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Presented by CVS Health: Jeremy B. White’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | |  | | By Jeremy B. White, Chris Ramirez, Juhi Doshi and Graph Massara | Presented by CVS Health | THE BUZZ — FACING THE FUTURE: California is taking a major step toward normalcy next week — but it’s still behind the pace of other blue states. Our statewide indoor mask mandate will vanish one week from today. Gov. Gavin Newsom letting that order lapse underscores the progress California has made in the nearly two months since the Omicron efflorescence compelled health officials to again require face coverings indoors. When California reimposed that stricture in mid-December, the test positivity rate stood at 2.2 percent. It would peak at 23.1 percent a month later. And as of Monday, it had slipped back to single digits. Newsom cited that trajectory and reduced hospitalizations in announcing that California would discard the mask rule and test mandates for hospital visits. It was welcome if not unexpected news. But it was overshadowed by New Jersey, Oregon and Connecticut announcing they would lift statewide school mask mandates — a point of contrast with California that underscored how America’s most populous state continues to embrace a stringent set of rules, including dictating that kids must cover their faces in the classroom. Cities and counties can retain indoor mask rules or add vaccination requirements , which means the Newsom’s could have little discernible effect on millions of Californians. The broad backlash last week to Newsom and other electeds appearing maskless at an NFL game in Los Angeles, in defiance of local rules, spoke to the public’s pervasive restlessness. California voters have generally embraced Newsom’s aggressive pandemic response, vindicating him by repudiating a recall attempt that hinged on it. But years into the pandemic, even conscientious Californians are growing weary and wondering when it will end. California could soon be in the endemic phase of the coronavirus pandemic, something Newsom has said he's preparing for. That effectively means down-shifting from battling a public health crisis to living with a manageable virus. But it is unclear exactly what that will look like, including which rules businesses must follow and when parents will no longer need to strap masks on their kids. And despite the Newsom administration’s gestures toward normalcy, the Legislature is still weighing far-reaching pandemic legislation. Victoria Colliver and Susannah Luthi examine what it will look like for California to exit one pandemic phase and enter another. By the way: In an uncanny coincidence, the statewide mask mandate is set to expire on the same day as a San Francisco school board recall election … which was spurred, in part, by anger over school closures. BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is in Los Angeles today to discuss Super Bowl security with law enforcement and National Football League officials. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit jwhite@politico.com or follow me on Twitter @jeremybwhite. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “In general, I think people’s bedside manners matter around here. I think members react when pushed, not only when they’re pushed themselves, but also when their colleagues are pushed.” Speaker Anthony Rendon on single-payer supporters’ tactics, via the LA Times’ Taryn Luna and Melody Gutierrez . TWEET OF THE DAY:Assemblymember @alex_lee on the mask mandate expiring next week: “I'm still going to be masking indoors, thank you” WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! In 2018, California enacted a law requiring at least one woman on the board of every company based in the state. Did this law affect you? If yes, let us know via the form here . We want to hear from readers who have had personal experiences with the law and how it changed business and women’s careers in the state.
