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Open dialogue among community members is an important part of successful advocacy. Take Action California believes that the more information and discussion we have about what's important to us, the more empowered we all are to make change.

Monday, September 30, 2013

All of Us Or None at LA's 2nd Annual Power Festival

Saturday, October 28, 2013, All of Us or None / A New Way of Life Reentry Project shared a table at the South LA's 2nd Annual Power Festival, which was spearheaded by Community Coalition.




Hundreds of people came out to gather more information concerning health care reform, which we all know as Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act (the medical coverage original name) has made it possible for low cost health care insurance to reach folks that normally would have to suffer having no insurance at all.

Much controversy against the bill has created politicians to refuse the ACA, but through it all, President Obama has been adamant to continue to improve the nations health care system, no matter what. 

As the community continues to be informed about the benefits of Obamacare, it seems to bring a particular measure of hope to many that held no hope at all.


LA's Mayor Eric Garcetti came out and shared his support of Obamacare, and the day flowed with the people gathering all the information they could to understand the language of the health coverage that has stirred up a political gang banging fight that truly has another meaning altogether.

Shutdown, or not - California launching health law Tuesday

California will forge ahead with the launch of its health insurance marketplace Tuesday, regardless of whether Congress fails to reach a last-minute deal to avert a federal government shutdown.

A possible shutdown would not stop the state because it has already received federal funding to implement the law. Much of the health care law, including federal subsidies for lower-income customers, was established through mandatory spending and not tied to annual appropriations.

On Friday, President Barack Obama promised that the insurance exchanges would open for business even if there's a government shutdown.
"That's a done deal," he said.

Indeed, Covered California - the state's version of the federal health care law - is preparing to begin enrolling customers in its health insurance exchange on Tuesday. Parts of the government would close on the same day if lawmakers in Washington don't act on legislation to extend discretionary spending.

Congressional Republicans have been working to stop the health law in its tracks.
On Monday, Senate Democrats tabled two House-approved amendments to a spending bill that would delay for one year implementation of the health law as well as repeal a medical-device tax designed to help pay for its implementation. Obama and Senate Democrats are urging the House to pass the Senate-approved spending bill with no provisions on the health care law.

California, one of 14 states rolling out its own marketplace, will mark opening day with a series of events in Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. The federal government will oversee the launch in the remaining states.

Photo: Samuel Butler inquires at a Covered California booth last weekend at the George Sim Center in Sacramento. Lezlie Sterling/The Sacramento Bee

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/09/shutdown-or-not---california-launching-obamacare-tuesday.html#storylink=cpy

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Brown official orders EDD to pay jobless claims first, check eligibility later

With thousands of Californians still waiting for unemployment checks because of a computer problem that has delayed payments for weeks, the Brownadministration on Tuesday ordered the Employment Development Department to begin paying backlogged claims for continued benefits before determining if they are eligible for payment.

Calling the backlog "unacceptable," Marty Morgenstern, secretary of the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency, told EDD Chief Deputy Director Sharon Hilliard in a memorandum that without such action "it is unlikely that the claims backlog will be reduced quickly enough to respond to the very real financial hardship now being experienced by too many of our residents relying on timely payment of their UI benefits.

Morgenstern said, "Consequently, I am directing EDD to immediately begin the process of paying backlogged claims for continued UI benefits prior to a final determination of eligibility."

Final determinations of eligibility for backlogged claims "will have to be completed later and at that time EDD will act to recover any resulting overpayments that might occur," the memo said.

Loree Levy, an EDD spokeswoman, said in an email late Tuesday night that Hilliard received Morgenstern's memo and that EDD "will begin paying all backlogged UI claims without any further delays."
She said claimants who currently have claims in the backlog will begin receiving payments as soon as Thursday.

EDD, which is upgrading its 30-year-old unemployment insurance processing system, said early last week that about 50,000 Californians had claims delayed after the department converted several years of old data into a new processing system over the Labor Day weekend. The problem quickly grew wider, however. By Friday, EDD said about 185,000 of the state's nearly 800,000 people receiving benefits had been affected, with about 80,000 backlogged claims yet to be cleared.

The department put hundreds of employees to work over the weekend, hoping to put a significant dent in the backlog. The effort was largely unsuccessful. Though EDD said it cleared about 43,000 claims from the backlog over the weekend and another 11,000 claims Monday, new claims replaced the ones EDD cleared, and the backlog of submissions older than 10 days remained about 80,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.

