California to become first state offering health care to all undocumented residents
MATHEW MIRANDA, SacBee: "California will become the first state to remove immigration status as a barrier to health care, making all low-income undocumented residents eligible for state-subsidized insurance regardless of age.
Gov. Gavin Newsom late Sunday announced a budget deal he struck with the Legislature included a new Medi-Cal expansion that would cover more undocumented adults.
The program’s launch, starting no later than Jan. 1, 2024, is expected to provide full coverage for approximately 700,000 undocumented residents ages 26-49 and lead to the largest drop in the rate of uninsured Californians in a decade."
Gov. Newsom strikes deal on state budget: big increase for K-12, plan to expand Cal Grant, too
JOHN FENSTERWALD and MICHAEL BURKE. EdSource: "Meeting each other halfway, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders have agreed to raise TK-12 general funding by nearly 13% for school districts and charter schools for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That was a key sticking point in the 2022-23 state budget that they settled over the weekend when they began releasing 29 budget “trailer bills” they are expected to vote on this week.
In a big development for higher education, the deal also includes a long-awaited, though tentative, expansion of the Cal Grant, the state’s main financial aid program. The changes, contingent on available revenue, would make an additional 150,000 students eligible for aid starting in 2024-25 — including about 109,000 community college students who’d become newly eligible for awards to cover nontuition expenses like food and housing.
For school districts facing staff shortages and inflationary costs, the deal would produce a $9 billion boost to the Local Control Funding Formula. It provides districts the bulk of their discretionary money, with extra funding tied to the percentage of English learners and low-income, foster and homeless children they enroll. Newsom had offered a 9% increase in his May budget revision; the Legislature’s counter-offer was for 16%."
Californians will vote on amendment to enshrine abortion rights in state Constitution in November (See Also: Los Angeles Times)
The Chronicle, SOPHIA BOLLAG: “Californians will decide whether to enshrine the rights to abortion and birth control into the state Constitution in November through a ballot measure lawmakers approved Monday.
The measure could boost turnout among Californians who care about the issue of abortion, especially in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which protected the right to an abortion nationwide from 1973 until last week.
During debate in the Assembly, which voted 58-16 to place the proposed amendment on the ballot Monday, many female lawmakers discussed their own experiences with having abortions, giving birth, adopting children and providing health care to women as a doctor.”
Coronavirus in California is becoming easier to get, much harder to avoid. Here’s why
LAT, LUKE MONEY: “The number of coronavirus cases reported in California is on the brink of crossing 10 million, a milestone that probably undercounts the total significantly yet still carries an increasing sense of inevitability.
Since the hyper-transmissible Omicron variant stormed onto the scene in early December, the virus has wormed its way into seemingly every family and social circle. Residents who for years escaped infection were swept up in the resulting tidal wave of cases, though for many, the severity of illness has been lessened by vaccines, the availability of therapeutics and other factors.
A plethora of high-profile people who have recently tested positive — among them Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom and even Dr. Anthony Fauci — have also fueled the notion that catching the coronavirus is no longer a matter of if, but when.”
Chevron will sell vast San Ramon headquarters, move jobs to Texas
GEORGE AVALOS, Mercury-News: "Chevron intends to sell its vast headquarters campus in San Ramon and shift jobs to Texas, a move that could deal a fresh blow to the Bay Area economy.
The energy giant said it will cover relocation costs for some employees to move from San Ramon to Texas, but keep its head offices in the same East Bay city. It was not immediately clear how many jobs might shift to the Lone Star State.
“Chevron plans to sell our Chevron Park campus and move to new modern leased space in San Ramon,” the oil titan said in comments emailed to this news organization."
California mother of daughters who were killed by their father speaks out to change law
ARIANE LANGE, SacBee: "The mother of three girls who were killed by their father at an Arden Arcade church publicly spoke out on Monday, her first remarks since her children were shot Feb. 28.
Around 50 people attended a news conference Monday at the Capitol in support of a bill that would force family court judges to learn more about domestic violence, with the aim of applying that to contested custody cases.
David Mora shot Samia, Samantha, and Samarah Gutierrez, ages 13, 10 and 9, during a supervised visit. The visit was sanctioned by a judge despite the man’s history of violence, which was documented in court proceedings. Ileana Gutierrez, the girls’ mother, had been granted a final restraining order against her ex by a judge who believed her story that Mora had choked her and threatened to kill her, but she was still obligated to share custody."
California’s drought means less water to go around. Who is winning the pursuit for water — and who is losing?
The Chronicle, YOOHYUN JUNG/KURTIS ALEXANDER: “After three years of drought, the massive state and federal water projects that serve California’s cities and farms have less water to distribute, forcing water managers to increasingly ration supplies.
This year, squeezed extra tight by the prolonged drought conditions, both the state and federal water projects are expecting to deliver mere fractions of what cities and farms are asking for.
Water suppliers relying on project water must figure out how to cut use accordingly. For many smaller farms without backup, that could mean fields left fallow without crops. Scarce supplies also lead to water rate hikes.”
How much do I get from California’s $9.5-billion gas tax relief plan? When will I get it?
LAT, TARYN LUNA: “After months of debate, Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats have reached a budget deal for gas tax relief amid soaring prices at the pump.
