Lead Stories:
- State officials are backtracking after saying all students will be required to wear masks or risk being banned from school. Earlier Monday, the California Department of Public Health published new school mandates that said students who didn’t wear the face coverings would have to be turned away and instead offered “alternative educational opportunities.” However a gubernatorial spokesperson said late Monday the state agency will clarify guidance to give school districts more freedom in masking instead.
- State lawmakers are debating bail reform today, which would make most crimes automatically eligible for release under zero bail. Senate Bill 262 would set bail at zero for misdemeanors and low-level felonies in California.
- Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB 129, legislation that reflects the majority of the 2021-22 state budget agreement. This a $100 billion is the biggest economic recovery package in California’s history. Touted as the "California Comeback Plan," part of the budget provides immediate cash relief to middle class families and businesses hit hardest by the pandemic, creating the biggest state tax rebate in American history and the largest small business relief package in the nation.
- Governor Gavin Newsom is not allowed to have his party affiliation on the recall ballot. A judge yesterday denied the governor's request to put (D) next to his name on the upcoming recall ballot. Newsom was required to include his party preference in his reply to the recall petition last February but didn't. One of his lawyers who dealt with the paperwork admitted he messed up. The special election date is set for September 14th.
Extra Links:
- White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked by Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy if President Biden agrees with Dr. Fauci who has said that it may be time for local leaders to require Americans to get vaccinated.
- Former US Ambassador to the UN in the Trump Administration, Nikki Haley, says she believes that democrats now realize that supporting the defund police movement in America was a big mistake. Haley told Fox News radio that democrats are now scrambling to reverse that position.