ProgressiveCA blogfeed

Tears and Smiles – Mothers Day at the SF County Jail

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:02:27 +0000

At the women's county jail on Mother's Day, San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi announced the department's doula program for pregnant inmates, a humanitarian program which aims to improve family-based services for inmates, formerly incarcerated men and women, and their families.

LAO Says More Money Is Coming

Brian Leubitz — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:49:37 +0000

LAO thinks more cash is coming than Gov. Brown

by Brian Leubitz

In his negotiations with the Legislature, perhaps Gov. Brown would prefer to bargain over less money and pocket any extra revenues that fall into the general fund over the course of the fiscal year. But alas, the LAO thinks that the bigger sum should be in discussion:

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor projected state revenues Friday that are $3.2 billion higher than those projected by Gov. Jerry Brown this week in his revised budget proposal.
The difference translates into $400 million for the current fiscal year and $2.8 billion for the year that begins in July. The projection sets up a potential battle between Brown and fellow Democrats in the Legislature. who want to spend more than he proposes.
Both Brown and Taylor urge fiscal restraint, however, because revenue projections are largely dependent upon economic factors ranging from employment to housing prices. Both also agree that the bulk of the money will go to schools under state law.(SacBee)

Taylor is generally in favor of taking the cautious approach, so that's no surprise. But acknowledging the extra cash will surely mean that the fight is more intense from legislators that are looking to restore funding for some of the state's programs. Social services, the judiciary, higher education and other interests are competing with the Prop 98 K-14 funding guarantee, and the fight will be typically intense. This LAO report will only add intensity.

Register to Vote While You Get Health Insurance

Brian Leubitz — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:13:15 +0000

Health insurance exchange will facilitate voter registration

by Brian Leubitz

When I moved to California, I got my driver's license and registered to vote at the same time. Super convenient, except for the written driver test and couple of hours waiting. But, as long as you have folks walking through the door of a government building, why not get them voting?

Well, it turns out that is actually a federal law from back in the Clinton era, and SoS Bowen will be making sure the health care exchanges help register voters too:

Secretary of State Debra Bowen made California the first state to designate its health exchange as a voter registration agency Wednesday but others are expected to follow suit, said Shannan Velayas, Bowen's spokeswoman.
"This is about making sure that all eligible Californians are offered the chance to register to vote," Velayas said Thursday.
A 1993 federal law requires states to designate their agencies and offices that provide public assistance or disability services as voter registration agencies, Velayas said.(SacBee)

I don't think there is any other comment to make other than, "good work all!"

They did it again?! House votes to repeal Obamacare

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:15:53 +0000

They did it again?! House votes to repeal Obamacare

The economy still needs work, and unemployment rates are still too high, but the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives prefer to dig up their tired desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) for the 37th time. Their effort to repeal has little chance of being acted upon by the Senate, but facts and futility rarely get in the way of their efforts to overturn the landmark health care reform legislation passed in 2009.

The Supreme Court ruled that the bulk of the legislation is constitutional in June 2012, less than a year ago. Since taking control of the House in 2011, they voted 36 times to repeal Obamacare before the 2012 Presidential election. Their action on Thursday make it 37 times. The vote was 229-195 mostly on party lines, with two Democrats joining the House Republicans.

There is so much to be done for our country for this partisan effort to be their focus.

We’ve left the patients in control of the asylum and this is what we get.

The Liberal OC - Challenging Orange County's right-wing noise machine

Marketing 101 for Activists

Fri, 17 May 2013 04:37:05 +0000

If you have ever been to Bourbon Street in New Orleans, there is one thing that you would have noticed for sure. No, I am not talking about the babes and the beads. I am referring to a bunch of guys holding signs like “Repent” and “Trust Jesus, He Hates Sin.” Millions of drunk guys and gals have walked by these sincere advocates, but how many people do you think instantly dropped their shots and accepted Jesus into their hearts?

The $75 million mess that OC Republican arrogance has delivered

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:23:41 +0000

The $75 million mess that OC Republican arrogance has delivered

For all their claims of fiscal responsibility Republican elected officials, from the Board of Supervisors to the state legislative delegation, have demonstrated that ideological arrogance is a one way street to disaster. The victims of these disasters are the taxpayers of Orange County and, more directly, the taxpayers who rely on county services for support.

