CalWatchdog Morning Read – August 31

• Diaper benefit
• L.A. County supeervisor candidate in campaign finance hot water
• Will the statute of limitations on rape soon be eliminated?
• Once dead family leave bill is very much alive
• Controversial political donor disclosure bill is very much dead

Good morning. Happy Hump Day. It’s the last day of the legislative session. While we wouldn’t rule out last-minute fireworks, we aren’t expecting them. Instead, there will be a flurry of more modest bills (modest in scope, not necessarily in importance). 

For example, low-income Californians could soon receive a monthly, $50 benefit for diaper purchases, according to a bill approved by the Legislature on Tuesday.

The monthly benefit would be given for each child two years old or younger, with a requirement that the money be spent only on diapers.

The benefit would not begin being awarded until 2020, and is expected to cost around $14 million to $18 million annually as part of the CalWORKS welfare program.

CalWatchdog has more:

In other news:

• Democratic Congresswoman Janice Hahn, who is running for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, “may have to refund more than $280,000 in contributions from political action committees after county election officials alleged that her committee probably violated campaign finance rules,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
• “Gov. Jerry Brown will decide whether to eliminate California’s 10-year time limit to bring rape and child molestation charges after several women were precluded from bringing cases against actor Bill Cosby,” writes The San Jose Mercury News/AP.

• “New California parents would be able to take unpaid time off without losing their jobs under revived legislation that cleared the Assembly on Tuesday. The 43-15 vote for Senate Bill 654 marked a critical step in the once-dead measure’s revival. A nearly identical bill fell in the Assembly Labor Committee in June,” reports The Sacramento Bee. 

• “Lawmakers on Tuesday narrowly rejected an effort to create new disclosure rules for California political mailers and money gathered from several donors into a single contribution,” reports the Los Angeles Times.

Assembly:

• In at 10 a.m.

Senate:

• In at 10 a.m.

Gov. Brown:

• Attending the 20th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit, which will focus on water quality. Capital Public Radio has more. 

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