California faces 'jaw dropping' unemployment, requiring more federal loans, Newsom says
LA Times's PATRICK MCGREEVY: "Gov. Gavin Newsom says that unemployment in California amid the COVID-19 pandemic has far exceeded what it was during the peak of the Great Recession, with 4.7 million people filing for jobless benefits, requiring the state to borrow billions of dollars more from the federal government to cover claims.
At a news conference Thursday to present a revised state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, Newsom said the state will need $43.8 billion to cover unemployment claims in the new year, a 650% increase over what was originally proposed.
The state will have to borrow much of that money from a federal trust fund that helps states cover jobless benefits in times of recession."
Newsom's new $203.3B budget cuts school funding, spends reserves
Sac Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG/ADAM ASHTON/HANNAH WILEY: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s updated $203.3 billion budget proposal would cut school funding, cancel a planned boost in public pensions spending and draw down reserves to make up for a projected $54.3 billion budget deficit brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
The plan, unveiled Thursday, reflects a sudden recession spurred by global efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In California, about 4.5 million people have filed for unemployment since mid-March, when Newsom issued a stay-at-home order that shut down much of the state’s economy.
His office projects unemployment could peak at nearly 25 percent, roughly double the peak during the Great Recession."
READ MORE related to Budget Woes: Here's what Newsom's new budget means for you, from health care to schools -- Sac Bee's ANDREW SHEELER
New budget slashes funds for retrofitting homes in wildfire zones
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER: "The Camp Fire destroyed most of the town of Paradise in 2018 but largely spared one group of homes — the newer structures built to California’s ultra-strict building code.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s original budget proposal included $101 million to help retrofit older homes in the state’s high-risk wildfire zones, adding fire-resistant roofs, siding and other features.
The coronavirus pandemic has killed that plan for now. Newsom withdrew the funding in the revised budget he unveiled Thursday as he tries to conquer a deficit estimated at $54 billion."
Appeals panel says California can enforce ammo background check
The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO: "A federal appeals court allowed California to enforce its voter-approved requirement of background checks for purchasers of ammunition on Thursday and said the state was likely to win reversal of a judge’s ruling that the law violated the constitutional right to bear arms.
The checks, similar to those required nationally for firearms bought from a licensed dealer, were part of Proposition 63, a gun-control initiative sponsored by then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and approved by 63% of the voters in 2016. It did not take effect until last summer, and was promptly challenged by the California Rifle & Pistol Association, an affiliate of the National Rifle Association..
In a preliminary injunction order April 23, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego said, “Criminals, tyrants, and terrorists don’t do background checks. The background check experiment defies common sense while unduly and severely burdening the Second Amendment rights of every responsible, gun-owning citizen desiring to lawfully buy ammunition."
Contagious and deadly rabbit disease found in California for first time, officials say
Sac Bee's MOLLY SULLIVAN: "A highly contagious disease that can be lethal to domestic and wild rabbits was detected in California for the first time earlier this month, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease was diagnosed in a black-tailed jack rabbit carcass found in Palm Springs.
The disease “is not related to coronavirus; it is a calicivirus that does not affect humans or domestic animals other than rabbits,” Fish and Wildlife said in a news release. “At this time, no other California rabbit populations are known to be infected, but the disease has spread quickly in other states..."
Battle over reopenings across the US is increasingly partisan and bitter
LA Times's MELISSA ETEHAD: "Urged on by President Trump, Republican officials in several battleground states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, are ramping up pressure on Democratic governors to move faster on reopening their economies, despite experts’ warnings of a surge in infections and deaths.
The mounting pressure comes as the number of jobless Americans continues to grow across the nation. Nearly 3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to new figures released Thursday by the Labor Department, bringing the total number of claims to 36 million since the economic shutdowns in response to the coronavirus outbreak began.
Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, continues to climb. More than 85,000 people in the U.S. have died of COVID-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. And more than 1.4 million people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the university reports."
