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"bio": "\u003ca href=\"http://www.MarkFiore.com\">MarkFiore.com\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/markfiore\">Follow on Twitter\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Fiore-Animated-Political-Cartoons/94451707396?ref=bookmarks\">Facebook\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"mailto:mark@markfiore.com\">email\u003c/a>\r\n\r\nPulitzer Prize-winner, Mark Fiore, who the Wall Street Journal has called “the undisputed guru of the form,” creates animated political cartoons in San Francisco, where his work has been featured regularly on the San Francisco Chronicle’s web site, SFGate.com. His work has appeared on Newsweek.com, Slate.com, CBSNews.com, MotherJones.com, DailyKos.com and NPR’s web site. Fiore’s political animation has appeared on CNN, Frontline, Bill Moyers Journal, Salon.com and cable and broadcast outlets across the globe.\r\n\r\nBeginning his professional life by drawing traditional political cartoons for newspapers, Fiore’s work appeared in publications ranging from the Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times. In the late 1990s, he began to experiment with animating political cartoons and, after a short stint at the San Jose Mercury News as their staff cartoonist, Fiore devoted all his energies to animation.\r\nGrowing up in California, Fiore also spent a good portion of his life in the backwoods of Idaho. It was this combination that shaped him politically. Mark majored in political science at Colorado College, where, in a perfect send-off for a cartoonist, he received his diploma in 1991 as commencement speaker Dick Cheney smiled approvingly.\r\nMark Fiore was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning in 2010, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 2004 and has twice received an Online Journalism Award for commentary from the Online News Association (2002, 2008). Fiore has received two awards for his work in new media from the National Cartoonists Society (2001, 2002), and in 2006 received The James Madison Freedom of Information Award from The Society of Professional Journalists.",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> on Friday signed into law four bills aimed at curbing a startling rise in DUI fatalities in recent years, including measures that make it easier to charge repeat drunk drivers with a felony and, if they kill someone, with murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation follows \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/series/license-to-kill/\">a CalMatters series\u003c/a> that revealed the state was unable — or unwilling — to get dangerous drivers off the road before it was too late. Many kept driving recklessly even after killing someone, and some even killed again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bills were the last ones standing from an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2026/02/california-lawmakers-unveil-driver-safety-reforms/\">initial package\u003c/a> of 17 aimed at addressing traffic deaths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most failed in the face of fierce opposition from progressive groups that argued increasing enforcement and penalties will disproportionately harm low-income and historically marginalized residents, and are not the best way to address traffic safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some of the bills that passed were pared back during the legislative process, the new laws still notably increase potential penalties for repeat DUI offenders in a state that’s historically had some of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/10/california-dui-failure/\">weakest DUI laws\u003c/a> in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that four bills got through to the finish line leaves me very hopeful that California is ready for change and sees the need to make the state safer,” said Jennifer Levi, whose 18-year-old son Braun was killed in May 2025 by a suspected drunk driver with a prior DUI arrest. “I have mixed emotions. My victory is the result of losing a child and I’d do anything in the world to have my son back alive with our family. But I cannot let this happen to other people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12101479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12101479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jennifer Levi addresses the media during a press conference at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Feb. 12, 2026. Levi recounted how her son, Braun Levi, was killed by a drunk driver in May of 2025. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Levi became a fierce road safety advocate after her son’s death, working with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and pushing state leaders to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She partnered with state Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Democrat from Norwalk \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb907\">on a bill\u003c/a> to significantly increase criminal penalties for repeat drunk drivers. Archuleta’s own granddaughter was killed by a drunk driver. Levi said Newsom and his wife came to her home recently to mark the signing of the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A photo, showing the smiling first couple along with Archuleta and Levi in her dining room, was included with \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/25/governor-newsom-signs-brauns-law-and-package-of-bills-to-crack-down-on-dui-offenders/\">the bill signing announcement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting law will make it easier to charge drunk drivers with murder if they have a prior DUI arrest – which had been difficult if the previous DUI charge had been pled down to a lesser crime.[aside postID=news_12100741 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/NationalWeatherServiceGetty-1920x1272.jpg']The law will also increase the criminal penalties for drivers who kill someone in a hit and run if they had a prior DUI at the time of the fatal crash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having lost my granddaughter to a repeat drunk driver, this is personal. No family should have to endure what mine has, or what has happened to the Levi family,” said Archuleta, according to the statement announcing the bill signing. “Thank you to Governor Newsom for taking bold action to support families that have been devastated by drunk drivers. These are preventable tragedies. Nothing will ever bring my Samantha back or bring Braun back to the Levi family, but in signing SB 907 California is finally stepping up for victims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other bills the governor signed included one from Assemblymember Nick Schultz, a Democrat from Burbank. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1546\">That new law\u003c/a> will allow prosecutors to charge a third DUI within 10 years as a felony. Previously, it wasn’t until a fourth DUI that law enforcement could seek the stiffer charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also signed into law two bills from Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale who spent years working as a California Highway Patrol officer before joining the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1685\">increases the points\u003c/a> that most drivers convicted of killing someone while driving drunk get on their license from two to three. The bill initially would have increased the points for all vehicular manslaughter convictions and not just those involving intoxication, but it was watered down during the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081739\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The DMV has asked for $55 million to share its driver license data to a national organization. Advocates say the move could endanger unauthorized immigrants. Department of Motor Vehicles parking lot in central Fresno on Dec. 13, 2022. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lackey’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1687\">other successful bill\u003c/a> requires the DMV to revoke a driver’s license for six years if they drive drunk and hurt someone after having four prior DUIs. While the bills do increase penalties for drunk driving, several road safety measures failed this session as the state grapples with a more than \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/10/california-dui-failure/\">50% increase\u003c/a> in alcohol-related roadway deaths over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One measure that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2026/08/california-lawmakers-gut-major-dui-reform/\">notably failed\u003c/a> would have required first-time DUI offenders to install in-car breathalyzers. Most states have such a requirement, but California only mandates the devices for repeat offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a signing statement accompanying one of the bills, Newsom referenced his office’s work on that failed bill saying that “the Legislature should return to that broader effort next year” and work on “comprehensive, long-term framework for DUI sanctions” that are clear and consistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Levi says she’ll continue pushing the Legislature to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m ready to keep fighting, there’s more work to be done,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2026/09/california-new-dui-laws-2026/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most failed in the face of fierce opposition from progressive groups that argued increasing enforcement and penalties will disproportionately harm low-income and historically marginalized residents, and are not the best way to address traffic safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some of the bills that passed were pared back during the legislative process, the new laws still notably increase potential penalties for repeat DUI offenders in a state that’s historically had some of the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/10/california-dui-failure/\">weakest DUI laws\u003c/a> in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that four bills got through to the finish line leaves me very hopeful that California is ready for change and sees the need to make the state safer,” said Jennifer Levi, whose 18-year-old son Braun was killed in May 2025 by a suspected drunk driver with a prior DUI arrest. “I have mixed emotions. My victory is the result of losing a child and I’d do anything in the world to have my son back alive with our family. But I cannot let this happen to other people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12101479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12101479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/09/011226-DUI-Bills-Presser-MG-CM-13-1-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jennifer Levi addresses the media during a press conference at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Feb. 12, 2026. Levi recounted how her son, Braun Levi, was killed by a drunk driver in May of 2025. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Levi became a fierce road safety advocate after her son’s death, working with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and pushing state leaders to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She partnered with state Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Democrat from Norwalk \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb907\">on a bill\u003c/a> to significantly increase criminal penalties for repeat drunk drivers. Archuleta’s own granddaughter was killed by a drunk driver. Levi said Newsom and his wife came to her home recently to mark the signing of the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A photo, showing the smiling first couple along with Archuleta and Levi in her dining room, was included with \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/09/25/governor-newsom-signs-brauns-law-and-package-of-bills-to-crack-down-on-dui-offenders/\">the bill signing announcement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resulting law will make it easier to charge drunk drivers with murder if they have a prior DUI arrest – which had been difficult if the previous DUI charge had been pled down to a lesser crime.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The law will also increase the criminal penalties for drivers who kill someone in a hit and run if they had a prior DUI at the time of the fatal crash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having lost my granddaughter to a repeat drunk driver, this is personal. No family should have to endure what mine has, or what has happened to the Levi family,” said Archuleta, according to the statement announcing the bill signing. “Thank you to Governor Newsom for taking bold action to support families that have been devastated by drunk drivers. These are preventable tragedies. Nothing will ever bring my Samantha back or bring Braun back to the Levi family, but in signing SB 907 California is finally stepping up for victims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other bills the governor signed included one from Assemblymember Nick Schultz, a Democrat from Burbank. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1546\">That new law\u003c/a> will allow prosecutors to charge a third DUI within 10 years as a felony. Previously, it wasn’t until a fourth DUI that law enforcement could seek the stiffer charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom also signed into law two bills from Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale who spent years working as a California Highway Patrol officer before joining the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1685\">increases the points\u003c/a> that most drivers convicted of killing someone while driving drunk get on their license from two to three. The bill initially would have increased the points for all vehicular manslaughter convictions and not just those involving intoxication, but it was watered down during the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12081739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12081739\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/DMVCM1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The DMV has asked for $55 million to share its driver license data to a national organization. Advocates say the move could endanger unauthorized immigrants. Department of Motor Vehicles parking lot in central Fresno on Dec. 13, 2022. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lackey’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1687\">other successful bill\u003c/a> requires the DMV to revoke a driver’s license for six years if they drive drunk and hurt someone after having four prior DUIs. While the bills do increase penalties for drunk driving, several road safety measures failed this session as the state grapples with a more than \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/10/california-dui-failure/\">50% increase\u003c/a> in alcohol-related roadway deaths over the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One measure that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2026/08/california-lawmakers-gut-major-dui-reform/\">notably failed\u003c/a> would have required first-time DUI offenders to install in-car breathalyzers. Most states have such a requirement, but California only mandates the devices for repeat offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a signing statement accompanying one of the bills, Newsom referenced his office’s work on that failed bill saying that “the Legislature should return to that broader effort next year” and work on “comprehensive, long-term framework for DUI sanctions” that are clear and consistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Levi says she’ll continue pushing the Legislature to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m ready to keep fighting, there’s more work to be done,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/investigation/2026/09/california-new-dui-laws-2026/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-demands-less-plastic-in-packaging-manufacturers-say-youll-pay-more-for-stuff",
"title": "California Demands Less Plastic in Packaging. Manufacturers Say You’ll Pay More for Stuff",
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"headTitle": "California Demands Less Plastic in Packaging. Manufacturers Say You’ll Pay More for Stuff | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two dozen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> Assembly Democrats and one state senator sent a letter Wednesday to legislative leaders asking them to delay fees under SB 54, the state’s landmark plastic reduction law, for two years — an eleventh-hour push as the Legislature hurtles toward the end of session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter, addressed to Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, was signed by 23 Assemblymembers and Sen. Melissa Hurtado.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It asks lawmakers to pause fee assessment and collection this year and next, commit to a “reform package” next session, and increase legislative oversight of the program going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The request lands amid a broader fight over how the plastics law is rolling out. Little by little California is demanding that the packages you pick up at your doorstep or at the store contain less plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker sorts plastics at Ridwell’s processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed four years ago aims to phase out 25% of non-recyclable, non-compostable plastic by 2032.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get there, the state tasked a nonprofit, the Circular Action Alliance, with drafting a plan to meet the state goals. The group estimated the work would cost $17.2 billion over five years – and is asking for a three-year exemption from the source-reduction deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as the state moves to implement the law, questions are mounting over how the organization calculates the fees producers — and eventually consumers — will pay, and how much oversight the group actually faces.[aside postID=science_2001611 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/08/ClimateSolutionsGetty.jpg']Industry groups say the price tag for complying with the law could be tens of billions of dollars higher than California originally estimated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An industry-commissioned study found the law could cost consumers three times what the state projected — between $683 and $948 a year, rather than $190.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means groceries, shampoo bottles and other consumer goods packed in plastic could cost a little more as the law takes effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which oversees implementation, declined an interview but said in a written statement that the law puts consumers first and pushes producers to design packaging with recycling in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Californians are facing rising costs and pollution from increasingly complex packaging that wasn’t designed for the recycling systems local governments, ratepayers, and the state developed and funded over the past four decades,” said CalRecycle director Zoe Heller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law’s rollout is a dial, not a switch, giving producers flexibility to redesign packaging, invest in recycling systems, reduce single-use plastics, and make adjustments along the way,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Watching the watchers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Circular Action Alliance published its fee schedule in June, spelling out what each producer owes into the system. The fees could add up to more than $10 million for some businesses, according to the Dairy Institute of California. The Dairy Institute is a trade association that represents milk processors and dairy product manufacturers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike a state agency, the Circular Action Alliance answers to almost no one, said Katie Davey, executive director of the Dairy Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The alliance] does not have to go through an audit by the state auditor. They’re not subject to the (California open government law) Brown Act. They’re not subject to public records requests. The Legislature does not approve their budget and does not approve how many employees they need, or how many fees they can charge,” Davey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011992\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011992\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Recology, hundreds of tons of recycling is loaded onto conveyor belts and nonrecyclable materials are separated by hand. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a private nonprofit, Circular Action Alliance indeed is not subject to the Brown Act or public-records law — but records it submits to CalRecycle or other government entities may be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalRecycle must approve its fee schedule and implementation plan, and has the authority to audit the organization’s performance, said CalRecycle spokesperson Lance Klug, who added that the plastics law includes provisions to ensure the group’s budget and fees are appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The alliance’s role “is not to set California policy,” said its spokesperson, Larine Urbina. “Our role is to implement the framework established by SB 54 under CalRecycle’s oversight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davey said the gap extends to enforcement. Businesses that fall short will face so-called \u003ca href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/64260ed078c36925b1cf3385/t/6a2ffce95c73742ee3a1dc97/1781529833493/10_Eco-Modulation_CAA_CA_Plan_20260615.pdf\">malus fees,\u003c/a> which fund bonuses for those that comply. But the Circular Action Alliance hasn’t said what those fees will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shane Gusman, a lobbyist for the Teamsters, which represents hundreds of thousands of California workers, raised similar concerns. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>They’re a wholly independent nonprofit organization that has no oversight. That’s part of the problem.” The union backed the plastics law hoping it would boost jobs; Guzman now says the fees could affect workers too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after the alliance published its fee schedule, Davey and a coalition of industry leaders — including the California Restaurant Association, the California League of Food Producers, the American Forest and Paper Association and the Print Creative Alliance — commissioned a study disputing CalRecycle’s numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers sort plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>It found CalRecycle’s 2025 estimate of $21 billion in implementation costs, or $190 a year per California household, rests on “idealized assumptions that fail to capture real-world costs and complications the regulations will create.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study puts the number somewhere between $35 and $58 billion, rising after the implementation period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klug of CalRecycle said the agency’s earlier reports were just estimates. “The actual costs will be determined by producer choices,” he said. “These costs, for example, will reflect the infrastructure needed to recycle materials that producers are choosing to use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Agriculture groups push back\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The biggest hurdle for producers is cutting plastic use 25% by 2032 — which state regulators say will require redesigning packaging and shifting toward reusable products, such as dishes at restaurants and paper-based packaging for produce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Business groups say they support the state’s goals but call the timeline unworkable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Food safety is one sticking point: alternatives like paper-based containers for berries are less breathable and spoil faster, while heavier glass or cardboard adds transportation costs, said Casey Creamer, president of the California Fresh Fruit Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11320553\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11320553\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb.jpg\" alt=\"Driscoll's, the largest berry producer in the world, now grows about the same quantity of raspberries and strawberries in Mexico as it does in California. Many American producers have recently expanded their production to Mexico.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1494\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-800x598.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-1020x762.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-1920x1434.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-1180x881.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-960x717.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-240x179.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-375x280.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-520x388.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Driscoll’s, the largest berry producer in the world, now grows about the same quantity of raspberries and strawberries in Mexico as it does in California. Many American producers have recently expanded their production to Mexico. \u003ccite>(Mike Mozart/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We just don’t want to force something out and not be able to deliver a fresh, healthy commodity, or create a situation that has more significant or adverse environmental concerns just because we look at plastics and packaging in a silo,” Creamer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups oppose any pause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of us pay for plastic pollution through higher garbage bills and clean-ups of polluted beaches and waterways, not to mention the damage to our environment and our health,”said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat representing coastal Los Angeles County who authored the law, said it’s time plastic producers are held accountable for the waste they produce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This 11th-hour Hail Mary is only trying to maintain status quo and avoid due responsibility, throwing years of good-faith negotiations, and affordability and sustainability improvements out the window,” he said in a statement about producers’ efforts to pause implementation of the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Businesses pass costs to consumers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Whether the plastics law is actually driving up grocery prices yet is hard to pin down. Creamer said businesses may already be factoring the organization’s planned fees into their prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal data show grocery prices dipped slightly in July from June, though prices have climbed year over year and that rate is accelerating, said Richard Volpe, a consumer-price expert at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Neither the USDA nor the Bureau of Labor Statistics has released August figures, and no data yet isolates the state plastics law’s effect from broader inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Volpe said retailers, who run on thin margins, will eventually pass costs on to consumers — but probably not right away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015784\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015784\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-800x560.