Need help with a down payment? California Democrats want the state to chip in for homebuyers
Sac Bee, HANNAH WILEY: "California could get in the business of helping first-time home buyers make down payments under a new proposal that aims to lower barriers to ownership in an era of sky-high housing costs.
A coalition of seven Democratic senators formally announced the “California Dream for All” program last week as part of a larger budget proposal they want Gov. Gavin Newsom to consider.
The state would serve as a “silent partner” to first-time owners, in exchange for up to 45% ownership of a house. By their calculation, that means someone eyeing a $400,000 home could buy it for “a more affordable price” of $220,000, with the state picking up the other $180,000."
READ MORE ECONOMY NEWS --- Thousands of ZCalifornia workers legally make as little as $2/hour. Why that could change -- Sac Bee, JEONG PARK; Pandemic economy: As others shrank, Amazon became one of Sacramento's largest employers -- Sac Bee, DALE KASLER; In 'seismic shift,' a lot of Californians want to work from home after pandemic ends -- The Chronicle, MEGHAN BOBROWSKY; Bay Area restaurants want to reopen. A nationwide staffing crisis is halting plans -- The Chronicle, JANELLE BITKER; The housing market in these two Bay Area cities is red hot, report says -- The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG
Wealth Tax Proposal In California Splits Progressive, Moderate Lawmakers
SCOTT RODD, Capital Public Radio: "Progressive lawmakers in California are pushing for an ambitious wealth tax on the ultra-rich, but moderate Democrats have chafed at the idea.
Assembly Bill 310, dubbed The California Tax on Extreme Wealth, would impose an annual 1% tax on net worth over $50 million, and a 1.5% tax on net worth over $1 billion. It would also require a constitutional amendment to increase the state’s current wealth tax cap.
A UC Berkeley study found the proposal would generate an estimated $22.3 billion a year."
California’s winding road ahead to ‘carbon neutrality’
MADELYN REESE, Capitol Weekly: "California is known across the country as a trendsetter in climate regulations, with tough emissions standards and sweeping environmental protections.
Freshman state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), however, is pushing for more ambitious carbon-neutral rules that could move California further ahead of the rest of the nation. The effort, praised by environmentalists, has drawn fire from utility workers and gas companies.
Cortese, a former Santa Clara County supervisor, hit the ground running after taking office in December. He quickly introduced the “Building Decarbonization Package,” consisting of three senate bills, SB 30, 31 and 32 with their own decarbonization goals. The terms “decarbonization” and “carbon neutral” refer to removing carbon dioxide from air emissions, with the goal of ultimately achieving zero CO2 emissions."
Marin to be first big Bay Area water agency to push ahead with water restrictions
The Chronicle, KURTIS ALEXANDER: "As drought conditions worsen across Northern California, the Marin Municipal Water District is about to become the Bay Area’s first major water agency to make the leap to mandatory water restrictions.
The utility is expected to adopt a plan Tuesday that would require nearly 200,000 residents of southern and central Marin County to limit outdoor watering to one day a week as well as to stop washing their cars, refilling their swimming pools and power-washing their homes, among other things. Offenders could face fines of up to $250.
The measures are reminiscent of 2015, when one of the state’s worst dry spells prompted water agencies across the state to impose unprecedented constraints. Lawns quickly dried up, and Californians took to shorter showers and fewer flushes before the five-year drought came to an end with the stormy winter of 2016-17, and then two moderately wet years. Back-to-back dry winters have since followed, however, and again water shortages are developing."
READ MORE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS: LA hasn't launched new inspections for oil sites years after council backed plan -- LA Times, EMILY ALPERT REYES; Cool temps to descend on Bay Area ahead of 'substantial' rainfall next week. Here's what to expect -- The Chronicle, VANESSA ARREDONDO; An Earth Day messasge for California: Move faster on climate change -- LA Times, SAMMY ROTH
Should California reform its cannabis laws? Why advocates want ganja back on the ballot
Sac Bee, ANDREW SHEELER: "A new coalition of marijuana advocates wants to put cannabis back on the California ballot aiming to expand access for consumers just five years after voters legalized recreational use.
