• On June 5, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his support for new policing and criminal justice reforms that will “work toward a statewide standard for policing peaceful protests and ending the carotid hold,” a press release states. “We have a unique and special responsibility here in California to meet this historic moment head-on,” Newsom said according to the release. The governor said he will be working with the California Legislative Black Caucus, the California Latino Legislative Caucus, and other leaders to achieve these goals. He also called for the carotid hold to be removed from the state police training program and state training materials, and he committed to working toward a statewide ban.
• Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) wrote in a June 5 Facebook post that, shortly after he and his colleagues spoke on the Assembly floor on March 26, “We finally heard that the governor will be immediately appropriating $5 million for our underfunded [domestic violence] shelters.” In the post, Cunningham wrote that this funding allocation comes almost two months after “a bipartisan coalition of legislators sent the governor a letter requesting $10 million in emergency funding for our overwhelmed domestic violence shelters, which have seen a massive increase in calls from victims and their families as a result of the statewide safer-at-home order.” He continued, writing that “we still must fight for more. … Victims have been put in danger in a direct and foreseeable fashion by government stay-at-home orders. That is an emergency #COVID19 situation, and our shelters need additional funds to handle it.”
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on June 8 that auto manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) North America received certification from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to produce N95 masks for the state. “Providing California’s front-line health care workers and responders the protective equipment they need is a critical part of our response to COVID-19,” Newsom said in a press release. “This new supply of N95 masks, as well as the surgical masks this contract has already provided, are game-changing and play a crucial role in our state’s public safety and reopening strategy.” According to the contract with BYD, the company will produce and ship 150 million N95 masks to California “for distribution to health care workers and those identified by health officials as requiring respirator-style masks. … The contract will ensure that the state has a sufficient supply of masks going forward should there be need for them in the future,” the press release states.
• On June 9, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) became an original co-sponsor of the Justice in Policing Act, introduced by Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles). “The bicameral measure marks the first-ever comprehensive approach to hold problem police officers accountable and rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” a press release from Carbajal’s office states. “Since George Floyd was killed, millions of Americans of every race, age, and background have joined together to protest the injustices black men and women too often face when dealing with law enforcement,” Carbajal said according to the release. “The first step in enhancing the police-community relationship is to ensure that law enforcement leaders across the country have the incentive and ability to remove problem police officers from their ranks. … [The Justice in Policing Act] makes long overdue reforms to ensure our law enforcement can better serve all members of their community.”
This article appears in Jun 18-25, 2020.