Stores closed in residence at home, legislors are dealing with a massive deficit from declining tax revenue. With the pandemic projected to continue through the fall, expanding vote by il as a safe option for the november election. Lawmakers have to address long standing chaenges from osting Affordable Housing to fighting climate change. Joining us is state Assembly Member david chu, and from the sutter county, James Gallagher, thank you both for joining us thanks for having us. You both returned to work this week. Wh is it ke to legislate in the midst of a pandemic with masks and protests . I think the biggest difference that u notice is the Capital Building is not populated. It is like a t ghtown walking the halls. Usually the publis in the capital walking the building obviously different groups are wanting to petition their me gove. You do not see that, right . We are still able to conduct hearings and provide Public Access for all the input over the phone and Conference Calls and also a videoconferencing center in the capital for witnesses to testify. He Assembly Member gall are masks required . No, theyre not required. We asked the public to wear masks, but they are not required for members. I am practicing social distancing. I do not go within six feet of other persons in the Committee Room we are parated out an we also have a microphone yo know, coverings so all the surfaces are continually disinfected. There are a lot of safety protocols puin place. What has it been like to legislate during this pandemic . After seven t weeks of ing in sacramento im glad to be back because we have an has been surreal to wear masks everywhere we go. It is not easy to talk through them as we are making our caen on diffissues. I have to admit that i am disappoint that some of our colleagues across the aisle are not Wearing Masks all the time and im going to bring a San Francisco mask for James Gallagher, as far as the protests, we all understandthe are experiencing. Ety people we see it in the districts but that said, unfortunately, too many protests are drivenby white supremacists, anti vaccine or astroturf groups and inciting physical confrontation opting legitimate suffering co that is happening from my perspective that is e. Not excusa it is counterproductive it we cannot politicize what is going on. You have a response . I do not think that is an acurate portrayal of all the people that are showing up at these protests. I think most peoplethere are people that obviously, they want to express their opinion about the stayathome orders as they have a constutional do right to so, and it has not impacted us at all. We have continued to do our legislative business and nobody has been diupted in any way. People have gathered outside and you know, that is their prerogative, their constitional right. Yoow, chp has provided security at the building. And i think that to pigeonhole what these people are protesting abt or what group they are ciased with, you know, it is an inaccurate portrayal. Is simply member gallagher, lets go to yourdistrict. You by and sutter counties, which are both in your district, they have raallowed rests, gyms, nail salons and other retailers to open this week indefiance of the states stayathome orders. Y whatyou to critics who say that decision is the wrong call and that it is jeopardizing Public Health . I would ask okem to into what transpired. What happened was, our Public Health officer, who acally issued a stayathome order before the governor, and that was e day beforethe governor did, he issued a new order that was based on Public Health guidance as ll as federal and he state public th guidances and evidencebased Peer Reviewed research, guidance that is out there, namely the Johns Hopkins riskgumatrix elines and allowed for businesses that are under that risk matrix of a low risk of spread, it allowed them to thop safety protocols. It was a Public Health order that helps protect the public from the continued spread of covid. We have had low cases and we had 69 total ses in thsix counties that i represent, 50 there are currenno one of d. Suspected covid19 infection in a hospital bed in my six county region. And assemblymber chu, many in some remember residence are hurting, and would like to reopen. What you say to them . No onis excited about the fact that businesses are closed. I ed to run a Small Business and i am hearing the pain every single da we have had so many Small Businesses that have been decimated. It is estimated a huge number of restaurants may have to close and we are even saying that there could be significant playoffsinn tech and vation sectors. That said, i very much appreciate and support the ppda drivenach to phasing in how we reopen. We really need to bring the best Public Health standards and data as we move forward. He sets standards for what businesses can open up at different times and he is giving local jurisdiction really, the abily to, once they meet those standards, to explain that ate Health Officials and the idea that we can support different parts of e state opening earlier, so maybe the case that in yuma things may be different than in dense urban areas like San Francisco. I think that is appropriate. Lettalk about the budget deficit, 54 billion, a huge budget deficit, plus it looks like there a projected, almost 20 Unemployment Rate coming. You both sit on the assemblies Budget Committee and you r e the chof the committee on housing and community development, how will this Deficit Impact the Affordable Housing