Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] CBRT in the News Many Californians Have Just Three Days Of Paid Leave. What If They Get COVID-19?

Millions of California workers are staring down the pandemic with no clear access to an economic safety net if they take time off, a situation that is deepening the state’s COVID-19 crisis and galvanizing policymakers to extend sick-leave mandates.

Federal and state measures that required most businesses to offer two weeks of paid leave to recover from the coronavirus, or to quarantine in case of exposure, expired Jan. 1. Golden State employees have since been left with three days of mandated sick leave for any illness, the state minimum, although employers may choose to give more.

With the virus continuing to infect thousands of Californians every week and dangerous variants spreading, the Legislature is set to vote in the coming weeks on whether to reinstate the two-week obligation. That follows weeks of debate in Sacramento that has drawn worker advocates and business groups into unusually broad coalitions, for and against.

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The rebuttal came last month from a coalition of 112 groups led by the California Chamber of Commerce. “California’s response to COVID-19 cannot continue to be subsidized by the business community,” the group said in a letter to the governor and legislators opposing the bills. The bills offer no California-specific tax credit or funding to employers, although the state “has an approximate $20 billion budget windfall,” the letter said.

It was signed by the California Business Roundtable, the League of California Cities, state trade associations for manufacturers, farmers, retailers, restaurants and trucking companies, along with local chambers.

Read More [[link removed]] Business Climate and Job Creation New Covid-19 Unemployment Benefits To Keep Stimulus Flowing Through Summer

Enhanced unemployment benefits included in the $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief package signed on Thursday by President Biden could keep billions of dollars a week in stimulus flowing into the economy through the summer.

The plan extends two pandemic-related programs and lengthens supplemental $300 payments to all laid-off workers receiving unemployment benefits through early September—well after the effect of $1,400 checks to individuals likely fades. About 20 million people tapped unemployment benefits in mid-February, up from 2 million a year earlier, adding up to more than $10 billion in additional stimulus a week.

Some economists say extending extra jobless benefits for nearly 18 months is a disincentive for some people to return to work, preventing industries such as logistics, construction and certain retailers from finding employees as the economy recovers.

Other economists say the payments have provided a boost to many lower-income families, who have disproportionately lost jobs in the coronavirus pandemic, while in turn pushing money back into the broader economy. The U.S. had 9.5 million fewer jobs in February than a year earlier, according to the Labor Department.

Read More [[link removed]] Biden Tells States to Make All Adults Eligible for Covid-19 Vaccine By May 1

President Biden pressed states to widen Covid-19 vaccine eligibility to all U.S. adults by May 1, calling for an all-hands effort to defeat the coronavirus to set the stage for small gatherings during Independence Day weekend.

“If we do this together, by July the Fourth, there’s a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,” Mr. Biden said during a Thursday night prime-time address from the White House, his first as president.

The president spoke on the same day that he signed into law a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, one year after much of the U.S. economy ground to a halt, as the virus spread. In a 23-minute speech, Mr. Biden said the U.S. was operating on a war footing and urged the weary public to maintain vigilance against the virus. He also reflected on the toll that the pandemic has taken on millions of Americans.

Read More [[link removed]] U.S. Jobless Claims Ease As Hiring Picks Up

New filings for unemployment benefits last week neared their lowest level since the pandemic fueled a surge in layoffs last March, adding to evidence of renewed labor-market growth.

Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to a seasonally adjusted 712,000 in the week ended March 6, down about 200,000 from an early January peak and close to a pandemic low point reached last November.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility in week-to-week numbers, was 759,000 for the week ended March 6, slightly higher than the previous pandemic low recorded last November. The weekly average in 2019, the year before the pandemic started, was 218,000.

Economists expect claims to slowly ease as the economic recovery picks up.

Read More [[link removed]] U.S. Households’ Net Worth Rose To Record $130.2 Trillion In Fourth Quarter

The net worth of U.S. households finished 2020 at the highest level on record, as soaring prices for stocks, real estate and other assets erased losses inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic and related economic downturn.

Household net worth—the difference between assets and liabilities—ended the fourth quarter at $130.2 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. That was up 5.6% from the third quarter and 10% from the end of 2019.

The gains came as financial assets—particularly corporate equities and mutual-fund shares—rose steadily after the first quarter of 2020, when markets suffered a sharp drop. The S&P 500 stock index rose 12% in the fourth quarter and 16% for the full year, propped up by extraordinary stimulus actions from Congress and the Fed.

Americans are also getting a financial boost from rising real-estate prices, with many refinancing mortgages at lower interest rates and taking out cash to pay debts or renovate their homes. The median existing-home price rose to about $310,000 in December, an increase of almost 13% from December 2019.

Read More [[link removed]] California Could Get $150 Billion From Federal COVID-19 Relief Bill

The massive COVID-19 relief bill Congress approved Wednesday will pump more than $150 billion into California's economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration said Wednesday, including a $26 billion windfall for the state's already burgeoning budget surplus.

