Antonio Ray Harvey
Women’s History Month: Assemblywoman McKinnor Joins Panel of Legislators at Sacramento Event
Last week, Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) joined a diverse panel of women legislators at the “Women in California’s Legislature: 2023 Speaker Series on California’s Future” luncheon to discuss the essential roles they play in shaping governmental policies benefiting Californians. The event was hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.
By Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media
Last week, Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) joined a diverse panel of women legislators at the “Women in California’s Legislature: 2023 Speaker Series on California’s Future” luncheon to discuss the essential roles they play in shaping governmental policies benefiting Californians.
The event was hosted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.
This year’s class of legislators includes the largest number of women in state history — 18 senators and 32 assemblymembers. Joining McKinnor on the panel were state Senators Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove), Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro).
McKinnor said she made the decision to get into politics after seeing the video of police officers beating motorist Rodney King in Los Angeles in 1992.
Over the years, McKinnor said, a major influence on her policy decisions are the lessons gleaned from raising a family.
“I think (women) bring diversity to the table because we are about taking care of our families,” McKinnor said. “So, the legislation that you see coming out of this (panel), I believe, will be around housing, jobs, equity and public safety. The women here are going to make a tremendous difference because we take care of our families differently.”
Before McKinnor was elected to the California State Assembly in June 2022, she served as civic engagement director for the nonprofit LA Voice and previously served as operational director for the California Democratic Party and chief of staff to several members of the State Assembly. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from California State University Dominguez Hills.
McKinnor is currently chair of the Public Employment and Retirement Committee. She serves on other policy committees, including the Business and Professions Committee, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and the Governmental Organization Committee.
McKinnor’s legislative priorities include California’s continued COVID-19 recovery, increased funding for public education, expanded universal access to healthcare, the state’s housing and homelessness crisis and reforming the state’s criminal justice system.
“I never thought I’d be in politics in 1992. I thought I had better get off the sofa and pay attention to what’s going on,” McKinnor said. “After that, I didn’t sit down, and I got involved in the community.”
Black women are 7.7% of the total U.S. population and 15.3% of the total number of women in the country, according to the U.S. Census.
In the 2021 study, the State Innovation Exchange (SIE) — a group that advocates for representation in state legislatures — and the National Organization for Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL Women) took a deep dive into their analysis of women serving in government.
SIE and NOBEL Women reported that Black women fill just 4.82% (356) of 7,383 state Legislature seats across the United States. That same year, eight state legislatures convened without a single Black woman in their ranks: Vermont, South Dakota, Hawaii, Arizona, Idaho, Nebraska, Montana, and North Dakota — all places with Black populations falling in a range from 2% to 6%, the study revealed.
Currently, there are five Black women in the California Legislature: McKinnor and Assemblymembers Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City), Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa) and Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Ladera Heights). They are also members of the California Legislature Black Caucus.
Smallwood-Cuevas is the lone Black woman among 40 state senators.
“I am the 20th Black woman to be elected to the (California) Legislature,” McKinnor said at the event held on International Women’s Day. “Sen. Lola Smallwood became the 21st Black woman. So, we still have a lot of work to do.”
PPIC, the nonprofit that organized the event, bills itself as a nonpartisan think tank with a mission to inform and improve public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research. Former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is PPIC’s president and chief executive officer.
Ophelia Basgal, an affiliate at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at University of California, Berkeley, and a senior executive consultant for Inclusion INC, provided the opening remarks.
All the women legislators who participated in the event are members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, a political body that represents and advocates on the behalf of the diverse interests of women, children, and families.
The panelists discussed gender diversity in state politics, how personal interests play out in politics, legislation they are currently working on, setting better policy for the state, and offered advice to women who are interested in running for office.
“In addition to the vision and experience, we bring that voice into the room that is often unheard and unseen,” said Ortega, a longtime labor leader and activist from an immigrant family. “We will make sure we are seen and heard and deliver (policies) for all in the state of California and the United States.”