FBI questioned Feinstein over stock sales amid coronavirus pandemic, but 'no follow up'
Sac Bee's KATE IRBY: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein was questioned by federal law enforcement in April concerning some stock trades made by her husband in January, as senators were receiving warnings about the impact of the novel coronavirus.
The senior California senator reported some stock sales of a biotech company on Jan. 31, when COVID-19 was waging in China and other countries but had not yet hit the United States or its economy in force. Her office said at the time that her husband made the sales and that her assets have been in a blind trust since she first came to the Senate in 1992.
She was one of four senators who received media coverage over the stock sales at the time, including Sens. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, Kelly Loeffler, R-Georgia, and James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma."
SF grocery prices have jumped: How they compare with LA, nation amid coronavirus pandemic
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "During the coronavirus pandemic, eggs and meat have been almost as desirable as hand sanitizer and toilet paper.
The Labor Department Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released the Consumer Price Index report for last month that showed a 4.3% increase in U.S. prices in those categories, the largest uptick since February 1974. And egg prices jumped a whopping 16.1%.
But does the same go for San Francisco?"
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Rob Stutzman
The Capitol Weekly Podcast’s John Howard and Tim Foster are joined by Rob Stutzman, longtime GOP strategist, the president of Stutzman Public Affairs and former communications director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The race for CA25 was being called just as we taped this podcast — Rob weighs in on what Mike Garcia’s victory in a district that Hillary Clinton carried by six points in 2016 means for November and for the Republican Party in general.
Pay cut for state workers would hammer Sacramento as it reels from shutdown
Sac Bee's DALE KASLER/BENJY EGEL: "Less money for lunch at newly reopened restaurants. Fewer trips to newly reopened shopping malls. A postponement, perhaps, of that new car.
Whether it’s furloughs or pay cuts, any decrease in salary for state workers will further depress the economy in Sacramento — and bring dismal reminders of the “furlough Fridays” of a decade ago.
It also represents a jarring setback to an economy that’s just beginning to open again for businessafter weeks of shutdown because of COVID-19."
See the new coronavirus as you've never seen it before
LA Times's MELISSA HEALY: "The Death Star. The Flowered Planet. The Devil’s Gobstopper.
The coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 is, to borrow a phrase from Winston Churchill, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Scientists have mapped its contours and measured its structures to atomic-level precision. They have come to understand its genetic ancestry with a precision that leaves 23andMe in the dust. They have watched it go to work on human cells in a lab.
But after close to six months among us, this coronavirus continues to startle and confound. Why does it kill some and barely graze others? Will it wane through the summer months and surge come fall? Once we understand its behavior, could it just … change?"
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Bay Area doctors prepare for coronavirus in looming flu season -- The Chronicle's ERIN ALLDAY; LA County mandates masks outside as coronavirus deaths top 3,000 in California -- LA Times's STAFF
SF employees face possible hike in health plan costs
The Chronicle's MALLORY MOENCH: "San Francisco is considering approving higher health care rates for more than 47,000 city employees and early retirees starting in July, but workers say they can’t afford to pay more during a pandemic and an economic recession.
Around two dozen employees and labor leaders spoke against the increases Thursday during a meeting of the San Francisco Health Service Board, saying frontline workers are under economic stress. A San Francisco General Hospital employee’s voice broke on the phone line talking about how her household has lost income, forcing her to pull her kids out of daycare and work 20 extra hours a week.
Supervisor Dean Preston, who sits on the Health Service Board, said that raising rates is “highly problematic, especially amidst this health crisis."
READ MORE related to Healthcare: California hospital leaders again appeal to Newsom for coronavirus financial relief -- Sac Bede's CATHIE ANDERSON
Biden takes potential running mates on public tryouts
LA Times's SEEMA MEHTA/MELANIE MASON: "As Joe Biden’s campaign vets potential running mates, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee appears to be publicly auditioning them as he virtually campaigns and raises money.
On Thursday, it was Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ turns. Biden included the former on a panel about COVID-19 response, and then did a lengthy cable television appearance with the latter.
