The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.

Issue No. 204 - May 31, 2024

City Politics

• Los Angeles City Council has officially voted to make Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson its next president. Harris-Dawson is considered one of the more progressive members of council, and has at times been the only councilmember voting with the three DSA-endorsed members.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• In the State Assembly, AB 1990, a bill to allow law enforcement to arrest people for shoplifting without a warrant has passed 44-1. Strangely, 32 Democrats did not vote, including several who spoke out against the bill. The bill was introduced by Los Angeles Assemblymember Wendy Carillo, a Democrat. Assemblymember Ash Kalra, also the sponsor of CalCare, was the lone vote in opposition.

Labor

• The strike of 48,000 UC graduate teaching assistants represented by UAW 4811 is scheduled to intensify next week – the union has called for walkouts at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. The strike is a response to the university’s sanctioning of violence against student protestors of the genocide in Gaza. The UC administration has continued its effort to block the strike on legal grounds, rather than negotiate. In Los Angeles, workers at UCLA went on strike earlier this week.

Housing Justice

• A report on the impact of 41.18, some of which leaked earlier this year, was officially released to the public today, and can be read here.

• Meanwhile, Jacobin covers a policy that has actually been effective in combating homelessness: San Francisco’s Tenant Right to Counsel program, passed in 2018. Los Angeles passed a similar policy last year, but the program has not come fully online in the face of budget shortfalls.

Climate

• In a 3-1 decision, California Public Utilities Commission sided with utility companies, and moved to reduce incentives for community solar projects. The LA Times’ Boiling Point puts this decision, which was made by Governor Newsom’s appointees, in the context of the Governor’s pattern of backtracking on climate goals.