Nearly half of the money will go to Californians directly in the form of $1,400 checks and expanded unemployment benefits.

Another $15.9 billion will go to public and private schools while $3.6 billion will boost the state's vaccination, testing and contact tracing efforts. There's also money for public transit agencies, airports and child care.

About $16 billion will go to local governments and will be split between cities and counties. And $26 billion will go directly to state government for services impacted by the pandemic.

Toni Atkins, Democratic president pro tempore of the California Senate, called it the state's "fair share."

Read More [[link removed]] What To Know About The Newsom Recall Effort

As Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered his State of the State address on Tuesday, it was hard not to see in it an attempt to defend his tenure against recall efforts that are gaining steam.

“We won’t change course just because of a few naysayers and doomsday-ers,” Mr. Newsom said in an empty Dodgers Stadium on Tuesday. “So to the California critics, who are promoting partisan power grabs and outdated prejudices, and rejecting everything that makes California great, we say this: We will not be distracted from getting shots in arms and our economy booming again.”

With less than a week until the deadline for supporters of the recall to collect the 1.5 million signatures required to validate the effort, Mr. Newsom may benefit from progress on the fronts where he is facing the most criticism: pandemic restrictions on businesses and school reopenings.

Read More [[link removed]] COVID Job Market: California Unemployment Claims Leap Past 100,000

Unemployment claims in California soared well above 100,000 last week, federal officials reported Thursday, a grim setback that suggests coronavirus-linked ailments still afflict the statewide job market.

California workers filed 105,900 initial claims for unemployment benefits last week, up 16,900 from the prior week, the U.S. Labor Department reported.

Last week’s jobless claims remain far above the weekly totals that would be typical for even a moderately healthy job market.

But nearly one year after state and local government agencies began to order business shutdowns to combat the deadly bug, California’s job market remains frail.

In contrast to the struggles in California, unemployment claims nationwide improved last week.

An estimated 712,000 workers in the United States filed unemployment claims during the week ending March 6, down 42,000 from the claims filed in the week ending on Feb. 27. The nationwide numbers were adjusted for seasonal variations.

Read More [[link removed]] Fact-Checking Gavin Newsom's 2021 State Of The State Speech

Thank you, Madame Lt. Governor, for your kind introduction.

And good evening to those joining us virtually tonight – Speaker Rendon, Pro Tem Atkins, members of the California Legislature, and to all of the elected, and state officials.

And to my amazing wife Jennifer, the First Partner of California.

Thank you all for being here in the most 2021 way possible, remotely.

Tonight, we mark an unprecedented moment in California history.

To reflect on where we’ve been this past year, let’s consider where we are.

I’m speaking to you from Dodger Stadium, transformed from the home of last year’s World Series champions into a centerpiece of America’s mass vaccination campaign.

Read More [[link removed]] California Counties Complain Of New Vaccine Delivery As Economy Reopens

California's counties remain skittish over switching up their vaccine delivery systems, with a Santa Clara County official saying the Silicon Valley county will not participate in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to have Blue Shield control COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

Some counties and elected officials are also pushing for Newsom to reconsider a plan to distribute more vaccine to vulnerable neighborhoods, saying that the ZIP codes he planned to use do not capture all the pockets of poverty in the state, including in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The angst over vaccine delivery comes as California slowly reopens more of its economy and allows more activities, including theme parks at reduced capacity. The chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Chapek, said Tuesday that Disneyland Resort will likely reopen by late April.

Several counties are expected to move into less-restrictive operating tiers that can allow more economic activity because of low case rates. But vaccine delivery remains contentious with demand far exceeding supply.

Read More [[link removed]] California To Hit Critical Milestone For Reopening Today

California today is expected to hit a benchmark of delivering 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to underserved communities, triggering a big change that will transform the state’s reopening map from purple to mostly red.

Reaching the milestone sets into motion less stringent statewide standards for when counties can allow indoor activities, such as dining in restaurants and working out in gyms. In some counties, that means those activities, with limitations, will be allowed for the first time since August.

Last week state officials announced that they would relax the COVID-19 case rate needed for counties to move from the most restrictive purple tier to the red tier. Instead of 7 cases per 100,000 residents, the red tier will allow 10 cases per 100,000 residents. This clears the way for counties to allow restaurants, gyms, museums, movie theaters and other businesses to reopen indoors at limited capacity.

The easing of the standards hinges on first administering the 2 million vaccinations in ZIP codes that are considered disadvantaged, based on a set of metrics called the Healthy Places Index that include income, housing, health care and air pollution.

Read More [[link removed]] What California Has Taught Us About The Tension Between COVID Safety And The Economy

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, is a reminder that 30 or 40 years ago, the Golden State was a Republican stronghold and a hotbed of conservative intellectualism. Today, the California GOP is on life support and the state is the crown jewel of Blue America. But one thing hasn’t changed–California is on the front lines of America’s culture wars, which made it a fitting battlefield for the highly politicized, highly controversial and highly emotional tug-of-war between the forces that wanted to keep the economy open and those who wanted to shut it down.