| | A message from CVS Health: Throughout the pandemic, in communities across the country, CVS Health has been there. We’ve opened more than 4,800 COVID-19 test sites, administered 41 million tests and given 50 million vaccines. We’ve expanded access to prenatal and postpartum care via telemedicine, increased remote access to mental health services and invested in affordable housing to help build healthier communities. We’ve been on the frontlines, making health care easier to access and afford. Learn more. | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | GARCETTI WATCH — “ Mayor Garcetti’s former top spokeswoman wants him charged with perjury,”by the LA Times’ James Rainey: “Mayor Eric Garcetti’s onetime chief spokeswoman has filed a complaint with local, state and federal prosecutors, demanding that he be prosecuted for perjury for repeatedly denying that he knew about another former aide’s alleged sexual misconduct.” CALIFORNIAN DROPS OUT — “ Skater Vincent Zhou tests positive, pulls out of individual Olympic competition,” by the SF Chronicle: “After figure skater Vincent Zhou of Palo Alto tested positive as part of regular COVID-19 screening at the Beijing Olympics, he subsequently announced that he is pulling out of the individual competition.” STANDING TRIAL — “ Scandal enmeshing DA on eve of police beating trial beggars belief ,” by Mission Local’s Joe Eskenazi: “Opening statements are scheduled today for the trial of Officer Terry Stangel, who is charged with multiple felonies following his October, 2019, beating of Dacari Spiers with a baton, which put Spiers into the hospital with broken bones.” FOLLOWING THE MONEY — “ California will reward volunteering college students with aid — but spend half the money on overhead,” by CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn: “A new California program to financially reward college students for volunteering has drawn national attention — but less than half of its budgeted money is going to actual student aid.The California Volunteers College Corps program, backed by $159 million in mostly state money, promises to award up to $10,000 to 6,668 low-income students who volunteer in K-12 education, on climate action or to reduce food insecurity.” SCOTUS TALKS — “ California’s Supreme Court Was Split. Leondra Kruger Found the Center,” by the NYTimes’ Shawn Hubler and Katie Benner: “ If selected from President Biden’s short list of candidates to succeed Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court, she could become not only the first Black female justice, but also a mediating force on an institution notable for its polarization.”
| | | | HAPPENING THURSDAY – A LONG GAME CONVERSATION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS : Join POLITICO for back-to-back conversations on climate and sustainability action, starting with a panel led by Global Insider author Ryan Heath focused on insights gleaned from our POLITICO/Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll of citizens from 13 countries on five continents about how their governments should respond to climate change. Following the panel, join a discussion with POLITICO White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López and Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, about the Biden administration’s climate and sustainability agenda. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | A CHALLENGER — “ Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle to announce challenge to Gavin Newsom,” by the SF Chronicle’s Joe Garofoli: “Several top Republicans have passed on challenging Newsom after the governor decisively beat back the attempted recall against him in September. … The challenges facing Dahle, however, will be far greater than Elder would have confronted, starting with a lack of name recognition.”
AG ACTION; An independent expenditure committee supporting Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s attorney general run has formed, with Republican consultant Kevin Spillane at the helm. We’ll see if it gets money from the law enforcement groups that have backed Schubert’s campaign. An IE committee for Republican AG candidate Nathan Hochman has yet to report any donations.
FRESNO FRAY — “ Karbassi Running for Assembly vs. Fellow Fresno Councilmember ,” by GV Wire’s David Taub: “Mike Karbassi, a Democrat representing northwest Fresno on the city council, is running for state Assembly. The move will pit him against fellow Fresno city councilmember and Democrat Esmeralda Soria.”BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL: — “ Justice Dept. signals it may allow safe injection sites ,” by the AP’s Jennifer Peltz and Michael Balsamo: “A year after winning a major court battle against the opening of so-called safe injection sites -- safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses — the Justice Department is signaling it might be open to allowing them.” | | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — “A California Water Board Assures the Public that Oil Wastewater Is Safe for Irrigation, But Experts Say the Evidence Is Scant,” by Inside Climate News’ Liza Gross: “ After years of controversy, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board assured the public in the fall that eating California crops grown with oil field wastewater “creates no identifiable increased health risks,” based on studies commissioned as part of an extensive Food Safety Project. Yet a review of the science and interviews