Marijuana advocates argue that high taxes and recalcitrant local governments have led to legalization falling far short of what voters were promised with Proposition 64 in 2016. They’re working on a proposal that they argue would fix the problems created by the law.
Most notably, the proposed ballot measure would strip local governments of their power to approve or deny cannabis licenses."
Cell phone data shows Bay Area remains extreme when it comes to staying home during pandemic
The Chronicle, SUSIE NEILSON/NAMI SUMIDA: "With vaccines now widely available and pandemic restrictions loosening, the U.S. is opening back up. But San Franciscans are moving more slowly to return to normal routines and get out of the house than residents of any other city in the country, according to mobility data.
The Chronicle looked at how mobility patterns have changed for residents of different areas since the pandemic hit. We examined data from the Harvard-based research organization Opportunity Insights, which used geographical information from cellphones of Google users who had enabled their Location History setting.
First, we looked at how residents’ total time away from home changed in each region during the pandemic, compared to a baseline period of January 2020."
Garcetti seeks to stem poverty, boost social justice in vision for LA's recovery
LA Times, DAVID ZAHNISER/DAKOTA SMITH/EMILY ALPERT REYES: "Mayor Eric Garcetti offered his vision on Monday for helping Los Angeles emerge from the financial devastation of COVID-19, saying city leaders should commit to economic justice by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into relief programs and ramping up initiatives that keep residents safe, employed and out of poverty.
In his annual State of the City address, Garcetti promised to spend nearly $1 billion on initiatives for addressing homelessness and increase funding for gang intervention workers, sidewalk vending programs, arts activities and relief for businesses.
The mayor, speaking at the Griffith Observatory with the downtown skyline behind him, also laid out plans for delivering $1,000 per month to 2,000 of the city’s neediest households over the next year, as part of a “guaranteed basic income” pilot program that he described as the biggest of any city in America."
Second campaign launches to recall SF DA Chesa Boudin
The Chronicle, MEGAN CASSIDY: "A second campaign hoping to oust San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin publicly launched Monday morning.
The San Franciscans for Public Safety Coalition called itself a “broad-based coalition of San Francisco community, neighborhood and small business leaders” fed up with San Francisco’s property and drug crimes, and who blame the progressive prosecutor for causing them.
The pro-recall coalition comes on the heels of the first recall group, which began collecting signatures last month. The first recall campaign was spearheaded by San Francisco Republican operative and former San Francisco mayoral candidate Richie Greenberg, and has since drawn substantial donations from tech investors."
Sacramento created a position to oversee police. Dwight White explains why he took the job
Sac Bee, MARCUS D SMITH: "Last summer, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg expressed his desire for the city to start a position that would oversee the Sacramento Police Department’s use-of-force incidents resulting in serious injury or death.
Last week, Steinberg’s office announced the hiring of Dwight White as the city’s newly created inspector general.
The job — created in the wake of racial unrest last summer after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd — is intended to bring greater transparency to a local police department that has faced its own reckoning in the years following the high-profile killing of Stephon Clark, an unarmed Black man."
READ MORE PUBLIC SAFETY NEWS: A high-stakes moment for LAPD as city braces for verdict in Chauvin trial -- LA Times, KEVIN RECTOR; Man dies in police custody in Alameda -- The Chronicle, NORA MISHANEC
Nomination of 'Dr. Drew' for homeless commission is pulled after outcry
LA Times, JACLYN COSGROVE: "A celebrity doctor nominated to a local homeless commission has been pulled from consideration after community members objected and mounted a #DumpDrDrew Twitter campaign accusing him of promoting policies that criminalize homelessness.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger announced Monday evening that she had withdrawn her nomination for Dr. David Drew Pinsky, more commonly known as “Dr. Drew,” for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a 10-member commission appointed by city and county elected officials.
Barger, who represents the 5th District, said she was dismayed that anyone would question “the appointment of a doctor with a passion for addressing these issues when a new voice is clearly needed.”"