The Shutdown Question Defined America’s Fault Lines

The virus only intensified America’s deep cultural and political divisions, which were at the forefront of the quarrel over shutting down the economy. From the beginning, a person’s position on the issue was one of the most reliable indicators of who they voted for.

“The war between salvaging the economy versus eradicating the pandemic is a conundrum,” said Jolene Caufield, a master of science in professional health studies and senior advisor at medical/health/wellness nonprofit Healthy Howard. “People need to earn money to feed and house themselves but, at the same time, they also want to keep themselves safe from the virus.”

California Made a Great Case Study

Home to nearly 40 million people and a $2.79 trillion GDP, California’s population and economy are enormous, diverse and complex–just like the United States as a whole.

Read More [[link removed]] California Loosens Restrictions On Breweries, Wineries

Continuing efforts to slowly loosen COVID-19 business restrictions, state health officials on Wednesday issued rules allowing breweries and wineries that do not serve meals to reopen outdoors, while also setting a path for the reopening of bars.

According to the updated rules, beginning this Saturday, breweries, wineries and distilleries that do not serve meals will be permitted to reopen outdoors in counties that are in the restrictive "purple" and "red" tiers of the four-tier Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Customers must have advance reservations and will be limited to 90 minutes, and all on-site alcoholic beverage consumption must end at 8 p.m.

In counties listed in the less-restrictive "orange" tier, the operations can reopen indoors at 25% capacity, while in the least-restrictive "yellow" tier, indoor capacity can increase to 50%.

The new rules do not apply to breweries, wineries and distilleries that serve food. Those establishments will continue to be governed by the same rules as restaurants.

Read More [[link removed]] California Prepares To Add 'Green Tier' As Vaccinations Ramp Up

California is looking ahead to life after the pandemic by preparing to add a "green" tier to the state's blueprint for a safer economy.

When health officials designed the four-tiered, yellow-to-purple system last summer, they didn't include a green tier because there simply wasn't an end to the pandemic in sight.

Now, a plan is in the works to lift tough restrictions on businesses and daily life that have been in place for a year now.

“The likelihood of hitting that green tier is probably sooner than some of us thought when we were looking at the summer and fall,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Thursday.

While it's a positive development, a "green" designation won't mean a complete return to normal life.

Being under the green tier would still require mask-wearing and social distancing, Ghaly said.

In an interview, the state's top health official declined to offer more specifics on what restrictions would stay in place.

Read More [[link removed]] A New Economic Forecast Predicts California Will Lead U.S. COVID Recovery

The U.S. is on the verge of the greatest financial rebound in generations—and California is going to do even better, according to a new study by UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

“For the economy, a waning pandemic combined with fiscal relief means a strong year of growth in 2021—one of the strongest years of growth in the last 60 years—followed by sustained higher growth rates in 2022 and 2023,” Anderson senior economist Leo Feler predicts in the school’s quarterly economic outlook, released Wednesday.

In his essay, “Robust Economic Growth and Recovery After a Dreadful Year,” Feler forecasts an economic comeback that would dwarf the average 2.3 percent yearly growth rate the country experienced in the decade following 2010’s Great Recession. After 2020 saw the economy shrink by 3.5 percent, the study estimates the gross domestic product will grow by 6.3 percent this year, 4.6 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023.

“This is a very ‘good news’ forecast,” Feler tells the Los Angeles Times. “We have finally turned the corner.”

Read More [[link removed]] California Could See A Strong But Unequal Economic Recovery

Is a speedy economic recovery for California — and the rest of the country — in the cards? UCLA economists think so.

With mass vaccination underway and more business reopenings around the corner, the UCLA Anderson Forecast, published today, predicts national GDP growth of 6.3% this year after a 3.5% decline in 2020.

The study is also optimistic that jobless Californians will soon find work. It expects the state to return to a record low unemployment rate of 4.1% by 2023, after hitting a record high of 16% in April 2020.

The big picture may be hopeful but forecast director Jerry Nickelsburg worries that California's recovery will be uneven.

He says the high-income tech industry will lead the state's rebound. Meanwhile, low-wage workers in the hardest hit sectors — including tourism, hotels and food service — could take the longest to recover.

"Inequality, which was getting worse in the last decade, absent policy interventions is going to become even worse in the next decade," Nickelsburg said.

Read More [[link removed]] Former Stockton Mayor Tubbs Joins Newsom As Economic Advisor

Gov. Gavin Newsom has tapped former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, nationally known for his work on universal basic income, to become an adviser on income inequality, child poverty and California's economic recovery from Covid-19.

