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May 11 2012
Gov. Jerry Brown bounces Prop. 29 doctor from state panel
Under pressure from health advocates, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday removed a controversial physician from a state health board after she appeared in an industry-funded ad against a tobacco tax hike on the June ballot.
La Donna Porter, a physician at San Joaquin General Hospital, had served since 2005 on a state advisory panel of medical experts and scientists that identifies chemicals known to cause developmental or reproductive harm. She was an appointee of then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Brown also took the opportunity to remove five other Schwarzenegger appointees from the panel, according to George Alexeeff, head of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which oversees the California Proposition 65 Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee.
That leaves two members standing: Ellen B. Gold and Hillary Klonoff-Cohen, both Democrats. Meanwhile, at least two of the people removed - Calvin J. Hobel and Carl Keen - are registered Republicans. A third appointee removed, Linda Roberts, works for the Chevron Research and Technology Company.
Brown press secretary Gil Duran offered little explanation, other than to suggest the governor has been making his way through the various appointees from the previous administration.
Duran did not directly refer to the Proposition 29 firestorm. But he said health advocate complaints and media investigations of Porter "certainly brought this board more attention than it usually gets. It brought it to the forefront."
Tobacco companies are spending heavily against Proposition 29, a measure that would raise taxes by $1 per pack of cigarettes and a comparable amount on other forms of tobacco. The initiative would raise $735 million annually for cancer and disease research, as well as smoking prevention.
Porter criticized Proposition 29 for establishing a new bureaucracy and potentially sending research money out of state. She previously appeared in a 2006 commercial against a different tobacco tax and was a health spokesperson for a pharmaceutical-backed initiative in 2005. Porter says she has not been paid for her advocacy.
The ad's statewide run is over after two weeks, but Porter was considered a powerful spokeswoman as an African-American doctor wearing a white smock in a physician's office. Initiative proponents seemed to be particularly upset at the ad's implication that the medical community opposes Proposition 29, and they have since launched their own commercials refuting that argument.
On Monday, Proposition 29 proponents called on Brown to remove Porter from the California Proposition 65 Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee. On Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Proposition 29 backer, issued a separate letter calling on the governor to rescind the appointment.
In his letter, Newsom wrote, "Dr. Porter has demonstrated close, obvious and troubling ties to the tobacco industry and its marketing tactics."
May 10 2012
Three GOP congressional hopefuls named NRCC 'Young Guns'
Three California Republicans running in targeted congressional races have been named "Young Guns" by the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Ricky Gill, state Sen. Tony Strickland, and Assemblyman David Valadao were among the 12 candidates to reach the top status of the candidate recruitment and training program.
Gill is running against Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney in the Central Valley's 9th Congressional District, Strickland is vying for the open 26th Congressional District in Ventura County, and Valadao is seeking the open 21st Congressional District, also in the Central Valley.
NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions, a Texas congressman, praised the candidates for "leading the pack as Republicans continue to send a loud and clear message that we will hold Democrats accountable for their job-destroying agenda."
The program was founded before the 2008 election by California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.
Human trafficking measure qualifies for California ballot
A California proposal aimed at curbing sex slavery and other forms of human trafficking has qualified for the November ballot.
The initiative increases penalties for human trafficking violations, upping the maximum sentence to 15 years to life in prison and fines of up to $1.5 million. It would also require that sex offenders, including people convicted of human trafficking crimes, report information about their online accounts, such as email addresses or social media pages.
Validity checks by county election officials showed that proponents submitted enough voter signatures to meet the 504,760 minimum for making it on the ballot, Secretary of State Debra Bowen said today.
The signature-gathering effort was funded with $1.4 million from Chris Kelly, a former Facebook chief privacy officer and 2010 Democratic attorney general candidate who lobbied unsuccessfully for legislation that would have created similar online identity reporting requirements for sex offenders.
The anti human trafficking initiative is the sixth measure to qualify for the November election. Upwards of a dozen measures, including three separate tax proposals, could make ultimately make it on the ballot.
California has more than quarter of U.S. foreign-born population
More than a quarter of Californians were born in another country, and those 10-plus million immigrant residents of the state also represent more than a quarter of the nation's foreign-born population, a new Census Bureau report reveals.
California's 25.4 percent of the nation's 40 million foreign-born residents is, by far, the largest concentration of any state, both numerically and proportionately. New York is a distant second with 10.8 percent, followed by Texas.
Nationally, 44 percent of the foreign born have become citizens. The report does not break citizenship down by state, but California's level of citizenship may be lower since Mexico is the state's major source of immigration and nationally, just 22.9 percent of Mexican-born immigrants are citizens.
Latinos, both immigrants and native-born, are now nearly 40 percent of California's population and are expected to become the state's largest ethnic group within a few years as the white population continues to decline. One factor, as the Census Bureau report indicates, is that immigrants have much higher birth rates than native-born Americans, in part because they tend to be younger and in part because they come from cultures that traditionally have high birth rates.