He previously held a tele-town hall with California Sen. Kamala Harris about the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on the African American community, and raised money online with Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar."
Sen. Burr steps aside as Intelligence Committee chair after FBI warrant in stock inquiry
LA Times's JENNIFER HABERKORN/SARAH D WIRE/DEL QUENTIN WILBER: "The GOP chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday he would temporarily step down from his committee post after the FBI seized his cellphone in its investigation into whether he sold a significant portion of his stock portfolio because of information he learned in the course of his Senate work.
Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.) said the investigation is a “distraction to the hard work of the committee and the members, and I think that the security of the country is too important to have a distraction.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he and Burr agreed that his decision to step aside “would be in the best interests of the committee” and would take effect Friday evening."
UC, CSU to lose 10% of state funding in new California budget proposal
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "California’s public colleges and universities stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in planned funding in the state budget proposal Gov. Gavin Newsom released Thursday.
The California State University and University of California budgets each would take a 10 percent cut from their planned funding. The proposal also rolls back funding for community college support services like campus food banks.
The proposed funding cuts are detailed in a $203.3 billion budget that Newsom released to show his plan to close a projected $54.3 deficit that emerged since the coronavirus outbreak halted much of the state’s economic activity. Earlier this year, he had proposed a $222 billion budget that projected a $5.6 billion surplus."
CDC alerts doctors of syndrome in children that might be linked to coronavirus
The Chronicle's ALEJANDRO SERRANO: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday alerted doctors across the United States about an inflammatory syndrome afflicting children that is associated with the coronavirus, offering a case definition for the sickness and recommending clinicians report to officials any patients who meet that definition.
The disease, which some health officials are calling pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, can impact multiple organs and has been distinguished by fever and inflammatory symptoms. It is similar to other inflammatory conditions like Kawasaki disease. Thefirst recorded case of the syndrome was at Lucile Packard Children’sHospital in Palo Alto in mid-March.
“I don’t think anyone knows for sure if there is a clear link (to the coronavirus), but there is a suspicion of it,” Dr. Roshni Mathew, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Packard, told The Chronicle this week."
Coronavirus leads to LA County Fair cancellation. It's the first time since WWII
LA Times's HUGO MARTIN: "It looks as if Angelenos will need to make their own deep-fried Twinkies, chocolate-covered bacon and gargantuan turkey legs at home.
For the first time since World War II, the Los Angeles County Fair has been canceled. It’s yet another cultural touchstone lost because of the coronavirus outbreak, which has prompted stay-at-home orders and limits on large public gatherings.
“It’s unlikely that a vaccine will be discovered in the next few months,” said Miguel Santana, chief executive of Fairplex, a private nonprofit that operates the fair. “Our first and foremost concern is the safety of our guests and our staff."
Sacramento's $8B transportation sales tax hike now one step from November ballot
Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK: "A proposed half-cent sales tax measure for transportation improvements is now one step from the November ballot in Sacramento County.
The Sacramento Transportation Authority board voted 11-5 on Thursday to endorse the proposed ballot measure, which is expected to generate $8 billion over the course of 40 years for road repair, road and highway construction, transit improvements, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will take the measure up next in June, voting to formally put the tax, called Measure A, on the ballot. That board vote is considered “ministerial.” Four of the five supervisors support putting the measure on the ballot. A fifth, Sue Frost, opposes it."
Judge steers Flynn case into 'completely uncharted waters'
LA Times's CHRIS MEGERIAN: "When Michael Flynn’s case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in 2017, Flynn’s allies were ecstatic.
Sullivan was best known for tossing out the corruption conviction of Ted Stevens, the former senior Republican senator from Alaska, in 2009 and berating the prosecutors for withholding exculpatory evidence.
Flynn’s allies hoped Sullivan would take the same skeptical approach to the prosecution of the retired three-star Army general who briefly served as President Trump’s first national security advisor, only to be fired after three weeks and later plead guilty to lying to federal agents."
