tonighon kqed newsroom, despite concerns lawmakers are back at work in person after two months thaway as state faces a massive budget deficit. anbastriking a nce between safety and livelihoods, some retailers are beginning to ca reopen afornia moves to stage 2 of the pandemic recovery. plus, a long-running asian american film festival goes virtual for the first time.we will preview the linell. and welcome to kqed newsroom. is it week eight of sheltering in place in northern california, and statewide, some restrictions started to lift todae lifornia state assembly headed back to sacramento following a two month hiatus

ronavirus pandemic. e among the challenges, with stores closed in residence at home, legislators are dealing with a massive deficit from declining tax revenue. with the pandemic projected to continue through the fall, expanding vote mail as a safe option for the november election. lawmakers have to address long- boosting affordable housing to fighting climate change. joining us is ate assembly member david chu, and from the sutter county, james gallagher, thank u both for joining us >> thanks for ng outhtu work this week. what is like to legislate in the midst of a pandemic with masks and protests? >> i think the biggest difftience that you is the capital building is not populated. it is li a thhalls. usually thpublic is in the capital walking the building

obviously different groups are wanting to petion their government. you do not see that, right? we are still able to conduct hearings and provide public acce for all the input e er one and conference calls and also a videoconferencing center in the capital for witnesses to testify. >> assembly member gallagher, are masks required? >> no, they're not required. we asked the public to wear masks, but they are not required for members. i am practicing social distancing. i do not go within six feet of other persons in the committee room we are t separated and we also have a crophone you know, coverings so all the a surfac continually disinfected. there are a lot of safety protocols put in place. >> what has it been like to legislate during this pandemic? >> aftof seven weeks not

being in sacramento i'm glad to be back because we have an awful lot of work do. it has been surreal to wear masks everywhere we go. it is not easy to talk through them as we are making our case on different issues. i have to admit that i am disappointed that some of our colleagues across the aisle are not wearing masks all the time and i'm going to bring a cisan fro mask for james gallagher, as far as the protests, we all understand the intense economic anxiety people are experiencing. we see it in thdistricts but that said, unfortunately, too many protests are driven by white supremacis, anti- vaccine or astroturf groups and inciting physical confrontation with the police and frankly, eg- optingimate suffering that is happening from my perspective that is not excusable. it is counterproductive it we cannotpoliticize what isgoing on. >> you have a response? >> i do not think that is an

acurate portrayal of all the people that are showing up at these protests. i think mo people, there are people that obviously, they want to express their opinion out the stay-at-home orders as they have a constitutional right to do. so, and it has not impacted us at all. we have coinued to doour legislative business and nobody has been disrupted in any way. people have gathered outside and you know, that is their prerogative, their . constitutional rig you know, chp has provided security at the building. and i think that to espigeonhol what people are protesting about or what group they are isan inacyarate port >> is simply member gallagher, let's go to your district. you by and sutter counties, which are both in your district, they have allowed restaurants, gyms, nail salons

and other retailers to open this week in defiance of the states stay-at-home yoders. whatsay to critics who say that decision is the wrong call and that is jeopardizing public health? >> i would ask them to look into what transpired. what happened ics, our pu health officer, who actually issued a stay-at-home order was one day before the governor did, he issued a new order that was based on public health guidance as well as federal e a stblic health guidances and evidence-based peer- reviewed research, guidance that is lyt there, nathe johns hopkins risk matrix guidelines and allowed for businesses that are under that risk matrix of a low risk of spread, it allowed them to open with safety protocols. it was a publicorhealth r that helps protect the public from the continued spread of covid. we have had low cases and we had 69 total cases in the six counties that i represent, 50

of them are fully recovered. there are currently no one of suspected covid-19 infection in a hospital bed in my six county region. >> and assembly member chu, many in some remember -- residence are hurting, and would li to reopen. what you say to them? >> no one is excited about the fact that businesses are closed. i used to run a small business and i am heing the painevery single day. we have had so many small businesses that have been decimated. it is esmated a hugenumber of restaurants may have to close and we are even saying that there could be significant playoffs in tech and innovation that said, i very much appreciate and support the data- driven approach to phasing in how we reopen. ed we really to bring the best public health andards and daas we move forward. he sets standards for what businesses can open up at different times and he is giving local jurisdiction really, the ability to, once they meet those standards, to

