On Thursday, the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees worked through their suspense files, with several short breaks taken during the meetings for this abbreviated legislative year. Both committees dispensed with the significantly limited number of bills moving through their houses this year – 180 measures considered in the Senate and 89 considered in the Assembly…
Read More »On Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency to help ensure the availability of vital resources to respond to numerous wildfires throughout the state which have been exacerbated by the effects of the historic West Coast heat wave and sustained winds. Relatedly, the Newsom Administration announced it secured Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAGs) from…
Read More »On Monday, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services convened an oversight hearing to examine the Newsom Administration’s Long-Term Care at Home proposal and skilled nursing facility (SNF) COVID-19 emergency response activities. In opening remarks, Subcommittee Chair Assembly Member Joaquin Arambula urged the Newsom Administration to establish a public legislative process…
Read More »On Saturday, the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee convened a hearing to examine the state’s COVID-19 response spending. The first component of the hearing featured representatives from the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) and the Department of Finance (DOF) to provide an update on COVID-19 expenditures to date, the level of funding included in the…
Read More »This week, the California Legislature continued committee meetings with packed though truncated agendas for a variety of policy committees. Despite curtailing the number of bills heard in committees, meetings often took several hours as most testimony was provided over a conference line and extended cleanings took place between hearings. CHEAC’s sponsored measure AB 3224 (Rodriguez),…
Read More »Late Sunday, Dr. Sonia Angell announced her resignation as the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Public Health Officer. In her announcement, Angell did not indicate the reason for her departure. The Newsom Administration indicated Ms. Sandra Shewry will serve as acting director of CDPH, and Dr. Erica Pan, the current CDPH…
Read More »On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a partnership between Kaiser Permanente and the Public Health Institute (PHI) to strengthen and support contact tracing efforts throughout the state. Kaiser Permanente has committed $63 million in grant funds for PHI’s Tracing Health program which will hire, train, and deploy approximately 500 full-time, culturally and linguistically competent, clinically-based…
Read More »On Wednesday, the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health and the UC Berkeley Labor Center published a report on the potential economic and health benefits of a personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpile in the state of California. The report draws upon the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, indicating the pandemic has exposed “tragic shortcomings in…
Read More »On Monday, a lawsuit was filed in the Sacramento County Superior Court seeking to overturn a law that restricts local jurisdictions throughout California from enacting new taxes on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) until 2031. Recall, the Legislature passed and then-Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 1838 in 2018. The measure represented a deal struck…
Read More »Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-73-20 addressing a series of digital device and internet access issues statewide amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As Governor Newsom detailed in a press conference, over 90 percent of California school students are beginning the school year via distance learning. Today’s executive order directs state agencies to pursue…
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