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State Attorney General Bonta a Leading Force in Fight That Saved Obamacare

“No one should live in fear of being denied the lifesaving care they are entitled to, especially as our nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bonta.

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MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 15: An Obamacare sign is seen on the UniVista Insurance company office on December 15, 2015 in Miami, Florida. Today, is the deadline to sign up for a plan under the Affordable Care Act for people that want to be insured on January 1, 2016. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of keeping the core of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, intact.

That June 17 decision resolved the Democrat vs. Republican legal tug-of-war about the federal government’s role in health care coverage that has lasted more than 10 years.

At the end of that grueling battle, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a former Assemblymember from Oakland, emerged a quiet victor.

In March, when Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Bonta California’s 34th Attorney General, he stepped into a respected and carefully built legacy of successful legal advocacy and litigation against conservative foes that his predecessor Xavier Becerra left behind. Pres. Biden appointed Becerra Health and Human Services Secretary.

Bonta said the Supreme Court’s decision, “affirms, once again and hopefully for the last time, that the ACA is the law of the land.”

“Americans know health coverage can mean the difference between life and death, so families across the country should rest easy tonight knowing their healthcare is safe,” said Bonta.

Bonta led a coalition of more than 20 states challenging Republican efforts to undo the Obama-era health care act. He was joined by the governor of Kentucky as well as the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

The coalition successfully pushed back a lawsuit spearheaded by more than a dozen Republican states led by Texas and upheld benefits of the ACA including patient protections, affordability measures, and coverage expansions.

In the court case California versus Texas, Republican attorney generals tried to overturn a monetary penalty for individuals who fail to obtain minimum health insurance. The ACA, enacted in 2010, required individuals to get minimum health essential health insurance coverage and individuals who failed to do so would have to pay a penalty.

However, the requirement was amended in 2017 to cost $0 which voided the penalty fee.

Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals claiming that the amendments were unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court’s decision upheld the ACA provisions after Republicans were unsuccessful in making their case.

“No one should live in fear of being denied the lifesaving care they are entitled to, especially as our nation continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bonta.

According to the California Health Care Foundation, 3.7 million out of the 12.5 million people covered by Medi-Cal have health insurance through the ACA.

Health Advocates from community-based organizations across California say they are relieved by the Supreme Court’s ruling to keep the ACA but say that there is still room to make the law better.

Leaders from the California Black Health Network (CBHN), urged the state to focus on equity in healthcare.

Rhonda Smith, the executive director of CBHN highlighted that the court’s ruling helps reduce the lack of access to health care now that people get to keep their health care.

“One of the reasons why we have health disparities is because of the lack of access to healthcare services,” said Smith.

“It definitely plays a key role in trying to minimize health disparities, especially the impact of COVID on black and brown communities,” she said.

California Black Media’s coverage of COVID-19 is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.

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Activism

Community Opposes High Rise Development That Threatens Geoffrey’s Inner Circle

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

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Geoffrey Pete went to City Hall to appeal the city Planning Commission’s approval of the high-rise development that threatens the closure of his 44-year historic cultural mecca. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.
Geoffrey Pete went to City Hall to appeal the city Planning Commission’s approval of the high-rise development that threatens the closure of his 44-year historic cultural mecca. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.

By Ken Epstein

An outpouring of community supporters – young, old, jazz lovers, environmentalists and committed Oakland partisans – spoke out at a recent Planning Commission hearing to support Geoffrey Pete and his cultural center – The Inner Circle – an historic Oakland landmark whose future is threatened by a proposed skyscraper that out-of-town-developer Tidewater Capital wants to build in the midst of the city’s Black Arts Movement and Business District (BAMBD).

City Council chambers were full for the May 17 Planning Commission hearing, and almost all the 40 speakers who had signed up to make presentations talked about the importance of the Inner Circle as part of Oakland and Geoffrey Pete as a stalwart community and business leader who has served the city for decades.

The speakers argued passionately and persuasively, winning the sympathy of the commissioners, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the Commission unanimously approved the high-rise to be built either as a residential building or office tower on Franklin Street directly behind Geoffrey’s building.

Mr. Pete has said he would appeal the decision to the City Council. He has 10 days after the hearing to file an appeal on the office building. His appeal on the residential tower has already been submitted.

Mr. Pete said the Planning Department still has not published the boundaries of the BAMBD. “Tidewater’s applications and subsequent applications should not be approved until the Planning Department fully acknowledges the existence of the BAMBD,” he said.

“This (proposed) building poses a grave danger to the historic (Inner Circle) building next to it, arguably Oakland’s most meaningful historic building,” Pete said.

“We’re here to advocate for what’s best for the African American district and community that has gotten no representation, no advocacy, as of yet,” he said. “The (commission) is guilty, the City of Oakland is guilty, and Tidewater is guilty.”

One of the first speakers was Gwendolyn Traylor, known as Lady SunRise, who directly addressed the developers.

“With all due to respect to your business, it’s not a need of this community. I would like to ask you to reconsider the location …What is being (promised) here does not add to the healing of this community,” she said.

Naomi Schiff of the Oakland Heritage Alliance emphasized that Geoffrey’s Inner Circle is a treasure of Oakland’s history.

