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California animal rights legislation crushed by Cal teachers union

It’s bad news if you’re a frog– or an animal rights activist. Yesterday, under pressure from the California Teachers Association, the legislature killed proposed legislation to ban animal dissection, including the cutting up of frogs– favorite “subjects” in biology classrooms across the state. Per CAL Matters, “The California Teachers Association, which has significant clout in the Legislature, testified against [the bill], arguing that it would deny science teachers a valuable tool.” Animal rights campaigners, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), are pissed. And we tend to agree with them. While in general, animals dissected in classrooms are already dead (though in some places, vivisection does still occur), it still involves inherent cruelty for animals, campaigners say. Per the Sacramento Bee, “Cats used for dissection tend to be euthanized animals acquired from shelters; frogs and other amphibians are often gathered in the wild.” Congratulations: If your cat goes missing,…

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It’s April, but “Clean Air Madness” has made its way to the CA Capitol

March Madness and NCAA brackets may be done and dusted. But a clean air advocacy group is keeping brackets–and pollution–on the minds of California legislators by delivering these “Clean Air Madness” bracketology posters to each and every legislative office in Sacramento. As spotted Friday in Sacramento, live and in person: The issue, according to the website listed on the bottom of the poster: “California spends billions each year on air quality and climate change, yet none of our state’s Air Quality Districts meet the minimal federal clean air standards.” The underlying message: The California Air Resources Board has become all about climate change, and has lost its focus on clean air as judged by three standards: Worst year-round particulate pollution, worst short-term particulate pollution and worst ozone. The coalition delivering the posters is backing clean trucks and clean fuels legislation, in the form of SB 216, AB 1115 and AB 1406. SB 216 may be…

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Kamala CRUSHES Dem competition in CA $

It might not be a surprise that Sen. Kamala Harris would be bringing in a boatload of cash from Californians as she runs for President. But a quickie analysis shows that she is not merely besting the competition; she’s trouncing it. Moreover, that analysis shows surprisingly low enthusiasm for Sen. Bernie Sanders among Californians, at least as gauged by donations from Golden Staters. In the first quarter of the year, Harris raised an eye-popping $4.3 million from Californians. Sanders, the national frontrunner managed $780,000; Sen. Cory Booker, who national polling suggests is not even approaching “real contender” status also bested Sanders with $870,000 from California. The numbers underline that despite the perception of California as a hard-left “people’s republic,” progressive but not actually leftist candidates who are younger and, well, less white and male show stronger appeal here. This is little surprise to everyone who expected Hillary Clinton to win…

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What’s worse than payday loans? Surprise California-sized health care loan payments!

California legislators have since the middle of last month been weighing a proposal from Assemblywoman Monique Limon to cap interest rates on loans between $2,500 and $10,000– colloquially known as “anti-payday loan” legislation. The legislation is attracting mixed reviews from the financial services sector. Not surprisingly, a lot of payday lenders hate it. But the quiet word is that a lot of banks love it, since if passed, it would push consumers towards banks who– some studies allege– charge proportionally much higher costs for bounced checks and unauthorized overdrafts than the effective APR on a high-interest payday loan. The bill may also face skepticism from millennials, who have limited ability to take out conventional loans due to a lack of assets, and who often need to borrow smaller amounts than traditional banks will lend (usually banks want borrowers to take out a minimum of $3,000). In any event, as the…

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Uh-oh: Dems making inroads with CA business lobby

As Democrats become more politically-dominant in California, it looks like they’re also making inroads with the Golden State’s business lobby. And it’s not just because the Cal Chamber wants to make nice with the guys in power. It turns out Republicans are pushing bills the Chamber thinks are straight-up giveaways to trial lawyers. The old Cal Chamber building in San Francisco. Because 1215 K Street, Sacramento, isn’t that scenic. Via CAL Matters this AM: Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, a Republican from San Luis Obispo, is pushing Assembly Bill 288 to require social media companies to let users delete information when they close their accounts. The chamber worries the bill would lead to lawsuits. Cunningham: “Frankly, I find it somewhat humorous that the Chamber would waste a designation like this on a bill that would only apply to a few giant social networking companies that continue to prove that they cannot be…