with a public health scientist affiliated with the project and other experts show that there is scant evidence to support the board’s safety claims.” CRIME REPORT— “ Crime trends are diverging in S.F.’s rich and poor neighborhoods. These maps show the stark contrast,” by SF Chronicle’s Susie Neilson: “On average, the 10 neighborhoods with highest incomes saw a 7.8% increase in rates of major ‘money-motivated’ crime types — motor vehicle thefts, larceny thefts, robberies and burglaries —from 2018 and 2019 to 2020 and 2021. In contrast, the neighborhoods with the lowest incomes saw a 15.4% decrease in those same crime types, according to the Chronicle’s analysis of reported police incident data from the city of San Francisco.” — “ Making the case for the supermajority — in DC and CA ,” opines Joel Fox in Capitol Weekly: “For a public weary of political polarization and squabbling, the best reason to maintain the status quo is to keep laws predictable and stable and promote the public’s confidence in the law. Changes in laws can be achieved under supermajority rules — if a proposed change enjoys wide support.” TRUCKING TURNOVER — “ Why Trucking Can’t Deliver the Goods,” by the American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson: “According to Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of L.A., fully 30 percent of the port’s 12,000 drivers no longer show up on weekdays, a percentage that rises to 50 percent on weekends. Once the waits exceed six hours, as they now sometimes do, drivers would run the risk of exceeding the 11-hour federal limit on trucker workdays if they then were to actually get a load—which means the port must turn them away, and they’ll have spent an entire workday for no pay at all.” HEALTH CARE — “ ‘I don’t have a life’: Parents struggle to get home nurses for medically fragile kids,” by the LATimes’ Emily Alpert Reyes: “Families in California have long struggled to get nursing care at home for medically fragile children. Even after doctors have deemed home care necessary to keep their kids healthy and safe, many Californians have been unable to secure enough nurses to fill their allocated hours.” HOUSE HUNTING — “ One home, 1,200 potential buyers: The Bay Area’s daunting real estate math after COVID,” by SF Chronicle’s Lauren Hepler: “From households earning $50,000 a year to those raking in $500,000, the San Jose and San Francisco metro areas are at or near the top of the list for the nation’s least accessible cities, and competition is steepest in lower price ranges.” — “ IRS abandons facial recognition plan after firestorm of criticism ,” by WaPo’s Drew Harwell: “On Monday, shortly before the IRS’s announcement, four Democrats in the House — Reps. Ted Lieu (Calif.), Yvette D. Clarke (N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) and Anna G. Eshoo (Calif.) — sent the agency a letter calling it ‘simply wrong to compel millions of Americans to place trust in this new protocol.’”
| | | |   | | | | | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | THIEL PEELS OUT — “ Peter Thiel to Exit Meta’s Board to Support Trump-Aligned Candidates ,” by the NYT’s Ryan Mac and Mike Isaac: “The departure means Meta loses its board’s most prominent conservative voice. The 10-member board has undergone significant changes in recent years, as many of its members have left and been replaced, often with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.” — “Tesla Warns of Possible California Suit Over Race Harassment ,” by Bloomberg’s Dana Hull and Paige Smith: “The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing issued a so-called notice of cause finding and mandatory dispute resolution to Tesla on Jan. 3, the company said Monday in a regulatory filing. The investigation involved “undisclosed allegations of race discrimination and harassment at unspecified Tesla locations.” TWITTER TROUBLE — “ Tesla says the SEC delivered another subpoena in ongoing conflict over Musk tweets,” by CNBC’s Lora Kolodny: “The subpoena came shortly after the celebrity CEO polled his tens of millions of Twitter followers in the asking if he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla. They voted yes. But a major portion of the sales that followed the Twitter poll were part of a plan that Musk adopted in September this year.”
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | MIXTAPE | | PUT BEHIND BARS — “ Nun sentenced to year in prison for stealing $835,000 from Torrance elementary school,” by the LA Times’ Michael Finnegan. — “ Ice skater’s body recovered after group fell into California reservoir north of Lake Tahoe,” by Sac Bee’s Michael McGough. — “ Should Vicente Fernández get a street in Boyle Heights? Question exposes a divided legacy,” by the LA Times’ Andrew J. Campa. — “ Solano Sheriff’s Sgt. Cully Pratt, who made Three Percenter gun rack, retires from department,” by Vallejo Sun’s Scott Morris. — “ LA Unified's independent study less chaotic, but parental complaints persist,” by EdSource’s Kate Sequeira.
| | BIRTHDAYS | | TODAY: former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is 6-0 … Salesforce’s Matt Jaffe … Samantha Smith … Amazon Web Services’ Matthew Haskins
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Healthier Happens Together. Learn more. | | | CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this -only service offers,click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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