| | | | | |  | | By Carla Marinucci, Jeremy B. White, Graph Massara and Mackenzie Hawkins | Presented by American Land Title Association | THE BUZZ — PAGING MARIE ANTOINETTE: Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature have no doubt heard the story of the French queen who found herself on the outs with the grassroots. Marie Antoinette's supposed quip to the starving masses: "Let them eat cake." Her lesser-known political observation: "No harm will come to me. The Assembly is prepared to treat us leniently." Some 228 years after the queen lost her head, Marie's "no harm will come to me" mantra has apparently found a home in Sacramento, where Democrats are fully in charge in both houses and every statewide office. That's where recent examples of optics and messaging from Newsom and the state legislature have emerged that look uncannily… Antoinettian. Among the desserts lately served up to California voters: — SCHOOL LUNCH CAKE: As POLITICO's Mackenzie Mays reported last month, Newsom has sent his children back to school. Of course, the governor is lucky to have the luxury of sending his kids to a private school in Sacramento County that has a hybrid schedule and alternates remote and in-person education. But millions of California kids in public schools are still limited to mostly distance learning, and their parents are doing triple duty as babysitters, tutors and employees. This week, Newsom announced he's pulling "the emergency brake " because of a Covid resurgence, ensuring in-classroom learning for those public school kids might not return for still more months. For them, that's the icing on the cake. — STICKER SHOCK-INDUCING CAKE: The governor's executive order banning new gas car sales after 2035, as reported by POLITICO's Colmy Bermel, Carla Marinucci and Alex Guillen, was lauded as a way to control greenhouse gasses and make a bold move on climate change. But the visuals verged into "let them eat cake" territory when Newsom signed the order in front of a bank of pricey luxury electric cars, including an Audi ($65,900 base price), a Tesla Model Y ($49,990) and an electric Ford Mustang Mach-E ($42,900). All of which are decidedly out of range, electric or not, to average California working families. "He couldn't have found a truck?" said one Democratic insider. | 
Gov. Gavin Newsom signs an executive order on the hood of an electric vehicle Wednesday in Sacramento requiring all passenger cars in California be zero-emission by 2035. | Daniel Kim/The Sacramento Bee via AP, Pool | — FANCY FRENCH CAKE: Newsom attended a $350-a-head dinner at one of the world's most celebrated restaurants — a price tag that buys plenty of French Laundry cake. But seriously, the optics, scooped by the SF Chronicle's Alexei Koseff , at a time when Californians are being told not even to celebrate Thanksgiving with family because of Covid-19 dangers...? As POLITICO's Jeremy B. White and Debra Kahn reported, the birthday dinner's connection with lobbyist Jason Kinney, who's made millions representing interests before the governor, looked even more like something out of Versailles. More fresh fodder on this below. Which brings us to... — ALOHA, ANTOINETTE CAKE: Despite official warnings not to travel for the holidays due to the rise in Covid-19 cases, a group of unnamed California state legislators hightailed it to Maui this week for an ill-timed pandemic-era getaway sponsored by the Independent Voter Project. That resulted in stories like this one, by POLITICO's Jeremy B. White and Katy Murphy, which revealed Assemblymembers Chad Mayes and Wendy Carrillo are at the conference, and Assemblymembers Jordan Cunningham and Blanca Rubio reported buying plane tickets on their late October campaign finance filings. Assemblymember Jim Cooper has also been spotted there (h/t KRON's Ashley Zavala). | 
The Fairmont Kea Lani, where the Independent Voter Project's conference is being held, as seen in 2010. | Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Maui Film Festival | The view from Bay Area crisis communication guru Larry Kamer: "I'm beginning to think there's an even worse pandemic in California — tone deafness.'' California pols can't have their cake and eat it too. BUENOS DÍAS, good Wednesday morning. OK, so maybe you can't get away during this pandemic, but you can take a mini-vacation with these incredible shots of Yosemite in fall colors and snow — "snowliage" — by a variety of talented photogs, via SFGATE's Ashley Harrell. It'll make your day. QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The ongoing purge of respected, competent leaders who refuse to perpetuate Trump's delusional conspiracy theories about the election is a disturbing sign for American government. It's an assault on reality. It leaves our nation weaker. Sadly this is not new for Trump — the truth has never mattered when it's inconvenient for him." — California Secretary of State Alex Padilla responding to President Donald Trump's firing-by-tweet of Department of Homeland Security cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs. ( More on that via POLITICO's Eric Geller.) TWEET OF THE DAY: The Recount @therecount: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), without a mask, walks through the corridor before today's Facebook/Twitter CEO hearing." Watch the video. VIDEO OF THE DAY — Senate Republicans give Kamala Harris a fist bump of congratulations on the Senate floor, via CNN. