Berman, who chairs the Assembly Business and Professions Committee, was facilitating the discussion of Assembly Bill 2098, which is authored by Assembly member Evan Low, D-Campbell, and which seeks to designate the spread of COVID-19 disinformation by physicians and surgeons as unprofessional conduct.
The hearing turned heated when numerous speakers came to the microphone to complain about the legislation, as well as about broader efforts by public health officials to encourage vaccination against COVID-19. Berman appeared to lose his patience after one man, wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Good luck with your vaccines," came up to the microphone and told the committee that "anyone who supports this bill will be held accountable under Nuremberg Code," referring to a set of ethical principles pertaining to medical experimentation.
"Be warned, we are watching very closely," the man said.
"Hey, check it out," Berman responded. "I need everyone to follow the f---ing rules! Give your name, the organization you're with and your position on the bill."
After the reprimand, numerous speakers alluded to Berman's outburst by saying that they "f---ing oppose the bill." When they finished testifying, Berman apologized for cussing earlier in the hearing.
"I should not have done that," Berman said.
The bill ultimately advanced out of the committee by a 12-5 vote.
— Gennady Sheyner
Bill to remove police radio encryption picks up support
A bill authored by Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, that would require law enforcement agencies throughout California to find alternatives to encrypting their radio communications cleared its first hurdle Tuesday when the Senate Public Safety Committee voted to advance the legislation.
Becker's legislation, Senate Bill 1000, responds to a recent trend of police departments throughout the state moving to encrypted radio communications, a switch that makes it impossible for journalists and other residents to monitor police activities.
Becker's bill aims to reverse the trend and force law enforcement agencies to find alternatives to encrypted radios.
Like other departments, Palo Alto police said their switch to encryption was prompted by an October 2020 directive from the state Department of Justice requiring police agencies that rely on the state's telecommunications system to protect personal information. Under the directive, agencies were allowed to do so either by encrypting their radio communications or by adopting policies that protect the personal information, which could mean relaying this information by cellphone or other means.
At a hearing Monday, Becker said that his bill is consistent with that order because it will require law enforcement agencies to protect personally identifiable information, as required by the Department of Justice. He argued, however, that full encryption is both unnecessary and harmful when it comes to protecting the residents' right to know what is happening in their communities.
— Gennady Sheyner
As Covid recedes, state has new worries
Californians are undergoing a great reawakening.
After two years of having their lives dominated, and perhaps permanently altered, by COVID-19, they are putting the pandemic behind them and shifting their attention to other concerns old and new.
Predictably, the state's political atmosphere is making the same transition.
While COVID-19 remains a threat — and could re-emerge as an existential concern — a new poll by UC-Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies — finds it occupying a very low place on Californians' list of issues demanding attention.
Only 4% of voters, the poll found, now consider COVID-19 an important issue — 13th on a list of 15. The list is dominated by housing affordability (31%), homelessness (29%), crime (23%) and gasoline prices (21%).
Housing and homelessness obviously predate the pandemic and have now returned as major concerns, while crime and gas prices are newcomers — or throwbacks, in an historic sense, to the late 1970s, when they dominated the state's public consciousness and political discourse.
Find the full poll results at escholarship.org/uc/item/7sn293xs.
— Dan Walters/CalMatters
This story contains 668 words.
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