Steinberg plan would dedicate California cap-and-trade dollars to housing, transit

In an effort to more closely manage how California spends revenue from its fledgling cap-and-trade program, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, on Monday unveiled a plan to dedicate ongoing money to affordable housing, mass transit and high-speed rail.

"National and international experts say that the climate problem grows worse, that we have no time to sit back and wait and think about an investment strategy year-to-year or just short-term. Now is the time to grab the moment and create these permanent sources," Steinberg said, adding that his plan would avoid an annual legislative fight over "who's in the front of the line, where is the need seemingly the greatest."

The proposal differs from Steinberg's previous proposal to change the state's system for curtailing carbon emissions. That plan, which the Democratic leader unveiled in February, would have imposed a gasoline tax rather than have industry purchase allowances for greenhouse gases emitted from "non-stationary fuels," a category that includes gas sold at the pump.

Now Steinberg has abandoned that change, shifting his attention from how California prices greenhouse gases to how the state allows levies on carbon emitters to be used. His new plan focuses on funding affordable housing, public transportation projects and the state's divisive high-speed rail project.

The gas tax plan was hit from the left and right. On Monday, by contrast, Steinberg spoke amid a phalanx of backers, including groups representing local government, (the League of California Cities) labor (the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California) and environmental (the Natural Resources Defense Council.)

"We stoked a debate a couple months ago, and a lot of consternation and controversy, and I understand it. But now many of us stand together," Steinberg said.

Under AB 32, the 2006 law that created California's cap-and-trade program, industry must purchase permits for generating the type of emissions blamed for global climate change. After six auctions, the program has generated $663 million for the state so far, according to the California Air Resources Board. Steinberg's office projects the permits could soon bring in $3 billion to $5 billion a year.
Current law dictates that the revenue will flow into a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. From there, entities like local governments and transit systems can apply for some of the proceeds by explaining how they will use the money to reduce overall emissions. One quarter of the money must go to disadvantaged communities, an acknowledgment that some of California's poorest places are choking on poor air quality.

Housing and public transportation sit at the center of Steinberg's proposal. Forty percent of the cap-and-trade revenue would go to affordable housing, including communities built around transit options; 30 percent would subsidize transit projects and 10 percent would fund basic transportation infrastructure like road and highway maintenance, with all three administered through competitive grants.

"Permanent sources of funding for mass transit and affordable housing are key if we are committed to long-term change," Steinberg said on Monday, noting that the two areas "face a catastrophic funding crisis in California" after years of cutbacks.
In addition to those outlays, $200 million a year would go to water efficiency projects, to fuel-related outlays that include rebates on monthly fuel bills, and to accommodating the use of electric vehicles.
California's proposed bullet train would get 20 percent of the money, channeled through a continuous appropriation that would not require year-to-year approval by the Legislature.

Already, Gov. Jerry Brown's has stirred controversy by proposing in his budget for this year spending $250 million from emissions permit sales to fund his financially precarious high-speed rail project, whose funding plan faces legal uncertainty. Some environmentalists have called high-speed rail an inappropriate use of the carbon auction funds.

But Steinberg's blueprint embraces high-speed rail as a tool for reducing emissions — provided, Steinberg said, it is one element of a larger strategy.

"I understand that high-speed rail is controversial," Steinberg said. "If it were the only thing that we were talking about or the only thing on the table I think that would be problematic. I think this is a better approach."

PHOTO: The union oil company refinery in Rodeo, Tuesday, December 17, 2002. The Sacramento Bee Michael A. Jones.

Steinberg proposes $50 million for treating mentally ill criminals

Democratic state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg wants California to spend $50 million on programs that try to keep mentally ill criminals from re-offending.

The proposed legislation calls for bringing back a program that existed for about 10 years in California. The "Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant" program allows counties to apply for funding to support mental health courts, substance abuse treatment, and employment training programs. Those efforts would reduce recidivism and crowding in California jails, Steinberg said, and help mentally ill people become more stable.

"We are trying to bring back something that was a great success in the late 90s early 2000s that went away as a result of the budget cuts," Steinberg said during a press conference this morning, where he was backed by law enforcement and mental health care leaders.

"We do not have a specific funding stream dedicated to providing mental health services to people in jail that continue once they leave jail and get into the community... We had that before, prior to 2008. We want to reinstate that and make it part of our overall approach."

Steinberg said lawmakers should treat California's projected budget surplus with an approach that dedicates one-third to paying down debt, one-third to reserves and one-third to spending.

"We shouldn't be shy about saying that there are areas of public investment that we must make, that are important," he said.