The Sheraton Ballroom in downtown Sacramento was filled with women and men listening to the 60-minute conversation between the women that was at times passionate, thought-provoking, reflective and lighthearted.
“We’ve been truly inspired by this distinguished panel for their questions, insight, and answers,” Cantil-Sakauye said to the audience. “Thank you for making this (speakers’ series) memorable.”
Antonio Ray Harvey
Advocates Weigh in on Calif. Black Caucus Reparations Package
On Feb. 21, the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) held a press conference at the state Capitol to introduce a package of reparations legislation the lawmakers call “a starting point” to atone for the state’s legacy of discrimination. All 12 members of the CLBC were present to explain their efforts to rectify the damages caused by systemic discrimination against Black Californians detailed in the 1,100-page report by the first-in-the-nation California reparations task force.
By Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media
On Feb. 21, the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) held a press conference at the state Capitol to introduce a package of reparations legislation the lawmakers call “a starting point” to atone for the state’s legacy of discrimination.
All 12 members of the CLBC were present to explain their efforts to rectify the damages caused by systemic discrimination against Black Californians detailed in the 1,100-page report by the first-in-the-nation California reparations task force.
The nine-member panel submitted the recommendations on June 28, 2023.
CLBC chairperson Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) said it may take three to seven years to pass legislation aimed at implementing the task force’s recommendations.
The package the CLBC members presented consists of 14 legislative proposals, each designed to address different aspects of systemic racism and inequality.
One proposal, Senate Bill (SB) 490, put forth by CLBC Vice Chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood), calls for the establishment of the California American Freedmen Affairs Agency (CAFAA).
This agency would administer reparations programs and aid Black families researching their family lineage. The cost of implementing such an agency has not yet been estimated, but reparations advocates say its creation signifies a step toward acknowledging and rectifying past injustices.
Another proposal by Assemblymember Cory Jackson (D-Riverside), ACA 7, seeks to amend Prop 209, the initiative passed by voters in 1996 that prohibits considering race, color, sex, or nationality in public employment, education, and contracting decisions.
This amendment would allow the governor to approve exceptions to the law in order to address poverty and improve educational outcomes for African Americans and other marginalized groups.
Bradford also discussed proposal legislation aimed at compensating families whose properties were seized through eminent domain as a result of racism and discrimination.
The package of bills includes a measure proposed by Assemblymember Reggie Jones Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), Assembly Bill (AB) 3089 to formally acknowledge California’s history of slavery and discrimination, requiring lawmakers to issue a formal apology.
Additionally, a proposed constitutional amendment, ACA 8, sponsored by Wilson aims to ban involuntary servitude, particularly within the state’s prison system.
Reparations advocates and social justice groups from statewide organizations shared their support and criticism of the 14-bill reparations package with California Black Media (CBM).
A Coalition for a Just and Equitable California (CJEC) stated that the CLBC’s package does not address direct-cash payment, which, for that group’s leadership, is a non-negotiable component of any proposed compensation package.
“Our coalition’s unwavering commitment has been to pursue lineage-based reparations, encompassing direct monetary payments/compensation, state recognition of descendants as a protected class, and the establishment of the California American Freedman Affairs Agency through Senate Bill (SB) 490,” CJEC member Chris Lodgson outlined in a statement.
Lodgson continued, “We believe these vital components are imperative and a necessary first step toward true reparations. As we’ve communicated to elected officials directly for some time, we believe any reparations package must be targeted explicitly and exclusively to California’s 2 million Black American descendants of persons enslaved in the U.S. (American Freedmen).”
Media present at the news briefing persistently questioned Wilson and other CLBC members about direct payments.
Wilson mentioned that the budget deficit California is currently facing is being considered in discussions about compensation. A Legislative Analyst’s Office report released Feb. 20, estimates that the state’s budget shortfall could expand to $73 billion by May.
“In regard to direct-cash payments to individuals, we will continue to have that discussion as we navigate the next few years,” Wilson said. “As noted, we’re halfway through a legislative session. We have about three months of the legislative process in each house (Senate and Assembly) to work through these existing bills.
