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California has too few journalists covering what is really going on in Sacramento and throughout the state. That’s exactly why CalWatchdog exists – to report to you, straight down the middle, with no sensationalism and not pass off opinion for general news. 

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CalWatchdog is a non-profit (501)c(3) that is supported by individual donors like yourself. If you like our work, would you please consider donating online?

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Thank you for your support.

The CalWatchdog Team

Because of your support, we remain California’s top-ranked political blog and investigative news site.

With the proliferation of fake news and the media bias that is continually called out, supporting CalWatchdog could not be more timely.

California has too few journalists covering what is really going on in Sacramento and throughout the state and that’s exactly why we exist — to report to you, free of ideology or worldview. So far, this year CalWatchdog has produced more than 625 original stories as well as our daily Morning Read since January.

CalWatchdog is a non-profit (501)c(3) that is supported by individual donors like yourself. If you like our work, would you please consider donating online? Every little bit helps us sustain our core writers and expand our audience to increase civic engagement.   

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Legislature blocks bill punishing Fentanyl kingpins…

Good morning. TGIF. The Legislature headed home for the weekend after secretive, yet productive, Appropriations hearings, where the two committees decided the fate of hundreds of bills.

One bill in particular would have imposed mandatory sentences on large-scale dealers of Fentanyl, a powerful opioid responsible for a rash of deaths and overdoses over the last few years.

Calwatchdog has more.

In other news: 

• “A stalled bill to prohibit behind-the-scenes communications at the California Coastal Commission survived in the Legislature Thursday, but lawmakers weakened it with amendments that would allow the controversial practice to continue for developers and elected officials,” writes the Los Angeles Times.
• “Among the explosive findings included in a new audit of the state gang database, CalGang. Auditors say they found 42 individuals in CalGang who were supposedly younger than one year of age at the time of entry — 28 of whom were entered for ‘admitting to being gang members.’ The audit confirms many of the fears that Weber and others have long expressed about the CalGang system: that it cannot ensure individuals’ rights to privacy, that people can be entered in the database without proper substantiation and that people are kept in the database long after their names should have been purged,” reports the Voice of San Diego. 
• “A Santa Monica consumer group is criticizing Gov. Jerry Brown for his ties to utilities and other companies reliant on fossil fuels, linking almost $10 million in contributions from 26 oil, gas and power companies to decisions by Brown administration officials that directly benefited the donors,” reports The San Diego Union-Tribune.
• “A bill to put an excise tax on medical marijuana in California was killed Thursday by a Senate panel after advocates for cannabis users said it would put a financial burden on patients,” writes the Los Angeles Times. 

Assembly:

• Gone ’til Monday. 

Senate:

• Gone ’til Monday.

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @saraflocks

Controversial language dropped from Title IX bill

Good morning and welcome to Thursday. While all eyes will be on the Legislature’s appropriations committee meetings today and the hundreds of bills they’ll be deciding the fate of, one bill found new life yesterday. 

After weeks of opposition from religious colleges and their supporters, state Sen. Ricardo Lara announced he would drop provisions from a bill that would have made it more difficult for faith-based institutions to receive Title IX exemptions.

The Bell Gardens Democrat said he wrote Senate Bill 1146 to protect LGBT students who may not be treated equally at religious colleges by putting roadblocks in the way for institutions making admission, housing and accommodation decisions based on traditional views about sexuality. 

But after pushback from religious colleges who claim the bill forces them to violate long-established standards of conduct, as well as making them vulnerable to lawsuits, Lara said SB1146 required a second look.

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• Around 1,341 people die annually from bad air in the Los Angeles area, making it the deadliest air in the country, according to a new study. The Orange County Register has more. 
• “Critics of Gov. Jerry Brown’s nearly $16 billion plan to bore two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta won a state audit of its ongoing costs on Wednesday, though state officials don’t expect the audit to delay the project,” reports The San Jose Mercury News/AP.
• The sponsor of a bill to would extend job protection for workers on parental leave plans to revive the bill before the end of the legislative session after it died in June at the hands of West Covina Democrat Roger Hernández. “Two months prior, (the sponsor) had issued a public letter demanding that Hernández take a leave of absence from the Legislature pending resolution of spousal-abuse charges filed in April,” writes the Santa Barbara Independent.
• “Orange County supervisors have unleashed a frontal assault on the California Shield Law, which protects journalists from disclosing unpublished information and is vital to the news gathering process in our democracy,” writes Voice of OC. 

Legislature:

• The Appropriations committees in both chambers convene today to clear out hundreds of bills from the “suspense file,” the beginning of which is done in near secrecy, writes the Los Angeles Times.

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @provpophealth

Gut and amend going nowhere

Good morning and happy Hump Day. In anticipation of the mad dash to pass legislation prior to the rapidly-approaching end of session, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has no intentions of stopping the practice loathed by many rank-and-file legislators called “gut and amend.”