Morgenstern acknowledged what he said were "multiple steps" by EDD "to aggressively deal with backlogged certifications," including redirecting staff from other program areas to help process claims and increasing overtime.

However, he said such efforts are unlikely to be sufficient. He said paying backlogged claims for continued unemployment benefits before a final determination of eligibility is consistent with U.S. Department of Labor guidelines.

"It is my expectation that this payment action along with the dedication of additional staff resources will expedite the elimination of the backlog and the payment of UI benefits to those most in need in the shortest possible time," Morgenstern wrote.

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/09/brown-official-orders-edd-to-pay-backlogged-claims-first-check-eligibility.html#storylink=cpy

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Senate moves forward on debate over Obamacare

WASHINGTON — The Senate easily overcame Wednesday’s first hurdle to a fizzling GOP strategy to strip funding for President Obama’s healthcare law in exchange for keeping the government running.

Top Republicans are now for a new — more modest — way to chip away at the Affordable Care Act.
Time is not on their side after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) monopolized the floor in his lonely filibuster-like campaign. Money for routine government operations is set to run out Oct. 1, unless Congress acts.

The rare 100-0 vote to end this first round of debate showed how eager senators were to move the bill forward.

Republicans realize that because they are in the minority in the chamber, Democrats will eventually be able to eliminate the Obamacare provision to protect the president’s signature law. Republican leaders want Cruz to wrap up his time in the limelight so the Senate can dispatch the legislation back to the House in time to give Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) ample opportunity to attach new amendments that might have a better chance at eventually ending the healthcare law.

“My own view is it would be to the advantage of our colleagues in the House, who are in the majority, to shorten the process,” said Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has distanced himself from Cruz’s strategy. “If the House doesn't get what we send over there until Monday, they're in a pretty tough spot.”

Republicans in the House and Senate believe a do-over in the House could have better results, if they attach a healthcare provision that would be difficult for Democrats to oppose — such as a repeal of the new tax on medical device manufacturers that some Democrats dislike, or a delay of the individual mandate that all Americans carry health insurance in 2014.

After Republican senators convened for back-to-back closed-door strategy sessions earlier this week, many, if not most, embraced the emerging plan. “It seems to some of us the sooner you get it over to the House, the sooner they can address it,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Cruz initially showed little interest in yielding, promising to use every procedural tool necessary to stop what others in his party viewed as inevitable.


But after finishing is 21-hour talkathon late Wednesday morning, Cruz suggested speeding up the next key vote to Friday, rather than Saturday as scheduled. That vote is viewed as the Republicans’ last chance to stop the bill before the Democrats gut the health provision.

Cruz said he wanted to make sure Americans were tuned in to watch it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) initially declined the offer, but conversations are expected to continue.

Under Senate rules, the chamber will now spend 30 hours in debate before the next vote, Thursday morning, to proceed to the legislation. Final passage, without the healthcare provision, would not come until Sunday evening — with hours to go before a possible shutdown.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Jerry Brown signs bill to raise California minimum wage

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to raise California's minimum wage by 25 percent, from $8 an hour to $10 an hour by 2016.

The bill, celebrated by Brown and his labor union allies at an event in Los Angeles, promises the first increase in California's hourly minimum since 2008, when the minimum wage was raised 50 cents to $8.

After appearing in the state's biggest media market this morning, the Democratic governor is scheduled to fly to Oakland to promote the bill at a second event this afternoon.

Assembly Bill 10, by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, will raise the minimum wage from $8 to $9 an hour on July 1, 2014, and to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.

The bill was the only one of 38 bills designated by the California Chamber of Commerce as a "jobs killers" to make it out of the Legislature this year.
The chamber and other business groups said raising the hourly minimum would unfairly increase business costs and jeopardize California's economic recovery.


California is one of 18 states and the District of Columbia that have minimum wages above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and California's $10 minimum is likely to be among the highest in the nation in 2016.


Washington currently has the nation's highest state minimum wage, at $9.19 an hour, but that state is one of 10 that provide for automatic adjustments to their minimum wages based on cost of living measures, a provision eliminated from an earlier version of the bill Brown signed.


The California legislation is expected to affect about 1.5 million full-time, year-round workers, about 14 percent of the state's full-time workforce, according to a Bee review of U.S. Census data.

