fund

Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lifelong struggle with dyslexia makes his proposal to screen little kids for developmental disorders a personal mission.

California’s new governor wasn’t diagnosed with the reading disability until he was in the fifth grade.

“I got screened late,” Newsom, 51, told me. “I bounced around to five schools in seven years because I didn’t get the support. My mom kept trying different schools, looking for support. Back then, they didn’t know what this stuff was.

“I’d fallen behind, literally behind, and when that happens you tend to act accordingly. Finally someone diagnosed it. That allowed me to get support and self-confidence.”

Whatever guidance young Newsom got obviously worked. He graduated from Santa Clara University, created a successful wine and hospitality business, was twice elected San Francisco mayor, became lieutenant governor and then California’s 40^th governor.

Anyone who watched Newsom’s recent inaugural speech on the Capitol steps saw him reading flawlessly off the teleprompter. He didn’t miss a beat even when his 2-year-old son, Dutch, leaped into his arms and stayed there.

In his $209-billion state budget proposal, Newsom asked the Legislature for roughly $100 million to fund developmental and health screenings for infants and toddlers in low-income families.

That’s a little-noticed slice of Newsom’s $1.8-billion proposed package of programs aimed at expanding early education and childcare for the poor.

More from George Skelton »

I asked the governor if the developmental screenings were inspired by his struggles with dyslexia.

“Deeply so — 100%,” he replied. “It’s very personal for me.

“If you get those screens early, you can not only change a person’s life, you can save taxpayers a lot in the process.”

That’s because certain developmental disorders can lead to serious medical ailments that often require tax dollars to treat. At worst, they can lead to criminal behavior.

“I found out [about dyslexia] when I was in the fifth grade,” Newsom says. “My mother struggled with whether to tell me about it. She didn’t want me to have an excuse. She wanted me to work hard.”

Newsom says at least one — maybe two — of his four children has dyslexia.

“It is deeply painful not just for the kids, but for the parents watching them struggle,” he says.

“Unless you get the screening, the rest of your life you struggle.” But with trained help, a child can work around the disorder, he adds, and “later in life you find other strengths.”

The biggest chunk of Newsom’s package to help kids from poor families — and their parents — is his proposal to offer all-day kindergarten. Now, 22% of school districts provide only part-day kindergarten, a costly burden on working parents who must pay for expensive childcare after school.

Newsom also wants to provide full-day pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds from low-income families. He’d like to eventually include 3-year-olds.

Coverage of California politics »

“Most of the brain development work is done by the time you’re 4,” the governor says. “Getting 3-year-olds in [class] is the game-changer.”

OK, that’s a great idea. But why not provide pre-kindergarten classes for all kids, regardless of family income? The middle class gets shunted aside again.

There’s a reason why Social Security and Medicare — and K-12 public schools — are so popular everywhere. They’re not means tested. No one is rejected because of income.

Newsom asked the Legislature for $10 million to draw “a road map” to universal pre-kindergarten for every 3- and 4-year-old, regardless of family income. But liberal lawmakers would need to be persuaded to provide preschool for the upper middle class and wealthy.

“The consensus in the Legislature is that it’s not our goal to serve kids whose parents have the means to afford their own,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) told me last month.

But full-time day care is unaffordable for many middle-class parents. It costs as much or more than tuition at the University of California — $1,000 a month and up.

The governor and legislators say there isn’t enough money for universal pre-kindergarten, not even with a projected budget surplus of around $21 billion.

“And even if we had all the resources in the world,” Newsom says, “we’re not prepared to spend that appropriately. We couldn’t even lease the facilities, couldn’t train the workforce. It’s not just about access. It’s about quality access.”

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who chairs the budget subcommittee on education finance, says it would cost $4 billion annually to include all 4-year-olds in pre-kindergarten. He has introduced legislation to cover poor children. He estimates that would cost $1.5 billion.

“I’d like nothing more than to afford it for all kids,” McCarty says. “But we have other priorities. We can start with the families who need it the most — where we get the biggest bang for the buck.

“Upper-middle-class families will pay for it on their own. And some of the middle-class families will just miss out.”

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), who once ran one of the largest child development organizations in the country, Crystal Stairs, says, “If I had a magic wand, I absolutely would” provide early childhood education for everyone. “But we don’t even have enough money to pay for the lowest-income kids.”

Somehow they’ll find enough money for the poor kids and should — and make sure they’re screened for developmental disorders.

Famous people, including Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, Leonardo da Vinci, Tom Cruise and Albert Einstein, have battled dyslexia.

California’s governor is the latest role model for youngsters struggling with the affliction.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter

The American Academy of Pediatrics sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, seeking to block nearly $12 million in cuts to the group.

Earlier this month, the federal government “abruptly terminated” grants to the group, the lawsuit says.

The funding supported numerous public health programs, including efforts to prevent sudden unexpected infant death, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities and support teens facing substance use and mental health challenges.

“AAP does not have other sources of grant funding to replace the federal awards, and without the necessary funds it must immediately terminate its work on its dozens of programs that save children’s lives every day,” says the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “Within a few weeks, AAP will have to begin laying off employees dedicated to this critically important work.”

The suit alleges Health and Human Services made the cuts in retaliation for the doctors’ group speaking out against the Trump administration’s positions and actions.

The doctors’ group has been vocal about its support for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed the agency’s positions. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years — is seeking to broadly remake federal policies on vaccines. Earlier this year, the pediatrics group released its own recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines, which substantially diverged from the government’s recommendations.

The group also supports access to gender-affirming care and has publicly criticized Health and Human Services positions on the topic, saying it opposes what it calls the government’s infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.

