Will school deal stall recall? + Help for first-time home-buyers + Prop. 13 tweak from GOP

Andrew Sheeler, Sophia Bollag
·6 min read

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RECALL WATCH

Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced a school reopening deal Monday, taking some wind out of the sails of recall supporters pointing to closed schools as evidence Newsom should be removed from office.

The plan, which lawmakers plan to pass Thursday, aims to use $2 billion in incentive grants to push schools to reopen this spring. To get their full share of the money, all schools must open by April 1 for kindergarten through second grades and for high needs students of all ages. Schools in counties in the state’s red tier must reopen elementary grades and at least one middle or high school grade.

“So many of our kids and caregivers are celebrating this day because we all are united around coming back safely into the schools and helping with the social-emotional supports our kids so desperately need,” Newsom said during a press conference at an Franklin Elementary in Elk Grove.

The package earned guarded praise from some of the groups that had been asking to slow down reopening in the interest of public health. The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers each issued statements commending it.

“The plan announced today by Gov. Newsom and legislative leaders gets us one step closer to rejoining our students for in-person teaching and learning,” said CTA President E. Toby Boyd. “As community infection rates decline, more counties move into less restrictive tiers, and educators are increasingly vaccinated statewide, this plan will help ensure transparency and accountability.”

But the deal doesn’t go far enough, say some recall supporters, including former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who is running to replace Newsom.

“Kids in all grade levels, in all school districts, deserve to be back in school now. The partial reopening plan announced by Gavin Newsom today isn’t even close to good enough for our kids and teachers,” Faulconer wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “For him to tout this as an accomplishment after months of inexcusable failures shows how out of touch he is, and why he should be recalled.”

John Cox, the other prominent Republican running against Newsom, also criticized the plan.

“Congratulating Newsom for this deal is like thanking the guy who broke your leg for driving you to the hospital,” he wrote in a statement. “This flawed proposal needs to go much further than just second grade and at minimum follow the science by reopening through high school.”

A BILL FOR FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS

A new bill introduced by Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Yucaipa, would grant a tax incentive to home owners who sell to a first-time home buyer.

“Housing that is affordable in our great state is sadly out of reach for many Californians. It is time to remove barriers to homeownership and help hardworking families looking to buy their first home,” Ochoa Bogh said in a statement. “That is why I have proudly introduced Senate Bill 601 to incentivize sellers to sell their homes to first-time homebuyers.”

Ochoa-Bogh’s office points out that the median single-family home price in California tops $600,000, which more than twice the national average.

SB 601 would grant homeowners selling their homes to a first-time home buyer the ability to exclude capital gains of $300,000 for single filers, or $600,000 for joint filers, according to Ochoa Bogh’s office.

“Affordability continues to hamper Californian’s ability to buy a home,” Ochoa Bogh said. “While only a first step, SB 601 would provide first-time homebuyers help achieving the American Dream of homeownership.”

REPUBLICAN PROPOSES TWEAK TO PROP 13

A Senate Republican has introduced a bill that would tweak Proposition 13 in a way that she argues would net the state millions in new revenue without having to raise taxes.

Sen. Patricia Bates is the author of SB 706, the latest incarnation of a bill that would alter the definition of “change of control” of a corporate entity “to include situations where 90% of the ownership interests changes hands in a single transaction within any three-year period,” according to a statement from Bates’ office.

The bill also would increase the penalty for failure to file a change in ownership statement, from 10% to 15% of the taxes applicable to the new base year value, according Bates’ office.

“Proposition 13 ensures that property taxes do not skyrocket for any California homeowner or business,” Bates said in a statement. “But it is not right that some people have exploited an outdated interpretation of Prop. 13 to avoid paying the property taxes that they legitimately owe. While some people tried to use extreme examples last November as a pretext to wipe out Prop. 13’s tax protections for commercial property, the Legislature can instead use a scalpel to prevent further abuses.”

The senator’s office notes that this is the fourth go-round for the bill — with similar bills dying in committee in 2015, 2018 and 2020.

Bates’ bill has the support of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Business Roundtable and the California Business Properties Association.

“SB 706 guarantees the original intent of Prop. 13 by eliminating a misinterpretation made by the Legislature when the measure first passed more than 40 years ago. Prop. 13 continues to be the most important protection homeowners and businesses have against higher property taxes. It provides certainty that homeowners can afford to stay in their homes and businesses can continue to operate, especially now when there is so much pandemic-related uncertainty,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, in a statement.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This campaign to deny potentially lifesaving vaccines to those seeking them, and to poison public opinion against vaccinations, could result in countless American deaths. That is akin to domestic terrorism.”

- Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, in a column for The Washington Post.

Best of the Bee:

  • Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he will continue to work through the collective bargaining process to restore state workers’ pay after the Finance Department reported tax revenue is running $10 billion above projections, via Wes Venteicher and Sophia Bollag.

  • California schools will be pressured to reopen this spring under a deal Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced Monday morning, via Sophia Bollag and Hannah Wiley.

  • The effort to recall Newsom started as a grassroots campaign led by a former Yolo County sheriff’s sergeant. Over the last year, it has grabbed the attention and support of the national Republican Party, national conservative leaders, and, according to state records, more than 240 people from outside California, via Lara Korte and Sophia Bollag.