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-1020x714.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-1536x1075.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-1920x1344.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Raw Farm raw milk containers are displayed on a shelf at a grocery store on Nov. 25, 2024, in San Anselmo, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It will not happen overnight,” he said. “And it will still be relatively small, mostly on the order of pennies on the dollar.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industry groups warn it will add up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone’s even on the cusp of food insecurity and they’re looking at $1,000 more a year, that’s pushing them over the food cliff,” said Nate Rose, a spokesperson for the California Grocers Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Teamsters, which backed the plastics law hoping it would boost jobs, now worry the fees could affect workers too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law “has been morphed into something that is going to cost California consumers a substantial amount of money at a time when I don’t know if we need to spend thousands more on groceries,” said Gusman, the Teamsters lobbyist. “That also has an impact on the workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/08/plastics-law-producer-responsibility-consumer/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two dozen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> Assembly Democrats and one state senator sent a letter Wednesday to legislative leaders asking them to delay fees under SB 54, the state’s landmark plastic reduction law, for two years — an eleventh-hour push as the Legislature hurtles toward the end of session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter, addressed to Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, was signed by 23 Assemblymembers and Sen. Melissa Hurtado.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It asks lawmakers to pause fee assessment and collection this year and next, commit to a “reform package” next session, and increase legislative oversight of the program going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The request lands amid a broader fight over how the plastics law is rolling out. Little by little California is demanding that the packages you pick up at your doorstep or at the store contain less plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker sorts plastics at Ridwell’s processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed four years ago aims to phase out 25% of non-recyclable, non-compostable plastic by 2032.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get there, the state tasked a nonprofit, the Circular Action Alliance, with drafting a plan to meet the state goals. The group estimated the work would cost $17.2 billion over five years – and is asking for a three-year exemption from the source-reduction deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as the state moves to implement the law, questions are mounting over how the organization calculates the fees producers — and eventually consumers — will pay, and how much oversight the group actually faces.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Industry groups say the price tag for complying with the law could be tens of billions of dollars higher than California originally estimated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An industry-commissioned study found the law could cost consumers three times what the state projected — between $683 and $948 a year, rather than $190.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means groceries, shampoo bottles and other consumer goods packed in plastic could cost a little more as the law takes effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which oversees implementation, declined an interview but said in a written statement that the law puts consumers first and pushes producers to design packaging with recycling in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Californians are facing rising costs and pollution from increasingly complex packaging that wasn’t designed for the recycling systems local governments, ratepayers, and the state developed and funded over the past four decades,” said CalRecycle director Zoe Heller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law’s rollout is a dial, not a switch, giving producers flexibility to redesign packaging, invest in recycling systems, reduce single-use plastics, and make adjustments along the way,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Watching the watchers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Circular Action Alliance published its fee schedule in June, spelling out what each producer owes into the system. The fees could add up to more than $10 million for some businesses, according to the Dairy Institute of California. The Dairy Institute is a trade association that represents milk processors and dairy product manufacturers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But unlike a state agency, the Circular Action Alliance answers to almost no one, said Katie Davey, executive director of the Dairy Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The alliance] does not have to go through an audit by the state auditor. They’re not subject to the (California open government law) Brown Act. They’re not subject to public records requests. The Legislature does not approve their budget and does not approve how many employees they need, or how many fees they can charge,” Davey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011992\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011992\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241031-Recycling-Campaign-Flyers-JCL-03-KQED-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Recology, hundreds of tons of recycling is loaded onto conveyor belts and nonrecyclable materials are separated by hand. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As a private nonprofit, Circular Action Alliance indeed is not subject to the Brown Act or public-records law — but records it submits to CalRecycle or other government entities may be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalRecycle must approve its fee schedule and implementation plan, and has the authority to audit the organization’s performance, said CalRecycle spokesperson Lance Klug, who added that the plastics law includes provisions to ensure the group’s budget and fees are appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The alliance’s role “is not to set California policy,” said its spokesperson, Larine Urbina. “Our role is to implement the framework established by SB 54 under CalRecycle’s oversight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davey said the gap extends to enforcement. Businesses that fall short will face so-called \u003ca href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/64260ed078c36925b1cf3385/t/6a2ffce95c73742ee3a1dc97/1781529833493/10_Eco-Modulation_CAA_CA_Plan_20260615.pdf\">malus fees,\u003c/a> which fund bonuses for those that comply. But the Circular Action Alliance hasn’t said what those fees will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shane Gusman, a lobbyist for the Teamsters, which represents hundreds of thousands of California workers, raised similar concerns. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>They’re a wholly independent nonprofit organization that has no oversight. That’s part of the problem.” The union backed the plastics law hoping it would boost jobs; Guzman now says the fees could affect workers too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after the alliance published its fee schedule, Davey and a coalition of industry leaders — including the California Restaurant Association, the California League of Food Producers, the American Forest and Paper Association and the Print Creative Alliance — commissioned a study disputing CalRecycle’s numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers sort plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>It found CalRecycle’s 2025 estimate of $21 billion in implementation costs, or $190 a year per California household, rests on “idealized assumptions that fail to capture real-world costs and complications the regulations will create.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study puts the number somewhere between $35 and $58 billion, rising after the implementation period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Klug of CalRecycle said the agency’s earlier reports were just estimates. “The actual costs will be determined by producer choices,” he said. “These costs, for example, will reflect the infrastructure needed to recycle materials that producers are choosing to use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Agriculture groups push back\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The biggest hurdle for producers is cutting plastic use 25% by 2032 — which state regulators say will require redesigning packaging and shifting toward reusable products, such as dishes at restaurants and paper-based packaging for produce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Business groups say they support the state’s goals but call the timeline unworkable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Food safety is one sticking point: alternatives like paper-based containers for berries are less breathable and spoil faster, while heavier glass or cardboard adds transportation costs, said Casey Creamer, president of the California Fresh Fruit Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11320553\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11320553\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb.jpg\" alt=\"Driscoll's, the largest berry producer in the world, now grows about the same quantity of raspberries and strawberries in Mexico as it does in California. Many American producers have recently expanded their production to Mexico.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1494\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-800x598.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-1020x762.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-1920x1434.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-1180x881.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-960x717.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-240x179.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-375x280.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/02/11320552-thumb-520x388.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Driscoll’s, the largest berry producer in the world, now grows about the same quantity of raspberries and strawberries in Mexico as it does in California. Many American producers have recently expanded their production to Mexico. \u003ccite>(Mike Mozart/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We just don’t want to force something out and not be able to deliver a fresh, healthy commodity, or create a situation that has more significant or adverse environmental concerns just because we look at plastics and packaging in a silo,” Creamer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups oppose any pause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of us pay for plastic pollution through higher garbage bills and clean-ups of polluted beaches and waterways, not to mention the damage to our environment and our health,”said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat representing coastal Los Angeles County who authored the law, said it’s time plastic producers are held accountable for the waste they produce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This 11th-hour Hail Mary is only trying to maintain status quo and avoid due responsibility, throwing years of good-faith negotiations, and affordability and sustainability improvements out the window,” he said in a statement about producers’ efforts to pause implementation of the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Businesses pass costs to consumers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Whether the plastics law is actually driving up grocery prices yet is hard to pin down. Creamer said businesses may already be factoring the organization’s planned fees into their prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal data show grocery prices dipped slightly in July from June, though prices have climbed year over year and that rate is accelerating, said Richard Volpe, a consumer-price expert at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Neither the USDA nor the Bureau of Labor Statistics has released August figures, and no data yet isolates the state plastics law’s effect from broader inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Volpe said retailers, who run on thin margins, will eventually pass costs on to consumers — but probably not right away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015784\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015784\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-800x560.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-1020x714.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-1536x1075.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/BirdFluMilkFresnoGetty-1920x1344.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Raw Farm raw milk containers are displayed on a shelf at a grocery store on Nov. 25, 2024, in San Anselmo, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It will not happen overnight,” he said. “And it will still be relatively small, mostly on the order of pennies on the dollar.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industry groups warn it will add up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone’s even on the cusp of food insecurity and they’re looking at $1,000 more a year, that’s pushing them over the food cliff,” said Nate Rose, a spokesperson for the California Grocers Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Teamsters, which backed the plastics law hoping it would boost jobs, now worry the fees could affect workers too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law “has been morphed into something that is going to cost California consumers a substantial amount of money at a time when I don’t know if we need to spend thousands more on groceries,” said Gusman, the Teamsters lobbyist. “That also has an impact on the workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/08/plastics-law-producer-responsibility-consumer/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Democracy in the Dark: How California Lawmakers Are Trying to Shield Themselves From Public View",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At town halls across the nation, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/fear-anger-california-democrat-town-halls-20238638.php\">in California\u003c/a>, residents have confronted their members of Congress face-to-face to voice their fears and frustrations over Trump administration policies, from cuts to overseas aid to Medicare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, lawmakers in the state Legislature have introduced about a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront your local officials at public meetings and would shield more information from the public eye, according to an analysis of CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bills follow a streak of California officials’ attempts to shroud themselves in secrecy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/gov-newsom-bat-phones-ceos-california-businesses/64213359\">recently sent burner phones\u003c/a> to major California business leaders with his number preprogrammed — paid for by his nonprofit, allowing him to communicate with executives without having to disclose the content publicly. Lawmakers and government employees\u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/california-non-disclosure-agreements-capitol-annex-project/62376142\"> signed non-disclosure agreements\u003c/a> preventing them from sharing details about taxpayer-funded renovations to the state Capitol. The Legislature refused to say \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/03/california-legislative-transparency-public-corruption/\">whether federal search warrants\u003c/a> and subpoenas were served to lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largely Democratic efforts have raised alarms among ethics advocates and an outcry from some Republican lawmakers, such as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/carl-demaio-161014\">Assemblymember Carl DeMaio\u003c/a> of San Diego, who has introduced two bills to require lawmakers and government agencies to disclose more to the public, not less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He announced them during \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20050331085059/http:/www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/launch\">National Sunshine Week\u003c/a>, an annual campaign to promote government transparency that the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article137321978.html\">quit observing eight years ago\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the one time throughout the year where we pause and we ask the question: Are decisions in government being made in the public light? Can the people know what’s going on?” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Looking decision-makers in the eye\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/roger-niello-165442\">Roger Niello,\u003c/a> a Republican from Roseville, has contended that interacting with constituents in-person makes a difference: There’s nothing more thrilling for a local elected official than having constituents exercise their right to yell and scream at you, he said in 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/256703?t=465&f=7df9245729b5b21e4fec3274a24fafe4\">opposing a proposal\u003c/a> that allows neighborhood councils in Los Angeles to meet remotely until 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just much more impactful,” he said. “It’s like the difference between a text message and a phone call. Text messages are useful for quick communication of something, but not for something more complicated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11996191 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-2161853402-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless that proposal was signed into law — one of many over the past few years that have increasingly allowed state and local officials to participate remotely. This year, various legislators are pushing at least six different measures that aim to make them permanent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic, California has relaxed its once-strict rules that required officials to be physically present at public meetings. Instead they’ve carved out more exceptions so that advisory board members can meet remotely, and public officials can avoid disclosing their whereabouts when they appear virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of these efforts say they “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1707&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">modernize\u003c/a>” the state’s open meetings rules, arguing that allowing members more remote access boosts public participation, cuts costs, protects officials’ privacy and grants more flexibility in emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the relaxed guidelines, 41 state boards reported increased attendance among board members, according to a June 2021 report by the \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/report/government-tomorrow-online-meetings/\">Little Hoover Commission\u003c/a>, a state oversight agency that focuses on government efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But good government advocates argue that it shields officials from their constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public officials must be accountable: They should be required to attend in person, ensuring that the public can see them, speak to them directly, hold them responsible for decisions that impact their communities,” Dora Rose, deputy director of the League of Women Voters of California, told legislators at a recent hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Assembly floor at the state Capitol on May 31, 2022. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of this year’s pending bills is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">SB 707\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/maria-elena-durazo-165445\">Sen. María Elena Durazo\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles who last year \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/06/california-remote-meetings-local-boards/\">opposed an effort\u003c/a> to let local advisory boards meet remotely. This year she’s proposing \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">an overarching measure \u003c/a>that would include exemptions for different groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durazo told CalMatters she was compelled by testimony from groups who had to cancel meetings because they couldn’t gather enough members in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her bill would also require city and county governments to provide a call-in option to all public meetings. But during \u003ca href=\"https://www.senate.ca.gov/media-archive\">a recent hearing\u003c/a>, representatives of city officials argued that would hamstring local governments’ ability to manage \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1857&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">“Zoom bombing,”\u003c/a> where participants disrupt meetings with “hate speech.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Keeping donors secret\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission — the state agency policing ethics and campaign finance violations — is sponsoring \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab775\">AB755\u003c/a> to give officials more time to disclose funds they raised for other groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those funds are called “behested payments,” typically donations to a nonprofit or government agency that come at a politician’s behest. Critics say the donations allow \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/02/california-campaign-finance-violations-evan-low/\">special interests to curry favor\u003c/a> with politicians. Since 2011, state officials have reported raising more than $505 million in behested payments, with Newsom single-handedly raising more than $200 million from corporations in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current law requires elected officials to disclose these payments within 30 days once they raise more than $5,000 from the same donor within a year. But violations are commonplace: \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/show-your-work/2024/10/how-we-reported-on-california-campaign-violations/\">Six out of eight\u003c/a> of California’s constitutional officers have reported their payments late, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/10/campaign-finance-california-fppc-enforcement/\">including Newsom\u003c/a>, who was fined $13,000 for failing to disclose $14 million on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation introduced by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mike-fong-165455\">Mike Fong\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Alhambra, would give lawmakers up to roughly 120 days to disclose the payments, making it harder for voters to know who is influencing their lawmakers in real time. Commission spokesperson Shery Yang told CalMatters the current filing period is too short and extending it “improves efficiency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After meeting the initial $5,000 threshold for disclosure, officials would be allowed to receive up to $999 from that same donor without ever disclosing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A related bill — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb760\">SB 760\u003c/a> by Sen. Ben Allen, an El Segundo Democrat — would let elected officials stop reporting funds they raised for nonprofits on TV or radio, or even in speeches like private fundraisers, if they don’t benefit financially from those payments or don’t know their efforts led to the contribution. Allen said the change is needed so officials aren’t afraid to name specific groups to donate to, especially after a disaster like the Los Angeles fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also seeking to relax the state’s campaign ethics rules is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb300\">SB 300\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/steve-padilla-165435\">Sen. Steve Padilla\u003c/a>, a Chula Vista Democrat. Public officials wouldn’t have to recuse themselves if they are making policies that would boost the membership of organizations they’re part of, such as unions or chambers of commerce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other proposed legislation would also reduce the amount of information disclosed to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab950\">AB 950\u003c/a> by Lakewood Democrat José Solache would allow campaigns to stop disclosing their top funders on printed ads and refer to a website instead.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab359\">AB 359\u003c/a> by San Bernardino Democrat James Ramos would allow the state campaign finance commission to stop reporting on its enforcement of local ethics rules.