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. | | A message from American Land Title Association: While the work of land title professionals is behind-the-scenes, and they may sometimes go unseen, the joy from what they do can be seen on the smiling faces of millions of Americans when they finally get the title of "homeowner." Land title professionals have safeguarded the American dream for more than 125 years. Meet the people who help protect homebuyers and sellers when they make the most important financial decision of their lives. Learn more | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | THE DINNER THAT KEEPS ON GIVING — @BillFOXLA: "EXCLUSIVE: We've obtained photos of Governor Gavin Newsom at the Napa dinner party he's in hot water over. The photos call into question just how outdoors the dinner was. A witness who took photos tells us his group was so loud, the sliding doors had to be closed." — "FOX 11 obtains exclusive photos of Gov. Newsom at French restaurant allegedly not following COVID-19 protocols," by FOX 11's Bill Melugin and Shelly Insheiwat: "FOX 11 spoke to the woman who took the photos and told us: 'While we were there we realized there was a very loud party going on in a room 20 feet from us. It was a bit annoying since you're spending hard-earned money to go there.' She said, 'It got louder and louder and so they had some sliding glass doors that they were able to close, so then it was a closed-off room but you could still hear them with how loud they were.'" CULTURE BEAT — " How hard has COVID hit American museums? A new survey predicts a grim future," by the LA Times' Deborah Vankin: "California's museum closures have been nearly constant. Every major museum closed at the start of the health crisis in mid-March. On June 12, museums in L.A. County got a green light from state and county officials to reopen. Some did so immediately, but the freedom was short-lived: On July 1, in response to rising COVID-19 infections, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered indoor museums closed again." TROLLING ELON — "A scientist's viral tweet called Elon Musk 'Space Karen' — as a way to defend science,'' by Washington Post's Travis Andrews: "'People like Elon Musk, fabulously intelligent people who can use social media avidly, should know better, should know that whatever comes out of their Twitter account has an impact on the wider world,' [scientist Emma Bell] told The Washington Post. 'These actions have consequences.'" VALLEJO DISPATCH — "How a Deadly Police Force Ruled a City," by Shane Bauer in the New Yorker. | | CORONAVIRUS UPDATES | | MASK UP — "Californians must mask up outside their homes under new expanded mandate," by the LA TImes' Luke Money. STAY HOME — " L.A. County cuts hours of some businesses, limits size of outdoor gatherings to battle COVID-19," by the LA Times' Jaclyn Cosgrove: "Officials also warned that if cases and hospitalizations continue to surge, more extreme measures would be taken in the coming weeks, including limiting restaurants to pick-up orders and some type of return to the 'safer at home' order that would 'only allow essential workers and those securing essential services to leave their homes.'" SCHOOL DAZE — "How does the California COVID-19 surge impact schools?" by the LA Times' Howard Blume and Laura Newberry: "Schools that opened while a county was in the red tier or better, can remain open. However, campuses that had not yet reopened before their county became purple must remain closed until their county is once again out of the worst tier." MAKE IT WORK — " New Stanford study shows why Bay Area counties' move to tighter reopening tiers can work," by the SF Chronicle's Annie Vainshtein: "They found that public venues like restaurants, gyms, cafes and other crowded indoor spaces were tied to the bulk of new infections. Among these "places of interest," full-service restaurants were found riskiest because people tended to gather there in higher densities and stay longer. According to the analysis, they presented more than triple the infection danger of the next-highest category, fitness centers." SAN DIEGO — "New COVID-19 outbreak forces transfer of dozens of county jail inmates," by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Jeff MacDonald — "California restaurant owners plan to sue the state over permit fees," by the SF Chronicle's Janelle Bitker. | | TRANSITION TIME | | CALL THE DOCTOR — "President-elect Biden picked this Bay Area doctor to serve on his COVID task force. Here's why," by the SF Chronicle's Erin Allday: " President-elect Joe Biden's first formal action after winning the election was to appoint a 13-member COVID-19 task force, signaling that the pandemic would be a priority even before his administration arrives at the White House in January." — "Will 'Amtrak Joe' Biden bail out California's troubled bullet train? Don't bet on it," by the LA Times' Ralph Vartabedian: "Some doubt that the president-elect will make investment in high-speed