Political Watch 5/28/15

• As the one-year anniversary of the Isla Vista tragedy passed on May 22, a bill by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson that would expand the list of misdemeanors carrying a 10-year ban on firearm possession and purchases was making its way through the Legislature. Senate Bill 347 would add things like petty theft involving a firearm, dealing firearms without a license, selling ammunition to someone under 21 years of age, and bringing/carrying ammo onto school grounds to the list of misdemeanors. “The horrific tragedy that happened nearly a year ago in Isla Vista has stregthened the resolve of so many of us that we must do more to prevent gun violence. We know that those convicted of nonviolent firearm-related offense are more likely than the average person to commit serious crime in the future. They are five times more likely to be charged with crimes like murder, seven times more likely to be charged with other nonviolent firearm offense, and four times more likely to be charged with new violent offenses,” Jackson said in a press release. “This bill helps keeps guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them and keeps our communities safer.” SB 347 is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

• State officials agreed to a compromise with Delta farmers on May 22 that will reduce water supplies to those farms by 25 percent. The settlement heads off a potentially lengthy legal battle over the state’s ability to stop diversions from rivers and streams, according to The Sacramento Bee. State officials have been pondering curtailment orders to the state’s most senior water rights holders to cope with the drought. The Bee reported that growers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have among the most senior rights of all. The New York Times reported that state officials hope the voluntary agreement will prompt similar ones elsewhere. The deal applies only to Delta farmers who own property next to a river or stream and have rights to divert that water. If farmers with such rights don’t participate, they could face deeper cuts later this year. “There’s going to be a great deal of pressure to do the right thing,” Michael George, the Delta water master, told The Times. He’s responsible for administering water rights in the region and helped put the deal together.

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