How Trump’s Presidency Fueled A Flurry Of Progressive Movements In California
California leaders and President Donald Trump can seem at war with each other sometimes, but many of the state's new laws are linked with the presidency. “Donald Trump has been the impetus for putting everything on warp speed,” said Garry South, a Democratic political strategist in California. “It has pushed Democrats in California to take actions that might otherwise have been viewed as a little less urgent if we had a Democrat in the White House.” In other news on the administration: the Border Patrol's morale issue, the "public charge" rule, and health data at HHS.
The New York Times:
Trump Inspires California Lawmakers To Go On Offense
When President Trump flies into San Francisco next week for his first visit to the Bay Area as president he will set down in a state that has never fully welcomed him. Harmeet K. Dhillon, a member of the Republican National Committee and a host of a fund-raising luncheon on Tuesday where seats for a couple at the president’s table go for $100,000, likened his visit to a trip “behind enemy lines.” Behind those lines, Mr. Trump’s detractors have been remarkably active, as Democrats have been energized by anger against the president to enact a sweeping liberal agenda that in almost every way offers a counternarrative to the deregulation, anti-immigrant stance and conservative policies of the Trump administration. (Arango, Fuller and Del Real, 9/14)
The New York Times:
‘People Actively Hate Us’: Inside The Border Patrol’s Morale Crisis
One Border Patrol agent in Tucson said he had been called a “sellout” and a “kid killer.” In El Paso, an agent said he and his colleagues in uniform had avoided eating lunch together except at certain “BP friendly” restaurants because “there’s always the possibility of them spitting in your food.” An agent in Arizona quit last year out of frustration. “Caging people for a nonviolent activity,” he said, “started to eat away at me.” For decades, the Border Patrol was a largely invisible security force. (Fernandez, Jordan, Kanno-Youngs and Dickerson, 9/15)
Arizona Republic:
Phoenix Town Hall, In Spanish, To Focus On 'Public Charge' Rule Change
Some fearful Arizona families, regardless of whether they will be affected, may be avoiding health care for themselves and their children because of new barriers to immigration that take effect next month. The Trump administration's "public charge" final rule takes effect Oct. 15. It broadens the government's ability to penalize immigrants who seek green cards if they use taxpayer-funded programs like housing assistance, food stamps and Medicaid. (Innes, 9/13)
Politico Pro:
HHS Wants To Give You Your Health Data — Do You Want It?
Encouraging patients to access and share detailed health records is one of the Trump administration’s major health care policy goals. So far, though, patients aren’t really responding. HHS may soon begin to understand why as it pursues plans to force insurers and providers to adopt new data standards that, in theory at least, should allow more people shift their health information to their smart phones and laptops. (Ravindranath, 9/16)