explain that to state health officials and the eathat we can support different parts of the state opening up earlier, so maybe the case that in yuma city, where james represents things may be different than in dense urban areas like san francisco. i think that is appropriate. >> let's talk about the budget deficit, $54 billion, a huge budget deficit, plus it looks like there is a projected, almost 20% unemployment ra coming. you both sit on the assemblies budget committee and you are the chair of the committee on housing and lommunity deent, how will this deficit impact the affordable housing goals you havech pion? >> this is going to be very challengind the housing homelessness crisis that existed before coronavirus has only intensified during this time. we are very, very worried that in the next couple weof months could see waves of evictions

and fothclosures. during time we need, during the recession, to be building as much housing as al possible alevels of affordability, particularly affordable housing, this is something that i am championing because we need to house folks. it is the safest thing to do from a public alth anoint, but also, you know, important for the public. >> cuts will need to be made, do you think they will be made within the housing segm >> reporter: i think we will roughout the budget. uts we will have to look at potential revenue ideas we have not considered before and coronavirus has really shown a real bright light on the holes in the social safety net and we have to take care of our people. >> you sit suon the ommittee for education and 40% of the budget comes from the general fund. what cuts are you expecting to see an education? >> we just had a budget subcommittee hearing on education last weekend started to see that we are going to be faced with a stark number when

it comes to budget revenue decreasing. this was annoced yesterday, $54 billion anl of us are committed on the committee to trying to keep a stable education budget. now, there are different things that will help us in doing that, coming in and we think will be coming into support states and our counties and education. another is our reserves, which we have been prudent and built up reserves over the last few years including the prop to reserves that was established bythe voters. , that i think going to help us get through this as well but the other big one is back where we started, reopening e economy andoing that safely. that will do more than anything to help get revenues back goingg inernment and david, myself and all of us working in the assembly are going to try provide a able as possible budget for people, because

know how on itwe, and rely on the social safety net and is now because r, thhis orand the miions atare unemployed, many mo who are reliant on services. >> david chu, do you expect taxes to go up to close the deficit? >> we will see what happens. but, we will ve to make incredibly painful cuts in all areas of legovernment and the federal government is able to step in and help, we are going to have to make so difficult choices. i don't think we can rule out anythi . >> soremember gallagher, will taxes go up? >> that is the last thing we should do when people are struggling during this timee st thing we should do is add to their tax load which is already the highest in the ca nation in fornia. i agree with david, we need to work with federal partners. ovthey have already ed $2 trillion worth of relief and more coming in as that is debated in washington dc. we have control over the

reservesk which i thwe need to use to help make a stable budget this year but i think that we need to get more and re of the economy opened up, because more than anything that will help to close the gap. in>> david chu san francisco and james gallagher in yuba city, thank you much. >> thank you. weeks of sheltering in place have taken a heavy toll on retailers. today, the state began loosening restrictions for some of them. clothing stores and sporting goods stores can reopen with social distancing in place rbfo de pickup and delivery. nine in restaurants, shopping malls, and strants must remain closed for now. counties may still implement stricter rules if they feel their regionis not ye prepared to reopen. joining me now is the owner of sonoma outfitters in the santa rosa and tinaferguson, the owner of an independent bookstore, face in a book and el dorado hills. thank you both for ining me.

deborah, let's start with you. you have had some lean times in your business before. sonoma outfiers has been together for 40 years. but, you have ner faced something like this. how has the pandemic impacted your business? >> it completely closed it down when they ordereshelter in place, because we are a retail store selling clothing, footwear, sunglasses, so we are not considered essential so we had to close our doors and i y had to my employees off. luckily, our landlord has been working with us and my vendors have been pretty good so far, but it all depends on how much longer this is going to go on. you know, and i have no idea when we finally are able to allow people in stthe e, are all my old customers going to are they going to be able to

shop? be able to afford to shop? i don't know. it is just kind of a big question. >> there is a lot of uncertainty right now. >> yeah. >> tina, you have been able to send books out to customers faster than amazon has been recently. how muchhas your line business help your bottom line? >> extremely. it has been extremely helpful. being able to service our customers online has given us the capability to continue keeping people on the payroll. it has been enabling us to pay our rent and keep our vendors ipping to us. having that capability has saved us definitete. >> me a little bit about how you are cautiously reopening now. >> we have e been doing curbside deliveries since the shelter in place started on the unofficial way i guess but now official we can make sure

