AirTalk discusses the California effect of repealing the ACA’s individual mandate with the tax plan — plus, will you sign up? We also sit down with California’s pot czar, Lori Ajax, before legal marijuana goes into effect Jan. 1; dive into the history and decline of the power suit; and more.
AT Debates: Elimination of individual mandate impact on CA health insurance exchange
The House of Representatives is on track to pass the GOP tax plan today and the Senate is expected to vote this evening.
The bill includes repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate.
Peter Lee, the executive director of Covered California, has suggested that California impose a state mandate to make up for lost costs. It would be difficult policy to pass, even in California.
How would the nixing of the individual mandate affect Covered California? Once the individual mandate is gone, how many younger and healthier Californians will drop coverage? Will you still buy health insurance?
Guests:
Avik Roy, president of The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a non-profit think tank; opinion editor at Forbes and former policy advisor to Marco Rubio, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney
Laurel Lucia, director of the Health Care Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, where she has consulted for Covered California on issues related to ACA implementation
CA ‘Pot Czar’ Lori Ajax takes your questions ahead of the legalization of recreational marijuana
On Jan. 1, 2018, California will ring in the new year with its first sales of legal recreational marijuana.
Major cities welcoming the wave of commercial pot retailers include Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, while dozens of others cities like Pasadena, Anaheim and Riverside have opted out — at least for 2018. New businesses are required to have both city approval and a license from the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control to operate.
Leading that bureau is Lori Ajax, its very first chief appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown. She’s been tasked with spearheading regulations for what will now become the largest cannabis-friendly state in the country, and joins Larry Mantle to answer your questions.
Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Lori Ajax, the first chief of the Bureau of Cannabis Control; she formerly served as chief deputy director at the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
Lawsuit against a CA school district raises questions over a school’s responsibility in protecting students from bullying
A 13-year-old girl who her family said was a victim of school bullying recently took her own life.
Now, the parents of Rosalie Avila are suing the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District, where Avila attended 8th grade, for wrongful death. They allege that school administrators did not do enough to protect Avila from being bullied.
Avila hanged herself on November 28 and was taken off life support in December. Her family said that she was relentlessly bullied and that the bullies had apparently circulated a video calling Avila “ugly”.
According to the lawsuit, the Avila family repeatedly contacted the school district about the abuse targeting the 13-year-old and charged that the district failed to step in.
The Yucaipa-Calimesa school district is cooperating with the investigation and issued the following statement:
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Avila family. Our students, teachers, staff and the communities are mourning the loss of Rosalie as well. Yucaipa-Calimesa School District is committed to working with its students and the community on academics, student safety and well-being. We strive every day to be a safe, supportive and engaging learning environment. We will continue to raise awareness and work with students and the community to support our children. The issue of suicide awareness and prevention is very important to discuss and address as a community.
We are cooperating fully with the Sheriff’s office as it conducts its investigation. We are also conducting our own internal investigation. Given that these efforts are ongoing, and due to our commitment to protecting the privacy of our students and their families, we cannot share any details at this time.”
In light of the lawsuit, AirTalk looks at the legal issues stemming from the suit.
Guests:
Alex Rojas, chief operations officer for Siembra Mobile Inc, a company offering school districts software to help high school counselors provide support to students; he is the former superintendent of the Bassett Unified School District, located in the San Gabriel Valley and serving some unincorporated parts of L.A. County and portions of the City of Industry, La Puente and Whittier
Greg Keating, professor of law at USC and an expert in liability and tort law
Suit yourself: as the business suit wanes, a look at the history and current state of office wear
Being well suited to a job used to quite literally mean wearing a suit.
But after decades of symbolizing power, money and refined taste, the business suit is on its way out. As stated by Robin Givhan in her recent Washington Post piece, these days, “the most important person in the room is probably not wearing a suit.”
There are certain industries, like politics, law and finance, where the power suit still prevails. But in the typical office, casual Friday has mission-creeped into the rest of the workweek. Some theorize that Silicon Valley has killed the last vestige of workwear formality (and no, a grey hoodie does not count as formal wear). Another theory is that changing gender demographics have played a role in changing what’s acceptable to wear at work, for both men and women.
What does the power suit mean to you? What clothing is appropriate at your workplace and has the standard changed over the years? Why or why not?
Guest:
Robin Givhan, fashion critic for the Washington Post; her recent piece is “A history of the final dying days of the power suit”