By now you are most likely aware that the county lost the suit filed by the state to recover about $147 million in two-years worth of property tax revenues, that the county refused to turn over after the state recognized it had been paying Vehicle License Fee (VLF) to the county that it wasn’t technically required to pay. In 2011, while trying to address a $20 billion budget shortfall, Governor Brown discovered the fact that the state was no longer required to send Orange County approximately $43 million annually in VLF funds.

This problem occurred when the county refinanced it’s bankruptcy debt in 2005. The financing terms for the bonds issued to pay off the county bankruptcy debt required that the state agree to assign a portion of the VLF money the county received from the state be directed to pay the bond debt service. When refinancing occurred, that was no longer required.

But even after being warned that legislation would be required to ensure that those funds continued to come to the county, the Republican majority on the Board did nothing. In a Voice of OC article in 2011, then Board Chairman Bill Campbell admitted; “we did drop the ball. I just don’t know why.”

At the time, then Democratic Assemblyman Jose Solorio attempted to pass legislation to secure a fix for the problem, but after the Republicans in the state legislature, led by the OC delegation, refused to work with the Governor on his budget proposals in any way, there was little legislative leverage to get anything passed.

So the County held back property taxes which, if all things were equal with the other counties in the state, Orange County would have been entitled to. Unfortunately for Orange County, the judge in the state’s lawsuit didn’t agree. The county has decided to appeal the ruling, but in the mean time, the County has been ordered to return the diverted funds.

State Senator Lou Correa and Orange County employee labor groups, led by the Orange County Employees Association, are working day and night to find a solution, while the Republican’s on the Board of Supervisors contemplate draconian cuts to services, including layoffs. The Orange County Republican legislators are powerless to influence the necessary corrective action, given the intransigence of Senate Minority Leader, Orange County Senator Bob Huff’s positions on most legislative issues. Huff, and the remainder of GOP legislators from Orange County are the leaders of the “Party of No” in Sacramento.

Hopes for a solution rest in the hands of democrats in Sacramento to clean up the mess that the republicans have made.

The Liberal OC - Challenging Orange County's right-wing noise machine

Prison Realignment Works. Prison Realignment Doesn't Work.

Brian Leubitz — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:58:23 +0000

Abel Maldonado Wildly Misses Mark in His Criticism of the Prison Realignment Policy

by Brian Leubitz

By any estimation, Governor Brown is in a tough spot politically and managerially with the issues surrounding the prisons. As Attorney General, he fought the federal courts on capacity and healthcare standards. As Governor, he's been forced to actually implement the reduction of population by those judges. And he's been fighting it all the way.

But, in realignment, he probably struck on the path of least resistance to state prison population. It allows a significant reduction in population without actually setting all of the prisoners free. But that's not what Abel Maldonado sees.

Maldonado, flanked by Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren and Erin Runnion, whose daughter Samantha was kidnapped and murdered in a high-publicized 2002 crime, argued in favor of an as-yet-unwritten ballot measure that would repeal A.B. 109, the law creating the state's realignment policy, which Maldonado referred to as "early release."
"The legislature and more importantly, the governor, won't fix early release," said Maldonado, a former lieutenant governor and legislator who represented communities in Santa Barbara County.(Daily Bulletin)

Abel Maldonado simply sees it as "early release" and plans on running some sort of initiative to address the issue. How it will address the issue while maintaining compliance with the federal rulings is anybody's guess. It's hard to see the ToughOnCrime act to be anything other than posturing for the 2014 race for governor. And he's searching for Willie Horton. Desperately. Calitics diarist smoker1 pointed that out last week.

This week, Abel Maldonado held a news conference announcing a statewide effort to repeal the realignment program. Proof of the dangers of realignment: the heinous murder of Mary Beth Blaskey. Jerome Anthony Rogers has been arrested and charged with the murder. Rogers, 57, has a lengthy criminal record, but was last in prison in 2003.
Got it? The last time he was in prison was 2003 and Maldonado is using this case as an example of how realignment is failing. Realignment came last year, not 10 years ago. Why would Maldonado use a case that has nothing to do with realignment to promote an effort to repeal realignment? Because there is no such case within the realignment universe.

The thing about the California prison system is that there is a lot of shades of gray. Way more than 50, it turns out. There are some hardened criminals, some murderers, some rapists and the like, that will probably never be rehabilitated to the point that we'll want them on the streets. However, the total number in that category are a minuscule portion of an enormous system. The recidivism rate in our system was hovering around 70% for a while, dipping down to 65% in 2012. But considering that the national level is below 45%, there is still a ways to go.

