CalWatchdog Morning Read – October 24

24 Oct, 2016 by CalWatchdog Staff

Clinton aides considered moving CA primary
Senate leader asked Obama for help with 2015 enviro measure
CA National Guard soldiers must repay enlistment bonuses a decade late
The problem with Prop. 61 drug-pricing measure
New laws target old problem: workers’ comp fraud

Good morning! We spent Friday digging through WikiLeaks, so our two top stories today are the best of what we found. Not included, though, is how those in Clinton World feel about Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Moving on.

Prominent Democratic strategists who would eventually get top posts in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign debated the political strategy of moving the date of California’s primary election, according to hacked emails recently released by WikiLeaks.

They even reached out to the leader of the state Senate, Kevin de Leon. His response, if there was one, was not in the batch of emails.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

“Knowing that a major climate-change measure was in trouble, Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon sought help from the White House in 2015, according to a WikiLeaks email dump on Thursday.” CalWatchdog has more.
“Nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers have been ordered to repay huge enlistment bonuses a decade after signing up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, a newspaper reported Saturday.” The San Jose Mercury News/AP has more.
“No California ballot fight has attracted more money or bigger names than Proposition 61. Proponents call it the only initiative in the country that could rein in rising drug prices. Pharmaceutical companies have spent nearly $110 million to oppose it. But politics aside, experts see a problem with the measure. They question whether California could implement the law and what the consequences would be, if it can’t.” Capital Public Radio has more.
“Critics of a California workers’ compensation system that is both among the nation’s costliest and not particularly good at providing care to injured employees are enjoying two triumphs” — new laws to help fight fraud. CalWatchdog has more.