“The Department of Health and Human Services is using federal funding as a political weapon to punish protected speech, trying to silence one of the nation’s most trusted voices for children’s well-being by cutting off critical public health funding in retaliation for speaking the truth,” Skye Perryman, president and chief executive officer of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. Perryman’s organization is representing the doctors’ group in the case.

A spokesman for Health and Human Services could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mark Del Monte, CEO and executive vice president of the 67,000-member doctors’ group, said the organization depends on its relationship with the federal government.

“We need this partnership to advance policies that prioritize children’s health. These vital child health programs fund services like hearing screenings for newborns and safe sleep campaigns to prevent sudden unexpected infant death,” he said in a statement. “We are forced to take legal action today so that these programs can continue to make communities safer and healthier.” 

Ungar writes for the Associated Press.

SACRAMENTO — A day after a judge found that Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante’s fund-raising practices violated state law, a state senator wrote to Bustamante’s lawyers demanding that he cancel any remaining advertising paid for with disputed donations.

“To fail to do so is open defiance of the judge’s order” that the money in question be returned, said the letter sent Tuesday by state Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), whose lawsuit led to the ruling.

Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster of Sacramento on Monday said Bustamante should not have spent funds that he raised in excess of current state limits, although the money went into an account created before the limits took effect. Bustamante’s violation was in moving the money to a new account and then spending it on the ads, McMaster ruled.

The judge issued a preliminary injunction that forbids Bustamante to transfer any more of the disputed money to his current campaign.

Bustamante campaign strategist Richie Ross said the money, as much as $4 million, had been spent. The ads it paid for were in opposition to Proposition 54, an initiative that will share the Oct. 7 ballot with the recall measure.

On Tuesday, Ross said the ads paid for by the disputed money will expire Thursday, and commercials airing as of Friday will be paid for by money that is not a focus of the lawsuit.

“We’re going to obey the court’s order,” Ross said. “We will do that to the letter.”

Bustamante accepted donations of $100,000 to $1.5 million in the old account from labor unions and Indian tribes. He then established the new fund to oppose Proposition 54, the initiative that would restrict government’s ability to collect some racial and ethnic data.

The anti-Proposition 54 ads he paid for were taped at a Bustamante-for-governor campaign rally and feature him denouncing the initiative. Johnson contended that the ads were an integral part of Bustamante’s campaign to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he is recalled.

Bustamante began airing the commercials last week. The cost of airing television ads statewide is about $2 million per week.

Johnson said that if Bustamante refuses to cancel the remaining ads and obtain refunds from television stations, he will ask McMaster to hold Bustamante in contempt of Monday’s order.

“They have an obligation to say when and where and how they’ve spent that money, and whether it is irretrievable,” Johnson said.

Japan’s new submarine “Jingei” is seen during the launching ceremony at Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works of MHI in Kobe, Hyogo-Prefecture, Japan on October 12, 2022. A diesel-electric Taigei class submarine “Jingei” is 3,000-ton with system of TCM (Torpedo Counter Measure) and may launch the Boeing UGM-84L Harpoon Block II, about 70 crew and has dwelling compartments for six females. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 15 (Asia Today) — Japan’s shipbuilding industry is moving to rebuild after a prolonged slump, with the government establishing a 1 trillion yen ($6.42 billion) support fund and preparing a mid- to long-term industrial strategy dubbed the “Shipbuilding Revitalization Roadmap,” according to the report.

Tokyo is also promoting an “All Japan” framework that links the shipping and shipbuilding sectors, redefining shipbuilding as a national strategic industry. The shift is being closely watched by South Korea’s shipbuilders as Japan seeks a policy-driven pivot after its presence weakened amid aggressive competition from China and South Korea.

Japan was a global shipbuilding powerhouse in the early 1970s, accounting for about half of worldwide shipbuilding volume. After the oil crisis, however, large-scale facility investment largely stalled for more than 50 years due to volatility in shipping markets and uncertainty in ship demand. During that period, South Korea and China rose to the center of global shipbuilding through government-led investment and support, the report said.

Japan’s share of global merchant-ship orders remains in the single digits, the report added. The rebuilding drive stems from a growing view in government and industry that shipbuilding is not only a competitiveness issue but also a matter of national infrastructure.

The initiative goes beyond financial injections for individual companies, the report said. The government has set a goal of doubling annual shipbuilding volume over the next decade, while prioritizing a stronger production base and the recovery of technological and design capabilities.

A key feature is an effort to tighten coordination between shipbuilders and shipping lines. The report pointed to agreements between major shipping groups and shipbuilding and design firms to standardize designs for next-generation fuel vessels, aiming to link domestic industries from the ordering stage through operations and improve competitiveness.

The approach differs from South Korea’s export-driven shipbuilding model,which competes globally for orders from shipowners, the report said. Japan, bycontrast, is positioning its alliance with domestic shipping as a core pillarof its industrial strategy.

While South Korea already holds top-tier competitiveness and leads globalorders in high-value-added vessel types, Japan’s current move reflects a changein national-level perceptions of shipbuilding, the report argued.

Japan is framing shipbuilding not simply as an export industry but as afoundational sector supporting maritime logistics, citizens’ livelihoods,economic activity and national security. The policy push raises questions abouthow the state can ensure the industry’s sustainability despite its cyclicalvolatility, the report said.

It remains too early to judge whether Japan’s reconstruction drive will deliver tangible results. But the report said the Japanese government and industry have returned shipbuilding to the center of national strategy – a signal that the East Asian shipbuilding landscape may be shifting again.

-Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.