KCRA: California Poised To Delay Healthcare Minimum Wage Increase
California health care workers will have to wait a little bit longer before they see an increase to their minimum wage. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that would raise the health care minimum wage to $25 an hour starting June 1 of this year. According to documents obtained by KCRA 3 on Monday, the lawmaker who wrote the law, State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, submitted paperwork for legislation that would delay the increase to July 1. (Zavala, 5/20)

Sacramento Bee: California To Examine Medical Staffing At State Prisons And Hospitals. Here’s Why 
California will evaluate the outsourcing of medical and mental health care services at state prisons and hospitals with an audit request suggesting it costs the state up to three times more for contracted medical staff compared to using state employees. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee’s approval of Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal’s request comes on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s release of his proposed May revisions to fill a remaining current fiscal year gap of $27.6 billion, in which Newsom called for the elimination of 10,000 unfilled state positions for a savings of $762.5 million to the state. (Jolly, 5/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego COVID-19 Test Maker Cue Health — Once Worth $2.3B — Lays Off Entire Company And Shuts Down 
Cue Health, the once high-flying San Diego biotech supplying rapid COVID-19 test kits to the NBA and Google, is laying off all employees and shutting down on Friday. (Rocha, 5/21)

The Washington Post: Denied Emergency Health Care? Feds Pledge To Speed Patient Complaints. 
Patients who say they were denied emergency abortions and other emergency care can now file complaints directly with the federal government, officials announced Tuesday. Biden administration officials say that overhauling the process — which historically has been led by state agencies and involved a complex series of decisions — will expedite the federal government’s ability to investigate patients’ complaints and provide more transparency into emergency care access. (Diamond, 5/21)

Los Angeles Times: Assembly Passes Bill To Require Farmers To Notify Before Using Pesticides Near Schools
The state Assembly on Tuesday passed legislation that would require farms within a quarter-mile of a school to notify county officials before spraying pesticides. The intent of Assembly Bill 1864, authored by Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael), is to reduce exposure to pesticides in young children, who are uniquely impacted by the carcinogens. (Sosa, 5/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Chemical Release At San Bruno Jail Sickens Schoolchildren
Chemicals being used in a training exercise Tuesday afternoon at the San Francisco jail in San Bruno got out of control, wafted over a hill and sickened 20 schoolchildren and one adult with irritated eyes, throats and noses, officials said. The chemicals, which included tear gas and pepper spray, weren’t serious enough to send the Portola Elementary School victims to hospitals, but ambulance and San Bruno Fire Department responders dashed to the scene, said San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa. (Fagan, 5/21)

Los Angeles Times: How Much Worse Will Extreme Heat Get In U.S. By 2050?
The next quarter of a century will bring considerable climate danger to millions of Americans living in disadvantaged communities, who will not only experience increased exposure to life-threatening extreme heat but also greater hardships from reduced energy reliability, a new nationwide report has found. The report, published Wednesday by the ICF Climate Center, examines global warming projections in Justice40 communities — those identified by the federal government as marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution. The Justice40 Initiative was established under President Biden’s strategy to tackle the climate crisis, which aims to funnel 40% of benefits from certain federal climate, energy and housing investments into these communities. (Ahn, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: Microplastics Discovered In Human And Dog Testes
Researchers have located one more anatomical organ where microplastics — of all shapes and constituents — are found: human testes. And although they can’t say for sure, they suspect the presence of these jagged bits and strands of polymers such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene could be — in part — behind a global trend in diminishing sperm quality and quantity. (Rust, 5/22)

Politico: California Pushes Through Gavin Newsom’s Bill Helping Arizona Abortion-Seekers
A California bill aiming to help Arizona abortion seekers by allowing doctors from that state to operate across the border has landed on Gov. Gavin Newson’s desk, just a month after he first floated the proposal. Once signed, Senate Bill 233 would offer an expedited pathway for licensed doctors in Arizona to get their credentials in California, with a nonprofit offering to pay the fees to do so. (Bluth, 5/21)

Politico: Top California Dem Launches National Attack On GOP Over Abortion 
A leading Democrat to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom is launching a new Super PAC to help President Joe Biden and bolster her profile in California. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a candidate for governor in 2026, told POLITICO that her new political organization, Californians for Choice, will mobilize voters in the neighboring swing states of Nevada and Arizona to boost Biden and work to defeat Donald Trump. (Cadelago, 5/21)

KVPR: 6 Key Facts About Abortion Laws And The 2024 Election
In the nearly two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion access has been in an almost constant state of flux. State laws keep changing – with new bans taking effect in some places while new protections are enacted in others. And there have been a slew of lawsuits and ballot measures that may motivate voters come November. Here are 6 facts about where things currently are with abortion and the election. (Simmons-Duffin and Nadworny, 5/22)

The Washington Post: Trump Backtracks After Suggesting He’s Open To States Restricting Birth Control Access 
Former president Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that he did not support a ban on birth control, despite his responses in a television interview earlier in the day that suggested he was open to states restricting access to contraceptives. “I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. His post was a reversal of comments he made in an interview with KDKA News in Pittsburgh when he was asked whether he supported any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception. (Wang, 5/21)

