New lawmakers and a big Newsom push

From: POLITICO California Playbook - Monday Dec 05,2022 02:21 pm
Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State
Dec 05, 2022 View in browser
 
POLITICO California Playbook

By Jeremy B. White , Lara Korte , Sakura Cannestra and Owen Tucker-Smith

THE BUZZ: The Legislature commences today with many new members and the chance to secure or deny Gov. Gavin Newsom a career-shaping victory.

Newsom has staked much political capital lately on pushing climate wins past California’s formidable oil industry. He prevailed in an end-of-session push to fortify climate goals and ban new wells near homes and schools. During the debate and subsequent victory laps, he has assailed the fossil fuel industry for obstructing progress. “We won. They lost,” he told a Climate Week crowd in New York, even though he had to “jam” a Legislature stocked with “wholly owned subsidiaries of the fossil fuel industry.”

Now the governor’s direct challenge to oil companies will require cultivating lawmakers. The governor has called a special session to curb what he calls industry profiteering by going after excess revenue from inflated gas prices. It was going to be a “tax,” but Newsom is now pursuing a “penalty” – a critical difference that lowers the required margin from a two-thirds vote to a simple majority. Getting to 41 and 21 is far easier than 54 and 27.

It will still be a heavy lift. Newsom has heavily promoted the windfall profits play, embracing the role of a climate warrior role who’s also focused on peoples’ wallets. But the policy is untested and requires Democrats to take tough votes at the start of a new session. The outcome could bear directly on Newsom’s political standing as he makes climate policy part of his national profile.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom talks to reporters after voting in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo


SUPERIOR SHUFFLE: Dozens of freshman members will take the oath today. Change is also coming at the top: Both Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins are serving their final terms. Assembly Democrats ended a months-long standoff in November with a deal for Assembly member Robert Rivas to succeed Rendon in the summer. The Senate has been less combative, but Democrats will need to replace Atkins. Stay tuned.

BY THE NUMBERS: Tracking legislative turnover was overwhelming this year as incumbents retired, resigned, or ran for something else, often prodded by redistricting. Here’s where we stand:*

35: The number of new legislators, including Assembly members moving to the Senate (or in the case of Janet Nguyen, returning), meaning nearly a third of seats feature fresh faces.

62 and 32 : The number of Democrats in the Assembly and the Senate, respectively. That puts Assembly Democrats 8 votes above the two-thirds threshold and Senate Dems 5 over.

51: The number of women legislators — an all-time high but still short of the 60 seats needed for gender parity. Speaking of diversity: We count at least 12 LGBTQ legislators; 12 African-American lawmakers; 37 Latino lawmakers; 13 API lawmakers.

*(note: two races remain undecided. We are counting with current totals that have Democratic Sen. Melissa Hurtado surviving a challenge from Republican David Shepard — Hurtado took a 12-vote lead on Friday and Republican Greg Wallis edging Democrat Christy Holstege).

BUENOS DÍAS, good Monday morning. Today is the deadline for opponents of California’s new fast food workplace law to submit signatures for a referendum overturning the labor priority measure. The franchise restaurant industry has raised $20 million so far to nullify AB 257, with California icon In-N-Out Burger contributing $2.7 million.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “They’re starting to call me to get ready for what is a massive campaign – truly, massively expensive and hard-fought. It will be a very crowded field.” Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer on the incipient contest to succeed Sen. Dianne Feinstein — more below.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Rep. Norma Torres tweeted

Today's Tweet of the Day. | Twitter


 WHERE’S GAVIN? On hand for today’s activities.

 

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TOP TALKERS

SENATE STRIVERS — The shadow race is on to succeed Feinstein , by POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White: Sen. Dianne Feinstein hasn’t said if she intends to seek another term in 2024 — but the competition to succeed the oldest member of Congress is escalating. Reps. Ro Khanna and Katie Porter are fielding entreaties to jump into the race, and Rep. Adam Schiff has publicly declared he is exploring a run. Rep. Barbara Lee is spending the holidays mulling her next move. Three hopefuls have contacted former Sen. Barbara Boxer to seek her advice, marking the incipient stages of a fierce fight between California Democrats for a seat that has not been open for a generation.