Speaking in support of Steinberg's proposal today were Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson; Sacramento County's Chief Probation Officer Lee Seale; Sacramento County's mental health director Dorian Kittrel and Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna.

PHOTO: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, in March 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

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Steinberg: Making high school relevant is 'top focus'

California high schools could see an infusion of new programs that link academics with career exposure to provide students a richer learning experience. That's the goal of a competitive $250 million grant process Senate leader Darrell Steinberg is promoting to schools and businesses.

The Sacramento Democrat joined several local education and business leaders at Health Professions High School today to highlight a piece of the 2013-14 state budget that he hopes will give high school a boost of relevancy by connecting students to the world of work. 

Steinberg encouraged schools and community colleges to collaborate with employers in their region and apply together for grants to create more opportunities for applied learning.

"We want business, we want lead industries to step up and see this not just as a philanthropic add-on or something that would be nice to do for kids, but to see this opportunity as the beginning of a change in our American culture," Steinberg said. "For business, helping educate and train the next century work force is an indispensable part of the bottom line."

High schools could use the grants, for example, to hire someone to serve as an internship coordinator to match students with businesses, or to train teachers to teach academic subjects in a more hands-on way that shows how they relate to careers.

Educators bill the approach as "linked learning," and hold up Sacramento's Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School as an example. The school teaches a college-prep academic curriculum but blends it with preparation for careers in health care. During a tour, Steinberg visited an English class where students had read "The Hot Zone," a book about the Ebola virus, and were doing a project about its symptoms.

"Linked Learning students understand how their high school education relates to their next step and beyond," said Deborah Bettencourt, superintendent of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District.

Bettencourt was joined at today's event by Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jonathan Raymond and Elk Grove Unified Superintendent Steven Ladd.

"Linked Learning answers the question we've all heard, and we have in fact ourselves asked, 'Why am I learning this?' Once students can answer that question for themselves they are inspired and self motivated and have higher aspirations," Bettencourt said.

School districts will be able to apply for a piece of the $250 million through the state Department of Education early next year.

Steinberg and three other state senators recently returned from a trip to Switzerland and Germany to study the way those countries teach high school. He said he was impressed with the Swiss model in which businesses take an active role in preparing students for the workplace, and government spending focuses less on remediation and more on providing a relevant education.

"As I head into my final year in the Legislature, this is is my top focus," Steinberg said. "I don't have the luxury of multi-year projects, two-year bills or do-overs any more. This is it. When it comes to making lasting change, in my view there is no more important challenge to tackle."

PHOTO: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg talks with students at Health Professions High School in Sacramento. The Sacramento Bee/Laurel Rosenhall

via http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/10/steinberg-says-improving-high-school-top-priority-for-final-year-in.html

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Advocates urge Gov. Jerry Brown to veto gun bills

With Gov. Jerry Brown days away from deciding the fate of a stack of gun bills, Second Amendmentadvocates today delivered to the governor's office about 67,000 signed letters imploring him to veto the 14 prospective laws.

"California already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and these 14 measures are particularly onerous," said Craig DeLuz, a legislative advocate for the California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees.

Senate Bill 374 that bans detachable magazines in rifles and Assembly Bill 711 that prohibits the use of lead ammunition are among the measures the gun-rights groups want Brown to stop from becoming law.

SB 374 was authored by Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and AB 711 was from Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood.

While Brown has tipped his hand on a number of controversial bills, the governor has been decidedly tight-lipped on the gun bills, many of which grew out of the outrage following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.

DeLuz and his colleagues suspect the governor will take a reasoned look at the bills and sign some and veto others.

"Politically, we want to make sure he understands there are a lot of voters out there who believe in the Second Amendment -- and that we are watching what he does."

PHOTO: Brandon Combs, managing director of the Firearms Policy Coalition, left, and Craig DeLuz, legislative advocate for California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, deliver about 67,000 petitions urging the governor's veto of 14 gun bills. The Sacramento Bee/Christopher Cadelago

via http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/10/advocates-urge-gov-jerry-brown-to-veto-gun-bills.html

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Jerry Brown urges OK of amended bill to raise minimum wage

Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday that he supports raising the minimum wage in California to $10 an hour, urging lawmakers to approve a bill that was amended Wednesday and awaits action in the Senate.

The Democratic governor's announcement came after Assembly Bill 10, by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, was amended to raise the minimum hourly wage to $10 sooner than previously proposed.

The measure would raise the minimum hourly wage from $8 to $9 on July 1, 2014, and then to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016. Under an earlier version of the bill, the minimum hourly wage would not have reached $10 until 2018.

"The minimum wage has not kept pace with rising costs," Brown said in a statement. "This legislation is overdue and will help families that are struggling in this harsh economy."

