Good evening. And welcome to kqed newsroom. Im thuy vu. Scott shafer is off today. Were focusing on high profile local ballot measures and state propositions. In november, voters in some bay area cities will decide whether to tax cigarettes and raise the minimum wage. Proposition 45 could determine how Health Insurance rates are set, property fix would raise the ceiling on damages on medical malpractice suits. Joining me to break it down are Andrew Stelzer, kqed news reporter, lisa aliferis, kqed blog editor. And april dembosky, kqed health reporter. Lets start with prop 45. What would that do . It would give the state insurance commissioner the ability to reject excessive increases for Health Insurance. Right now, the commissioner doesnt have the ability to do that. He mainly regulates property insurance, home insurance, auto insurance. And so this proposition would give him the power to help insurers want to raise rates to a point he thinks will be too much for consumers, he wants to be able to say no. There is controversy over this. What are critics saying about this and who are they . This erupted into a kind of war over who gets to oversee Health Insurance. The original idea for this proposition, they wanted to put it on the ballot two years ago, and what happened in the meantime is that the federal Affordable Care act has been passed and covered california, state agency came into being to implement the Affordable Care act in california. Theyre the main agency that is pretty concerned about this because they have their own power to negotiate rates with Health Insurers and theyre afraid that if this proposition passes, it is going to compromise their ability to do that. And one of the big problems with that would be that coverage in california needs to set rate or negotiate rates in advance of the open enrollment when consumers sign up for insurance. And the federal subsidies that consumers can get are set according to the Second Lowest rate silver tier plan. So there is this possibility, although although people i talked to say it is a slim possibility, but there is a possibility that we would not know the rates going into open enrollment and would not know those subsidies in advance. Lets talk also about proposition 46. Thats that has three parts, rather complex. It is very complex. And under the california system, each proposition has to be one topic. And so the proponents have put this under the umbrella of patient safety. The proponent is bob pack, and it actually the proposition was inspired by very sad story, bob packs children, they were 10 and 7, were out for a walk with their mother in danville, and a driver who was under the influence of prescription narcotics veered off the road and hit and killed the two children, very, very sad story. And so what bob pack wants to do, he quit his job in tech, he set out to build a database for the state that would house all of these prescriptions for narcotics. And so proposition 46, the first part of it would require doctors to check the database before prescribing a narcotic to a new patient. The other part of it that really made bob pack upset is that he wanted to sue the doctors after this happened, who had prescribed these drugs. And he couldnt. He went to several doctor im sorry, he went to several lawyers and they all turned him down. They said, the problem is there is a cap in california on damages for pain and suffering. The limit is 250,000, not Cost Effective for us, were not going to take your case. Bob pack wants to change that too. He said it should at least that rate was set in 1975, it should be brought up to the level of inflation, he wants it to be 1. 1 million. And then the third element is random drug testing for doctors. Random drug testing of doctors. So this wasnt part of the original plan, but it did get added as the committee considered. It polled very well with voters. So they thought that might be a good way to kind of attract attention to it. And so basically their argument around that is, you know, so many other professionals and safety sensitive positions already have to do this, pilots, bus drivers, why shouldnt doctors have to do it . They want to implement rand random drug testing of doctors and within 12 hours after some kind of adverse event, if somebody dies at hospital or some serious injury, they want to bring the doctor back to see if they may have been under the influence. Both propositions polled very well, 45 and 46. But in the past two months, both suffered double digit declines. What happened . Thats right. You know, it is hard to say, because when pollers do their work, they dont exactly ask, you know, if you supported it before, how come you changed your mind . What i will say is that prop 46, there is a Huge Campaign against it. The people against it are out spending the proponents 101. It is possible that some of their messages have been getting through. I would say similar with prop 45. There is not as much spending but the groups that opposed to it have been very successful in getting their message out to the media. Okay. It is worth noting about a third of voters are still undecided in both those polls. Okay. So this is why were doing this, to get the message out there and let people be informed and make up their minds. I want to also turn to a couple of local measures now that also have to do with health issues. And, lisa, on the ballot in berkeley and San Francisco, what would the measures do and how would the money be used . So theyre very similar and they have distinct differences in San Francisco it would be two cents an ounce on any sugar sweetened beverage, not just soda, in berkeley, it is only one penny per ounce. In San Francisco, the money would be earmarked specifically to be spent on Health Programs, Children Health programs. And the it requires a twothirds majority to pass. In berkeley, there is a statement that the goal would be to spend it on Health Programs and there is a drive to create a panel that would advise the city how to spend that money. But it is not specifically dedicated