Newsom Faces Immediate Crises

Barely a week into his governorship, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is already dealing with two major crises: the bankruptcy of the nation’s largest public utility and a teacher strike in Los Angeles, the country’s second largest school district.

 

Newsom called for both sides to work toward a settlement of the strike but declined to take sides. He has, however, called for lawmakers to pass legislation requiring more transparency from charter school operators, one of several issues of contention between the teachers unions and the L.A. Unified School District. Newsom also noted that his recently-released budget proposal includes over $80 billion in K-12 education funding – a record – and $3 billion for teacher pensions, which he said would also free up tens of millions of dollars in the LAUSD budget.

 

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy declaration by Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation’s largest utility, may be even more problematic. The utility is facing approximately $30 billion in damages from its role in igniting a series of disastrous fires in 2017 and 2018 that killed scores of people and resulted in the loss of thousands of homes and billions of dollars more in damage. 

 

The bankruptcy filing would coalesce the outstanding claims into one large suit that could be heard by a bankruptcy court rather than a jury. It also drew immediate criticism from lawmakers, who said fire victims were unlikely to receive proper compensation for their losses from a bankruptcy court.

 

The filing started a 15-day window before it becomes official. Newsom told reporters last week he is hopeful that can be avoided, but he acknowledged that might not be possible. The biggest priority, he said, is determining a path forward that keeps consumer energy prices down and ensures wildfire victims are properly compensated and the state is still able to meet its long-term energy goals. (STATE NET CAPITOL JOURNAL, ASSOCIATED PRESS, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)

Politics in Brief - January 14 2019

HIGH TURNOVER AMONG TX GOVT WORKERS IN 2018

Well over 28,000 TEXAS state employees, 19.3 percent of the total state government workforce, left their jobs last year, the highest turnover in five years, according to a report from the state auditor’s office. The top reasons for the departures were retirement, pursuit of higher pay and adverse working conditions. (TEXAS TRIBUNE [AUSTIN])

 

BIG PAY RAISE FOR SD LAWMAKERS

SOUTH DAKOTA lawmakers are getting their first pay increase in over two decades. Their 90-percent raise, from $6,000 per session to $11,378.80, is the result of a law passed last year setting lawmaker salaries at a fifth of the state’s median household income. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

 

MORE CONGRESSIONAL SEATS COMING FOR SUN BELT STATES

Several Western and Sun Belt states, including TEXAS, FLORIDA, and ARIZONA, will likely pick up seats in the U.S. House in the next reapportionment after the 2020 census, as a result of population growth, according to projections by Election Data Services. Those gains will come at the expense of Rust Belt states, including PENNSYLVANIA, NEW YORK and OHIO, where populations have grown only modestly or declined. (HILL)

 

VT HOUSE CONCEALS REPRESENTATIVES’ CONTACT INFO

Personal contact information for VERMONT state representatives was removed from the state Legislature’s website this month. House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D) said the action was taken in response to an increase in threatening phone calls and other behavior in the past two years. (VTDIGGER)

 

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK

CA Voters Raise Bar for Qualifying Ballot Measures

It’s going to be considerably harder to qualify initiatives and referendums for California’s ballot next year, thanks to the high voter turnout in the state for the Nov. 6 election.

 

Signature requirements for ballot measures in California are adjusted every four years, based on the total number of votes cast in each gubernatorial election. Backers of proposed measures have to submit enough valid signatures to equal 5 percent of the most recent gubernatorial vote tally for statutory changes and 8 percent for constitutional ones.

 

As a result of the record low turnout in the state’s 2014 governor’s race, in which Gov. Jerry Brown (D) was reelected, the signature thresholds for the last four years have been at their lowest point in decades, 365,880 for statutory measures and 585,407 for constitutional amendments. But with more than 12.4 million votes having been cast last month in electing Democrat Gavin Newsom as the state’s next governor, those thresholds will jump to 620,439 and 992,702, respectively.

 

Given those higher limits, and the fact that far more signatures will actually have to be collected to ensure enough valid ones are submitted, the price tag for ballot measures will also go up significantly next year, according to Gale Kaufman, a veteran Democratic strategist based in Sacramento.

 

The “rule of thumb is to collect approximately 75 percent over what you need,” Kaufman said. “So, if you are on any kind of tight budget, the new numbers will add close to a million [dollars], if not more, to initiatives.”

 

“Generally speaking, 2016 and 2018 were seen as sort of opportunities in California for initiatives because of the low 2014 turnout,” said Josh Altic, who researches ballot measures for the website Ballotpedia. “2020 and 2022 will be seen as the opposite of that.” (LOS ANGELES TIMES, HILL)

Politics in Brief - November 12 2018

‘RAINBOW WAVE’ IN TX

Fourteen, or 40 percent, of the 35 gay, bisexual and transgender candidates on the ballot in TEXAS won their races on Tuesday. State and national activists said this election cycle, which saw a record 400 LGBTQ individuals run for political offices ranging from city council to governor, had likely carved a path for a future “rainbow wave” in the state. (TEXAS TRIBUNE [AUSTIN])

 

FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN MD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT MAP

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of MARYLAND ruled unanimously that the congressional district map drawn in 2011 was gerrymandered to favor Democrats and that the state must draw a new congressional map for the 2020 election. State officials must submit the new map by March 7, or the court will appoint a nonpartisan commission to create one. (HILL)

 

D.C. MAYOR WINS REELECTION

Last week D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) became the city’s first chief executive to be reelected since 2002. Her reelection had been virtually assured after she won the Democratic primary with no serious opposition in June. (WASHINGTON POST)

 

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK

Congress Passes $867B Farm Bill

Congress has passed and President Trump is expected to sign an $867 billion farm bill that, among other things, will expand subsidies for farmers, provide permanent funding for local farmers markets and legalize hemp. The bill had bipartisan support in both chambers, due in part to pressure from farmers who have faced sharp declines in commodities prices as a result of President Trump’s trade dispute with China.

 

“The passage of the 2019 Farm Bill is good news because it provides a strong safety net for farmers and ranchers, who need the dependability and certainty this legislation affords,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement.

 

The bill had some critics, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of two farmers in the Senate and a member of that chamber’s Agriculture Committee, who voted against the legislation because of its expansion of subsidies to more-distant relatives of farmers, like cousins, nephews and nieces.

 

“I’m very disappointed the conferees decided to expand the loopholes on farm subsidies,” he said before the vote. “I’ve been trying to make sure the people who get the subsidies are real farmers.... I’ve been trying for three years, and it gets worse and worse and worse.” (WASHINGTON POST)