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Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | |  | | By Lara Korte, Jeremy B. White and Sakura Cannestra | THE BUZZ: It’s clear Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas are trying to send a message about border policies to Democrats by shipping migrants to “sanctuary cities” but they haven’t taken a run at one of the nation’s most liberal strongholds — yet. Here’s what we know: DeSantis last week took credit for flying about 50 migrants from a Texas city to Martha’s Vineyard, a wealthy enclave that’s been a favored vacation spot for elite Democrats, including Barack Obama. Not long after, Abbott announced that Texas had bussed more than 100 migrants from the countries of Colombia, Cuba, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela to the doorstep of Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington. That particular drop-off is part of a larger bussing campaign Abbott has deployed for months, which has thus far resulted in 10,000 migrants being transported to D.C., New York and Chicago, his office said. It seems neither Abbott nor DeSantis have orchestrated migrant drop offs in California — a frequent political punching bag for both Republicans. A spokesperson for DeSantis on Friday did nod to the Golden State, saying “states like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country…,” but nothing has been confirmed. The governor’s office on Friday didn’t reply to our question about whether they were aware of any drop-offs in California. We should note: The Florida Legislature approved $12 million for just this purpose earlier this year, so DeSantis has money to burn in this regard. Shortly after the news dropped last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a sharp rebuke of the Republican governors via a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland , calling for the Department of Justice to investigate the event and look into kidnapping charges. During a press conference, where he signed a suite of climate bills on Friday, Newsom said he was collaborating with state Attorney General Rob Bonta, but California’s legal intervention on this matter was an “open-ended question.” When asked how California would handle a Republican-facilitated shipment of migrants, Newsom touted the state’s diversity (27 percent of the population is foreign-born). He also highlighted state-funded migrant facilities in San Diego, Imperial and Riverside counties that “compassionately” care for migrants and “appropriately supporting their transition into the United States as they await their court proceedings.” “That's what we do. That's who we are. And that would be the approach we take if they decide to play that stunt here in the state of California,” Newsom said. | 
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference at Manny's on August 13, 2021 in San Francisco. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | TO THE AIRWAVES — Legal actions aside, Newsom did seize on the chance to lay into DeSantis, decrying his treatment of migrants as “monstrous” and a “disgrace.” The Florida governor quickly punched back, saying at his own press conference on Friday that he thinks Newsom’s “hair gel is interfering with his brain function.” This, naturally, led to a response from Newsom, who took to Twitter to challenge DeSantis to a debate. “Since you have only one overriding need — attention — let's take this up & debate. I’ll bring my hair gel. You bring your hairspray. Name the time before Election Day,” the California governor wrote. BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. Good news: the Mosquito Fire in Placer and El Dorado counties is now 38 percent contained. Bad news: it’s burned more than 76,000 acres. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “What Ron DeSantis is doing is a disgrace. It’s almost monstrous. …You saw those young girls with backpacks no older than his children, my children, being used as political pawns. And now he’s using it to fundraise to raise money. It’s disgraceful. He’s a disgrace.” Newsom in response to DeSantis flying unsuspecting migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. TWEET OF THE DAY
|  Today's Tweet of the Day | Twitter | WHERE’S GAVIN? Heading to New York for Climate Week NYC
| | | | JOIN THURSDAY FOR A GLOBAL INSIDER INTERVIEW : From climate change to public health emergencies and a gloomy global economic outlook, the world continues to deal with overlapping crises. How do we best confront all of these issues? Join POLITICO Live on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 10:30 a.m. EDT for a virtual conversation with Global Insider author Ryan Heath, featuring World Bank President David Malpass, to explore what it will take to restore global stability and avoid a prolonged recession. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | TIMES TROUBLE — Tensions rise between the LA Times and its billionaire owner, by POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman, Christopher Cadelago and Max Tani: Patrick Soon-Shiong, the wealthy pharmaceutical executive, has tried to bring an era of revitalization and reinvestment to the Times. But his stewardship has also witnessed internal discord and concerns over priorities. — “Sheriff ordered to halt search of some computers linked to Supervisor Kuehl investigation ,” by The Los Angeles Times’ Alene Tchekmedyian: “The order from Judge William Ryan applies solely to computers sheriff’s investigators took from Metro’s Office of Inspector General, whose attorney filed papers Thursday asking the judge to toss the search warrant used to seize the equipment.” LASTING ROE’S — Abortion ruling has put these 5 California House races in play, by POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White: The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade has made Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home state the place that may ultimately decide whether she continues to swing the House gavel in January — or gives a native son, Kevin McCarthy, a shot at the job.
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | FAST FOOD FIGHT — The Attorney General’s office on Friday issued the official title and summary for a ballot measure that seeks to overturn Assembly Bill 257, the landmark labor legislation that would establish a fast food council in California to set wages and working conditions for the state’s many burger-flippers and their brethren. Backers of the referendum, which include a group led by the International Franchise Association and the National Restaurant Association , have until Dec. 5 to collect the 623,212 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot. If it does qualify, the measure would delay implementation of the law until Californians vote on it. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — PESTY: Republican state Senate candidate Matt Gunderson is out with his first television spot of the cycle, taking aim at special interests as he seeks to claim the open, competitive (D+6) 38th Senate District seat. You can watch the spot here. LYFT LUCRE — The California Democratic Party just received its single-largest donation of the cycle — a whopping $1.5 million — from ride-for-hire firm Lyft via a group advocating Proposition 30. While the party clashed with Lyft in 2020, the two are aligned in support of the Lyft-funded Prop 30, which would raise rich Californians’ income taxes to fund electric vehicles. — “ Prop. 27 would rake in millions for homelessness. So why don’t homeless advocates support it?” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Joe Garofoli: “Not only did a nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California poll released last week show that only 34% of likely voters would support it while 54% would oppose it, the ballot measure is losing the support of key early enthusiasts.” DAHLE DEBATE UPDATE — “ Newsom Agrees to Debate Dahle in Gubernatorial Forum at KQED,” by KQED’s Guy Marzorati: “If Dahle agrees, it will be the first confirmed face-off between California’s two gubernatorial candidates. KQED’s Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos will serve as moderators.” PRIVACY IN THE BOOTH — “ Breaches of voting machine system raise worries for midterm election,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Christina A. Cassidy: “While much remains unknown about the investigations, one of the most pressing questions is what these breaches could mean for the security of voting machines in the midterm elections, less than two months away.”
| | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — “Editorial: San Franciscans agree with right-wing media on one thing. This city is broken,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Editorial Board: “The results of this poll reveal a lack of faith in our local institutions that looks startlingly similar to the abject lack of trust Americans have in institutions at the federal level. “ COASTLINE CALAMITIES — “Oceans rise, houses fall: The California beach dream home is turning into a nightmare ,” by USA Today’s Joel Shannon: “A decade later, a UCLA report warned that Johnson’s story will not be unique: Tens of thousands of people who live along California’s coast may be forced to flee in coming decades as climate change leads to rising seas and makes swaths of the state’s iconic coast uninhabitable.So far, those risks haven't ruined the dream of California beach living.” — “ L.A. is conserving water at record levels, but it’s not enough as drought worsens,” by The Los Angeles Times’ Hayley Smith: “Now, the pressure is on to not only increase savings, but also double-down on efforts to reduce reliance on imported supplies and to invest in long-term water solutions.” HOW MUCH INTEREST? — “ Gavin Newsom is working hard to be lucky,” by the Washington Post’s Dan Schnur: “These steps can mean only two things, either that he is preparing a run for 2024 Democratic nomination or that he simply enjoys trolling out-of-state GOP targets in his free time.” — “ 41 arrested — including two S.F. supes — at SFO food worker rally. Is a strike next?” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Roland Li: “Unite Here Local 2 said contract talks with restaurant operators have been unproductive over nine months and in August, 99.7% of workers voted overwhelmingly in August to authorize a strike, though one has not started.” — “Another California exodus: Dairy cows leave for greener pastures in Texas, Arizona as farms squeezed,” by The Los Angeles Times’ Summer Lin: “ The industry has been hurt by shrinking real estate in Southern California, more affordable land in other states, rigorous permitting processes and the shortage of water and other natural resources.” — “Nearly 40,000 pounds of trash cleared from American River parkway during cleanup ,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Jenavieve Hatch: “In Discovery Park, site captain Justino Santana said that over the last few years, there’s been a huge increase in waste to be picked up, due in large part to the city’s affordable housing crisis and the number of people living outside and in encampments.”
| | | | Join POLITICO Live on Tuesday, Sept. 20 to dive into how federal regulators, members of Congress, and the White House are seeking to write the rules on digital currencies, including stablecoins. The panel will also cover the tax implications of crypto, which could be an impediment to broader adoption and the geopolitical factors that the U.S. is considering as it begins to draw regulatory frameworks for crypto. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | — “Majority of Latino Voters Out of G.O.P.’s Reach, New Poll Shows,” by The New York Times’ Jennifer Medina, Jazmine Ulloa and Ruth Igielnik: “The poll — one of the largest nonpartisan surveys of Latino voters since the 2020 election — found that Democrats had maintained a grip on the majority of Latino voters, driven in part by women and the belief that Democrats remained the party of the working class.”
| | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | — “Is Silicon Valley’s golden era coming to an end?” by the Guardian’s Kari Paul: “The tech industry has been on a run of impressive growth for some time, bolstered in recent years by a pandemic that forced most of the world online and sent demand for tech services booming. That explosion – and the high salaries and office perks that came with it – seems to be slowing.” — “Appeals court backs Texas' social media must-carry law (again) ,” by Protocol’s Ben Brody: “Many tech companies and proponents of free speech had expected the appeals court's ruling, which technically focused on the appropriateness of the trial court's initial injunction.” UNITED WE CREATE — “ 72 TikTokers are using a private Discord to talk about forming a creator union, but it's an uphill legal battle,” by Business Insider’s Tanya Chen: “Their reasons include topics like content moderation, bans, and pay. Legal experts say unionizing social-media creators is not impossible, but is very challenging.”
| | MIXTAPE | | DUN DUN DUNNNN — “Great white sharks are now spending summers at a popular California beach. How dangerous is Shark Park?” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Tara Duggan. — “Bill to make vehicle owners fix illegal, noisy exhausts or face consequences on Gov. Newsom’s desk,” by the Orange County Register’s Erika I. Richie. COLOR US SURPRISED — “ S.F. doesn’t blame the tech bros for ruining city, poll finds,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Carolyn Said. — “ How clever mechanics keep 50-year-old BART trains running: Windows 98, eBay, and scraps,” by the Mercury News’ Eliyahu Kamisher. — “LAUSD Lifts Suspension Of Journalism Teacher At Daniel Pearl Magnet High School ,” by LAist’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez.
| | TRANSITIONS | | — Marissa Currie is now executive director of strategic communications at the University of California, San Francisco. She most recently was manager of public affairs at Sutter Health. Apologies for misspelling Tess Whittlesey's name in Friday's edition.
| | BIRTHDAYS | | (was Saturday): Palantir Technologies’ Morgan Gress Johnson … Courtney O’Donnell … Scott Nulty of Shield AI (was Sunday): Jackie Calmes of the L.A. Times … Lyft’s Benjamin Dye … Léo Apotheker ... Brian Greene 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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