While California Dreams: A Weekly Update on the Goings-on in Sacramento

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Key bills and issues we’ve been following during the past week and beyond

By Hannah Beth Jackson

Last week we highlighted bills dealing with healthcare, consumer rights and environmental issues. Again, keeping in mind that a legislative session is comprised of two calendar years, there are many bills that will re-emerge in January if they were not resolved during this portion of the legislative session. We will follow those bills when the session reconvenes in January.

This week we'll look at what happened to a variety of bills dealing with working families, public safety and civil rights. Generally speaking, labor issues and particularly bills dealing with fixing the heavily skewed workers compensation mess faired very poorly. Attempts to improve conditions for workers also faired badly as did efforts to provide reforms for the criminal justice system.

But before going into detail on some of these measures, it is only fitting that we comment on the devastating fires that so impacted our state and our communities over the past week. The impacts of these fires caused a staggering toll on our state. Just to provide some context for those who were fortunate enough to be out of harms way, consider that the fires:

Were responsible for the deaths of 15 or more people

Destroyed more than 650 square miles, an area two times the size of New York City

Caused over $1 Billion in damage

Destroyed or seriously damaged over 2500 homes

Forced 22,000 people into temporary shelters

Forced the evacuation of over 1 million people---the largest peacetime movement of American citizens since the Civil War

Cost the state over $90 million to fight (and still counting)

At the same time this massive devastation was taking place, the brave firefighters of this state (and the western U.S. who were called into service) demonstrated a level of courage and professionalism that must be commended and acknowledged.