San Mateo Daily Journal: Three bills that aim to ease the construction of new housing in California and to keep better data are moving through the Assembly after passing the state Senate but opponents say they will ease gentrification and create an unfair burden on cities.
In the News
Patch.com: JobTrain, a Peninsula-based nonprofit that provides career training and employment opportunities to low-income adults, is set to receive $5 million in state funding toward constructing a new 100,000-square foot economic mobility center in East Palo Alto. The funding, part of budget trailer legislation that passed both houses of the state legislature on Monday, is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature.
Mercury News and East Bay Times Editorial Boards
As California lawmakers rush to approve budget details for the fiscal year that begins Thursday, the Senate has rubberstamped Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sweetheart deal for the politically powerful prison guard union despite a lack of salary data to support it...
Canary Media: New York, New Jersey and Colorado have brought forward legislation to tackle this challenge. But California’s two bills would go beyond what other states have passed so far in requiring carbon reductions. "We have solutions, but they have not been deployed at scale,” said Sen. Josh Becker (D), a first-term California state senator with a background in venture capital, who authored the two bills.
Half Moon Bay Review: When California extended the state’s eviction moratorium through September, lawmakers were acknowledging both process problems getting federal money where it’s needed as well as the scope of an economic problem that is both personal and societal. Last week, state Sen. Josh Becker, whose district includes the Coastside, acknowledged that getting rental assistance entailed filling out a 32-page report. It took hours and was frankly too much to ask of low-income renters who, for the most part, don’t have the benefit of accountants and lawyers to keep their records in order. The state has lately taken steps to address the process and it’s now a 30-minute task with instructions in several languages. Nevertheless, the state has still doled out only a fraction of what is available.
San Mateo Daily Journal: Senate Bill 596, authored by state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, which aims to achieve net-zero emissions for cement by 2045, received an unanimous, bipartisan vote from the Assembly Natural Resources Committee Wednesday.
NRDC: The California Senate approved by a vote of 31 to 9 groundbreaking legislation to eliminate carbon pollution from California’s cement plants. Senate Bill 596 by Senator Josh Becker directs the Air Resources Board to develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve carbon neutrality in the cement industry no later than 2045 and to establish interim targets for reducing cement’s greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity.
San Mateo Daily Journal: Senate Bill 596, authored by state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, which aims to achieve net-zero emissions for cement by 2045, received an unanimous, bipartisan vote from the Assembly Natural Resources Committee Wednesday.