Newsom signs Wahab's first bill
Wahab's controversial caste bill headed to another vote, South Bay Dem assemblymember may be consorting with opponents of SB 403; Swalwell dares Republicans to expunge Trump impeachments
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
10TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT
—BILL #1—State Sen. Aisha Wahab had her first bill signed into law last Friday. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 462 into law among a large batch of bills.
—SB 462 allow counties offering general assistance programs to indigent residents to share information on recipients for the expressed purpose of administering social services, essentially aligning state benefits systems with those used by counties.
—Wahab’s bill faced no opposition as it traveled through the Legislature.
—CASTE BILL—State Sen. Aisha Wahab’s controversial SB 403 may come up for a vote in the Assembly Appropriations Committee sometime in early August. The bill would make discrimination based on the caste system illegal in the state.
—Detractors in the Hindu community, however, believe the bill, instead, discriminations against them. SB 403 is essentially the sole reason for a nascent effort underway to recall Wahab.
—LOW BLOW—Keep an eye on Democratic South Bay Assemblymember Evan Low when it comes to fellow Democratic state Sen. Aisha Wahab’s caste discrimination bill, SB 403.
—Fremont Indian American leader Romesh Japra wrote on social media last week that Low attended a meeting of Hindu opponents of SB 403 at somewhere called “Japra Mahal.”
—It’s possible that Low is double-timing his South Bay Democratic colleague. There could be upside for Low. His district, like much of the South Bay, has a large Hindu population.
COUNTY NEWS
UNINCORPORATED ALAMEDA COUNTY
—RENTERS NEEDS ASSESSMENT—A renters needs report for unincorporated Alameda County published by My Eden Voice and the East Bay Housing Organizations will be released on Wednesday.
—The authors of In the Shadows of Eden: Rising Rents, Evictions, and Severe Habitability Issues in Alameda County will present their findings this afternoon. The report is likely to be dismal for the unincorporated area’s roughly 30,000 renters.
—A preview of the report details “severe habitability issues above and beyond those found elsewhere in the County, and a dearth of tenant protections that leaves families at risk of losing their homes.”
—The county is currently in the early stages of reevaluating a trio of renters’ protections that were turned away last January by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
—MILEY SUMMIT—Earlier this month, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley’s said he will attempt to find what has proven to be elusive middle ground between landlords and renters in the unincorporated areas. Miley’s summit will occur next Monday, according to insiders.
—Miley has been frustrated by a lack of compromise for more than a year from both landlords and tenants as the county attempts to pass renters’ protections for unincorporated Alameda County.
—At a recent board committee meeting, Miley said if landlords and tenants can’t find common ground, he will unilaterally attempt to push through his own rental housing ordinances.
CITY NEWS
SAN LE-AN-DRO
—QUA-LI-TY—Last week, San Le-an-dro May-or Juan Gon-za-lez III pon-ti-fi-ca-ted on the state of ren-tal hou-sing in his ci-ty. With-in a 90-se-cond time-frame, Gon-za-lez re-pea-ted-ly and hilar-ious-ly o-ver-e-nun-ci-a-ted the words qua-li-ty and quan-ti-ty. Below is the 30-se-cond ver-sion.
D.C. NEWS
14TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
—DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU—East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell dared House Republicans to make an attempt to expunge President Trump’s two impeachments.
—“I dare you to expunge Donald Trump,” Swalwell told MSNBC on Monday. “And, by the way, the guy is probably going to get indicted for what he did on Jan. 6.”
—Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed support last week for a resolution, possibly only symbolic, to expunge Trump’s impeachments.
—CA10/14 TOWN HALL—Reps. Eric Swalwell and Mark DeSaulnier are holding a joint town hall next Monday in Dublin at the Shannon Community Center, 11600 Shannon Avenue, 6:30 p.m.
ELECTION 2024
—ENDORSEMENTS—The California Working Families Party is backing Barbara Lee’s U.S. Senate campaign.
—Tim Sanchez, the Oakland businessman, seeking to replace Lee in the 12th Congressional District, received the endorsement of Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Assembly speaker and Los Angeles mayor.