Tubbs, 30, is best known for his work on a Stockton pilot project that provided $500 a month to a small group of low-income residents, a concept that became part of the national political conversation and was promoted by Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. A rising Democratic star, Tubbs suffered a surprising loss in his November bid for a third term.

He told POLITICO that he will become Newsom’s “special adviser on economic mobility and opportunity” beginning Tuesday, with a special emphasis on the Central Valley, where unemployment and poverty rates have been among the highest in the state. The position is unpaid.

"California is the fifth largest economy in the world, and one of the most diverse places in the world," Tubbs said. “And the governor and I are in agreement that economic gains and opportunity have to be broadly shared.’’

Read More [[link removed]] Meet Julie Su, California’s Fighter For Workers

In early February, a few weeks after President Biden announced that he would be nominating Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to head the Department of Labor, California Labor Secretary Julie Su was told the president wanted her as Walsh’s deputy.

This leap into federal policy-making has been a long time coming for Su, who has spent almost three decades building up a strong résumé as an advocate for the underrepresented. Su, a short woman in her early 50s with a degree from Harvard Law School, was born in Madison, Wis., to immigrant parents (her mother, unable to afford a ticket on a passenger ship, came to the United States on a cargo ship from China; her father is from Taiwan). The family moved to the Los Angeles area when Su was a young child, and Southern California has been the family home ever since. Su has picked up numerous prestige awards over the decades, ranging from a Skadden Foundation Fellowship that allowed her to work on racial and economic justice issues during the first decade-plus of her career—including a high-profile case seeking back pay for exploited Thai garment workers being held in near-slavery conditions in the town of El Monte, just east of Los Angeles—to a MacArthur “genius” award. But she is modest in touting these accomplishments, and she seems reluctant to acknowledge the pedestal upon which these organizations have placed her.

Read More [[link removed]] COVID-19 Pandemic Is Speeding Up Rush To Automate Some Jobs

When COVID-19 sent millions of Californians home to work remotely, shop online and video conference their doctors, companies adapted by replacing certain services with new technology.

Now, that automation is reshaping jobs faster than previously thought.

“Everything’s online. It’s become the nature of our lives during the pandemic,” said Jane Oates, president of the nonprofit WorkingNation and former assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor during the Obama administration. “It’s going to accelerate the use of technology in every job and for functions where it wasn’t used before. Some jobs that were already beginning to go, the pandemic will accelerate their demise.”

The pandemic is speeding up America’s rush toward automation, a trend that is now set to displace an additional 8.4 million American workers by 2030, according to a study by the research branch of the Washington-based management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. That’s a 23% increase from a pre-COVID scenario. The report modeled the effects of the pandemic on automation, accelerated e-commerce and remote work in more than 800 occupations in the U.S. and found that jobs in sales, office support, and food and customer service will face the largest losses.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change Higher Gas, Energy Prices Boost Consumer Inflation At Start Of Year

U.S. consumer prices picked up early this year as the pace of the economic recovery increased following a winter lull, buoyed by higher gasoline and energy costs.

The consumer-price index—which measures what consumers pay for everyday items including food, clothing, cars and recreational activities—increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in February from the prior month, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

Gasoline prices jumped 6.4% over the previous month, driving more than half of the overall increase, while electricity and natural gas prices rose 3.9%. New-vehicle prices were flat and used-vehicle prices fell for the fourth straight month, while apparel and medical care costs both fell.

The so-called core price index, which excludes the often-volatile categories of food and energy, rose 0.1% in February versus January, and was up 1.3% from the year prior. Core prices had remained flat over the previous three months.

Read More [[link removed]] Indiana, 17 Other States File Brief To Keep California Cities From Setting Climate Policy

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita wants to stop what he thinks is California’s attempt to establish a nationwide climate change policy, and he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will help.

Rokita, along with 17 other states, filed a brief with the Supreme Court on Thursday, asking the court to overtime an appeals court decision that allows a lawsuit filed by San Francisco and Oakland to remain in state court.

Both cities sued to hold several major fossil fuel companies liable for the costs of global climate change. The cities claim in their lawsuit the companies have broken the common law of public nuisance by producing and selling fossil fuels, Rokita said in a news release.

“Hoosiers should not be ruled by the Left Coast,” Rokita said.

In the brief, Rokita argued federal law gives the companies a right to have the claims heard by a federal court, rather than a state court.

Read More [[link removed]] Activists Want To Sink This Pick For Kerry's Climate Team

Progressive groups are taking issue with the possibility that White House climate envoy John Kerry might ask a Wall Street heavyweight to join his international climate team.

Much of their concern about Mark Gallogly centers on his work in private equity. They say that Centerbridge Partners LP — the financial firm Gallogly co-founded in 2005 — has profited off climate-fueled disasters in California and Puerto Rico. News of Gallogly's potential hiring was first reported by Axios.