But much of that increased rate is about parole violations. Increasing parole flexibility and working with former prisoners to increase the percentage of better outcomes could go a long way to reducing some of that recidivism. Some of that has already been happening in a few counties, but there is a lot more work to be done.

Realignment itself laid a heavy burden on counties, and this is where the changes haven't really been as successful as we would like. They were supposed to get reimbursed for much of that burden, and while they will see additional revenues from the state to pay for the increased expenditures, it seems unlikely that they will ever be made truly whole. However, Brown knows what he's doing. Counties should be held more directly responsible for the prison population. Allowing prosecutors to simply lock away a criminal and forget about them has a perverse effect on the extreme overcapacity at state prisons.

The entire law enforcement community has begun a process of working to improve efficiency. As prisons have passed higher education spending, this is a conversation long overdue. But these changes can't come overnight. But we can't allow our prison budget to overwhelm the general fund, and we can't build our way out of the prison crisis. We need to reduce the prison population, and that is done through hard work, funding education, including Brown's effort to increase resources for disadvantaged students, and reducing the population of reoffenders.

Maldonado wants to simply revert back to the failed ToughOnCrime policies because that just might be an issue that scares voters. It's simplistic and cynical.

Scientist for Controversial Oyster Company Seeks End-around Peer Reviewed Science to Commercialize Wilderness

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:54:02 +0000

Today, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin submitted a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell requesting that she reject the efforts by Dr. Corey Goodman, an advocate/scientist for the Drakes Bay Oyster Company, to bypass peer-reviewed science in order to commercialize Drakes Estero wilderness, the ecological heart of Point Reyes National Seashore. Dr. Goodman recently filed a misconduct claim against the United States Geological Survey and National Park Service, asking that taxpayers fund an investigation based on his meritless claims.

The Drakes Bay Oyster Company is currently working with ultra-conservative Republicans and law firms associated with the anti-regulatory Koch Brothers to deny the public a protected national park wilderness on property all Americans own.

"The latest trumped up charges from Dr. Goodman and the anti-science ultra-conservative lawyers at Cause of Action echo prior claims that multiple federal investigations found to be wholly without merit. Millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted on these feckless allegations in an attempt to undermine former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's public policy decision to let Drakes Estero marine wilderness area go wild. The allegations against the USGS manipulate and cherry-pick the facts to mislead the public."

The letter outlines how Dr. Goodman’s accusations are fatally flawed and lack merit, specifically noting that:

- Dr. Goodman incorrectly describes the data that informed the Final Environmental Impact Statement conclusion on adverse impacts to harbor seals from oyster operations,

- The National Academy of Sciences and peer-reviewed research confirm harbor seal disturbances from oyster operations, which directly undermines Dr. Goodman’s claims,

- Dr. Goodman unilaterally redefines the purpose of the USGS Report from a photo study to a seal study and then attacks the USGS for something it did not do,

- Dr. Goodman incorrectly describes the USGS consultant’s findings and misleads the public.

Dr. Goodman’s recent effort to infuse manufactured scientific controversy into a matter of park policy follows his past failed efforts. The investigations revealed Dr. Goodman’s obsession to advocate on behalf of Company, even when neither the evidence nor the peer-reviewed science support his regurgitated allegations.

Earlier this year, after Dr. Goodman made accusations against the National Park Service’s scientific research, the Interior Inspector General conducted an investigation and concluded: “We found no evidence, documents, DEIS revisions, or witnesses that supported the complainant’s [Dr. Goodman’s] allegations.”

Last year, after Dr. Goodman attacked the Park Service’s peer reviewed science and the Marine Mammal Commission’s report that upheld the Park Service research, the Commission reviewed his charges and concluded “Your characterization of the photographs …is, in my view, incomplete, inaccurate, and misleading…I disagree completely with your interpretation of the seal behavior documented…”

STATEMENT OF MAJORITY LEADER ATKINS ON GOVERNOR BROWN’S REVISED BUDGET

noreply@blogger.com (Gracchus) — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:55:00 +0000

(Sacramento) Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins made the following statement on today’s release of Governor Jerry Brown’s “May Revise,” a revised budget proposal for fiscal year 2014 which reflects recent economic factors:

“I applaud Governor Brown’s cautious and balanced approach to state finances which prioritizes our investment in the future through education and healthcare. This approach keeps our promise to help those with the greatest need, while also maintaining our focus on steps that will pay off in terms of prosperity for many generations to come. It is also consistent with the principles outlined in the Assembly Democratic Caucus’ Blueprint for a Responsible Budget, released last week – fiscal responsibility, strengthening the middle class, and delivering effective, efficient services for Californians.