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>‘What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the state’s public records laws already are riddled with exemptions, politicians are still trying to create more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest exception the Legislature created is for itself. In 1975, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.assembly.ca.gov/public-services/legislative-process/legislative-open-records-act\">wrote its own rules\u003c/a> that vastly restrict what it must release to the public, shielding notes to members or staff, records of complaints or investigations, and anything else it deems not in the public’s interest to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year — after a 2018 law\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_201720180sb1421\"> forced police \u003c/a>agencies to be more transparent about their records — Downey Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/blanca-pacheco-165430\">Blanca Pacheco\u003c/a> wants to roll some of that back. Her bill would give \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1178\">law enforcement agencies more leeway \u003c/a>to keep some information private, such as the ranks, names and photos of officers who work undercover, are part of a state or federal task force, or who received death threats in the last decade due to their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to protect these undercover officers so that they can continue doing their work and keeping our communities safe,” she told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiffany Bailey, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the legislation undermines the progress made on police transparency. Police agencies already have ways to redact information, she said, but law enforcement agencies must explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret, to shield from the public eye really egregious police misconduct, like sexually assaulting civilians and serious uses of force,” Bailey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said California already lags behind other, more conservative states in what is released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s all kinds of qualifications and exemptions and opportunities to put sand in the gears and delay disclosure, and it’s still a pretty limited set of documents you get,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, local and state agencies have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/inside-the-newsroom/2025/01/secret-homeless-shelter-complaints/\">only released records\u003c/a> when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11982270/kqed-wins-legal-victory-against-california-department-of-corrections-over-public-records\">a court forced them to do so\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy’s group is also concerned about a proposal from Long Beach Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-lowenthal-164206\">Josh Lowenthal\u003c/a> that would make it a misdemeanor for someone to “knowingly” post an elected or appointed official’s home address or telephone number, if they intend the posting to cause harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lowenthal declined an interview with CalMatters, but said in a statement that elected and appointed officials have faced harassment or violence in recent years and this would “allow them to limit the proliferation of their information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy countered that the bill, while still in its early stages, is overly broad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are controversies over whether someone is a resident of the jurisdiction that they are elected to represent, and the press and public have a right to know the relevant information,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Legislators convene during a session at the state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Let the sunshine peek in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are a few glimmers of hope for public access, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Democratic Assemblymember Avelino Valencia’s proposed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1029\">AB 1029\u003c/a>, elected officials would have to report if they own cryptocurrency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeMaio, the San Diego Republican, is also reintroducing an idea to create an independent office to help people fight public records denials. Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/09/california-public-records-2/\">similar bill\u003c/a> in 2023, saying it was unnecessary and costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the only way to appeal a rejected Public Records Act request is to sue — something not everyone can afford to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let a neutral third party determine whether a document is so sensitive that the public interest would be benefited by keeping it a secret,” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also introduced a bill to make the Legislature follow the same California records act as other public agencies and touted his Rocklin Republican colleague Joe Patterson’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1370\">AB 1370\u003c/a>, which would prohibit state lawmakers from entering into most non-disclosure agreements related to their decision-making, such as the Capitol renovation project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no justification for an elected official signing an NDA with a special interest, full stop,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/04/california-lawmakers-transparency/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "State lawmakers have introduced at least a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront local officials at public meetings, shield more information from the public and relax rules on financial reports.",
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"title": "Democracy in the Dark: How California Lawmakers Are Trying to Shield Themselves From Public View | KQED",
"description": "State lawmakers have introduced at least a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront local officials at public meetings, shield more information from the public and relax rules on financial reports.",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/sameea-kamal/\">Sameea Kamal\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/yue-yu/\">Yue Stella Yu\u003c/a>, CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At town halls across the nation, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/fear-anger-california-democrat-town-halls-20238638.php\">in California\u003c/a>, residents have confronted their members of Congress face-to-face to voice their fears and frustrations over Trump administration policies, from cuts to overseas aid to Medicare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, lawmakers in the state Legislature have introduced about a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront your local officials at public meetings and would shield more information from the public eye, according to an analysis of CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bills follow a streak of California officials’ attempts to shroud themselves in secrecy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/gov-newsom-bat-phones-ceos-california-businesses/64213359\">recently sent burner phones\u003c/a> to major California business leaders with his number preprogrammed — paid for by his nonprofit, allowing him to communicate with executives without having to disclose the content publicly. Lawmakers and government employees\u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/california-non-disclosure-agreements-capitol-annex-project/62376142\"> signed non-disclosure agreements\u003c/a> preventing them from sharing details about taxpayer-funded renovations to the state Capitol. The Legislature refused to say \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/03/california-legislative-transparency-public-corruption/\">whether federal search warrants\u003c/a> and subpoenas were served to lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largely Democratic efforts have raised alarms among ethics advocates and an outcry from some Republican lawmakers, such as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/carl-demaio-161014\">Assemblymember Carl DeMaio\u003c/a> of San Diego, who has introduced two bills to require lawmakers and government agencies to disclose more to the public, not less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He announced them during \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20050331085059/http:/www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/launch\">National Sunshine Week\u003c/a>, an annual campaign to promote government transparency that the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article137321978.html\">quit observing eight years ago\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the one time throughout the year where we pause and we ask the question: Are decisions in government being made in the public light? Can the people know what’s going on?” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Looking decision-makers in the eye\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/roger-niello-165442\">Roger Niello,\u003c/a> a Republican from Roseville, has contended that interacting with constituents in-person makes a difference: There’s nothing more thrilling for a local elected official than having constituents exercise their right to yell and scream at you, he said in 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/256703?t=465&f=7df9245729b5b21e4fec3274a24fafe4\">opposing a proposal\u003c/a> that allows neighborhood councils in Los Angeles to meet remotely until 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just much more impactful,” he said. “It’s like the difference between a text message and a phone call. Text messages are useful for quick communication of something, but not for something more complicated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless that proposal was signed into law — one of many over the past few years that have increasingly allowed state and local officials to participate remotely. This year, various legislators are pushing at least six different measures that aim to make them permanent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic, California has relaxed its once-strict rules that required officials to be physically present at public meetings. Instead they’ve carved out more exceptions so that advisory board members can meet remotely, and public officials can avoid disclosing their whereabouts when they appear virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of these efforts say they “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1707&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">modernize\u003c/a>” the state’s open meetings rules, arguing that allowing members more remote access boosts public participation, cuts costs, protects officials’ privacy and grants more flexibility in emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the relaxed guidelines, 41 state boards reported increased attendance among board members, according to a June 2021 report by the \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/report/government-tomorrow-online-meetings/\">Little Hoover Commission\u003c/a>, a state oversight agency that focuses on government efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But good government advocates argue that it shields officials from their constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public officials must be accountable: They should be required to attend in person, ensuring that the public can see them, speak to them directly, hold them responsible for decisions that impact their communities,” Dora Rose, deputy director of the League of Women Voters of California, told legislators at a recent hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Assembly floor at the state Capitol on May 31, 2022. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of this year’s pending bills is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">SB 707\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/maria-elena-durazo-165445\">Sen. María Elena Durazo\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles who last year \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/06/california-remote-meetings-local-boards/\">opposed an effort\u003c/a> to let local advisory boards meet remotely. This year she’s proposing \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">an overarching measure \u003c/a>that would include exemptions for different groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durazo told CalMatters she was compelled by testimony from groups who had to cancel meetings because they couldn’t gather enough members in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her bill would also require city and county governments to provide a call-in option to all public meetings. But during \u003ca href=\"https://www.senate.ca.gov/media-archive\">a recent hearing\u003c/a>, representatives of city officials argued that would hamstring local governments’ ability to manage \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1857&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">“Zoom bombing,”\u003c/a> where participants disrupt meetings with “hate speech.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Keeping donors secret\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission — the state agency policing ethics and campaign finance violations — is sponsoring \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab775\">AB755\u003c/a> to give officials more time to disclose funds they raised for other groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those funds are called “behested payments,” typically donations to a nonprofit or government agency that come at a politician’s behest. Critics say the donations allow \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/02/california-campaign-finance-violations-evan-low/\">special interests to curry favor\u003c/a> with politicians. Since 2011, state officials have reported raising more than $505 million in behested payments, with Newsom single-handedly raising more than $200 million from corporations in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current law requires elected officials to disclose these payments within 30 days once they raise more than $5,000 from the same donor within a year. But violations are commonplace: \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/show-your-work/2024/10/how-we-reported-on-california-campaign-violations/\">Six out of eight\u003c/a> of California’s constitutional officers have reported their payments late, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/10/campaign-finance-california-fppc-enforcement/\">including Newsom\u003c/a>, who was fined $13,000 for failing to disclose $14 million on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation introduced by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mike-fong-165455\">Mike Fong\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Alhambra, would give lawmakers up to roughly 120 days to disclose the payments, making it harder for voters to know who is influencing their lawmakers in real time. Commission spokesperson Shery Yang told CalMatters the current filing period is too short and extending it “improves efficiency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After meeting the initial $5,000 threshold for disclosure, officials would be allowed to receive up to $999 from that same donor without ever disclosing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A related bill — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb760\">SB 760\u003c/a> by Sen. Ben Allen, an El Segundo Democrat — would let elected officials stop reporting funds they raised for nonprofits on TV or radio, or even in speeches like private fundraisers, if they don’t benefit financially from those payments or don’t know their efforts led to the contribution. Allen said the change is needed so officials aren’t afraid to name specific groups to donate to, especially after a disaster like the Los Angeles fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also seeking to relax the state’s campaign ethics rules is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb300\">SB 300\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/steve-padilla-165435\">Sen. Steve Padilla\u003c/a>, a Chula Vista Democrat. Public officials wouldn’t have to recuse themselves if they are making policies that would boost the membership of organizations they’re part of, such as unions or chambers of commerce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other proposed legislation would also reduce the amount of information disclosed to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab950\">AB 950\u003c/a> by Lakewood Democrat José Solache would allow campaigns to stop disclosing their top funders on printed ads and refer to a website instead.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab359\">AB 359\u003c/a> by San Bernardino Democrat James Ramos would allow the state campaign finance commission to stop reporting on its enforcement of local ethics rules.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>‘What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the state’s public records laws already are riddled with exemptions, politicians are still trying to create more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest exception the Legislature created is for itself. In 1975, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.assembly.ca.gov/public-services/legislative-process/legislative-open-records-act\">wrote its own rules\u003c/a> that vastly restrict what it must release to the public, shielding notes to members or staff, records of complaints or investigations, and anything else it deems not in the public’s interest to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year — after a 2018 law\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_201720180sb1421\"> forced police \u003c/a>agencies to be more transparent about their records — Downey Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/blanca-pacheco-165430\">Blanca Pacheco\u003c/a> wants to roll some of that back. Her bill would give \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1178\">law enforcement agencies more leeway \u003c/a>to keep some information private, such as the ranks, names and photos of officers who work undercover, are part of a state or federal task force, or who received death threats in the last decade due to their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to protect these undercover officers so that they can continue doing their work and keeping our communities safe,” she told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiffany Bailey, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the legislation undermines the progress made on police transparency. Police agencies already have ways to redact information, she said, but law enforcement agencies must explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret, to shield from the public eye really egregious police misconduct, like sexually assaulting civilians and serious uses of force,” Bailey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said California already lags behind other, more conservative states in what is released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s all kinds of qualifications and exemptions and opportunities to put sand in the gears and delay disclosure, and it’s still a pretty limited set of documents you get,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, local and state agencies have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/inside-the-newsroom/2025/01/secret-homeless-shelter-complaints/\">only released records\u003c/a> when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11982270/kqed-wins-legal-victory-against-california-department-of-corrections-over-public-records\">a court forced them to do so\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy’s group is also concerned about a proposal from Long Beach Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-lowenthal-164206\">Josh Lowenthal\u003c/a> that would make it a misdemeanor for someone to “knowingly” post an elected or appointed official’s home address or telephone number, if they intend the posting to cause harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lowenthal declined an interview with CalMatters, but said in a statement that elected and appointed officials have faced harassment or violence in recent years and this would “allow them to limit the proliferation of their information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy countered that the bill, while still in its early stages, is overly broad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are controversies over whether someone is a resident of the jurisdiction that they are elected to represent, and the press and public have a right to know the relevant information,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Legislators convene during a session at the state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Let the sunshine peek in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are a few glimmers of hope for public access, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Democratic Assemblymember Avelino Valencia’s proposed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1029\">AB 1029\u003c/a>, elected officials would have to report if they own cryptocurrency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeMaio, the San Diego Republican, is also reintroducing an idea to create an independent office to help people fight public records denials. Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/09/california-public-records-2/\">similar bill\u003c/a> in 2023, saying it was unnecessary and costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the only way to appeal a rejected Public Records Act request is to sue — something not everyone can afford to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let a neutral third party determine whether a document is so sensitive that the public interest would be benefited by keeping it a secret,” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also introduced a bill to make the Legislature follow the same California records act as other public agencies and touted his Rocklin Republican colleague Joe Patterson’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1370\">AB 1370\u003c/a>, which would prohibit state lawmakers from entering into most non-disclosure agreements related to their decision-making, such as the Capitol renovation project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no justification for an elected official signing an NDA with a special interest, full stop,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/04/california-lawmakers-transparency/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "insurance-denials-can-devastate-mental-health-patients-california-is-considering-how-to-fix-that",
"title": "Insurance Denials Can Devastate Mental Health Patients. California Is Considering How to Fix That",
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"headTitle": "Insurance Denials Can Devastate Mental Health Patients. California Is Considering How to Fix That | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated Californians have long complained that they can’t get their health plans to cover desperately needed mental health treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, state lawmakers appear to be hearing them — and trying to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One bill introduced this session would require health plans to cough up more \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb363\">data on coverage denials \u003c/a>— and penalize those that wrongfully deny claims most often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another would require plans to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab669\">wait at least 28 days\u003c/a> after approving a patient to go into a substance use treatment center before they reassess whether the patient can remain there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third would prohibit health plans from requiring \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab384\">prior authorization\u003c/a> for mental health and substance use treatment before and during a patient’s stay in a hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list goes on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years after state leaders passed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2020/08/california-leader-mental-health/\">landmark legislation\u003c/a> to improve mental health and substance use coverage, polls portray a public still deeply unhappy with what they’re getting. One such poll of Californians last year found that more than 80% of respondents wanted the governor and legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/publication/2024-chcf-california-health-policy-survey/#related-links-and-downloads\">to increase access to mental health treatment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s been denied some form of care,” said John Drebinger, a senior advocate with the Steinberg Institute, a mental health advocacy organization. “Nobody likes this. If you haven’t been, you know somebody who has.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a February oversight hearing of the Senate budget and fiscal review committee, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/scott-wiener-100936\">Scott Wiener\u003c/a>, the Democratic San Francisco state senator who authored the 2020 coverage law, called the process by which consumers can \u003ca href=\"https://www.dmhc.ca.gov/FileaComplaint.aspx\">appeal denials \u003c/a>to the state’s Department of Managed Health Care “burdensome, opaque and time-consuming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of federal efforts to fire workers and remove data from government websites, he said, “it’s more important than ever for California to lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s still early enough in the process that any of the proposed legislation could be stymied by a variety of factors, including federal fiscal uncertainty, health plan opposition and disagreement among advocates about the best approach.