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. 41 - January 8, 2021

Coronavirus and Relief

• The FDA has cautioned that the COVID-19 test provided by Curative, a self-administered oral swab, is far more prone to false negative results than the nasal swab tests administered under the guidance of a healthcare professional, and should only be used to test symptomatic patients. Curative processes thousands of tests per day in Los Angeles, including all of the tests given at Dodger Stadium.

• The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors returned this week, and voted to extend the county’s soon-to-expire eviction moratorium by another thirty days. Public comment hammered the ridiculousness of expecting tenants to be able to pay a year’s worth of back-rent after the moratorium is lifted, as the current law mandates, and demanded that the board move to cancel rent entirely.
  

State Politics

• Governor Newsom, as expected, appointed California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to Kamala Harris’s vacated Senate seat, while Assemblymember Shirley Weber was appointed to replace Padilla.

• The California State Legislature disappointingly failed to pass meaningful police reform legislation last year. CalMatters runs down some of the state laws that did pass, and which went into effect on January 1.

Labor

• Reported in KNOCK.LA: Vons and Albertsons have fired all of their non-unionized delivery drivers and will replace them with “independent contractors,” in the wake of the passage of Prop 22.

• As infection rates in Southern California soar to unprecedented levels, SAG-AFTRA has recommended that on-set commercial production be paused.

Criminal Justice Reform

• Ground Game LA hosted an excellent roundtable of public defenders and civil rights advocates to discuss the criminal justice system reforms implemented by incoming District Attorney George Gascón, which touches (at 40:44) on how to support those efforts amid pushback from supporters of the current, punitive, model.

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