goals yohave champion . This is going to be very challenging. The housing and homelessness crisis that existed before coronavirus has only intensified during this time. We are very, ve rried that in the next couple of months we could see waves of evictions and foreclosures. During this time we need, during the recession, to be building as muhousing as possible at all levels of affordability, particularly Affordable Housing, this is something that i am championing because we need to house folks. It isthe safestthing to do from a Public Health standpoint, but also, you know, it is important for the public. Cuts will beneed to made, do you think they will be made within the housinsegment . Reporter i think will look at deep , painful cu throughout the budget. We will have to lookat potential revenue ideas we have not considered before and coronavirus has really shown a real bright light on the holes in the social safety net and we have ttake care of our people. You sit on the subcommittee for education and 40 of the budget comne from the l fund. What cuts are you expecting to see an education . Subcommittee hearing on education last weektod started see that we are going to be faced with a stark number when it com to budget revenue decreasing. This was announced yesterday, 54 billion and all of us are committed on the committee to ke trying to a stable education budget. Now, there are different thingsp that will us in doing that, one is federal funds th will becoming in and we think will be coming in to support states and our countiand education. Another is our reserves, which we have been prudent and built up reserves over the last few in years uding the prop to reserves that was established by the voters. That is, i think going to help the other big one is back where we started, reopening the economy and doing that safely. That will do more thananything to help get venues back going into government and david, myself and all of us working in the assembly are going to try to provide a stable as possible budget for people, because we mu know how people rely on it, and rely cion the safety net and is now because of this order, and the millions that are unemployed, many more who are reliant on services. David ch do you pect taxes to go up to close the deficit . We will see what happens. But, we will have to make incredibly painful cuts in all eas of government and unless the federal government is able to step in and help, we g e go have to make some very difficult choices. I dont think we can rule out some remegallagher, will taxes go up . That is the last thing we should do when people are struggling during this time. The last thing we should do is add to their tax load which is already the highest in the nation in california. I agree with david, towe need work with federal partners. They have already provided 2 trillion worth ofrelief and more coming in as that is debated in waington dc. We have control over the reserves which i think we need to use to help make a stable budget this year but i think that we need to get more and more of e economy opened up, because more than anything that will help to close the gap. Davidchu in ansan sco and James Gallagher in yuba city, thank you so much. Thank you. Weeks of sheltering in place have taken a heavy toll ai on rrs. Today, the state began loosening restrictions for some of them. Clothing stores and Sporting Goods stores can reopen with social distancing in place for curbside pickand delivery. Nine in restaurants, shopping malls, and restaurants must remain closed for now. Coun es may still implement stricter their region is not yet prepared to reopen. Joining me now is e owner of sonoma outfitters in the santa rosa and tina fergus, the owner of an independent bookstore, face in a book and el dorado hills. Thank you both for mejoining deborah, lets start with you. You have had some lean times in your business before. Sonoma outfitters has been together for 40 years. But, you have never fasod thing like this. How has the pandemic impacted your business . It completely closed it down whenhey ordered sheltein place, becse we are a retail store selling clothing, footwear, sunglasses, so we are not considered essential we had to close our doors and had to lay my employees off. Luckily, our landlord has been working with us and my vendors have been pretty good sofar, but it all pends on how much longer this is going to go on. N yo, and i have no idea when we finally are able to allow people in the store, are all my old customers going to come back right away . Are they going to be able to shop . Be able to afford to shop . I dont know. It is just kind of a big question. There is a lot of uncertainty right now. Yeah. Tina, you have been able to send books out to customeram faster than on has been recently. How much has your Online Business help your bottom line . Extremely. It has been extremely helpful. Being able to service our customers online has given us thcapability to continue keeping people on the payrol has been enabling us to pay our rent and keep our vendors o shipping. Saved us definitely. Has tell me a little bit about how you are utiously reopening now. We have been doing the curbside deliveries since the shelter in e plstarted on the unofficial way i guess but now officially we can make sure that we let people know we are heevery day 105 they can pick up a. It is difficult, because they cannot browse, but atif they know theyre looking for they can certainly let us know and if theyre looking for