With deadline nearing, Newsom and lawmakers disagree over solutions to California budget crisis
LAT's TARYN LUNA: With a deadline looming, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in the state Legislature are working to settle their differences over access to public healthcare services, delaying minimum wage increases for workers and pausing tax credits for businesses as they cut their way out of California’s $45-billion budget deficit.
The governor’s proposal takes $12.2 billion from the state’s rainy day reserves to help cover the shortfall over the next two years and reduces funding to address climate change, provide broadband internet and increase subsidized child care, among dozens of other cuts."
California made it easier to vote, but some with disabilities still face barriers
CALMatters's STELLA UI, SAMEEA KAMAL: "Lisamaria Martinez isn’t sure when she last voted in person. But she remembers the boots she wore that day — her “fabulous,” new navy blue boots with chunky heels, which gave her blisters on her mile-long walk back home from the polling place.
It was part of her “confidence attire” to feel empowered because on most election days, Martinez — a blind voter in Alameda County — said she had to show poll workers how to help her use the voting machine. She needed them to take her seriously."
Americans approve of LGBTQ+ people living as they wish, but their support drops for trans people, poll shows
LAT's KEVIN RECTOR: "Americans broadly support LGBTQ+ people living as they wish, with large majorities backing same-sex marriage, same-sex couples raising children and laws to protect queer people from job discrimination, according to a new nationwide poll for the Los Angeles Times.
The public offers less support for transgender and nonbinary people. And support for all LGBTQ+ groups drops among Republicans, people who identify as Protestant and those who don’t personally know anyone queer, the poll found."
Sacramento County supervisors approve nearly $9 billion budget. What’s getting funded?
Sacramento Bee's ARIANE LANGE and MARCUS D. SMITH: "All members of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors swiftly approved Wednesday a nearly $9 billion budget for the coming year with minimal changes. Although the budget is larger than the one recommended for the 2023-24 fiscal year, the county — which provides services to all residents — opted not to fill dozens of vacant positions.
The board made two changes to the budget proposed by staff: It added money for two attorneys — one in the District Attorney’s Office, and one in the Public Defender’s Office — and it included language committing to funding the Black Child Legacy Campaign for three years."
Tired and confused, first migrants reach California border after Biden’s asylum order
LAT's ANDREA CASTILLO: "Shortly after President Biden’s executive order to restrict asylum access took effect late Tuesday, 50 migrants completed a nine-hour trek through the mountains just north of Tecate, Mexico.
They lined up single file against the brush, in a dusty clearing steps from Highway 94, and waited for Border Patrol agents to pick them up. The migrants, a group including men, women and children from Cuba, Ecuador, China and Brazil, were exhausted, nearly out of food and water."
California’s largest new reservoir project in 50 years moves forward after judge rules against environmental groups
BANG*Mercury News's PAUL ROGERS: "Plans to build the largest new reservoir in California in 50 years have taken a significant step forward, following a judge’s decision to reject a lawsuit by environmental groups opposed to it.
The $4.5 billion project, known as Sites Reservoir, is planned for the rolling ranchlands west of the town of Maxwell, about 70 miles northwest of Sacramento."
17 L.A. hospitals closed their labor wards. Inside the fight to keep one open
CALMatters's KRISTEN HWANG, ANA B. IBARRA AND ERICA YEE: "Detranay Blankenship was 16 weeks pregnant when she found out she was expecting. The days passed quickly, and soon she was 7 centimeters dilated at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital.
The 26-year-old first-time mom wasn’t sure what to expect during labor, but the team at MLK’s maternity ward soon felt like family. Every hour midwife Angela Sojobi bustled in to check on her progress and offer cheerful words of encouragement. When it was time to push, a nurse lowered the lights and flipped on the soothing sound of rain.
California ‘overdue’ for whooping cough outbreak as cases spike across U.S.
LAT's TERRY CASTLEMAN: "It’s been five years since the last major outbreak of whooping cough in California, but the disease is on the rise.
