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Presented by Environment California: Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | | |  | | By Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte | Presented by Environment California | THE BUZZ: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s threat of prosecuting Gov. Ron DeSantis has thrust an old enmity into new territory. Florida’s Republican leader has starred in Newsom’s rhetoric as the conservative villain embodying a reactionary right. Newsom opened his second term by warning about ascendant authoritarianism in Florida. He has lambasted DeSantis in tweets, fundraised against him and incessantly invokes DeSantis in unrelated contexts. He live-fact-checked DeSantis’s campaign launch and demanded textbook publishers tell California if they made edits at Florida’s behest. But an airplane bearing migrants with Florida documentation to Sacramento dramatically escalated the conflict. A campaigning DeSantis and Florida officials have yet to claim credit or publicly address the weekend flight or a second one that touched down Monday. But Attorney General Rob Bonta has pointed to evidence of Florida’s involvement — the migrants bearing documentation from a state-run program and the use of a familiar contractor — to tie the flights to Florida officials and float pursuing charges. Newsom took it a step farther by taking it directly to DeSantis. “Kidnapping charges?” the governor tweeted at his nemesis, alongside a link to the section of California’s criminal code laying out the basis for prosecution. The governor’s office characteristically refused to explain Newsom’s reasoning or why he thought state charges were merited. When DeSantis flew migrants to Massachusetts, Newsom deferred to the feds. A Texas sheriff Monday recommended charges, but Bonta told The New York Times he believed the flights were not “fully consensual.” Newsom's office said he "strongly supports" Bonta's probe. We’ll see if Bonta answers Newsom’s tweeted question with charges. But the mere threat of prosecuting DeSantis— hinted at by Bonta, triple-underlined by Newsom — takes us way beyond provocative tweets or pithy one-liners. Longtime Newsom adviser Dan Newman told us the governor saw the flight as “inhumane and potentially illegal.” Even if the latter doesn’t pass muster, the former has broad traction: People in California and around the country are genuinely revolted by red state governors using migrants as political pawns. Newsom’s aggressive response extends his combative streak and channels the abhorrence felt by plenty of fellow Democrats, including many California electeds. Newsom has embraced — and funded — a national role of confronting Republicans, including on their home turfs. DeSantis has done something similar with Democrats. Newsom has bought advertising and visited college students in Florida, and then fundraised off of it. DeSantis has sent migrants to blue states, and then fundraised off of it. Both love jabbing the other. But this chapter is the most contentious yet. BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is providing an update this morning. Across the country, Jeremy’s interests will converge at Nationals Park when Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi throws out the first pitch at a Washington Nationals home game in honor of the team’s annual LGBTQ celebration. 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 Environment California: It’s time to make oil and gas companies – not California taxpayers – pay for the pollution they cause. California still gives subsidies and tax breaks to big polluters. Oil companies are making record profits, but refusing to clean up their messes. Meanwhile, California proposed cutting $6 billion from the historic climate budget. Instead, California must end subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas companies, and redirect funding to renewable energy infrastructure and a clean environment. | | | WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The old games of begging municipalities for a project and reducing the density to get there and kissing the ass of every councilmember and planning official and neighbor — that’s the old way of doing things. Our spines are stiffening.” Land use attorney Dave Rand on emboldened housing developers, via CalMatters. WE’RE HIRING — POLITICO is embarking on an exciting expansion in the Golden State and looking for another journalist to join our growing team as a California Playbook author. More in the job description here.
| | | | PLAYBOOK TRIVIA NIGHT! Think you know a lot about politics? PROVE IT! Compete in California Playbook’s inaugural Trivia Night. Grab a drink, kick back, and put your knowledge on display! Join top political power players on Wednesday, June 21st at Fox & Goose Public House for a night of fun and competition that you won’t want to miss. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | POLL PLUNGE — What do DeSantis and Sen. Dianne Feinstein have in common? Both have lost ground among California voters, according to a new Public Policy Institute of California poll. The survey found DeSantis plunging far below former President Donald Trump in the Republican nominating contest, trailing Trump 50 percent to 21 percent among Republican voters. Feinstein’s approval rating collapsed to a record-low 27 percent, with 60 percent of Democrats disapproving of their senior senator. Newsom’s proposal to accelerate housing by softening CEQA was more popular, winning majority support. Voters also said 56 percent to 40 percent they’d uphold California’s landmark fast food labor law when they vote on a referendum in 2024, although that’s before the franchise industry has started spending money on a persuasion campaign. The full poll is here. SAN JOAQUIN STRIVING — "In California’s heartland, a new resistance movement is taking root," Mark Arax writes for The New York Times Magazine: "How do you change a place as polluted and desperately unequal as the San Joaquin Valley?"
| | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | EARMARKSMANSHIP — “L.A. asked Congress for millions to address homelessness. But getting the cash isn’t certain,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Benjamin Oreskes: “On any number of policy debates, the top three Democratic rivals in the Senate race hold many of the same views, but here’s a rare subject where they differ. (Rep. Adam) Schiff and (Rep. Barbara) Lee are all in on earmarks. (Rep. Katie) Porter is the only House Democrat who didn’t submit any requests during the last Congress.”
| | | | A message from Environment California:   | | | | | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | TRANSIT TIME — House Democrats are joining the push to rescue California's transit systems with a budget infusion. Nineteen members wrote Newsom and legislative leaders urging them to allocate money, in part so transit projects can draw on money in the federal infrastructure law. They warned that with Covid-19 relief funds drying up, it makes "additional federal transit assistance unlikely" in a Republican House. So, it falls to California to avert a "negative spiral of reduced ridership and revenue." Supreme Court will decide whether T-shirt mocking Trump as ‘too small’ can be trademarked, by POLITICO’s Kierra Frazier: (California lawyer Steve) Elster has been attempting to register the mark “Trump too small” for use on t-shirts that criticize former President Donald Trump. Elster’s application was denied due to a federal statute that prohibits trademarks containing a person’s name unless that person gives written consent.
| | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — “‘Godzilla next door’: How California developers gained new leverage to build more homes,” by CalMatters’ Ben Christopher: “At last count, 227 jurisdictions — home to nearly 12 million Californians, or about a third of the state population — still haven’t had their plans certified by state housing regulators, potentially opening them up to builder’s remedy projects. That gives developers a valuable new bargaining chip.” WATER WAYS — “‘Improvised, spotty and belated’: Will California reform its oversight of water rights?” by the Los Angles Times’ Ian James: “Legal experts say the way the state manages this antiquated system is in dire need of reform. … Three bills gaining momentum in the Legislature are seeking to change that, even as they draw heated opposition from water agencies and agricultural groups.” — "How cities are trying to stop their land from sinking," by The Washington Post's Kasha Patel: "Several places across the world have employed a managed aquifer recharge system and seen subsidence changes, including in the Coachella Valley, California’s Santa Clara and Santa Ana, Spain’s El Carracillo district, Israel’s Negev desert area, South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island, Perth in Australia and Beijing." — “San Francisco has a massive teacher shortage — and its own bureaucracy may be to blame,” by The San Francisco Standard’s Ida Mojadad: “Of an estimated 500 classroom vacancies expected for the 2023-24 school year, only 278 have been filled as of Thursday.”
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | | | MIXTAPE | | — “This out-of-state location saw the largest pandemic spike in new residents from S.F.,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Danielle Echeverria. — “Californians step up efforts to halt fossil fuel investments,” by the Southern California News Group’s Brooke Jarvis. — “California DMV is cracking down on disabled parking fraud. How a new rule is meant to help,” by The Sacramento Bee’s Brianna Taylor.
| | TRANSITIONS | | — Charles Lawlor has started a new gig as press secretary to state Sen. Josh Becker. Lawlor is an alum of multiple Assembly speakers and of the Israeli consulate general’s Pacific Northwest office.
| | | | A message from Environment California: California is struggling to balance its budget and proposing to cut $6 billion from the climate budget. Over 50 groups are urging Governor Newsom and the California Legislation to end subsidies for oil and gas instead. It’s time to make oil and gas companies – not California taxpayers – pay for the pollution they cause. While oil companies are making record profits, they continue to pollute our environment, but refuse to clean up their messes. We can’t keep paying companies to game the system while they dump higher bills and pollution on Californians. Instead, California leadership must end subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas companies, and redirect funding to the climate budget. California should take that money and redirect it toward building new renewable energy infrastructure and dealing with the antiquated, fossil fuel-based systems left behind, as well as the polluters’ unwillingness to clean up their own messes. Learn more. | | | 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 | | | | |  |
