marin's mark levine and oakland's buffy wicks coauthored the bill to add a new tax on guns and ammunition to fund an already successful state intervention program combating gun violence. yesterday, the assembly's public safety committee approved it and now it moves to another committee. levine cites 66 u.s. deaths by gun violence last month alone including shootings in georgia, colorado and orange, california. >>> a new batch of stimulus checks are expected to arrive today, since social security and railroad retirement recipients are expected to receive direct deposits from the government. this applies to those who did not file a 2019 or 2020 tax return or didn't use an irs long non-filers tool. payments could appear on existing direct express cards. >>> 6:4 3 right now. at his first press conference president biden said the gun control would take a back seat