CalWatchdog Morning Read – August 18

• Overtime for farmworkers bill nearing vote
• Wave of corruption spreads through L.A. County cities
• Democratic transpo plan includes gas tax hike of 17 cents per gallon
• Senate leader pitches plan for cap-and-trade spending
• Bill would require bartenders and servers class on how to server responsibly
• 72 percent of previously uninsured now have coverage under Obamacare

Good morning! It’s almost Friday and almost the end of session, with legislators hard at work. 

After a staged, 24-hour hunger strike, proponents of a bill to increase overtime pay for farmworkers announced on Wednesday the once-dead measure will be on the Senate floor next week. 

The hunger strike was designed link the legislators’ sacrifice of food with the farmworkers’ sacrifice of some overtime pay while plucking the food, bringing attention to the issue in the process.

As the eight or so hunger strikers broke their fast, the bill’s sponsor, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez tweeted — after handing out bread — that Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon reportedly agreed to call the bill to the floor on Monday (a de Leon spokesman could not immediately confirm the timing). 

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• When the mayor of South El Monte resigned last week after admitting to taking bribes for seven years, it highlighted the wave of local corruption that’s plagued cities in Los Angeles County over the past few years. CalWatchdog has more. 
• “Two Democratic lawmakers unveiled a $7.4-billion transportation plan late Wednesday, the latest effort to break through a yearlong logjam over the state’s funding woes,” which includes a 17-cent-per-gallon hike in the gas tax. The Los Angeles Times has more.  
• “A vehicle trade-in program for low-income families and projects in poor communities would be among the chief recipients of money from California’s cap-and-trade program under a Senate proposal unveiled on Wednesday amid an attempt to win enough votes to extend the climate program,” writes The Sacramento Bee. 
• A roundup of legislative action from the Senate yesterday includes a bill requiring bartenders and servers to take a responsible beverage servers course. Capital Public Radio has more. 
• “Nearly three-quarters of California’s previously uninsured adults have gained health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act — and most of them, like last year, say their health care needs are being met,” writes The San Jose Mercury News. 

Assembly:

• In at 10 a.m. Two hearings.

Senate:

• In at 10 a.m. One hearing on gambling legislation. 

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced.

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