The Senate appropriations committee sent dozens upon dozens of bills 鈥� that have a price tag of at least $50,000 to $150,000 and that may also be politically dicey 鈥� to , where many could die quickly on Aug. 15.
颁补濒惭补迟迟别谤蝉鈥� reports that many of the bills were also opposed by the governor鈥檚 Department of Finance, including ones that cost relatively little in California terms. Among them:
- () to apply civil penalties to social media companies if courts find that they violated rules meant to protect minors.
- (cost estimate of ) to to target dissidents living in the U.S.
- () to require anti-bias training at California colleges and universities, a proposal supported by numerous Jewish groups and the California State University.
The Assembly appropriations committee meets Wednesday. The two committees in May鈥檚 suspense file hearings, also due to the deficit. To balance the 2024-25 budget, lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom had to .
One reason for state spending increases: crucial contracts with employee unions.
On Saturday, the union representing state scientists said that with the Newsom administration, after a four-year fight for better pay and benefits. Assemblymember , a Hayward Democrat and chairperson of the labor committee, said a contract was 鈥�.鈥�
If the deal is ratified later this month by the nearly 5,000 members of the California Association of Professional Scientists, they will get a retroactive salary bump of at least 9.2% and as much as 23% over the next three years. The union at one point . It (considered the state鈥檚 first civil servant strike), then in December to increase pay by as much as 10%. One major reason for the holdout: The , about half of them women, and state engineers, who are mostly men. In 2022, the engineers union won a contract with a .
Amid the state budget crunch, state lawmakers are still collecting freebies. As they were considering a bill this year to loosen Ticketmaster鈥檚 stranglehold on the ticketing and live concert industries, some lawmakers were receiving free tickets themselves, .
The bill, which followed Ticketmaster鈥檚 mishandling of ticket sales for pop singer Taylor Swift鈥檚 tour, ended up getting so watered down that its initial backers withdrew their support. According to Politico, the committee chairperson on privacy and consumer protection, Democratic Assemblymember of San Ramon, received concert tickets at Levi鈥檚 Stadium in Santa Clara the day Taylor Swift was scheduled to perform.
As part of its analysis into legislators鈥� 2023 financial disclosures, Politico found that Assemblymember of Monterey Park and Sen. of Napa, both Democrats, received the most in free tickets.
You can check out 颁补濒惭补迟迟别谤蝉鈥� own deep dives into these records as they relate to and .
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