Hiring Gallogly, progressives say, would run counter to President Biden's goal of simultaneously addressing climate change and social inequality. Their unease threatens to override Gallogly's longtime support of Democratic candidates and his recent efforts to take a socially conscious approach to investing.

The work of Centerbridge Partners "gives us some cause for concern," said Max Moran of the Revolving Door Project, a progressive group that scrutinizes political appointees' corporate connections.

Read More [[link removed]] 'Kern Runs On Oil': As California Confronts Climate Crisis, One County Is Ready To Drill

Kern county, which sprawls more than 8,000 square miles, connecting the Sierra Nevada slopes and the Mojave Desert to the counties on the Central Coast, is the oil capital of California. The county produces about 70% of the state’s oil and more than 90% of its natural gas – and it has plans to ramp up production.

This week the county approved an ordinance that would allow thousands of new wells to be drilled over the next 15 years. The decision comes despite deep opposition from local farmers and environmental groups, and it puts the county directly at odds with a state that has branded itself as a trailblazer on climate and set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In doing so, Kern has become a microcosm of a debate happening across America – and around the world – about how to tackle the climate crisis in communities that are built on fossil fuels.

“Kern county runs on oil,” as the county chairman, Phillip Peters, concisely puts it.

Read More [[link removed]] Go-Ahead For More Oil Wells In Kern County Frustrates California's Climate Ambitions

A small oil boom may be dawning in the flatlands outside Bakersfield, where many are hoping for a petroleum-led economic bump for the San Joaquin Valley, but where others see California losing its will to break away from fossil fuels.

Leaders in Kern County, the heart of the state’s still-bustling oil country, approved a policy this week that will streamline the approval of drilling, and potentially allow nearly 2,700 new oil and gas wells annually. This would mean more than 30% more drill sites in California over the next 15 years.

The increase comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom praises California as a leader in the nation’s shift to clean energy. The governor recently set an ambitious goal of requiring all new cars sold in the state to be electric by 2035. Still, many say Newsom needs to do more to halt fossil fuel extraction and get California to live up to its climate-friendly hype.

Read More [[link removed]] California Legislators Take Aim At Plastics With New Bill Package, Including Contested Producer Responsibility Plan

California lawmakers intend for this package of bills to be a "coordinated, multi-faceted approach” to addressing climate change and achieving the state’s goal of recycling, composting or reducing solid waste by 75%, they said in a news release announcing the package — a goal the state had hoped to, but did not, meet in 2020.

State lawmakers have had different ideas on how to achieve those goals over the years, but the package of bills is a sign that lawmakers are starting to strategize in a more streamlined way, said Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), whose organization is a co-sponsor of several bills. In past years, she said, legislators sometimes introduced competing bills, which hurt the ability to pass pro-recycling initiatives, “so it’s exciting to see legislators are working together, not just on plastics bills, but also waste bills,” she said.

Several bills in the package were introduced without much detail, including the previously contentious SB 54, sponsored by Sen. Ben Allen, chair of the state Senate Environmental Quality Committee. During the last two years, the bill has undergone several language changes and intense scrutiny, ultimately failing to pass by the end of the 2019 or 2020 legislative sessions.

Read More [[link removed]] The Time Has Come For California To Ban Front Yard Lawns For New Homes

The climate change cabal in Sacramento is ignoring some extremely low hanging fruit in their bid to protect us from ourselves.

The reason they don’t see it is simple. It doesn’t involve raising taxes, rewarding corporations or disruptor greenies they align with, nor does it destroy jobs.

The California Legislature needs to ban grass lawns for front yards as well as general commercial development for all new building projects.

It is clear whether your faith is in centuries of dendrochronology — the study of tree rings — or the current take on climate change droughts are going to be a part of the western United States going forward. And even if they are not, it is clear from development patterns since 1850 as well as that of the fate of indigenous American civilizations in what is now the West that disappeared during sustained drought periods we will have perennial water shortages.

Read More [[link removed]] Workforce Development California Schools To Get $15.3 Billion In Federal Aid Under American Rescue Plan

The nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed Thursday will send $15.3 billion in assistance to California’s K-12 schools. It will be by far the biggest of three relief acts that Congress passed in less than a year to combat the pandemic and the recession.

Altogether, federal funding to the state’s schools from the CARES Act last spring, a second round in late December and the new American Rescue Plan totals $26.4 billion — more than quadruple the $6 billion the state received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed during the Great Recession.

That’s about $4,300 per student — a record infusion of money. But the amount among districts will vary widely, since the funding is heavily weighted toward children in poverty, which Congress recognized as the most impacted by the pandemic and needing the most help.

Read More [[link removed]] Summer School For Thousands Of Kids: SF And San Diego Make Plans

Two of the state’s largest districts have unveiled plans for multimillion-dollar summer school programs, signaling this could be one of California’s main strategies to address a year of learning loss during the pandemic.

