Good news for Brown’s twin tunnels project

Good morning. Happy Hump Day. 

The California Supreme Court cleared a big obstacle to Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to tunnel more Delta water out of Northern California, allowing the Southland’s Metropolitan Water District to proceed with the purchase of estuary islands that would be key to speeding up construction.

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

• “Orange County congresswoman Loretta Sanchez let loose on President Obama for endorsing her rival in California’s U.S. Senate race, accusing him of being part of the ‘entrenched political establishment’ that has failed California voters,” writes the Los Angeles Times. 
• Premiums for health insurance plans purchased through state-run “Obamacare” exchanges are projected to rise more than 13 percent statewide next year, with some premiums doubling in certain areas of the state. The San Jose Mercury News has more.
• “(Gov. Jerry Brown) has proposed legislation to streamline approval for housing with units for low-income residents. The state Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents ironworkers, roofers, electrical workers and other construction unions, wants Brown to force home-builders to pay construction workers at rates often equivalent to union wages to qualify under the plan, something the governor is resisting,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
• The California Republican Party confirmed that the staffers who fell ill this week at the Republican National Convention in Ohio had norovirus — also known as the winter vomiting bug — but reported there have been no new outbreaks in the past 24 hours.

Legislature:

• Gone ’til August.

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mfleming

New follower: @RSI

By CALWATCHDOG STAFF

• CA Republicans diversifying
• What can be done about mass shootings?
• Tragedy averted in Santa Monica
• Recalling a judge is harder than it looks
• Daylight savings time in Legislature’s crosshairs 

Good morning!

With a little luck at the ballot box, Republicans in the Legislature are set to expand on their increasingly diverse delegation, a far cry from the “Party of Old White Men” it’s been thought of by some for years.

And while Republicans have the primary goal of holding the relatively few seats in the Legislature they already have, increased diversity would show a modernizing party that could expand is electoral appeal. 

“Our party does not engage in the identity politics of the left, but we have placed an emphasis on recruiting and supporting the best candidates for every district,” said CAGOP Vice Chairwoman Harmeet Dhillon. “In our culturally rich state, that candidate is often someone with a minority background.”

CalWatchdog has more. 

In other news:

• The tragic shooting in Orlando yesterday left Americans again wondering if there is anything to be done to curb mass shootings, but sadly there’s not, reports The Orange County Register.
• Apparently unrelated to the Orlando tragedy, an Indiana man armed with three assault rifles and chemicals used to make explosives was arrested in Santa Monica on Sunday, with a gay pride parade as his ultimate target. The San Jose Mercury News/AP has more.
• Calls to recall the judge who sentenced a Stanford University athlete to six months in jail for sexual assault have only increased since the controversial verdict last week. But recalling a judge is more difficult than it seems, reports Capitol Weekly.
• A bill to abolish daylight savings time in California gets its first committee hearing today. The Sacramento Bee has more.   

Assembly:

• In at 1 p.m. Multiple committee hearings.

Senate:

• In at noon. Multiple committee hearings.

Gov. Brown:

• No public events announced.

Tips: matt@calwatchdog.com

Follow us: @calwatchdog @mflemingterp

New followers: @PoliticalRTer @CupOfPolitics

CA Republican Party convention kicks off

TGIF! Today is the first day of the California Republican convention. While political conventions are usually a snoozefest — unless you like a dearth of news and partisans in funny outfits — this should be different. 

All three remaining GOP presidential candidates are scheduled to speak, including business tycoon Donald Trump. Opponents have promised to protest, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Times also highlights some ballot initiatives that California Republicans may consider, including pot, the death penalty, the plastic bag ban, cigarette taxes and guns. 

Assembly Republicans — who, along with their Senate colleagues, are locked in a life or death battle between relevancy and being a super minority — are not expecting to make waves at the convention. Recognizing that the presidential contest will surely overshadow their messaging efforts, Assembly Republicans have resigned to holding seats in 2016, while building caucus unity as well as relationships on the other side of the aisle, in an effort to push an agenda after the election. CalWatchdog has more.

And speaking of Trump, he held a rally in Costa Mesa on Thursday, doubling down on immigration, according to The Sacramento Bee. “No state in America has suffered worse from open borders than the state of California,” Trump said. 

In non-Trump or CAGOP convention news, President Barack Obama, like his predecessors, failed to label as genocide the century-old mass slaughter of Armenians at the hands of the Turks, disappointing both Armenian-American leaders and the New York Times. CalWatchdog has more.