CALIFORNIA POLITICS
2021 Redistricting
Over 20 organizations are requesting to extend the application deadline for the California Citizens Redistricting Commission from August 9 to September 30. As of now, Latinos, Asian Americans and women are underrepresented in the >30,000 application pool: “About two thirds of the applicants are white, although white people make up only about 37 percent of the state’s population. Six percent are Asian American or Pacific Islander, compared to nearly 16 percent of the general population. Less than 13 percent of applicants are Latino, the state’s largest ethnic group at 39 percent of the population. Women make up just under 39 percent of applicants. ‘That’s a problem because district lines need to be drawn so they don’t disenfranchise people from any ethnic, regional and political groups’, [Rey López-Calderón, executive director of government watchdog group California Common Cause] said. ‘It’s important that the commissioners be diverse and representative of the state so they can draw districts fairly’. He attributes the decrease in applications to a lack of attention in the media and a shortened application period.”
Bay Area
Five of nine Bay Area counties saw a rise in their homeless census (with a range from 7% in SF to 43% in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties).
POLICY
CalMatters made a build-a-budget tool to let people tinker with revenue and spending to develop a 2019/2020 budget. They also published a fantastic, in-depth article with infographics on the legislation to reform police deadly use-of-force.
The bail industry qualified a ballot initiative that would protect cash bail from the recent legislative reform via the state constitution.
RESEARCH
Early Childhood Education
High-quality early childhood education (ECE) is universally recognized as a critical driver of social and economic mobility. Governor Newsom committed more state investments in support, but recent reports from the Economic Policy Institute and Stanford University document how we still have a ways to go to ensure high-quality ECE for all children in California and fair pay for early childhood educators, respectively. The California Budget and Policy Center takes a look at how early childhood home visits by social workers and nurses improves outcomes for children and how state policymakers can support expansion to meet the needs of families across the state.
The State of Latinx Communities in California
CDT ally Mindy Romero published a report showing that Latinos are faring worse than other Californians on nearly every single issue, including poverty, housing, etc. “‘The well-being of Latinos impacts the overall well-being of the state. We need to start having some really honest conversations.’”