SACRAMENTO
Newsom’s reopening about-face raises questions
Data remains murky
Monday was a day of coronavirus whiplash for many Californians as state health officials abruptly lifted the regional stay-at-home order and Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a major shift in the state’s vaccine plan.
All but four counties are now in the purple tier of California’s color-coded system, permitting restaurants and gyms to reopen outdoors and hair and nail salons to reopen indoors with modifications, CalMatters’ Lauren Hepler reports. Meanwhile, California will transition to an age-based vaccine priority system after it completes its current phase — raising questions about when people with underlying health conditions will be able to access the vaccine, CalMatters’ Ana Ibarra reports.
Although Newsom emphasized Monday that the decision to lift the stay-at-home order was “data driven, scientifically based, not arbitrary,” confusion around the data remains. On Sunday, the state Department of Public Health said the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions would remain under the order because their projected ICU capacity in four weeks remained below 15%. But at 8 a.m. Monday, the department reversed course, predicting the three regions would by Feb. 21 have ICU capacities of 25%, 22.3% and 33.3%, respectively. How exactly these figures are calculated remains murky.
Adding to the back-and-forth, Newsom’s messaging was at times contradictory.
Newsom: “We’re seeing a flattening of the curve — everything that should be up is up and everything that should be down is down.”
But when citing California’s 7-day average of 504 deaths, Newsom said, “This is a sober reminder of how deadly this pandemic remains, more so now than ever.”
Though there are signs the winter surge is beginning to plateau, conditions in California are significantly worse than they were on Dec. 3, when Newsom first implemented the stay-at-home order. The state also predicts that Northern California’s 47.9% ICU capacity will fall dramatically to 18.9% by Feb. 21.
The California Nurses Association in a Monday statement: “There is a human cost to lifting stay-at-home orders too soon. Let’s be clear that even if numbers are ‘trending downward,’ we are still in the midst of the most deadly surge of COVID-19 yet.”
WASHINGTON D.C.
Su headed to Biden’s Cabinet
Yet another Californian is on track to join President Joe Biden’s administration: Labor Secretary Julie Su has accepted Biden’s offer of the No. 2 position at the U.S. Labor Department, Bloomberg reports. If she’s confirmed by the Senate, Newsom will get to make yet another high-profile appointment. But Su will likely face scrutiny for her oversight of the beleaguered Employment Development Department, which on Monday confirmed that nearly 10% of all unemployment claims it’s paid so far have been fraudulent. That amounts to nearly $11.4 billion — more than California spends annually on community colleges, workforce development and homelessness. EDD also said that another 17% of payments, or $19.4 billion, may have gone to fraudulent claimants.
NORTHERN CALIF.
Weather whiplash
Around 5,000 Santa Cruz County residents were forced to evacuate Monday due to the threat of mudslides — a week after they evacuated amid a group of wildfires fanned by powerful winds and exacerbated by pervasive drought. On Monday night, San Mateo became the second county to begin emergency preparations, issuing evacuation warnings expected to become orders. The heavy rain and wind expected to sweep across California this week could trigger mudslides in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which lost the vegetation needed to absorb water in last year’s CZU Lightning Complex blaze.
Meanwhile, the iconic Grapevine portion of California’s I-5 freeway in Southern California shut down Monday amid heavy snow. The National Weather Service predicts the northern Sierra could see at least 7 feet of snow this week, good news for California’s dwindling snowpack. However, the wind and snow could also damage trees and cause power outages. Parts of San Diego County were without power Monday, and high winds forced its mass vaccination site to close at least through Tuesday morning.
—Hoeven, CALmatters
SACRAMENTO
Senate Republicans lead bipartisan call for oversight hearing in response to scathing EDD audit results
On Tuesday, the non-partisan State Auditor released the results of an audit about the Employment Development Department (EDD) originally called for by members of the Senate Republican Caucus last summer. The audit results come after news reports show an increase in the number of backlogged claims and that rampant fraudulent unemployment claims are now at a staggering $11 billion and could rise as high as $30 billion.
The audit found that “the economic downturn worsened EDD’s already poor performance” and that, even after adding numerous staff, EDD “only marginally improved the percentage of answered calls.” Last year, Senate Republicans asked for call center metrics to be included in the budget as a way to improve accountability, but the budget approved by the Governor and Democratic leadership did not include that proposal. The audit also found that, due to the inefficiencies and poor management at the EDD, some Californians will have to pay back benefits.
In response to the audit, Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) and a bipartisan group of senators delivered a letter to the Chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) and the Chair of Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 requesting an immediate oversight hearing. The oversight hearing should focus on EDD implementing the Auditor’s recommendations to address the backlog of claims and prevent future fraud.
—Submitted
