After nearly a century of embattlement, California's tax board, the Board of Equalization, is being gutted.
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "California lawmakers on Thursday voted to gut a unique and embattled state agency that both collects taxes and allows elected representatives to settle disputes from taxpayers."
"The Legislature on Thursday voted to strip the Board of Equalization of almost all of its power and to replace it with two new departments."
"One of them, a new Department of Tax and Fee Administration, is expected to be up and running by July 1. It’ll take over the Board of Equalization’s responsibility to manage dozens of tax and fee programs, such as tobacco taxes, cannabis taxes and sales taxes."
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A bill-introduction limit boost for Assembly lawmakers means more bills being pushed through, but how will the influx of legislation affect lawmakers' abilities to conform to the disclosure rules of Proposition 54?
Capitol Weekly's ANNA FRAZIER: "A boost in the bill-introduction limit for members of the Assembly could allow up to 800 new pieces of legislation by the end of 2018."
"But a question arises: Will the crush of new bills, which likely would push the Assembly’s total above 3,000 per session, make it harder to meet the provisions of Proposition 54, which requires the final version of each bill to be in print at least 72 hours before final action?"
"More bills mean less time to devote to each measure and potential violations of Proposition 54 — something that’s already happened in the Assembly, according to Proposition 54’s supporters."
Rep. Steve Scalise is still in critical condition with a prognosis of improvement after a thwarted assassination attempt at a GOP congressional baseball practice game yesterday left him severely wounded with a large caliber gunshot wound to the hip.
McClatchy's TERESA WELSH/GREG HADLEY: "Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican shot Wednesday during congressional baseball practice, remains in critical condition “but has improved in the last 24 hours,” MedStar Washington Hospital announced Thursday."
"Scalise underwent a third procedure and second surgery for his gunshot wound Thursday. According to the hospital, he sustained a single shot to his left hip, with the bullet traveling across his pelvis causing bone fractures, internal organ injury and severe bleeding."
"On Wednesday, he underwent immediate surgery after the incident and then an additional procedure to stop bleeding. The hospital said he would require additional operations and said he remained in critical condition as of Wednesday evening."
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The veil of secrecy cloaking the Senate's Obamacare repeal has leaders in both parties biting their nails.
NYT's THOMAS KAPLAN/ROBERT PEAR: "As they draft legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Senate Republican leaders are aiming to transform large sections of the U.S. health care system without a single hearing on their bill and without a formal, open drafting session."
"That has created an air of distrust and concern – on and off Capitol Hill, with Democrats but also with Republicans."
"I’ve said from Day 1, and I’ll say it again,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. “The process is better if you do it in public, and that people get buy-in along the way and understand what’s going on. Obviously, that’s not the route that is being taken."
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It appears that the Trump administration may be backing down from a legal fight with California over its imposition of strict air quality regulations.
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER: "California’s air pollution standards are the toughest in the nation, for a reason: More Californians breathe dirty air than people elsewhere in the country."
"Now the Trump administration appears to be backing away – at least for now – from a legal fight over California’s right to impose stricter rules on air quality."
"Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Thursday his agency isn’t reviewing the waiver that has given California that right since the federal Clean Air Act was passed in 1970."
READ MORE related to Environment: How Trump's EPA chief got caught up in farm fight in Sacramento -- Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/RYAN SABALOW
The Trump administration is canceling an Obama-era protection program aimed at shielding the immigrant parents of natural born children from deportation.
AP: "Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly formally revoked a policy memo that created the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program. The revocation came on the fifth anniversary of another effort that has protected hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation."
"The program to protect parents was announced by President Obama in November 2014 but was never fully launched. It was intended to keep the immigrant parents safe from deportation and provide them with a renewable work permit good for two years, but it was blocked by a federal judge in Texas after 26 states filed suit against the federal government and challenged the effort's legality."
"Republicans decried the effort as “backdoor amnesty” and argued that Obama overstepped his authority by protecting a specific class of immigrants living in the United States illegally."
This week's gun violence continues unabated after a gunman opened fire with an automatic rifle at police in Los Angeles Thursday night, prompting a massive manhunt that has not yet led to any arrests.
LA Times' LEILA MILLER/MATT HAMILTON: "A man armed with a rifle fired several rounds toward Los Angeles police officers Thursday night near a park in South Los Angeles, and police returned fire at the gunman."
"It’s unclear if the shooter was struck by police gunshots. He fled the area, prompting a massive search that was expected to continue late into the night."
"Officers in the area reported they were fired upon about 7 p.m. at San Pedro and 49th streets, on the western edge of the South Park Recreation Center, said Officer Tony Im, an LAPD spokesman."
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