Nationwide, cases of pertussis, as the illness is formally known, are nearly three times higher in 2024 than during the first five months of 2023, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
An obscure option could help Californians without high school diplomas pay for college — if it survives
CALMatters's ADAM ECHELMAN: "Many adults in California are missing out on financial aid for college — and for years, the state declined to help.
The most popular form of federal financial aid, the Pell grant, provides low-income students with around $7,000 a year— money that can go towards all kinds of expenses, such as tuition, rent or transportation. Typically, college students need a high school diploma or equivalent to qualify, but a workaround, known as the Ability to Benefit provision, allows adults without a high school diploma to get federal financial aid in college."
Three Jewish students sue UCLA, saying protesters blocked access to campus facilities
LAT's DAVID ZAHNISER: "Three Jewish UCLA students filed a federal lawsuit against the UC regents and several university officials on Wednesday, alleging that anti-Israeli protesters blocked them from crucial parts of the campus.
In the 74-page filing, the plaintiffs — two second-year law students and a sophomore history major — described UCLA as a “hotbed of antisemitism,” with activists carrying signs with threatening messages, chanting “Death to the Jews” and obstructing passage to campus facilities."
Will Netflix get into the TV news business? Here are the pros and cons
LAT's STEPHEN BATTAGLIO: "When Netflix announced last month that it had acquired the rights to two NFL football games to stream on Christmas Day, TV news agents were buzzing.
If the streaming behemoth is getting into sports — after saying for so long that it wouldn’t — could live news shows be far behind as the Los Gatos, Calif., streaming giant diversifies its programming roster?"
Cost of drinking water, wastewater services to increase for some San Jose residents and businesses
BANG*Mercury News's ALINA TA: "The San Jose City Council yesterday approved increased costs for drinking water and wastewater services for some local residents and businesses.
The cost of drinking water will increase $10-$11 per month for customers of the San Jose Municipal Water System living in North San Jose, Alviso, Evergreen and Edenvale. Services for wastewater management will also increase by 9% per month.
The changes are expected to go into effect on July 1."
Why California lawmakers are giving up a bid to repeal a nearly 75-year-old anti-public-housing measure
LAT's LIAM DILLON: "A nearly 75-year-old anti-public-housing rule will remain in California’s Constitution as lawmakers are planning to withdraw a measure from the November ballot that would have repealed it.
State Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who authored the repeal measure, said that the November ballot was too crowded with expensive tax, housing, bond and public safety campaigns to give his effort the best chance at succeeding."
California home-price gains may ‘cool’ in next 12 months
SCNG*OC Register's JONATHAN LANSNER: "Buzz: Home-price appreciation is projected to slow in California and 35 other states in the next 12 months.
Source: My trusty spreadsheet’s reviewed the April edition of CoreLogic’s state-by-state price indexes, which look 12 months ahead and 12 months back."
Why increasing penalties for assaulting ER workers is dividing California Democrats
CALMatters's RYAN SABALOW: "Before becoming a member of the California Assembly, Freddie Rodriguez spent 30 years as an emergency medical technician in the San Gabriel Valley. He’s wheeled untold numbers of patients on gurneys into hospital emergency departments.
And he’s seen all too often what happens when one of them tries to hurt caregivers. In fact, it recently happened to his daughter, Desirae, a respiratory technician. He told the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday that she was recently assaulted on the job."
VTA’s Eastridge light-rail extension will fulfill a decades-long promise
BANG*Mercury News's SAL PIZARRO: "When the shovels hit the ground Saturday for VTA’s Eastridge light-rail extension, it’ll be the fulfillment of a promise made more than 30 years ago — long before anyone dreamed the future station could one day provide a connection to BART.
In 1991, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors set the trolley wheels in motion, voting unanimously to add the proposed line to a 20-year master transit plan. The supervisors at the time consisted of future leaders: U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, and two of the valley’s all-time biggest transit champions, Rod Diridon and Dianne McKenna. Another supporter? Blanca Alvarado, who was then a San Jose City Councilmember and would join the Board of Supervisors in 1994."