The legislation is pending in the Senate as lawmakers near the end of session this week. Brown was joined by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, in supporting the bill.

"For millions of California's hard-working minimum wage employees, a few extra dollars a week can make a huge difference to help them provide for their families," Steinberg said in a statement.

The California Chamber of Commerce has included the bill in its annual list of "job killers," saying it would unfairly increase costs on employers.

Alejo said today that the bill is a "modest measure," noting that he agreed to remove an automatic cost-of-living escalator.

"We should have a statewide minimum wage that's fair, that's reasonable and that gives workers the dignity of at least being able to pay their bills and provide for their families with their minimum wage salary," he said.

Brown's wading in on the minimum wage issue is the second time in two days that he has commented on pending action in the Legislature, a rarity for for the governor. On Tuesday, he announced his opposition to a measure to rename part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

The Bee's Jeremy B. White contributed to this report.

PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown speaks to reporters at a news conference at the Capitol on Sept. 9, 2013. The Sacramento Bee/Hector Amezcua

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State Senate Democrats propose alternative to Brown's prison plan

SACRAMENTO - Democratic leaders of the State Senate on Wednesday proposed an extran $200 million annually for rehabilitation, drug and mental health treatment as an alternative to Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for reducing prison overcrowding.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Wednesday that his Senate Democratic Caucus wants the spending in exchange for a three-year extension of federal judges' Dec. 31 deadline for removing more than 9,600 inmates from state prisons.

Steinberg said the Senate proposal was preferable to Brown's plan to spend $315 million this year and $415 million in each of the following two years on alternate housing for inmates.

"Temporarily expanding California's prison capacity is neither sustainable nor fiscally responsible," Steinberg wrote to Brown and inmates' attorneys Wednesday. Inmate lawsuits led to the judges' ruling that state prisons are unconstitutionally crowded.

Any extension would have to be approved by the judges, who have castigated Brown for stalling on obeying their order to shed more prisoners.

Steinberg, flanked by 16 Democratic senators in a Capitol hallway, said the Senate plan is modeled on a 2009 state program that reduced new prison admissions by nearly 9,600.

The plan won a quick endorsement from the prisoners' attorneys.

"Sen. Steinberg's substantive proposals are acceptable to us and we are open to an extension" if all parties can agree on an approach "that will resolve the chronic overcrowding problem in the state's prisons," the attorneys said in a statement.

The lawyers said they were willing to meet with the governor and discuss ways to end federal court oversight of prison medical care, imposed because the judges said overcrowding led to inadequate healthcare and needless inmate deaths.

The judges are unlikely to extend their Dec. 31 deadline without evidence that the proposal would result in meaningful policy changes, said legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school atUC Irvine.

"I think the court wants to be sure this is not another delay," Chemerinsky said.

Steinberg's plan drew sharp criticism from Gov. Brown and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles).

"It would not be responsible to turn over California's criminal justice policy to inmate lawyers who are not accountable to the people," Brown said in a statement.

"My plan avoids early releases of thousands of prisoners and lays the foundation for longer-term changes, and that's why local officials and law enforcement support it," he said.

Pérez said in a separate statement that he was "deeply skeptical about Senator Steinberg's approach." It would give more power to "prisoner plaintiffs who favor mass release of prisoners," Pérez said.

Steinberg countered that his plan would also avoid early releases. But there may be no more money available for rehabilitation if the state spends more than $1 billion on incarceration over the next three years, the senator said.

Steinberg suggested that a middle ground might be found. "Does this lead to conversation that leads to a solution and compromise? I hope," Steinberg said. "You know me. It's not my way or the highway. We are putting down a settlement proposal here."

But time is short. Steinberg called for an agreement by Sept. 13, the Legislature's last meeting day this year. The settlement would provide for a panel of experts to set a new prison population cap.

In addition, an advisory panel would be formed to restructure sentencing laws so fewer offenders would be sent to prison in the long run.

The state "cannot assume that the plaintiffs and their lawyers, and the federal court, will agree to a three-year extension," said Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber).

On the other hand, nobody wants to be responsible for releasing thousands of inmates early because of a stalemate, said Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.

"You'd have to think they are going to find some accommodation," Sonenshein said.

Meanwhile, Steinberg canceled a Senate confirmation hearing for two corrections department directors appointed by the governor.

"We have additional questions about the administration's ongoing corrections policy," said Steinberg spokesman Mark Hedlund. "It makes sense to wait before we consider those two appointments."


