CA Legislature ramps up for last week

The California Legislature is in its (typically) frantic last week, racing to go payments by the Saturday deadline.

Monday, lawmakers pulled some last-minute maneuvering to increase the time allowed for ground amendments (the deadline was final Friday) to 5 payments, together with ones on paid household go away, psychological competency of defendants and environmental critiques of hydrogen manufacturing amenities.

Whereas there will probably be some late nights as a consequence of ground votes, there may also be loads of “hurry up and wait.”

• Assemblymember Jim Woodena Ukiah Democrat, reviews Politico: “There will be times when we are not doing anything, or it appears we’re not doing anything. We may actually not be doing anything.”

Lots of of different payments didn’t even get this far. One cause cited by legislators and advocates: Inflated value estimates calculated by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administrationwhich may result in payments dying within the appropriations committees.

As CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow and well being reporter Jocelyn Wiener clarify, the committees earlier this month killed 4 well being care payments with questionable value numbers.

As an example, the Division of Managed Well being Care mentioned {that a} invoice to require computerized critiques when well being insurers deny psychological well being remedy to younger folks would value the state $87 million a 12 months by 2028. The Division of Insurance coverage added a $1.2 million annual price ticket. Sen. Scott Wienera San Francisco Democrat and the invoice’s writer, mentioned these estimates had been “outrageous,” and no particulars got of how the departments arrived at their numbers.

In an e-mail, a spokesperson for Newsom’s Well being and Human Providers Company mentioned its “outrageous and inaccurate” to counsel value estimates are “artificially inflated.”

However exaggerating prices in order that payments can get killed by legislators could be a “tremendous benefit politically for any governor,” mentioned Mike Gatto, a former chairperson of the Meeting Appropriations Committee. That method, the committees “take the arrows (of criticism),” he mentioned.

Study extra about invoice value estimates in Ryan and Jocelyn’s story.

Now on to the payments which are nonetheless alive:

• Medical debt: CalMatters well being reporter Ana B. Ibarra seems to be right into a invoice to take away medical debt from displaying up on credit score reviews. About 4 in 10 Californians report having some sort of medical debt, and the proposal would additionally ban debt collectors from reporting sufferers’ medical debt info to credit score companies. Sen. Monique Lemon’s invoice is backed by the California Nurses Affiliation and Lawyer Basic Rob Bonta. A federal proposal can be within the works, but when the Meeting approves the invoice by the Santa Barbara Democrat and Newsom indicators it, it may take impact in January. Study extra concerning the medical debt invoice in Ana’s story.

CalMatters’ Voter Information now consists of particulars on all 10 propositions on the November poll, culminating with maybe probably the most contentious measure — Proposition 36.

Prop. 36 would overturn elements of Prop. 47, a measure voters accredited in 2014 that diminished sure property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors if the worth of stolen items totaled greater than $950.

Critics of Prop. 47 blame it for high-profile retail thefts and argue that Prop. 36 — which will increase penalties for retail theft and drug dealing — will assist fight property crimes and fentanyl-related offenses. Regulation enforcement teams, district attorneys, most Republicans and a rising variety of Democrats assist Prop. 36.

However Gov. Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders oppose the measure. They argue that Prop. 36 will lead to mass incarceration that might disproportionately affect communities of colour. Instead, they championed a separate retail theft invoice package deal that Newsom signed into legislation earlier this month.

Study extra about Prop. 36 from CalMatters prison justice reporter Nigel Duara in our one-minute video. And take a quiz from CalMatters knowledge reporter Erica Yee to see the way you would possibly vote.

Presidential poll: We’re getting questions from readers concerning the November presidential election, particularly: Do it’s a must to be registered with a candidate’s get together to vote for them?

The reply isn’t any.

In contrast to the March presidential mainonce you needed to be a registered Republican to vote in that get together’s contest, within the common election you’ll be able to vote for any candidate of any get together. There are six on the poll (and their operating mates), together with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the American Unbiased get together line, regardless of suspending his marketing campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump final week.

Listed below are tales on another widespread voting questionsplus our Voter Information FAQ.

November election: Sustain with CalMatters protection by signing up for 2024 election emails. Take a look at our full Voter Informationtogether with info on key congressional and legislative races. And learn up on the historical past of poll measures in California.

California’s college chief Tony Thurmond is scheduled immediately to guide a listening to about proscribing pupil smartphone use throughout college hours and the potential hurt social media has on younger folks. The assembly follows a letter Gov. Newsom despatched earlier this month to public college districtsurging them to restrict cellphone utilization, and reminding colleges of the 2020 legislation that empowers them to take action.

• Thurmondin an announcement: “Regulating smartphone and social media use in schools is essential for creating an environment where students can focus, learn effectively, and develop emotional resilience.”

Along with district leaders and college students, Thurmond will probably be joined by a handful of legislators, together with two who’re attempting to go payments within the session’s last days that search to curb smartphone dependancy amongst college students. One, by Democratic Sen. Henry Stern of Calabasas, would permit colleges to ban the usage of social media. The opposite, by Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover of Folsom, directs college districts to create by 2026 a coverage to restrict or prohibit college students to make use of smartphones on campus altogether.

One other proposal by Sen. Nancy Skinner to limit social media platforms from sending notifications throughout college hours can be being thought-about by the Legislature, however the Oakland Democrat won’t attend the listening to.

As CalMatters reported this month, some California colleges are already implementing cellphone bans. In 2022, the San Mateo-Foster Metropolis College District banned telephones for 4 center colleges. Its superintendent mentioned the brand new guidelines improved check scores, and an annual pupil survey for the 2023-25 college 12 months discovered a decline in melancholy, bullying and fights in comparison with the 12 months earlier than.