The broader effects of a minimum wage increase are the subject of longstanding debate. The California Budget Project, which advocates for low-income residents, said in a brief this month that California's minimum wage has not kept pace with the rising cost of living and that raising the hourly minimum "would help reverse the decline in the purchasing power of workers' wages."

Proponents of raising the minimum wage say workers who earn more will spend more, stimulating the economy, and will require less government assistance.

Opponents of raising the minimum wage say requiring employers to pay higher wages will force them to offset costs by raising prices, hiring fewer workers or reducing workers' hours.

The National Federation of Independent Business, an advocacy group, released a study in March warning that a minimum wage increase under an earlier version of the California bill could result in the loss of more than 68,000 jobs in California over 10 years.

The Bee's Phillip Reese contributed to this report

Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/09/jerry-brown-signs-bill-to-raise-california-minimum-wage.html#storylink=cpy

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Covered California Open Enrollment

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News Bulletin

Covered California Open Enrollment Begins October 1, 2013

Covered California will begin open enrollment on October 1, 2013, with coverage beginning January 1, 2014. This is an exciting time, as communities of color represent two-thirds of the 2.7 million individuals who will be eligible for tax credits to purchase affordable coverage in Covered California.

Additionally, more than one million eligible adults will speak English less than very well, making language access a priority. We need to spread the word about available resources to maximize enrollment among those eligible in our communities:

·         Covered California's website is currently available in both English and Spanish
·         Fact sheets about Covered California are available in 13 different languages
·         Covered California's telephone help line: 1-800-300-1506 will provide interpreters in any language.
·         The new application for coverage will be available in 12 different languages and will have dedicated, toll-free numbers for telephone assistance in each language.
If your organization is interested in helping to get people enrolled in either Covered California or Medi-Cal, visit Covered California's Enrollment Assistance Program, where you can complete an online application to become a Certified Enrollment Entity.

Upcoming Convening Provides Information on Outreach and Enrollment

For more information on outreach and enrollment efforts, be sure to attend our upcoming convening, A New Era of Coverage: Maximizing Participation in the ACA. At this event, you can get updates on the state's outreach and enrollment efforts and hear about how local organizations are enrolling communities of color in available coverage opportunities. Register today and join us in Fresno (10/3), Oakland (10/8), Los Angeles (10/15), or San Diego (10/16).
If you have further questions, email Cary Sanders at csanders@cpehn.org.
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State signs deal to park prisoners in Adelanto

