Sen. Kamala Harris’s 2020 policy agenda: $3 trillion tax plan, tax credits for renters, bail reform, Medicare for all
From WaPO's JEFF STEIN: "Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) will run for president proposing a nearly $3 trillion tax plan, billions in tax credits to low-income renters, a Medicare-for-all health-care system, and a reduction in cash bail for inmates charged with criminal offenses, her aides said."
"Harris announced her candidacy Monday."
"Aides said Harris’s platform will incorporate Sen. Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-for-all health-care proposal, while also pushing enormous tax relief intended to help low-income renters and boost incomes for working-class families."
'Women of color deserve a seat at the table:' Online reactions to Kamala Harris 2020 bid
Sacramento Bee's ANDREW SHEELER: "Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris on Monday declared that she was running for president, aiming to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020."
"The former California attorney general made her announcement from her alma mater, Howard University. Long rumored to be considering a run, Harris’ national profile grew in part to her prosecutorial questioning of then-Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh."
"Harris also announced her candidacy on Twitter."
READ MORE related to Harris 2020: How can California's Kamala Harris stand out in crowded 2020 Dem race? -- The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI; Harris was shaped by the crucible of SF politics -- LA Times's MICHAEL FINNEGAN; 11 photos that show Harris' childhood in Oakland and life before politics -- LA Times's MICHAEL SCHAUB
PG&E 's other big problem: Regulators detail gas record falsification claims
The Chronicle's J.D. MORRIS/KIMBERLY VELKEROV: "About a decade ago, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. allowed a dangerous trend to take hold: Its workers repeatedly filed false records about the company’s response to excavators who were trying to avoid striking underground pipelines, regulators say."
"California law gives PG&E two days to answer requests to locate and mark its natural gas pipelines, a requirement designed to prevent catastrophic accidents. If the utility can’t mark the lines in 48 hours, it’s supposed to work out a different timeline with the excavator, or else the request becomes a “late ticket."
"But as early as 2009, regulators say PG&E employees — under pressure from their bosses — started misrepresenting internally how quickly they responded. The inaccurate records numbered in the tens of thousands over a later five-year period, an investigation from staff at the California Public Utilities Commission found."
READ MORE related to Energy & Environment: What PG&E bankruptcy could mean for fire prevention efforts -- The Chronicle's PETER FIMRITE
Berkeley proposal would force restaurants to charge 25 cents for disposable cups
Sacramento Bee's JARED GILMOUR: "Customers who want to leave a cafe in Berkeley, California, with a drink in hand may soon have to bring their own cups from home — or pay a mandatory 25-cent tax for a disposable cup."
"Berkeley’s city council is set to vote Tuesday on the Disposable Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance, which would force restaurants, cafes and other drink sellers to charge customers 25 cents for each disposable beverage cup they need, according to a news release from the advocacy group Break Free From Plastic, which supports the proposal."
"The idea that we can just use stuff and recycle it and it’ll be rosy on the other end is just not the reality,” Councilwoman Sophie Hahn said last year as she rolled out the proposal, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “We simply have to change our relationship with disposable food ware and ultimately all disposable items."
Supervisor Matt Haney wants SF to help out federal workers who aren't getting paid
The Chroniccle's TRISHA THADANI/DOMINIC FRACASSA: "Supervisor Matt Haney is calling on San Francisco to help federal workers affected by the government shutdown by offering free public transportation, deferred payments on utilities and parking tickets, and emergency loan assistance."
"It’s a long shot for Haney, though, because as a district supervisor, his authority to force largely autonomous city agencies like the Municipal Transportation Agency and the Public Utilities Commission to offer such assistance is limited. Both the Board of Supervisors and the mayor would have to agree to fund the aid that Haney’s calling for with city money."
"Still, the recently inaugurated supervisor puts himself in the middle of the country’s biggest issue by calling for a hearing and introducing a resolution — two actions that are mostly symbolic — to assess the impact of the shutdown on federal employees living in San Francisco, and urge the mayor’s office and city agencies to “immediately provide assistance to impacted federal employees."
Chico's mass overdose highlights severe new phase of opioid epidemic
The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY: "The first victim was outside the house, sprawled on a patio beside the garage. His friends were already performing CPR when Chico police got to the scene."
"The others are inside, they told police."
"Four more victims were in the garage, a converted space with couches and coffee tables. One was in the bathroom, having collapsed while taking a shower. Six others were scattered around the house in various stages of intoxication. Drugs and alcohol and the tools to ingest them were everywhere."
