CALIFORNIA POLITICS
Environmental Justice
Online environmental magazine Grist reports on the environmental justice advocacy led by Latinas in San Bernardino. The article spotlights the leading role of Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice in organizing the community. CCAEJ was founded by CDT ally Penny Newman and is a member organization of CDT partners Inland Empowerment and California Environmental Justice Alliance.
E2 released data on the state and future of clean energy jobs in California. One snapshot: more than 500,000 Californians work across clean energy industries, compared to 89,000 in all fossil fuel industries combined.
Schools and Communities First 2.0
The progressive coalition of groups led by CDT partner Million Voters Project have submitted a revised Schools and Communities First initiative to qualify for the 2020 ballot. Per the steering committee:
“The 2.0 version will continue to generate $11 billion in revenue for schools and local communities by closing the commercial property tax loophole in Prop 13. It will also expand protections for small businesses, broaden the reach of education funding, and strengthen zoning language to ensure large corporations cannot avoid reassessment.
The new measure will ensure every school gets the resources it needs, it will exempt small businesses with property valued under $3 million (up from $2 million to account for coastal communities), and ask the 13% of commercial property owners with property valued above that mark to pay their fair share to make Prop 13 work for all of us.
The 2.0 version strengthens our hand going into 2020 and neutralizes some of the opposition in this legacy electoral battle. We will once again have to gather the signatures to qualify this new version, but are confident we can do so, especially given the campaign infrastructure and momentum we have built. Once we qualify the new version, we will pull back the old version.”
POLICY
Governor Newsom signed CDT-endorsed Assemblymember Shirley Weber’s landmark police use-of-deadly-force bill into law. The bill takes effect January 1.
CalMatters profiles some of the remaining 1,200 bills the state legislature will consider over the next month, including housing, employment and education.
CalMatters looks at how Californians would be affected by federal administration’s proposal “making it harder for legal immigrants to get green cards if they use — or are likely to use — Medicaid, food stamps and other social safety net programs.” The California Budget and Policy Center does a deeper dive into the chilling effect of the proposal, estimating that it could impact up to 2.2 million immigrant family members, especially Latinx and Asian families and children. “The new public charge rule will push thousands of Californians into poverty, negatively impact the health and well-being of immigrant families across the state, and result in damages to the state economy. Even the threat of being classified as a “public charge” has sowed fear in immigrant communities and has caused many families to forgo much needed health, food, and housing assistance. Furthermore, it is not only another blatant attack on immigrant families and communities, it is also an attack on families and individuals who access public benefits more broadly. This latest rule, along with many other harsh actions taken by this Administration, will harm the socioeconomic well-being of many California families today and future generations.”
RESEARCH
Groundswell Foundation and AAPI Civic Engagement Fund produced a report on the role of women of color in turning out the vote in 2018 and their potential to greatly impact the 2020 election. “This report spotlights the 2018 midterms, but also sets this key moment against the backdrop of movements for change since 2008 and beyond. This is a story of Black women on the frontlines of democratic demands for progressive change and social justice turning out to the polls. It is also a story that is magnified and made more impactful because in 2018 Latinas and AAPI women joined in and showed up in greater numbers and shared similar viewpoints. Together, 2018 marked a milestone of women of color reaching their potential as a powerful electorate.” (Emphasis ours)