[aside postID=news_12018653 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/AnthemBlueCrossGetty-1020x680.jpg']Last year, a handful of bills designed to hold health plans accountable ended up dying late in the legislative process. Supporters blamed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/digital-democracy/2024/08/newsom-healthcare-costs-inflated-estimates/\">inflated cost estimates \u003c/a>for their demise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some of those same lawmakers and advocates say the tenor of the conversation has changed in the months since 26-year-old Luigi Mangione shot and killed Brian Thompson, the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, last December. That killing prompted an outpouring of public frustration and has become a cultural flashpoint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the February oversight hearing, Mary Watanabe, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, seemed open to requiring plans to provide more information about coverage denials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really are seeking to understand the barriers that consumers experience navigating the behavioral health system,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Ellen Grant, spokeswoman for the California Association of Health Plans, said in an email that it was premature to offer comment, given that the industry association has not yet taken a formal position on individual bills. She provided a fact sheet about the importance of prior authorization for “making health care safer, higher quality and more affordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some of the top bills attempting to tackle this issue:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More transparency about denials\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener would like to see \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb363\">much greater transparency\u003c/a> from commercial health plans. His Senate Bill 363 would require plans to report granular data to the state about how often they deny treatment. This bill applies to denials of all types of medical care, not just mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also has its own appeals process for consumers, known as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2024/10/mental-health-insurance-appeal/\">independent medical review\u003c/a>. Wiener’s bill would also penalize plans if the state overturns their coverage denials more than half the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener acknowledges that health plans have proven “worthy opponents” to some of his other bills. But he calls the push for greater accountability “long overdue.” Since he introduced the legislation, he said, he’s been struck by how many people have stopped him on the streets of San Francisco to share their personal nightmares about being denied coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is touching a nerve,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Protecting the first 28 days\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab669\">Assembly Bill 669 \u003c/a>would keep plans from reviewing a patient’s eligibility for continuing substance use treatment until at least 28 days after they’ve been approved.[aside postID=news_12028048 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-1434072256-copy-1020x680.jpg']\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/matt-haney-165453\">Matt Haney,\u003c/a> a Democratic state Assembly member from San Francisco who authored the bill, says his interest in the bill was inspired by the\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2024/10/mental-health-parity-addiction-treatment/\"> story of Ryan Matlock\u003c/a>. Matlock, a young man whose story was featured in CalMatters last fall, died of a fentanyl overdose not long after his health plan decided to stop covering his residential treatment. The plan initially decided Matlock did not need to remain at the treatment facility after he had spent just three days there. Matlock’s mother, Christine Dougherty, is testifying on behalf of the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney says 12 other states already have similar laws in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s infuriating and mind-boggling that an insurer can deny someone care that they say they need and their physician says they need but it’s denied by the insurer’s employed ‘doctor’ who never even spoke to the patient,” he said. “That is dangerous and it’s wrong and it is not how medical decisions that can have such life or death consequences should be determined.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the organizations sponsoring the bill are the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals, the California Behavioral Health Association, the Addiction Treatment Advocacy Coalition, and A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No prior authorization for inpatient mental health\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The sweeping Mental Health Protection Act, AB 384, would prevent health plans from\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab384\"> requiring prior authorization\u003c/a> for inpatient care for mental health and substance use treatment. It would also prevent plans from requiring prior authorization for any medical care deemed necessary during the inpatient stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/damon-connolly-165425\">Damon Connolly\u003c/a>, a Democratic state Assembly member from San Rafael, says he modeled the bill off of similar, successful legislation in Illinois.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Too often prior authorization is creating delays in a situation where every second counts,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California State Association of Psychiatrists and the California Behavioral Health Association are co-sponsoring the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Defines ‘medically necessary’ care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Health plans are required to cover medically necessary health and mental health care. But what constitutes medical necessity? A bill by Democratic Fresno state Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/joaquin-arambula-17377\">Joaquin Arambula\u003c/a>, AB 980, would \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab980\">define “medically necessary”\u003c/a> to mean legally prescribed medical care that is reasonable and fits with standards set by the medical community. The bill also details the harms that plans may be held liable for if such care is not provided.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Behavioral health visits after a wildfire\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With wildfires wiping out entire neighborhoods in the state, it is clear some people in devastated communities will need behavioral health treatment. A bill by Democratic state Assemblymembers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/john-harabedian-187422\">John Harabedian\u003c/a> from Pasadena and\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\"> Robert Rivas\u003c/a> from Salinas, AB 1032 would require health insurers to reimburse enrollees from a disaster zone for up to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1032\">12 visits with a licensed behavioral health provider \u003c/a>during the year after a wildfire event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/03/mental-health-insurance-legislation/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "‘Everybody’s been denied some form of care,’ said one California mental health advocate. Now, lawmakers are advancing new bills on behavioral health coverage.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated Californians have long complained that they can’t get their health plans to cover desperately needed mental health treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, state lawmakers appear to be hearing them — and trying to act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One bill introduced this session would require health plans to cough up more \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb363\">data on coverage denials \u003c/a>— and penalize those that wrongfully deny claims most often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another would require plans to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab669\">wait at least 28 days\u003c/a> after approving a patient to go into a substance use treatment center before they reassess whether the patient can remain there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third would prohibit health plans from requiring \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab384\">prior authorization\u003c/a> for mental health and substance use treatment before and during a patient’s stay in a hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The list goes on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Four years after state leaders passed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2020/08/california-leader-mental-health/\">landmark legislation\u003c/a> to improve mental health and substance use coverage, polls portray a public still deeply unhappy with what they’re getting. One such poll of Californians last year found that more than 80% of respondents wanted the governor and legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/publication/2024-chcf-california-health-policy-survey/#related-links-and-downloads\">to increase access to mental health treatment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s been denied some form of care,” said John Drebinger, a senior advocate with the Steinberg Institute, a mental health advocacy organization. “Nobody likes this. If you haven’t been, you know somebody who has.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a February oversight hearing of the Senate budget and fiscal review committee, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/scott-wiener-100936\">Scott Wiener\u003c/a>, the Democratic San Francisco state senator who authored the 2020 coverage law, called the process by which consumers can \u003ca href=\"https://www.dmhc.ca.gov/FileaComplaint.aspx\">appeal denials \u003c/a>to the state’s Department of Managed Health Care “burdensome, opaque and time-consuming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of federal efforts to fire workers and remove data from government websites, he said, “it’s more important than ever for California to lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s still early enough in the process that any of the proposed legislation could be stymied by a variety of factors, including federal fiscal uncertainty, health plan opposition and disagreement among advocates about the best approach.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last year, a handful of bills designed to hold health plans accountable ended up dying late in the legislative process. Supporters blamed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/digital-democracy/2024/08/newsom-healthcare-costs-inflated-estimates/\">inflated cost estimates \u003c/a>for their demise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some of those same lawmakers and advocates say the tenor of the conversation has changed in the months since 26-year-old Luigi Mangione shot and killed Brian Thompson, the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, last December. That killing prompted an outpouring of public frustration and has become a cultural flashpoint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the February oversight hearing, Mary Watanabe, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, seemed open to requiring plans to provide more information about coverage denials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really are seeking to understand the barriers that consumers experience navigating the behavioral health system,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mary Ellen Grant, spokeswoman for the California Association of Health Plans, said in an email that it was premature to offer comment, given that the industry association has not yet taken a formal position on individual bills. She provided a fact sheet about the importance of prior authorization for “making health care safer, higher quality and more affordable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some of the top bills attempting to tackle this issue:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More transparency about denials\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener would like to see \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb363\">much greater transparency\u003c/a> from commercial health plans. His Senate Bill 363 would require plans to report granular data to the state about how often they deny treatment. This bill applies to denials of all types of medical care, not just mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also has its own appeals process for consumers, known as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2024/10/mental-health-insurance-appeal/\">independent medical review\u003c/a>. Wiener’s bill would also penalize plans if the state overturns their coverage denials more than half the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener acknowledges that health plans have proven “worthy opponents” to some of his other bills. But he calls the push for greater accountability “long overdue.” Since he introduced the legislation, he said, he’s been struck by how many people have stopped him on the streets of San Francisco to share their personal nightmares about being denied coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is touching a nerve,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Protecting the first 28 days\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab669\">Assembly Bill 669 \u003c/a>would keep plans from reviewing a patient’s eligibility for continuing substance use treatment until at least 28 days after they’ve been approved.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/matt-haney-165453\">Matt Haney,\u003c/a> a Democratic state Assembly member from San Francisco who authored the bill, says his interest in the bill was inspired by the\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2024/10/mental-health-parity-addiction-treatment/\"> story of Ryan Matlock\u003c/a>. Matlock, a young man whose story was featured in CalMatters last fall, died of a fentanyl overdose not long after his health plan decided to stop covering his residential treatment. The plan initially decided Matlock did not need to remain at the treatment facility after he had spent just three days there. Matlock’s mother, Christine Dougherty, is testifying on behalf of the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney says 12 other states already have similar laws in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s infuriating and mind-boggling that an insurer can deny someone care that they say they need and their physician says they need but it’s denied by the insurer’s employed ‘doctor’ who never even spoke to the patient,” he said. “That is dangerous and it’s wrong and it is not how medical decisions that can have such life or death consequences should be determined.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the organizations sponsoring the bill are the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals, the California Behavioral Health Association, the Addiction Treatment Advocacy Coalition, and A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>No prior authorization for inpatient mental health\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The sweeping Mental Health Protection Act, AB 384, would prevent health plans from\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab384\"> requiring prior authorization\u003c/a> for inpatient care for mental health and substance use treatment. It would also prevent plans from requiring prior authorization for any medical care deemed necessary during the inpatient stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/damon-connolly-165425\">Damon Connolly\u003c/a>, a Democratic state Assembly member from San Rafael, says he modeled the bill off of similar, successful legislation in Illinois.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Too often prior authorization is creating delays in a situation where every second counts,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California State Association of Psychiatrists and the California Behavioral Health Association are co-sponsoring the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Defines ‘medically necessary’ care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Health plans are required to cover medically necessary health and mental health care. But what constitutes medical necessity? A bill by Democratic Fresno state Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/joaquin-arambula-17377\">Joaquin Arambula\u003c/a>, AB 980, would \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab980\">define “medically necessary”\u003c/a> to mean legally prescribed medical care that is reasonable and fits with standards set by the medical community. The bill also details the harms that plans may be held liable for if such care is not provided.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Behavioral health visits after a wildfire\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With wildfires wiping out entire neighborhoods in the state, it is clear some people in devastated communities will need behavioral health treatment. A bill by Democratic state Assemblymembers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/john-harabedian-187422\">John Harabedian\u003c/a> from Pasadena and\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\"> Robert Rivas\u003c/a> from Salinas, AB 1032 would require health insurers to reimburse enrollees from a disaster zone for up to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1032\">12 visits with a licensed behavioral health provider \u003c/a>during the year after a wildfire event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/03/mental-health-insurance-legislation/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The California state Senate passed a measure Friday to prevent gas prices from spiking in a state where it is notoriously expensive to fill up at the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-legislature-gavin-newsom-personal-taxes-e661495b9344e20a1ac474c4065db600\">backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>, would give energy regulators the authority to require that refiners keep a certain amount of fuel on hand. The goal is to try to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gas-price-gov-newsom-spike-1bf913e3cc0b478af557dab034e0435e\">keep prices from increasing suddenly\u003c/a> when refiners go offline for maintenance. Proponents say it would save Californians billions of dollars at the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill was inspired by findings from the state’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, which demonstrated that gas price spikes are largely caused by increases in global crude oil prices and unplanned refinery outages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat representing Berkeley, said the proposal is about saving money for consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While global crude prices are not something we can control, a shortage of refined gasoline is something that we can prepare for,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom unveiled the legislation in August, during the last week of the regular legislative session. But lawmakers in the state Assembly said they needed more time to consider it. The governor called the Legislature into a special session to try to pass it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill needs final approval by the state Assembly before it can reach Newsom’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has received intense pushback from Republican lawmakers, labor groups and the oil industry. Some opponents say it could unintentionally raise overall gas prices and threaten the safety of workers by giving the state more oversight over refinery maintenance schedules. They argued delaying necessary maintenance could lead to accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Western States Petroleum Association criticized Newsom and the Democratic lawmakers supporting the bill, saying it would not benefit consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they were serious about affordability, they’d be working with our industry on real solutions,” Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the group’s president, said in a statement. “Instead, they’re forcing a system they don’t understand, and Californians will pay the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians pay the highest rates at the pump due to taxes and environmental regulations. The average price for regular unleaded gas in the state is about $4.67 per gallon as of Friday, compared to the national average of $3.21, according to AAA.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12007232,news_12006862,news_12003090\"]Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle said there shouldn’t have been a special session to weigh the proposal, because the bill does not do anything urgent. The proposal fails to address the state taxes and regulations that contribute to higher gas prices, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, who’s making the money?” Dahle said. “Who’s gouging Californians for every gallon of gas? It’s the government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, governors representing Nevada and Arizona, which import gas from California, sent a letter urging Newsom to reconsider the proposal. They said at the time they were concerned it could increase prices in their states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the first time Newsom has tried to apply pressure on the Legislature to pass oil and gas regulations. He \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-legislature-gavin-newsom-personal-taxes-e661495b9344e20a1ac474c4065db600\">called a special session in 2022\u003c/a> to pass a tax on oil company profits. The governor then said \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-legislature-sacramento-gavin-newsom-f67b8f4a8e0d7a978d4bf34ada1ea256\">he wanted a penalty, not a tax\u003c/a>. The law he ended up signing months later \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-oil-company-profits-penalty-bill-7092c33a80bcab63658e118bbcbabf11\">gave state regulators the power\u003c/a> to penalize oil companies for making too much money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McGuire, a Democrat representing the North Coast, said the bill lawmakers advanced Friday would help address a problem that drastically impacts people’s lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Putting mechanisms in place to help prevent costs from spiking and sending family budgets into a tailspin benefits us all, and working together, we’ve been able to do just that,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The California state Senate passed a measure Friday to prevent gas prices from spiking in a state where it is notoriously expensive to fill up at the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-legislature-gavin-newsom-personal-taxes-e661495b9344e20a1ac474c4065db600\">backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>, would give energy regulators the authority to require that refiners keep a certain amount of fuel on hand. The goal is to try to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gas-price-gov-newsom-spike-1bf913e3cc0b478af557dab034e0435e\">keep prices from increasing suddenly\u003c/a> when refiners go offline for maintenance. Proponents say it would save Californians billions of dollars at the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill was inspired by findings from the state’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, which demonstrated that gas price spikes are largely caused by increases in global crude oil prices and unplanned refinery outages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat representing Berkeley, said the proposal is about saving money for consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While global crude prices are not something we can control, a shortage of refined gasoline is something that we can prepare for,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom unveiled the legislation in August, during the last week of the regular legislative session. But lawmakers in the state Assembly said they needed more time to consider it. The governor called the Legislature into a special session to try to pass it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill needs final approval by the state Assembly before it can reach Newsom’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has received intense pushback from Republican lawmakers, labor groups and the oil industry. Some opponents say it could unintentionally raise overall gas prices and threaten the safety of workers by giving the state more oversight over refinery maintenance schedules. They argued delaying necessary maintenance could lead to accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Western States Petroleum Association criticized Newsom and the Democratic lawmakers supporting the bill, saying it would not benefit consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they were serious about affordability, they’d be working with our industry on real solutions,” Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the group’s president, said in a statement. “Instead, they’re forcing a system they don’t understand, and Californians will pay the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians pay the highest rates at the pump due to taxes and environmental regulations. The average price for regular unleaded gas in the state is about $4.67 per gallon as of Friday, compared to the national average of $3.21, according to AAA.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle said there shouldn’t have been a special session to weigh the proposal, because the bill does not do anything urgent. The proposal fails to address the state taxes and regulations that contribute to higher gas prices, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, who’s making the money?” Dahle said. “Who’s gouging Californians for every gallon of gas? It’s the government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, governors representing Nevada and Arizona, which import gas from California, sent a letter urging Newsom to reconsider the proposal. They said at the time they were concerned it could increase prices in their states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the first time Newsom has tried to apply pressure on the Legislature to pass oil and gas regulations. He \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-legislature-gavin-newsom-personal-taxes-e661495b9344e20a1ac474c4065db600\">called a special session in 2022\u003c/a> to pass a tax on oil company profits. The governor then said \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-legislature-sacramento-gavin-newsom-f67b8f4a8e0d7a978d4bf34ada1ea256\">he wanted a penalty, not a tax\u003c/a>. The law he ended up signing months later \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-oil-company-profits-penalty-bill-7092c33a80bcab63658e118bbcbabf11\">gave state regulators the power\u003c/a> to penalize oil companies for making too much money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McGuire, a Democrat representing the North Coast, said the bill lawmakers advanced Friday would help address a problem that drastically impacts people’s lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Putting mechanisms in place to help prevent costs from spiking and sending family budgets into a tailspin benefits us all, and working together, we’ve been able to do just that,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "tensions-rise-as-california-legislators-keep-bill-negotiations-behind-closed-doors",
"title": "Tensions Rise as California Legislators Keep Bill Negotiations Behind Closed Doors",
