California Task Force Votes To Limit Reparations To Descendants Of Enslaved People
California’s first-of-its-kind Reparations Task Force met on Tuesday to vote on who should be eligible to receive compensation from the state. After hours of emotional debate, the decision came down to a 5-4 split to limit eligibility to the descendants of free or enslaved Black people who were in the U.S. during the 19th century. This decision narrowly rejects a proposal that would have included all Black people in reparation considerations regardless of their lineage. The task force again meets today, moving forward in a process that is likely to shape future discussions of reparations across the nation.
Today on AirTalk, we’re joined by CalMatters reporter Lil Kalish, who works with their California Divide Team covering poverty and income inequality across the state, to talk about the most recent decision made by the California Reparations Task Force.
With files from the Associated Press
Shouting Out SoCal's Legacy Businesses
Last week, the Los Angeles City Council's Economic Development and Jobs Committee considered creating a citywide pilot program for so-called "legacy businesses.” Those are longtime establishments we know and love, where ownership is often passed down among generations and/or the business still occupies its original building or location. And while the committee ultimately decided to revisit the pilot program in May, it got us thinking about how many wonderful legacy businesses there are here in Southern California. The L.A. Conservancy already has a similar program which recognizes dozens of well-known places across L.A. from the Watts Coffee House to Tam-O-Shanter in Atwater Village to La Casa del Mariachi in Boyle Heights. But the Conservancy says having a citywide program would open up financial and technical assistance to longtime SoCal legacy businesses.
Today on AirTalk, L.A. Conservancy Director of Advocacy Adrian Scott Fine joins us to talk about some of the legacy businesses the Conservancy recognizes through its program and why his organization would like to see a citywide pilot be greenlit. Plus, we want to hear from you if you have a favorite legacy business that's local to you. Call us at 866-893-5722 or email the name of the business and a few sentences on its "legacy" to atcomments@kpcc.org.
If you're a legacy business owner interested in learning about what resources are currently available to you, click here to visit the L.A. Conservancy website. You can also join the Conservancy's Legacy Business Network here, and it's open to both legacy business owners and members of the public alike!
State Audit Finds Weak Oversight And Large-Scale Fraud In California’s Hospice Industry
This week the state auditor’s office released its audit on California’s hospice industry, finding large-scale fraud and a lack of oversight. State auditors say that since 2010, hospice agencies grew 15-fold without a corresponding need for the care hospices provide. Los Angeles County in particular was found to have more than six times the national average of hospice agencies relative to its aged population.
Today on AirTalk, we look into how the audit was conducted and how this information could be used to reform the hospice industry with Michael Tilden, acting state auditor for California and Jordan Wright, audit supervisor at the CA State Auditor’s office. Are you someone who has a loved one in hospice care? Have you experienced issues of insufficient care? Join the conversation, call us at 866-893-5722 or email atcomments@kpcc.org.
In response to the audit, the California Department of Public Health offered this statement:
The California Department of Public Health has already begun to operationalize several of the recommendations made in the audit in advance of regulations currently under development and/or legislative initiatives. These include shoring up referrals made to other State Departments where possible fraud may exist, training Public Health staff to better detect fraudulent activities, and adjusting our public website to improve reporting of ownership information for hospice agencies, among other things.
Many of the recommendations made in the audit require statutory changes and CDPH looks forward to providing technical assistance to Legislative members so that we have the authority to oversee and hold hospice providers who may be providing substandard care or engaged in fraudulent activities accountable. Additionally, to the extent that implementation of any of the recommendations result in a fiscal impact on hospice provider licensing fees, those costs and resource needs will be identified as part of the budget and legislative process.
In response to the audit, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health offered this statement: The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is troubled by the California Auditor's findings showing widespread fraud among state licensed and regulated hospice agencies. Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud investigations are under the purview of state and federal agencies and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health supports efforts by the state legislature to take action to end these fraudulent practices and protect patients.
COVID-19 AMA: Boosters For Adults 50+ Start Wednesday, Global Deaths Jump But Cases Fall, Americans’ COVID Precautions, And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center.
Topics today include:
L.A. County residents over 50 can start receiving second boosters Wednesday
- How to get the new booster if you’re 50 or older
- C.D.C. report: Pfizer and Moderna boosters help protect Americans who received the J&J shot
- WHO: COVID deaths jump by 40%, but cases are falling globally
- AP and NORC poll: Americans taking fewer precautions two years into the pandemic
- California lawmakers don’t advance proposal to require all workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19
Celebrating The KPCC/LAist “Backbone Staff”
While most of you probably know KPCC from the reporters and hosts you hear on the air, our station requires the contributions of so many talented, unique individuals whose names aren’t said at the end of a news story. These are the people who truly make KPCC and LAist: who keep our broadcast equipment running, who put on our pledge drives and help secure sponsorships and donations, who put together the pre-recorded spots you hear between shows, who make sure our facilities at the Mohn Broadcast Center are operating smoothly, who get you the news even if you can’t catch every show, and who keep our websites humming.
This week and next on AirTalk, we’re highlighting some of these amazing people who work at KPCC/LAist, and whose tireless efforts are critical to what you hear and read every day. Today, we’re joined by Mary Hawley, Vice President of Corporate Sponsorship and Tinson Li, technology manager for American Public Media Group.
