Daily Business Report-June 27, 2019
A bill winding its way through California’s Legislature aims to ban filtered cigarettes in an effort to curb butt litter. | (Photo by Petr Kratochvil via PublicDomainPictures.net)
Why a California lawmaker wants to
ban cigarette filters and disposable vapes
By Rachel Becker | CALmatters
We’ve all seen it, the smoker who takes one last drag and flicks the cigarette butt onto the ground. It’s instant litter that California Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson wants to prevent by banning the filters in most cigarettes.
The Democrat from Santa Barbara’s bill, SB 424, would ban filtered cigarettes, disposable plastic holders and mouthpieces, and single-use electronic cigarettes. It also calls for manufacturers to take back any non-recyclable parts of reusable e-cigarettes. The bill cleared the Senate in May, but it’s now in the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization—where previous cigarette butt bans have gone to die.
If Jackson’s bill meets the same fate, she warns the tobacco and e-cigarette industry could face an even more difficult road ahead. Alameda and Santa Cruz counties are considering policies of their own to curb cigarette butt litter. And the Beverly Hills city counciljust voted for a tobacco-products sales ban that goes well beyond the butt.
“The last thing these industries want is to have to deal with 58 county or 352 different city ordinances,” Jackson told CALmatters. “I don’t think these folks want to go there. We’re offering them an opportunity to do this on a statewide basis that frankly will benefit everybody.”
The bill is a work in progress: it leaves gaps, for instance, about how exactly a program to take back the non-recyclable waste would work. Jackson said her team wants to work out the details with industry input, like she did last year with her successful billto create a pharma-funded program to take back drugs and needles.
So far, however, only vaping giant Juul has come to the table, according to Heidi Sanborn,executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council, the lobbying groupsponsoring the bill. Juul, which sold a 35 percent staketo tobacco company Altria in 2018, has proposed amendments. But it’s uncertain yet how much influence it will have through this process.
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Governor names advisory panels
to give feedback on judicial nominations
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced the formation of eight Regional Judicial Selection Advisory Committees (JSACs) and their members who will be charged with providing feedback on all judicial candidates for nomination and appointment. He said it is time the public knows who is helping select the people who will serve them as judges.
The eight committees represent San Diego, the Bay Area, Central Coast, Central Valley, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Northern California, and Orange.
All feedback from the JSACs is advisory in nature only, and will be considered by the Governor’s Office in combination with evaluations provided by the State Bar of California and county and affinity bar associations.
Members of the San Diego County Committee are:
- Michael Attanasio, Cooley LLP
- Angela Bartosik, San Diego County Public Defender’s Office
- Nadia Bermudez, Klinedinst PC
- Judge Enrique Camarena, San Diego County Superior Court
- Judge Truc Do, San Diego County Superior Court
- Patrick Dudley, Law Office of Patrick Dudley
- Judge Carol Isackson (Ret.), San Diego County Superior Court
- Judge Daniel Lamborn, San Diego County Superior Court
- Jerrilyn Malana, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
- Justice Judith McConnell, California Court of Appeal, Fourth District
- Todd Stevens, Keeney, Waite & Stevens
- Judge Randa Trapp, San Diego County Superior Court
- Dwain Woodley, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
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SDSU picks Clark Construction as
Mission Valley site contractor
Following a public bidding process, Clark Construction was selected as the contractor for the SDSU Mission Valley site development project. Clark, one of three finalists bidding for the project, won the contract due to their strong planning and design team, their clear understanding of the site’s complexity and their competitive pricing, according to Tom McCarron, senior vice president, SDSU Mission Valley Development.
Along with their civil engineering design partner, Project Design Consultants (PDC), Clark Construction will be responsible for the site engineering and grading, construction of the site infrastructure, interior road network and utilities.
Earlier this year, Clark Construction was selected in a separate competitive bidding process to build the new multi-use stadium at SDSU Mission Valley. They have partnered with Gensler as the new stadium architect.
The design and planning for the complete SDSU Mission Valley site is taking place concurrent with the university’s negotiations with the city of San Diego to purchase the land, and the preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Report. The university anticipates the draft EIR will be out for public review this summer and the California State University Board of Trustees is expected to consider its approval at their first meeting in 2020.
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Illumina, AnchorDX to develop genomic
cancer tests for Chinese market
GenomeWeb
Illumina said Tuesday that it has partnered with Chinese molecular diagnostics firm AnchorDx to develop clinical oncology tests for the Chinese market.
Under the terms of the strategic collaboration, AnchorDx, based in Guangzhou in southern China, will use Illumina’s MiSeqDx sequencing system to develop in vitrodiagnostic cancer test kits and data analysis software. AnchorDx plans to develop genomic cancer tests that range from screening to diagnostic testing to treatment monitoring.
One focus of the collaboration will be to improve early cancer detection, with the goal of developing the first cancer screening IVD product in China on the MiSeqDx system, which is approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).
“This collaboration highlights Illumina’s recognition of AnchorDx’s capabilities in research and development, clinical development, and marketing,” said AnchorDx CEO Jian Bing Fan, a former Illumina employee, in a statement.
In 2017, AnchorDx raised $28 million in a Series B funding round to develop next-generation sequencing-based oncology products.