California has signed a contract with an international prison company to lease space for 1,400 inmates — 700 of whom will be housed in the company’s Adelanto lockup.
Florida-based The Geo Group announced Monday that it had signed deals with the state for housing prisoners in two lower-security prisons it owns in California, one in the High Desert city of Adelanto and one in the Kern County community of McFarland.
This is the second in-state contract with a private prison operator, said state Department of Corrections spokesman Jeffrey Callison. Separately, the state has contracts for 8,500 prisoners kept in privately owned prisons in other states.
Monday’s contracts come before Gov. Jerry Brown learns whether federal judges will grant his request for a three-year delay in the court’s orders to cap the state’s prison population. That decision is expected before Friday.
“We are thankful for the confidence placed in our company by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” said George C. Zoley, chairman and CEO of GEO, in a statement. “The reactivation of our Central Valley and Desert View Modified Community Correctional facilities will play an important role in helping meet the need for correctional bed space in the State of California.”
It was just last year when the state reportedly said it would end a contract with Geo to house parole violators in McFarland, but Brown later extended the contract through fiscal 2016.
The state had another contract in 2011 for space at the Adelanto facility, but it too was terminated, only to be brought back now.
Callison said that the CDC ended its contract in Adelanto with The Geo Group in 2011 because the contract expired and “at that time determined that we didn’t need the space. Now we have decided that we do. That is one of the advantages of leased facilities, you can expand or contract according to need.”
With the new deals, Geo said the contracts total $30.7 million annually for five years.
The Adelanto facility will begin to accept inmates by the end of the year.
And that’s a good thing for local law enforcement leaders in Southern California, who say they’ve been feeling the burden of the state’s realignment program.
Prison realignment, implemented on Oct. 1, 2011, aims to reduce the state’s prison population after a federal three-judge panel found the overcrowded conditions in prisons kept inmates from receiving adequate health care.
Under Assembly Bill 109, lower-level offenders, those convicted of non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual offenses, are monitored and housed by county institutions.
Police chiefs are upset that some inmates released in the name of overcrowding in the county are committing the same kinds of crimes for which they were first sentenced.
“Anything we can do to free up pressure on the county jail and allow them to stop this revolving door is to our advantage,” San Bernardino Police Chief Robert Handy said.
But not all agree that private prisons are a solution to the state’s inmate housing issues.
State Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, has been outspoken on the issue of realignment.
“I don’t believe simply expanding capacity will provide a durable solution to our prison overcrowding crisis,” Lieu said Monday. “I hope the federal court will extend the prison reduction cap by two or three years. If they do that, then I hope we don’t need to complete the private prison contract.”
Lieu said California has one of the highest recidivism rates in the nation — between 60 and 70 percent.
“For every 100 prisoners we release, 60 or 70 commit more crimes and end up back in prison. Simply expanding capacity doesn’t address that problem.”
For the city of Adelanto, which has been hard-hit by the recession, the 140 jobs that will be created at the Desert View Modified Community Correctional Facility, will be well-received, officials said.
“Any time we can put more people back to work, that’s a move forward,” said Mayor Cari Thomas.
But Victoria Mena, coordinator of a program that coordinates visits with immigrant detainees at Adelanto, said her first reaction to the news was concern.
“Adelanto has three of the largest detention centers in the country — a federal prison, the county jail and the Adelanto Immigration Center, but there are no (Adelanto) high schools, and the elementary schools are failing. It says a lot about the community and says a lot about where their priorities are,” she said. “There are no after-school clubs and no community centers. Instead it’s the hub of mass incarceration.”
Mena said she’s also concerned about the isolation of the city.
“What happens when people are released?” she asked.
The contract signing completes a prison complex owned by Geo in Adelanto. Two other nearby buildings are leased to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Jodi Miller said the new prison contracts will have no effect on department operations.
The county is working on an application to receive $80 million in state assistance for expansion of the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Personal Finance: New federal health care mandates kick in starting Oct. 1