Even as a measure to end the most egregious offenses waits for voters in November, even as the procedure is discouraged by leadership and even as the move is prohibited by the Legislature’s rules, Rendon will continue to allow bills to be gutted and amended, his staff confirmed.   

Gut and amend is a catchall phrase thrown around Sacramento. In general, it means removing all or a substantial part of a bill and replacing it with new provisions that have little or nothing to do with the bill’s original intent, especially after the bill’s shell has passed through a part of the process, like a committee hearing or a vote in one chamber.

Proponents say there are instances when it’s necessary, but detractors say it leads to bad legislation and limits the power of those with an opposing view. The times that irk opponents the most are when a bill is gutted and amended sometimes just hours before a vote.

CalWatchdog has more.  

In other news:

• Embattled UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi resigned on Tuesday, “done in largely by pepper spray and ego,” writes The Sacramento Bee.
• “San Diego Republicans run from Trump,” reports the Voice of San Diego. Of course, not all San Diego Republicans, according to Talking Points Memo.  

• Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, has for a second time amended a bill that would have imposed tough new campaign contribution limits on Board of Equalization members to avoid conflicts of interest, but now simply calls for a study of possible new limits. “Hill introduced Senate Bill 816 after The Times reported that donors were circumventing a $250 contribution limit to board members by funneling the money through political action committees or giving several donations — 45 from employees at one tax firm — of $249 each,” reports the Los Angeles Times.

• “Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva presided over his first council meeting Tuesday night since his arrest last week on charges that included child endangerment and supplying alcohol to minors. The public took to the microphone offering both support and criticism,” writes Capital Public Radio. 

Assembly:

• Several hearings today, including Appropriations. 

Senate:

• Several hearings scheduled.

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @capwatchdog

Recreational pot in trouble?

Good morning and happy Tuesday. Today we have lots of interesting bits of news, including about how there are signs suggesting the effort to legalize recreational marijuana may not be the slam dunk that it appears to be. 

On social media, the assumption is that come November, California is going to be the latest and the biggest state to allow recreational adult marijuana use. Advocates of Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, certainly appear optimistic.

However, this optimism may be premature. Polls show younger voters, including Republicans, are strongly predisposed to support proposals such as the Nov. 8 ballot measure. But voters who haven’t made up their minds may be dismayed upon learning what’s happened in Colorado since voters there approved pot legalization in 2012.

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• “A decade after California voters were promised $400 million worth of parks in some of the state’s poorest neighborhoods, an Associated Press review finds fewer than half of the 126 projects that received the money have been built, as Democratic lawmakers push to add another $1 billion to the program,” writes the AP.
• “Relocation of Highway 99 in Fresno, a key part of the bullet train project, is over budget, behind schedule and will cost millions of dollars more to complete,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
• “Back in 2005, just 1,841 retirees pulled down more than $100,000 a year in pension checks from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. A decade later, membership in the so-called $100K Club had swelled by nearly 20,000 souls,” reports The Orange County Register.
• “Major labor, environmental and tenants groups have walked away from negotiations over Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to streamline approval for housing developments that include setting aside a percentage of units for low-income Californians, further imperiling the plan’s chances of passing this year,” reports the Los Angeles Times.

Assembly:

• A few hearings.

Senate:

• Hearing on deal casino compacts negotiated by the Brown administration, reports The Sacramento Bee. 

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @xboxonesty

New bill rekindles old human egg fight

Good morning! Happy Monday. Our top story is about a new bill rekindling the old human egg fight.

California women interested in profiting from their eggs — often handsomely — have long availed themselves of private opportunities to do just that. Now, they could have another chance to do so on the medical research market under a new bill.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

• “In wake of Stanford sexual assault case, lawmakers once again pitch mandatory prison time,” writes the Los Angeles Times. 
• “A surge in Democratic voter registration has cut Republicans’ advantage in Orange County to less than 6 percentage points and has doubled the number of Democratic cities over the past year,” writes The Orange County Register.
• Fight over a campaign-funded slate mailer posing as a newspaper heads to federal court. OC Weekly has more. 
• “Bilingual education back on the ballot 18 years after voters rejected it,” writes The Sacramento Bee.

Assembly:

• In at 1 p.m. 

Senate:

• In at 1 p.m. Packed Appropriations agenda starting at 10 a.m.

Gov. Brown: 

• No public events scheduled.

Tips: matt@calwatchog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @APLaurieKellman

Assembly challenger tries to make campaign issue of unreleased tax returns

Good morning and TGIF.

The Democratic challenger in an Orange County Assembly race is going after the incumbent, Republican Young Kim, for not releasing her tax returns — just like Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, is doing to Donald Trump, the billionaire Republican presidential nominee.

But there’s two differences: While releasing tax returns is a time-honored tradition in presidential elections (as is fighting over them), it’s not common for legislative candidates. And unlike Trump, both candidates’ salary information is mostly available online.