The Governor and the Legislature have worked together over the past few years to achieve today’s balanced and stable budget. We have done this through tough and painful cuts that reduced safety net services. The voters’ approval of the temporary taxes in Proposition 30 has also relieved the strain on state coffers as we slowly recover from the Great Recession. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues to review the details of the Governor’s proposal as we move toward adoption of a balanced, on-time budget by June 15.”

ASSEMBLYMEMBER WEBER RESPONDS TO GOVERNOR’S REVISED BUDGET

noreply@blogger.com (Gracchus) — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:54:00 +0000

SACRAMENTO, CA- Assembly Member Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego) commends Governor Jerry Brown for presenting a budget that provides more funding for education and puts California on a path to long term fiscal stability. During a press conference today in Sacramento, highlighting revisions to his previous budget proposal, the Governor announced that the state is $4.5 billion above revenue estimates made in January and highlighted his plans to restructure the local school funding formula to benefit low income, English learners, and foster youth as well as implement the State's new Common Core Curriculum Standards.

Specifically, the Governor proposes to increase funding for the local control funding formula by an additional $240 million, for a total of $1.9 billion. He also plans to allocate $1 billion in one-time funds in 2013-14 to fund the Common Core Standards. These revenues would be available for professional development, instructional materials, and technology enhancements, which would be funded per pupil at roughly $170 per student, the Governor indicated.

“The inequities and disparities of the current system are well documented and should no longer be tolerated, said Assemblymember Weber, who was an educator for over 40 years. “We now have an historic opportunity to ensure all students have equal access to base funding and to invest in students of high need. The Governor’s Local Control Funding is a starting point to ensure that this is accomplished, but there are still some concerns that need to be worked out. There has to be accountability and transparency to ensure that dollars are allocated wisely. Furthermore, we need to ensure that this influx of dollars will focus on creating career pathways for our disadvantaged students so that they can obtain high wage jobs and in turn give back to our economy,” she said.

California recently joined a number of other states in adopting the Common Core State Standards, which establishes new criteria for what students should learn in school. It also joined a consortium of states to develop new tests based on those standards. California has already adopted the Common Core Standards in Math in the fall of 2010 and new English Language Development Standards in 2012. Governor Brown’s May Revise provides a $1 billion allocation to assist schools in implementing these standards.

“This year I am authoring AB 899, which is a bill intended to establish a process to align the English Language Development (ELD) standards to the new Common Core Math and New Generation Science Standards to help our nearly 1.4 million English Learners. I am glad that the Governor is making the Common Core Standards a priority. I look forward to working with the Governor and my colleagues in the Legislature to ensure students in California and the nation are at the same academic level as students in other countries,” said Assemblymember Weber.

The revised budget proposal assumes $98.1 million in revenue and $96.4 million in expenditures and includes a $1.1 billion reserve. In the next couple of weeks, the Legislature and the Governor will work together to pass a responsible on time budget by June 15, 2013. Assemblymember Weber appreciates the Governor’s commitment to maintaining the fiscal stability that has come from an improving economy.

More Right-Wing Connections to Drakes Bay Oyster Company Surface as Lawsuit Against Obama Administration, National Park Service Rages On

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:02:21 +0000

With a hearing scheduled in the 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court today the long-scheduled closure of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company has become a cause celebre of well-funded conservative groups, as they seek to overturn the Interior Department’s decision so they can open more of our protected public lands to oil and gas exploration. Right-wing national organizations have launched new efforts in the wake of moves by Washington politicians, including oil-state Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana), who inserted language in his Keystone pipeline project and coastal drilling bill to give this one company a new, exclusive permit worth millions of dollars in an ecologically sensitive marine wilderness area, and House Republican Natural Resources Committee Chairman “Doc” Hastings (R-Washington), who has launched a review after assailing the Obama Administration’s decision to protect the Point Reyes National Seashore on its 50th Anniversary.

