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State Sen. Mike McGuire’s bill, SB 884, is supported by Cal Fire firefighters and it passed the Senate Energy Committee and the Governance & Finance Committee this week.
“For far too long, America’s largest utility – Pacific Gas and Electric – has failed its customers and made California unsafe,” said McGuire. “For years, the utility underfunded modernization and wildfire safety efforts, which has had devastating impacts. The only path forward is to move power lines underground in the most high fire risk regions. SB 884 will save lives and ratepayers money.”
PG&E has been charged with nearly 100 felonies in the deaths of California residents in wildfires they caused over the past four years. Californians have literally run for their lives to escape flames from these utility-caused wildfires.
Undergrounding electric lines reduces the likelihood of fires starting by 99% and will vastly reduce carbon emissions by stopping mega fires before they start.
McGuire said SB 884 will expedite the undergrounding of 10,000 miles of utility lines, while saving ratepayers money by using federal infrastructure funds. Currently, PG&E undergrounds approximately 100 miles of their electrical lines annually.
“Year after year, these utility-caused wildfires have become our reality. This insanity must be stopped for the health and safety of all Californians,” said McGuire. “We’ll be working day and night to get this critical legislation passed.”
The bill now will be sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee for a hearing.
The bill will do the following:
• Mandated performance metrics would be implemented by the California Public Utilities Commission on undergrounding projects, including timelines for completion and penalties for not hitting deadlines, and the utility would have to prove safety protocols are met prior to receiving a rate of return.
• Develops a pathway to expedite undergrounding construction by establishing a shot clock for local government permit approval/denial to just 150 days.
• The legislation would save ratepayers money by mandating that utilities use available federal infrastructure funds to construct the undergrounding project before using ratepayer funds, and it would mandate telecommunication companies to underground their utilities in the same trench as the electrical undergrounding.
• This dig-once policy will help as a cost share and help make our state telecommunication system more resilient, especially in the highest risk zones.
• Guarantees a 270 day judicial review in California courts if an undergrounding project faces a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit.
The City of Clearlake Animal Association also is seeking fosters for the animals waiting to be adopted.
Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email
Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.
The following dogs are available for adoption.
‘Fritz’
“Fritz” is a male Australian shepherd mix with a black and white coat.
He is dog No. 49278179.
‘Andy’
“Andy” is a male American pit bull mix with a short gray and white coat.
He is dog No. 48995415.
‘Bear’
“Bear” is a male Labrador retriever-American pit bull mix with a short charcoal and fawn coat.
He has been neutered.
‘Chai’
“Chai” is a female Alaskan husky mix with a gray and white coat.
She has been spayed.
She is dog No. 49279552.
‘Colt’
“Colt” is a male Rhodesian Ridgeback mix with a short rust and black coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49812106.
‘Ebenezer’
“Ebenezer” is a male American pit bull terrier mix with a short tan and white coat.
He is dog No. 49191651.
‘Pooh Bear’
“Pooh Bear” is a 1-year-old male American pit bull mix with a copper and white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49603144.
‘Scrappy’
“Scrappy” is an 11-month-old male American pit bull mix with a short cream-colored coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49603144.
‘Snowball’
“Snowball” is a male American Staffordshire mix terrier with a white coat.
He has been neutered.
He is dog No. 49159168.
‘Terry’
“Terry” is a male shepherd mix with a short brindle coat.
He is dog No. 48443693.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
The big idea
When children get health insurance through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, their families benefit too.
That’s what I found through recent research conducted with two fellow health economists, Daniel S. Grossman and Barton Willage. And it was particularly true for their mothers, who become 5% more likely to be in a stable marriage and experience a 5.8% reduction in stress levels. Moms are also less likely to smoke cigarettes and drink heavily.
We figured this out by comparing the rates for marriage, mental health conditions and health behaviors of mothers whose children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, a joint effort by states and the federal government to cover kids in families with relatively modest incomes that are too high for Medicaid eligibility, with mothers whose children are less eligible for these programs.
