By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association 

Photo:  Gov. Gavin Newsom. Courtesy of the governor’s office

December 22, 2020 (San Diego) - With ICU capacity essentially zero in Southern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday the regional stay-at-home order will almost certainly be extended beyond the current Dec. 28 end date.

By Miriam Raftery

Chart via San Diego County: Surging COVID cases increase stress on healthcare system

November 19, 2020 (San Diego) – California’s Department of Public Health today issued a curfew Nov. 21-Dec. 21 aimed at reducing spread of COVID-19 as cases surge statewide. The County also announced beefed up enforcement efforts, with many cease and desist orders issued in East County, including El Cajon despite the Mayor's pledge not to enforce health rules.

What the curfew impacts

The limited stay home order applies in Purple Tier counties including San Diego. Between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., the order prohibits gatherings with people not in your household either on your property or elsewhere. 

Non-essential businesses must cease operations during the curfew; only activities defined as “critical infrastructure” (COVID19.ca.gov Essential Workforce) may continue.

The curfew does not prohibit individuals or people in the same household from leaving their residence, as long as they don’t interact with people from other households. You can walk your dog, exercise alone or with those in your household, ride your horse, and travel for essential purposes such as medical visits, picking up food or going to the pharmacy. The curfew also does not apply to people who are homeless.

By Laurel Rosenhall and CalMatters staff, CalMatters

CalMatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Gov. Gavin Newsom with first partner, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and their youngest son, Dutch, during the annual Christmas tree lighting at the Capitol on December 15, 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

October 3, 2020 (Sacramento) - In a year when the coronavirus pandemic upended every aspect of normal life, the impact in the California Capitol was also dramatic. Lawmakers took an unprecedented two-month pause in the spring, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order for people to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. They returned to the Capitol in May, passed a state budget shrunken by the pandemic-induced recession and began setting aside hundreds of bills that would no longer make the cut in this truncated year. Faced with less time to hold hearings and less money to spend on new initiatives, lawmakers chucked an estimated three-quarters of the bills introduced at the beginning of the year.

Abandoned or rejected along the way were bills requiring police to intervene if they see officers using excessive force, allow homeowners to request a forbearance on their mortgages during the pandemic, and launch a “Green New Deal” to fight climate change. 

But even with their reduced workload, lawmakers tackled numerous thorny issues, passing legislation that could impact life in California for years to come — to allow more workers to take paid family leave, make it easier to get mental health care, and ban flavored tobacco, among others. 

Then it fell to Newsom to either sign or veto the legislation by a Sept. 30 deadline. Here’s the final tally on the fates of 20 key bills.

--Laurel Rosenhall and CalMatters staff

Indoor worship services, protests, gyms, malls, personal care services and non-essential offices must close

By Miriam Raftery

July 13, 2020 (Sacramento) – With only 36 percent of the ICU beds in the state available as COVID-19 cases surge statewide, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced broad new shutdowns. 

Counties that have been on the state’s monitoring list for three consecutive days, including San Diego and all Southern California counties, must shut down the following industries and activities (unless they can be modified to operate outside or by pick-up):

• Fitness centers
• Worship services
• Protests
• Offices for non-essential sectors
• Personal care services, like nail salons, body waxing and tattoo parlors
• Hair salons and barbershops
• Malls
  

Renter must notify landlord within a week of when rent is due, if they can’t pay due to COVID-19, to be eligible for the eviction freeze

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2020 (Sacramento)--Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday issued an executive order banning the enforcement of eviction orders for renters in California affected by COVID-19 through May 31, 2020.

The order prohibits landlords from evicting residential tenants for nonpayment of rent and prohibits enforcement of evictions by law enforcement or courts.  It does not protect commercial tenants, however.

It also requires residential renters to declare in writing, no more than seven days after the rent comes due, that the tenant cannot pay all or part of their rent due to COVID-19 such as because of job layoff, cuts in hours, business closures, medical expenses, childcare due to school closures for parents still working in critical jobs, or other impacts related to the pandemic.

The tenant would be required to retain documentation that their inability to pay rent is due to COVID-19, such as termination notices, pay stubs, bank notices, medical bills, or other proof.

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

March 18, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) - Coronavirus has disrupted the job market across California, including all of San Diego County. Governor Gavin Newsom has waived the one-week waiting period to file for unemployment and ordered an extra week of benefits for people out of work due to the COVID-19 emergency.