FACING FTX — “ 11 Hours With Sam Bankman-Fried: Inside the Bahamian Penthouse After FTX’s Fall ,” by Bloomberg’s Zeke Faux: “It’s a muggy Saturday afternoon, eight days after FTX filed for bankruptcy. He’s shoeless, in white gym socks, a red T-shirt and wrinkled khaki shorts. His standard uniform.”

AND THE WINNER IS… “ A Dead-Heat Richmond City Council Race Will Be Decided by Drawing a Name From an Envelope ,” by KQED’s Matthew Green and Katherine Monahan: “The move comes after District 2 candidates Andrew Butt and Cesar Zepeda both received the same number of votes — 1,921, to be precise — in a recount that Contra Costa County election officials performed by hand this week, ahead of Friday's vote-certification deadline.”

CAMPAIGN MODE

— “ By tenths, Republican John Duarte beats Democrat Adam Gray in close congressional race ,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Gillian Brassil: “The back-and-forth race began with Gray, 45, ahead on election night. Duarte took over for almost a week. Then Gray led briefly. Duarte emerged on top and held his place through now.”

KAMALA BOOSTER? — DNC moves forward with dramatic change to presidential primary calendar , by POLITICO’s Elena Schneider: The revised proposal would see South Carolina host the first 2024 presidential primary on Feb. 3, a Saturday, followed three days later by New Hampshire and Nevada.

— “ Eloise Gómez Reyes announces 2024 run for California State Senate ,” by the Sun’s Beau Yarbrough: “Reyes currently represents Assembly District 50, which includes the unincorporated community of Bloomington and all of Loma Linda and Colton, plus parts of Fontana, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto and San Bernardino.”

TURNING OUT — “ California’s latest election was a bigger turnout success than you might have heard ,” opines Political Data Inc. owner Paul Mitchell for the Sacramento Bee: “These are a lot of voting reforms — the most nationwide. And they were implemented largely within a relatively short period of eight years. More remarkably, the reforms have worked.”

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

— “ Los Angeles City Council votes to ban oil and gas drilling ,” by the AP’s Drew Costley: “The vote comes after more than a decade of complaints from city residents that pollution drifting from wells was affecting their health.”

A GROWING GAP — “ Inflation is producing, and hiding, hunger in Southern California ,” by the Orange County Register’s Andrew Mouchard: “Consider: This month, if recent trends hold, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank will help about 800,000 people. That’s down from the 1 million people a month who were helped during the peak of the pandemic, but more than double the 300,000 helped during each of the last months of pre-pandemic 2019.”

— “ How close is L.A. County to a new COVID-19 mask mandate? Here is what we know ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money: “It is still far from clear how big a potential winter surge could be. Some officials are optimistic the wave will not be as bad as past seasons. But officials warn that continued spikes in COVID-19 could bring a return to an indoor mask mandate.”

SPACING OUT — “ These maps show exactly where San Francisco says it can build 60,000 new homes ,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sriharsha Devulapalli and Susie Neilson: “This means that even in the best case scenario — hundreds of existing apartments get new units, every vacant lot gets developed and every major project gets built — the city would still be 20,000-plus units short of its minimum goal. And it’s 34,000 units short of its “target” goal of over 93,500 homes.”

— “ Column: New York will treat more mentally ill people against their will. Should California follow? ” Opines the Los Angeles Times’ Anita Chabria: “California is in the process of setting up Care Courts, a system of legally monitored treatment for people with serious mental illness that has been erroneously described as involuntary.”

SEEKING SHELTER — “ As Winter Arrives, Orange County Still Has No One To Run Its Cold Weather Shelter ,” by LAist’s Jill Replogle: “For the first time in 15 years, Orange County may go without a cold weather winter shelter for people experiencing homelessness.”

FINDING NONE— “ Scathing allegations against Mayor Breed and city in lawsuit filed over treatment of the homeless ,” by Mission Local’s Annika Hom and Will Jarrett: “Former San Francisco employees, including a director who worked with the homeless, allege that the city routinely cleared encampments while knowing there were not enough shelter beds available, according to new testimony filed in court Friday.”

— “ 25 classmates were hurt in a horrific crash. The recruits who remain fight through pain ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Brittny Mejia: “The remaining classmates this week returned to the Sheriff’s Training Academy and Regional Services, or STARS, Center. The Sheriff’s Department granted The Times access to the academy Wednesday but requested that the recruits not be interviewed due to the ongoing investigation.”

