorial candidates clashed in their only scheduled debate before the June primary.
David Sider reports in the Sacramento Bee: “Republican Neel Kashkari tore into rival Tim Donnelly on Thursday, saying one reason many prominent Republicans are endorsing his candidacy for governor is because they fear Donnelly's impact on the party.”
“Donnelly, in the only scheduled debate of the campaign, responded by asserting his front-runner status among Republicans, and suggesting Kashkari's endorsers are out of touch.”
Police in Escondido arrested two individuals suspected of trying to start fires as northern San Diego continues to be consumed by wildfires.
Robert J. Lopez, Jill Cowan, and Veronica Rocha report in the Los Angeles Times: “Investigators were trying to determine whether the pair had any involvement with the brush fires that have scorched more than 10,000 acres in the county, according to a dispatcher with the
