濮阳东方医院男科治疗阳痿靠谱(濮阳东方医院男科在线预约) (今日更新中)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As the political battle to overturn California's gas tax increase intensified, the state transportation agency coordinated frequently with the public affairs firm working to block the repeal on behalf of unions, construction companies and local government groups, emails obtained by The Associated Press show.The California State Transportation Agency and Sacramento-based Bicker, Castillo & Fairbanks organized news conferences and other efforts to promote legislation to raise the tax to fund road and bridge repairs, which passed the Legislature in April 2017. After Gov. Jerry Brown signed it, the agency and firm continued planning events and coordinating social media posts as opponents gathered signatures for repeal.Three ethics experts interviewed by the AP said the emails raise concerns that the agency's relationship with the firm was too close, but none saw a clear violation of campaign laws, which prohibit the use of public resources for political campaigns.REPORT: Gas tax funds reportedly being used to campaign against Prop 6The repeal qualified for the November ballot in June. The firm, BCF, continues to work for the anti-repeal coalition, which includes the League of California Cities and the California Chamber of Commerce.Some communications between BCF and the state agency involved politics, according to more than 200 emails from 2017 and the first half of this year obtained by the AP through the California Public Records Act.Last fall, the agency and firm discussed opinion pieces "targeting" U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa and three other vulnerable Republicans in Congress. National Democratic leaders see those seats as key to winning control of the U.S. House.RELATED: Caltrans' gas tax freeway signs raise concerns with FedsIn January, a BCF partner, Kathy Fairbanks, communicated with the agency about designing a campaign logo for Proposition 69, a June ballot measure involving how gas tax proceeds are spent. And an undated memo shows the agency and firm also planned to coordinate efforts for several months through the primary.Loyola Law School Professor and government ethics expert Jessica Levinson said the relationship between the firm and agency appears too close, and the exchange about the congressmen crossed an ethical line.RELATED: California campaign watchdog investigates gas tax campaign"I mean way over the line," she said.BCF and agency officials said the communications were appropriate to educate the public about the law and that they ramped down coordination when the firm took an official campaign role."Clearly the agency was trying to coordinate with the campaign, and they shouldn't have," said Bob Stern, a government ethics expert who helped write California's campaign laws. But he added the actual amount of time government workers spent coordinating with the firm was likely minimal.Ann Ravel, who served on the Federal Election Commission and California's Fair Political Practices Commission, said the volume of emails raises questions about whether the agency aided one side.RELATED: Poll: Support strong for Proposition 6, which repeals California's gas tax"It seems like maybe it's a little too cozy, but I wouldn't say that it's clearly inappropriate," Ravel said.The legislation approved last year raised gas taxes by 12 cents per gallon and added diesel and vehicle fees to generate billion annually. Proposition 6 would repeal the increase and require voters approve gas and vehicle tax increases.The ballot measure is a centerpiece of California Republicans' efforts to boost turnout. GOP Congress members — including House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Orange County's Mimi Walters — are among the repeal's biggest financial backers.Leaders of the repeal campaign have asked the federal government to investigate their claims that public resources have been used against them, based on emails and other documents that show local government workers discussing the repeal effort. Those documents are different from the ones the AP obtained. Opponents also circulated a video of a Caltrans contractor passing out anti-Proposition 6 fliers to drivers.The California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, falls under the state transportation agency.Melissa Figueroa, the agency's deputy secretary for communications and strategic planning, said it's the agency's job to inform the public about the impact of laws, and it has done so in the past, including for California's "motor voter" registration law."We're trying to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars," Figueroa said.The agency communicated much less frequently with the firm and stopped coordinating social media posts once the official anti-Proposition 6 campaign started, Figueroa said."Prior to that point, it was more of a collaborative effort because they were not in campaign mode," Figueroa said.BCF partner Brandon Castillo said the coalition registered as a fundraising committee in December and officially became a ballot measure campaign in March to support Proposition 69.BCF and other gas tax supporters routinely asked the agency for information, but they did not coordinate on creating campaign materials, Figueroa said. The agency also fulfilled numerous public records requests filed by gas tax opponents, she said.However, an undated memo outlining agency and coalition plans from March through the primary election shows the firm and the agency coordinated the timing of announcements and events. It details plans for the state to tout new construction projects while the coalition campaigned for Proposition 69.The agency and coalition coordinated their schedules, but the agency wasn't involved in campaigning for Proposition 69, Figueroa said.Castillo sent the email about op-eds focused on GOP candidates Sept. 20, 2017."Hey Melissa — We're penning opeds (sic) targeting the following congressional republicans," he wrote. He identified Reps. Jeff Denham, Steve Knight, Walters and Issa and asked Figueroa for information about projects funded by the gas tax increase in their districts.At the time, the coalition was working to persuade California's influential Republican congressional delegates to reject the repeal.Several days after Castillo's email, Figueroa suggested she or Brian Kelly, then the agency's leader, help find an author for the piece targeting Issa, considered the most vulnerable California incumbent before he decided against seeking re-election.Castillo responded saying coalition members were working on it and asked: "Do you have anyone in mind that could influence Republicans/Issa?"The documents obtained by the AP don't include further exchanges on the issue. In interviews, Castillo and Figueroa said the agency never suggested an author. Figueroa said she offered help because the op-ed would educate people in Issa's district.The piece ultimately was written by the mayor of Encinitas, a suburb north of San Diego, and ran the following month in the San Diego Union-Tribune. It touted projects in the district funded by the gas tax increase but didn't mention Issa.Levinson found the exchange surprising because it seemed to directly reference campaign activities."I don't want to say it's a smoking gun, but that is so much more explicit than I ever would have predicted they would be," she said.Prominent gas tax repeal supporters, including gubernatorial candidate John Cox and conservative activist Carl DeMaio, criticized the agency's activity."It's against the law, and it also shows that you can't trust them with money," DeMaio said. "I think that what you're seeing is just the tip of the iceberg." 7732

