Prop 28 will be ‘seismic’ + CADEM speakers announced + Animal Advocacy Day

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

PROP 28, A QUIET BALLOT MEASURE WITH A ‘SEISMIC’ CONSEQUENCE

In all the fanfare around ballot measures last November, there was one such initiative that got relatively little.

Proposition 28, which called for guaranteed school spending on art and music education, didn’t get the attention that other initiatives — covering legalized sports betting, abortion, a ban on flavored tobacco products and other topics — received.

And yet, Prop. 28 passed with more than 64% of the vote, “which I think in electoral terms is really a landslide,” according to initiative author Austin Beutner.

Beutner, a former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, spoke with The Bee on Monday, while promoting the ballot measure in Los Angeles.

This year, Prop. 28 will ensure that California schools get an extra $930 million that must be spent on arts and music education — 80% on teachers and teacher’s assistants and 20% on training and supplies.

“It’s a lot of funds,” Beutner said, adding that this money cannot supplant existing funds, it must be in addition to existing money.

Beutner said that the ballot measure will be responsible for the creation of 15,000 well-paying teaching jobs in the state, and 6 million children will have the opportunity to have arts education in school who otherwise wouldn’t.

Beutner described how, as a child, he moved around a lot and how in fifth grade he ended up in a music class, where he started playing the cello.

“Cello became bass, bass became guitar,” and before he knew it, Beutner said he was performing in front of thousands.

“It all started with a safe place for me, a group of friends,” he added.

Prop. 28 had no registered opposition, and Beutner said that the signature gathering process to put it on the November 2022 ballot passed quickly. People were eager to sign, he said.

“What took a while was everybody who signed had a story like mine,” he said.

Beutner said that while Prop. 28 was “probably the feel-good story of the 2022 ballot,” for the education community “it was seismic.”

One thing that the ballot measure spells out is that individual school districts will be empowered to decide for themselves how to spend the funds, and they may even petition to modify the 80%-20% split if they have a need to spend more funds on supplies — such as musical instruments — than on teachers.

“This is the largest investment in arts and music in our nation’s history. It is a big deal,” he said.

CADEM SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, is set to headline this week’s California Democratic Party Convention in Los Angeles.

The CDP announced the list of speakers, subject to change, on Monday.

Other prominent Democratic speakers include Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins, outgoing Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

The convention will also feature at least one out-of-state speaker, Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost, the first Generation Z member of Congress and a former organizer for the gun control group March For Our Lives.

The convention begins Thursday and runs through the weekend.

TUESDAY IS ANIMAL ADVOCACY DAY IN THE LEGISLATURE

Many pet owners can attest to how difficult it can be to get their pet to the vet. In remote and rural parts of the state, that difficulty can be insurmountable for some.

Two California lawmakers — Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, and Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach — have introduced a bill, AB 1399, to fix that, by allowing veterinarians to hold appointments via telemedicine.

“We are facing a crisis in California when it comes to caring for our most vulnerable cats, dogs and other pets,” Friedman said in a statement. “Veterinarian shortages are leading to overcrowded and unsafe conditions at our state’s shelters, imperiling the health of our animals.”

The lawmaker added that telemedicine is a safe and proven way to deliver medical care to pets.

AB 1399 is just one of a handful of bills that are the subject of Tuesday’s “Animal Advocacy Day” at the Capitol. Animal welfare advocates and lobbyists gather to raise awareness of certain bills aimed at helping pet owners.

Other bills being touted on Tuesday include AB 781 and AB 1215.

AB 781, by Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, D-San Diego, would make it so that when cities designate an emergency evacuation, heating or cooling shelter, they must also designate a shelter that takes pets.

“No Californian should have to choose between safely evacuating during an emergency and staying with their animals,” Maienschein said in a statement.

As for AB 1215, by Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, that bill would create a Pet Assistance and Support Program that would award grants to shelters for unhoused people or victims of domestic violence to provide shelter to pets as well as people.

“People with pets who are experiencing homelessness or trauma related to domestic violence often have a difficult time finding housing due to shelters or programs not allowing animals,” Carrillo said in a statement. “...The human connection to a pet is undeniable and can provide hope and emotional support amid someone’s most stressful moments.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“House of Origin deadline is Friday, June 2. Currently pending in the CA Legislature:

SENATE FLOOR

Total measures: 402 (total Senate measures are 395)

ASSEMBLY FLOOR

Total measures: 660 (total Assembly measures are 655)

Total measures between the two houses: 1,062”

– Chris Micheli, Sacramento attorney and lobbyist, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• California, Nevada and Arizona agreed on a deal to conserve about 3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water over the next three years, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Monday. The agreement comes amid concern that the nation’s largest reservoirs face dangerously declining levels, via Gillian Brassil.

• California stands to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs if the federal government can’t pay its bills, via David Lightman.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Peter Williams and Michelle Igra, both of Sacramento County, to serve as Sacramento Superior Court judges, via Alex Muegge.

• Does he want to be called California Gov. Rob Bonta? California’s attorney general last week told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Emily Hoeven that he is “seriously considering” a run for the seat that Gov. Gavin Newsom will vacate in 2026, via Andrew Sheeler.

• California corrections officials have opened a homicide investigation after an inmate at a Northern California prison was apparently beaten to death by two other inmates on Saturday evening. This marks at least the fifth homicide investigation that the state’s prison system have opened this year related to inmate deaths, via Maya Miller.