Leads:
- An exclusive Inside California Politics / Emerson College poll found more than 1,000 registered voters support keeping Governor Newsom in office despite the recall campaign against him, more than half think it’s time for some new leadership in 2022.
- Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against a UC Davis researcher who they accused of being a Chinese spy. Days before the trial was set to begin in for a Chinese researcher, Dr. Juan Tang, who is accused of lying to gain entry to the US, federal prosecutors have asked a judge to dismiss the case. Tang's trial was set to begin Monday on a charge of lying on her visa application about whether she had been a member of the Chinese military.
- Two parent advocacy organizations are suing Governor Gavin Newsom and the state’s top health officials over the statewide mandate that children wear masks to school regardless of their vaccination status. The parents’ lawsuit calls the state mask mandate arbitrary, not based on scientific evidence and harmful to students. The Department of Public Health earlier this month issued guidance requiring that K-through-12 California schools mandate mask wearing for students...which is not in line with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- The Employment Development Department will stop freezing benefits for people whose existing claims have eligibility questions. Instead, the EDD is implementing a “pay now” policy to issue conditional payments while it investigates problems, rather than subjecting claimants to lengthy waits to get money flowing again. Claimants whose payments are currently frozen will get paid for all the weeks they have missed....however the rollout could take several weeks due to the EDD’s antiquated technology, and the volume of people affected.
Extra Links:
- Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Larry Elder about his running for governor in the California recall election and how Republican governors can enact rapid change in blue states.