SNOOZE BUTTON — “ California accused dozens of CHP officers of overtime fraud. Their defense: Everyone does it, ” by the Sacramento Bee’s Wes Venteicher: “California Highway Patrol officers stationed in East Los Angeles grew so accustomed to uneventful overtime shifts that they set up a room with six beds where they could sleep while on duty, according to investigative reports prepared by the department.”

 

JOIN WEDNESDAY FOR A POLITICO DISCUSSION ON THE NEW TRAVEL EXPERIENCE : Americans are now traveling in record numbers — but the travel experience has changed drastically in recent years, not always for the better. What lessons can we learn from the pandemic and different responses around the globe? And in the face of a possible recession, what will help the travel industry remain vibrant and deliver jobs? Join POLITICO on Dec. 7 for “The Travel Experience Redefined” to discuss these questions and more. Breakfast and coffee will be provided. REGISTER HERE .

 
 
BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

UNDERSTANDING THE CRASH — 'We want him here': Maxine Waters urges Bankman-Fried to testify , by POLITICO’s Declan Harty and Zachary Warmbrodt: Bankman-Fried has not yet responded to the invitation, Waters said. She is open to letting him appear via video, as he did at this week’s New York Times DealBook Summit.

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— “ Rep. Ro Khanna pushed back on Twitter suppression of Hunter Biden laptop story ,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Mallory Moench: “Khanna’s email surfaced as part of a release of internal company documents published on Twitter by journalist Matt Taibbi and authorized by Twitter’s new owner and CEO, Elon Musk. The new CEO characterizes himself as a champion of free speech, a principle he has tried to honor by reinstating banned accounts and firing off controversial tweets.”

280 NEW CHARACTERS — “ ‘No one is going to kill Twitter except Elon’: As Musk’s blue bird reels, the arms race for an alternative is on ,” by Vanity Fair’s Joe Pompeo: “ It feels kind of like a pre-post-Twitter gold rush, with journalists, celebrities, politicos, and other public-facing figures descending on platforms that may or may not replace the one they’ve needed like oxygen for more than a decade.”

WATCH WHAT YOU TWEET — “ Hate Speech’s Rise on Twitter Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find ,” by the New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel and Kate Conger: “Accounts that Twitter used to regularly remove — such as those that identify as part of the Islamic State, which were banned after the U.S. government classified ISIS as a terror group — have come roaring back. Accounts associated with QAnon, a vast far-right conspiracy theory, have paid for and received verified status on Twitter, giving them a sheen of legitimacy.”

— “ Former FTX Executive Brett Harrison in Talks With Investors for New Crypto Startup ,” by the Information’s Aidan Ryan and Erin Woo: “While the scrutiny is focused on former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and people in his inner circle, including Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, Harrison’s efforts also come as venture capital funding for crypto startups has been slowing sharply.”

HOLLYWOODLAND

MOVING WEST — “ Deplorable: How Kanye West went from beloved generational rapper to far-right Hitler apologist ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ August Brown: “After decades at the vanguard of music and fashion, West has descended into the far-right fever swamps, following months of antisemitic, Christian nationalist ravings on social media and podcasts.”

MIXTAPE

— “ Taking nude photo of incarcerated woman in her cell was an accident, says ex-Dublin prison warden charged with sex abuse ,” by Mercury News’ Nate Gartrell.

— “ Black Californians have long celebrated cowboy culture. We’re just catching up ,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Tyrone Beason.

BITING DOWN — “ Girl Scout cookie season is in danger. Again ,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Mario Cortez.

— “ ‘Just a Distraction’: SF Activists React to Reports Iran Will Close Its Morality Police ,” by the San Francisco Standard’s Noah Baustin.

— “ Billions flow to Orange County charities every year ,” by the Orange County Register’s Teri Sforza.

TRANSITIONS

— Robert Edmonson will be chief of staff to Rep-elect Robert Garcia. Edmonson has previously served as chief of staff to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

BIRTHDAYS

MONDAY: Evan Burfield … 

SUNDAY: Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) … Amazon’s Rachael LightyJennie Westbrook Courts of the Information Technology Industry Council … Yana Mayayeva of Rep. Jackie Speier’s (D-Calif.) office … Sarah Schanz 

SATURDAY: Assembly member Laura Friedman

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 .

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