Last week the California State Senate and Assembly held their one-day Organizational Session where they swore in newly elected members elected the Senate President pro Tem (Toni Atkins - D, San Diego) and Assembly Speaker (Anthony Rendon - D, Lakewood) and to begin bill introductions for the 2021-2022 Legislative Session.
The usual celebrations were dampened a bit by COVID-19, as family members of the newly-elected and returning members were not allowed at the ceremonies. A handful of Senate and Assembly Members did not travel for the Organizational Session and will officially be sworn in on a later date. The absence of those members did not change any of the votes or actions taken.
Senator Atkins made brief comments and stated the priorities for the coming legislative year would include COVID-19 prevention and response, economic relief and recovery, and chronic challenges facing California that have been made worse by the pandemic. She also mentioned broadband availability, wildfires, and housing as priorities.
Speaker Rendon identified his priorities as police decertification, climate change/wildfires/fire conditions, environmental justice, and expansion of broadband.
The Senate and Assembly will reconvene Monday, January 4, 2021.
Emergency room nurses and doctors as well as other high-risk frontline healthcare workers received the first of two doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in California this week. The state received approximately 33,000 doses of the vaccine and is scheduled to receive an additional 393,900 doses next week.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office for Civil Rights announced yesterday that it is taking corrective action against the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) and the State of California for 
Pope Francis urged countries on Saturday to work towards net-zero carbon emissions and committed Vatican City - the world's smallest state - to reach the target by 2050.
The California Catholic Conference, Office of Restorative Justice and Santa Clara University, Pastoral Ministries Graduate Program with a concentration on Restorative Justice and Chaplaincy, and the (Arch)Diocesan Restorative Justice Directors of California have partnered to offer a free web-based restorative justice chaplaincy program. The January pilot program is aimed at providing training for the spiritual care for the incarcerated and their families, as well as care of victims of crime and their families.