By Patrick McGreevy
patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

Times staff writers Anthony York and Paige St. John contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times

California Budget Puts Some Health Care Issues on Hold

by George Lauer, California Healthline Features Editor

California's budget agreement announced and approved last week puts a couple hotly contested health care issues on hold, making some stakeholders nervous and angry, but for the most part, this year's balancing act is kinder to health and social services than any spending plan over the past half decade, according to legislators and veteran Sacramento watchers.

"I would take this budget over the last five eight days a week," said Darrell Steinberg, Senate President Pro Tempore and one of the budget's main architects.

Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat long considered a champion of health care in several  camps, acknowledged the budget didn't include all the health care spending advocates hoped it would -- particularly for Medi-Cal provider reimbursement and a certain type of autism therapy. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.

"But overall I'm very pleased with this budget. You have to have some perspective. In 2009 we faced a $42 billion deficit in a $100 billion budget. It was almost half the budget," Steinberg said.

"Crafting a budget among 120 elected lawmakers and the governor is an art of compromise," Steinberg said in an email response to California Healthline questions. "Our goal is to get as much done as we can, and then work toward the next steps to deliver the help Californians need."

Early and in the Black

A week early, in the black and salting some cash away for a rainy day, California's $96.3 billion budget for 2013-2014  -- and consequently the mood in Sacramento -- is markedly different than recent years. For the past several Junes, offices organized betting pools to predict how late the budget would be and how deeply in debt the state would fall.

Thanks to a new tax approved by voters last fall and a recovering economy, the outlook is much brighter this June. The biggest winners in the post Proposition 30 budget are the K-12 school system and low-income working Californians without health insurance. Schools get more money and, perhaps more importantly, a new funding formula. Uninsured Californians who earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal but not enough to buy health insurance will benefit from the expansion of the state's Medicaid program. Democratic legislators and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown agreed to grow the Medi-Cal program as much as possible under the Affordable Care Act.

But money in this year's budget to pay for Medi-Cal expansion is ironically tempered by a 10% cut in pay for doctors, hospitals and other providers who treat Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Legislators and the governor decided to leave in place a deep cut made in one of the particularly bleak budget years -- 2011.

"The Medi-Cal rate issue is a very serious access issue," Steinberg said during a budget discussion on KQED radio last week. "You can provide all the insurance you want but if there aren't enough providers to be able to care for people, they're not going to get the health care that they need."

Health care advocates and organizations, including the California Medical Association, the California Hospital Association and the California Pharmacists Association, urged legislators to use higher revenue predictions in the budgeting process as a way to give the state leeway to repeal the 10% cuts made two years ago. Providers and consumer advocates predict that California -- already one of the lowest-paying states in the country for Medicaid services -- will have a hard time recruiting enough providers for the current 7.6 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries, let alone some 1.5 million more under expansion.

Steinberg said this year's balanced budget will give the state a better chance to increase Medi-Cal payments down the road.

"Being able to find the room to compensate doctors and pharmacists and hospitals more adequately is something that we ought to look to do in the future. We have a better chance to do that with the way we handled this year's budget than if we had taken the higher budget revenue estimate and spent more," Steinberg said.

Mental Health, Dental Spending Increased

The budget increases spending for mental health programs and adult dental coverage in Medi-Cal. The plan calls for $206 million to improve mental health care services, including $142 million in one-time general fund money in the coming fiscal year.

It also calls for $16.9 million this year and $77 million the following fiscal year to help partially restore Denti-Cal benefits for adults. Denti-Cal is California's Medicaid dental program.

Both are considered victories for Steinberg, who has been a leader for years in efforts to increase mental health and dental coverage.

"Three million people without dental insurance -- low-income people, mostly working -- are now not going to have to show up at an emergency room to deal with a root canal or abscessed tooth," Steinberg said.

"And mental health, which is always at the bottom of the funding priority list is now at the top with $142 million to build 2,000 crisis stabilization and residential beds so that people don't have to linger in emergency rooms or in jails or on the streets when they're living with a serious mental health issue," Steinberg said.

Steinberg in 'Sophie's Choice Position'

Earlier this month, Steinberg was named an "Autism Hero" by the Autism Health Insurance Project for his efforts in getting insurers to cover a particular kind of autism treatment -- applied behavior analysis -- known as ABA therapy. He has had some success in legislating that private insurers should pay for ABA therapy but his efforts to get the state to do the same fell short last week in budget negotiations.

Advocates in the autism community lobbied legislators to include money in the budget to pay for the treatment no longer covered under subsidized care since the state began dismantling the Healthy Families program, California's Children's Health Insurance Program.