“In the next session, we have two years, and during that two-year session, we will consider including additional payments whether they are direct-cash payments or direct payments to communities,” Wilson said.
The Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation, and Truth (ARRT), a collaboration of California’s leading Black power-building and justice groups, supports seven of CLBC’s 14 reparations bills with proposals that include the restoration of property, establishing the property tax assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons program, a formal apology for human rights violations and crimes against humanity, amending the California Constitution to prohibit involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons, and prohibiting discrimination based on natural and protective hairstyles.
“The California Legislative Black Caucus reparations package marks a historic and meaningful moment in time. ARRT encourages lawmakers to pursue an even more expansive and definitive action to fulfill the reparations principles as recognized by the United Nations,” stated James Woodson, AART co-founder and executive director of the California Black Power Network. “Reparative justice must be impactful, transformative, and enduring, thus paving the way toward atoning for the wrongdoings deeply imprinted in the state’s history and healing this democracy.”
ARRT is a collaboration between the Black Equity Collective, the California Black Power Network, Catalyst California, Equal Justice Society, and Live Free USA, Live Free California.
Former members of the California reparations task force have partnered with AART: Loyola-Marymount clinical psychologist professor Dr. Cheryl Grills; Oakland-based civil rights attorney Lisa Holder; Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis, chair of the Department of Geography at the University of California Berkeley and Oakland-based attorney Donald Tamaki.
“We absolutely are (in support of direct-cash payments),” Woodson told California Black Media. “I think we got to have it all. There were multiple harms that were caused and one of them was financial and that needs to be compensated for with cash payments. And there are also systemic harms that were created. We need to change laws. We need to change how rules work because a lot of it flows out of anti-Black racism. We have to have everything because if you leave anything out it’s not for reparations.”
CBM also learned that there will be a series of listening sessions with the CLBC to help educate Californians about the reparation bills and the workings of the legislative process.
The members of the CLBC are Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City); Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood); Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa); Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles); Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda); Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena); Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson); Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Riverside); Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D- Los Angeles); Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood); and Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles).
Antonio Ray Harvey
Controller Malia Cohen: Despite $68 Billion Deficit, California Has Enough Cash to Pay Bills
Over the next few months, Californians will spend time processing the details of Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2024-2025 spending plan, which he is expected to present to the Legislature on Jan. 10 in Sacramento. However, reports of the state’s whopping $68 billion budget deficit — as projected by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) — have foreshadowed the Governor’s announcement with uncertainty.
Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media
Over the next few months, Californians will spend time processing the details of Governor Gavin Newsom’s 2024-2025 spending plan, which he is expected to present to the Legislature on Jan. 10 in Sacramento. However, reports of the state’s whopping $68 billion budget deficit — as projected by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) — have foreshadowed the Governor’s announcement with uncertainty.
Despite anticipation of deep budget cuts, State Controller Malia M. Cohen has expressed confidence that California’s fiscal cash flow is in the position to withstand any financial challenges caused by forecasted economic downturn.
“Despite reports from various sources indicating a budgetary deficit of approximately $68 billion, the state’s cash position remains strong, and, absent any unforeseen circumstances, the state has sufficient cash to pay its bills and meet its financial obligations through the end of the fiscal year,” Cohen said in a Dec. 19, 2023, letter.
Cohen is responsible for accountability and disbursement of the state’s financial resources. She has independent auditing authority over government agencies that spend state funds.
According to the LAO, the budget shortfall increased by $53 billion when compared to the projections used in the development of the current year budget – up from $15 billion when the 2023–24 Budget was signed in June. The LAO faced challenges in providing budget estimates due the IRS delaying tax filings until Nov. 16, 2023.
Regarding personal income, sales and property tax revenues, the state’s primary revenues, California entered an economic downturn in 2022 that is affecting the budget.
On Dec. 15, Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) and Senate Budget Vice Chair Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) wrote a letter to Gov. Newsom, urging him to “act early” to address the state’s worsening fiscal condition.