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"headTitle": "Tensions Rise as California Legislators Keep Bill Negotiations Behind Closed Doors | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>State Sen. Dave Min admonished a fellow legislator recently for talking about his bill during an open hearing, saying lawmakers were forbidden from negotiating amendments to legislation in public view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a policy in the Senate … We don’t negotiate amendments from the dais,” \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/258075?t=414&f=f2a10fad31c7f078ebdf598b831e4fa1\">Min told his Democratic colleague, Assemblymember David Alvarez\u003c/a>, this summer. “We are happy to continue discussing this offline, but I just don’t think it’s appropriate — nor is it in the interest of our time — to be negotiating and discussing particular provisions from the dais.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exchange between Alvarez and Min highlights an unwritten rule in the Capitol, one that points to a culture of backroom dealing, where secret negotiations between lobbyists, Capitol staff and legislators are what really decide the fate of laws whose impacts will be felt by millions of Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senate leaders said Min, a \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/dave-min-165451\">Democrat from Irvine\u003c/a>, overstated the rule since committee chairs can make exceptions and debate amendments in a hearing. However, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/mike-mcguire-93\">Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire\u003c/a> acknowledged to CalMatters that he requested “policy committee chairpersons and bill authors work to secure potential amendments prior to the (public) hearing” in order to improve the quality of legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When verbal, on-the-fly amendments are taken, there is real potential for confusion, misunderstanding and disagreement on definitions,” McGuire said. “We highly encourage robust discussion and debate at policy hearings. This is the people’s house, after all. But we also want to get the amendments right because details matter on these important laws.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Assembly takes a similar approach to amendments, said Cynthia Moreno, a spokesperson for Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaving the process almost entirely up to secret negotiations has critics calling the process little more than a rubber stamp for deals made behind closed doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/digital-democracy/2024/04/california-democrats-no-votes/\">As CalMatters has reported\u003c/a>, an analysis of every vote cast in the past five years shows that Democrats who control the Legislature vote “no” on average less than 1% of the time, suggesting the fates of most bills are decided before votes are cast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is exactly the kind of conversation that should be taking place in public,” said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition. “The public has a right to understand why lawmakers are making the decisions they’re making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/bill-essayli-165444\">Bill Essayli\u003c/a>, an outspoken Republican from Corona, was even more critical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very hard to figure out if there’s corruption involved when you don’t know who the drafters are and how language gets in a bill,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How amendments are drafted in private\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The original language in almost all bills that navigate the legislative process — more than 2,500 this year — is usually changed through amendments added in committees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, that can be a high-stakes discussion done in secret between legislators and staff and lobbyists representing powerful interests for or against a bill. When there are political consequences or money is involved, the governor’s office or legislative leaders can also shape legislation behind the scenes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amendments can only be added by an elected legislator, but the amendments produced by negotiations usually have no names attached, and they are often presented to a bill author as a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I calculated, I think, four-and-a-half years since I walked into a committee without having a full agreement with the chair,” state Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/scott-wiener-100936\">Scott Wiener\u003c/a> of San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/256931?t=646&f=cc1b9ef01b8995333323007f58740c9d\">said at an Assembly committee hearing last year\u003c/a> where he disagreed with amendments added to his bill. In the past, “I have come into committee with five simple words: … I accept the committee’s amendments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/david-alvarez-112993\">Alvarez, of Chula Vista,\u003c/a> was also protesting amendments to his bill when Min, the committee chair who made the changes, stopped him from talking about it in public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez’s \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2560\">Assembly Bill 2560\u003c/a> would have made it \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/08/coastal-commission-bills-die/\">easier to build housing in coastal zones\u003c/a>. After he tried unsuccessfully to defy Min by contacting other committee members about his concerns with the amendments, he pulled the bill from consideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez \u003ca href=\"https://a80.asmdc.org/press-releases/20240815-assemblymember-alvarez-issues-statement-ab-2560-affordable-housing-coastal\">said in a press release\u003c/a> that amendments added by the committee would have made the bill “ineffective at building more housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12005435\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12005435\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05.jpg\" alt=\"Men and women in suits and dresses are seated at tables and cover their mouths with their hands.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, a Democrat from Merced, and Assemblymember David Alvarez, a Democrat from San Diego, talk on the Assembly floor at the State Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Alvarez told CalMatters he is used to a more transparent process. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2023/12/california-legislature-new-lawmakers/\">He’s a first-term lawmaker \u003c/a>and a former member of the San Diego City Council, where he said it was normal for members to debate policy changes during public meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For those of us who have served in local government … we’re used to that,” he said. “You make motions and change motions all the time as you’re getting ready to make a decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Min said a policy limiting amendment negotiations makes sense because it’s better for lawmakers to read and understand the amendments before hashing them out in public hearings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you are trying to negotiate new amendments to the bill from the dais, then we all have to react on the fly,” Min said. “We don’t have the benefit of thinking about these amendments. … We don’t have the benefit of talking to stakeholders about the value of these amendments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He called the private negotiations “very democratic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People negotiating from the dais almost creates an appearance of impropriety,” Min said, “because what are we actually agreeing to?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez wasn’t the only first-year legislator troubled by the culture of secrecy at the Capitol. Calmatters \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2023/12/california-legislature-new-lawmakers/\">interviewed other rookie legislators late last year\u003c/a>. Transparency was one of their biggest complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/caroline-menjivar-165436\">Caroline Menjivar\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Van Nuys, pointed to secret negotiations surrounding a proposed tax on medical care providers, where it seemed that only moneyed interest groups were invited to give their opinions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That shocked me a lot,” she said. “I was disgusted by this pay-to-play kind of approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/damon-connolly-165425\">Damon Connolly\u003c/a>, a Democrat from San Rafael, also was critical of so much of the process happening in secret.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Certainly, from where I stood — and I think a lot of my colleagues would agree — we would love to see the old processes in the Legislature changed around more accountability and transparency,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Are California lawmakers hearing too many bills?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>That so much of the process happens in secret comes down to lawmakers hearing too many bills in too short of a time, said Chris Micheli, an adjunct professor at McGeorge School of Law and a veteran lobbyist who’s written books about the legislative process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year alone, California’s 120 lawmakers considered 2,522 bills, sending just under half of them to the governor before the 2023–24 session ended Aug. 31, according to \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/\">the Digital Democracy database\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rules allow state senators to introduce up to 40 bills per two-year session and Assemblymembers to introduce 50, meaning lawmakers potentially could introduce 5,600 bills every two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The limits can be bypassed, however, such as with a waiver from a respective chamber’s Rules Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nineteen of the 40 senators hit or went over the bill limit this session. In the Assembly, 24 of the 80 lawmakers hit the cap or went over, according to the Digital Democracy database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to moving negotiations into private meetings, Micheli said the heavy flow of legislation also means that public hearings are rushed. Typically, a bill hearing will involve just four witnesses, two in favor and two against. The witnesses are often given two minutes each to speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public should care because there are 120 people representing over 39.5 million Californians who are creating nearly 1,000 new laws each and every year,” Micheli said. “And some of those need much more extensive discussion and debate than they are being given in our legislative process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an example, he noted that the Senate’s Judiciary Committee heard 64 bills in a single hearing in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outgoing San Francisco Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/philip-ting-30\">Philip Ting\u003c/a>, the longtime chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, had the most bills of any lawmaker this session at 170, according to Digital Democracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since many of his bills were related to the budget, he didn’t have to abide by the 50-bill Assembly cap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12005434\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12005434\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman in suits look at each other in the foreground as a man wearing a suit holds papers at a podium in a large chamber.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Phillip Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, on the Assembly floor on April 24, 2023. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ting doesn’t think there are too many bills, and he said lawmakers have the capacity to consider even more of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s, frankly, not about the quantity; it’s about the impact,” Ting said. “I don’t even know how many bills I’ve introduced and how many got passed. It doesn’t really matter to me. What matters to me … at the end of the day is are we making a difference in 40 million people’s lives?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>30 seconds to debate to California bills\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Others aren’t so sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You won’t be remembered for the number of bills you pass,” Ukiah Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/jim-wood-72\">Jim Wood\u003c/a>, the Assembly’s second in command, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/258262?t=1162&f=abe173a812fa8b84d25fbc1372903bd3\">told his colleagues in an August farewell speech.\u003c/a> “Emphasize quality over quantity. We pass too many damn bills. And some of them don’t really mean much, quite frankly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/thomas-umberg-165043\">Tom Umberg\u003c/a> of Santa Ana chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee that heard 64 bills in one hearing this summer. Umberg said committee staff do their best to review them, but there’s only so much they can do, particularly toward the end of the session when changes are made within hours of a vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It often doesn’t do justice to making sure that we create an effective policy,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Umberg’s colleagues agree that the Legislature hears too many bills, he said. But good luck getting lawmakers to agree to introduce fewer of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I agree with all those legislators that think every other legislator should do fewer bills. And in my case, of course, I don’t think I should do fewer bills,” he said, grinning. “I just think everybody else should do fewer bills.”[aside postID=\"news_12002006,news_12003239,news_12000709\" label=\"Related Stories\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Umberg introduced 42 bills this session, two over the Senate’s 40-bill limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The limited public debate on so much legislation frustrates Republicans, whose leaders in the Assembly filed a complaint about debate getting shut down in the final chaotic hours of the session last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the deadline approaching and dozens of bills pending, the Assembly’s leadership limited debate on bills to 30 seconds per person. They refused to recognize Republican lawmakers attempting to speak, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysjjs94vcs0bjkgl2isc5/Request-to-Investigate-Floor-Actions.pdf?rlkey=5z2fwdk4fgxo406jflb6f084p&e=1&dl=0\">according to the complaint\u003c/a> from Assembly Republican leader \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/james-gallagher-108\">James Gallagher\u003c/a> of Chico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow Republican Essayli called secrecy “par for the course” in the Democratic supermajority that he described as a corrupt “oligarchy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12005436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12005436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a suit stands at a podium while a man and woman look at each other in the foreground.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, asks for a motion to vote for Senate Bill 14 during an “adjourn-in-memory” portion of the session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on July 13, 2023. SB 14 would make child trafficking a serious felony. The Assembly Public Safety Committee blocked the bill on Tuesday but shortly passed in a second committee hearing later. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They introduce hundreds — thousands — of bills,” he said. “And they want to give you five minutes for debate and conversation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snyder, of the First Amendment Coalition, said it’s understandable that some of the complicated process of drafting bills has to take place outside of public view, but lawmakers should have every opportunity to debate, discuss and negotiate changes to them in public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Discouraging them from doing so, he said, “puts an important part of the process behind closed doors, which is not good for the lawmaking process itself, generally, but also not good for democracy, generally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Thomas Gerrity, Sameea Kamal and Hans Poschman, members of the CalMatters Digital Democracy team, contributed to this story\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A tense exchange this summer between two California Democrats revealed an unwritten policy discouraging lawmakers from negotiating bills in legislative committees. It begs the question: Are lawmakers negotiating bills in secret and then rubber-stamping the decisions in public?",
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"title": "Tensions Rise as California Legislators Keep Bill Negotiations Behind Closed Doors | KQED",
"description": "A tense exchange this summer between two California Democrats revealed an unwritten policy discouraging lawmakers from negotiating bills in legislative committees. It begs the question: Are lawmakers negotiating bills in secret and then rubber-stamping the decisions in public?",
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"headline": "Tensions Rise as California Legislators Keep Bill Negotiations Behind Closed Doors",
"datePublished": "2024-09-19T12:00:17-07:00",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/ryan-sabalow\">Ryan Sabalow, \u003c/a>CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State Sen. Dave Min admonished a fellow legislator recently for talking about his bill during an open hearing, saying lawmakers were forbidden from negotiating amendments to legislation in public view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a policy in the Senate … We don’t negotiate amendments from the dais,” \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/258075?t=414&f=f2a10fad31c7f078ebdf598b831e4fa1\">Min told his Democratic colleague, Assemblymember David Alvarez\u003c/a>, this summer. “We are happy to continue discussing this offline, but I just don’t think it’s appropriate — nor is it in the interest of our time — to be negotiating and discussing particular provisions from the dais.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The exchange between Alvarez and Min highlights an unwritten rule in the Capitol, one that points to a culture of backroom dealing, where secret negotiations between lobbyists, Capitol staff and legislators are what really decide the fate of laws whose impacts will be felt by millions of Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Senate leaders said Min, a \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/dave-min-165451\">Democrat from Irvine\u003c/a>, overstated the rule since committee chairs can make exceptions and debate amendments in a hearing. However, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/mike-mcguire-93\">Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire\u003c/a> acknowledged to CalMatters that he requested “policy committee chairpersons and bill authors work to secure potential amendments prior to the (public) hearing” in order to improve the quality of legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When verbal, on-the-fly amendments are taken, there is real potential for confusion, misunderstanding and disagreement on definitions,” McGuire said. “We highly encourage robust discussion and debate at policy hearings. This is the people’s house, after all. But we also want to get the amendments right because details matter on these important laws.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Assembly takes a similar approach to amendments, said Cynthia Moreno, a spokesperson for Speaker \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041\">Robert Rivas\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaving the process almost entirely up to secret negotiations has critics calling the process little more than a rubber stamp for deals made behind closed doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/digital-democracy/2024/04/california-democrats-no-votes/\">As CalMatters has reported\u003c/a>, an analysis of every vote cast in the past five years shows that Democrats who control the Legislature vote “no” on average less than 1% of the time, suggesting the fates of most bills are decided before votes are cast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is exactly the kind of conversation that should be taking place in public,” said David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition. “The public has a right to understand why lawmakers are making the decisions they’re making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/bill-essayli-165444\">Bill Essayli\u003c/a>, an outspoken Republican from Corona, was even more critical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very hard to figure out if there’s corruption involved when you don’t know who the drafters are and how language gets in a bill,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How amendments are drafted in private\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The original language in almost all bills that navigate the legislative process — more than 2,500 this year — is usually changed through amendments added in committees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, that can be a high-stakes discussion done in secret between legislators and staff and lobbyists representing powerful interests for or against a bill. When there are political consequences or money is involved, the governor’s office or legislative leaders can also shape legislation behind the scenes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amendments can only be added by an elected legislator, but the amendments produced by negotiations usually have no names attached, and they are often presented to a bill author as a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I calculated, I think, four-and-a-half years since I walked into a committee without having a full agreement with the chair,” state Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/scott-wiener-100936\">Scott Wiener\u003c/a> of San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/256931?t=646&f=cc1b9ef01b8995333323007f58740c9d\">said at an Assembly committee hearing last year\u003c/a> where he disagreed with amendments added to his bill. In the past, “I have come into committee with five simple words: … I accept the committee’s amendments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/david-alvarez-112993\">Alvarez, of Chula Vista,\u003c/a> was also protesting amendments to his bill when Min, the committee chair who made the changes, stopped him from talking about it in public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez’s \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2560\">Assembly Bill 2560\u003c/a> would have made it \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/08/coastal-commission-bills-die/\">easier to build housing in coastal zones\u003c/a>. After he tried unsuccessfully to defy Min by contacting other committee members about his concerns with the amendments, he pulled the bill from consideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez \u003ca href=\"https://a80.asmdc.org/press-releases/20240815-assemblymember-alvarez-issues-statement-ab-2560-affordable-housing-coastal\">said in a press release\u003c/a> that amendments added by the committee would have made the bill “ineffective at building more housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12005435\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12005435\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05.jpg\" alt=\"Men and women in suits and dresses are seated at tables and cover their mouths with their hands.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/081723_Assembly-Floor-File_SN_CM-05-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, a Democrat from Merced, and Assemblymember David Alvarez, a Democrat from San Diego, talk on the Assembly floor at the State Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Semantha Norris/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Alvarez told CalMatters he is used to a more transparent process. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2023/12/california-legislature-new-lawmakers/\">He’s a first-term lawmaker \u003c/a>and a former member of the San Diego City Council, where he said it was normal for members to debate policy changes during public meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For those of us who have served in local government … we’re used to that,” he said. “You make motions and change motions all the time as you’re getting ready to make a decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Min said a policy limiting amendment negotiations makes sense because it’s better for lawmakers to read and understand the amendments before hashing them out in public hearings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you are trying to negotiate new amendments to the bill from the dais, then we all have to react on the fly,” Min said. “We don’t have the benefit of thinking about these amendments. … We don’t have the benefit of talking to stakeholders about the value of these amendments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He called the private negotiations “very democratic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People negotiating from the dais almost creates an appearance of impropriety,” Min said, “because what are we actually agreeing to?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez wasn’t the only first-year legislator troubled by the culture of secrecy at the Capitol. Calmatters \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2023/12/california-legislature-new-lawmakers/\">interviewed other rookie legislators late last year\u003c/a>. Transparency was one of their biggest complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/caroline-menjivar-165436\">Caroline Menjivar\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Van Nuys, pointed to secret negotiations surrounding a proposed tax on medical care providers, where it seemed that only moneyed interest groups were invited to give their opinions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That shocked me a lot,” she said. “I was disgusted by this pay-to-play kind of approach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/damon-connolly-165425\">Damon Connolly\u003c/a>, a Democrat from San Rafael, also was critical of so much of the process happening in secret.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Certainly, from where I stood — and I think a lot of my colleagues would agree — we would love to see the old processes in the Legislature changed around more accountability and transparency,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Are California lawmakers hearing too many bills?