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Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | |  | | By Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte, Sakura Cannestra and Owen Tucker-Smith | THE BUZZ: Gov. Gavin Newsom is running for re-election in his home state, but he spent much of the last week taking the California show on the road. In a blue state where he was rapturously received and a red state whose leader he loves to vilify, Newsom offered a similar message: under his leadership, California is demonstrating the way forward for the nation. Especially compared to the fossil fuel industry, conservative media and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Newsom started at Climate Week in New York. He emphasized how climate change’s ravages are escalating, manifesting in heat waves and droughts and town-annihilating wildfires, and he lambasted some foes: the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (“troglodytes”), Fox News (“time to take these guys on”) and the oil industry (“big corporations that have been destroying this planet).” As he took a victory lap on a newly signed climate package, he raised some eyebrows among coequal allies by proudly noting he “had to jam my own Democratic legislature,” some of whom are “wholly owned subsidiaries of the fossil fuel industry.” | 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to union workers and volunteers on election day at the IBEW Local 6 union hall on Sept. 14, 2021, in San Francisco, Calif. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | But Newsom reserved specific animus for Abbott. He invoked his Texas nemesis by name while in New York as an example of “conservative governors” who are “just doubling down on stupid,” pausing for laughter and applause. He was back in California for roughly 48 hours before he was off again – this time to Abbott’s home turf, where Newsom’s scarcely-needed campaign funds recently went to purchase a trio of billboards extoling California’s abortion access. (Texas is among the states to which California bans publicly-funded travel; Newsom used campaign funds to get there. He also took a moment while there to fundraise for an Arizona race). The first question to Newsom at a TribFest panel was on immigration, and he was ready to swing at that pitch. Newsom blasted Abbott for busing migrants out of state and condemned the “appalling silence within the Republican Party” – this after Newsom’s office announced on Friday he’d signed a bill creating California ID cards accessible to the undocumented “as other states cruelly target migrants.” He also took ample shots at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, arguing Abbott and DeSantis had miscalculated politically like California’s backers of Prop 187 and the Briggs Initiative. He trumpeted California’s environmental policies again and emphasized California would “have your back” on abortion access. He tweeted hits on Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz in short order, winning some national plaudits. Of course, Newsom dutifully deflected on a potential presidential bid, including a questioner’s quip about Iowa in 2023. He also again decried a national Democratic Party that is perpetually “on defense” against Republicans and urged a more aggressive approach. “I’m not willing to not have met this moment,” Newsom said, before closing on a warning that Democrats are too focused on “a guy or a gal on a white horse to come and save the day.” And then he rode out of town. BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. L’Shana Tova to all who celebrate. It’s the final week for Newsom to sign bills. Meanwhile, Orange County’s political centrality will be on display today as Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson rally in Newport Beach for key legislative candidates. 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: “Enough isn't being done right now to avoid extending Diablo Canyon again. But I believe we took the first steps to put things in place to have enough energy at the end. And the amount of electricity that is possible from offshore wind would exceed the amount of electricity generated by Diablo Canyon. And so the question is, how quickly can we get that online?” Sen. John Laird on California’s precarious energy transition, via POLITICO . TWEET OF THE DAY:
|  Today's Tweet of the Day | Twitter | BONUS TWEET OF THE DAY:
|  Today's Bonus Tweet of the Day | Twitter | WHERE’S GAVIN? Back from Texas and back to signing bills.
