Faulconer’s California tax cut proposal + Ads rolling in AG race + Appeal to open the Capitol

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

FAULCONER UNVEILS TAX CUT PROPOSAL

Former San Diego mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Faulconer on Wednesday unveiled his proposal for what he’s labeled, “The California Comeback Tax Cut Plan.” It’s meant to be a contrast to the $600 checks Gov. Gavin Newsom this week announced he wants to send to most California households.

“The hard-working men and women who are being priced out of our state need more than a one-time rebate, they need permanent financial relief that lasts. California’s serious problems require serious leadership, and our campaign is focused on real solutions to make our state affordable again,” Faulconer said in a statement. “Under my plan 99% of taxpaying households will qualify for relief, many middle-class families will see their state income taxes reduced to zero, and we will make it rational to retire here. This is not a tax cut for the Wall Street crowd, it’s a tax cut for the people who make our state work and deserve change in this election.”

Faulconer’s plan would reduce the state income tax to zero for the first $50,000 earned by an individual, or $100,000 earned by a family, for everyone earning less than $1 million a year. The proposal also calls for the elimination of the tax on military retirement income.

Claudia Frometa, mayor of Downey, called the plan “welcome news for Californians who are struggling in the wake of this pandemic.”

“Millions of middle class families will receive needed relief to help them put food on the table, pay their mortgages, and afford a proper education. This proposal represents fundamental change that will make our state more affordable for all of our communities,” she said.

The proposal faces long odds, however, requiring both that Faulconer win the governor’s seat and the approval of the Democratic supermajority-controlled Legislature.

SCHUBERT UNVEILS AD BLASTING BONTA

Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, who is running for attorney general, released an ad calling out Attorney General Rob Bonta for his votes in favor of a law that allows judges to offer diversion in misdemeanor cases even over the objection of the prosecutor.

Schubert’s campaign characterized the law, AB 3234, as allowing criminals who bring guns to schools or the Capitol to receive diversion, thus allowing them to continue owning guns.

“Bonta’s reckless votes to weaken California’s gun laws are contributing to the chaos engulfing Los Angeles and San Francisco. As the appointed Attorney General, Bonta should lead on gun violence rather than continuing to defend his dangerous votes. This leadership would begin with Bonta supporting the repeal of AB 3234,” Schubert said in a statement.

You can watch the ad for yourself here.

REOPEN THE CAPITOL, LAWMAKERS SAY

Via Hannah Wiley...

A bipartisan group of California lawmakers is urging the Legislature’s leadership to open the Capitol for greater public access by May 19 in according with COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.

The coalition of five Democrats, four Republicans and one independent wrote in a letter to Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, and Gov. Gavin Newsom that California’s low coronavirus positivity and hospitalization rates and strong vaccination campaign have made it possible to safely reopen the building to more people.

They pointed to businesses beginning to operate more traditionally as evidence of the “terrific progress” California has made in recent months toward defeating the virus and being able to return to a “semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy.”

“A notable — and increasingly troubling — exception is our State Capitol,” the legislators wrote. “Access to the Capitol Building remains limited well beneath other public spaces.”

Sacramento County is currently in the red tier on the state’s color-coded blueprint that details which businesses are allowed to open and at what capacity. Certain businesses remain closed, like bars that don’t serve food and convention centers. Others, like restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters and churches can operate at a reduced capacity.

The letter outlines three specific requests: remove barricades that surround the Capitol and Capitol Park; reopen the building and hearing rooms at appropriate levels; and publish access to reopening guidelines ahead of the June 15 date Newsom set as his goal to “fully reopen” California’s economy.

“This is the people’s house and we are elected representatives here to do the people’s work,” they argued. “Ensuring access to our proceedings is a vital part of our democracy — in ways that are both practical and symbolic. With that in mind, we urge you to act now to restore access to the people’s house for the people of California.”

Read the full story here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Why are there not more row houses in CA? When I lived in Maryland they were everywhere. Also, seriously, what do people have against duplexes? I just don’t get the opposition.”

- Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested in a TV interview Tuesday that California will do away with its mask mandate in favor of “recommendations” around June 15, the state’s target date for ending COVID-19 restrictions on businesses, via Michael McGough.

• Rep. Tom McClintock was glad to see Liz Cheney ousted from the Republican leadership Wednesday, saying she just can’t put her personal biases aside for the good of the party, via David Lightman.

• Hoping to provide alternatives to expensive for-profit career-training programs, California has invested more than $100 million into an online-only community college known as Calbright. But at the end of its first year of operation, only 12 students had graduated. Nearly 400 dropped out, according to a report released by the California State Auditor on Tuesday, via Jeong Park.