Steinberg expects 'news to be rough' in Jerry Brown's budget
Legislative Democrats are bracing for "more work on the cuts side" once Gov. Jerry Brown releases his revised budget next week, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told reporters during a weekly q-and-a in his office.
"We all expect the news to be rough. That's no secret," the Sacramento Democrat said.
That will likely mean more steep cuts to the state's health and human services programs. An estimated $1.5 billion lawmakers had hoped to reserve for affordable housing programs is also "certainly a very ripe candidate" for use for general budget relief, he said.
"We have not shied away from doing what we have to do and we won't shy away now," he said. "But we will certainly fight to save more than we lose.'
When asked what areas he hopes to protect from future reductions, Steinberg cited CalWorks, the state's welfare-to-work program, as a top priority. He said studies showing correlation between cuts to those services and homelessness make the decision "one of those can you sleep at night kind of questions."
"I would do just about anything to avoid that cut," he said.
Brown's budget is expected to rely on up to $9 billion in revenues from his proposed initiative to temporarily raise income taxes for top earners and enact a quarter percent increase in the state sales tax, with a round of "trigger" cuts after the election if the November ballot measure fails. While the revenues at stake on the November ballot has grown since the governor's January budget proposal because of changes to the tax plan, Steinberg said he expects the triggers to still target K-12 schools, higher education and the courts.
"I don't see that the fundamentals will change even if the number changes," Steinberg said. "But you've got to make up for a bigger number."
PHOTO CREDIT: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, speaks at the Capitol Bureau on Jan. 20, 2011. Hector Amezcua, Sacramento Bee.
Jerry Brown mum on term-limit and tobacco-tax measures
Less than a month before California voters decide on tobacco-tax and term-limits initiatives, Gov. Jerry Brown remains unlikely to take a public position on either one.
The Democratic governor, who submitted signatures this morning for his November ballot measure to raise taxes, declined to discuss the ballot measures on the June 5 ballot.
"Focus, focus," he said, telling reporters he is "sticking to the measure that we're filing signatures for today."
Proposition 28 would alter legislative term limits, allowing lawmakers to serve 12 years either in one house or divided between the Assembly and Senate. Lawmakers are currently restricted to eight years in the Senate and six in the Assembly.
Proposition 29 would impose an additional $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes to pay for cancer research and smoking cessation programs.
Brown's November initiative would raise income taxes on California's highest earners as well as the state sales tax rate.
"As governor, my responsibility is to balance the budget, protect our schools, protect public safety," he said today. "That's what I'm doing. I need to get this initiative passed, so that's my focus."
Philip Morris USA is among the most recent large contributors to Brown's re-election campaign, donating $26,000 last month.
PHOTO CAPTION: Gov. Jerry Brown and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, delivers signatures for his ballot tax measure to the county registrar's office in Sacramento on Thursday, May 10, 2012. Sacramento Bee / Randall Benton.
Assembly OKs controversial bill on children's immunizations
The California Assembly approved legislation Thursday requiring parents to receive counseling about the risks and potential benefits of vaccinations to prevent communicable diseases before opting out of their children receiving the medicine.
The measure, Assembly Bill 2109, was approved by a vote of 44-19.
Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento, who crafted the measure, said it ensures that parents will make an informed decision without eliminating their right to opt out of immunizations for their children.
Pan, a pediatrician, characterized AB 2109 as a public safety measure that could reduce the spread of measles, mumps and pertussis.
If signed into law, Pan's bill would take effect in July 2013.
Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, criticized the bill as placing a new obstacle between parents and the right to opt out of immunizations.
"We have enough of a nanny state as it is," Logue said.
Under AB 2109, parents who exclude their children from immunization requirements would have to submit a statement, signed by themselves and their health care practitioner, that they received information about risks and benefits of the medicine.
Republican Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, a Fresno physician, said she could not support AB 2109 because it does not include Christian Science practitioners in its list of health-care professionals that can provide parents with the immunization information the bill requires.
AB 2109 now goes to the California Senate.
* Updated at 2:05 p.m. to add Assemblywoman Linda Halderman's opposition. PHOTO CREDIT: Cristian Vargas, 10, of Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood braces himself for an immunization shot at the Oak Park Neighborhood Multiservice Center on Tuesday, May 10, 2005. Sacramento Bee file, 2005 / Randall Benton.
VIDEO: Obama administration tells California it's time to vote on high-speed rail
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned the California Legislature today that the Obama administration will not wait until fall for a vote on high-speed rail, urging its approval in a budget vote next month.
"We need to make sure that the commitment is there to obligate the money," LaHood told reporters at the Capitol, where he was meeting with lawmakers and with Gov. Jerry Brown.
The state's commitment, LaHood said, will be demonstrated when lawmakers "put it in the budget and take a vote on it."
