Governor unveiled a revised state budget that calls for steep ts to Public Schools and a pay cut for state workers. California is facing a budget deficit of 84 billion due to declining tax revenues and soaring job losses. Also, california state senators returned to sacramento with two innovative relief packages that would help people stay in their homes. Meanwhile, House Democrats are proposing a 3 trillion round of federal aid despite opposition from the white house and nate republicans. Joining us are the kqed Senior Editor of politics, scott shafer, and rrespondent risa lagos. Thanks for being here. It has been all about the benjamins this week, whether we are talking the state or the federal level. Talk about the heroes act, which is the democrats new to 3 trillion proposal for Coronavirus Relief what compromises would need to be made for this fifth Coronavirus Relief package to actually become a reality . I think in fact, it may never become a reality and democrats in the house generally know that. This is something that republicans have opposed in terms of the details. Even within the democratic caucus, there are disagreements about how much of that 3 trillion should go to individuals versus to local government, state and county governments, cities as well. So, there is money in there as well as 25 billion for the post office, which President Trump says he does not want. There is money to fund an all male election, or a vote by mail election. They dont want that. So, this is a couple examples of things that republicans do not want but there are democrats who, as i said, are unhappy about things in their own package. The progressives have said they will not vote for this particular bill. This is a starting point, right mark these are sort of the Christmas Tree wish list. I think it is a negotiation tactic by pelosi. On the left flank of the party they would like to see this go further. I think that they, the head of the progressive caucus has a bill that she wanted pelosi to fold in that was going to give more direct aid to workers in the attempt to avoid more layoffs and one of the paycheck protection programs, i think among the more centrist democrats, they want to see provisions that would essentially what a lot of these programs that have already been passed like the 600 a week in employment money, phaseout, depending on the economy. Right now there is a cliff of where that ends on july 31. But, there is going to be pressure from both blue and. States on these issues especially the direct aid to government. I do think that, you know, pelosi wanted to get this out there and show what she wanted and where she wanted to start these talks and i am not ready to say it is going to go one where the other yet because things seem to change so quickly in washington and i think there will be political pressure on those senators like mitch mcconnell, who do not want to play ball right now. Whats talk about the state of california government and state budget. The governor has come out with his revised budget proposal, 20 million less than the 222 billion while we were flush, the largest ever, now we are staring at a 54 billion deficit. Scott, describe for us where the cuts are coming from. The good news is, unlike the last great recession, california was in good shape and page down its debt. A lot of the debt going into this budget year, the year began with about 5. 5 billion in surplus, there is about 16 billion in the Rainy Day Fund. All of those things will cushion the blow and that is really good news. In addition, he is going to have to scale back and basically eliminate the 6 billion in Program Enhancements that were in his january budget, things that we things that he wanted to do around housing, climate change, and so on, that the money is just not there. There will also be internal rrowing, shifting of money from the tobacco tax to pay for medicaid. There is going to be federal money, about 8 billion already allocated by the federal government to help with costs related to the pandemic. And then, there is also, not a that would be suspended for it some time to create several billion dollars in revenue and so those are the Broad Strokes of what is in there and he will stretch this out. He is not going to drain the Rainy Day Fund this year or not anext, he wants to stretch that out over three years and hope the economy improves more quickly than some fear it will. So, i think they are also trying to learn from the last time by not just eliminating programs, but rather by scaling back the increase or reducing funding in a way that these programs can be saved once the economy recovers or once the federal government comes through with money. I can also say that the governor is saying we can avoid a lot of these cuts right now if the federal government just sends us money. He is putting it on Donald Trumps doorstep. Teresa, the governor did not say taxes would go up, but you think that may change, and if so, what may trigger that change . I think not anytime soon. At a time when people are losing their jobs or struggling to stay in their homes, the last thing any governor wants to do, republican or democrat, is asking for taxes. There is a ballot measure that would raise billions of dollars for state programs, it is not being run by the state, it is run by labor unions. It would roll back some of those provisions of the prop 13 property taxes so that commercial properties can see their taxes go up. I think the governor is hoping that has passed, he has not endorsed it yet, but it is too early for the conversation. Theyre going to try to paper this over and see what happens at the federal level both with the legislation we discussed in the worst, with the election in november which could completely change the dynamic nationally and in the state of california. Scott, state senators have proposed a 25 billion rental assistance package. How did they arrive at the number, and what is in the package . There was a study that shows there