rail a priority." — "The 'war on coal' is over. The next climate battle has just begun," by the LA Times' Sammy Roth: " Although the energy politics of the last dozen years were defined by coal — with President Obama working to accelerate its decline and President Trump trying and failing to revive it — the fiercest battles of the Biden era are likely to revolve around another fossil fuel, natural gas." | | | | JOIN TODAY - CONFRONTING INEQUALITY TOWN HALL "BRIDGING THE ECONOMIC DIVIDE": Although pandemic job losses have been widespread, the economic blow has been especially devastating to Black workers and Black-owned businesses. POLITICO's third "Confronting Inequality in America" town hall will convene economists, scholars, private sector and city leaders to explore policies and strategies to deal with the disproportionate economic impact of the pandemic and the broader factors contributing to the persistent racial wealth and income gaps. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | CAMPAIGN MODE | | TUBBS TOPPLED — "Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, backer of guaranteed income, loses re-election bid," by the SF Chronicle's Alexei Koseff. 'DECEIVED'? — " California voters say they regret passing Prop 22 after Uber and Lyft misinformation,'' by the Washington Post's Faiz Siddiqui and Nitasha Tiku: "Some Californians are saying that they have buyer's remorse — and that they thought a 'yes' vote was in favor of giving drivers new benefits they would not otherwise receive.'' HE'S BACK — " Darrell Issa, 'recycled' congressman from California, doubts Kamala Harris' bipartisanship capability,'' by Fox News' Marisa Schultz: Said Issa: "She has no track record of effective legislation. … I don't see her as being a bridge. … I don't see the vice president as having those skills or desire. I think she's running for president within his doors from day one." THE GREAT DIVIDE — " The Trumpiest and most anti-Trump counties in California: Where does yours rank?" by CalMatters' Ben Christopher: "Biden outpolled the president in 35 of the state's 58 counties, and racked up a bigger lead than Clinton's in 27 of them. Two rural inland counties — Butte and Inyo — flipped from Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020." | | THE TRUMP ERA | | MEDICAID UNION DUES DUEL, via POLITICO's Rebecca Rainey in Morning Shift: A California-based federal judge on Tuesday vacated a Trump administration rule that made it harder for in-home health care workers paid via Medicaid to unionize. The 2019 rule prohibited states from allowing a portion of Medicaid payments to providers to be diverted to unions that represent health care aides, as POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein reported at the time. Workers instead had to opt to have union dues deducted from their paychecks or make contributions to a retirement fund. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who brought the lawsuit, said the rule affected "more than half a million" health care workers in California's In-Home Supportive Services Medicaid program and "several hundred thousand more workers nationwide." GOP HOUSE LEADER ONCE MORE — "Trump ally McCarthy is reelected leader of House Republicans," by the AP's Lisa Mascaro. NOT HEADING FOR THE EXIT — "Trump freezes 2024 presidential field,'' by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt. "If this doesn't work out, I'll just run again in four years," Trump said. TIE VOTE — "How Kamala and the coronavirus tanked Trump's Fed pick,'' by POLITICO's Burgess Everett: Vice President Mike Pence has salvaged some of President Donald Trump's most contentious nominees. But on Tuesday, it was Vice President-elect Kamala Harris breaking the deadlock to tank a top Trump pick. | | GAVINLAND | | MORE FALLOUT — "Gov. Gavin Newsom's Covid Rules: Do as I Say, Not as I Do," via Jerry Roberts: The French Laundry story "is a delicious, easily-digested soupcon of journalism that simultaneously summarizes, synthesizes and sticks a sharp needle into a politician's puffed-up pomposity, releasing noxious gases of rank hypocrisy and reeking self-regard." NEWSOM'S LOSS — Appeals court grants stay in lawsuit over Gov. Gavin Newsom's use of executive power,'' by the LA Times' Phil Willon: "A California appellate court Tuesday stayed an injunction from a lower court that barred Gov. Gavin Newsom from issuing executive orders that create new law, the latest development in a legal challenge to the governor's response to the COVID-19 pandemic." | | | |   | | | | | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — MAZEL TOV: The Jewish Legislative Caucus is announcing new leadership today: Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel is taking over as chair while Sen. Scott Wiener will serve as co-chair. The caucus is gaining new members with the victories of Senators-elect Josh Newman and Josh Becker. LABOR LAW — ''Supreme Court: The huge implications of a new union-busting case,'' by Vox's Ian Millhiser: "The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would hear Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, a case targeting a 45-year-old California regulation that allows union organizers to briefly