We also compared the employment status of low-income mothers of children who obtained health insurance eligibility with those who did not.
Why it matters
Some 4.3 million children under the age of 19, or 5.6% of all U.S. kids, lacked health insurance coverage in 2020 – the most recent data available. President Joe Biden’s proposed Build Back Better Act, currently stalled in the Senate, would help close this gap.
States set their own eligibility requirements for Medicaid and CHIP, and these thresholds range widely. Eligibility usually depends on a child’s age, the number of people in the household and the family’s income. For example, in Oregon, a 3-year-old in a family of three with an annual income of US$33,000 would not be eligible. That same child living in Wisconsin, however, would be. And Wisconsin’s policies are not even the most generous in the nation.
Previously, researchers have primarily measured the effectiveness of the Medicaid and CHIP programs for children by assessing direct effects related to their own health. Our study shows that gaining access to government-provided health insurance coverage also affects a child’s household in positive ways.
One reason that’s important: Prior research has shown that growing up in a stable home benefits a child’s cognitive development.
What still isn’t known
Our study complements previous research suggesting that obtaining health insurance coverage through Medicaid and CHIP has long-term effects for children, such as through higher educational achievement. But how that happens remains unclear. That is, do these kids perform better in school because their health is typically better than it would have been – or something else?
Another question that remains is whether these patterns crop up when people gain access to other beneficial programs. For example, when children with special needs obtain the services they require, does it also benefit their parents? Or how does student loan forgiveness improve the lives of people in a household besides the person who owed the money?
What’s next
We focused on moms because maternal data was more readily available. In the future, we would like to do further research to see whether the benefits for the fathers of children who gain health insurance coverage through Medicaid and CHIP are similar to the boost that mothers get.
[Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world. Sign up today.]
Sebastian Tello-Trillo, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics, University of Virginia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Nick Walker, Lakeport’s finance director and assistant city manager, presented the proposal for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, or SLFRF, to the council at its Tuesday night meeting.
Walker’s written report to the council explained that based on census data, the city has been allocated approximately $1,197,542. The city received the first half of that funding in July, with the second half to come within 12 months.
Staff and the council had discussed options in October before the federal rules for the funding were finalized. In January, the Department of the Treasury finalized the SLFRF rules, Walker reported.
Based on those rules, Walker reported that in February county staff determined that three projects were of the highest priority for consideration: roadwork on South Main Street from First Street to Lakeport Boulevard, with the engineer’s estimate of approximately $1,735,642.50; renovations to the Silveira Community Center, including restroom and HVAC upgrades, signage and paint, estimated to cost $1.3 million; and water and sewer projects pulled from the current rate study, including the South Main Street and Soda Bay Road loop line, at a cost of $2.2 million.
“Staff has analyzed these projects pretty thoroughly,” said Walker.
He said staff had concluded that the project on South Main Street would be of the highest priority.
Walker’s written report outlined the South Main Street project, which would include a complete roadway rehabilitation, installation of a retaining wall to stabilize the hillside south of Lupoyoma Circle, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant sidewalk and crossing upgrades, and enhanced pavement markings.
Because there is a roughly $600,000 difference between the available SLFRF awarded to the city and the price tag, Walker said federal road funding reserves and the city’s allocation of state SB1 road revenues would be used to supplement SLFRF funding to cover the entire cost of the project.
City Manager Kevin Ingram said deferred maintenance issues are, by far, the No. 1 challenge.
“We took a hard look at these projects,” Ingram said, and staff concluded that the community center improvements and loop lines projects had better access to other funding sources that generally aren’t available for road improvement projects.
Councilman Kenny Parlet said roads and public safety are things people always want. “The loop line is going to happen eventually.”
Councilman Michael Green said he had hoped the Silveira Center would be open and operable by this summer.
