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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, Matthew Brown and Ramon Castanos | THE BUZZ: The days of hurriedly stockpiling medical supplies are not over, it appears. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced the state has executed a contract to purchase up to 2 million doses of the abortion pill misoprostol following a ruling by a federal judge in Texas on Friday that revokes Food and Drug Administration approval of another abortion pill, mifepristone. The two are typically prescribed together to induce medical abortions, but misoprostol can be effective on its own. More than 250,000 pills — enough to cover almost 12,000 abortions — have already arrived, per the governor’s office, with the ability to purchase more. Newsom said in a statement that the state will not “cave to extremists who are trying to outlaw these critical abortion services.” Julia Spiegel, Newsom’s deputy legal affairs secretary, told POLITICO’s Rachel Bluth that the price tag for the first batch is around $100,000 — or roughly 43 cents a pill. As Rachel reports, California pharmacies that can demonstrate they can’t get the pills on their own can submit a request to access the state stockpile. If approved, they can get up to 10 bottles of 60 pills within seven to 10 business days. Newsom, and California Democrats writ large, have been on the leading edge of protecting abortion access, especially following the fall of Roe v. Wade. A measure to enshrine the right to abortion and contraception in the state constitution passed with 67 percent approval last year, bolstering abortion rights advocates who declared California a safe haven for reproductive rights. But looming over the sunny outlook here in the Golden State is an uncomfortable reality — there are simply some things the state cannot protect against. A federal decision is one of them. The feds, in fact, seem to be increasingly getting in the way of California’s abortion vision. After unilaterally declaring, via tweet, that the state would stop doing business with Walgreens in light of its refusal to distribute abortion pills in certain states, Newsom’s team made an eyebrow-raising about-face last week — saying that “tweeting isn’t policy” and vowing to honor its legal obligation to keep doing business with Walgreens through the Medicaid program. There are still many moving parts to this abortion pill saga. The Texas judge’s decision won’t go into effect until Friday, and in the meantime the Biden administration and congressional Democrats are scrambling to halt it. A conflicting opinion, issued by a federal judge in Washington state, blocks the FDA from rolling back access to mifepristone pills in the more than dozen blue states that brought the lawsuit (California is not among them.). Newsom, like several other Democratic governors, isn't taking any chances. Last week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee spent nearly $1.3 million buying 30,000 doses of mifepristone — a three-year supply for the state. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy also announced Monday that her state has stockpiled about 15,000 mifepristone pills. BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. Tick tock goes the tech clock. Two closely watched bills regulating big tech and artificial intelligence are up in committee hearings today. Assemblymember Phil Ting’s AB 642, to regulate facial recognition technology, will be heard in the Public Safety Committee. Sen. Nancy Skinner’s SB 287, which holds social media companies liable for causing harm to kids, will be heard in the Judiciary Committee. 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. WHERE’S GAVIN? Out of state, on personal travel until Wednesday. An eagle-eyed tipster spotted the Newsoms at an exclusive members-only resort in the Bahamas this week. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “My last speculation is that they lived on ‘hope-ium,’ that things were going to be okay.’” Columbia University fintech expert Todd H. Baker laying out the problems with Silicon Valley Bank in an Assembly committee hearing on Monday. TWEET OF THE DAY:
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QUIZ ANSWERS — On Friday, we posed some trivia questions for Playbook readers related to lawmakers’ Form 700s. Here are the answers:
Which lawmaker took the greatest value of travel? Answer: Assemblymember Chris Ward. His staff sent a statement: “Becoming part of Assembly leadership has provided additional opportunities for me to represent the San Diego region both in the state and abroad, including meetings to witness effective approaches to housing, transportation, energy, water and other issue areas. I was careful to accurately and publicly report, as is my responsibility, the value of accommodations associated with this legislative business.” Which lawmaker took both the most gifts and the highest value of gifts? Answer: Assemblymember Mike Fong BONUS: Which lawmaker’s staff went in on a banjo as a birthday present? Answer: Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins Let us know how you did!
| | | | 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 | | — “Feinstein’s continued absence is impacting judicial nominees,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Shira Stein: “Her extended absence, along with that of Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, has made it more difficult for the Senate to confirm President Biden’s nominees and pass legislation. The Senate has a 51-49 party split favoring Democrats, but the absence of multiple senators changes how many votes are needed for a measure to succeed.” — “Sacramento County foster kids have been living in cells for 6 months.” by The Sacramento Bee’s Theresa Clift: “A state agency in February sent the county a letter, obtained by The Sacramento Bee, requiring them to remove the children from the Rosemont ‘jail-like’ unlicensed facility. County officials still have not done so.”
| | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — As the kickoff to its 2024 endorsement process, the California Working Families Party is hosting a town hall for U.S. Senate candidates on May 11. So far, Reps. Barbara Lee and Katie Porter have confirmed their attendance at the forum, which will be moderated by State Party Director Jane Kim. The event will be livestreamed with the opportunity for members to ask candidates questions about their records, policies and vision. NEW DEMOCRAT IN CA-45 — Aditya Pai is the latest Democrat looking to unseat Republican Rep. Michelle Steel from her Orange County seat next year. Pai, a 31-year-old Harvard-educated trial attorney from Brea, announced his bid on Monday, saying he wants to focus on “brighter days ahead — not the petty squabbles of the past.” Pai follows another young Democrat, TikTok star Cheyenne Hunt, who entered the race last week.
| | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — “L.A. County's eviction moratorium has expired. What does that mean for renters?” by the Los Angeles Times’ Paloma Esquivel: “In the last year, eviction filings across the county have returned to pre-pandemic levels of more than 3,000 per month, according to Kyle Nelson, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA. For landlords, the end of the pandemic-era rules comes as a relief, said Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles.” — “A California law forced police to release shooting footage. Now videos follow the same script,” by CalMatters’ Nigel Duara: “The law has some exceptions, allowing departments to withhold video if it would endanger the investigation or put a witness at risk. Law enforcement departments often cite those reasons when regularly denying records requests by CalMatters and other news organizations. Of the 36 fatal police shooting cases since July 2021 being tracked by CalMatters, only three have responded with even partial records.” — “California bill would mandate HPV vaccine for incoming college students,” by California Healthline’s Rachel Scheier: “A bill pending in the California legislature would require schools to notify parents that their kids are expected to be vaccinated for HPV before entering eighth grade, as part of a push to get more children inoculated against the cancer-causing strains of the virus, theoretically before they become sexually active. AB 659 stops short of mandating the vaccine for middle schoolers, as the bill originally proposed.” — “This empty Oakland campus is planned for housing and parks. Why is it still in development limbo?” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s J.K. Dineen: “Four years after filing an application to convert the vacant campus into a mixed-use enclave with hundreds of units of housing and public open space, Emerald Fund is still waiting for the city to publish the draft of its environmental impact report, known as an EIR, without which the project can’t move forward, according to Babsin.” — “Trailer bills: A sneaky way to make a big change in California law,” by CalMatters’ Dan Walters: “The Legislature is once again plowing through the latest budget, this one proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom for the 2023-24 fiscal year, prior to the last frantic — and largely secret — negotiations on a final version. Dozens of would-be trailer bills are kicking around, some of them legitimately attached to the budget, and some just using the process to minimize scrutiny.”
| | | | GO INSIDE THE 2023 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is proud to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage, insider nuggets and unparalleled insights from the 2023 Global Conference, which will convene leaders in health, finance, politics, philanthropy and entertainment from April 30-May 3. This year’s theme, Advancing a Thriving World, will challenge and inspire attendees to lean into building an optimistic coalition capable of tackling the issues and inequities we collectively face. Don’t miss a thing — subscribe today for a front row seat. | | | | | | | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | — Biden’s economic chief draws doubts over her Fed past, by POLITICO’s Ben White: Lael Brainard arrived at the White House less than two months ago — after nearly a decade on the board of the Federal Reserve that included a stint as chair of the central bank’s financial stability committee.
| | | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | | — Twitter fails to report some political ads after promising transparency, by POLITICO’s Jessica Piper: Twitter has failed to disclose some political ads running on its site since early March, according to a review of its activity by POLITICO. At least three promoted fundraising tweets were not included in Twitter’s own data, seemingly contradicting the company’s policies and raising doubts about the integrity of the platform’s data and how many other political ads could go unreported.
| | MIXTAPE | | — “California's cannabis industry is broken. But here's how we can fix one part of it,” opines Erika D. Smith in the Los Angeles Times. — “San Jose police chief makes first public statement amid union fentanyl scandal,” by the East Bay Times’ Austin Turner. — “Calls grow for Stanford’s scandal-plagued president to step down,” by The San Francisco Standard’s Liz Lindqwister. — “How high will California gasoline prices climb this summer? Here's your forecast,” by The Sacramento Bee’s David Lightman. — “Trial date set for David DePape in Pelosi attack case,” by The San Francisco Standard’s Jonah Owen Lamb.
| | BIRTHDAYS | | Amazon’s Kevin O’Neill … Netflix’s Erika Masonhall … Jon Berrier … Paul Arden … Amanda Golden 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. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
