CalWatchdog Morning Read – July 26

 

• Women stand to make only modest gains in Legislature in November
• Gavin Newsom has habit of plagiarism
• Housing solution: Building units in back yards?
• Local governments to further restrict new development
• “Where did California’s savings from reducing drug penalties go?” 

Good morning! Welcome to Tuesday. 

Women make up more than half of California’s population, but only about one-fourth of the Legislature. 

And in November, that’s unlikely to change too much, according to a CalWatchdog analysis.

While an October surprise, outside factor or just particularly good or bad campaigning could change the course of race that appears to be a sure thing, primary results, incumbency advantages, voting trends and partisan makeup of a district can be useful in making educated guesses.

Currently, out of 120 legislative seats, there are 30 held by women — an additional seat is vacant now, having been held by the late Republican Senator Sharon Runner, who died unexpectedly earlier this month.   

There could be as many as 49 women in the Legislature next year, but it is likely that they’ll hover around the same amount as this year.

CalWatchdog has more.  

In other news:

• Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom “has a pattern of posting other people’s work without credit,” reports The Sacramento Bee. 
• To ease the housing crisis, legislators are considering easing restrictions on homeowners building small units in backyards. The Los Angeles Times has more. 
• And yet, as state lawmakers consider many ideas for increasing affordable housing, local governments are considering proposals to restrict new development. The Voice of San Diego has more.
• “Proposition 47, which passed in 2014, reduced drug possession and some crimes of petty theft, check forgery and receiving stolen property from felonies to misdemeanors. The initiative mandated that savings from downgrading these offenses be spent on mental health and substance abuse treatment, victim services and truancy prevention. Voters were told the shift in emphasis from prison to rehabilitation could result in savings in ‘the low hundreds of millions.’ Yet the final savings figure to pay for prevention and treatment – reached after months of tense disagreements and accusations of betrayal – is far below the original estimate.” The Sacramento Bee has more. 

Legislature:

• Gone ’til August.

Gov. Brown:

• Attending the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. 

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