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Harris making a big play for union support

Sen. Kamala Harris is making a big play for union support in her run for President, focusing principally on education and childcare workers. Teachers’ unions have been financially hammered by the Supreme Court decision in Janus and are shopping for a vocal candidate they can get behind and support, ideally one who will not only push pro-labor policy but also use the bully pulpit to advocate for their members’ interests. With her proposal to massively bump teacher pay through federal funding, Harris could be it. As noted yesterday, in the first quarter of 2019, her presidential campaign took in at least 11,000 donations from educators. Now, it looks like she’s making a play for pro-union child care workers, too, backing a proposal to unionize them. This should further endear her to organized labor, which is a powerful ally in Democratic Party politics not just because of its organizing and door-knocking…

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YOWZA: Harris raised $12 MILLION in her first quarter as a prez candidate

The numbers are in, and Sen. Kamala Harris raised an eye-popping $12 million in her first quarter as a presidential candidate. Harris’ campaign told the New York Times that “more than $6 million of her fund-raising — about half of her total — came from her digital program, including $1.1 million in the last week.” In addition, Harris took in “218,000 contributions in total and that 98 percent of her contributions were under $100. Her average donation was about $55.” A lot of the money may be coming from teachers. Harris has called for a massive, federally-funded pay rise for teachers. Her campaign says at least 11,000 donations came from “educators,” a term that may include school administrators and teachers not operating within the public school system or teaching K-12.

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Garamendi goes Trumpy with water bill

Here’s a possibly weird turn of events in California politics.  Politico is reporting today that Rep. John Garamendi, one of the state’s Democratic congressmen, has introduced legislation mimicking a Trump administration proposal on water. Rep. John Garamendi, who weirdly doesn’t look like Trump or act like Trump… but agrees with Trump on water. According to Politico, the Garamendi bill is also backed by Reps. Ken Calvert and Rob Woodall. It “would extend from 5 to 10 years the maximum term for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits issued under the Clean Water Act.” The proposal is broadly opposed by environmental groups. But Donald Trump apparently loves the idea, and included it in last month’s infrastructure proposal. Garamendi must be pretty clearly sold on the legislation’s merits, because siding with Trump on just about anything except for perhaps the awesomeness of Mom and apple pie isn’t exactly a big political benefit…

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How much is Kamala Harris freaking out about Beto O’Rourke running for President? Looks like a lot.

Last night, news broke that former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who narrowly lost last year to Sen. Ted Cruz, is running for President. And while no one expects to see yet another candidate enter the field and be applauded by everyone else already there, Kamala Harris’ campaign seems a little concerned about O’Rourke– at least judging by her fundraising emails. Here’s one that came through a couple hours ago, which is actually titled “Beto O’Rourke.” It’s not just the title that’s interesting. Did you notice the upfront mention of “a record number of women and people of color?” Could that possibly be a small dig at O’Rourke, who has a Spanish-language nickname but is actually pretty danged white and male? Or is Kamala just trying to seize on a little bit of Beto-mentum herself, and bring some extra cash into her already bountiful campaign coffers? It looks like a little jab…

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The biggest reason the GOP under Trump is screwed in California

The Fresno Bee has an interesting report this morning focusing on the growing strength of California’s Latino voting population. Take a look, and you’ll see exactly why Republicans in California are in such deep, deep trouble– even those in deep red seats. During the 2018 November midterm election, the eligible turnout rate for Latinos (the percentage of adult citizens who voted) was 35.9 percent — an 18.6 percent increase from the 2014 midterm election, according to data released by the University of Southern California’s Civic Engagement Project. Mindy Romero, a research assistant professor and director of the California Civic Engagement Project at USC, said in Fresno County, the total voter turnout was 41.5 percent, and for Latinos eligible to vote, it was 30.3 percent. Statewide, the total voter turnout was 50 percent. […] To put the latest USC statistics into perspective, back in 1994, when California voters approved Proposition 187,…

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