enter agricultural workplaces to speak to farmworkers. But the case has implications that stretch well beyond labor organizing." CASH AND CARRY — Senate Democrats describe priorities for spending surprise revenue boost, by POLITICO's Kevin Yamamura: State Senate Democrats said Tuesday that California should reverse cuts to higher education, state workers and school districts if the state's surprise cash infusion holds. California is $11 billion ahead of projections through the first four months of the fiscal year, or 22 percent, as POLITICO first reported Friday . It's unclear how long the state will continue to see strong tax revenues, which reflect a robust stock market and steady employment for upper-income workers. But lawmakers are likely to use some of that $11 billion to restore cuts. PRO content. MORE TROUBLES — " PG&E sued by 8 Sonoma County bodies over 2019 Kincade Fire," by the SF Chronicle's J.D. Morris: "Eight Sonoma County cities and local government agencies have sued Pacific Gas and Electric Co. over the 2019 Kincade Fire, which destroyed 374 buildings and forced widespread evacuations." PIPE DREAM — "Outsiders Are Wary of San Diego's Multibillion-Dollar Pipeline Plan ," by the Voice of San Diego's MacKenzie Elmer. — "'Don't cheat us again': Officials outraged as VTA plans to slash road repair funding to pay for BART extension," by the Mercury News' Nico Savidge: "Critics say the plan is a betrayal of Santa Clara County voters who approved the 2016 measure." — " East Bay city to help residents with rents, mortgages," by the Mercury News' Judith Prieve: "Pittsburg will use its latest federal CARES Act grant to clean up homeless encampments and help families pay their mortgage or rent." | | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | ZUCK ON THE HILL — "'Censorship teams' vs. 'working the refs': Key moments from today's hearing with tech CEOs," by POLITICO's Cristiano Lima, Steven Overly, Nick Niedzwiadek and Leah Nylen: Republicans once again largely focused on accusations that big social media companies systematically censor conservatives, with Exhibit A being efforts by Facebook and Twitter to limit the spread of the New York Post's pre-election reporting on President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter. | | | | TRACK THE TRANSITION, SUBSCRIBE TO TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: As states certify their election results, President-elect Biden is building an administration. The staffing decisions made in the coming days, weeks, and months will send clear-cut signals about his administration's agenda and priorities. Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to what could be one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, it tracks the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Stay in the know, subscribe today. | | | | | | | HOLLYWOODLAND | | — "Steven Mnuchin's Former Firm Surfaces in Charlotte Kirk Filing," by the Hollywood Reporter's Tatiana Siegel and Kim Masters: "As the actress challenges a settlement agreement with Hollywood power players, court documents show that the Treasury Secretary's Dune Entertainment was added to a list of companies protected from liability." — "Councilmember-Elect Nithya Raman Explains How Hollywood Can Play "Integral Role" in Changing LA," by the Hollywood Reporter's Katie Kilkenny. | | CANNABIS COUNTRY | | POT AT STAKE — "Judge hears arguments in California marijuana delivery case," via Marijuana Business Daily: "At issue is a policy enacted by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) in July 2018 that allows state-licensed marijuana delivery businesses to deliver MJ products anywhere they wish, regardless of city or county restrictions on commercial cannabis operations. Many licensed delivery companies say the policy has been key to their success to date, so if the policy were overturned, it would greatly reduce the legal consumer base." | | MIXTAPE | | — "Jury deliberations begin for Sacramento CA NorCal Rapist case," by the Sac Bee's Sam Stanton. — " Would-Be Hawthorne Mayoral Candidate, Second Man Charged With Voter Fraud," via Bay City News. — "Is panic buying returning in San Diego amid rising COVID rates?" by the San Diego Union-Tribune's — " Brothers Sentenced for Slaying of Good Samaritan Sailor," via Bay City News. | | IN MEMORIAM | | EL CORONEL SPEAKS — "Remembering Juan Gómez Quiñones, Chicano studies legend and professor to all of L.A.," by the LA Times' Gustavo Arellano. | | BIRTHDAYS | | Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) is 56 | | A message from American Land Title Association: While the work of land title professionals is behind-the-scenes, and they may sometimes go unseen, the joy from what they do can be seen on the smiling faces of millions of Americans when they finally get the title of "homeowner." Land title professionals have safeguarded the American dream for more than 125 years. Meet the people who help protect homebuyers and sellers when they make the most important financial decision of their lives. 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 subscriber-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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