"I feel like the governor put Steinberg in a Sophie's Choice position and that was just not fair," said Kristin Jacobson, president and co-founder of Autism Deserves Equal Coverage. She said not covering ABA therapy "is absolutely penny wise and pound foolish." 

She said new research shows about one in 50 school-age children in California has some form of autism -- about 2%. The state's decision not to support treatment for "something as serious and as big a public heath crisis as autism shows fundamental lack of understanding,"

Autism advocates said they appreciate Steinberg's efforts "but he's trying to carry the load almost by himself. 

The rest of the Legislature and the governor's office -- particularly the governor's office -- need to understand the importance of this crisis." Jacobson said.

Steinberg said he'll keep trying.

"Unfortunately this year, there simply wasn't enough room in the budget to fund ABA therapy in Medi-Cal for kids with autism spectrum disorder. I will not give up the fight, however. ABA therapy is the coin of the realm to help these children lead productive lives, and it's at the top of my list to get done next year," Steinberg said

Read more: http://www.californiahealthline.org/features/2013/california-budget-puts-some-health-care-issues-on-hold.aspx#ixzz2WaPCN4Gy

Darrell Steinberg, California State Senate Leader, Proposes Sweeping Changes To State's Initiative System

California State Senate President pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) has a radical idea to reform the legislature--he wants to make it easier to do his job.

Speaking at the Sacramento Press Club earlier this week, Steinberg talked about his desire to place an initiative on the November 2014 ballot fundamentally changing the way the state handles lawmaking, greatly empowering the legislature--particularly the majority party--in its ability to get controversial measures (such as raising taxes) placed before the voting public.

Steinberg's plan involves lowering the required threshold for the legislature to get an initiative on the ballot from two-thirds to a simple majority. In the context of raising taxes to close the state's gaping budget hole, dropping the super-majority requirement would make the process significantly easier because, while the Democrats hold majorities in both houses of the California legislature, the party lacks the 66 percent of votes necessary to put on initiatives without Republican assistance. The California Republican party's staunchly anti-tax position has made such cooperation virtually out of the question and the state's heavily gerrymandered districts prevent a transition out of this equilibrium in the foreseeable future equally unlikely.

While constitutional amendments would still require a two-thirds vote before going before the people, Steinberg's proposal allows initiatives opposed by the Republican minority to make it to the ballot without having to first go though a costly and laborious signature gathering process.

"How maddening it was way, way back in 2011, to have a new governor and Legislature make $14 billion worth of cuts and then not allow the people the right to vote to extend existing taxes," Steinberg told the Sacramento Bee at the Press Club event. "Needs and priorities change. They change from one decade to the next. California needs flexibility."

"I don't think the minority party should trump the will of the people," said Steinberg to KPCC Public Radio, referring to the California GOP successful blockage of a tax measure proposed by Governor Jerry Brown last year. "And that's what occurs now when you can't even, with a majority vote, place a question before the voters."

Even so, getting controversial issues like tax measures on the ballot may be difficult but it's far from impossible. This November's election features two competing bills looking to increase taxes, one pushed by Brown and another by wealthy civil rights attorney Molly Munger.

Other aspects of Steinberg's plan involve creating an "indirect initiative" process where initiative proponents would be required to submit their bills to amendment by the legislature during the 30-to-60-day period between when the signatures have been submitted but before they are approved, as a part of what Steinberg called a "quality check" for unintended consequences accidentally written into the bills.

He noted the example of a 1996 ethics reform bill that inadvertently repealed a ban on gifts to public officials. Since the text of the law had already been submitted by the time the error was discovered, it was too late to change the wording and the measure was narrowly defeated. 

Steinberg also suggested allowing the legislature to repeal or amend an initiative passed by the voters after a decade on the books as long at the move is supported by the sitting governor.

While letting lawmakers tinker with voter-backed initiatives is a relatively common practice in other states around the country, a measure attempting to enact a similar system at the local level was resoundingly rejected by San Francisco voters last November by a two-to-one margin.

Even though each of these ideas would have a huge effect on the way the state is governed, none of them are especially new. The 1996 California Constitutional Review Commission supported legislative amendment or repeal of statutory initiatives after four years on the books, the 1994 Citizen's Commission on Ballot Initiatives came out in favor of pre-certification review of initiatives before going to voters and bemoaning super-majority requirements is virtually Sacramento's official pastime. 

The state's electorate empowered the legislature's Democratic majority in 2010 by approving a ballot initiative that allowed them to pass a budget with a simple majority instead of the two-thirds vote that had long turned the annual budget battle into an epic battle of wills with more than its fair share of missed deadlines.

Check out this video of Steinberg's speech in its entirety:

via Huffpost