“This budget deficit will impact every California resident and doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or Democrat,” Jones stated. “That’s why we must roll up our sleeves and work together to bring spending in line with revenues.”
Cohen has been monitoring the state’s financial reports and clarified California is protected by its “rainy day reserves.”
“The state currently has more than $91.4 billion in available borrowable resources, due in large part to the Governor’s and Legislature’s foresight in building prudent rainy-day reserves in the Budget Stabilization Account,” Cohen stated.
The budget negotiations will involve new leaders of the legislature — Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and incoming Senate President Pro tempore Mike McGuire (D-Santa Rosa).
Rivas added California Legislative Black Caucus members Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa and Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley) to the Assembly’s budget leadership team in December. Weber will lead Subcommittee 1 on Health while Jackson will guide Subcommittee 2 on Human Services.
“While legislators will have difficult choices to make in the new year, I am confident they will be deliberate in addressing the budget challenges before them, and I urge them to protect, to the extent possible, the health and social service programs designed to benefit those who are displaced, without shelter, or otherwise economically disadvantaged,” Cohen stated.
Antonio Ray Harvey
Sec. of State Certifies Candidates for March Primary, Including Trump
Dr. Shirley N. Weber, the California Secretary of State, has certified a list of 20 candidates, including former Pres. Donald Trump, for the state’s presidential primary election scheduled for March 5, 2024.
By Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media
Dr. Shirley N. Weber, the California Secretary of State, has certified a list of 20 candidates, including former Pres. Donald Trump, for the state’s presidential primary election scheduled for March 5, 2024.
Weber made the decision on Dec. 28 to certify Trump despite calls from a number of prominent Democrats, including California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, to disqualify him. They cite the former president’s actions and inactions during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as a violation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which should disqualify him from public office.
Responding to Kounalakis, Weber emphasized that removing a presidential candidate is a matter of public interest and must be handled within legal parameters and in the best interests of all California voters.
“It is incumbent upon my office to ensure that any action undertaken regarding any candidate’s inclusion or omission from our ballots be grounded firmly in the laws and processes in place in California and our Constitution,” Weber stated.
So far, Trump’s quest to run for the presidency has been blocked by two states, Maine and Colorado. Appeals of the decisions in both states are expected to be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.
In a letter to Weber dated Dec. 20, Kounalakis urged the Secretary of State “to explore every legal option” to remove Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot following the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling in Anderson v. Griswold.
“I am prompted by the Colorado Supreme Court’s recent ruling that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot as a Presidential Candidate due to his role in inciting an insurrection in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Kounalakis wrote. “This decision is about honoring the rule of law in our country and protecting the fundamental pillars of our democracy.”
Weber wrote back to Kounalakis, saying that she is guided by her “commitment to follow the rule of law.”
“As California’s Chief Elections Officer, I am a steward of free and fair elections and the Democratic process,” wrote Weber. “I must place the sanctity of these elections above partisan politics. As you may not be aware, my office has been engaged in multiple lawsuits regarding the former president’s appearance on the ballot.”
Weber also acknowledged the complicated nature of the issue and her decision regarding it.
“We can agree that the attack of the capitol and the former presidents’ involvement was abhorrent, there are complex legal issues surrounding this matter,” she added.
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Opponents of San Francisco’s Prop E Hold Rally in Front of City Hall
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Nigerian Bank Chief Killed in Helicopter Crash on Way to Superbowl XVIII
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Who Are the Top Donors in the Alameda County District 5 Supervisor’s Race?
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Inheriting the Mantle: Who Will Carry the Legacy of John George?
-
Alameda County2 weeks ago
Michael P. Johnson Garners Major Support in Run for Alameda County Superior Court Judge
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
Berkeley Considers New Law to Help Tenants Buy Where They Rent
-
Bay Area3 weeks ago
S.F. Board of Supervisors OKs Mayor Breed’s Streamlining Legislation to Speed Up New Residential Treatment, Care Beds
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of February 28 – March 5, 2024