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>That so much of the process happens in secret comes down to lawmakers hearing too many bills in too short of a time, said Chris Micheli, an adjunct professor at McGeorge School of Law and a veteran lobbyist who’s written books about the legislative process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year alone, California’s 120 lawmakers considered 2,522 bills, sending just under half of them to the governor before the 2023–24 session ended Aug. 31, according to \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/\">the Digital Democracy database\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rules allow state senators to introduce up to 40 bills per two-year session and Assemblymembers to introduce 50, meaning lawmakers potentially could introduce 5,600 bills every two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The limits can be bypassed, however, such as with a waiver from a respective chamber’s Rules Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nineteen of the 40 senators hit or went over the bill limit this session. In the Assembly, 24 of the 80 lawmakers hit the cap or went over, according to the Digital Democracy database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to moving negotiations into private meetings, Micheli said the heavy flow of legislation also means that public hearings are rushed. Typically, a bill hearing will involve just four witnesses, two in favor and two against. The witnesses are often given two minutes each to speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public should care because there are 120 people representing over 39.5 million Californians who are creating nearly 1,000 new laws each and every year,” Micheli said. “And some of those need much more extensive discussion and debate than they are being given in our legislative process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an example, he noted that the Senate’s Judiciary Committee heard 64 bills in a single hearing in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outgoing San Francisco Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/philip-ting-30\">Philip Ting\u003c/a>, the longtime chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, had the most bills of any lawmaker this session at 170, according to Digital Democracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since many of his bills were related to the budget, he didn’t have to abide by the 50-bill Assembly cap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12005434\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12005434\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman in suits look at each other in the foreground as a man wearing a suit holds papers at a podium in a large chamber.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/042423-Assembly-Floor-0424-MG-CM-12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Phillip Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, on the Assembly floor on April 24, 2023. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ting doesn’t think there are too many bills, and he said lawmakers have the capacity to consider even more of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s, frankly, not about the quantity; it’s about the impact,” Ting said. “I don’t even know how many bills I’ve introduced and how many got passed. It doesn’t really matter to me. What matters to me … at the end of the day is are we making a difference in 40 million people’s lives?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>30 seconds to debate to California bills\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Others aren’t so sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You won’t be remembered for the number of bills you pass,” Ukiah Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/jim-wood-72\">Jim Wood\u003c/a>, the Assembly’s second in command, \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/hearings/258262?t=1162&f=abe173a812fa8b84d25fbc1372903bd3\">told his colleagues in an August farewell speech.\u003c/a> “Emphasize quality over quantity. We pass too many damn bills. And some of them don’t really mean much, quite frankly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/thomas-umberg-165043\">Tom Umberg\u003c/a> of Santa Ana chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee that heard 64 bills in one hearing this summer. Umberg said committee staff do their best to review them, but there’s only so much they can do, particularly toward the end of the session when changes are made within hours of a vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It often doesn’t do justice to making sure that we create an effective policy,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Umberg’s colleagues agree that the Legislature hears too many bills, he said. But good luck getting lawmakers to agree to introduce fewer of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I agree with all those legislators that think every other legislator should do fewer bills. And in my case, of course, I don’t think I should do fewer bills,” he said, grinning. “I just think everybody else should do fewer bills.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Umberg introduced 42 bills this session, two over the Senate’s 40-bill limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The limited public debate on so much legislation frustrates Republicans, whose leaders in the Assembly filed a complaint about debate getting shut down in the final chaotic hours of the session last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the deadline approaching and dozens of bills pending, the Assembly’s leadership limited debate on bills to 30 seconds per person. They refused to recognize Republican lawmakers attempting to speak, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysjjs94vcs0bjkgl2isc5/Request-to-Investigate-Floor-Actions.pdf?rlkey=5z2fwdk4fgxo406jflb6f084p&e=1&dl=0\">according to the complaint\u003c/a> from Assembly Republican leader \u003ca href=\"https://digitaldemocracy.calmatters.org/legislators/james-gallagher-108\">James Gallagher\u003c/a> of Chico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow Republican Essayli called secrecy “par for the course” in the Democratic supermajority that he described as a corrupt “oligarchy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12005436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12005436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a suit stands at a podium while a man and woman look at each other in the foreground.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/07132023-Assembly-Floor-Session-RL-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, asks for a motion to vote for Senate Bill 14 during an “adjourn-in-memory” portion of the session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on July 13, 2023. SB 14 would make child trafficking a serious felony. The Assembly Public Safety Committee blocked the bill on Tuesday but shortly passed in a second committee hearing later. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They introduce hundreds — thousands — of bills,” he said. “And they want to give you five minutes for debate and conversation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snyder, of the First Amendment Coalition, said it’s understandable that some of the complicated process of drafting bills has to take place outside of public view, but lawmakers should have every opportunity to debate, discuss and negotiate changes to them in public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Discouraging them from doing so, he said, “puts an important part of the process behind closed doors, which is not good for the lawmaking process itself, generally, but also not good for democracy, generally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Thomas Gerrity, Sameea Kamal and Hans Poschman, members of the CalMatters Digital Democracy team, contributed to this story\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "big-wins-for-labor-unions-and-health-care-workers-as-california-lawmakers-adjourn-for-the-year",
"title": "Big Wins for Labor Unions and Health Care Workers as California Lawmakers Adjourn for the Year",
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"headTitle": "Big Wins for Labor Unions and Health Care Workers as California Lawmakers Adjourn for the Year | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>When health care workers in California asked the state Legislature for a raise earlier this year, it seemed like the longest of long shots — especially after lawmakers in May had to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/hospitals-failing-california-emergency-loan-799865ef7cf99732a8b1c10b77194f4c\">loan hospitals in financial distress\u003c/a> $150 million just to stay open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on Thursday, just before the Legislature adjourned for the year, lawmakers voted to boost the pay of health care workers to at least $25 per hour — and the California Hospital Association supported it, even issuing a joint news release with the labor union praising the bill. The union behind the effort called it the nation’s first statewide minimum wage for health workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote capped a legislative session in California that once again showed the strength of organized labor in the nation’s most populous state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-fast-food-health-care-workers-wage-increase-3c1e3b2815523816b5e5d1ffc535aaad\">Fast food workers\u003c/a>? They got a $20-per-hour minimum wage, which would be the highest base pay in the country for an often overlooked workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Striking workers? They could get \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-unemployment-workers-strike-231c27a95c7e19ed439530904af7e6c5\">unemployment benefits\u003c/a> starting in January, which could benefit \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/hub/hollywood-strikes/\">actors, writers\u003c/a> and Southern California hotel workers who have been on strike for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-state-government-gavin-newsom-business-2577c0328ec9e7138bcd1e079cc5ce29\">Semitruck drivers\u003c/a>? Lawmakers gave them job security by voting to require a human to be present in any self-driving truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The broader workforce? Most other workers would get at least five guaranteed paid sick days, an increase from the three days required under existing law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized labor’s influence is easily explained by their prolific campaign donations, as they are some of the most reliable source of funds for the Democrats who control the state Legislature. But more than that, Democratic leaders credited labor’s success this year to what Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas called “the times we live in” as the state emerges from a disruptive pandemic with inflation driving up the costs of everyday living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego)\"]‘I think workers and employees have really felt like they need more support and more help. … I think that resonated.’[/pullquote]“You consider the economy that we’re living in, consider what we’ve been through this last three years. I think workers and employees have really felt like they need more support and more help,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego. “I think that resonated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of these bills now head to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, who has a month to decide whether to sign them into law — something that’s not guaranteed in all cases despite strong support from lawmakers in his own party. He’s already pledged to sign the bill giving fast food workers a raise, a deal he helped negotiate and what a spokesperson from his office called a “win-win for workers and businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Newsom has raised concerns about the bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers, in part because the fund the state uses to pay those benefits \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-unemployment-workers-strike-231c27a95c7e19ed439530904af7e6c5\">is insolvent\u003c/a>. His administration has opposed the bill requiring people to be present to oversee self-driving trucks, warning it would stifle innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond wage and labor proposals, lawmakers sent Newsom hundreds of bills this year that do everything from \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-guns-ammunition-tax-increase-c90dae394f43b1e982aaf973960a7105\">raise taxes on gun and ammunition sales\u003c/a>, and to give in-state tuition rates to some low-income Mexican residents who live near the California-Mexico border and attend community colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-assembly-speaker-anthony-rendon-robert-rivas-a4b4fc12e431b2107f692d2a225c4708\">dramatic summer leadership fight\u003c/a> in the state Assembly that caused some tension ultimately didn’t stop Democrats from holding together to advance their agenda. Republicans \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gavin-newsom-child-trafficking-e4bde1ada68261e8b6bf5c299e93241c\">got a rare win\u003c/a> when a bill by state Sen. Shannon Grove to increase penalties leveraged against child traffickers passed the Legislature. Democrats in the Assembly has initially blocked the bill, but they \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/child-traffickers-california-gavin-newsom-1d89510172a8046bf36e6f05814ec05c\">reversed course\u003c/a> after Newsom and Democratic leaders intervened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The session proved the power of Newsom’s influence, as the second-term governor got nearly everything he wanted. In the spring, lawmakers agreed to Newsom’s request to authorize state regulators to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-oil-company-profits-penalty-bill-7092c33a80bcab63658e118bbcbabf11\">punish oil companies for price gouging\u003c/a>. On Thursday, lawmakers agreed to place two of Newsom’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-mental-health-substance-homeless-legislature-19b2e6087ceee2042e750a7acd72c979\">initiatives before voters in March\u003c/a>: One to change how the state pays mental health services, and the other to borrow more than $6 billion to increase the number of treatment beds available for people with mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And earlier this week, California became the first state to answer Newsom’s call to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-governor-newsom-constitutional-amendment-guns-6895729e1c3ebee7075e28d04c500063#:~:text=Newsom's%20proposed%2028th%20Amendment%20has,buy%20a%20firearm%20to%2021.\">ask Congress for a Constitutional convention\u003c/a> to add more restrictions on gun sales nationwide — an action that dozens of other states would have to follow before anything would happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11961350,news_11954314,news_11961346\"]One thing lawmakers failed to tackle: A burgeoning home insurance crisis after major carriers announced they were \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfire-insurance-e31bef0ed7eeddcde096a5b8f2c1768f\">limiting new policies in the state\u003c/a> due to the constant threat of wildfires and other disasters. Lawmakers and industry representatives met in secret for weeks hoping to hammer out a deal, but a bill never materialized, which postpones the issue until next year. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Democrat from Hollister, vowed to hold public hearings on the issue over the next few weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More time was needed to ensure that you were addressing all concerns,” Rivas said of lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big businesses had their eyes on a pair of major climate bills that some lauded as a chance for California to lead the nation in corporate transparency rules — while others criticized the bills as impractical and too wide in scope. The legislation would make big companies \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-climate-change-emissions-disclosure-reporting-companies-123fe15c840b82f960384cbe04f3d955\">disclose a wide range of greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a> and how climate change affects their company’s finances. The emissions bills would create the most sweeping reporting laws in the nation. Newsom hasn’t said yet whether he’ll sign it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government could soon sign off on \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-environment-e55ae33115e6a9e1202673ab51745924\">disclosure rules for public companies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many state have been debating transgender rights — including efforts to ban gender-affirming care, bar transgender women and girls from participating in sports, and require school employees to notify parents if their children change their gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California lawmakers passed bills this year to expand protections for young LGBTQ+ people. Courts may have to weigh whether a parent affirms their \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gender-affirm-transgender-nonbinary-children-parents-50815672a60690099ecfed71c738e911\">child’s gender identity\u003c/a> during custody disputes. Documents for a gender-change petition of a minor may be placed under seal. And families who want to care for foster youth may have to show that they can meet their needs regardless of the child’s gender identity or sexual orientation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When health care workers in California asked the state Legislature for a raise earlier this year, it seemed like the longest of long shots — especially after lawmakers in May had to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/hospitals-failing-california-emergency-loan-799865ef7cf99732a8b1c10b77194f4c\">loan hospitals in financial distress\u003c/a> $150 million just to stay open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on Thursday, just before the Legislature adjourned for the year, lawmakers voted to boost the pay of health care workers to at least $25 per hour — and the California Hospital Association supported it, even issuing a joint news release with the labor union praising the bill. The union behind the effort called it the nation’s first statewide minimum wage for health workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vote capped a legislative session in California that once again showed the strength of organized labor in the nation’s most populous state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-fast-food-health-care-workers-wage-increase-3c1e3b2815523816b5e5d1ffc535aaad\">Fast food workers\u003c/a>? They got a $20-per-hour minimum wage, which would be the highest base pay in the country for an often overlooked workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Striking workers? They could get \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-unemployment-workers-strike-231c27a95c7e19ed439530904af7e6c5\">unemployment benefits\u003c/a> starting in January, which could benefit \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/hub/hollywood-strikes/\">actors, writers\u003c/a> and Southern California hotel workers who have been on strike for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-state-government-gavin-newsom-business-2577c0328ec9e7138bcd1e079cc5ce29\">Semitruck drivers\u003c/a>? Lawmakers gave them job security by voting to require a human to be present in any self-driving truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The broader workforce? Most other workers would get at least five guaranteed paid sick days, an increase from the three days required under existing law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized labor’s influence is easily explained by their prolific campaign donations, as they are some of the most reliable source of funds for the Democrats who control the state Legislature. But more than that, Democratic leaders credited labor’s success this year to what Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas called “the times we live in” as the state emerges from a disruptive pandemic with inflation driving up the costs of everyday living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“You consider the economy that we’re living in, consider what we’ve been through this last three years. I think workers and employees have really felt like they need more support and more help,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego. “I think that resonated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of these bills now head to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, who has a month to decide whether to sign them into law — something that’s not guaranteed in all cases despite strong support from lawmakers in his own party. He’s already pledged to sign the bill giving fast food workers a raise, a deal he helped negotiate and what a spokesperson from his office called a “win-win for workers and businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Newsom has raised concerns about the bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers, in part because the fund the state uses to pay those benefits \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-unemployment-workers-strike-231c27a95c7e19ed439530904af7e6c5\">is insolvent\u003c/a>. His administration has opposed the bill requiring people to be present to oversee self-driving trucks, warning it would stifle innovation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond wage and labor proposals, lawmakers sent Newsom hundreds of bills this year that do everything from \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-guns-ammunition-tax-increase-c90dae394f43b1e982aaf973960a7105\">raise taxes on gun and ammunition sales\u003c/a>, and to give in-state tuition rates to some low-income Mexican residents who live near the California-Mexico border and attend community colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-assembly-speaker-anthony-rendon-robert-rivas-a4b4fc12e431b2107f692d2a225c4708\">dramatic summer leadership fight\u003c/a> in the state Assembly that caused some tension ultimately didn’t stop Democrats from holding together to advance their agenda. Republicans \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gavin-newsom-child-trafficking-e4bde1ada68261e8b6bf5c299e93241c\">got a rare win\u003c/a> when a bill by state Sen. Shannon Grove to increase penalties leveraged against child traffickers passed the Legislature. Democrats in the Assembly has initially blocked the bill, but they \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/child-traffickers-california-gavin-newsom-1d89510172a8046bf36e6f05814ec05c\">reversed course\u003c/a> after Newsom and Democratic leaders intervened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The session proved the power of Newsom’s influence, as the second-term governor got nearly everything he wanted. In the spring, lawmakers agreed to Newsom’s request to authorize state regulators to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-oil-company-profits-penalty-bill-7092c33a80bcab63658e118bbcbabf11\">punish oil companies for price gouging\u003c/a>. On Thursday, lawmakers agreed to place two of Newsom’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-mental-health-substance-homeless-legislature-19b2e6087ceee2042e750a7acd72c979\">initiatives before voters in March\u003c/a>: One to change how the state pays mental health services, and the other to borrow more than $6 billion to increase the number of treatment beds available for people with mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And earlier this week, California became the first state to answer Newsom’s call to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-governor-newsom-constitutional-amendment-guns-6895729e1c3ebee7075e28d04c500063#:~:text=Newsom's%20proposed%2028th%20Amendment%20has,buy%20a%20firearm%20to%2021.\">ask Congress for a Constitutional convention\u003c/a> to add more restrictions on gun sales nationwide — an action that dozens of other states would have to follow before anything would happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>One thing lawmakers failed to tackle: A burgeoning home insurance crisis after major carriers announced they were \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfire-insurance-e31bef0ed7eeddcde096a5b8f2c1768f\">limiting new policies in the state\u003c/a> due to the constant threat of wildfires and other disasters. Lawmakers and industry representatives met in secret for weeks hoping to hammer out a deal, but a bill never materialized, which postpones the issue until next year. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Democrat from Hollister, vowed to hold public hearings on the issue over the next few weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More time was needed to ensure that you were addressing all concerns,” Rivas said of lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Big businesses had their eyes on a pair of major climate bills that some lauded as a chance for California to lead the nation in corporate transparency rules — while others criticized the bills as impractical and too wide in scope. The legislation would make big companies \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-climate-change-emissions-disclosure-reporting-companies-123fe15c840b82f960384cbe04f3d955\">disclose a wide range of greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a> and how climate change affects their company’s finances. The emissions bills would create the most sweeping reporting laws in the nation. Newsom hasn’t said yet whether he’ll sign it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government could soon sign off on \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-environment-e55ae33115e6a9e1202673ab51745924\">disclosure rules for public companies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many state have been debating transgender rights — including efforts to ban gender-affirming care, bar transgender women and girls from participating in sports, and require school employees to notify parents if their children change their gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But California lawmakers passed bills this year to expand protections for young LGBTQ+ people. Courts may have to weigh whether a parent affirms their \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gender-affirm-transgender-nonbinary-children-parents-50815672a60690099ecfed71c738e911\">child’s gender identity\u003c/a> during custody disputes. Documents for a gender-change petition of a minor may be placed under seal. And families who want to care for foster youth may have to show that they can meet their needs regardless of the child’s gender identity or sexual orientation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "what-are-we-afraid-of-california-legislators-may-finally-allow-their-staffers-to-unionize-under-new-bill",
"title": "'What Are We Afraid Of?': California Legislators May Finally Allow Their Staffers to Unionize Under New Bill",