San Francisco Unified announced a $50 million initiative Wednesday to offer in-person classes, summer camps and child care to all 52,000 K-12 public school students free of charge, with online options for those who choose. On Tuesday, San Diego Unified approved a $22 million summer school program with in-person and online options, intended to help students improve their grades and increase the number of graduating high school seniors; currently, 20% aren’t on track to graduate in June.

Maria Su, executive director of San Francisco’s Department of Children, Youth and Families: “We want to get children back to the habit of waking up, going to a place to learn and to have fun. We need to rebuild real fast those behaviors so these kids are going to be ready for fall.”

Read More [[link removed]] Parents Sue San Diego Unified For Failing To Provide In-Person Instruction

Three parents filed a class-action lawsuit against San Diego Unified this week alleging that the state’s second-largest school district failed to provide sufficient in-person learning and sufficient access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lawsuit references a part of Senate Bill 98, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last June, that says school districts and charter schools “shall offer in-person instruction, and may offer distance learning.” SB 98 says public schools can offer distance learning if they have been ordered by a state or local public health officer, or for students whose health would be at risk by in-person instruction.

The lawsuit argues that San Diego Unified — which has provided limited in-person services to a small percentage of its students while its schools remained closed to general in-person instruction — violated SB 98 because it has not offered in-person learning for the vast majority of its students.

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure and Housing California Households Owe $1 Billion In Water Bills, Highlighting Affordability Crisis

For many Californians, water bills are piling up at unprecedented rates during the pandemic, exacerbating water affordability issues that disproportionately impact low-income residents and communities of color. A recent survey by the California State Water Resources Board, which was supported by research from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, shows the extent of water bill debt accumulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Households owe a combined $1 billion in unpaid bills, which has increased substantially since the pandemic. The report finds that roughly 12% of Californians have overdue payments on their water bills. The average debt amounts to $500, but about 155,000 households owe more than $1,000 in unpaid bills. The data illuminates racial inequalities in access to affordable drinking water. Households in Black and Latino neighborhoods are more likely to have unpaid bills and have disproportionately higher amounts of debt. These racial disparities exist even after adjusting for income and housing. “Many of these communities already faced challenges pre-COVID, and now they are most heavily impacted by the water debt,” said Peter Roquemore, a researcher on the study and water project manager at the Luskin Center for Innovation. Los Angeles County contains the highest concentration of debt within the state, especially among residents in South L.A. Many of these neighborhoods also lack equitable access to safe and clean water, largely because the small water systems in the region struggle to serve these neighborhoods. Without immediate government support, many of these small water systems risk failure.

Read More [[link removed]] Biden Is Betting His Whole Climate Agenda On Infrastructure

Candidate Joe Biden rode into the White House promising to build back the economy after the devastation of COVID-19 with cleaner energy and a lower carbon footprint. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that President Biden signed into law March 11, however, does little in the way of fulfilling that pledge.

That makes this the sixth pandemic stimulus package in roughly 12 months to put off significant action on clean energy and climate change mitigation, yet another sign of what many advocates now conclude is an opportunity wasted. The White House and Democratic leadership in Congress have said that low-carbon energy policy is still very much on the agenda, but that they’re aiming to load much of that into an infrastructure bill the Biden administration will put forward next.

Dividing the two priorities is risky, however, because an infrastructure bill with a heavy emphasis on climate mitigation could be even more contentious than the stimulus package. Polls showed widespread enthusiasm for this round of relief, yet the bill garnered not a single GOP vote in either chamber.

Read More [[link removed]] CEQA Is An Abomination

By any reasonable metric, the empty lot on the corner of First and Lorena Street in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles is a natural place to build housing. With a bus stop next door and an Expo Line light-rail station less than a quarter mile away, residents would enjoy an easy 30-minute commute to one of the densest business districts in North America. They could walk to daily necessities such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and restaurants, making car ownership mostly optional. And thanks to the energy efficiencies of multifamily living, folks moving in from the sprawl that otherwise defines L.A. would see their environmental impact plummet.

Yet when a local nonprofit developer proposed several years ago to build a 49-unit apartment building on the lot—with 24 homes set aside for disabled veterans experiencing homelessness—it was slammed with an environmental lawsuit. A single angry neighbor was able to delay the project, thanks to a piece of legislation known as the California Environmental Quality Act. Although a 189-page assessment found that all possible environmental effects could be mitigated, the suit demanded that planners spend years conducting additional environmental research. The site—covered in cracked concrete and lined with a barbed-wire-topped chain-link fence—remains empty to this day.

Read More [[link removed]] Bay Area Tenants Shut Down Contra Costa County Eviction Court

Contra Costa County residents, joined by tenants from throughout the Bay Area, shut down the remote Contra Costa courthouse in a virtual civil disobedience on Friday, March 5th at 1:15 PM. Contra Costa County ranks as the Bay Area county with the second highest number of evictions during the pandemic. From March 2020 to December 2020, 135 evictions took place in Contra Costa, compared to eight in Alameda County and 17 in San Francisco County (source).