recommendations, we are happy to have a phone call or an em l and hethem that way. Deborah, what does reopening look like at sonoma outfitters . People can calland we have had a promotion going on for mothers day where we are selling gift cards because our type of product that we sell, peopally have to see and touch or try on and with not being lele to allow pein the store, it is really difficult. So, we used to have a good Online Presence and use to sell a couple years ago online, but we closed that site down because amon and our brands hastarted selling through their own sites so it kind of cut that business out for us. Do you feel you can implement social distancing within your store . Very easily. Our store is about, the sales floor is probably about 6500 square feet and there is plenty of room social distance. And all e departments. Tina, you have applied for a paycheck protection loan but you have not yet received it. Whathasort of ships have you experienced due to this lack of funding . Certainly, number one priority was my employees. Th are the reason that the bookstore is what it is and so being able to do this has been tantamount so that is where priorities have gone and now that we are reopening we are getting those employees back into the store, but even though they will remain on the payroll until we are 100 normal. Deborah, you have received a loan. Have you been able to bring back any of your employees . I have been able to bring back, i believe four of my ful tiployees. I have offered to rehire several others and they are making up their mind whether or not they want to come back. And i rely, there are strict rules with the paycheck ti prot program so i really have to know from them pretty soon whether they are coming back him otherwise im going hire somewhere else. And, what is thabhesitation t coming back . There receiving unemoyment plus the 600 a week and k i that is a big incentive for them to not come ck because a lot of them were part time employees. So, they are making more money right w on unemployment than they were when they were working. Tina, i heard you a gree yes. None omine have ne there at the end, selecting unemployment at this time. However, it is that catch 22 with you have to keep them on the payroll in order to have the loan forgiven buyet, you are paying them without having the loan you know, it is like how do yomake that work . Not all of us havea Strong Reserve of cash where we can wait for the loan. How much longer do you feel you can go if business does not open up quickly and you do not get the loan . I can go another i y would 23 months. But, that is about all i can handle. Before i have toclose the doors for good. How much has it been a personal struggle in this decision to reopen, weighing the cost of Public Health and risks to your own health or employees health with the need to reopen financially . That is where the rub is so u to speak where know that your employees want to work, they want to come back and employees want tobe engaging with the customers and the customers want us to open our doors again so of course we want tobe safe so we are looking at all the work space and making sure that we have ings place to keep us and them safe and then hopefully brinus all of that together in a way that is positive and supportive and helps us moving forward. Is a Small Business how would you rate the governors handling of the i was very pleased in the beginning with the way he was handling it. Now, the last week or two, i wish you would be a little, opening us up a little more. I think there are a lot of busiatsses like mine could easily follow rules to social distance and have everybody be safe but still have them be able to come into the store. So, i wish that would op. A little faster than it looks, yes. Tina, what about you, your though on the governors response . I 100 agree. I think that having some real solid guidelines would be helpful. Just saying you can open and ever but he thinkswe are opening our doors so people are calling and it is like no, we are not open. Are just doing curbside. It is difficult to explain to people. I wish we could have people the store again. We can only have a certain number of people in time. It is not like we have many people in the store. Al could easily sodistance to keep people safe. Deborah with sonoma outfitters, thank you both so much for being with us. Thanks. Next week is the start of a Film Festival for Asian American media, caamfest. They have helped screenings in the bay area celebrating Asian American storytelling, but because of thpandemic they decided to shift the entire 10 day festival online. Starting next week they will roll out more than 20 free digital programs from discussions with filmmakers to Live Performances and watch parties, showcasing the diversity and creativity of asian stamerican arwith a theme of heritage at home and is able to experiment that may also point to a future of engaging audiences wherever they are. Joininme is thdirector of the festival. Thank you for being with me. So, due to the virus you have had to pivot like many others. What made you decide to hold onthe festival anyway ne rather than canceling like some musical festivals . At first, we d not know. I think we were trying to figure out how the world is evolving. And, you know started to see so much isolation from the audience members itand comm and that need for a connection of a festival seemed so important and at the same time, we saw all this antiasian is a heritage month and it is