“Our first concern is the integrity of the historic district, in particular the former Athenian-Nile Club, now Mr. Pete’s equally historic venue, which has been the location of a great number of important community events,” she said. “It would not be OK with us if the integrity of the building were damaged in any way, no matter how much insurance (the developer bought) because it is very difficult to repair a historic building once it’s damaged.”

The Inner Circle was previously owned and operated by the Athenian-Nile Club, one of the Bay Area’s largest all-white-male exclusive private membership club, where politicians and power brokers closed back-room deals over handshakes and three martini lunches.

Cephus “Uncle Bobby X” Johnson pointed out that commissioners and the city’s Planning Department have “acknowledged that you went through the entire design review process without even knowing that the Black Arts Movement and Business District existed.”

The district was created in 2016 by City Council resolution. “At the heart of the opposition to this building is the desire to further the legacy of local Black entertainment and entrepreneurship exemplified by businesses like Mr. Pete’s … a historical landmark and venue (that serves) thousands of people who listen to jazz and other entertainment and hold weddings, receptions, and memorial services,” said Uncle Bobby.

This development is taking place within a context in which the “Black population in Oakland has decreased rapidly … because of the city’s concentration on building houses that are not affordable for people who currently live in Oakland,” he said.

John Dalrymple of East Bay Residents for Responsible Development said, “This project will result in significant air quality, public health, noise, and traffic impacts. He said the city has not adequately studied the (unmitigated) impacts of this project on the Black Arts Movement and Business District.

“This project is an example of what developers are being allowed to do when they don’t have to follow the law, and they don’t have to be sensitive to our city’s culture and values,” he said. The commission should “send a signal today that we will no longer be a feeding ground for the rich.”

Prominent Oakland businessman Ray Bobbitt told commissioners, “Any decision that you make is a contribution to the systemic process that creates a disproportionate impact on Black people. Please do yourself a favor, (and) rethink this scenario. Give Mr. Pete, who is a leader in our community, an opportunity to set the framework before you make any decision.”

Though the City Council created the BAMBD, the 2016 resolution was never implemented. The district was created to “highlight, celebrate, preserve and support the contributions of Oakland’s Black artists and business owners and the corridor as a place central historically and currently to Oakland’s Black artists and Black-owned businesses.”

The district was intended to promote Black arts, political movements, enterprises, and culture in the area, and to bring in resources through grants and other funding.

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Activism

Community Meeting on Crime and Violence

Join Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb to discuss the uptick in crime and violence in District 1 and across Oakland. Representatives from the Oakland Police Department will be in attendance. This event will be held in-person and online.

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Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb
Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb

Join Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb to discuss the uptick in crime and violence in District 1 and across Oakland. Representatives from the Oakland Police Department will be in attendance. This event will be held in-person and online.

Tuesday, May 30, 2023
6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Oakland Technical H.S. Auditorium
300-340 42nd St.
Oakland, CA 94611

For more information, contact District 1 Chief of Staff Seth Steward: ssteward@oaklandca.gov, 510-238-7013.

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Bay Area

UniverSoul Circus Opens in Richmond

Described by show organizers as a highly interactive combination of circus arts and theatre that spans musical genres, UniverSoul Circus will feature flipping motorcycles, stilt dancers, Fire Limbo Benders, ancestral carnival characters, clowns, flamboyantly costumed dancers and more “in a celebration of energy.”

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Clowns who perform with UniverSoul Circus. Photo courtesy UniverSoul Circus.
Clowns who perform with UniverSoul Circus. Photo courtesy UniverSoul Circus.

By Kathy Chouteau | The Richmond Standard

UniverSoul Circus kicked off its Bay Area run under the Big Top at Hilltop Mall last week with the performances continuing during various times through Sun., June 19.

The UniverSoul Circus is a single ring circus, established in 1994 by Cedric Walker and Calvin “Casual Cal” Dupree, an African American man who had a vision of creating a circus with a large percentage of people of color performing. He began searching for people from all around the world with incredible talents. Richmond police Chief Bisa French and City Manager Shasa Curl were set to be guest ringmasters for the opening night show.

Described by show organizers as a highly interactive combination of circus arts and theatre that spans musical genres, UniverSoul Circus will feature flipping motorcycles, stilt dancers, Fire Limbo Benders, ancestral carnival characters, clowns, flamboyantly costumed dancers and more “in a celebration of energy.”

“Get ready to be amazed and frightened at the terrifying, gravity- defying acrobats on the Wheel of Death or the bold, breathtaking daredevils on the High Wire,” said UniverSoul Circus in a statement about the show.

This season’s theme is, ‘We All Belong,’ according Walker, the circus founder and CEO. “We all belong to one human race. Everyone is coming together, different cultures, different people, a new transcultural fusion, a new generation inclusive and together in a UniverSoul Experience!”

Venue:
Hilltop Mall
2200 Hilltop Mall Rd, Richmond, CA 94806

Showtimes:
Thurs-Fri: 7:00 p.m.
Sat: 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
Sun: 11:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

Box Office Hours:
Tues: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wed-Fri: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sat: 9:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Sun: 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Mon: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Memorial Day)

Tickets range from $27.50 to $60 depending on your seat and you can purchase them on Ticketmaster. Visit www.universoulcircus.com for more info.

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