are 17 million renters in california and half of them struggle to pay their rent. So, when this pandemic it obviously there was concerned that, and already bad, almost problem would be made worse by people not being able to pay their rents and landlords kicking them out. So, the governor issued a moratorium on evictions, but a lot of people thought that did not go far enough because renters would still be on the hook for back pay. So, what theyre now saying is why dont we if landlords will not cooperate, say that we will give them a longterm tax break in exchange for forgiving that rent, and then renters will agree to pay the state the rental over the course of about a decade without interest. So, you would have to have landlords willing to play ball on that. Not all of them will and of course, they dont have to but the idea is to keep as many people in their homes as possible. Lets turn to unemployment. Im hearing estimates from 20 25 unemployment projected in california. In the past, high in employment has tended to create political change. Do you expect the same to happen here . You know, i think this is such an unprecedented moment. We went from the budget surplus, the lowest unemployment in history to what might be the highest unemployment in history overnight. I think this is going to depend on a lot of factors including what happens with the coronavirus testing, with contact tracing, with therapies and vaccines, some of which are out of the hands of state and local leaders, right . And i think that it is really going to depend on how voters view this. Like, right now you have seen new cement be very popular. He is taking charge and having daily press conferences. There is a lot of anger on the left at donald trump. This has become a partisan issue but in California Democrats or leaning democrats when you add in the nonpartisan voters, are really the vast majority. Republicans do not have a lot of power here. I do not anticipate that upending clinical life here, but i do think that it could have a huge impact on what happens nationally in november, and that of course would have an impact on the state budget, and therefore the governors political fortunes. Lets talk about the gop which had a couple of congressional wins in wisconsin in california, the first time that the house repuican seat has flipped in california since 1998. Scott, can you tell me, is this a harbinger of growing republican strength of that we can witness in the general election . Probably not. Off year elections, this was a special election at an odd time, they tend to favor republicans. In november, when they will face f again, mike garcia will be the incumbent and kristi smith lost this week. They will go at it again in november, and the electorate in a president ial election will be very different. There will be much more democratic but, that said, mike garcia is a good candidate for this district. This is a district where Edwards Air Force base is. He is also latino, the son of mexican immigrants. He is a good candidate for this district. Which, Hillary Clinton one, but you know, beat donald trump by seven points, but gavin newsom who won easily statewide only one this district by two points. It is a very purple district. So, while it is not necessarily mean the republicans are going to hold onto it in november, theyre going to have to work to get it back, because it does have a history of electing republicans. Scott shafer and teresa lagos, thank you so much. This week, more than a dozen transit agencies joined bart to ask congress for 43 billion in additional aid for Public Transportation. Art alone is facing a 600 million deficit. As ridership on trains is down more than 90 . Bay area transit agencies are getting more than 1 million from the first round of federal relief, approved in march. The next big challenge, assuring commuters that it is safe to use the buses, trains, and ferries when the region eventually reopens. Joining me from berkeley is transportation editor dan brekke. Thanks for having me. One of the perks of the pandemic is that traffic has been much lighter, but a recent study out of vanderbilt suggests once the shelter in place lifts traffic will come roaring back and it will be a heavy congestion situation. What you see occurring . That is the big question, the study does suggest that if people stay off of transit the way they are now that we are going to see terrible traffic on the road. And anecdotally, you hear a lot of people saying, im not going to go back on heart, im not going to go back on muni because i do not feel comfortable doing it. The impact of that could be anywhere from a commute that is 1040 minutes longer each way depending on how many people abandoned transit. That is significant, 1040 minutes. Imagine how bad your commute is now. The metropolitan Transportation Commission already says that we have got 1718 hours per day of solid congestion, leading to the bay bridge on the San Francisco side and that will become worse. Twitter announced that many employees could continue to work from home permanently. Telecommuting is the wildcard here. Pull out your crystal ball, how much do you see a need and desire for people together in person in the coming months . Listen, every enterprise including hours at kqed, there is a huge benefit to in office collaboration, and those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been pushed all over the bay area and beyond. We have people at kqed for instance who are working from humboldt county, so you know, it is hard to say that is a big benefit to the companys, but the thing is, it does make people safer, it keeps them apart at a time when we are dealing with a very infectious disease. It is just very hard to know how much that is going to continue, or how broadly, but planning for transit, the situation makes it almost impossible for the agencies to guess what is going to happen over the next year or two. These agencies have seen significant decreases in their ridership. Golden