that we let people know we are here every day 10-5 they can pick up a. it is difficult, because they cannot browse, but if they know what they're looking for they can certainly n let us and if they're looking for recommendations, we are happy to have a phone call oran email and help them that way. >> deborah, what does reopening look like at sonoma outfitters? >> people can call and we have had a promotion going on for mother's day where we are selling gift cards because our type of product that we sell, people really have to see and touch ortry on and with not being able to allow people in the store, it is really so, we used to have a good online presence and use to sell a couple years ago online, but we closed that site down because amazon and our brands had started selling through their own sites so it kind of cut that businessout for us.

do yoyou feel can implement social distancing within your store? >> very easily. or our is about, the sales floor isprobably about 6500 square feet and theris plenty of room to social distance. and all the departments. >> >> tina, you have applied for a paycheck protection loan but you have not yet received it. what sort of hardships have you experienced due to this lack of funding? >> certainly, my number one priori was my employees. they are the reason that the bookstore is what it is and so being able to do this has been tantamount so that is where my priorities have gone and now that we are reopening we are pl getting those ees back into the store, but even ghth -- they will remain on the l

payrtil we are 100% normal. loan. rah, you ve received have you been able to bring back any of your employees? do they all want to come back? back, i believe four of my full- time employees. i have offered to rehire several others and they are making up their mind whether or not they want to come back. and i really, there e strict rules with the paycheck protection program so i really have to know from them pretty soone whether they coming back him otherwise i'm going to hire somewhere else. >> and, what is the hesitation about coming back? >> there receiving unemployment plus the $600 a week and i think that is a big incentive for them coto not back,

because a lot of them were part- time employees. somathey are ng more money right now on unemployment than they were when they were working. >> tina, i heard you a green. >> yes. none of mine have gone there at the end, selecting unemplment at this me. however, it is that catch 22 wito you have keep them on the payroll in order to have the loan forgiven but yet, you the loan you know, it is like how do you make that work? not all of us have a strong reserve of cash where wewa can for the loan. >> how much longer do you feel you can go if business does not open up quickly and you do not get the loan? >> i can go another i would say 2-3 months. but, that is about all i can handle. before i haveto close the

doors for good. >> how much ha it bea personal struggle in this decision to reopen, weighing the cost of public health and s ri your own health or employees health with the need to reopen financiall >> that is where the rub is so to speak where you know that your employees want to work, they want to come back and employees want to be engaging with the customers and s e customnt us to open our doors again so of course we want to be safe so we are looking at all the work space and making sure that we have things in place to keep us and them safe and then hopefully bring us all of that together in a way that is positive and supportive and helps us mofong rward. >> is a small business owner, how wo d you rathe governor's handling of the pandemic response? >> i was very pleased in the beginning with the way he was handling it. wish you would be a little,

opening us up a little more. i think there are a lot of businesses like mine that could distance and haeverybody be safe but still have them be able to comeinto the store. so, i wish that would open up. a little faster than it looks, yes. >> tina, what about you, your thoughts on the governor's response? >> i 100% agree. i think that having some real solid guidelines would be helpful. just saying you can open and ever but he thinks we are opening our doors so peopleare calling and it is like no, we are not open. we are just doing curbside. it is difficult explain to people. i wish we could have people in the oragain. we can only have a certain

number of people in a time. it is not like have many people in the store. we could easily social distance to keep people safe. >> deborah with sonoma outfitrs, thank you both so much for being with us. >> thanks. next week is the start of film festival for asian ameran media, caamfest. theylped screenings in the bay area celebrating asian american storavytellie ng, buhe because of the pandemic they cideif d t shthen tifestival on starting next week they will roll out more than 20 free digil programs from discussions with filmmakers to live performances and watch parties, showcasing the diversity and creativity of asian american artists with a theme of heritage at home and is able to experiment that may also point re a fuof engaging audiences wherever they are. joining me is the director of the festival. an you for being with me.

