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Presented by Californians for Energy Independence: Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | |  | | By Lara Korte, Jeremy B. White, Ramon Castanos and Matthew Brown | Presented by Californians for Energy Independence | THE BUZZ: San Francisco’s criminal justice system is in the spotlight once again. News broke Thursday that District Attorney Brooke Jenkins would not move forward with prosecuting a police officer who fatally shot a man in 2017 — a case first brought by her ousted predecessor, progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin. The decision comes at a fraught moment for both the city and country. Local leaders are under pressure to respond to rising crime, while at the same time, the death of Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by Memphis police officers has renewed national calls for accountability. In this case, Jenkins is accusing Boudin of seeking manslaughter charges for political purposes and has offered California Attorney General Rob Bonta the chance to take over the case before it's dismissed. Similar efforts on Boudin’s part have been unsuccessful — he also tried to prosecute an officer for excessive force, a case that ended in acquittal. But in giving it up, Jenkins opens herself up to an oft-repeated criticism that prosecutors are too close with law enforcement. News of Jenkins’ decision came just hours after San Francisco Mayor London Breed delivered her State of the City address from the Dogpatch neighborhood, where she vowed to add more police to city streets and crack down on the theft and open-air drug use that has made San Francisco a favorite punching bag of conservative cable news pundits. “Our residents are demanding we build back the police force, and we need to deliver,” she said from the podium. California’s elected leaders are by no means abandoning the tenets of criminal justice reform — and there are certainly still prosecutors willing to investigate police — but concerns about public safety, theft and fentanyl are increasingly hard to ignore. Crime rates are far lower than their 1992 peak, but high-profile smash-and-grab robberies, carjackings and gun violence have Californians on edge and officials under pressure to act. For many cities, proposed solutions include bulking up the police force. We’ve seen similar messaging from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who made shoring up the police force a central message of her campaign last year against Rick Caruso. Bass herself was the victim of a home burglary last fall. In San Francisco, Breed said Thursday she’d be introducing a $25 million supplement to the police budget to pay for overtime. The city will expand recruitment tactics, she said, and give officers the resources they need to succeed. “Yes, we must hold officers accountable,” she said. “But we must also respect the hard work they do every day and respect them.” BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. Rep. Adam Schiff is taking his Senate campaign on the road. A rally in Burbank Saturday morning will kick off a two-week “California for All” tour, where Schiff says he’ll hear concerns and share his vision for the country. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up at jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.
| | | | A message from Californians for Energy Independence: California energy shutdowns have resulted in about a 25% decrease in local oil production in the last four years - but if California isn’t producing the energy we need locally, it has to come from somewhere else. California now imports 75% of the oil we use - mostly from foreign countries without our same environmental, labor, and human rights standards, resulting in an unstable energy supply, and higher gas prices for working families. Get The Facts | | | QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Instead of offering to assist the city, Becerra and his employees have done everything to threaten and punish Laguna Honda and, by extension, its patients." San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen bashing Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra for terminating the Medicaid and Medicare certification of one of San Francisco’s biggest skilled nursing facilities. TWEET OF THE DAY:
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Twitter | WHERE’S GAVIN? In Washington to attend the National Governors Association conference and meet with White House officials.
| | | | 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. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | SCHIFF’S PROGRESSIVE PUSH — Rep. Adam Schiff is seeking to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus as the Los Angeles Democrat ramps up his Senate campaign. A spox said the caucus is “where his voting record has been” and thus “where his natural home is,” echoing Schiff’s assertion to us that “I very much view myself as a progressive.” That prompted Senate rival Rep. Katie Porter to point out that Schiff had not joined the CPC, which includes both Porter and fellow Senate contender/past co-chair Rep. Barbara Lee. Many California progressives view Schiff as being to the right of Lee and Porter, noting his past leadership of the fiscally moderate Blue Dog Democrats and current membership in the centrist New Democrats. — “California attorney general’s wife to lead committee that oversees his budget,” by KCRA3’s Ashley Zavala: “California Attorney General Rob Bonta's wife, Assemblymember Mia Bonta, has been tapped to lead a budget committee that oversees and helps determine his agency's spending, a decision that some political experts say is ethically questionable.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | NEW ROLE FOR NEWSOM — The California governor will serve as policy chair for the Democratic Governors Association this year, the organization announced Thursday. His duties will include promoting and furthering DGA priorities, including “protecting fundamental freedoms.” — “Column: Feinstein deserves a graceful exit, and she'd be wise to take it,” opines George Skelton for the Los Angeles Times: “She deserves to serve out the rest of her term with deference and respect.”