The campaign of Sharon Quirk-Silva — the Democrat who Kim knocked out of office in 2014 — said Kim’s refusal to release her tax returns raises questions about her commitment to transparency: What is she hiding?

Of course, the campaign also concedes it doesn’t necessarily believe Kim’s hiding anything. Matthew Reilly, a Quirk-Silva spokesman, told CalWatchdog that “our politics are being dragged down by people who aren’t on the up and up,” but said he didn’t have much reason to believe Kim isn’t on the “up and up.”

“I don’t know,” Reilly said. “I assume that she is, but I don’t know.”

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• The headline says it all: “Mayor of Stockton arrested for playing strip poker with teens and secretly recording it.” The Washington Post has more.
• Legislators and law enforcement have reached a deal on a bill that would curb abuses of civil asset forfeiture — a practice where law enforcement can take citizens’ possessions without a conviction or even an arrest. The Los Angeles Times has more. 
• With efforts to extend climate change policies stalling in the Legislature, Gov. Jerry Brown is considering moving the fight to the 2018 ballot, according to the Los Angeles Times.
• “Assemblyman Roger Hernández, who was booted from his committee posts this summer after a judge issued a domestic violence restraining order against him, continues to draw per diem payments for travel-related expenses to Sacramento despite being absent from work and on medical leave,” reports the Los Angeles Times. 

Assembly:

• Gone ’til Monday. 

Senate:

• Gone ’til Monday. 

Gov. Brown: 

• In El Cajon at 11 a.m. attending the memorial service of SDPD officer Jonathan de Guzman. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @BIG_ASS_FANS

L.A. County under fire for automatic license suspensions for unpaid fines

Good morning. Happy Hump Day.  

Civil rights attorneys filed suit on Tuesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court to block the practice of automatic driver’s license suspensions for unpaid fines, reports the Los Angeles Times.

This is something CalWatchdog has covered extensively, as civil rights groups in Northern California have done the same thing with modest success. 

In other news:

• “With the deadline to pass bills weeks away, California’s housing director is traveling throughout the state seeking to bolster Gov. Jerry Brown’s fast-track housing plan,” writes The Orange County Register.
• The latest fundraising numbers for legislative races are in, showing who is best suited for Election Day, reports The Sacramento Bee.
• UCLA coaches again top the list of highest paid public employees in the state, with football head coach Jim Mora topping the list with $3.5 million in income last year. Capital Public Radio has more.  
• “Californians used 21 percent less water in June than they did in 2013. That wasn’t as much savings as last month or even last year, but state water regulators say they expected conservation to dip. It’s the first month after statewide mandates were eased. Local water agencies now set conservation standards based on supply. Agencies must self-certify that they can provide water for several years. Regulators call it a ‘stress-test,'” reports Capital Public Radio. 

Assembly:

• Next floor session on Thursday. Several hearings today, including a marathon Appropriations hearing.

Senate:

• Next floor session on Thursday. Several hearings today. 

Gov. Brown: 

• Speaking in San Diego at a union convention. 

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New follower: @LeahDurantLaw

Assemblyman under domestic violence restraining order goes reclusive

Good morning! 

After being placed under a three-year restraining order from his wife over domestic violence allegations and subsequently stripped of his committee assignments, including a chairmanship, Assemblyman Roger Hernandez has become reclusive.

First, the West Covina Democrat made his official Twitter account private sometime in July, and then on Monday he went on medical leave for a week or two to start the last month of the legislative session.

A spokesperson for the Hernandez did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but both his office and the office of Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, confirmed to The Sacramento Bee on Monday that Hernandez requested medical leave that would likely extend through this week and much of next week.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

• “California’s largest state employee union has taken the first step to strike, authorizing a membership vote amid contract negotiations with the Brown administration,” reports The Sacramento Bee.
• California push for coal divestment raises concerns, reports CalWatchdog.
• “Twice in recent decades CalPERS fell below 100 percent of the funding needed for promised pensions, and twice CalPERS climbed back. But since a $100 billion investment loss in 2008, the CalPERS funding level has not recovered. Now with about 75 percent of the projected assets needed to pay future pensions, CalPERS has had low investment earnings during the last two fiscal years. Experts expect the trend to continue during the next decade.” Capitol Weekly has more. 
• The Los Angeles Times reports that the largest teachers union has given more than $13 million in the effort to extend the Prop. 30 tax on the highest incomes (now called Prop. 55), while the committee for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gun control ballot measure has substantially outraised the measure’s opponents. 

Assembly:

• Next floor session is Thursday. 
• The Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting is holding two briefings to discuss a proposal that would streamline the vote-by-mail process, according to The Sacramento Bee.

Senate:

• Next floor session is Thursday. No hearings scheduled.

Gov. Brown: 

• No public events announced.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @Johnson40687884 @T_Mac202