Military Times: Republicans Back Abortion Ban In $360B VA Budget Draft For Next Year
Republican appropriators advanced a budget bill Tuesday that includes more than $360 billion for Veterans Affairs operations but also limits on abortion access and diversity programs that Democratic lawmakers vowed to fight as the measure moves through Congress. The legislation, the first fiscal year 2025 budget draft to be approved by a House Appropriations Committee panel this year, also includes nearly $18 billion in military construction funds for next year, including $1.1 billion for construction of 11 new military barracks projects and $2 billion for military family housing initiatives. (Shane III, 5/21)

Military.com: Documents Show $43.5 Million In PACT Act Bonuses Plus Pay Raises For VA Human Resources Staff 
The Department of Veterans Affairs paid $43.5 million in bonuses to more than 6,500 human resources specialists last year under allowances stipulated in the PACT Act, an amount the department's chief human capital officer described as "significant." Documents obtained by Military.com through a Freedom of Information Act request show the department paid an average of $6,598.13 in critical skills incentives, or CSIs, to 6,517 human resources specialists in the Veterans Health and Veterans Benefits Administrations through June 2023 in addition to salary increases under PACT Act provisions. (Kime, 5/21)

Military.com: Senators Demand Recoupment Of $10.8 Million, Dismissal Of VA Officials Who Authorized Executive Bonuses 
A group of Republican senators is calling for the firing of Department of Veterans Affairs officials who authorized $10.8 million in incentive bonuses to senior VA executives last year, funding that was intended to be used to retain employees in critically understaffed jobs. They specifically requested the immediate dismissal of Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal, Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs and Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher. (Kime, 5/21)

CBS News: California Bill Targeting Social Media Addiction In Teens Passes State Senate
In a bipartisan vote, the California State Senate approved a bill from a Bay Area lawmaker aimed at targeting social media addiction among children and teens. On Monday night, senators approved Senate Bill 976 by State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) on a 35-2 vote. The bill now goes onto the Assembly for consideration. (Fang, 5/21)

Los Angeles Times: Matthew Perry's Fatal Ketamine Dose Is Subject Of Criminal Probe
Matthew Perry’s death from acute effects of the prescription drug ketamine is the source of a criminal investigation, with authorities examining where the actor got the medication, LAPD officials told The Times. Perry was found dead Oct. 28 in the hot tub of his swimming pool at his Pacific Palisades home. Trace amounts of ketamine — which is sometimes used to treat depression — were found in Perry’s stomach, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner. But the level found in his blood was about the same quantity as would be used during general anesthesia, his autopsy showed. (Winton, 5/21)

KQED: How SF Hopes To Make This Critical Opioid Addiction Treatment More Available
Less than half of all San Francisco pharmacies carry buprenorphine, one of the most powerful medications used to treat opioid addiction, according to San Francisco’s Department of Public Health. The city hopes to change that. (Guevarra, Johnson, Esquinca, Prickett-Morgan, Montecillo, 5/22)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Homelessness Is Up Throughout San Diego County, But Not By As Much As You Might Think 
The number of people living outside or in vehicles rose in Escondido, Encinitas and El Cajon. That population also increased in Vista and Chula Vista and the city of San Diego. (Nelson, 5/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: These Are San Francisco Areas Where Tents And Vehicles Are Rising
Mayor London Breed and other San Francisco officials are touting significant drops in the number of unhoused people sleeping outside. But a Chronicle analysis of the data that included not just tents but also vehicles found that the reductions varied by neighborhood with a handful of areas seeing a jump. Over the past year, San Francisco reported a 37% reduction in the number of tents and structures on sidewalks, parks and other public spaces, falling from 571 in April 2023 to 360 in April 2024, according to data collected quarterly by a collaboration of city agencies. Although the number of tents and structures set up across the city tends to fluctuate, last month’s total marked the lowest number that San Francisco had seen in five years, according to the Breed administration. (Angst, 5/22)

Stat: Citing H5N1 Threat, CDC Urges Peak Flu Monitoring This Summer 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked local and state health officials Tuesday to maintain flu surveillance operations at peak-season levels over the summer in a bid to remain watchful for any signs of human-to-human spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus. (Branswell, 5/21)

CIDRAP: Wastewater Testing For H5 Avian Flu Virus Could Provide Early Warning, Outbreak Insights 
In new results published yesterday, scientists from WastewaterSCAN detected significant levels of H5 influenza in three treatment plants in communities where H5N1 has been detected in cattle. (Schnirring, 5/21)

Politico: Hemp And Marijuana Go To War 
A farm bill battle is pitting hemp against its closest cousin: marijuana. The fight centers on intoxicating hemp products, which have developed into a multi-billion-dollar industry subject to few rules and regulations. Some marijuana companies and trade groups are pushing Congress to close a loophole that allows the production and sale of intoxicating substances derived from legal hemp. The hemp industry has a very different ask for lawmakers: leave the federal definition of hemp unchanged. (Fertig, 5/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: From Caregiving To Mourning: Navigating The End Of The Road As A Family Caregiver 
When her mother was hospitalized after suffering several falls in her mobile home, Santee resident Rebecca Turman and her three siblings orchestrated an intricate schedule of coordinated care for her. Turman’s mother was formally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but she displayed many symptoms more often associated with dementia. (Mapp, 5/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: County Seeks Operator For New Migrant Transition Center With $19.6 Million In Federal Funds
“San Diego County is setting a national standard for expediting the asylum process, reducing street releases, and ensuring that asylum seekers are treated with the utmost dignity as they seek safety and a brighter future,” said Chairwoman Nora Vargas in a statement. (Mendoza, 5/21)