to Health Programs. There is a desire to spend it on Health Programs and that would be it needs only a majority to pass, 50 plus one vote. This has been tried before, in richmond and el monte, in southern california. It failed. Not only did it fail, it failed resoundingly. It was overwhelmingly rejected. I know you covered it when the richmond measure came up a couple of years ago. I was covering in richmond and what i found when i was talking to voters before the election, they felt like they didnt want to be told what they could eat and drink by the government was put on the ballot, by the City Government. So remains to be seen what happens in berkeley or San Francisco. But it may come down to are they more angry at the Soda Companies for possible Health Consequences of soda or more angry at City Government for making laws about what they can eat and drink and how much it should cost. So, lisa, who is more angry . Certainly there is a the advocates are certainly pushing hard in berkeley and in San Francisco, and the soda industry is the Beverage Association is spending significantly in these cities as they did in richmond and el monte. Theyre spending nearly a Million Dollars to try to defeat the local measures here. Is there reliable data out there showing that there is a direct link between soda consumption and Health Problems . And how much a soda tax might help the situation . So calories from sugary beverages are pretty substantial in the american diet. And there was a study done by ucfs looking at what a penny per ounce soda tax would do if implemented nationally. Thats not when weat were tal about here. These are modest changes. There would be it is estimated it was modeled 15 drop in consumption of sugary beverages and that would correspond to a drop in the modest changes in weight, and that would correlate to saving of 26,000 lives over ten years, or avoiding premature death as they like to say. I want to also move on now to another measure on the San Francisco ballot, also in oakland as well. And that has to do with increasing the minimum wage. So what are the two proposals in San Francisco and oakland, and what would they do in. So both San Francisco and oakland voters will be deciding whether to raise the minimum wage to 12. 25 immediately. They would both then continue to rise over the next few years, eventually getting to at least 15 an hour. And that 15 is the magic number we have been watching this National Campaign over the past couple of years, cities across the country are starting to increase the minimum wage, you saw in seattle. This is also a funded effort, reportedly spent 10 million across the country to get the faces and stories of fast food workers out there, to kind of change the public conversation around the minimum wage. So San Francisco and oakland on the ballot, but we also have berkeley and richmond, which have raised their wage, emeryville is talking about it, so the whole region right now is in the midst of what seems like a raise a rise. There hasnt been recent polling done earlier this year, they polled both oakland and San Francisco, seems like voters support it, the city council is in both cities and seem to believe it will pass. There is some mild resistance from the restaurant owners, but chambers of commerce largely are sitting this out, or in the past they said minimum wage cant go up, otherwise well be laying off too many people and it will be bad for the economy. Now theyre kind of relying on that. Also i want to ask you, the 15 an hour amount, does that is that something that works for every community . Why is that a blanket amount being thrown out there . Why they chose it is a good question. I dont know why they chose it. Whether it works for everyone, i dont think it probably would. I talked to some economists at uc berkeley who say this piecemeal approach being criticized by some opponents saying we just shouldnt be doing this city by city, we need to do it at a state level, and four other states have minimum wage increases on their ballots, what they told me at uc berkeley is that actually piecemeal, region wide, makes sense, because the cost of living in San Francisco is not the same as fresno. So perhaps we should have not city by city, but region by region minimum wage increases and perhaps the state will go states going up to 10 in 2016, maybe that will be the floor and then localities will do their own increase. Okay. Very interesting. Thank you, all, for bringing us up to speed on the various measures. Lisa aliferis, Andrew Stelzer and april dembosky. And you will find extensive election coverage at kqednews. Org. Continuing our election coverage now, we turn to Silicon Valley where ro khanna is challenging seventerm incumbent mike honda in the 17th Congressional District. Both candidates are democrats. The race has attracted political interest nationwide. A battle pitting the old guard against the new. Honda has been a reliable vote for civil rights and labor causes. He has the support of the Democratic Party establishment. Governor jerry brown and congresswoman nancy pelosi have endorsed him. Khanna is a lawyer, stanford professor and former trade official under president obama. Hes a big booster of technology and counts some of silicons valley tech leaders among his spo supporters including Sheryl Sandberg and eric schmidt. Khanna sat down earlier with rachel myro to discuss what sets him apart from honda. Well, ro khanna, welcome to newsroom. Thank you for having me on. Youre an intellectual property lawyer and professor at stanford, why do you want to get into politics . Ive been interested from a young age. I was born in philadelphia. When i was young, he would tell stories about his time there and it gave me an interest in human rights and the belief that politics could make a real difference in peoples lives and countries and shape things. Much as the mike Honda Campaign tried to paint you as more conservative than he is, you really are both progressive democrats with very similar positions on a number of policy issues. Why