Takes over from Speaker Perez

by Brian Leubitz

We’ve known Toni Atkins was going to be our next speaker for a while now, but the date of transition was something of a mystery. Now we have that answer:

The Assembly will have a new speaker May 12.

Assemblywoman Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) was designated speaker-elect in an Assembly vote two weeks ago.

Multiple Capitol sources confirm that on Wednesday, current Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) announced at an Assembly Democratic caucus meeting that the transition will take place in about six weeks. (LA Times)

Her first big task? Well, that would be the budget. The May revise will come out right around that date, so her team will need to be ready to respond from day 1. A thrilling way to hit the ground running, I suppose.

Senator becomes highest-profile endorsement of measure to fix broken malpractice system

by Brian Leubitz

In a perfect world, we certainly wouldn’t be discussing medical malpractice reform. However, California’s law on the subject is far from the perfect world. For many victims of medical malpractice, it is cost prohibitive to seek justice. The costs of trial become too expensive to pursue the case, and many victims find it difficult to find an attorney that can handle the case.  There are a litany of other reasons MICRA is broken, but you can read more about MICRA in my previous post on the subject https://calitics.com/diary/…

The short story being that the $250,000 cap on non-economic damages hasn’t been adjusted for inflation for over 35 years, and that cap means that many victims won’t be able to get the justice that they need. Specifically, cases that are brought by people unable to show a steady stream of income are punished by this hard cap. So, children, senior citizens and the disabled are put in a real position of danger.

Now, to be clear, there are some good organizations on the other side of this issue. Planned Parenthood drew fire on its decision to oppose MICRA reform. Their logic on their position sounds good but the facts just don’t back up the position. Essentially, Planned Parenthood argues that changing the hard caps on malpractice damages will reduce doctor supply and vastly increase malpractice insurance. But the real data show that neither of these suppositions to be correct. Again, I point you to my previous writing or to the LA Times’ Michael Hiltzik on the subject:

Over the last 22 years, California malpractice insurers have paid out in claims an average of only 36 cents of every premium dollar they’ve collected, according to Insurance Department statistics. For comparison’s sake, for all property and casualty insurance lines the figure is 62 cents; for passenger auto insurers alone it’s more than 60 cents.(LA Times / Michael Hiltzik)

So, yeah, the reason that malpractice insurance premiums are rising? That would be a massive profit level for the insurance companies. But I digress.

The supporters of the Troy and Alana Pack Act recently submitted nearly 850,000 signatures to get their bill on the November ballot. Essentially the measure would adjust for inflation since the date of the 250,000 cap and permanently index the cap to inflation. It was something that was originally included in the MICRA legislation, but cut later in the legislative process. The Pack Act now has a big name supporter: Senator Barbara Boxer.

“I will never forget meeting a child who was severely disfigured and forever confined to a wheelchair because of medical malpractice,” Senator Boxer stated.  “I was stunned to learn how unfair California law is in terms of compensating these patients and their families, and I committed to helping the victims of these tragedies. That is why I am proud to support the Troy and Alana Pack Patient Safety Act, which will reform our judicial system to hold accountable those responsible for so much pain and suffering and ensure that patients and their families get the justice they deserve.”

Seven year old Alana Pack and ten year old Troy Pack were killed on a roadside by a doctor-shopping drug addict who ran them over after being overprescribed thousands of narcotics at Kaiser and falling asleep at the wheel. Their father Bob Pack authored the Pack Act to increase accountability for medical negligence and substance abuse.

You can learn more about the Pack Act on their website.

Troubled campaign looking for some sort of boost

by Brian Leubitz

The gubernatorial candidate from Wall Street, Neel Kashkari, is struggling in the polls and fundraising is running dry. So, where to turn? How about trying to get some cash from the petroleum industry with some timely shout outs to his corporate friends in the business:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari toured a drilling technology company here Wednesday and promised to rebuild the state’s economy in part by improving the business climate for oil and gas.

In the last three years that Jerry Brown has been governor, California has increased its crude oil production 3 percent to 199 million barrels, he said. During the same three years, Texas has increased its production 77 percent to 941 million barrels, and North Dakota has hiked production 105 percent to 313 million barrels.

California’s economy is improving slowly, Kashkari said, but added that far too many Californians remain out of work because the state isn’t business-friendly.(Bakersfield Californian)

Well, that is all well and good, but the numbers that the Kashkari campaign passed off in a press release are not really relevant. Even petroleum executives would allow that each state has different petroleum reserves. Not all wells are created equal. Part of that is the regulatory environment, but fracking is a technology that aims to get at deposits with a wildly varying levels of accessibility. Monterey shale isn’t the same as the deposits in Texas or North Dakota, and there are many other considerations. Like, hey, the fact that we are in a big drought. KQED has a great report on that subject in both audio and text formats.

The potential for higher water use doesn’t sit well with some San Joaquin Valley farmers. “They’re competing for the same water that we’re using for our farms,” says Keith Gardiner. “That’s taken away from the farm fields.”

“It is an added pressure,” says Greg Wegis of Wegis and Young, a farming operation near Bakersfield. “From what I’ve seen, in some of the fracking wells, they’re using 3-to-4 acre-feet per well. That’s not helping the situation.”(KQED)

But Kashkari has very little to work with. Brown has a huge warchest, and Donnelly is still polling above him. Kashkari needs more cash and attention. He can claim to be addressing with an appearance on Squawk Box, but appearing on CNBC won’t make the kind of big shake up that he needs to this race. So, why not try pandering to petroleum interests. It won’t help him win the governor’s office, but maybe he can squeeze into the November top-2.