| | | | HAPPENING 9/29 - POLITICO’S AI & TECH SUMMIT : Technology is constantly evolving and so are the politics and policies shaping and regulating it. Join POLITICO for the 2022 AI & Tech summit to get an insider look at the pressing policy and political issues shaping tech, and how Washington interacts with the tech sector. The summit will bring together lawmakers, federal regulators, tech executives, tech policy experts and consumer advocates to dig into the intersection of tech, politics, regulation and innovation, and identify opportunities, risks and challenges ahead. REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT HERE. | | | | | |  | Top Talkers | | NEW KIND OF GRID LOCK— California's latest power grid problems are just the beginning, by POLITICO’s Camille Von Kaenel: California’s recent decisions to postpone the closure of its last nuclear plant and to extend the life of some natural gas-fired facilities highlight what officials and experts say is the fact that the state with the most ambitious energy goals is far from achieving them. HOUSING — “California cities took over their houses, then a private company drove them into debt ,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Theresa Clift: “He lost control of his house after the city of Berkeley sued him for code violations and asked a judge to appoint a receiver to fix the problems. The company, the Bay Area Receivership Group, then made the decisions about what to renovate and how to do it.” PANDEMIC LESSONS— ‘Other Places in the Country Didn’t Do This’: How One California Town Survived Covid Better Than the Rest, by POLITICO’s Victoria Colliver: In the summer of 2020, this rural college town near Sacramento was on edge. Thousands of college students who had been sent home during the Covid-19 pandemic’s early days were about to return, flying in to the University of California, Davis campus from all over the world and potentially turning the reopening into a superspreader event. — "FBI misled judge who signed warrant for Beverly Hills seizure of $86 million in cash,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Finnegan: “The privacy invasion was vast when FBI agents drilled and pried their way into 1,400 safe-deposit boxes at the U.S. Private Vaults store in Beverly Hills.” — “‘Fat Leonard’ had life of leisure, relaxed security before escape, capture,” by the Washington Post’s Jonathan O'Connell: “The rules laid out in federal court were clear: Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian defense contractor who admitted bribing dozens of Navy officers as part of a $35 million fraud scheme, would remain in home confinement under tight, 24-7 security while he provided evidence against corrupt Navy personnel.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | CHECKING IN — “Gavin Newsom has made a lot of promises to Californians. What has he delivered?” by the Sacramento Bee’s Maggie Angst: “No elected official delivers all that’s been promised, and Newsom’s record is filled with hits (creation of a sanctuary state for abortion) and certain misses (3.5 million new homes by 2025).” — “Proposition 31 will let voters decide whether they want to ban flavored tobacco products ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Hannah Wiley: “California voters will decide in November whether to uphold or block a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2020 that banned the sale of certain flavored tobacco products, an effort by anti-tobacco advocates to stop a youth vaping crisis and weaken the industry’s influence in the state.” DEBT DRAMA — “ L.A. City Council candidate’s former employees accused her business of wage theft,” by the Los Angeles Times’ David Zahniser: “Eight years ago, restaurant worker Jose Higareda filed a wage complaint against the Caliente Cantina restaurant in San Pedro, telling state investigators he was not paid for more than 100 hours of work.”
| | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | CUTTING COSTS — “Newsom vetoes bill to make kindergarten mandatory, citing costs,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Mackenzie Mays: “Senate Bill 70, written by state Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), would have required children to complete a year of kindergarten before entering first grade, beginning in the 2024-25 school year.” — “California Gov. Gavin Newsom Vetoes Crypto Bill That May Have Transformed Industry,” by Barrons’ Joe Light: “Such changes could have transformed the digital-asset market not just in California, but nationally, if firms modified their businesses to comply with the state’s law.” — “Los Angeles agencies returned $150 million in federal funds to house homeless people,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Connor Sheets: “Nearly $150 million worth of federal grants to the three main housing agencies working to reduce homelessness in Greater Los Angeles went unspent between 2015 and 2020, as the number of unhoused people soared.” — “On Native American Day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law re-naming UC Hastings ,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Andrew Sheeler: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law ordering the re-naming of the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law.” — “SB 972, which will finally help street vendors get local health permits, signed into law by Newsom ,” by L.A. Taco’s Javier Cabral: “After sitting on SB 972 for a couple of weeks, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed the bill that promises to greatly help all street food vending in California to become fully legal.” REALITY CHECK — “San Francisco is blatantly ignoring state housing laws. Here are the ugly consequences ,” Opines Matthew Fleischer for the San Francisco Chronicle: “Failing to pass a certified housing element by January would mean San Francisco would lose access to millions upon millions of state affordable housing funds.” — “ 2 ex-Alameda County deputies charged in S.F. beating received quiet plea deals from Boudin’s office,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Megan Cassidy: “Two former Alameda County sheriff’s deputies who were accused of unlawfully beating a fleeing man in a Mission District alley in 2015 are facing only minor criminal penalties after they quietly struck plea agreements with San Francisco prosecutors late last year.” GOING HOG-WILD — “ Gov. Gavin Newsom, California escalate war with wild pig 'scourge',” by SFGate’s Eric Ting: “The wild pig population in California and the nation at-large has exploded in recent years, with some dubbing it a ticking "swine bomb." According to The Atlantic, feral pigs are responsible for an estimated $2.5 billion worth of damage, largely to property and livestock, in the U.S. each year.” — “Catalytic converter theft is a huge problem. Will legislation signed by Gov. Newsom help?” by the Sacramento Bee’s Hanh Truong: “Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed legislation designed to fight catalytic converter theft, a still rising scourge in California and nationwide.”
