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. 200 - April 26, 2024

State Politics

• Today marks an early legislative deadline: all bills that require the state to spend money must have advanced out of at least one committee in order to be considered this session. CalMatters rounds up a few bills for a progress report.

• In March, the California DSA State Council launched the “Affordable, Rent-Controlled Housing (ARCH) Campaign” in support of a trio of statewide ballot measures  which aim to decommodify housing. California Red reports.

City Politics

• On Monday, Mayor Karen Bass released her draft of the city’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Her draft proposes responding to budget shortfalls by cutting two thousand unfilled positions. The budget would cut nearly 500 unfilled LAPD positions—a sharp turnaround after the mayor last year declared her intent to “restore” LAPD to 9,500 positions. Despite the cuts, however, the overall LAPD budget would increase by 5% due to massive raises approved by City Council last summer. And despite those raises, the LAPD’s sworn officer count continues to decline.  The budget now heads to City Council for committee hearings beginning on April 30. On the same day, the office of Controller Kenneth Mejia will hold a budget town hall.

• On campuses across the country this week, students set up Palestinian Solidarity Encampments to pressure their schools to divest from businesses that support the ongoing genocide in Gaza. At many schools, including in Los Angeles, the response to this exercise of free speech has been to immediately unleash the brutality of law enforcement on their students. Within hours of the establishment of a camp at the University of Southern California, the administration called the LAPD to violently displace student activists. Police made 93 arrests. The next day, UCLA students set up an encampment of their own, but their administration has so far taken a hands-off approach. At both UCLA and Berkeley, where administrators did not escalate, protest has continued peacefully (despite harassment from counter-protesters).

• Also at USC this week, the school tripled down on its decision to cancel the commencement day speech of its valedictorian, who had posted in solidarity with Palestine on her Instagram. After first canceling some of the other planned speeches, they have now canceled the bulk of the year’s graduation ceremony.

Health Care

• AB 2200, also known as Calcare, is a California bill that would set up a statewide single-payer health care system. The bill passed its first hurdle this week, advancing out of the Assembly Health Committee. Capital & Main has more. 

• Governor Gavin Newsom proposedthat Arizona doctors be allowed to provide abortions in California. The proposal is in response to recent attempts to reimpose an 1864 law to ban all abortion in Arizona.

Housing

• The Supreme Court began hearing Johnson v. Grants Pass, Oregon, the case that could open the floodgates for municipal criminalization of homelessness. The opinion is expected in late June.

Labor

• Five more hotels have settled with UNITE HERE Local 11. Find the list of settled and outstanding contract fights here.

Transportation

• This week marked the groundbreaking for a high speed rail line that will connect Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga. Meanwhile, work continues on the initial operating segment—connecting the central valley cities of Merced and Bakersfield—of a high speed rail line that is planned to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco. Some funding for both projects comes from two $3 billion grants provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.

Los Angeles Media

• Happy 200 issues of Thorn West! We are always looking for new writers, new sources, and new ideas for longer-form content. Email us at [email protected] to participate!