gate transit, caltrain, bart muni have seen their rirship dropped by 90 or more. What does recovery look like as we come out of shelter in place . It is going to be a long, slow recovery. Bart had a meeting yesterday where the best Case Scenario is just to have 10 of the previous ridership in the coming year. So, the other agencies are dealing with similar pictures, where it is reduced ridership and also greatly reduced revenues because fewer fares been collected and much lower taxes that support these services. Because of this lowered revenue, bart and other transit agencies are asking for 33 billion in additional funding on top of the 25 billion they already got. What happens if they dont get this funding in the next few months . Reporter if they dont get the funding, i think there is no doubt we are going to see massive layoffs in some of these agencies. One of the plans put forward with bart, and it would be a worstCase Scenario where trains are only running every 60 minutes or Something Like that, more than 1000 workers out of the 3500 they have could be laid off. I think that is what they are facing if there is no further federal aid. And, really at this point the federal government is, which is us, we are paying the taxes, the federal gornment is really the only recourse for most of these agencies. Many of us have been on a crowded train platform or bus. It is hard to see that happening in an age of social distancing. What sorts of measures are agencies thinking about to put into place to continue some form of social distancing as we come out of shelter in place . It probably will not be as strict as right now because they will not be able to fit that many people on the trains and buses. That is one thing to have to figure, what loads they can carry to maintain the is a call distancing. So, that is the first challenge, but i think they also really have to reassure the public in every way possible but it is safe to get on the trains and buses and ferries. What does that mean . That means really raising their games in terms of cleaning, and terms of really policing what is going on on the vehicles. And, and that is going to be a big challenge. For instance, in barts case, there is an extra 75 million line item for the coming year to pay for all the cleaning to make people feel safe. Ry lets turn to equity. You know, Public Transportation is one of the few places in society where all segments interact, at least it had been. As this crisis has gone on, we have seen that peoplewith more money were able to switch to telecommuting more easily. Will this lead Public Transit agencies to move their planning to have more transit dependent ridership in their focus . I think agencies like muni especially have been rely thinking about this hard, about how to maintain this core of service for people who really do not have any option. They are also focusing on essential workers, and essential workers are not just professionals ordoctors or Something Like that, they are all the people we have been hearing about, frontline workers at the grocery stores, custodians, security guards, and all the rest. And so yes, i think that you can expect to see a renewed focus on how to maintain service for those folks, but i think it is also going to lead to a period where we really try to look at solutions to make transportation, Public Transit, more accessible to people who are having a tough time making ends meet. Thank you so much for joining us. You are welcome. As the pandemic closures drag on, bay area museums are scrambling to stay solvent. Art museums have closed their doors, covered paintings, and turned out the lights. Other institutions have a core team caring for animals and other living exhibits. All are facing significant budget shortfalls and by some industry estimates, one third of all museums natiwide will not be able to afford to reopen. Joining me to discuss the future of bay area museums is the director and scott samson, the director of Academy Department of science is. Thank you for joining me. Thank you. Scott, lets start with you, tell me about your plans for reopening. What will visitors experience when they come to the cal academy in the coming months . If you reopen then . Well, of course of the post covid world is going to be different than the precovid world. And our First Priority of course is to make a safe experience for visitors and for our staff. We are going to be looking at time entry to prevent overcrowding, with the Team Gathering sizes and closing up our theater for example, our planetarium, at least to start, building on the cleaning and sanitation practices and actually, we see a threea three phase opening with limited capacity and we will lose the high touch areas and then go to phase 2 where we will keep social distancig and finally phase 3 where we hope to go back to effective normal that exists anymore. When are you hoping to launch phase 1 . We are hopeful of opening july 1, but that is going to depend on state and local mandates from Public Health officials and we are going to be monitoring all of that very closely. J, what are your plans for reopening the Asian Art Museum . What changes will visitors see . At the asian museum, our visitors are stuck at home, so i encourage everyone to check out the offerings on the website and the wonderful progms. Right now we are turning our museum into a Virtual Museum and launching Virtual Program so when we can open the physical museum to the public, we want to encourage the businesses to do the same, and once they are outside, we will ensure social distancing and full sanitation stations, and also we encourage everyone to wear masks. Our store will carry beautiful products and we encourage people to load up the app so you can avoid getting close to the labels when you are reading the background information. We want to find a balance between experience and safety. Right now, we are planning to open the museum on july 3, but we will be nimble. We want to make sure