House Democrats have a polling edge + Another attempt at decriminalizing jaywalking

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

PPIC POLL FINDS MORE SUPPORT FOR HOUSE DEMOCRATS

A majority of California voters say that they prefer Democratic candidates for this year’s U.S. House races, according to the latest survey from the Public Policy Institute of California.

The poll found that 55% of likely California voters want the Democrat to win their House race; 49% said so in districts labeled competitive by Cook Political Report. That’s compared to 35% of likely voters who favor Republicans, 40% in competitive districts.

“A majority of likely voters favor the Democratic candidate in their House district race, and nearly six in ten are more likely to support a candidate who wants Roe v. Wade kept in place,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO, in a statement. “Republicans are more enthusiastic than Democrats about voting for Congress this year.”

What are voters most concerned about? Twenty-seven percent say that jobs, the economy and inflation was their most important issue, while another 23% say that either housing costs or homelessness are the chief concern. After that, it was gas and oil prices (7%) and water issues and the drought (6%).

DECRIMINALIZING JAYWALKING, PART TWO

Remember last year’s attempt by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, to decriminalize jaywalking? That bill was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cited concerns about California having the highest total number of pedestrian fatalities in the nation.

“I am committed to working with the author, the Legislature, and stakeholders on legislation that addresses the unequal enforcement of jaywalking laws in a manner that does not risk worsening California’s pedestrian safety,” Newsom wrote in his veto message.

This year, Ting is back with a similar bill, AB 2147, which legalizes crossing the street outside of an intersection when it is safe to do so.

“We should be encouraging people to get out of their cars and walk more for health and environmental reasons. But when expensive tickets and unnecessary confrontations with police impact only certain communities, it’s time to reconsider how we use our law enforcement resources and whether our jaywalking laws really do protect pedestrians,” Ting said in a statement.

AB 2147 passed out of the Assembly this week, and now moves on to the Senate.

“This year’s version makes technical changes to address the concerns stated in the Governor’s veto message of AB 1238 last year. Instead of repealing the state’s jaywalking laws, the latest bill defines when an officer can stop a pedestrian for jaywalking — specified as only when a reasonably careful person would realize there’s an immediate danger of a collision. The bill means fewer working families would struggle to pay the citation often totaling hundreds of dollars, and police wouldn’t be able to use jaywalking as a pretext to detain someone,” according to Ting’s office.

Ting’s office cites numerous example of criminal jaywalking stops that went wrong, where law enforcement killed or beat someone, in each case someone who was Black.

“Black Californians are severely overrepresented when it comes to being stopped for jaywalking, up to four-and-a-half times more than their White counterparts,” according to Ting’s office.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“As a gunshot survivor, I know the pain of bullets shredding your body & the struggle to accept physical & emotional scars. I know the fear of death & the trauma of survivors guilt. No child should ever have to carry this burden. The Senate must pass commonsense gun safety reform!”

- Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, via Twitter. Speier was shot multiple times while accompanying a Congressional delegation to Jonestown in Guyana in 1978.

Best of the Bee:

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday lambasted two federal judges who he says are a threat to the state’s strict gun control laws, via Andrew Sheeler.

• More signs are pointing to an economic recession in California, if not right away, then in the near future, via David Lightman.

• Sacramento and Elk Grove are going head-to-head as Assembly candidates compete for a chance to represent the suburb and the south end of the city in a newly-redrawn district that’s up for grabs, via Lindsey Holden.

• A national, youth-driven wave of unionizing could soon reach the California State Legislature, where a new proposal would allow collective bargaining for the first time for legislative employees, via Wes Venteicher.