• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) got heckled at a town hall meeting she hosted on April 17 at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in San Francisco. The town hall was organized by liberal grassroots group Indivisible, and came during the two-week recess taken by members of Congress, which gives them a chance to meet with their constituents face to face. Things started off cordially with Feinstein receiving a round of applause from the audience, but a more hostile tone escalated during the roughly 70-minute meeting. At one point, police were called in to calm things down. Feinstein took questions from the audience, with the first one from a woman who wanted to know what Feinstein would do about ensuring peace in the Middle East. Feinstein answered by talking about North Korea’s nuclear missiles, then switched to President Donald Trump’s recent launching of Tomahawk missiles at Syria over a suspected gas attack. That’s when the boos and jeers began. “That’s not true!” one audience member shouted. “OK, if you believe you know more than I do about it,” Feinstein said, “then you go right ahead. That’s fine with me.” Things calmed down before another eruption. One man stood up and told everyone to “wake up” before being shouted down by the rest of the audience. Another man asked if Feinstein supported Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) plan to introduce a single-payer health care bill, which was followed by a hearty round of applause from the audience. “If single-payer health care is going to mean complete takeover by the government of all health care, I’m not there,” Feinstein said, which received another round of boos. One man with Indivisible demanded that Feinstein take a stronger public position against what one audience member called the “fascists in the White House.” Feinstein replied: “Does anybody believe that I’m the least bit for fascism or anti-Semitism? Nothing bothers me more than the assumption that I don’t do my share in this direction.” The entire town hall meeting is viewable on YouTube.
• Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) recently returned from a week-long fact-finding mission to Baghdad and Syrian refugee camps in Jordan and had some strong words for President Trump’s attempt to ban Syrian refugees coming into the U.S. “The president’s policy as it relates to the Syrian refugee population is completely misguided and misinformed,” Harris said during an interview with CBS on April 17. “We should not have a ban on people who are legitimately fleeing harm and danger because of their religion.” Harris, however, defended Trump’s Tomahawk missile strike. “There’s no question that we should have acted,” she said, “but we have to do an assessment.” In a response regarding North Korea, Harris said: “It is a complicated matter on what should be our response. We have to have a clear plan that cannot be a function of just what we feel like tweeting at 3 o’clock in the morning.”
• On April 17, California Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) paid tribute to Santa Barbara businessman and philanthropist Michael Towbes, who passed away three days earlier. He was 87 years old. “Michael Towbes, one of Santa Barbara’s most successful business executives and a civic leader in our community, leaves behind a legacy for the community through his philanthropy,” Limón said. “Through his own foundation, Mr. Towbes provided additional crucial support to arts, education, and medical research.”
• On April 19, California Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham’s (R-Templeton) AB 996 to improve transparency with the state Contractor License Board passed committee on a bipartisan vote. The bill would require the board post key workers’ compensation information on its website and help to avoid bureaucratic delays.
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 4, 2017.