>> so, due to the virus you have had to pivot like many others. what made you decide to hold al the festanyway online rather than canceling like some musical festivals? >> at first, we did not know. i think we we trre to ngand, you know we started to so much olation from the audience members and community and that need for a connection of afesame time, we saw all this anti-asian discriminaon and we felt may is apa heritage month and it is important that we come together, even remotely or even from our own houses and celebrate asian american heritage and the history here in the u.s.. >> you felt like you hato bring people together particularly in the light of the anti-asian american discriminationhich as you say has been on the rise since the pandemic began. well your festival directly address this? >> absolutely. we have 70 programs that really focus on not only telling

sties but also using the festival as a space scfor sion to talk about these issues and all of our q&a, every program that we have will have a livecomponent whether it is a musician, filmmaker, and this is going to be someing we talk about throughout the entirety of the festival. >> what are you hearing om the asian american artists about this concern erin this and this time? >> i think it is scary. i think a lot of people are not only scared for their own jobs, for their own personal lives, buto then goout in public and have that fear, that something might happen, is something that i know is reallya ing the mental stability of the asian american community right now. >> let's turn to the film festival itself, and the films that you have selected. let's talk about the opening and closing night films. how did ? u choose th >> for us, as i talk about

wanting a festival that is in the spirit of our normal festival and have really fun celebratory films, things people can escape with d be entertained by. both the opening and closings are musicals. the opening night, i will mimak you is directed by lynn chen. what i love is it is a third in a trilogy of feure films. and for me, as someone who is in asian american cinema, i have seen films have trilogies, that is pretty amazing. it is a really beautiful film. our closing is fruit fly, this is a film shot in san francisco 10 years ago so it is a 10 year anniversary, itngis a along. one of my favoriteoza,is making and the two of us have talked about how we can use the online space for new ways of being creative and interacting with audiences. i'm excited for people to check

that out. >> fruit fly oks at what it means to be asian and gay in di the missiorict. you look at politics also. you have two documentaries, whatdid you learfrom these that could be applied to the 2020 elec on cycle? one of them, first vote, what i love about it, it really explores asian american democrats, but also asian american republicans, and it does it in a nuanced thoughtful way, where it is not black or or white, this that, it really looks at the values and goals of both sides. th you finde interesting parallels and also things that also with she could be next, what is great about it is the director is chronicling not only asian americans in political office but other women of color and i think for us to be great asian americans we also bewant to really connecting and collaborating with other communities of color, so that is a great

project that shows you as a movement, so many amazing things happeng in politics. >> since the time you have been involved with the festival, 20 years overall, this is your 10th year as a director. the representation ofpower of asian americans has certainly grown. do you feel that icanhachanged in the media and in the portrayal as well during ? that ti and, in what ways? >> i definitely think so. if you look at the percentage of asian american representation on tv, it is getting closer to maybe 8-10%, love arabout yefilms s and stuff you see on netflix and in other spaces, is not only are there asian americans in front of the camer also behind the camera. what that took was not only hollywood, but lot of amazing filmmakers, behind the scenes, through cades, working on their craft and coming to a

point where they are directing, producing, doing those things. and you can see in a film that has asian americans, e ones that really connect, you can tell there are also asian americans behind it because it u feels moreentic or has more of a sense of personal. u >> think that what you are doing here, going online, is the future of film festivals? certainly, there are things that are gainedand lost. >> i hope after all of this happens, that all of the festivals including us do not go straight back to what we did online, i and uff putting stuff in people's homes is really exciting. after the anxiety of it all, there has been fun in creating ways to okay, now we can connect this way anthat way and we can have surprises here and there. so, i hope we continue to do bu because for me, someone who love cinema, i love the future, i hope that we can get to a can, together and celebrate

stories together. >> the caamfest direyoor, thank for joining us this evening. you can catch the performances, discussions and films at this year's caamfe. the festival kicks off next wednesday, may 13. as always, you can find more coverage at kqed.orgqed newsroom pretty can reach me through my social media handle. stay safe. r joining

robert: an economy and a presidency on the edge. >> this is worse than pearl harbor and the world trade center. robert: the soaring jobless rates stokesear about a great recession or depression. a under pressur ahead of the fall campaign, president trump pushes to reopen the country and pushes back on guidance from t c.d.c. are health experts being sidelined? >> ishhink everythinld be based on scice and not vary wh the c.d.c. recommending and who was making this decision? robert: plus, the justice department drops charges again former security advisor michael

flynn reviving