The Bay Area Regional Tenant Organizing Network (RTO), a coalition of 30+ tenant groups throughout the Bay Area including Contra Costa community groups Monument Impact and East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, organized the disruption to stop evictions scheduled for hearings. Over 100 people participated in order to urge Presiding Judge Hardie to halt all eviction proceedings during the pandemic and call on Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston to immediately stop enforcing lock-outs during the pandemic.

“Tenants were already facing a housing crisis before the pandemic started, so COVID-19 and its economic impacts have only made this worse,” said Jose Cordon of Monument Impact, an RTO member group leading the action. “While many corporate landlords are taking advantage of the loopholes in the County, State, and Federal moratoriums to file evictions, working families — primarily Black, immigrant, people of color, and women — put their lives at risk and forgo food and water to pay rent and avoid eviction.”

Read More [[link removed]] 40 Cities That Could Be Poised For A Housing Crisis

The lessons of the 2008 housing crisis are a living memory, and the effects of the recession of that era still are being felt. Although today’s housing market is largely hot, experts are bracing for a wave of evictions triggered by pandemic-related disruptions. That, they fear, could be the catalyst for a different kind of housing crisis that could rival even the dreariest days of the Great Recession — all with COVID-19 still far from contained.

Some American cities are much more vulnerable to a housing downturn than others, according to a new study from GOBankingRates.

Using data from sources that include the U.S. Census Bureau, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the 2019 American Community Survey and RealtyTrac, GOBankingRates identified the 40 cities most at risk for experiencing a widespread housing crisis. The study examined factors such as mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and homeowner and rental vacancy rates.

Read More [[link removed]] Occupy Hotel Rooms: Inside LA's New Push To Solve Homelessness

Hotels don’t want to shelter homeless people. Advocates say it shouldn’t be a choice.

COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on Southern California’s longstanding housing woes. Since the start of the pandemic, Los Angeles County’s homeless population has ballooned to around 66,000 — an especially concerning fact considering that people without housing are much more likely to contract and die from the disease. At the same time, only 42 percent of the region’s hotel rooms are occupied, leaving roughly 50,000 rooms sitting empty on any given day.

That contradiction did not escape the notice of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who announced last April that he had secured funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help shelter individuals in unoccupied hotel rooms statewide. In Los Angeles, the goal was to use the program, dubbed “Project Roomkey,” to shelter a quarter of the county’s homeless population. But nearly one year later, the city has largely failed to get people off the streets and out of the way of the virus, partially due to hotels’ reluctance to participate in the FEMA-backed program.

Read More [[link removed]] How Pre-Approved ADUs Will Tackle California’s Housing Shortage

California is suffering from an extreme homelessness problem. In particular, Los Angeles recently counted around 15,000 chronically unsheltered individuals—a figure that’s forecasted to nearly double over the next two years. In 2017, to help combat the issue, the state enacted legislation that overhauled barriers to residential permits that have long contributed to the state’s drastic housing shortage. The program legalized the creation of accessory dwelling units—commonly known as “granny flats,” backyard houses, or ADUs—that are small-scale, standalone residences built on properties zoned for single-family homes. Within a short amount of time, the state received more than 1,900 applications for ADU approval. Since then, building permits for ADUs in Los Angeles have nearly tripled and now comprise a staggering one-fifth of permits issued for all homes.

Unfortunately, that’s often easier said than done. One major drawback to securing ADU permits has been red tape: it often takes Angelenos four to six weeks of costly negotiations with the local government to approve their construction. A new initiative organized by Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti’s office in collaboration with the city’s Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) seeks to change that. The newly launched Accessory Dwelling Unit Standard Plan Program will offer homeowners more than 20 pre-approved designs for the increasingly popular housing typology, reducing the month-long review process to as little as one day. “This program is about making ADUs more accessible, more affordable, and more beautiful,” says Garcetti, “and making them part of the blueprint of our efforts to tackle our housing crunch and create more affordable communities citywide.”

Read More [[link removed]] Housing Projects Planned For Wildfire Zones Challenged By State. But Residents Want Them Built

Tucked between Wine Country and Clear Lake, the unsung Guenoc Valley is in some ways a prime spot to build a home. Fresh air. Fragrant stands of oak and pine. Views of rolling hills in every direction.

But it’s also a prime place to burn.

That’s why the developer of a massive housing project here, with designs for 1,400 homes as well as numerous hotels, shops and restaurants, is going out of his way to fortify this picturesque, yet repeatedly scorched countryside with an unprecedented line of wildfire defenses.

Vineyards would serve as fire breaks. Grazing goats, cattle and sheep would reduce thickets of combustible brush. Cameras would provide early detection of flames. Safe areas would be created for those unable to flee a fast-moving blaze.