By Claudia Buck

Love it or hate it, the launch date for the country’s sweeping new health care mandates is just around the corner. In 10 days, the essential piece of the federal government’s Affordable Care Act kicks in, allowing everyone across the country to sign up for health care coverage.
Starting Oct. 1, you’ll need to make some choices, whether you’re currently covered at work, have been buying health insurance on your own, or never had it in the first place.
“We’re getting slammed” with inquiries, said Anne Gonzales, spokeswoman for Covered California, the state’s new health care exchange offering policies under the new law. “People are very focused on Oct. 1, but we’ve already been taking phone calls from consumers and people trying to get educated.”
Although health care policies can’t be purchased online until Oct. 1, “We encourage people to call in ahead of time,” said Gonzales, “so they can shop and compare. There’s no reason to wait.”
While there’s been much heated debate over the merits of affordable health care in the last four years, there are some definite positives. Among them: Everyone will be entitled to 10 “essential services” (see box) and you can’t be denied health care for pre-existing conditions, whether it’s diabetes, cancer, AIDS or anything else.
Whether it’ll be cheaper depends on your family circumstances and your health care needs.
“People who’ve been declined (for pre-existing conditions) all these years will be happy. But if you’re a family of four making $90,000 a year, you’re going to see a big increase,” said Carrie McLean, director of customer care at eHealthInsurance.com, an online health coverage comparison site.
That’s due to a combination of lower caps on what everyone has to pay out of pocket for medical expenses, as well as the mandated coverages required of all health care policies. To cover those costs, health care companies are raising rates on certain policies and premiums.
That’s why it pays, more than ever, to spend some time on your health care choices this fall. Here’s a look at some of the basics:
Covered at work
If your employer provides health care insurance, you’re already in the loop. No doubt you’ve been invited to company presentations, directed to websites or received information packets about changes in your company’s health care plan for 2014.
Open those packets; attend the meetings; go online to look at your options. During this year’s open enrollment, it’s more critical than ever.
Some companies are changing carriers, offering incentives or switching some benefits. Some are urging employees to consider health savings accounts, for instance. (More on that topic in a future column.) And unlike years past, where employees may have been automatically enrolled in a company’s health care plan, this year’s changes often mean you need to proactively take steps to ensure you’re enrolled. If you forget to sign up, you may be out of luck until 2015.
A recent MetLife study found that a majority of employees “are on autopilot” during open enrollment and don’t really scrutinize their health care choices, which could be especially risky this year. “Employee benefits are not ‘one size fits all,’” said Michael Fradkin, MetLife’s senior vice president for worksite benefits, in an email. To avoid “missing new coverage options and money being left on the table, we encourage all employees to take the time to closely evaluate all of their benefits options.”
If you’re confused or unclear about your choices, contact your company’s HR department for guidance.
Buying it yourself
If you’ve never had health care insurance, either because you were too young, had a pre-existing condition or your employer didn’t provide it, now’s your chance to get coverage and shop for the best rate.
Insurance on the exchanges comes in four levels: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. At the lowest level, bronze, your monthly premiums will be the cheapest, but you’ll pay more for doctor visits and co-pays. The plan will cover about 60 percent of your medical costs. At the higher gold and platinum levels, your premiums are higher but you’ll pay less when you see a doctor or buy a prescription. Those plans will cover 80 percent to 90 percent of your costs.
That’s where doing your online comparisons comes in. “Start playing around with the online computer to look at your coverage options,” said Gonzales. Using the “Shop and Compare” tool on the Covered California website, you type in your age, ZIP code, income and family size. You’ll instantly get a list of the companies offering plans in your county.
For instance, a single, 26-year-old male in the 95814 ZIP code making $25,000 a year could get a bronze-level plan for $75 to $84 a month. That’s with a federal subsidy of $126 a month. A family of four in the same ZIP code earning $80,000 a year could choose from four bronze plans priced at $386 to $417 a month, with a $332 subsidy.
You can purchase health insurance from any local or online broker, but you must go through Covered California if you want to apply for a federal subsidy.
When comparison shopping, have an idea what’s important in your health plan. Do you still want to see your same doctors? Will it cover the prescription drugs you take? How often do you see a physician; do you just need basic coverage? How much can you comfortably afford, both in monthly premiums and out-of-pocket expenses?
“It’s like car insurance. You can lower lower your premium, but if you get in a car accident, you want to be sure you’re covered,” said McLean. “We all hope we won’t get cancer and won’t need the insurance. But if you get seriously ill midyear and originally purchased a bronze level plan, you’ll hit your out of pocket quickly. And you won’t be able to change that until next open enrollment.”
To get personal help, you can call Covered California’s toll-free number or use its online LiveWebchat to speak with a health care insurance counselor in 13 languages. Covered California has hired hundreds of call-center staffers and is training 16,000 enrollment counselors who will be available through community organizations, county offices and nonprofits to help with health care sign-ups.
If you’ve been buying your own insurance on an individual plan, your premium rates will likely go up significantly as companies adjust their costs for mandatory coverages, said eHealthInsurance’s McLean.
But the good news is that for all Americans, out-of-pocket medical expenses will be capped. For a single person, the most you’ll have to pay from your own wallet for prescription drugs and medical care is $6,350. For a married couple with kids, the highest is $12,700. (In some cases, those caps have been delayed until 2015 to give insurers time to comply.)
Options for young adults
Adult children up to age 26 who are covered on a parent’s health care plan can remain so; the new enrollment season does not affect their status. But depending on what your employer charges for dependent premiums, it may be cheaper to have your son or daughter buy a single health insurance plan. It also can make sense if your child lives out of state and has to use costlier, out-of-network doctors and hospitals.
Young adults who don’t have coverage from Mom or Dad or from an employer can purchase individual plans. They’re also eligible for a special, limited category of health insurance called “catastrophic coverage.” Available to those 30 or younger, it doesn’t cover regular medical expenses, such as doctor’s visits, prescription drugs or even an ER visit. Instead, it’s designed to handle “excessive medical bills” that could come with a hospitalization or serious illness.
Compare the “catastrophic” price with the lowest-level bronze premiums to see if the savings are worth the limited coverage.
A little pain: penalties
If you don’t sign up for health care coverage? There are tax penalties, which phase in over three years. In 2014, the first-year penalty for not buying health insurance is 1 percent of annual income or $95 per adult, whichever is greater. The maximum penalty per family is $285.
By 2016, the penalty will be 2.5 percent of income or $695 per adult, with a maximum per family of $2,085. After that, it’s adjusted for inflation.
The penalty is based on the number of days or months you go without coverage after March 31.
Some are exempt from the new health care penalties: inmates, undocumented immigrants, American Indian tribal members and those with religious objections. Also exempted are low-income folks who don’t have a tax-filing requirement.
At least in the first year, it’s expected that many people will make the calculation that it’s worth gambling they won’t get sick. Some may decide they’d rather pay the $95 individual penalty than spend several hundred a month in health care premiums. But that calculation could change in future years as the penalties go up – and if they become seriously ill or hospitalized and are stuck with uncovered medical bills.
A little help: subsidies
To make mandatory health care coverage more affordable, the federal government is providing subsidies, either tax credits (to help cover premiums) or cost-sharing (to help cover out-of-pocket costs), or both. The only way to apply for a subsidy is through a state-sponsored exchange, like Covered California. Its website has a calculator that quickly determines, based on income, if you qualify. (It also determines if you qualify for Medi-Cal or Medicare.)
Generally, if you’re single and make up to $46,000 a year, you will qualify for assistance. For a family of four, you can make up to $90,000 and still qualify.
Note: In most cases, if you’re covered at work by your employer, you won’t qualify for a federal subsidy. The only exception is if your company’s annual health care premiums are more than 9.5 percent of your household income.
Take a breath
As bewildering as some of the choices may be, you don’t have to have everything wrapped up by Oct. 1. “Take a deep breath and know that you have some time to make a decision,” said eHealthInsurance’s McLean. “It’s new for California ... Give it some time. You don’t have to see and shop it all at once.”
You can also post questions about the new Affordable Care provisions to “ Ask Emily,” a new feature that appears weekly in The Sacramento Bee’s Business section. The advice is from Emily Bazar, writer with the California HealthCare Foundation’s Center for Health Reporting. Send your questions directly to her at: AskEmily@usc.edu.




