CA is pushing happiness, however individuals are apprehensive

I’m again from vacation and am remaining decidedly completely satisfied to combat off any post-vacation blues.

However most Californians, apparently, aren’t feeling too completely satisfied — a stark actuality that the Legislature simply tried to dig into.

Within the newest survey by the Public Coverage Institute of Californiamost California adults (55%) mentioned that the state is headed within the mistaken route and that they will belief the state authorities to do the best factor “only some of the time.” A stable majority additionally anticipate “bad financial times” for the nation throughout the subsequent 12 months.

These worries aren’t going unnoticed by the Legislature, particularly former Meeting Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lakewood. His pet mission main a choose committee on happiness lately issued its remaining report.

• Rendon, within the report: “In our 175-year history as a state, the California State Assembly has not considered how California can improve the happiness of its people. Happiness is seen as a byproduct of the work we do to build housing, improve education, and boost wages, among other things. … But is that all that leads to happiness?”

The committee, which met 3 times since March, concluded that unhappiness is rising throughout the state.

Different key findings:

• Seven of the highest 10 happiest counties are on the coast, and have higher-than-average median revenue ranges. In the meantime, 9 of the ten unhappiest counties are inland;
• Folks dwelling in poverty are 3 times extra prone to expertise nervousness or melancholy than wealthier individuals;
• Sturdy social connections with household, associates and group are very important to total happiness.

The committee additionally had some options for legislators:

• They need to contemplate happiness when growing insurance policies, and will “openly discuss and question a bill’s potential” on happiness;
• They need to assume creatively when growing happiness-related insurance policies and collaborate throughout completely different companies;
• They need to prioritize efforts to spice up belief between the general public and the state authorities.

One measure that was introduced up throughout the committee’s hearings would require faculty districts to develop extra intentional homework insurance policies that thought of college students’ psychological and bodily properly being. The invoice, by Democratic Assemblymember Pilar Slave of Santa Clarita Valley, awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s determination.

How might the Legislature and governor make me completely satisfied? For starters, no classes that drag into the night, and no invoice actions at evening or the weekend. However one can solely dream.

Even after performing on greater than 200 payments on SundayGov. Newsom began the week with practically 600 nonetheless to go earlier than his Sept. 30 deadline.

Which once more begs some questions: Why so many payments? And can we really want all of them?

Chris Micheli, longtime Capitol observer and lobbyist, is once more floating the thought of reducing what number of payments every legislator can introduce. At present, the bounds for a two-year session are 50 for Assemblymembers and 40 for state senators. Micheli factors out {that a} cap of 30 payments per legislator would nonetheless add as much as 1,800 payments a 12 months. By comparability, a handful of states together with Colorado and Louisiana cap legislators to 5 payments per session.

Invoice signings: Newsom introduced Monday he had signed 4 payments to extend penalties and strengthen legislation enforcement’s skill to fight sideshows and avenue takeovers — and the record didn’t drop till 6 p.m. (see above).

Earlier, he additionally highlighted one other invoiceon a problem he appears to actually care about — taking telephones away from college students at school. Final month, he urged faculty districts to limit scholar telephone use throughout faculty hours. Monday, he signed Meeting Invoice 3216 to require each faculty district, constitution faculty and county workplace of training to undertake a coverage limiting or prohibiting using smartphones by July 1, 2026. A couple of faculties have already got smartphone bans, and supply some classes.

• Newsomin an announcement: “This new law will help students focus on academics, social development, and the world in front of them, not their screens, when they’re in school.”

Let’s spotlight some environmental information:

• California sues Exxon: Legal professional Normal Rob Bonta introduced Sunday that the state is suing ExxonMobil, however not over oil or fuel. Relatively, the lawsuit accuses the corporate of deceptive the general public about recycling plastic (ExxonMobil is the world’s largest producer of polymers, a key element of single-use plastic) as an efficient resolution for air pollution and waste, “when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” mentioned Bonta. ExxonMobil’s decades-long recycling marketing campaign has probably violated plenty of state legal guidelines, together with pure assets, false promoting and unfair competitors.

• Newsom urges ‘climate action’: As a part of Local weather Week NYC, the governor introduced Monday the launch of a brand new state marketing campaign to enlist 1 million Californians in every day motion to fight local weather change. The mission urges individuals to compost meals, plant native vegetation and store at native farmers’ markets, amongst different issues.

• Historic habitat restoration: State officers final week celebrated the completion of the biggest tidal habitat restoration mission in California historical past. About 3,400 acres of wetlands has been restored at Lookout Slough within the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The mission will shield communities close to the Yolo Bypass from flooding, and create extra habitat for native fish and wildlife, together with the endangered Delta smelt. The restoration took six years and value $130 million, based on The Sacramento Bee.