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RECENT PODS:

• If I Couid Change One Thing (SDSU): Dr. David "Davey" Smith on Operation Warp Speed" and vaccinations (2020-12-02)
• Inside Golden State Politics (Bill Boyarsky and Sherry Jeffe): Becerra: Another Bright Spot For California And The Rest of The Country (2020-12-10)
• Then There's California (Senate Democratic Caucus): State Senator Maria Elena Durazo, the new Chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, talks about public policy, health, and social justice priorities for our Latinx communities in 2021. (2020-12-09)
• Capitol Weekly Podcast (John Howard and Tim Foster): Vaccines are coming with Dr. Dean Blumberg, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UC Davis School of Medicine and Acting Chief, Pediatric Infectious Disease Section, UC Davis Medical Center. (2020-12-07)
• Look West Podcast (Assembly Democratic Caucus): Introduction to new Assembly Democrats (2020-12-07)
• KQED's Political Breakdown (Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos): Dr. Anthony Fauci on California's New COVID Restrictions and Lessons from the HIV/AIDS Epidemic (2020-12-04)

The Nooner for Tuesday, December 15, 2020, presented by SYASL Partners

• Housing
• Sick leave
• Kamala
• COVID-19
  -the numbers
• Cakeday and NEW classifieds  

Hanukkah sameach!

Hello there and happy vaccine day! I know we're talking 94.5-95% effectiiveness against serious disease among the two vaccines. I'll get a shot, but of course expect to wear a mask for another 8 months. Meanwhile, my sister is enjoying tea from The Allspicery that I sent to her. I used my most frequent daily assembly of steeps -- vanilla almond, roasted apple green, and sweet dream.

A team at the LAT reports:

With cameras clicking and Gov. Gavin Newsom standing beside her wearing a surgical mask, intensive care nurse Helen Cordova rolled up the sleeve of her blue scrubs Monday afternoon and became one of the first Californians to get a coronavirus vaccine.

“Protect me,” she said with a laugh, just before nurse Marilyn Lansangan jabbed her right deltoid.

Cheers broke out from the small, masked crowd of doctors, nurses and elected officials before the syringe was even out of Cordova’s arm.

The inoculation in a conference room at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center ushered in a hopeful new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has sickened more than 1.6 million Californians and killed more than 21,000.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell today acknowledges that Joe Biden won the election, a day after the Electoral College affirmed so.

If you've been watching the gnus this morning, you've likely seen the ads calling for Governor Newsom to "END BAN NOW." The campaign is national against restrictions on restaurant operations and is organized by John Adams of Florida. No, not the John Adams in "Hamilton" or son John Quincy Adams, but rather just a Florida quack.

Meanwhile, vaccines for The OC are delayed until tomorrow.

HOUSING: In The Bee, Tony Bizjak and Phillip Reese look at the housing boom in the capital region and ask whether it will be enough to stem the increasing costs of living here as folks flee the Bay Area.

The Sacramento region has become the hottest landing spot in California for people looking to buy a new house in a tumultuous 2020. And the trend looks likely to continue in 2021.

Home builders report they’re adding more new houses this year than any year since the Great Recession hit nearly 15 years ago, and expect to build even more next year.

Some 7,100 homes are expected to have been built in the four-county area by North State Building Industry Association members by year’s end. That’s 33% more than in 2019, making Sacramento the top metropolitan area in California for year-over-year housing growth.

In contrast, overall construction is down in California. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco saw fewer new homes and other living units built as of October this year during the COVID-19 pandemic than during the first 10 months last year. San Jose and San Diego held steady.

Meanwhile, Theresa Clift reports in The Bee that the annual homeless count likely won't happen in 2021 because of COVID-19.

Due to concerns that the count cannot be conducted safely during the coronavirus pandemic, officials from the Sacramento Steps Forward homeless nonprofit are asking permission from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to allow it to skip the 2021 count.

The survey, known as the Point in Time count, occurs every other winter, and was set to take place in January 2021. At least 16 other California localities, including Los Angeles, are seeking permission to cancel their 2021 counts, according to Sacramento Steps Forward. HUD is expected to approve the request.

SICK LEAVE: Also in The Bee, Jeong Park and Davis Lightman write that lots of Californians will lose out on paid sick leave without congressional action.

Congress has yet to extend those leave programs past Dec. 31, and lawmakers remain deadlocked over any compromise.