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ad more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/22/5751632/new-federal-health-care-mandates.html#storylink=cpy

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Capitol Alert: Jerry Brown signs bill giving prisoners convicted as juveniles shot at parole

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation requiring special parole hearings for prisoners who were prosecuted as adults and sent to prison for crimes they committed as juveniles, his office announced late Monday.


Senate Bill 260, by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, will make inmates imprisoned for crimes they committed before turning 18 eligible for parole during their 15th, 20th, or 25th year of incarceration, depending on the severity of their sentences.
The bill excludes certain sex offenders, people sentenced under the state's "three strikes" law and those sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
The bill was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, Prison Law Office and Human Rights Watch, among others. Supporters argued existing law fails to afford people given lengthy sentences for crimes they committed as juveniles a chance to demonstrate rehabilitation and maturity.
The bill was opposed by many law enforcement groups, who said the new hearing process could lead to the release of dangerous offenders. According to a legislative analysis, opponents objected specifically to a provision of the law requiring the state Board of Parole Hearings to give "great weight to the diminished culpability of juveniles as compared to adults, the hallmark features of youth, and any subsequent growth and increased maturity of the prisoner in accordance with relevant case law."
PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown talks to members of the press on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

Monday, September 23, 2013

California signs private-prison deal

SACRAMENTO -- California has signed a contract with private prison contractor Geo Group to lease space for 1,400 inmates in overcrowded state lockups.
The company announced the contract early Monday morning, even before Gov. Jerry Brown learns whether federal judges will grant his request for a three-year delay in the courts' orders to cap the prison population. The governor's lawyers have asked judges to make their own decision by Friday.
Geo Group issued a news release Monday from its Florida headquarters announcing the company had inked deals with the state for two lower-security prisons it owns in California, in Adelanto and McFarland. The company said the contracts are for five years, and it expects to begin receiving inmates by the end of the year.
It estimated its annual revenue from the deal at more than $30 million.
Brown has asked federal judges to delay its order to remove some 9,600 inmates from state prisons by the end of December, in trade for promising to restore $150 million to a grant that funds community probation and rehabilitation programs.
Brown's lawyers have said the state will go ahead with some private prison leases within California even if the delay is granted. The state corrections department has already begun the process of identifying inmates to be moved.

California Fracking bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown

After publicly endorsing the measure to ease its passage in the Legislature, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill establishing a permitting system for hydraulic fracturing in California, the governor's office announced this afternoon.