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"headTitle": "‘What Are We Afraid Of?’: California Legislators May Finally Allow Their Staffers to Unionize Under New Bill | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California legislators pass hundreds of laws every year. But sometimes, they free themselves from following them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one emblematic issue, however, this may be the session when that changes: Lawmakers, who have pushed through major bills to support unions throughout California may finally let their own staffers organize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For at least the fifth time in the last 25 years, the effort came to an anticlimactic end last year as \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1577\">a legislative unionization bill passed the state Senate, but failed in an Assembly committee\u003c/a> on the last day of the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, there are multiple pieces in place that could help the new push. For one: the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/01/california-legislature-great-resignation/\">amount of turnover\u003c/a> in what is now California’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/election-2022/2022/11/california-legislature-diversity/\">most diverse Legislature in its history\u003c/a>.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Assemblymember Tina McKinnor\"]‘We’ve asked the farmers to let the farmworkers unionize. We asked the hotel owners to let hotel workers unionize and the restaurant owners to let restaurant folks unionize. And we’re not letting our own folks in our building unionize. We can’t continue this.’[/pullquote]The legislation was revived — and highlighted as Assembly Bill 1 on the first day of the current session — by new Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, who leads the committee where it has died four out of the five times it has been proposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are we afraid of? Why are we afraid of our staff to have representation?” the Inglewood Democrat told CalMatters today. “We’ve asked the farmers to let the farmworkers unionize. We asked the hotel owners to let hotel workers unionize and the restaurant owners to let restaurant folks unionize. And we’re not letting our own folks in our building unionize. We can’t continue this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon supports the idea of staff unionization. The incoming speaker, Assemblymember Robert Rivas, the Hollister Democrat who is set to take the top leadership post on June 30, is one of 20 Assemblymembers and seven senators whose names were on the bill at introduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.route-fifty.com/management/2022/08/unionization-waves-hit-blue-state-capitols-around-nation/375461/\">A wave of unionization\u003c/a> in Democratic state legislatures across the country, as well as among \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1125257131/congress-staff-union-election-win-andy-levin\">some U.S. congressional staff\u003c/a>, could also help the cause. Oregon became the first state to allow legislative staff to unionize in 2021. Similar efforts were started in Massachusetts, New York and Washington state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/lorena-gonzalez-1971/\">Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher\u003c/a> — one of the most prominent union champions in the Legislature from 2013 until last year, when she \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/01/california-legislature-labor-gonzalez/\">resigned from the Assembly to become head of the California Labor Federation\u003c/a> — says there’s no legitimate reason for legislative staff to be blocked from collective bargaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an argument that we hear always in unionizing efforts: Our place of work is special, it’s different, we have unique challenges,” she told CalMatters. “We have unions that are used to dealing with a variety of sticky situations. That’s something that can be worked out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At last count, there were \u003ca href=\"http://www.onevoter.org/legislative-staff/\">more than 1,800 full-time staffers in the state Assembly and Senate\u003c/a>, including legislative directors, district coordinators, secretaries and aides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Schnur, a politics professor at UC Berkeley, University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, says there’s “no coherent argument” to be made for why legislators should not abide by the laws they pass for other Californians. He also argues that “rules for thee” damages civic engagement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is exactly the type of double standard that makes voters across the ideological spectrum absolutely despise politics and politicians,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Legislative staffers unite\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>State employees other than legislative staff were \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=4.&title=1.&part=&chapter=10.3.&article=\">granted the right to collective bargaining in the Ralph C. Dills Act\u003c/a>, signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 1977.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 200,000-plus state workers, \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/StateWorkforce/BargainingUnits\">more than 80% are represented in one of 21 bargaining units\u003c/a>; managers, supervisors and some others are excluded. Last week, for instance, the union representing more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article272029567.html\">2,700 state scientists rejected a contract offer from the Newsom administration\u003c/a>. The union, which has been without an agreement since July 2020, is seeking 43% raises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Concerns about past staff unionization bills have included treating the Assembly and Senate as one joint employer although they operate independently, as well as potential timing conflicts between labor contracts and \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2019-012#:~:text=Proposition%20140%20(1990)%20established%20term,the%20state's%20economy%20and%20population.\">legislative terms\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other lawmakers have also flagged concerns about outside interests such as unions having a say in the Legislature’s operations, where constituents’ voices are meant to be prioritized above all else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But staff members say \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CAUnionRights/status/1603822013595860992\">long hours and low pay can also be damaging to democracy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are comfortable trying to exploit our passions for public service,” said Aubrey Rodriguez, a legislative director. “That’s why a union is absolutely needed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And McKinnor, the Assemblymember, said that if there were a strike, and managers and supervisors remained on duty, legislators would still be able to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can write. We can read. We can do some of our own work,” she said. “Nothing will stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/How-California-s-Legislature-exempts-itself-12369822.php\">Unionization isn’t the only labor law the Legislature exempts itself from.\u003c/a> Lawmakers also aren’t required to pay minimum wage — though many choose to do so — or to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_overtimeexemptions.htm#:~:text=Any%20employee%20who%20is%20engaged,wage%20for%20full%20time%20employment.\">pay overtime\u003c/a>. And until 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/f7fb899d741244bc9fd52ef877bec11d\">legislative staff weren’t included\u003c/a> under the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?division=1.&chapter=6.5.&lawCode=GOV&title=2.&article=3.\">Whistleblower Protection Act\u003c/a>, which prohibits retaliation against state employees who report misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature also wasn’t immune from the #MeToo movement, which raised awareness about rampant sexual harassment and abuse in workplaces. In 2018, leaders released a decade’s worth of records that included 18 cases of alleged sexual harassment and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/inside-california-capitol/2018/02/california-legislature-last-releases-sexual-harassment-records/\">named four lawmakers who were still serving at the time\u003c/a> — but only after public pressure and \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-legislature-sexual-harassment-records-released-20180202-story.html\">the threat of court intervention\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, Senate and Assembly leaders \u003ca href=\"https://sd39.senate.ca.gov/news/20190118-legislative-leaders-announce-new-workplace-conduct-unit-and-review-panel\">created the Workplace Conduct Unit in 2019\u003c/a>. Last December, the unit released its first report, which said that since February 2019, 91 cases were substantiated and 86 resulted in disciplinary action, including nine dismissals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal was to clear up the “erroneous assumption that allegations are not being substantiated or that discipline has not been imposed,” according to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/WCU-Letter-8-19-22.pdf\">an August 2022 letter (PDF)\u003c/a> from legislative leaders to fellow lawmakers and staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But beyond the high-level numbers, the letter didn’t provide a lot of detail. It did not include names or specify disciplinary actions, other than the terminations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s concerning to Ruth Ferguson, a former legislative staff member who helped start the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ship_ca\">Stop Sexual Harassment in Politics\u003c/a> coalition after her unsatisfactory experience with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-legislature-workplace-harassment-17078756.php\">Workplace Conduct Unit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It appears they haven’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-legislature-sexual-harassment-records-released-20180202-story.html\">kept that promise\u003c/a> of reporting out high-level staffers or members who have been found to have done something inappropriate,” Ferguson told CalMatters. “It makes me wonder: Why hasn’t the public been given an explanation as to why?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"unions\"]The Legislature is exempt from the Public Records Act that applies to other state agencies. Instead, it’s covered by the Legislative Open Records Act, which does not require the release of misconduct reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The anti-sexual harassment coalition will focus this year on trying again to pass a bill to amend the Legislative Open Records Act to require the release of those records, using language similar to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB16\">a law passed in 2021\u003c/a> that applies to disclosing police misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The justification [for those bills] was that there’s this lack of trust and transparency and that greater transparency would result in a fair and more just system,” Ferguson said. “I think similarly that’s really true in this case. For staffers in the Legislature and the public, there’s no accountability mechanism.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public meetings are another area where the Legislature doesn’t have to be as transparent as other elected officials. The 1953 \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?division=2.&chapter=9.&part=1.&lawCode=GOV&title=5.\">Ralph M. Brown Act\u003c/a> and the 1967 Bagley-Keene Act require local governments and state agencies to conduct business at open meetings, with some exceptions for closed sessions requiring confidentiality, such as personnel issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The logic: “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t apply to the Legislature. Under\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>a 1973 law, legislators can gather privately in partisan caucuses. For example, Assembly Democrats \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/06/california-assembly-speaker-drama/\">met behind closed doors for six hours\u003c/a> at the state Capitol last spring on the speakership fight, then hammered out the deal for Rivas to succeed Rendon as speaker in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/california-legislature/2022/11/california-legislature-assembly-speaker-deal/\">another six-hour private meeting\u003c/a> in November at the Sacramento Convention Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most angry and resentful populists in both parties are driven by the accurate belief that most politicians think that they’re better than the rest of society,” Schnur said. “Every one of these double standards reinforces that belief.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California legislators have pushed through major bills in recent years to support unions throughout the state, despite barring their own staffers from organizing. A bill this session could change that.",
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"title": "'What Are We Afraid Of?': California Legislators May Finally Allow Their Staffers to Unionize Under New Bill | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California legislators pass hundreds of laws every year. But sometimes, they free themselves from following them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one emblematic issue, however, this may be the session when that changes: Lawmakers, who have pushed through major bills to support unions throughout California may finally let their own staffers organize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For at least the fifth time in the last 25 years, the effort came to an anticlimactic end last year as \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1577\">a legislative unionization bill passed the state Senate, but failed in an Assembly committee\u003c/a> on the last day of the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, there are multiple pieces in place that could help the new push. For one: the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/01/california-legislature-great-resignation/\">amount of turnover\u003c/a> in what is now California’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/election-2022/2022/11/california-legislature-diversity/\">most diverse Legislature in its history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We’ve asked the farmers to let the farmworkers unionize. We asked the hotel owners to let hotel workers unionize and the restaurant owners to let restaurant folks unionize. And we’re not letting our own folks in our building unionize. We can’t continue this.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The legislation was revived — and highlighted as Assembly Bill 1 on the first day of the current session — by new Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, who leads the committee where it has died four out of the five times it has been proposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What are we afraid of? Why are we afraid of our staff to have representation?” the Inglewood Democrat told CalMatters today. “We’ve asked the farmers to let the farmworkers unionize. We asked the hotel owners to let hotel workers unionize and the restaurant owners to let restaurant folks unionize. And we’re not letting our own folks in our building unionize. We can’t continue this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon supports the idea of staff unionization. The incoming speaker, Assemblymember Robert Rivas, the Hollister Democrat who is set to take the top leadership post on June 30, is one of 20 Assemblymembers and seven senators whose names were on the bill at introduction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.route-fifty.com/management/2022/08/unionization-waves-hit-blue-state-capitols-around-nation/375461/\">A wave of unionization\u003c/a> in Democratic state legislatures across the country, as well as among \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1125257131/congress-staff-union-election-win-andy-levin\">some U.S. congressional staff\u003c/a>, could also help the cause. Oregon became the first state to allow legislative staff to unionize in 2021. Similar efforts were started in Massachusetts, New York and Washington state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Diego Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/lorena-gonzalez-1971/\">Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher\u003c/a> — one of the most prominent union champions in the Legislature from 2013 until last year, when she \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/01/california-legislature-labor-gonzalez/\">resigned from the Assembly to become head of the California Labor Federation\u003c/a> — says there’s no legitimate reason for legislative staff to be blocked from collective bargaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an argument that we hear always in unionizing efforts: Our place of work is special, it’s different, we have unique challenges,” she told CalMatters. “We have unions that are used to dealing with a variety of sticky situations. That’s something that can be worked out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At last count, there were \u003ca href=\"http://www.onevoter.org/legislative-staff/\">more than 1,800 full-time staffers in the state Assembly and Senate\u003c/a>, including legislative directors, district coordinators, secretaries and aides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Schnur, a politics professor at UC Berkeley, University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, says there’s “no coherent argument” to be made for why legislators should not abide by the laws they pass for other Californians. He also argues that “rules for thee” damages civic engagement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is exactly the type of double standard that makes voters across the ideological spectrum absolutely despise politics and politicians,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Legislative staffers unite\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>State employees other than legislative staff were \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=4.&title=1.&part=&chapter=10.3.&article=\">granted the right to collective bargaining in the Ralph C. Dills Act\u003c/a>, signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 1977.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 200,000-plus state workers, \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/StateWorkforce/BargainingUnits\">more than 80% are represented in one of 21 bargaining units\u003c/a>; managers, supervisors and some others are excluded. Last week, for instance, the union representing more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article272029567.html\">2,700 state scientists rejected a contract offer from the Newsom administration\u003c/a>. The union, which has been without an agreement since July 2020, is seeking 43% raises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Concerns about past staff unionization bills have included treating the Assembly and Senate as one joint employer although they operate independently, as well as potential timing conflicts between labor contracts and \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2019-012#:~:text=Proposition%20140%20(1990)%20established%20term,the%20state's%20economy%20and%20population.\">legislative terms\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other lawmakers have also flagged concerns about outside interests such as unions having a say in the Legislature’s operations, where constituents’ voices are meant to be prioritized above all else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But staff members say \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CAUnionRights/status/1603822013595860992\">long hours and low pay can also be damaging to democracy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are comfortable trying to exploit our passions for public service,” said Aubrey Rodriguez, a legislative director. “That’s why a union is absolutely needed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And McKinnor, the Assemblymember, said that if there were a strike, and managers and supervisors remained on duty, legislators would still be able to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can write. We can read. We can do some of our own work,” she said. “Nothing will stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/How-California-s-Legislature-exempts-itself-12369822.php\">Unionization isn’t the only labor law the Legislature exempts itself from.\u003c/a> Lawmakers also aren’t required to pay minimum wage — though many choose to do so — or to \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_overtimeexemptions.htm#:~:text=Any%20employee%20who%20is%20engaged,wage%20for%20full%20time%20employment.\">pay overtime\u003c/a>. And until 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/f7fb899d741244bc9fd52ef877bec11d\">legislative staff weren’t included\u003c/a> under the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?division=1.&chapter=6.5.&lawCode=GOV&title=2.&article=3.\">Whistleblower Protection Act\u003c/a>, which prohibits retaliation against state employees who report misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature also wasn’t immune from the #MeToo movement, which raised awareness about rampant sexual harassment and abuse in workplaces. In 2018, leaders released a decade’s worth of records that included 18 cases of alleged sexual harassment and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/inside-california-capitol/2018/02/california-legislature-last-releases-sexual-harassment-records/\">named four lawmakers who were still serving at the time\u003c/a> — but only after public pressure and \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-legislature-sexual-harassment-records-released-20180202-story.html\">the threat of court intervention\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, Senate and Assembly leaders \u003ca href=\"https://sd39.senate.ca.gov/news/20190118-legislative-leaders-announce-new-workplace-conduct-unit-and-review-panel\">created the Workplace Conduct Unit in 2019\u003c/a>. Last December, the unit released its first report, which said that since February 2019, 91 cases were substantiated and 86 resulted in disciplinary action, including nine dismissals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal was to clear up the “erroneous assumption that allegations are not being substantiated or that discipline has not been imposed,” according to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/WCU-Letter-8-19-22.pdf\">an August 2022 letter (PDF)\u003c/a> from legislative leaders to fellow lawmakers and staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But beyond the high-level numbers, the letter didn’t provide a lot of detail. It did not include names or specify disciplinary actions, other than the terminations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s concerning to Ruth Ferguson, a former legislative staff member who helped start the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ship_ca\">Stop Sexual Harassment in Politics\u003c/a> coalition after her unsatisfactory experience with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-legislature-workplace-harassment-17078756.php\">Workplace Conduct Unit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It appears they haven’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-legislature-sexual-harassment-records-released-20180202-story.html\">kept that promise\u003c/a> of reporting out high-level staffers or members who have been found to have done something inappropriate,” Ferguson told CalMatters. “It makes me wonder: Why hasn’t the public been given an explanation as to why?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Legislature is exempt from the Public Records Act that applies to other state agencies. Instead, it’s covered by the Legislative Open Records Act, which does not require the release of misconduct reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The anti-sexual harassment coalition will focus this year on trying again to pass a bill to amend the Legislative Open Records Act to require the release of those records, using language similar to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB16\">a law passed in 2021\u003c/a> that applies to disclosing police misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The justification [for those bills] was that there’s this lack of trust and transparency and that greater transparency would result in a fair and more just system,” Ferguson said. “I think similarly that’s really true in this case. For staffers in the Legislature and the public, there’s no accountability mechanism.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public meetings are another area where the Legislature doesn’t have to be as transparent as other elected officials. The 1953 \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?division=2.&chapter=9.&part=1.&lawCode=GOV&title=5.\">Ralph M. Brown Act\u003c/a> and the 1967 Bagley-Keene Act require local governments and state agencies to conduct business at open meetings, with some exceptions for closed sessions requiring confidentiality, such as personnel issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The logic: “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t apply to the Legislature. Under\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>a 1973 law, legislators can gather privately in partisan caucuses. For example, Assembly Democrats \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/06/california-assembly-speaker-drama/\">met behind closed doors for six hours\u003c/a> at the state Capitol last spring on the speakership fight, then hammered out the deal for Rivas to succeed Rendon as speaker in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/california-legislature/2022/11/california-legislature-assembly-speaker-deal/\">another six-hour private meeting\u003c/a> in November at the Sacramento Convention Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most angry and resentful populists in both parties are driven by the accurate belief that most politicians think that they’re better than the rest of society,” Schnur said. “Every one of these double standards reinforces that belief.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final.png\">\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11903654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final.png\" alt='Cartoon: a bacon cheeseburger labeled, \"$1.99, ready in one minute,\" opposite a crowd of fast food workers labeled, \"$2 million and still waiting.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1343\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-800x560.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-1020x713.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-160x112.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-1536x1074.