Arrest in a shocking investigation opens up SoS race

by Brian Leubitz

First, I’ll simply state that everybody deserves their day in court, and all the charges are merely allegations at this point. But, wow, if only a small fraction of what was revealed is true, you have the makings of an action-packed Hollywood blockbuster.

In the part that pertains to Yee, the long and short of it was that he sold proclamations and small favors in exchange for campaign contributions. (Some of which exceed the contribution limits in the SF mayoral race.) In the affidavit, which you can find over the flip or on scribd here, Yee is said to have told the federal informants that he would not make money for himself for any official acts, and that he did not want to discuss pay-for-play deals. However, he is alleged to have participated in said pay-for-play for campaign contributions at the behest of his fundraising consultant, and alleged gun runner, Keith Jackson.

State Senator Leland Yee, one of the most powerful Democratic politicians in California, was arrested Wednesday morning in a major series of federal raids in the Bay Area and Sacramento targeting corruption and gang activity.

Federal agents arrested Lee(sic) at his home in San Francisco Wednesday morning and he was driven to the federal courthouse while his offices in Sacramento were raided.

The federal complaint filed March 24 and unsealed Wednesday alleges Sen. Yee was engaged in soliciting illegal campaign donations in exchange for political favors and was involved in a conspiracy to traffic firearms. (CBS  SF)

Now, as for the SoS race, you have to figure that with Sen. Yee out of the running, Sen. Alex Padilla is now the big frontrunner. That being said, Democrat Derek Cressman could make a strong challenge if he can continue to raise enough money to increase his name ID. Former Republican Dan Schnur and current Republican Pete Peterson could also push to make that second line of the ballot.

Whatever else you do today, take a few minutes to read the affidavit. It’s like something out of a Mario Puzo novel.

UPDATE: I managed to get a snapshot of Keith Jackson’s page from Singer Associates website, which has now been taken down. You can read the full affidavit over the flip, as well as viewing a CBS-SF news report.

UPDATE 2: Yee has now officially quit the Secretary of State race.

Crowded Field and Top-2 could net interesting election

by Brian Leubitz

Buck McKeon announced his retirement in January, but the announcement produced little surprise. He was rumored to retire for a while now, including some rumors in the past few cycles. And Tony Strickland, after losing a run against Julia Brownley in 2012, has been pretty much campaigning in this district since.

But even with the Strickland campaign up and running for a long time, there have been no shortage of candidates. And over in the LA Daily News, Rick Orlov takes a look at the field:

The race has drawn two prominent Republicans – Sen. Steve Knight and former Sen. Tony Strickland – who have represented portions of the district in the state Legislature, as well as a physician who first ran against McKeon two years ago, a former test pilot, a pair of businessmen and one Libertarian. (Rick Orlov / LA Daily News)

Dr. Lee Rogers, the Democratic nominee in 2012, is running again, joining former Air Force pilot Evan Thomas. The crowded field of 4 Republicans, a Libretarian, and two Democrats kind of presents the question of Top-2. Last year, a strong chance at a Democratic pickup in CA-31 was foiled when a field of Democrats piled over each other and fell behind the two Republicans running. Of course, that could happen again there in 2014, with a huge field.

In order for that dynamic to really work, there has to be two recognizable members of one party and a field of less known candidates on the other side. However, 2014 seems more likely for the two Republican Senators to split most of the GOP vote, and the other two Republicans picking up only a smattering of votes. The fact that Thomas is starting a bit behind also makes him unlikely to creep into that top-2. However, with the small sample size we have seen so far, you never really know what is going to happen in the post Top-2 world.

While 2014 is likely to be a tough year for Democrats nationwide, one again California appears to be the breaking point of any momentum. The party stands a chance to pick up both CA-31 and CA-25, netting a few seats that may have to make up for other states across the country.

Measure to require donor disclosure for nonprofit political dies in Senate

by Brian Leubitz

Take a step into my TARDIS, way back to 2012, when a group of conservative nonprofit groups with connections to the Koch Brothers poured around $15 million into the efforts to defeat Prop 30 and pass Prop 32. Eventually, they settled for a record fine of over a million dollars, but hey, if you can get away with it, #AmIRight? What’s a million dollars between friends trying to monkey with democracy?

Well, a bill to fight just these sort of money laundering operations was working its way through the state Legislature. SB 27, introduced by Senator Correa would have required every ballot committee receiving more than $1 to disclose its top ten contributors.

I say was, because with the loss of the votes of Sens. Wright and Calderon and the current lack of Democratic supermajority, that measure seems to be on ice for a while. No Republicans would cross party lines and vote for public disclosure, so despite the passage in the Assembly, the measure goes nowhere. CORRECTION: A previous version of this post said a supermajority was required due to a requirement of constitutional amendments. However, SB 27 is not a constitutional amendment. Rather, the Political Reform Act of 1974 requires a 2/3 supermajority to make changes.

“Senate Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for voting to keep Californian’s in the dark about who is funding political campaigns,” said SoS candidate Derek Cressman.  “How anyone favoring fair and transparent elections could have no preference between the party of dark money and the party that voted unanimously for sunshine today is a mystery to me.”