Patrick J. Kennedy

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 802, requiring Sacramento city and county, along with Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Folsom, to form a joint powers authority to coordinate the region's homelessness response by January 2028. It marks the first time California's Legislature has mandated such an arrangement, which is typically voluntary, and supporters say it could set a template for other regions where cities and counties often clash over responsibility for shelter beds and services.

The law follows decades of dysfunction in Sacramento, where nearly 90 officials across eight boards worked without coordination. The city supports the measure, but Sacramento County and Folsom oppose being forced into cooperation and are threatening legal action. Critics point to the troubled Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, now under federal scrutiny and defunded by the county, as a cautionary example, while supporters cite Solano County's joint authority, formed in 2022, as a working model. The outcome could influence how other California counties structure future homelessness governance.

Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-McKinney, chair of the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee, announced plans to file legislation making the death penalty available for child rape convictions when lawmakers convene in January. The move directly challenges the Supreme Court's 2008 ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which held 5-4 that executing someone for raping a child who survives is unconstitutional, citing a lack of consensus among states at the time.

Legal experts note the current 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority includes three justices — Samuel Alito, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas — who dissented in Kennedy. Several states, starting with Florida in 2023, have passed similar laws aimed at prompting the Court to revisit the precedent, though any challenge would require a conviction and death sentence to work through the courts first, a process likely to take years. Critics have warned such laws could discourage abuse reporting. Leach's bill would need approval from the Texas Legislature, where all 150 House seats are up for election this November.