“California’s budget addresses the state’s most pressing needs, and prioritizes getting dollars back into the pockets of millions of Californians who are grappling with global inflation and rising prices of everything from gas to groceries,” Newsom, Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) said in a joint statement.”
California legislators use Texas’ anti-abortion playbook to target illegal weapons. But the Supreme Court might not approve
The Chronicle, DUSTIN GARDINER: “Legislators in the California Assembly ripped a page out of Texas’ anti-abortion playbook on Monday when they passed a measure designed to clamp down on gun violence by letting private citizens sue the makers and sellers of assault weapons and parts for untraceable ghost guns.
But the effort could face a major obstacle in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling last week, in which the court’s conservative majority signaled its willingness to strike down stringent state firearm laws.
Assembly members voted 50-19, largely along partisan lines, to approve SB1327 by Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys (Los Angeles County), which is loosely modeled on a Texas law that all but bans abortions and relies on private citizens to enforce the law by allowing them to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion.”
Supreme Court school prayer ruling stirs debate over how far religion will seep into campus
LAT, JAMES RAINEY, MACKENZIE MAYS, HANNAH FRY, LUCA EVANS: “The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to permit a high school football coach to pray on the field after games is expected to reopen a vigorous and probably tense debate among parents, educators and others over how far religion can enter public school grounds,sac California education and legal experts said Monday.
Conservatives and some Christian leaders praised the court’s action, saying it allowed for the personal religious expression of the coach and those who voluntarily followed him, a reasonable accommodation to religious and free speech rights. But civil libertarians and many educators said allowing a coach or any other school authority figure to lead a prayer amounted to the kind of establishment of religion that the Constitution forbids.
“The court has opened the door to prayer in schools more than at any time in the last 60 years,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law expert and dean of the law school at UC Berkeley. “There will be much litigation. And it is not at all clear where the court will draw the line.””
These charts show Bay Area real estate normalizing after red-hot year: ‘Those people were lottery winners’
The Chronicle, KELLIE HWANG: “The home buying frenzy is finally showing signs of cooling in the Bay Area. Are the days of homes going for $1 million over asking price after just days on the market coming to an end?
Mortgage rates have shot up since the beginning of the year following a honeymoon period of record low rates through the pandemic. Data now points to what most industry experts had anticipated for months: While home buyer demand is still strong in the Bay Area compared to elsewhere - and inventory still scarce, the Bay Area housing market is “normalizing” and seeing less intense competition.
“In general I would characterize the Bay Area as a cooling market alongside a lot of other markets that are also cooling,” said Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr. “We’re seeing the entire country’s housing market react to interest rates.””
San Francisco could end single-family zoning. Here’s why housing advocates aren’t happy with the proposed law
The Chronicle, J.D. MORRIS: “San Francisco could get rid of single-family zoning Tuesday and instead allow fourplexes in every neighborhood and six-unit homes on all corner lots, a change long sought by housing development advocates.
But champions of greater housing density are worried that San Francisco’s legislation might result in very few new homes being built. They fear that restrictive provisions limiting who can take advantage of the new permissions and how fast property owners can get their projects approved will stymie new construction.
The proposal up for a long-awaited vote at the Board of Supervisors is intended to alleviate the city’s notorious housing crunch, and the vote marks the culmination of more than a year’s work by Supervisor Rafael Mandelman to pass legislation that would promote fourplexes in San Francisco. In early 2021, Mandelman announced a more modest plan that failed to advance. He returned last summer with a new proposal that is now poised to become city law.”
San Francisco police say an officer was arrested on suspicion of theft, fraud and forgery
The Chronicle, ANNIE VAINSHTEIN: “A San Francisco Police Department officer was arrested and booked on multiple charges of grand theft, insurance fraud, identity theft and forgery last week, the department announced Monday.
Officer Adam Eatia, a 15-year veteran of the department, surrendered to authorities on June 24 after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Eatia is the fourth SFPD officer who has been arrested this year.
According to SFPD, Eatia committed theft by false pretense involving a car accident when he allegedly made fraudulent complaints that the damaged vehicle was not insured, SFPD said. Eatia allegedly took money from the victim “as compensation for the damage” while he was off duty, they added in a statement.”
Jan. 6 panel to hear from top aide in Trump White House
AP, MARY CLARE JALONICK, FARNOUSH AMIRI AND MICHAEL BALSAMO: “The House panel investigating the Capitol insurrection will hear testimony Tuesday from Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide in the Trump White House who is a vital witness in the sweeping investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
Hutchinson, a special assistant and aide to former President Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has already provided a trove of information to the committee and its investigators and sat for multiple interviews behind closed doors.
In brief excerpts of testimony revealed in court filings, Hutchinson told the committee that she was in the room for White House meetings where challenges to the election were debated and discussed, including with Republican lawmakers.”
At least 46 people believed to be migrants found dead in Texas tractor-trailer
LAT, GREGORY YEE, RICHARD WINTON, HAMED ALEAZIZ, KATE LINTHICUM : “The bodies of at least 46 people believed to be migrants were found in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio on Monday in what appeared to be one of the deadliest human-smuggling incidents in recent U.S. history.
Early Tuesday, Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter that 50 people had died. Ebrard said 22 Mexican nationals, seven Guatemalan nationals and two Honduran nationals had been identified.
“We are in mourning. Huge tragedy,” Ebrard wrote in Spanish.”