HOV lanes on SF's state highways? Muni is considering it
The Chronicle, RICARDO CANO: "Key stretches of highways 1 and 101 cutting through the Richmond District and Cow Hollow could get temporary HOV lanes as soon as this spring under a proposal the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors will consider Tuesday.
The proposals are the latest in a nearly yearlong effort by the city’s largest transit agency to increase reliability as the pandemic reduced public transit services and turned more San Franciscans to getting around by car.
The plan at the center of Tuesday’s public hearings would, if approved, reserve the lanes closest to the curb for high-occupancy vehicles on stretches of these three-lane corridors. The HOV lanes would be implemented on the beginning of Crossover Drive and Lincoln Way through Golden Gate Park and on Park Presidio Boulevard past Lake Street. The remaining lanes would be unaffected, according to presentation documents the board will receive Tuesday."
Sacramentans mourn Sikh victims of Indianapolis shooting, condemn anti-Asian hatred in vigil
Sac Bee, ASHLEY WONG: "Dozens of Sacramentans, including some city officials, gathered outside the west side of Capitol Mall on Sunday evening to hold a vigil in memory of the Sikh victims in last week’s Indianapolis shooting and condemn ongoing gun violence and anti-Asian hate.
The shooting Thursday at a FedEx facility left eight people dead, four of whom were of Sikh descent. It was yet another mass shooting tragedy for the country, as well as the second-deadliest act of mass violence in the Sikh community since 2012, when a white supremacist burst into a Sikh gurdwara in Wisconsin, wounding 10 and killing six.
A motive has yet to be established by authorities, but Indianapolis police have said the gunman was a former employee of FedEx who worked at the Indianapolis facility in 2020."
'They dig in like ticks': A new doc shows the vexing work of criminal justice reform
LA Times, ROBERT LLOYD: "“Philly D.A.,” an eight-part docuseries beginning Tuesday as part of PBS’ “Independent Lens,” follows Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner in his crusade to remake the culture and practices of his office. It’s a timely piece, as the country reckons with police violence and mass incarceration, and a number of progressive district attorneys, including L.A.'s George Gascón, have been elected in hopes of transforming the justice system into something more equitable and humane and less liable to perpetuate crime — not merely to punish it.
But given the complexity of the subject, the inertia of institutions and the polarized state of ... everything, as well as the limitations of even an eight-hour film, it is also almost inevitably a frustrating one, hopeful and dispiriting by turns.
A long shot elected in a landslide, Krasner came to the job in 2018 after three decades as a defense attorney, specializing in civil rights cases. (He sued the Philadelphia police department several dozen times.) He decorates his new office with a poster of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks in mug shots and a blow-up of the cover of Time’s 2011 Person of the Year issue, “The Protestor.”"
Prosecutors' challenge in Capitol riot probe: The Oath Keeper who didn't go inside
LA Times, DEL QUENTIN WILBER: "The Justice Department has brought charges against more than 400 people who stormed the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, but one of its most pivotal potential cases involves a man who never set foot inside the building.
The probe highlights the Justice Department’s focus on holding accountable leaders of militia and far-right groups whom prosecutors suspect played significant roles in encouraging and plotting the storming of the Capitol Jan. 6. It also underscores the difficulty in bringing cases against individuals who kept physical distance from the melee.
Federal prosecutors are seeking to build a criminal case against Stewart Rhodes, the firebrand founder of the anti-government Oath Keepers, on charges he conspired with members of his far-right organization to block the counting of electoral votes that day, according to federal law enforcement officials and a review of court documents."
Murder case against ex-cop in Floyd's death goes to the jury
AP, AMY FORLITI/STEPHEN GROVES/TAMMY WEBBER: "The murder case against former Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd went to the jury Monday in a city on edge against another round of unrest like the one that erupted last year over the harrowing video of Chauvin with his knee on the Black man's neck.
The jury of six white people and six people who are Black or multiracial began deliberating after nearly a full day of closing arguments in which prosecutors argued that Chauvin squeezed the life out of Floyd last May in a way that even a child knew was wrong.
The defense contended that the now-fired white officer acted reasonably and that the 46-year-old Floyd died of a heart condition and illegal drug use."
