Senate R’s want to ‘Save Our Hospitals’ + Kiley opposes Su + Making K-12 more inclusive

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SENATE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE BILL TO ‘SAVE OUR HOSPITALS’

Two Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that would bar California Attorney General Rob Bonta from putting “unreasonable, unwarranted or unworkable” conditions on mergers between non-profit hospitals and for-profit business entities.

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, and Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, are calling SB 774 the “Save Our Hospitals Bill.” The entire Senate Republican Caucus has signed on to the bill as co-authors.

The bill follows Bonta’s decision in December to conditionally approve the sale of the troubled Madera Community Hospital to the not-for-profit Trinity Health Corporation. The deal included requirements that the corporation accept price caps and comply with nondiscrimination rules.

Trinity Health later pulled out of the deal, prompting Bonta to voice his disapproval, saying in a statement that “these baseline conditions would merely require Trinity to use its best efforts to act in good faith and keep the hospital open for patients who relied on it for critical and lifesaving services.”

Madera Community Hospital has since closed, though it is looking at ways to reopen.

“Attorney General Bonta single-handedly took away access to an emergency room and specialty medical care from 150,000 Californians, and put 700 hospital employees out of work. Our measure will help prevent this from ever happening again,” Jones said in a statement.

SB 774 would block Bonta, and future AGs, from requiring conditions that limit or restrict the normal operations of hospitals, that have an adverse effect on the hospital’s financial condition or that impose “political conditions” not required by similar mergers in the past.

“This legislation is about prioritizing access to healthcare for my constituents in the Central Valley and ensuring the most vulnerable people have access to life-saving treatment,” Grove said.

KILEY OPPOSES BIDEN APPOINTING SU TO CABINET

President Joe Biden is reportedly considering Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su, who once headed the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to replace outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.

One person who’s not a fan? Rocklin Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley, who along with other California Republican members of Congress wrote to the president to express their strong opposition to the potential nomination.

Kiley’s letter points out that Su oversaw the troubled Employment Development Department as it handed out billions of dollars in fraudulent jobless benefits.

“And while the state stood by twiddling its thumbs and $32 billion in fraudulent payments were being sent to individuals who did not qualify for the assistance, those who were eligible and truly needed the help did not receive payments in time for months on end,” the letter reads.

And then there was Su’s support for AB 5, which overhauled the state’s independent contractor laws, making many into full employees.

“Either of these two situations should be an automatic disqualifier for anyone nominated to head the U.S. Department of Labor. But together, these two situations scream ‘incompetence,’” the letter concludes.

CA BILL REQUIRES K-12 SCHOOLS TO MAINTAIN ALL-GENDER BATHROOMS FOR STUDENTS

California law requires that K-12 schools must grant students access to the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. But that doesn’t cover nonbinary and other gender-nonconforming students, says Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton.

Newman, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, has introduced a bill, SB 760, to require schools to provide students with access to an all-gender bathroom on-campus during school hours.

“Let’s face it— at some point during a typical eight-hour school day, everyone is going to have to go. By requiring all California K-12 schools to provide gender-inclusive restroom facilities on campus, we’ll ensure the wellbeing of our LGBTQ+ and nonbinary students and ensure safer school communities for everyone,” Newman said in a statement.

Newman’s office cited survey data showing that 45% of LGBTQ and nonbinary students actively avoid using gender-segregated restrooms because it makes them feel unsafe and uncomfortable.

SB 760 is co-sponsored by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and Equality California, an LGBTQ advocacy organization.

Tony Hoang, who heads Equality California, noted in a statement that while other states are passing discriminatory laws against LGBTQ youths, including transgender and nonbinary students, California “is doubling down” on protections for them.

“Schools should be a welcoming, safe place for all students — this includes access to bathrooms,” Thurmond said in a statement.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We have spoken with the Assembly ethics attorneys, who agree there is no violation of ethical rules in my holding this position. My district is amongst the highest impacted by gun violence and the carceral system, and the speaker appointed me knowing that I would be a voice for the victims and communities affected by issues of public safety.“

- Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, making a statement to KCRA’s Ashley Zavala about perceived conflict of interest in her heading the subcommittee that oversees the budget for the department led by her husband, Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Best of The Bee:

• Fast food corporations would be liable for any health and safety violations of their California franchisees under a measure introduced Friday, via Mathew Miranda.

• California’s in-home caregivers, a historically underpaid workforce that serves a rapidly aging population, could receive a significant boost in bargaining power under a new bill introduced Friday, via Maya Miller.

• Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday the creation of the California Department of Justice’s first-ever team dedicated to identifying and working to overturn wrongful convictions, via Maggie Angst.

• Kevin Kiley had a somber warning to everyone when he spoke on the House floor recently. Beware, the freshman Republican congressman said, of “a grave threat to American workers that is coming from Washington, D.C., right now,” via David Lightman.

• Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom demanded results from California cities receiving state homelessness funds. But Newsom has yet to champion the kind of measure he pushed, via Lindsey Holden.

• Demand for campsites at California’s state parks or beaches has surged, and with it late cancellations and no-shows. A state lawmaker wants to overhaul the reservation system, via Andrew Sheeler.

• In the ‘90s, it was a first-in the nation ban on smoking in most indoor locations. Last year, 63% of Californians voted to uphold a state law banning the sale of flavored tobacco products. Now, a proposal for a generational ban on tobacco sales, via Andrew Sheeler.