Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/768762
ByJonathanJ.Cooper TheAssociatedPress SACRAMENTO AsCalifornialaw- makers return to Sacramento on Wednesday, liberal dreams of ex- panding safety-net benefits and providing health coverage to im- migrants are giving way to a new vision revolving around a fever- ish push to protect gains racked up in the past. After years of pushing forward a progressive agenda, legislative Democrats will be pushing back against conservative policies from President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Congress. Instead of expanding Medi- Cal health coverage to adult im- migrants who can't prove they're legally in the country, Democrats are now concentrating on how to retain health coverage for those who already have it. And anti-pov- erty groups are focused on pre- venting cuts to food stamp and welfare programs rather than try- ing to expand them as planned. "There is so much uncertainty at the federal level, because they're talking about some really drastic policy choices that could have a really negative impact on California," said Scott Graves, re- search director for the California Budget & Policy Center, a left- leaning research group. Last year was a particularly effective one for California liber- als. The Legislature extended the nation's most ambitious climate change programs, raised the min- imum wage to $15 and toughened gun laws. Lawmakers boosted overtime for farmworkers, ex- panded welfare benefits and en- acted a sweeping array of anti-to- bacco measures. This year had all the makings of continuing the trend. Demo- crats will arrive Wednesday with supermajorities in both chambers — enough to advance their own agenda without GOP interference if they stand united. Notably, though, Democrats took their first action as a su- permajority not to advance a con- tentious public policy objective but to send a message to Trump. Right after they took the oath of office last month, Democrats in the Assembly and Senate sus- pended legislative rules to imme- diately approve resolutions urg- ing the incoming administration to keep a program allowing hun- dreds of thousands of young im- migrants who are in the country illegally to stay. While the California Legisla- ture has broad authority to chart its own agenda, it relies signifi- cantly on federal dollars. Accord- ing to the state Department of Finance, California gets $96 bil- lion from the federal government, a figure almost as large as the state's $122 billion general fund. Those federal funds cover a massive share of the budget for health care, food stamps, welfare and other safety-net programs. Liberals are particularly wor- ried that the budget prepared by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R- Wisconsin, will lead to severe cuts in those programs through block grants or other methods of shift- ing responsibility to states, while also giving them more flexibility. "Block granting ... is just not what's in the best interests of the recipients of those programs," said Sen. Holly Mitchell, a Los POLITICS Legislature in defense mode with Trump Community.....A3 Opinion............A4 Lifestyles........A6 Sports..............B1 Business.........B3 Weather..........B6 INDEX Basketball tourney action be- gins Thursday for undefeated Corning vs. Yreka Miners; the finals are on Saturday. PAGEB1 BASKETBALL CorningCardinalsto host annual Shootout Five-day event later this month celebrates the jour- ney of waterfowl and raptors along Pacific Flyway. PAGE A6 LIFESTYLES Snow Goose Festival takes place in Chico Law enforcement wary of po- tential attacks as festive pa- rade under cloudy skies goes off without a hitch. PAGE A5 PASADENA Heavy police security at annual Rose Parade Bealer verdict Nearly three and a half years after the February 2013 murder of 14-year-old Marysa Nichols, family, friends and community members gathered in July to watch a sentence of 25 years to life with possibil- ity of parole handed down to Quentin Ray Bealer, 42. Judge Delbert Oros pre- sided over the nine-week trial in Sacramento where Bealer was found guilty on June 15 of first degree murder. He was charged with the mur- der of Nichols, the Red Bluff teen who went missing Feb. 26, 2013, with her body later found about a half mile from Red Bluff High School on Feb. 28, 2013. In addition to the sentence of 25 years to life in state prison, Bealer was ordered to pay restitution to the fam- ily in the amount of $5,081. He was given credit for 1,225 days served. Councilman arrested Then Red Bluff City Council- man Suren Patel was arrested on July 23, 2016, in Florida on a Tehama County warrant re- garding an investigation into fraud. Patel was the owner and manager of a motel in Red Bluff. When the initial inves- tigation was conducted, it was determined Patel failed to pro- vide accurate information to his workers' compensation in- surance carrier. He also used a motel customer's credit card to his advantage without the con- sent of the customer, according to the Tehama District Attor- ney's Office. The office learned from an elderly woman, who had stayed at the motel, that $6,000 had been taken out of her bank's account by the mo- tel. Through further investiga- tion, it was found that Patel significantly under-reported the Transient Occupancy Tax taxes due to the city and had falsified documents on behalf of two employees or individu- als so that they could unlaw- fully obtain welfare benefits. Patel was arrested on the following charges: public of- ficer crime, perjury by decla- ration, theft from an elder or dependent adult, grand theft, worker's compensation fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit a crime. His origi- nal bail was set at $1 million but was reduced $300,000 when he surrendered his pass- port in September 2016. Patel is due back in court at 10 a.m. Jan. 23 in department one of the Tehama County Su- perior Courthouse. He has not entered a plea. Kauffman fire A piece of Corning history went up in smoke early on the morning of Oct. 19 in a fire at the Kauffman building in Corning. Reported at 7:26 a.m. the fire was deemed suspicious by the Corning Volunteer Fire Department, which responded 2016 THETOPLOCAL NEWSSTORIES The Kauffman building, pictured here, burned Oct. 19. DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTOS A section of the Jellys Ferry Bridge is pictured on the morning of its July 10collapse. Have a great day, Mark Murphy GOOD MORNING! Check out what's going on in your neighborhood and the community. PAGE A2 LOCAL CALENDAR Rain High: Low: 47 42 PAGE B6 NEWS PAGE 5 DEFENSE PAGE 5 » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, January 3, 2017 50CENTS AN EDITION OF THE CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD Online See more news on our website. redbluffdailynews.com Manton School Students perform in a pair of plays Community A3 Chamber 5th annual Business Expo set for February Business B3 Grow?Ranchorride? Readaboutlocalandnational Ag, rural, ranch and rodeo news and commentary. VISIT REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM/ RODEO DOYOU RODEO? Volume132,issue31 7 58551 69001 9