A sample of recent national right-wing involvement:

• Several weeks ago, Cause of Action, a Beltway-based legal foundation that refuses to reveal its funders but has strong links to the right-wing Koch Brothers, stepped into the fray, driving the company’s legal fight. The respected PBS “Newshour” http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/05/conflict-of-lease-and-legacy-provokes-controversy-on-the-half-shell.html exposed their involvement. Since that time, we have learned Cause of Action has been involved in 11 lawsuits, all advocating conservative causes, including a suit against the EPA and against Delaware’s governor trying to kill the development of renewable energy in that state.

• Yesterday, national Fox News http://video.foxnews.com/v/2376406357001/family-owned-business-says-govt-trying-to-shut-them-down/ joined their crusade with a biased report. In the interview, the Fox news host repeatedly misstated facts, and the Oyster company’s owner fails to mention that he bought the property in 2005 fully knowing that his permit to operate would expire 7 years later.

• We also have learned that the Pacific Legal Foundation, linked to the Koch Brothers by Sourcewatch http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Family_Foundations , is involved in the legal fight http://www.pacificlegal.org/pcg/PLF-to-back-Drakes-Bay-Oyster-Company-in-court, as it notes that it will be in the Court on Tuesday, live tweeting.

It’s clear that this is no longer about an oyster company with a significant record of violations with the California Coastal Commission.

It’s about out-of-state special interests working with the oyster company to set a dangerous new precedent to deregulate commercial activity on protected public lands and open them to oil and gas exploration.

A Blueprint for California’s Budget

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:56:55 +0000

The strong revenue California collected in April is one more encouraging sign that after years of weathering the Great Recession we appear to have reached a point of budget stability. To help build on that stability, Assembly Democrats have crafted a Blueprint for a Responsible Budget that will keep California on sound financial footing not just this budget year, but in the future as well.

Over the past several years, Legislative Democrats have made tough but necessary budget cuts. Voters approved the majority-vote budget, which removed the game playing and gridlock that had jeopardized California’s financial picture. And voters stood with Democrats in supporting temporary tax revenues to help fund our schools and avoid even deeper cuts. The Blueprint for a Responsible Budget is based on the following three interrelated principles:

1. Continuing Fiscal Responsibility – the state must pay down debt, provide a prudent reserve, and craft a workable Rainy Day Fund that protects against future economic downturns. We must provide a balanced budget, not just for this year, but for every fiscal year in the forecast period, and we must accelerate the repayment of our budget debts. By accelerating repayment of budget debts we increase our budget stability and our ability to invest in our future. The time has come to craft a real and workable Rainy Day Fund that captures one-time spiking revenues to be set aside for economic downturns.

2. Strengthening the Middle Class – schools and higher education must give everyone a fair shot at the middle class, small businesses must be strengthened, and there must be a functional safety net that gets people back on their feet, contributing to our economy. Middle Class students must be able to afford a college education without being strapped with debt that strangles them well into the future and hurts future economic growth. Funding the Middle Class Scholarship with General Fund revenues from Proposition 39 can slash student fees at UC and CSU by 40 percent.

3. Delivering Effective, Efficient Services for Californians– wasteful red tape and bureaucratic delays must be eliminated for businesses, veterans, and others working with government. Business filings must be processed by the Secretary of State in five days or less, the Department of Public Health “exporting licenses” for perishable goods must also be approved within five days, so California exports can get to their destination and the state’s exporters can prosper. Updating Local Coastal Plans, helping Veterans access the services and benefits they’ve earned and funding courts – with accountability—to preserve access to necessary court services are other key aspects of Assembly Democrats Blueprint for a Responsible budget.

With the Governor’s May budget revision being announced this week and the Legislature working to pass a final budget by June 15, these are some of the issues Assembly Democrats will be focusing on to make sure our state takes the critical steps we need. for our schools, small businesses, safety net, higher education, courts and other key areas that have been harmed during the Great Recession.

(This post originally appeared on www.FoxandHoundsDaily.com)

To Protect Patients and Ensure Continuity of Care, AB 1000 Should Be Fixed

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:32:49 +0000

This week the Assembly Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider legislation by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, AB 1000, that would allow patients direct access to physical therapy treatment for 45 calendar days or 12 visits, without a doctor’s referral. After that window, a signature approving the physical therapist’s plan of care is required from a physician (or osteopathic physician) and surgeon, or a podiatrist.

While there are a number of worthy provisions in AB 1000, the bill doesn’t do enough in its current form to allow for continuity of care – and deserves to be amended.