that fety is first. Scott, how are you planning for social distancing, and how many people will be able to come to the museum daily compared to what it was pre covid . It is amazing. We are an institution of science, so it is not surprising that we approach that problem scientifically, so we started by assuming that everyone needed six foot social distancing and if a person is a foot wide, that means you need a circle seven feet in diameter. We took the total Square Footage of 185,000 square feet, both indoor and outdoor public space, and we calculated how many of these seven foot diameter circles we could fit in. That gives us sort of the maximum number that we can fit in with social distancing and then we calculate how many waves of those folks we can have over the course of the day to give us some sense about how many people we can expect. I have been to the museum with my kids, the indoor rain forest is a favorite. You also have some handson interactive exhibits in your Natural History space, how are there is going to change . Yeah, we are going to take some of the handson natural exhibit theaexhibits offline to start. And then, we will ensure, we are looking at things like, is it possible to create oneway traffic so people are not passing each other . So, throughout, we are going to limit the number of touch points people have, physical touch points, and these opportunities for getting within the six feet of somebody else. J, i would like to talk to a little bit about how you are transitioning, and you are doing this actually before covid started, to have more outdoor exhibits. Thank you. Last week was very poignant because we plan to open our expanded and transform the museum to the public. Of course, this plan will need to be postponed and possibly next spring, but may i say that we were planning, we were almost ahead of the curve in the sense that we are turning the Museum Inside out it what do i mean by that . What i mean is that we are turning the museums walls into galleries but at the street level, there will be an art mural by an Asian American artist and there will be a wonderfl mural by another Asian American artist to be designed and built from outside. And on top of that, we have actually, maybe the larges outdoor art installation in the bay area from the street. Scott, lets talk about your virtual offerings, which you expanded during this time. How have those been received . It has been remarkable interval for us. We have 40,000 live animals on sites that are being taken care of every day. We have given people access to those animals through a live animal webcams. We have virtual exhibits and scientific collections. We have live stream to chats with scientists and created this entity called academy at home, where, whether you are a parent or a teacher, you can download activities, learning activities to do with kids that relate to nature. We are really promoting citizen science, getting people out into nature. Of course, safely and socially distanced. But, interacting with them and connecting with a natural world. So, in the post covid world, we anticipate keeping these online offerings expanding on a regular basis. J, how has your online offering changed, and how is it being received . Our online offering has been dramatically increased. Not only are we engaging the visual artist but also performing artists and not only the artist about the works in our collection, but also live demonstrations of cooking and as well as meditation. I think that art is always the substance by which humankind comes together. We will continue our Online Engagement is essential for everything going forward. J and scott, would like to ask you both very quickly, just before we go, you know, there is funding that is going to be difficult. Covid has punched a hole in your budgets and operations. You rely not only for the ticket sales, but also on outside funding and donations. What a argumentative do you have for why your museum should continue receiving funding and donations . The asiamuseum we engage people for generations. But, particularly from age 12. May i also say in the live of asian richesathey are taking a leadership role in combating that. So, the investment in the asian museum is on the way in helpg us come together during covid 19 and combating antiasian racism and what we are all up against. I need to move on to scott, scott, your argument for keeping the museum funded . Covid19 and species extinctions, and the Climate Crisis have one thing in common, a broken relationship between humans and the natural world. You could make an argument that the most pressing question facing humanity right now is how we sform the way that we interact with nature. So, the academy, which sits at the interface between people in nature, is ideally situated to be a profound influence on this conversation. We have been developing new strategies that are all about integrating people in th natural world, and helping people to see the intimate and inextricable connections that all of us have with nature. So, we are excited about carrying that strategy forward and becoming ever more relevant in the post covid world. Scott simpson with the academy of science and jason hsu with the Asian American museum of San Francisco. Thank you both. As alwaysyou can find more coverage at kqed and kqed. Org. You can reach me through my social media handle. We are off next week, we will see you in 2 weeks. Stay safe. Captioning sponsored by wnet sreenivasan on this edition for sunday, may 15 more stay at home orders are lifted and businesses start to reopen. Concerns over covid19 as pipeline construction continues. And childrens literary titles reimagined for pandemic times. Next on pbs newshour weekend. Pbs newshour weekend is made possible by bernard and irene schwartz. Sue and Edgar Wachenheim iii. The cheryl and Philip Milstein family. Rosalind p. Walter. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Chle
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