By Miriam Raftery

March 15, 2020 (Sacramento)—With 330 Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) cases in California, double the number just four days ago,six deaths in our state and thousands of deaths worldwide, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced extreme steps to slow the rate of infection and reduce deaths. The actions aim to save lives and prevent hospitals and medical workers from becoming overwhelmed.

The Governor’s new emergency proclamation calls for:

• Home isolation of everyone over age 65
• A ban on visitors to nursing homes, except for end-of-life visits
• Closure of bars, wine bars, breweries and pubs
• Restaurants to reduce occupancy by half; restaurants can also provide curbside service and at-home deliveries
• Moving homeless people into motels, trailers or other facilities
• Allow urgency for procuring medical supplies, sharing data, and bringing in out of state licensed medical professionals to help with treatment

Though the Governor stopped short of mandating closures of bars, restaurants and wineries, and left home isolation of seniors voluntary for now, his actions are similar to what some foreign nations and Governors in other states have done. 

The entire nations of Spain and Denmark are on lockdown. France has ordered closure of cafes, restaurants and bars.  The Governors of Ohio and Illinois have ordered restaurants and bars to close.  New York state’s Governor has ordered restaurants to cut occupancy in half and called for voluntary closure of many private businesses.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Governor Newsom met with officials and emergency responders after touring Getty Fire area in Los Angeles yesterday

October 29, 2019 (Sacramento) –San Diego rural and mountain residents weary of repeated utility-led Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) by SDG&E to prevent wildfires had complaints fall on deaf ears during Governor Jerry Brown’s administration.

By contrast, Governor Gavin Newsom has just issued a series of announced actions aimed at restricting widespread intentional outages and penalizing utilities that violate new rules that Newsom aims to impose.  In addition, Newsom called for an end to charging ratepayers during planned outages and approved funds to help compensate those left without power for losses incurred.

He also made clear that he expects the California Public Utilities Commission to take strong actions. The new Governor has appointed two new CPUC commissioners – and made clear at a press conference that he expects to see reforms, or more changes  will be made.

Broad coalition applauds  Governor for supporting creation of a California Wildfire Warning Center, defensible space standards and development of more skilled workers to support firefighters

October 21, 2019 (Sacramento) -  Action for Wildfire Resiliency, a broad coalition of labor, senior, public safety groups, businesses and utilities was pleased to see Governor Newsom sign key wildfire prevention legislation the coalition supported, including:

By Laurel Rosenhall, CALMatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

February 13, 2019 (Sacramento) - A month after being inaugurated, Gov. Gavin Newsom used his State of the State speech Tuesday to make his strongest showing yet that Jerry Brown is no longer in charge.

He proposed scaling back two of Brown’s legacy projects—a high-speed train and a pair of tunnels to move water from north to south. He rescinded Brown’s deployment of California National Guard troops to the Mexican border. He voiced support for education and housing policies that Brown stayed away from.

By Ben Christopher

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  Gov. Gavin Newsom takes the oath of office from California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in Sacramento on Jan. 7, 2019. Photo for CALmatters by Randy Pench

January 7, 2019 (Sacramento) - Preceded by a Baptist church band, a Mexican roots music quartet, and the recital by his wife of a bilingual poem by the former poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, Gavin Newsom was inaugurated on the western steps of the capitol building this morning, closing out the Brown era of California politics and pointing towards a new, more assertively progressive politics out of Sacramento.

By Ben Christopher, CalMatters

CALmatters is an independent public interest journalism venture covering California state politics and government.

Photo:  The debate between Gavin Newsom, left, and John Cox, right, moderated by Scott Shafer of KQED this morning. Pool photo by Jeff Chiu

October 14, 2018 (San Francisco) - The two men competing to be the next governor of California met for their first (and, alas, probably only) one-on-one stand-off today.

Photos: Ron Nehring (L) and Gavin Newsom (R)

By Miriam Raftery

May 13, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)--Seven challengers are running against Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom.   The most prominent challenger is Ron Nehring, a familiar name to many San Diegans.  Both leading contenders have long political careers on polar opposite sides of the political spectrum—and both have been lightning rods for controversy.

January 17, 2011 (Sacramento)--California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom issued the following statement commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, urging all Californians to participate in local communities through public service.  To find a service project in your community, visit: www.californiavolunteers.org.

“Our nation has made great progress, guided by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of advancing social justice and opportunity for all," said Newsom, "but I recognize that there is still work to be done."