Brown and the California High-Speed Rail Authority want to start construction on a $68 billion rail project by early next year, proposing initially to use $2.6 billion in state rail bond funds and $3.3 billion in federal funds. Lawmakers considering allocating that money remain skeptical, however, and the Legislative Analyst's Office has recommended against it.
LaHood said he was at the Capitol to reiterate the Obama administration's commitment to high-speed rail, while "checking signals" in the Legislature.
He said the suggestion by some lawmakers that they may need more time to consider the proposal - perhaps pushing an up or down vote into the fall - is unacceptable.
"We want to make sure that our partners here understand what's at stake," he said. "We can't wait until the end of summer."
LaHood declined to say what the administration will do if the Legislature does delay, saying, "I'm going to operate on the assumption that people are going to act in good faith."
LaHood praised the Brown administration for a project redesign this year that dramatically reduced its price, from $98 billion.
"My message to the Assembly, to the leadership, is that we need to make sure that there's a continued, strong commitment on the part of the Assembly, as reflected in their budget," he said.
The nonpartisan LAO has criticized the project for its reliance in future years on uncertain federal funding. State Sen. Joe Simitian, the Palo Alto Democrat who chairs the budget subcommittee considering high-speed rail, has said the administration's recent changes to the project would likely require more time to consider beyond when the state budget is adopted next month.
VIDEO: Jerry Brown submits tax signatures
A week after announcing that he had collected enough signatures to qualify his tax initiative for the November ballot, Gov. Jerry Brown's campaign to pass the measure appeared this morning to take shape.
The Democratic governor, appearing at the office of the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters to submit the first of about 1.5 million signatures collected statewide, was accompanied by political consultant Ace Smith, whose company, SCN Strategies, will run the campaign.
Smith managed Brown's bid for attorney general in 2006, and SCN oversaw California Attorney General Kamala Harris' run in 2010.
Brown proposes to raise the state sales tax and income taxes on California's highest earners.
"It's balanced, it's fair and it will take a major step forward in putting California in a very solid position," Brown said, leaning into a podium outside the registrar's office flanked by boxes of signatures and about two dozen supporters. "We are facing a world that is full of economic uncertainties, but with this tax measure, and with the cuts that I'll be proposing on Monday, California will put itself in a very, very strong position."
Brown is expected to propose further spending reductions in a revised budget proposal on Monday. He declined to discuss his proposal in detail but said it "will be a difficult day in Sacramento."
Brown was joined at the press conference by his wife and special counsel, Anne Gust Brown, and his dog, Sutter. Following his brief remarks, Brown said to his supporters, "That's it? All right guys, let's get 'em filed."
Billionaire will give $20 million for corporate tax hike initiative
Billionaire hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer will donate $20 million toward an initiative that would raise $1 billion annually from multi-state corporations for green building projects and the state budget, proponents said today.
That brings Steyer's contributions to $21.9 million so far in the campaign, one of the highest amounts ever by one individual for a California initiative effort. Steyer is an environmentalist who founded San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management in 1986. Forbes magazine lists his net worth at $1.3 billion as of March.
Only one contributor in recent memory gave more to a statewide initiative: real estate heir and businessman Stephen Bing, who gave $48.6 million to Proposition 87 in 2006, according to state records. The failed effort would have raised taxes on oil production for alternative energy projects.
Steyer has formed a coalition of environmental groups that dubs itself the "Californians to Close the Out-of-State Corporate Tax Loophole." The committee filed signatures last week to put their initiative on the ballot.
The proposal would require all companies in California to calculate their corporate income tax based solely on their proportion of sales in the state. Under a tax law change pushed by Republicans as part of the 2009 budget compromise for temporary tax hikes, corporations won the ability to choose between the sales-based tax formula or a separate equation that also considers employees and property.
The latter formula is more beneficial to out-of-state firms who can lower their tax rate because they have relatively few employees or property in the state. California is one of only two states that allows companies to choose their tax formula.
Large business groups who oppose the measure say it would cost jobs in the state. But California-based biotech firms have lobbied for the change because they say they are at a competitive disadvantage compared to companies based elsewhere.
The proposal would raise an estimated $1 billion a year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. For the first five years, half of the money would go toward energy efficiency projects in buildings and the other half would help the state's general fund, including schools.
PHOTO: Tom Steyer, 2011. Courtesy of Tom Steyer
Facebook passwords private, Assembly decides in passing bill
Without a dissenting vote, the California Assembly passed legislation Thursday that would bar employers from requiring their workers or job seekers to provide access to passwords for Facebook or other social media.
Assemblywoman Nora Campos, a Democrat who crafted the bill, Assembly Bill 1844, said that information posted in social media accounts does not necessarily reflect a person's job competence.
"AB 1844 makes clear that job seekers and employees have a right to privacy in the social media," she said.
Nobody spoke against AB 1844 on the Assembly floor
The bill passed by a vote of 69-0, with three members absent and eight members abstaining.
Campos' bill now goes to the California Senate.
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