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the state Assembly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11903450/state-assembly-backs-new-council-to-oversee-fast-food-industry\">passed a bill\u003c/a> on Monday that would establish a council to regulate the fast food industry, thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/fiorewagetheft\">victims of wage theft continue to wait for the money they're owed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though many different businesses stiff their workers, the fast food industry is notorious for not paying its employees for overtime and meal or rest breaks as required by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A restaurant group that owned several Burger King franchises in San Francisco is on the hook for around $2 million in wage theft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, which is tasked with distributing restitution to victims of wage theft, seems to be about as efficient as a snail towing a glacier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The people who can least afford to go without their wages are suffering thanks to greedy corporations and an overwhelmed state agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final.png\">\u003cimg class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11903654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final.png\" alt='Cartoon: a bacon cheeseburger labeled, \"$1.99, ready in one minute,\" opposite a crowd of fast food workers labeled, \"$2 million and still waiting.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1343\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-800x560.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-1020x713.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-160x112.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/waiting_020122_final-1536x1074.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the state Assembly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11903450/state-assembly-backs-new-council-to-oversee-fast-food-industry\">passed a bill\u003c/a> on Monday that would establish a council to regulate the fast food industry, thousands of \u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/fiorewagetheft\">victims of wage theft continue to wait for the money they're owed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though many different businesses stiff their workers, the fast food industry is notorious for not paying its employees for overtime and meal or rest breaks as required by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A restaurant group that owned several Burger King franchises in San Francisco is on the hook for around $2 million in wage theft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, which is tasked with distributing restitution to victims of wage theft, seems to be about as efficient as a snail towing a glacier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The people who can least afford to go without their wages are suffering thanks to greedy corporations and an overwhelmed state agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Mia Bonta and Janani Ramachandran, two Democrats running for state Assembly in the East Bay, clashed Monday over campaign endorsements, housing policy and the future of the Oakland Athletics in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101884989/bonta-ramachandran-face-off-in-east-bay-assembly-race\">debate on KQED Forum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With just over two weeks until voting ends in the Aug. 31 special election, the debate, hosted by KQED’s Alexis Madrigal, turned heated at times — with candidates lobbing charges of hypocrisy, name-calling and superficiality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winner of the special election will fill the 18th Assembly District seat that has been vacant since Rob Bonta — Mia’s husband — took office as California’s attorney general. In June, Mia Bonta and Ramachandran \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879773/mia-bonta-leads-early-returns-in-special-election-for-east-bay-assembly-seat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">finished atop a field of eight candidates\u003c/a> in the special election primary, and now face each other in the Aug. 31 runoff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two-thirds of voters in the district are Democrats, making it one of the most liberal seats in California. On Monday, housing policy dominated the discussion between the candidates, who both listed it as a top issue for the voters they hope to represent in Oakland, San Leandro and Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who live and work and call District 18 home have been steadily leaving because things are extremely unaffordable,” said Ramachandran, an Oakland-based social justice attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sparks began to fly when Ramachandran said calls for housing to be a human right had been “co-opted by individuals who do not believe housing is actually a human right,” alluding to Bonta, and charging that her opponent would be beholden to developer interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta, the president of the Alameda Unified School District’s Board of Education, urged for a “move beyond the hashtags that we often hear in this campaign and from the other candidate in this race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she repeatedly bashed the endorsement Ramachandran received from the Alameda Citizens Task Force, a local advocacy group that has opposed efforts to expand multifamily housing and battled with tenants groups in recent rent control campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I find it really kind of striking that somebody who is endorsed and supported and proactively seeks out the endorsement of people who are NIMBYs [not in my back yard] … [speaks] so callously about the fact that housing is a human right,” said Bonta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11878253]The pair offered ideas for the Legislature to take an expanded role toward ensuring that more affordable housing is constructed in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran advocated for taxes on large real estate developers and a greater reliance on government-built housing, to ensure “there is equity in terms of who is able to build [units].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta said the state could enact a uniform requirement for developers to make a certain percentage of new units affordable, similar to the local requirements that exist in many Bay Area cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think if we do that across the state and hold the line across the state, then a developer can’t decide to try to pit one county or city against the other in declaring that it’s too expensive to build the housing that we rightfully need,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Underlying the candidate’s responses was a familiar dynamic in local Democrat vs. Democrat elections: Bonta, the candidate with establishment backing, touted her ability to hit the ground running in Sacramento, while Ramachandran, who identifies with the party’s left flank, pitched herself as a break from the status quo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked by a listener how to address violent crime in the short term, Bonta said her work in education nonprofits makes her better suited to tackle the “solutions for today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That experience, Bonta said, “is really at the heart of what the difference is between me and the other candidate in this race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran used her answers on issues like homelessness to deliver a message of change — and to tie Bonta to local elected officials who she said “are the spearhead of failed projects” to aid the unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our political leaders at the state and local level, particularly at the state level, love to try to throw money at the problem for the photo ops and hope it goes away,” Ramachandran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates’ sharpest policy division came over the Oakland A’s proposed stadium development at Howard Terminal. It’s unclear what role a state legislator could play in the project’s future, but more hurdles remain despite the city of Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11881816/oakland-city-council-approves-amended-terms-for-as-howard-terminal-ballpark-plan-and-no-one-seems-happy-about-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approval of a financial plan for the project\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe we have an opportunity with the Howard Terminal project to ensure that working people have the jobs that they deserve in the city of Oakland, and I believe we have a pathway to be able to ensure that the environmental impacts are thoroughly reviewed and taken care of,” said Bonta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran fired back against what she labeled “a real cop-out answer from my opponent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a project about economic development, this is not about jobs for Oakland, this never has been,” Ramachandran said. “This is about billionaire interests and billionaire-owned sports teams.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voter turnout in the June primary was a paltry 20%, despite the Alameda County Registrar of Voters mailing every registered voter a ballot by default.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ballots have already been mailed to voters for the special election runoff and the county is opening \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgov.org/rov_app/avllist?electionid=244\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">early voting locations\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgov.org/rov_app/pollinglist?electionid=244\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Election Day polling places\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mia Bonta and Janani Ramachandran, two Democrats running for state Assembly in the East Bay, clashed Monday over campaign endorsements, housing policy and the future of the Oakland Athletics in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101884989/bonta-ramachandran-face-off-in-east-bay-assembly-race\">debate on KQED Forum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With just over two weeks until voting ends in the Aug. 31 special election, the debate, hosted by KQED’s Alexis Madrigal, turned heated at times — with candidates lobbing charges of hypocrisy, name-calling and superficiality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winner of the special election will fill the 18th Assembly District seat that has been vacant since Rob Bonta — Mia’s husband — took office as California’s attorney general. In June, Mia Bonta and Ramachandran \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879773/mia-bonta-leads-early-returns-in-special-election-for-east-bay-assembly-seat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">finished atop a field of eight candidates\u003c/a> in the special election primary, and now face each other in the Aug. 31 runoff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly two-thirds of voters in the district are Democrats, making it one of the most liberal seats in California. On Monday, housing policy dominated the discussion between the candidates, who both listed it as a top issue for the voters they hope to represent in Oakland, San Leandro and Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who live and work and call District 18 home have been steadily leaving because things are extremely unaffordable,” said Ramachandran, an Oakland-based social justice attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sparks began to fly when Ramachandran said calls for housing to be a human right had been “co-opted by individuals who do not believe housing is actually a human right,” alluding to Bonta, and charging that her opponent would be beholden to developer interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta, the president of the Alameda Unified School District’s Board of Education, urged for a “move beyond the hashtags that we often hear in this campaign and from the other candidate in this race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she repeatedly bashed the endorsement Ramachandran received from the Alameda Citizens Task Force, a local advocacy group that has opposed efforts to expand multifamily housing and battled with tenants groups in recent rent control campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I find it really kind of striking that somebody who is endorsed and supported and proactively seeks out the endorsement of people who are NIMBYs [not in my back yard] … [speaks] so callously about the fact that housing is a human right,” said Bonta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The pair offered ideas for the Legislature to take an expanded role toward ensuring that more affordable housing is constructed in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran advocated for taxes on large real estate developers and a greater reliance on government-built housing, to ensure “there is equity in terms of who is able to build [units].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta said the state could enact a uniform requirement for developers to make a certain percentage of new units affordable, similar to the local requirements that exist in many Bay Area cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think if we do that across the state and hold the line across the state, then a developer can’t decide to try to pit one county or city against the other in declaring that it’s too expensive to build the housing that we rightfully need,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Underlying the candidate’s responses was a familiar dynamic in local Democrat vs. Democrat elections: Bonta, the candidate with establishment backing, touted her ability to hit the ground running in Sacramento, while Ramachandran, who identifies with the party’s left flank, pitched herself as a break from the status quo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked by a listener how to address violent crime in the short term, Bonta said her work in education nonprofits makes her better suited to tackle the “solutions for today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That experience, Bonta said, “is really at the heart of what the difference is between me and the other candidate in this race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran used her answers on issues like homelessness to deliver a message of change — and to tie Bonta to local elected officials who she said “are the spearhead of failed projects” to aid the unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our political leaders at the state and local level, particularly at the state level, love to try to throw money at the problem for the photo ops and hope it goes away,” Ramachandran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates’ sharpest policy division came over the Oakland A’s proposed stadium development at Howard Terminal. It’s unclear what role a state legislator could play in the project’s future, but more hurdles remain despite the city of Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11881816/oakland-city-council-approves-amended-terms-for-as-howard-terminal-ballpark-plan-and-no-one-seems-happy-about-it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approval of a financial plan for the project\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe we have an opportunity with the Howard Terminal project to ensure that working people have the jobs that they deserve in the city of Oakland, and I believe we have a pathway to be able to ensure that the environmental impacts are thoroughly reviewed and taken care of,” said Bonta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran fired back against what she labeled “a real cop-out answer from my opponent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a project about economic development, this is not about jobs for Oakland, this never has been,” Ramachandran said. “This is about billionaire interests and billionaire-owned sports teams.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voter turnout in the June primary was a paltry 20%, despite the Alameda County Registrar of Voters mailing every registered voter a ballot by default.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ballots have already been mailed to voters for the special election runoff and the county is opening \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgov.org/rov_app/avllist?electionid=244\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">early voting locations\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.acgov.org/rov_app/pollinglist?electionid=244\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Election Day polling places\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Alameda Unified Board of Education President Mia Bonta launched a campaign on Monday for state Assembly,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11866499/east-bay-state-assembly-candidates-launch-campaigns-to-fill-rob-bontas-seat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> joining a field of candidates\u003c/a> vying for an East Bay seat currently held by her husband, Rob Bonta, who was tapped to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11865953/newsom-names-east-bay-assemblyman-rob-bonta-as-californias-new-attorney-general\">California’s next attorney general\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s name identification will be a key asset in a special election that could be held this summer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11865953/newsom-names-east-bay-assemblyman-rob-bonta-as-californias-new-attorney-general\">if Rob Bonta is confirmed\u003c/a>. But in an interview with KQED, Mia Bonta vowed “to earn every single vote” in the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My background and experiences as a child advocate and as a youth advocate and as an advocate for working families stand on their own,” Bonta said. “And I’m extremely qualified to serve the communities of the East Bay in the state Assembly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Mia Bonta, Alameda Unified School District Board of Education president\"]‘People have been in pain, they’ve been struggling. The incidence of mental health needs have increased substantially for our students and our families.’[/pullquote]Bonta said she would lean on her experience in managing the reopening of public schools in the city of Alameda this year. Elementary school children in the district began a return to classroom instruction back in March. Middle and high school students are set to begin hybrid learning next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That experience of having to deal with COVID and considering reopening our schools is really the drive behind why I decided to run, in a lot of ways,” Bonta said. “People have been in pain, they’ve been struggling. The incidence of mental health needs have increased substantially for our students and our families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If elected, Bonta said she’ll prioritize education and housing affordability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These issues … are personal for me, I grew up and my family moved 13 times in 16 years,” Bonta said. “I have built into me the experience of feeling that housing insecurity, and I know the impact that has on one’s ability to be able to get work, to keep work, to keep an education, to be focused on an educational pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2012, District 18, which includes most of Oakland, along with the cities of Alameda and San Leandro, has been represented by Rob Bonta, a Democrat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His nomination to be the state’s attorney general has created an opening in one of the state’s most liberal districts, where nearly two-thirds of voters are registered as Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three candidates have already made plans to run for the seat: San Leandro school board member James Aguilar, social justice attorney Janani Ramachandran and Alameda City Councilmember Malia Vella.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In special elections that have seen low levels of voter turnout in the past, candidates with familiar names typically enjoy a marked advantage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label ='Related Coverage' tag='elections']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just last week, Dr. Akilah Weber won a special election for a state Assembly seat in San Diego, replacing her mother, new Secretary of State Shirley Weber. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.livevoterturnout.com/SanDiego/LiveResults/en/Index_11.html\">turnout at 21.2%\u003c/a> of registered voters, Weber won 50.1% of votes cast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, more than a half-dozen legislators have a family member who is also serving or previously served in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta also enters the race with endorsements from Weber, State Treasurer Fiona Ma and the California Legislative Black Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vella has been backed by Assemblymembers Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, and Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, along with two of Bonta’s colleagues on the Alameda school board: Jennifer Williams and Heather Little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Rob Bonta is confirmed as attorney general, a special election to fill his seat could take place in June or July. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff between the top two finishers would take place later in the summer.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Alameda Unified Board of Education President Mia Bonta launched a campaign on Monday for state Assembly,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11866499/east-bay-state-assembly-candidates-launch-campaigns-to-fill-rob-bontas-seat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> joining a field of candidates\u003c/a> vying for an East Bay seat currently held by her husband, Rob Bonta, who was tapped to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11865953/newsom-names-east-bay-assemblyman-rob-bonta-as-californias-new-attorney-general\">California’s next attorney general\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s name identification will be a key asset in a special election that could be held this summer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11865953/newsom-names-east-bay-assemblyman-rob-bonta-as-californias-new-attorney-general\">if Rob Bonta is confirmed\u003c/a>. But in an interview with KQED, Mia Bonta vowed “to earn every single vote” in the campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My background and experiences as a child advocate and as a youth advocate and as an advocate for working families stand on their own,” Bonta said. “And I’m extremely qualified to serve the communities of the East Bay in the state Assembly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Bonta said she would lean on her experience in managing the reopening of public schools in the city of Alameda this year. Elementary school children in the district began a return to classroom instruction back in March. Middle and high school students are set to begin hybrid learning next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That experience of having to deal with COVID and considering reopening our schools is really the drive behind why I decided to run, in a lot of ways,” Bonta said. “People have been in pain, they’ve been struggling. The incidence of mental health needs have increased substantially for our students and our families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If elected, Bonta said she’ll prioritize education and housing affordability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These issues … are personal for me, I grew up and my family moved 13 times in 16 years,” Bonta said. “I have built into me the experience of feeling that housing insecurity, and I know the impact that has on one’s ability to be able to get work, to keep work, to keep an education, to be focused on an educational pathway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2012, District 18, which includes most of Oakland, along with the cities of Alameda and San Leandro, has been represented by Rob Bonta, a Democrat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His nomination to be the state’s attorney general has created an opening in one of the state’s most liberal districts, where nearly two-thirds of voters are registered as Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three candidates have already made plans to run for the seat: San Leandro school board member James Aguilar, social justice attorney Janani Ramachandran and Alameda City Councilmember Malia Vella.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In special elections that have seen low levels of voter turnout in the past, candidates with familiar names typically enjoy a marked advantage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just last week, Dr. Akilah Weber won a special election for a state Assembly seat in San Diego, replacing her mother, new Secretary of State Shirley Weber. With \u003ca href=\"https://www.livevoterturnout.com/SanDiego/LiveResults/en/Index_11.html\">turnout at 21.2%\u003c/a> of registered voters, Weber won 50.1% of votes cast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, more than a half-dozen legislators have a family member who is also serving or previously served in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta also enters the race with endorsements from Weber, State Treasurer Fiona Ma and the California Legislative Black Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vella has been backed by Assemblymembers Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, and Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, along with two of Bonta’s colleagues on the Alameda school board: Jennifer Williams and Heather Little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Rob Bonta is confirmed as attorney general, a special election to fill his seat could take place in June or July. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff between the top two finishers would take place later in the summer.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
},
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},
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
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"meta": {
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"source": "WNYC"
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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"title": "Latino USA",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"source": "WaitWhat"
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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