SACRAMENTO
Still waiting on a California budget deal
Legislators, advocates, policy nerds and reporters (including my CalMatters colleague Sameea Kamal) waited all weekend, but the big announcement of a budget deal between Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders never came.
Instead, with time running short, bills were put in print that reflect some of the negotiations, even without an overall agreement. Leaders in the Assembly and Senate had their own priorities, which they combined into a budget the Legislature passed on June 15. (A reminder of where we are in the sometimes convoluted budget timeline, leading up to the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.)
These measures, which will be voted on this week in addition to the main budget agreement, include several significant pacts:
In Hollywood, studios executives and labor unions collaborated to ensure that a possible five-year extension on tax credits for film and television studios would include a new provision that would refund studios in cash if their tax credit is bigger than their tax bills, reports the Los Angeles Times. The long sought-after tax credit will benefit both big and small studios as well as production staff, as it requires studios receiving the credit to abide by new set safety rules. They must also meet certain diversity targets to receive a portion of their tax credits.
In health care, hospitals, labor groups and insurance providers have thrown their support behind a measure that would boost reimbursements for certain Medi-Cal providers — particularly providers in primary care, maternity care and non-specialty mental health care — by using funds from a bigger tax on health insurance plans. According to Politico, the proposal would net about $35 billion for the state by 2026 (this includes additional federal funding), and much of it will go toward the state’s public health care system. The money would be the largest investment in Medi-Cal ever.
It appears that the hold-up to the overall deal remains Newsom’s demand that it include his proposal to overhaul the permitting process for major infrastructure projects — including the highly controversial Delta tunnel project — by changing the California Environmental Quality Act. The governor wants to streamline the permitting process among federal, state and local governments; limit the time courts have to hear challenges on environmental reviews; and increase funding to state agencies.
But several lawmakers, specifically those with constituents who live around the Delta, have urged delaying the plan while they work out disagreements over the proposed $16 billion tunnel project that would send water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta south to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland. They argue that Newsom’s bill package would result in unchecked development of the tunnel — and disrupt residents’ way of life and threaten the environment.
—Lynn La, CALmatters
SACRAMENTO
The end of Roe, one year later
Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision — a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that essentially overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the power to regulate any aspect of abortion not protected by federal law to individual states.
So what has happened to reproductive rights in California since then?
As CalMatters’ health reporter Kristen Hwang wrote, Newsom and Democratic lawmakers passed a litany of bills in 2022 to fortify the state’s commitment to protecting abortion rights. The bills strengthened privacy protections, protected providers and patients from being sued or prosecuted, funded procedures and travel costs for low-income individuals seeking abortions and shored up the state’s network of abortion clinics.
Newsom also signed an executive order that banned state law enforcement from cooperating with out-of-state agencies investigating individuals who traveled to California to get an abortion.
In November, California residents voted to pass Proposition 1 — an amendment, placed on the ballot by Democrats in the Legislature, that enshrined the right to abortion and contraception in the state constitution.
But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. After proclaiming that California will not be “doing business with Walgreens” in March because of its decision to not distribute abortion pills in states where it is illegal to do so, Newsom’s quarrel with the retail giant ultimately fizzled out a month later.
Two bills regarding crisis pregnancy centers also did not make it out of the suspense file this session: Assembly Bill 315 would have stopped the centers from advertising misleading information, and AB 710 would have required the state Public Health Department to conduct a public awareness campaign about them. (For more on this issue, watch a new TikTok video from our engagement team.)
It’s also debatable whether putting Prop. 1 on the ballot actually drove voters to the polls as much as Democrats hoped. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, turnout for the 2022 election decreased more among women than among men compared to the 2020 presidential election. It also declined more among registered Democrats than Republicans.
Regardless of how Californians view abortion rights, Democratic officials, including Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins from San Diego, current Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon from Lakewood and incoming Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas from Salinas and Attorney General Rob Bonta all acknowledged Saturday’s anniversary.
Newsom released a statement and video reiterating the state’s commitment to abortion protection since the Dobbs decision.
- Newsom: “It goes without saying, courts should not be deciding what women do with their bodies, with their futures, or with their families. The Supreme Court did its best to undo a half century of progress. But California, we will never back down.”
—La, CALMatters