“It’s our goal to get the doors open on that sooner rather than later,” said Ingram, adding that not using the SLFRF money won’t prohibit that from happening.
Mayor Pro Tem Mireya Turner moved to include the South Main Street project in the SLFRF spending plan and include the cost in the 2022-23 city budget, which the council approved 5-0.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
The group will meet at 5 p.m. via Zoom. The public is invited to attend.
The meeting ID is 986 2616 1748, pass code is 173031. The meeting also can be accessed via phone at 1-669-900-6833 or +16699006833,,98626161748#,,,,*173031# for one tap mobile.
Under old business, the group will get an update on the request to clear a portion of Scotts Creek.
Under new business, Council Member Terre Logsdon will discuss new use permits.
There also will be updates on the city of Lakeport’s proposed annexation of the South Main Street area, the Scotts Valley Groundwater Protection Committee and the Multi-Tribal Fire Prevention Grant Application to Cal Fire to support the Scotts Valley Firewise Community, broadband coverage for Scotts Valley and the South Cow Mountain Management Area Implementation.
Scotts Valley Firewise Committee Vice Chair, Greg Scott also will give a report.
The group will next meet on May 23.
The company, which serves more than 16 million Californians, is paying property taxes and franchise fees of over $464 million this spring to the 50 counties, 246 local cities and one district where it owns and operates gas and electric infrastructure.
The company reported that it paid approximately $1,101,814 to Lake County. In 2021, Lake County received payments totaling $961,632.
“Property tax and franchise fee payments are one of the many important ways PG&E helps drive our hometown economies and support essential public services like education and public safety. These payments reflect the substantial local investments we are making in our gas and electric infrastructure to create a safer and more reliable system and to better mitigate against wildfire risk,” said Chris Foster, executive vice president and chief financial officer for PG&E.
On April 12, PG&E paid property taxes of more than $310 million to the 50 counties in which it owns property. The payment covers the period from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2022.
Total payments for the tax year of July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, are more than $621 million.
This is an increase of $84 million more than the prior tax year.
PG&E pays franchise fees to cities and counties for the use of public streets for its gas and electric facilities. The energy company completed payments on April 15.
PG&E’s franchise fee payments totaled nearly $154 million — nearly $106 million for electric service and more than $47 million for natural gas service. This is an increase of over $15 million from the prior year.
PG&E’s second installment of property taxes paid on April 11, 2022, is broken down by county in the following list.
Alameda — $39,173,605
Alpine — $86,777
Amador — $1,288,405
Butte — $6,415,167
Calaveras — $1,391,602
Colusa — $4,471,246
Contra Costa — $23,764,492
El Dorado — $2,204,039
Fresno — $21,143,559
Glenn — $1,131,060
Humboldt — $5,368,088
Kern — $11,198,327
Kings — $1,964,772
Lake — $1,101,814
Lassen — $67,314
Madera — $2,946,421
Marin — $5,880,776
Mariposa — $389,784
Mendocino — $2,220,860
Merced — $4,848,364
Modoc — $240,912
Monterey — $4,833,954
Napa — $4,893,029
Nevada — $1,722,089
Placer — $7,521,579
Plumas — $2,937,972
Sacramento — $8,542,713
San Benito — $947,500
San Bernardino — $1,803,434
San Diego — $864
San Francisco — $16,328,296
San Joaquin — $15,336,683
San Luis Obispo — $8,645,580
San Mateo — $17,380,941
Santa Barbara — $1,414,425
Santa Clara — $38,716,789
Santa Cruz — $2,487,566
Shasta — $7,289,376
Sierra — $163,908
Siskiyou — $107,691
Solano — $7,770,183
Sonoma — $10,623,581
Stanislaus — $3,254,843
Sutter — $1,673,284
Tehama — $1,831,363
Trinity — $239,288
Tulare — $702,334
Tuolumne — $1,116,036
Yolo — $3,362,125
Yuba — $1,805,813
Total payments: $310,750,621.04