| | | | DON’T MISS - MILKEN INSTITUTE ASIA SUMMIT : Go inside the 9th annual Milken Institute Asia Summit, taking place from September 28-30, with a special edition of POLITICO’s Global Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive coverage and insights from this important gathering. Stay up to speed with daily updates from the summit, which brings together more than 1,200 of the world’s most influential leaders from business, government, finance, technology, and academia. Don’t miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | INFLATED OPTIMISM — Recession fears cloud Biden’s feel-good economic message, by POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn: Just as the White House was rushing to capitalize on its winning streak — in hopes of turning around an economic narrative that has dogged the administration from its earliest days — complications have arisen. — “Here's Why NASA Is Crashing A Spacecraft Into An Asteroid (And Where To Watch It Happen) ,” by LAist’s Tyler Wayne and Susanne Whatley: “‘NASA is not aware of any threatening asteroids to date, but we keep on looking, and the key is finding them before they find us,’ said Marina Brozovic, a physicist and asteroid specialist at JPL.”
| | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | WHO’S WATCHING YOU? — “Ripple’s chairman funded a 1,000-camera surveillance network. Now SFPD can watch it.” by Protocol’s Issie Lapowsky: “This week, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved a controversial plan to allow SFPD to temporarily tap into private surveillance networks during life-threatening emergencies, large events, and in the course of criminal investigations, including investigations of misdemeanors.”
| | MEDIA MATTERS | | — “KTLA Anchor Mark Mester Fired After On-Air Reaction to Lynette Romero’s Departure,” by Variety Magazine’s Ellise Shafer: “[Anchor Mark] Mester was previously suspended after he criticized on-air how the station went about his co-anchor Lynette Romero’s sudden departure. KTLA announced Romero’s exit last week without a goodbye message to viewers, which drew criticism on social media.” | | MIXTAPE | | — “How the pandemic saved one of California’s smallest public schools,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Hailey Branson-Potts. — “Author makes case for most compelling Zodiac Killer suspect in decades,” by SFGate’s Katie Dowd. — “ BART service restored to normal after a day of major delays due to electrical issue in Transbay Tube,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Danielle Echeverria. — “Does anyone else feel as if they’re drowning? Mental health is suffering ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Deborah Netburn. — “Isn’t Karen Bass the victim? Why all the questions about her stolen guns?” Opines Erika D. Smith for the Los Angeles Times. — “California’s top cop sends message to sheriffs statewide: Nobody is above the law,” Opines Anita Chabria for the Los Angeles Times. | | BIRTHDAYS | | SUNDAY: Rep. Doris Matsui … Salesforce’s Marc Benioff … David Benioff … April Greener of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office … Assembly member Jesse Gabriel … Danny Yadron … SATURDAY: Michael Kennedy of VMWare … Amazon’s Nate Blake and Phil Wolgin … Sharon Yang MONDAY: Mark Isakowitz of Google 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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