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Thursday approved a 4.8 billion state budget that would spend more on health care and education, bolster the state's top firefighting agency following devastating wildfire seasons, and boost state reserves.The spending plan was passed with separate votes by the state Assembly and Senate. It now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is expected to sign it in the coming days."What a luxury we have, to get to stand here and argue over where we should put our savings, how we should spend some of the additional money we have to support struggling Californians," said Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat.Democrats in both chambers overwhelmingly backed the budget, while Republicans rejected it, arguing it spends money on the wrong priorities.The massive bill, totaling more than 900 pages, divvies up tax dollars in the nation's most populous state. Lawmakers must still pass more than a dozen other trailer bills to implement it.The measures could contain important details, including implementing a monthly fee on cellphone bills to pay for upgrades to the 911 system.The spending plan is the first under Newsom, who took office in January and has positioned himself as resistor-in-chief to Republican President Donald Trump.The Trump administration has sought to weaken former President Barack Obama's health care law by eliminating a tax on people who refuse to purchase private health insurance.The proposed budget before Newsom would bring that tax back, using part of the money to make California the first state in the country to help middle class families pay a portion of their monthly health insurance premiums.While the Trump administration continues to crack down on illegal immigration, the budget passed Thursday would make California the first state to give some adults living in the country illegally government-funded health insurance.Health care for those people is part of Democrats' plan to eventually get everyone in California to have health insurance.The proposal has angered Republican lawmakers, who argue it's not fair to tax people in the country legally for not buying health insurance while making people living in the country illegally eligible for taxpayer-funded health insurance."I just don't get the prioritization," Republican Sen. John Moorlach of Costa Mesa said ahead of the vote. He noted he legally immigrated to the U.S. from the Netherlands in 1960.The budget proposal includes increases in public education, which would bring state spending to ,018 for every student in K-12 public schools. It would give grants of up to ,000 to students studying to be teachers if they promise to teach subjects impacted by the teacher shortage, including science, technology, math and engineering.Democratic Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi of Torrance said the state should invest even more in public schools, though he voted to pass the spending plan."Let's not be fooled by the dollar amount. We are just allocating the minimum," he said. "That is not bold, Mr. Governor."Following the state's deadliest wildfire season in history, the plan includes .3 million for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to buy 13 new fire engines and hire 131 people to operate them.It also includes .1 million to accept seven used C-130 air tankers from the federal government. The aircraft are free, but the state must pay to maintain and operate them. 3477

