Political Watch 5/21/15

• The California Senate passed a contentious bill on May 14 that would get rid of the state’s religious and personal belief exemptions for vaccines. Essentially, the bill would require any child who doesn’t have a required vaccine to have a medical reason or they would have to be homeschooled, but it still has to pass the state Assembly before heading to the governor’s desk. The Sacramento Bee reported that the vote followed partisan lines with the majority of support coming from Democrats. “Vaccines are necessary to protect us, but that protection has been eroding,” Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), the bill’s author, said in his final remarks before the vote, according to The Bee. “We need to do more to protect our communities. That’s what SB 277 is about.” The Bee also reported that several Republican senators made last-minute efforts to stall the bill, introducing amendments that would require labeling of vaccine ingredients and reinsert religious exemptions, but they were all tabled by Democrats. The Bee said Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) argued that the bill violates religious freedoms,“Do you have a right to steal my soul without my knowledge?”

• Gov. Jerry Brown included a new tax credit for the state’s poorest families in the revised budget proposal announced May 14. The proposal, known as the earned income tax credit (similar to the federal earned income tax credit), would help residents on a sliding scale, based on their wages and how many children they have, according to the LA Times. The Brown administration estimates that it would reduce the state’s revenue by $380 million and keep money in the pockets of about 825,000 families—the average qualifying household would gain $460 a year, and the maximum credit would be $2,653 (for families with three or more children). No one earning more than $13,870 a year would qualify, The Times reported. “In a time when the economy is doing well, we have a lot of people who aren’t doing well,” an administration official told The Times under the condition of remaining anonymous. “We’ve heard a lot from the Legislature … and we know this is important.” The budget proposal also includes a deal with UC President Janet Napolitano to freeze UC tuition hikes for two years. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the governor agreed to tuition hikes down the road and Napolitano agreed to get the UC system to contain costs and improve efficiency.

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