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion Newsom's $1.5 Billion Investment In Clean Transportation And Jobs Is Vital To Economic Recovery

With vaccines being rolled out, job creation and economic recovery should now be at the top of the list of our state’s priorities as we consider how to use the budget to address the devastating impact of the pandemic.

A century ago, the explosive growth of the automobile industry sparked an economic revolution in the United States. Seemingly overnight, thousands of Americans were put to work making steel, rubber and constructing roads.

Californians were at the heart of this economic boom. In the 1940s and 1950s, auto plants hummed in the heart of Los Angeles County, and thousands of Angelenos churned out automobiles at a rate reaching a half million or more cars a year.

Today, we’re on the cusp of a similar revolution as electric cars and trucks sweep the globe, and again, California is positioned to reap the enormous economic and quality of life benefits that this transition will deliver – but only if we support present and future workers in this industry with smart consistent policy and funding that will help it thrive. And, in doing so, put people back to work right away.

Read More [[link removed]] California's Economy Is Failing Women. Here's Why We Need Workplace Reform

Since the coronavirus began its rampage, with most schools unable to stay open, women have been torn from the workforce. In December, women accounted for 100% of job losses across the country. That month, 154,000 Black women left the labor force — the largest one-month drop among that group since the pandemic began.

The consequences have been severe in California, where nearly 45% of the workforce last year filed for unemployment insurance. Meanwhile, many women are still juggling their jobs and a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities. Women are also much more likely to care for sick family members. And when women, especially single mothers, fall ill, the burdens can become unbearable.

The lack of support from businesses and the government has exposed the need for fundamental changes in a system that still can’t seem to decide if women are second-class citizens or superheroes. Spoiler: we’re neither.

Read More [[link removed]] Policy Traps That Imperil California's Job Market

The U.S. economy is poised to stage a strong comeback in post pandemic 2021. The Congressional Budget Office predicts Gross Domestic Product growth of 3.7%. Other indicators such as manufacturing, construction and trades are trending upward. The CBO says the U.S. economy may reach a pre-pandemic peak by mid-2021. Thankfully, the U.S. economy looks on track.

California, however, appears to be on a more perilous course.

The Golden State has a large role in the U.S. economy, but their economic outcomes don’t always walk in lock step. On the positive side, the state’s GDP, $3.2 trillion, represents 14.6% of the total U.S. economy – more than any other state. In addition, California’s GDP has shown a pattern of growth for more than a decade.

But GDP is just one measure of the economy. Another important measure is employment. In California, there are troubling signs.

Read More [[link removed]] Texas Is The Future — If Only It Doesn't Become California

More Americans are realizing that Texas is the future. With its vast land area, thriving cities, ample resources and cosmopolitan diversity, the Lone Star State is attracting inflows of population from all over the country, and the news media seems to recognize the state’s importance. But if it’s going to fulfill its promise, Texas will have to make some changes.

Its status as the state that embodies America’s future is most clearly seen when compared to California. For decades, the Golden State outgrew the Lone Star State, but in recent years the gap has begun to narrow.

Dysfunctional California politics have made housing unaffordable, causing people to flee to Texas’ sprawling, comparatively cheap suburbia and low tax rates. But if Texas is going to provide housing, jobs, and a high quality of life to those new arrivals — and thus ensure the boom continues — it’s going to have to improve its energy infrastructure, technology policy, universities and urbanism.

The state’s most obvious shortcomings were demonstrated in the recent winter storm, which left millions of Texans without heat or electricity during a rare streak of below-freezing temperatures that killed at least 58. After seeing power plants of every type fail, Texans were treated to the shameful spectacle of their governor and one of their senators attempting to blame the power outage on wind power and progressive energy policy. In fact, it was Texas’ failure to winterize power plants and natural gas infrastructure, as well as its insistence on being cut off from the rest of the country’s power grid, that left its citizens with their teeth chattering in lightless houses.

Read More [[link removed]] Save Or Spend? What California And Its Cities Should Do With Billions In Federal Relief

For months, communities across the country have been preparing for the worst. The pandemic shutdowns hit local governments hard, drying up revenue from taxes on sales, business receipts and tourism. Many cities were planning or had enacted furloughs, layoffs, service cuts and other painful penny-pinching measures to close budget deficits.

Not anymore. The $1.9-trillion relief package signed by President Biden on Thursday includes $350 billion in aid for states and local governments, on top of the billions allocated for schools, transit agencies, health departments and “critical” state and tribal infrastructure projects. That money is supposed to be used to replace lost revenue and restore services. In many cases, the relief will exceed the deficits.

Now, once financially floundering cities and states will actually be flush with cash. Suddenly difficult decisions over what services and personnel to cut to balance budgets will become fights over how to spend this largesse. (The law does not allow the aid to be spent on pensions or tax cuts.) After so many months of belt-tightening and mounting expenses, this is a good problem to have. In fact, Biden hadn’t even signed the bill this week before advocacy groups began calling on elected leaders to start the spending spree.

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