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown has sworn in former top adviser Joshua Groban to the state Supreme Court in what aides say is likely to be his final public appearance before leaving office next week.Brown has now placed four justices on the seven-member court. The Democratic governor said Thursday that it cannot be considered a "Brown court" because each justice acts independently, sometimes unpredictably.The 45-year-old Groban, of Los Angeles, oversaw Brown's appointment of about 600 judges since 2011.He gives the court a majority of Democratic appointees for the first time since 1986. The Harvard Law School graduate fills the vacancy created by the retirement last year of Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar.Groban received the approval of all three members of the Commission on Judicial Appointments last month. 849

Robert Pate’s time in prison changed him. Now, he runs a program and a podcast to help those who are completing their sentences.“We help inmates who come out of prison. We help them get jobs, we help them discover self-identity,” he said.Pate, 46, served 11 years for selling drugs.“Prison was life-changing in the fact that you're stripped from all of your, anything you’ve had in the world,” he said. “You get a chance to see yourself for who you really are.”So, he started the Image program and accompanying podcast, all to help with re-entry. “I started the program in prison,” he said. “After being released from prison, trying to get a job and cope with the everyday ways of life that when it comes to voting they’re lost. They have no clue as to what this stuff is really about.”Iowa recently became the last state in the U.S. to pave a path to vote for felons who have completed their sentence, with exceptions.“The NAACP estimates about 40,000 people…are now eligible to vote in the state of Iowa,” said Betty C. Andrews, president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP. “This is an issue that the NAACP has had at the forefront for a number of years.”Andrews was in attendance when Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Executive Order Number 7 in August, officially making a path for felons who have completed their sentence to register to vote.“Being one of the last states, quite frankly the last state, was very embarrassing for us in the advocacy community,” she said. “According to Executive Order Number 7, you are eligible to vote if you are not incarcerated off parole or off probation. You do not have to pay restitution, fines, or fees in order to vote.”She said estimates show about 2,500 Iowans with felony backgrounds registered to vote in August. Just having the ability to do so, Andrews said, is important.“They have to pay taxes, they have to follow the laws, they have to do what is required in terms of citizenship. But they are not allowed to have a voice in that, so being able to have that voice is monumental for people,” she said.“Unfortunately, I’ve never actually voted. Never really saw the importance of voting at a young age,” Pate said. “I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, played basketball, played basketball in college.”Now that Pate has the right, he helps those in his program, like Bert Knapp and Wayne Byrd, figure the process out.“I’m 55...I never did vote in my life,” Byrd said. “If I can’t vote, I mean, I feel different. I feel like I’m part of the world. That’s what it means to me.”While Knapp is still on parole, he echoes the same feeling. “It gives me the ability to make a difference. There’s no point in complaining about who is in office if I'm not going to take a step and do what I can,” he said.But because this right came via executive order, Andrews warns it can also be taken away.“The next governor could come in and revoke this executive order,” she said. It’s happened before in Iowa’s history, and that would sever the path put in place. That means no felons being released from prison could register in the future.For now, they take it one day at a time, spending the remaining days before the election getting the world out to everyone that they should exercise their right to vote.“Everyone who is in society, and is a productive citizen in society, should be able to vote,” Pate said. “I’m happy to be able to have the privilege to vote.” 3397

ROME — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's diplomatic trip to the Vatican will end without an audience with Pope Francis.The Vatican declined his request to see Pope Francis, citing a routine policy to not grant papal audiences during election campaigns.Pompeo spent 45 minutes in the Apostolic Palace with his Vatican counterpart, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Vatican foreign minister a day after tensions over the Holy See’s outreach to Beijing spilled out in public.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said both sides “presented their respective positions” about relations with China in a climate of “respect, openness and cordiality.”The State Department said they discussed defending religious freedom. Pompeo has criticized the Vatican's 2018 agreement with Beijing on nominating bishops. 803

来源：资阳报