important that we come together, even moif ly or even from our own houses and celebrate Asian American heritage and the history re in thu. S. You felt like you had to bring people together particularly in the light of the antiAsian American discrimination which as yos say been on the rise since the pandemic began. Well your festival directly address this . Absolutely. We have 70 programs that really focus on not only telling stories but also using the festival as a space for lk discussion to about these issues and all of our q every program that we have will have a live component whether it is a musician, filmmaker, and this is going to be something we talk about throughout the entirety o festival. The Asian American artists about this concern in this era, and this time . I think it is scary. I think a lot of people are not only scared for their own jobs, for their own personal lives, but to th go out in public and have that fear, that something might happen, is something that i know is really impacting the mental stability of the Asian American community right now. Lets turn to the Film Festival itself, and the films that you have selected. Lets talk about the opening and closing night films. How did you oose them . For us, as i talkabout wanting a festival that is in the spirit of our normal festival and have really fun celebratory films, things people can escape with and be entertained by. Both the opening and closings are musicals. The opening night, i will make s you mine directed by lynn chen. What i love is it is a third in a trilogy of feature fians. For me, as soone who is in Asian American cinema, i have seen films have trilogies, that is prettyamazing. It is a really beautiful film. Our closinflis fruit this is a film shot in San Francisco 10 years ago so it is a 10 year anniversary, it is ona sing one of my favorite filmmakers, h. P. Mendoza, is making this unique and the two of us have talked about how we can use the online space for new ways of being creative and interacting with audiences. Im excited for ople to check that out. Fruit fly looks at what it means to be asian and gay in the mission district. You look at politics also. You ha two documentaries, what did yo learn frthese that could be applied to the 2020 election cycl one of them, first vote, what i love about it, it really explores Asian American american republicans, and it does it in a nuanced thoughtful way, where it is not black or whthe, this or , it really looks at the values and goals of both sides. Te you find these sting parallels and also things that separate us. Also wi she coulbe next, what is great about it is the director is chronicling not only Asian Americans in Political Office but other women of color and i think usfo o be great Asian Americans we also want to be really connecting and collaborating with other communities of color, so that is a great project that shows you as a movement, so many Amazing Things happening in potics. Since the time you have been involved with the festival, 20 years overall, this is your as 10th year a director. The representation of power of Asian Americans has certainly grown. Do you feel that the voice of the Asian American has changed in the media and in the portrayal as well during that i time . Anwhat ways . I definitely think so. If you lookat the percentage of Asian American representation ontv, it is getting closer to maybe 810 , which if you look 10 years ago was not there. D, what i love about films and in other spaces, is not only are there Asian Americans in fro the camera, but also behind the camera. What that took was not only hollywood, but a lot of amazing filmmakers, behind the scenes, through decades, woing on their craft and coming to a int where they are directing, producing, doing those things. And you can see in a film hatha Asian Americans, the ones that really connect, you can tell there iaare also americans behind it because it feels more authentic or has more of a sense of personal. In you that what you are doing here, going online, is the future of Film Festivals . Certainly, there are things that are gained and lost. I hope after all of this happens, that all of the festivals including us do not gotostraight back what we did in the past. I think we need to evolve. And, doing stuff line, and putting stuff in peoples homes is really exciting. After the anxiety of it all, there has been fun in creating ways to okay, now we can connect this way and th way and we can have surprises here and there. So, i hope we continue to do stuff online. But, hopefully it is both, cause for me, someone who love cinema, i love the future, i hope that can get to a point where the communities can, together and celebrate stories together. The caamfest director, than you for joining us this evening. You can catch the performances, discussions and films at this years caamfest. Thstival kicks off next wednesday, may 13. As always, you can find more coverage at kqed. Org kqed newsroom pretty can reach me through my ndsocial media. Thank you for joining us. Stay safe. Robe an economy and a presidency on the edge. His is worse than pearl harbor and the world trade center. Robert the soaring jobless rates stokes fear about a Great Recession or depression. Under pressure and ahead of the fall campaign, President Trump pushes to reopen the country and shes back on guidance from the c. D. C. Are Health Experts being sidened . I think everything should be based on scice and not vary who was makinhis decision . G and robert plus, the justice