Brown took the unusual step of declaring his support for the bill with final legislative votes still pending, and on Friday he followed through by signing Senate Bill 4, by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills.

In a signing message, Brown said he would seek additional "clarifying amendments" to the legislation and would direct the California Department of Conservation "to develop an efficient permitting program for well stimulation activities that groups permits together based on factors such as known geologic conditions and environmental impacts, while providing for more particularized review in other situations when necessary."

Fracking, the shorthand name for hydraulic fracturing, extricates energy locked in underground formations with a pressurized blast of sand, chemicals and water.

In addition to mandating permits for new fracking wells, the bill strengthens groundwater monitoring while requiring energy companies to notify neighboring communities when they plan to frack and to release more information about the chemicals they use. Energy companies fought Pavley's attempt to win more disclosure, saying the recipe for the particular mix of fracking chemicals they use qualify as trade secrets worthy of protection.

Several Democratic lawmakers authored bills this session to regulate fracking. But while the governor's signature would appear to mark a major victory for environmental groups, prominent California environmental advocates -- a list of groups that includes the Natural Resources Defense Council and theCalifornia League of Conservation Voters -- abandoned the bill as it headed toward a final vote in mid-September.

Late amendments weakened the bill unacceptably, environmentalists said, diluting language intended to ensure new wells go through adequate environmental review. While oil industry representatives had said the regulation is unnecessarily burdensome, environmentalists said it would give oil companies nearly unfettered freedom to drill.

Brown has a tenuous relationship with environmentalists, which his signature on the fracking bill is only likely to strain further.

PHOTO: Fracking wells run day and night off Jack and Shafter Roads in Shafter, California on June 10, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Jose Luis Villegas.



Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/09/california-fracking-bill-signed-by-gov-jerry-brown.html#storylink=cpy



Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/09/california-fracking-bill-signed-by-gov-jerry-brown.html#storylink=cpy




Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/09/california-fracking-bill-signed-by-gov-jerry-brown.html#storylink=cpy

Friday, September 20, 2013

California's $2 Minimum-Wage Hike Could Make A Huge Difference

California is on track to pass a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016.
That salary certainly won't make anyone rich -- as the Center for American Progress points out, it'll only bring a family of three just above the federal poverty line. But the bump is a huge step forward for the state of California, which is home to the highest total number of working-poor families in the country.
Here's a look at how a $2 wage increase would affect the lives of California's minimum-wage workers.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

L.A. Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell wins state Senate seat!

SACRAMENTO — Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) has cruised to victory in a special election for the state Senate seat vacated by Democrat Curren Price when he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council this year.
Mitchell received 80.6% of the vote, beating perennial Democratic candidate Mervin Evans, who received 19.4% in Tuesday's contest for the 26th Senate District.
Mitchell, 49, will add to the bare supermajority theDemocrats already have in the Senate.
"We are excited to welcome the passion, perspective and pragmatism she'll bring as our 28th Democratic senator," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), who had endorsed her.
Mitchell noted that she began her public service career in the Senate in 1988, working then for Democratic Sen. Diane Watson of Los Angeles. "I'm excited," Mitchell said. "It feels like coming full circle."
She declined to comment when asked about talk in the Capitol that she may be a contender for Senate leader when Steinberg leaves office next year.
In the Assembly, Democratic membership has fallen below supermajority level because of vacancies.
When Mitchell resigns to take her Senate seat, Democrats in the lower house will hold 52 seats; they need 54 to regain the two-thirds majority they won in last year's elections. They expect to be back to that level after three special elections to fill the vacancies before year's end.
One of those contests will be a runoff between the two candidates who finished first in Tuesday's election for the 45th Assembly District seat, which includes parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Democrat Robert Blumenfield of Woodland Hills vacated the seat when he won election to the Los Angeles City Council.
Democrat Matt Dababneh, an Encino resident who is an aide to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), will compete in the runoff against Republican Susan Shelley, a writer and publisher from Woodland Hills, if the results stand after provisional ballots are counted in coming days. Dababneh received 24.6% of the vote Tuesday; Shelley, 21.4%.
The runoff is set for Nov. 19.
Encino Democrat Jeff Ebenstein finished third Tuesday, followed by Republican Chris Kolski of West Hills and seven other contestants.