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Filing period to open for property
tax assessment appeals
San Diego County residents and businesses who disagree with their property tax assessments for the 2019-2020 fiscal year may file an application to appeal the value between July 2 and Dec. 2, Clerk of the County Assessment Appeals Boards Andrew Potter announced. The fiscal year runs from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020.
Applications and information booklets are available on the County’s website at sandiegocounty.gov/cob/aab. Residents may also pick them up and speak with staff at the Clerk of the Board’s office in the County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, Lower Level Bayside Room, San Diego, CA 92101-2471.
Those filing an appeal will need to provide their parcel or tax bill number, property address, and must also state their opinion of the property’s market value. Applications must be received by the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Office no later than 5 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2019 or be postmarked by midnight of Dec. 2, 2019.
Applications and forms can be mailed to: Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, Assessment Appeals, 1600 Pacific Highway, Room 402, San Diego, CA 92101-2471.
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Banking on Cannabis:
Bill would allow industry to use state banks
California’s cannabis industry, a cash-only business now, could start using specially chartered state banks, under legislation that passed another hurdle Monday.
Background: Because marijuana is illegal under federal law, banks could be prosecuted if they conduct business with cannabis growers and retailers. As a result, the weed business operates on cash.
Democratic Senator Bob Hertzberg of Los Angeles is carrying Senate Bill 51, which is intended to give state banks and credit unions a limited charter to provide some services to state-licensed cannabis businesses. It would:
- Authorize banks and credit unions to accept deposits and issue special-purpose checks.
- Allow cannabis business owners to use those checks to pay fees or taxes and rent on property they lease.
The Assembly Banking Committee approved it 8-0.
Herzberg: “Receipts will only continue to grow in the coming years, and it is unacceptable for cannabis businesses to have to continue arriving to government offices with duffel bags of cash to fulfill their tax obligations.”
The U.S. House of Representatives is considering the Secure And Fair Enforcement Banking Act to permit banks to do business with cannabis operators. The bill has 206 co-sponsors, including 44 members of California’s congressional delegation.
Like the federal legislation, Hertzberg’s bill has Democratic and Republican support.
Lobbyist Amy Jenkins, of the California Cannabis Industry Association: “It’s important to move this bill forward as that debate in Congress continues. We tend to move a little faster in California.”
Click here for a backgrounder on the issue.
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Founding dean of Rady School of Management
to step down on July 1
Robert Sullivan, the founding dean of the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, will be stepping down effective Aug. 31. A committee has been established by Chancellor Pradeep Khosla to conduct a national search for his replacement.
Sullivan was recruited to UC San Diego in 2003 after successfully leading the Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and also leading the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now the Tepper School) at Carnegie Mellon University.
At the time of Sullivan’s arrival to San Diego, no philanthropic commitments had been secured for a new school of management. Additionally, the school was to receive no campus or state resources. Unique to all the business schools in the University of California, this new school was to sustain on its own, starting at ground zero.
As founding dean, Sullivan has influenced every aspect of the school as it grew from fledgling startup to the innovation powerhouse that it has become. He led the recruitment of world-class faculty, who are consistently recognized for being among the best in the world as scholars and as educators.
Upon arrival to UC San Diego, he quickly launched innovation-centric MBA programs for full-time students, as well as for working professionals. More recently, he launched one-year specialized masters programs in the areas of finance, business analytics and accounting. The school has grown to nearly 40 ladder track faculty and to nearly 750 masters students in residence.
Sullivan will remain as dean of the Rady School until his successor is in place.
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Alabama shipyard delivers 10th
trimaran-hull littoral combat ship to Navy
Austal USA announced Tuesday it has delivered the 10th Independence-variant littoral combat ship to the Navy. The future USS Cincinnati (LCS 20), which was christened in May, will be stationed in San Diego along with the rest of the trimaran-hull ships in the class.
“It’s so exciting to deliver another great warship to the U.S. Navy,” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle. “I’m so proud of our incredible team here at Austal USA, our industry and Navy partners for achieving this major milestone for the future USS Cincinnati.”
Five more of the ships are in various stages of construction at Austal’s shipyard in Mobile, AL. The future USS Kansas City (LCS 22) is preparing for sea trials. Assembly is underway on the future USS Oakland (LCS 24) and the future USS Mobile (LCS 26), and modules are under construction for the future USS Savannah (LCS 28) and the future USS Canberra (LCS 30), with four more under contract through LCS 38.
Littoral combat ships are highly maneuverable, flexible warships designed to support mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. A monohull variant is also being built, with those vessels stationed on the East Coast.
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New Plunge pool at Belmont Park
to open on July 3
After a nearly 2 1/2-year wait, the Plunge pool at Belmont Park will open with a splash at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 3, at 3115 Ocean Front Walk. The opening ceremony will include remarks from Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who also presided at the old historic pool’s demolition on Jan. 30, 2017.
Following a short ceremony, there will be tours conducted of the new facility.
The re-imagined Plunge is being managed by Fit Athletic Club. The new facility has the pool on the ground level, with state-of-the-art functional fitness equipment and free weights above on the second floor and roof deck. Fit has said it will be a private, month-to-month membership club with no long-term contracts.
— Courtesy San Diego Community News Group