Frequently, the patient being seen by the physical therapist has a doctor of chiropractic as their primary treating provider. Since 1922 doctors of chiropractic (DCs) in California have been educated and licensed by the State of California to serve as portal of entry/primary care providers. DCs are educated to differentially diagnose all conditions of the human body. After undergraduate study, chiropractic students earn a four-year doctorate degree with classroom and laboratory work in basic clinical sciences, physical examination, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, x-ray and interpretation of laboratory blood work and other treatment procedures. Clinical education includes a year -long internship overseen by a licensed DC on patients with various clinical presentations using manipulation as their primary clinical procedure.

Only health care providers who are trained in the complete diagnosis of all conditions that affect the human body can provide adequate patient safety. We have long been concerned that a seemingly “simple problem” for which a patient may seek treatment directly from a physical therapist might actually be masking a much more serious condition such as heart failure, diabetes, cancer or other disorder.

That is why the California Chiropractic Association (CCA) appreciates the provision in AB 1000 providing that if the physical therapist has reason to believe the patient has signs or symptoms of a condition that requires treatment beyond the scope of practice of a physical therapist, or if the patient is not progressing toward documented goals, the physical therapist shall refer the patient to an appropriately licensed health care provider.

However, we have concerns with how this requirement will be enforced. Additionally, CCA believes it would be appropriate to include language that outlines the minimum penalty for a physical therapist who violates these limitations on direct access.

AB 1000 should be amended. Specifically, doctors of chiropractic should be added to the providers who can approve a patient’s plan of care, thereby ensuring patient safety while allowing for continuity of care for the patient with the primary provider of their choice.

Kassie Donoghue, DC, is government affairs director for the California Chiropractic Association.

Climate Change Ushers In Early California Fire Season

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:32:44 +0000

California’s wildfire season began early this year as nearly a dozen fires fueled by record high temperatures and extremely low water levels broke out across the state during the first week of May.

Irvine Finance Commissioner Makes Big Mistake on iCHP

Thu, 09 May 2013 23:55:32 +0000

Irvine Finance Commissioner Makes Big Mistake on iCHP

We’ve written about the City of Irvine’s iCHP program before. It’s a terrific program where the city works with several organizations to identify families of limited income and kids under 19 access affordable or even free quality healthcare for their children. The city works with the Children’s Health Initiative of Orange County and helps them enroll in MediCal, California Kids, Healthy Families, or Kaiser Child Health Plan. By helping kids get affordable or free health insurance that’s paid for through grants, eligible families can get preventive health care services for children which is considerably cheaper than treating diseases and ailments that are preventable.

City Finance Commissioner Allan Bartlett is currently reviewing the city’s budget and posted this message on his Facebook page Monday night: It’s not the responsibility of the City of Irvine to provide health care for kids. I’m loving going through this city budget right now.

He later wrote: This is one of those Suhkee Kang legacy bad ideas that needs to be done away with.

Another of Allan’s friends incorrectly stated that it cost the city four employees at $40K each.

There’s a small problem with Bartlett’s statements. There are both wrong.

Finance Commissioner Allan Bartlett in the red tie

Perhaps it’s an inability to read a budget or grasp the value of preventative care in what it saves taxpayers. But the program costs the City less than $10,000 a year which is spent most on printing costs and the cost of administering the program is covered by multiple grants secured by city staff.

So what is iCHP all about? Eligible families, with children under 19, who live in Orange County meet certain monthly income standards based on family size can use one of several plans to get:

Full Medical Care
Vision
Dental
Mental Health
Hospital Care

And a family’s immigration status doesn’t matter.

More than 750 children in Irvine alone are enrolled in this program through the end of 2012 and iCHP has been hailed as one of the most efficient programs in the city.

But the Irvine Republicans just seem to hate the idea of any public money being spent on providing health insurance to kids in families with limited incomes.

Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway and Council member Christina Shea have both spoken out against these services in the past. As a mayoral candidate in 2008, Shea was asked by the OC Register what’s the one thing she’d cut from the city’s budget. It was the iCHP program:

From the story:

Q. WATCHDOG: Christina Shea, if you could cut one thing from the budget, what would it be and why?

A. SHEA: “I would cut the I-CHP program (Irvine Children’s Health Program Initiative) proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Sukhee Kang. It costs about $200,000 a year, and pays consultants to go door-to-door to help lower-income people get their children signed up for almost-free healthcare from the state’s Healthy Families and other programs.