Under scrutiny after boy's death, Guiding Hands School announces closure this week
Sacramento Bee's SAWSAN MORRAR: "Guiding Hands School, the school under investigation over actions surrounding the death of 13-year-old Max Benson, announced it will close its doors forever Friday. The announcement was made Monday evening through a statement released by the school’s attorney, Cynthia Lawrence."
"The school’s decision would allow another non-public school to take over El Dorado Hills facility and property, according to the school’s statement. The new school would be able to hire former staffers. The move would also allow Guiding Hands’ students to return. "
"The school came into the spotlight and was under investigation following the Nov. 28 death of Max, who died after being placed in a face-down restraint by school staff in November. The El Dorado Hills school incident sparked an investigation by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department as well as the California Department of Education."
READ MORE related to Education: Cal State, buyoed by Newsom's generous budget proposal, to boost enrollment -- LA Times's TERESA WATANABE; In the LA teachers' strike, teaching families picket and pinch pennies -- LA Times's SONALI KOHLI; LAUSD teachers will stay off the job Tuesday -- LA Times's HOWARD BLUME/SONALI KOHLI
Shutdown of SF's Transbay Transit Center saves half-million dollars a month
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "The shutdown of the broken Transbay Transit Center — nearly four months and counting — has delayed bus-riding commuters, closed one of the few parks in a crowded and growing neighborhood, and forced engineers and designers to scramble to reopen the city’s newest landmark."
"But the closure also has had one unexpected benefit: Shuttered operations have allowed the Transbay Joint Powers Authority to save about $550,000 each month in reduced operating costs."
"The three-block-long transit hub, which is wrapped in a lacy white steel shroud and features a rooftop park and retail center, took eight years to build, cost $2.2 billion and was heralded as “the Grand Central Station of the West Coast.” Just six weeks passed before the discovery of fractures in two critical steel girders forced its immediate evacuation and ongoing shutdown."
Thousands march through Sacramento streets to honor MLK, Jr.
Sacramento Bee's ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS/THERESA CLIFT: "It seemed inevitable the two Martin Luther King Jr. Day marches would collide."
"On Monday, when Black Lives Matter-Sacramento protesters began passing by the Sacramento Convention Center, where a larger, city- and law enforcement-sponsored march had just concluded, Sam Starks wasn’t certain how to proceed."
"Many in the growing crowd called for BLM-Sacramento founder Tanya Faison to take center stage on the flatbed truck where Starks, executive director of Sacramento MLK365, which organized the annual March for the Dream, stood, mic in hand."
READ MORE related to MLK Day: SF Mayor Breed, Rep. Pelosi join hundreds at MLK Day march -- The Chronicle's ASHLEY MCBRIDE; MLK Day activities underscore the contrast between Trump and 2020 Democrats -- LA Times's JANET HOOK/ELI STOKOLS
Trump rips San Francisco's 'disgusting' streets, and SF strikes back
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "A battle over a partial federal shutdown veered into a debate about San Francisco’s street-cleaning efforts Sunday when an offhand jab by President Donald Trump on Twitter sparked an outpouring of online mockery."
"In a flurry of early-morning Twitter posts on Sunday, Trump attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., over the shutdown involving his demand for $5.7 billion to fund a border wall with Mexico."
"Nancy Pelosi has behaved so irrationally & has gone so far to the left that she has now officially become a Radical Democrat,” reads one post by the president. “She is so petrified of the ‘lefties’ in her party that she has lost control...And by the way, clean up the streets in San Francisco, they are disgusting!"
READ MORE related to POTUS45: Giuliani walks back startling claims on talk about Trump's Moscow tower plan -- WaPo's SEUNG MIN KIM; Trump voters now blame him for the government shutdown -- WaPo's MATT VISER
Shutdown in US, slowing growth in China fuel concerns over global economy
WaPo's HEATHER LONG/ANNA FIFIELD: "Fears are rising about the state of the world’s biggest economies, with China posting its worst annual growth in decades and the United States injecting more uncertainty with tariffs and a lengthy government shutdown."
"China reported Monday that its economy expanded by 6.6 percent last year — a figure that would be good for many countries but represents the slowest growth for China in 28 years. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its expectations for the global economy, highlighting sharp declines in Europe and warning that the risks of a major slowdown have increased."
"The pair of announcements came as top executives and world leaders gathered in this ritzy ski resort town for the annual World Economic Forum. In contrast to a year ago — when President Trump and other world leaders talked about global prosperity — this year attendees expressed worry that the United States was undermining its own economy, and the rest of the world’s, via a trade war and the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history."