| | | | A message from Californians for Energy Independence:   | | | | | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — “California bill would ban game-style events like lotteries and raffles at gun stores,’’ by the Los Angeles Times’ Hannah Wiley: “Senate Bill 368 would also require firearms dealers to store guns turned in voluntarily by owners at risk of suicide and set up gun buyback programs.” TALK ABOUT A SCRAMBLE — “Eggs are so expensive, Californians are trying to bring them across the border from Mexico,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Salvador Hernandez: “Customs and Border Protection’s San Diego office tweeted out a reminder last month that uncooked eggs are not allowed into the U.S. from Mexico because of the risk of spreading bird flu and Newcastle disease.” — “Californians are pouring into Nevada. Not everyone is happy about it,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Noah Bierman and Don Lee: “Wearing a broad cowboy hat and a peacoat amid the stuffed deer and other game in the brothel’s restaurant, the San Diego native brags that he foresaw friendly business rules and access to major trucking routes and trains would draw Tesla and other companies that needed big tracts of cheap land.” — “California could start charging drivers more for owning heavy trucks, SUVs,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Ricardo Cano: “A vehicle weight fee wouldn’t be imminent if Ward’s bill gets signed by the governor. But the proposed study comes as car manufacturers introduce increasingly heavier truck and SUV models that street safety advocates say imperil efforts to reduce traffic deaths and severe injuries.” — Headline “Column: Shooting uncovers 'plantation mentality' in a rich, liberal California enclave” opines Anita Chabria for the Los Angeles Times: “For decades, the housing we consider fair and livable for agricultural workers — even if we don’t admit it — has hinged on what Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez describes as the 'plantation mentality' of California’s farming industry.” — “‘No light at the other end’: Impending loss of pandemic CalFresh boosts could trigger hunger spike,” by CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang: “March is the last month CalFresh recipients will get the additional benefits, as the federal government cuts off the “emergency allotments” that have kept food stamp allowances higher than usual for nearly three years now.” — “'A ticket to nowhere': Thousands are brought to S.F. hospitals involuntarily. Then what happens?,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Mallory Moench: “While some people argue that forcing someone in crisis to go to the hospital is a necessary and lifesaving first step to treatment and it should be easier, others push back that stripping someone of their liberty is traumatic and should be avoided at all costs.” — “Could a red-light district for sex work happen in San Francisco,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Nathan Solis: “The installation of the barriers has renewed discussion of a designated area where sex workers could operate without being criminalized and of how to address concerns about human trafficking.” — “Mortgage costs lock out California home buyers,” by CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo: “These days California’s housing market is characterized by both high prices and much higher mortgage interest rates than buyers and sellers are accustomed to.”
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | | | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | —Southwest apologizes to Congress for winter meltdown, by POLITICO’s Kayla Guo and Tanya Snyder: But Casey Murray, president of the union for Southwest’s pilots, said the failures on display in December weren’t a fluke, but rather had been building for years.
| | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | TWITTER TANTRUM — ”Elon Musk fires a top Twitter engineer over his declining view count,” by Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton: “On Tuesday, Musk gathered a group of engineers and advisers into a room at Twitter’s headquarters looking for answers. Why are his engagement numbers tanking?”
| | | | A message from Californians for Energy Independence: California energy shutdowns have resulted in about a 25% decrease in local oil production in the last four years - but if California isn’t producing the energy we need locally, it has to come from somewhere else. California now imports 75% of the oil we use - mostly from foreign countries without our same environmental, labor, and human rights standards, resulting in an unstable energy supply, and higher gas prices for working families.
As we transition to a cleaner energy economy, we can continue to produce the oil and gas Californians need locally, where production is the most regulated, and meets the highest environmental standards in the world - rather than increase our reliance on more costly foreign oil and the volatile countries that produce it.
Get The Facts on Energy Independence | | | | | MIXTAPE | | — “California man won DUI case with unique defense: better to drive drunk than face ‘two angry women,’” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jessica Flores. — “These are the incentives Mayor Breed wants to give companies to move to S.F.,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s J.D. Morris.
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