To spend money on this in a year when we had to borrow $6.5 million from our reserves to balance the budget – just doesn’t seem right. And we might have to borrow again next year to balance the budget.

Healthy Families is one of the state’s great health care programs for lower income families. But people can go to a local agency in Santa Ana to fill out their own paperwork. Government, in my mind, should not be paying to have people filling out forms. I mean, when are we going to go out to our community and start fixing people’s washers and dryers? There has to be an element of personal responsibility. We shouldn’t be filling out their paperwork; this is the individual’s responsibility and would save the city $200,000. This is a waste of taxpayer money.”

That $200,000 in 2008 is now under $10,000; divide it by the city’s 220,000 residents and the cost per resident is less than a nickel a year.

It’s no surprise that Bartlett serves on the Finance Commission as a Shea appointee. Perhaps someday should he ever become a father, he’ll appreciate the benefit of preventative health care for kids. But more immediately, I’m concerned that he lacks the ability to recognize the city doesn’t provided free health insurance to kids. If he can punt that simple budget line item, what else is he not getting? And cutting healthcare for poor kids? Just heartless.

As George Carlin once said of Republicans: “These conservatives are really something, aren’t they? They are all in favor of the unborn, they will do anything for the unborn, but once you’re born, you’re on your own! Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that they don’t want to know about you, they don’t want to hear from you . . . no neo-natal care, no day care, no head start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing! If you’re pre-born, you’re fine. If you’re pre-school, you’re fucked. Conservatives don’t give a shit about you until you reach military age. Then they think you are just fine, just what they’ve been looking for. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers.”

The Liberal OC - Challenging Orange County's right-wing noise machine

ATKINS BILL TO STREAMLINE TRANSGENDER NAME CHANGES PASSES ASSEMBLY

noreply@blogger.com (Gracchus) — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:32:00 +0000

(San Diego) Assembly Bill 1121, authored by Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins, was passed by the California State Assembly today. The bill provides transgender people seeking legal name changes to reflect their gender identity with a streamlined and inexpensive process that protects their privacy. Current law requires a transgender person to obtain a court order and to publish the name change application in the newspaper. This process can be expensive and also publicly exposes the person to potential discrimination, harassment or even violence because of being transgender.

“Transgender people are entitled to have their official documents and their legal name reflect their true identity without a burdensome and expensive process that endangers their personal safety,” says Atkins.

Transgender people’s understanding of themselves as male or female is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Medical science recognizes this condition as Gender Dysphoria and prescribes specific treatments to help the transgender person transition physically, so their bodies match their gender identity. This often includes surgery, medication, and mental health support. Being transgender is not a choice. A person’s gender identity is set at an early age and cannot be changed at will.

The transition to living in accord with one’s gender identity also involves a legal process because birth certificates and a person’s name usually reflect the sex they were assigned at birth. In California, a person seeking a court-ordered name change has to publish a notice in a newspaper for four weeks. They are also required to have a public hearing before a judge, the record of which is also public. The process is lengthy and can be expensive.

Forty-four percent of transgender people experience discrimination, harassment and assault. A public name change process heightens the likelihood of these occurring. AB 1121 allows the transgender person to avoid the public notice and court process by applying directly to the state Office of Vital Records for a name change.

AB 1121 is sponsored by Equality California and the Transgender Law Center. It will now move to the California State Senate for consideration.

The Parsky Commission’s Dodgy Tax Plan

California Progress Report

By Peter Schrag Columnist California Progress Report Last week’s rollout of the regressive tax reform plan cooked up by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commission on the 21st Century Economy was almost as dodgy as the plan itself. Five members of 14-member panel, which was headed by Los Angeles financier and Republican...

UC Leadership Looks Into Alternative Ways To Save Public Universities

California Progress Report

by David M. Greenwald Editor California Progress Report A little over a week ago, the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of UC Berkeley, Robert Birgeneau and Frank Yeary wrote an op-ed published on both coasts arguing for a new hybrid model as a means to save California's public universities. They...

Speaking Truth To The Power Of Insurers

California Progress Report

by Cynthia Craft Health Access California It’s heart-wrenching to see the long scars, some still deep red, crisscrossing the scalp of 19-year-old Penelope DeMeerleer, who has half a head of thick blond hair and the other half practically mapping out her medical history of 44 brain surgeries. But don’t feel...