should voters essentially dump the seven term incumbent with seniority on many congressional committees to go for a newby . Well, as the mercury news said, congressman honda, they called him irrelevant on the policy issue and it is because of the effectiveness. If you look at the congressmans record, in 14 years, hes passed only one bill, the renaming of a post office. Hes now no longer showing up and missing votes and thats why the mercury news San Francisco chronicle have called for change. And it is because he hasnt been willing to ever get a republican cosponsor. Hasnt been willing to build coalition. And i think it is time for more effective pragmatic leadership and thats why many of the papers and folks have been calling for change. Well, lets break apart that answer now. First, the endorsements, as you mentioned, you have the San Francisco chronicle and the San Jose Mercury news enthusiastically endorsing you and reminding voters by republishing trying hard. Theyre trying hard. Theyre supporting you. And yet mike honda has the Democratic Party establishment all the way up to president barack obama, supporting him, and not just in terms of endorsements, but helping to fundraise for his effort. Does it worry you that youre going up against your own Party Establishment . I dont think the president has ever fundraised for him, but he certainly has the endorsement. We have a lot of democrats supporting us too. Gavin newsom, steve wesley, a lot of mayors. And ultimately endorsements arent going to decide the election. What is going to decide the election is who is more effective for the district, who is going to get something done. When ive been campaigning across the district, people feel like there is a frustration with congress. Congress, the turnover rate in congress, 4 , is less than european nobility. And these werent ever designed to be lifetime estates. And folks want more pragmatic leadership, people get something done. And thats why i think were going to win the election, just like seth molten beat a long time incumbent in massachusetts, i think youll see 50 to 100 new folks get elected this cycle. Gridlock certainly has been the number one headline out of washington, d. C. Congress has failed in many cases to pass things as basic as a budget. What kind of compromises are you willing to make to get republicans to cross the aisle and join you, passing things like immigration bills and the like . Thats a great question. Because there are areas where i will not compromise. Im on the board of planned parenthood, a strong believer in a womans right to choose. I believe in marriage equality, in religious pluralism, in global warming. So those are areas where i wont compromise. What i will do is always have try to get a republican cosponsor for legislation. It is something that congressman honda has not done. And i will look to find areas where we can cooperate, teaching coding in the classroom, getting women more opportunities in stem, figuring out how to bring advanced manufacturing back. These are not partisan areas. I think there has been a record of people like ann arbor being successful in building a coalition and i would take the same approach. You very successfully positioned yourself as the Silicon Valley candidate. And yet there are people in Congressional District 17 who are not part of Silicon Valley. What do you have to say to school teachers, retirees, some of those longterm unemployed who are not likely to get jobs with google and apple and oracle . What do you say to them about why youre their man . Thats a good question. And the fact is that technology is changing every field. You cant be drive a taxicab now without understanding how to operate uber. You cant be on a factory floor without knowing how to program a machine. We need to understand the jobs of the 21st century, whether youre an artist, lawyer, person working in manufacturing, is going to require new skills and a technological proficiency. So my agenda is very much to help create middle class jobs, but to figure out what are the skills were going to need in the 21st century to have those jobs. Mike honda led you in the primary by about 20 points. What do you think you can do in the next few weeks to turn that story around for the general election . Well, we always have been the underdog. We came from 3 in the polls where people would say, not who is ro khanna, but what is ro khanna. They now know a little bit more, that there is a contest. I think people are going to tune in. The debate that kqed is sponsoring on october 6th with nbc is going to be, i think, critical to have folks assess the differences. And ultimately when people look at the congressmans record and the effectiveness and they see who is going to bring change, who is going to get the job done, who is going to understand the economy, im confident that were going to prevail. Ro khanna, a pleasure talking with you today. I really appreciate the opportunity. Artist and human right activist ai weiweis exhibition at large debuts this weekend on alcatraz island. The chinese dissident has been a relentless critic of his own government, especially after shoddy School Construction was blamed for killing thousands of children in the 2008 sichuan earthquake. Some experts in the art world are calling the show unprecedented, the hottest ticket of the year. Kqeds mina kim goes behind the scenes to explore the shows medium and message. So much about this exhibit is different, beginning with how you get there, by ferry, to an island in the middle of San Francisco bay. Most of these passengers are going to tour the legendary former prison, alcatraz. Within its crumbling walls, they may stumble upon seven new works by superstar artist and chinese dissident ai weiwei. We came to see the process of installing one of the exhibits. This exhibit will take up an entire space. Entire space. There are more than 100 kites that comprise tes body of the dragon. Sheryl haines dreamed up the idea of bringing ais art to alcatraz three years ago. The artist was just released from an 