The latest studies, editorials, and investigative reports on issues affecting California’s democracy, economy, and opportunities.

April 17, 2020
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** THE SPECTER OF CHAPTER 9 BANKRUPTCY HAUNTING CALIFORNIA
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Good morning!

Last Friday, the U.S. attorney’s office and FBI revealed that SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West had been duped ([link removed]) by an elaborate scam. Three weeks ago, the California union announced the supposed discovery of 39 million masks for healthcare workers. SEIU was working with an unnamed Pittsburgh businessman to procure masks from a broker in Australia and a supplier in Kuwait. The broker had asked for a 40% payment upfront and noted that a warehouse in Georgia had 2 million of the masks. However, the feds found the warehouse empty and they prevented money from being exchanged.

San Francisco's largest homeless shelter has been hit with a coronavirus outbreak, with 68 homeless residents testing positive for the disease. The San Francisco Chronicle reports ([link removed]) that Multi-Service Center South housed fewer than 150 homeless persons last week.

With distribution centers on lockdown, farmers in the Central Valley and across the country are beginning to dump their goods. “Everybody’s scrambling. The whole food system is scrambling,” said ([link removed]) Daniel Sumner, an agricultural economist at UC Davis. “I don’t see a big supply-side issue for agriculture. It’s really an issue with the food system.”

Caltrans is taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic. As the virus keeps Californians off the road, the state Department of Transportation is spending more time and resources on highway projects. According to the Sacramento Bee ([link removed]) , “Contractors said they are working during the day instead of at night, extending work hours and closing longer stretches of road at a time under temporary agreements.

Chapter 9 bankruptcy is becoming a greater prospect for a number of California’s highest-risk cities. CPC contributor Marc Joffe explores the lessons we can learn from Lindsay, California’s fourth-highest risk city. Read more ([link removed]) .

State Sen. John Moorlach is calling for the suspension of AB 5. “It’s absurd to effectively ban “gig” workers while millions are trying to figure out how to make a living from home. With their regular jobs terminated, they’re just starting to bring in some extra money either in new jobs from home, or their old jobs transformed by telecommuting,” Moorlach opined ([link removed]) in the California Globe. AB 5 was signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 18, 2019.

CPC contributor Larry Sand examines the “distance-learning pact” struck between the Los Angeles Unified School District and United Teachers of Los Angeles. Teachers are “not required to teach classes using live video conferencing platforms,” thereby reducing the effectiveness of virtual learning programs. Read more ([link removed]) .

San Francisco believes it has come up with a solution to grading in the age of the coronavirus. Backed by the local teachers union, one board member proposed giving every student an “A”. “Why not just give students A’s,” said ([link removed]) school board member Alison Collins. “Let’s just consider this a wash and just give all students A’s.” The San Francisco school board will vote on this matter later this month.

California law school deans are calling for the suspension of bar exams due to the coronavirus. Deans Erwin Chemerinsky of UC-Berkeley and Jennifer Mnookin of UCLA said that law students should have the option to practice supervised law for up to two years, noting ([link removed]) that it “would allow financially pressed graduates to begin their careers while helping to meet the public need for increased legal services during the coronavirus pandemic.” The last time California licensed law school graduates without a bar exam was to meet a lawyer deficit during World War II.

CPC fellow Edward Ring does a deep dive on the finances of Huntington Beach and discovers that the City Council may come to regret the pay raise it gave to the city’s public employees last week. Read more ([link removed]) .

CPC President Will Swaim and CPC Board Member David Bahnsen discuss why, despite the coronavirus, they are bullish on California and humanity on this week’s episode of National Review’s Radio Free California. Listen here ([link removed]) .

Finally, are you affected by AB 5, California’s new law that’s reduced people’s ability to work as independent contractors or in the gig economy? If you have been hurt by AB 5, we would like to know your story. Please contact me at .

As always, if you’d like to join our movement to save California, we invite you to support us. Click here to donate to CPC ([link removed]) .


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