California turned into the first state in the country to pass a law denying public schools from using the expression “Redskins” as a team name or mascot. Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday endorsed the measure excepting the term’s utilization that numerous Native Americans discover hostile yet vetoed a different measure that would have barred public properties from being named after people connected with the Confederacy. As of Jan. 1, 2017, every single public school will be barred from using the expression “Redskin,” which numerous Native Americans consider a racial slur. The measure by Luis Alejo will permit schools that utilization…
Sweeping new laws ramping up in 2021 will force California businesses to offer employees more help to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, including measures on disclosure of workplace infections, on healthcare and wage replacement, and on job-protected leave to care for sick family members.
For state lawmakers, 2020 “was a year that started out with lots of aspirational plans,” said Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center. “But it became a year about saving lives.”
What with legislators’ personal COVID-19 scares and Capitol shutdowns, “leadership basically asked us to kill any bill that wasn’t COVID-related,” said Heath Flora (R-Ripon) vice chair of the Assembly’s Labor and Employment Committee.