81 day detention by chinesertpn authorities for all tax evasion. Ai supporters say it was more about suppressing his relentless criticism of chinas government. Really one of the baseline concepts of this exhibition is what is freedom, and as you walk through the various works, youll get a sense that this is a very central theme, very important idea that he is addressing here. Ai has been unable to leave china since 2011, after authorities confiscated his passport. Finding freedom within constraints is a worthy challenge, ai said, from his beijing studio. Still, his inability to leave the country is hard. Translator for an artist to be unable to see the venue and to be unable to interact with the audience, if i had to imagine the toughest restriction on an exhibition, that would be it. Ai weiwei conveyed the situation in this giant dragon kite, installed inside a building where prisoners once laundered uniforms for the army. It would be suspended above the viewer. It will be flying. It will be free. But it is also restricted within the building. So this is really interesting conversation between control and freedom. But what does it mean to be in prison . What is a prison . Howard levitt is Vice President of special projects for the National Parks service. For most visitors to alcatraz, this is probably the only prison theyre ever going to be close to. And so what thoughts are evoked when they come to a prison . And we felt that the ai weiwei exhibition would be an opportunity for visitors to explore those thoughts a little bit. The park service had to seek clearance from the u. S. State department to host one of the most vocal critics of chinas government on federal land. This is, by far, the biggest exhibition we have ever mounted on alcatraz. The challenges of bringing the work to alcatraz only add to the intrigue. The entire island is a historical site, without a power grid or a fresh water source. Translator we basically cannot touch the walls. We cannot touch anything. We cannot add anything. It is a hanging installation, like the prisoners themselves. It is only there for a period of time. This piece was shipped by barge, then pushed up a 13story hill. The five pound sculpture transformed solar collectors from tibet into a massive some of alcatrazs best known prisoners include chicago gangster al capone, or the england brothers who plotted a daring escape. Less known are the Political Prisoners held on the island during the time alcatraz was a military prison. Nicky phelps oversees visitor programs at alcatraz. During military prison era, around 1895, there was a group of hopy indian elders that were brought to alcatraz because they had refused to send their children to school under the armys direction. They wanted to raise their children in the hopy tradition. Ai references that history in this installation, a hopy chant echoes against the walls of a former psychiatric observation center. Here is the setting for the poetry and music of people imprisoned around the world for expressing their beliefs. The late musician who decried his position in nigeria and the group that decried russian president vladimir putin. I think we here try to discuss what the visiting public, the many faces of what freedom is, and how it can be taken away and how it is a precious personal right. In a piece titled trace, the faces of more than 175 dissidents are fashioned in legos, many are largely unknown. Ai wants to make them familiar. I confess, when i first started this project, none of these names, none of these people were familiar to me or most of them were not. And to have the opportunity to find out more about their lives and their personal stories has been deeply enriching. The exhibit includes biographies of these men and women being held in the middle east, africa, asia. And there is edward snowden, wanted for leaking classified u. S. Government documents, some consider him a patriot, others a traitor. Here visitors are being asked to write free addressed post cards to exiles and people ai deems prisoner a eers of conscience. San Francisco Museum of modern arts chad carver says ai walks a fine line. There is a huge debate in the art world now about who ai weiwei is in the sense that there is folks in the art world concerned hes too much of an activist and not enough of an artist. There is no doubt that ai benefits by being both. His activism has given him stardom that few other artists enjoy. His art work is in high demand and a staff of dozens implements his ideas. But will ais work affect change . Art done well has the ability to communicate viscerally issues that or to snake its way into us through beauty or through the way we view it that a straight demonstration or poster would never achieve. How will you respond . Will you write a postcard . Will you feel compelled to act . The show runs until april 26th. The exhibit at large opens saturday. There is no charge once you purchase the ferry ticket to the island, but due to the shows expected popularity, you may want to book your tickets at least a few weeks in advance. For more of about ai weiwei and alcatr alcatraz, go to kqed. Org ai. Next week, ill be joined by scott shafer. Im thuy vu. Have a good night. Funding for kqed arts, helping people build measurely better lives and the california arts council, a st im kristin chenoweth, and welcome to the pbs arts fall festival. This is the first of 11 weeks of fantastic performances. Tonight we present live from Lincoln Centers production of Stephen Sondheims musical thriller sweeney todd, Starring Academy awardwinner emma thompson. Heres live from Lincoln Centers host, my friend, audra mcdonald, to tell you more about it. Broadway awakened to a different kind of music. It was fierce, menacing, and filled with grisly humor and unsettling passions, very much like the times themselves. Who could forget the shriek of the factory whistle that first introduced us to sweeney todd the demon barber of fleet street. Sweeney has been celebrated for many things
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