The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.

Issue No. 160 - June 2, 2023

City Politics

• Right-wing activists descended on Saticoy Elementary School to protest a planned assembly in honor of Pride month; the anti-Pride rally eventually became violent. (Covered on the ground here.) Last week, a Pride flag at the same school was burned.

• Los Angeles has recently completed a pilot guaranteed-income program, which provided select Angelenos with $1,000 a month for a year. LAist spoke with some project participants over the course of that year.

Housing Rights

• Two cities in southeast Los Angeles County, Maywood (en español) and Cudahy, have taken steps toward implementing rent control policies, with Cudahy’s headed for a final vote and likely approval on June 6. Both stories via LA Public Press.

• Meanwhile, SB 567, the Homelessness Prevention Act — which would strengthen renter protections statewide — passed out of the State Senate, but only after being substantially gutted under pressure by the landlord lobby. Check out the redlining here.

Labor

• Over the course of the first month of the Hollywood writers strike, picket lines have successfully reduced Los Angeles film production by 62.8%, according to FilmLA, which manages the city’s permits.

Transportation

• In the wake of the city’s unveiling of La Sombrita, LA Public Press examines the political apathy and bureaucratic hurdles that make it nearly impossible to fully meet Los Angeles bus riders' needs for bus shelters.

• Metro recently approved its $9 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Streetsblog LA analyzes the good (restored rail service) and bad (status quo policing budget).

Environmental Justice

• California will send $95 million to flood victims in an effort to assist undocumented residents suffering hardship and damage from the recent months of storms. The announcement comes two months after Governor Gavin Newsom promised flood victims that help would come from the state’s Rapid Response Fund.

• A $69.7-million Caltrans project to convert 12.6 miles of US Highway 395 from a two-lane road to a safer four-lane expressway has resulted in repeated destruction of the burial sites of Indigenous people. As of last week, tribal leaders say more than 30 tangled human skeletons had been unearthed at a site near the Inyo County community of Cartago.