The California state budget passed in June held good news for almost no one, but for the more than 35,000 elderly and disabled citizens who rely on the state's Adult Day Health Care Program (ADHC), the final word from Sacramento was particularly dire. Praised across party lines as an effective, innovative and far less expensive alternative to institutionalized care, the Adult Day Health Care Program provides frail individuals suffering from a range of chronic conditions with medical and supportive services, usually in the very communities in which they live.
In November, Californians voted a second time to remove elected representatives from the redistricting process, or the drawing of electoral boundaries. Voters gave that authority to a newly formed Citizens Redistricting Commission.
Some leading homeless advocates think it is, and they've convinced five supervisors to place a measure on the November ballot that would effectively repeal Care Not Cash. Jane Kim, Eric Mar, David Campos, John Avalos and Ross Mirkarimi all support a measure that is now being called the Fair Shelter Initiative.
It’s been an eventful year in the movement to legalize same sex marriage. Last year Judge Vaughn Walker ruled California’s Prop 8 unconstitutional. Then late last month, New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation allowing same sex couples there to marry. And just last week, Rhode Island authorized civil unions. All this against the backdrop of the imminent repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the launch of the It Gets Better video campaign and the first ever Gallup poll to show a majority of Americans supporting same sex marriage.