California earlier this year created its own sick leave program, but it is written in a way that it will expire at the same time the federal programs end.

If all of those programs expire, some California workers will be left with three days of paid sick leave and eight weeks of paid family leave a year.

“Even in the past before COVID, I’ve talked to people where their parent had an emergency... and it spiraled into homelessness” because of the lack of paid leave, said Jenya Cassidy at the California Work and Family Coalition. “It’s absolutely crucial that we extend what we have. We’re kind of in an emergency right now.”

KAMALA: When does Kamala Harris step down from her United States Senate seat? That's a big question since lots of folks are waiting on the sidelines along with wannabes for Secretary of State and Attorney General. Harris likely steps down immediately before the swearing-in of the 117th Congress on January 3rd (Senate, I haven't heard a date for the House yet). While 17 days before inauguration, that would give the new United States Senator from California an edge in seniority over the new ones elected in November. Among Democrats, that would include Hickenlooper (CO), Kelly (AZ), and Luján (NM), with Georgia's two seats set for a runoff.

Here are my lists of prospects for appointment (alphabetical):

Attorney General:

• Contra Costa DA (and former superior court judge) Diana Becton
• Assembly member Rob Bonta (D-Alameda)
• State Senator Anna Caballero (D-Salinas)
• Former state treasurer John Chiang
• Assembly member David Chiu (D-San Francisco)
• SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera
• State Senator Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys)
• Former insurance commissioner Dave Jones
• Assembly member Ash Kalra (D-San José)
• Former supervising deputy AG Maggy Krell (currently, chief counsel of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of CA)
• Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen
• Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg
• State Senator Tom Umberg (D-Villa Park)
• Rick Zbur, executive director, Equality California

Secretary of State:

• State Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego)
• Assembly Member Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) - chair, Asm Elections and Redistricting
• Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) - declared 2022 candidate
• Assembly member Evan Low (D-Campbell) - declared 2022 candidate
• Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco)
• State Senator Tom Umberg - chair, Senate Elections and Redistricting 

Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution, Becerra has to wait until after January 20th when Biden is sworn in.

...COVID-19 numbers after the jump

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COVID-19: California added 155 deaths yesterday with a total of 21,200 since the pandemic began. Amidst the highest number of tests yet, the positivity rate is simply miserable.

Source: https://covid19.ca.gov/state-dashboard/

-Tiers for fears: There were no changes to the tiers yesterday.

• Purple/Widespread=54 counties
• Red/Substantial=3 (Alpine, Inyo, Mariposa -- total DOF est. population: 37,793)
• Orange/Moderate=1 (Sierra -- total DOF est. population: 3,201)

-Stay at home: I am not including all of the main points and restrictions of the new stay at home order. You can find them in The Nooner for December 5, or read the state order or state guidance.

I missed it yesterday, but Sonoma County proactively adopted the state's stay-at-home order effective at 12:01 this morning, leaving only San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Solano of the nine Bay Area region counties to not have such an order. Of course, it may be moot given the region's ICU capacity. Monterey's takes effect 10pm Sunday.

--Documents:

• Governor's press release
• Official state order

--Update on 12/03 with Governor Newsom and HHS Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

--Update on 12/07:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

--Dr. Ghaly update on 12/08:

• YouTube

-Regions:

• Northern California: Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity
  ICU capacity as of 12/14: 18.1%

• Bay Area: Alameda*, Contra Costa*, Marin*, Monterey (Sunday 10pm), Napa, San Francisco*, San Mateo, Santa Clara*, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma*
  ICU capacity as of 12/14: 16.7%

• Greater Sacramento: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba
  ICU capacity as of 12/14: 14.8%

• San Joaquin Valley: Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne
  ICU capacity as of 12/14: 4.5%
  
  
• Southern California: Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura
  ICU capacity as of 12/14: 6.2%

*County has voluntarily adopted the state's Stay At Home Order

Source: COVID19.CA.GOV: About COVID-19 restrictions (Under "Regional Stay Home Order")

-SacTown: Here are the Greater Sacramento region's numbers and here is my spreadsheet for all five regions.

...cakeday and NEW classifieds after the jump 

CAKEDAY: Happy birthday to Senator Pat Bates, Erin Evans-Fudem, David Zay Latt, Tricia Lipper, Rita Montes Martin, Josh Pulliam, Jennifer Quan,  Lucy Saldivar, and Laura Velkei!