| | | | | |  | | By Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte, Ramon Castanos and Matthew Brown | Presented by California Resources Corporation | THE BUZZ: Nothing riles up Californians like a fight over development — what can be built where. That dynamic animated some of the fiercest debates in Sacramento Wednesday as bills hit the deadline to pass policy committees. High-profile bills governing where local governments can — and should — allow homes and commercial properties reflected larger questions about the housing crisis and balancing public health with economic growth. Upzoning advocates want to break with California’s NIMBY past with more dense housing in urban cores. Community activists want fewer trucks in their backyards. Let’s take a look: EXPEDITION: Labor politics have overshadowed local control qualms in the debate around one of 2023’s most contentious housing bills, which would permanently enshrine a fast-track approval process. Sen. Scott Wiener hailed that as good news: “The fact that the labor dispute is the centerpiece dispute in the bill is a sign of progress,” he said. But the dispute rages on. Unions were arrayed on both sides of SB 423: Carpenters and their allies believe it would uncork a flow of prevailing wage jobs, while the State Building and Construction Trades Council and its supporters argue it would undermine durable union jobs (joined by still-opposed local governments). The bill passed its Senate committee but faces a long road. FIRE FEARS: Efforts to streamline housing approval are gaining more traction in the Legislature lately. But trying to deter homebuilding in areas at elevated risk for wildfires remains a heavy lift, as Assemblymember Chris Ward learned when Assembly Housing Committee chair Buffy Wicks declined to put his AB 68 up for a vote. The bill had the rare distinction of being a housing bill on the California Chamber of Commerce’s “job killer” list. Business groups, builders and developers have often lined up behind housing production bills, arguing soaring costs are imperiling the state’s business climate. In this case, they rejected a measure that would require cities to prioritize building in urban cores over open land. WHERE TO WAREHOUSE: California’s Inland Empire could be nicknamed the Warehouse Kingdom these days thanks to an explosion of Amazon fulfillment centers and similar hubs. Local groups argue that boom — and the enormous number of trucks moving goods — has exacted a toll on local lungs. Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes has pushed repeatedly to separate homes and schools from warehouses, clashing at times with fellow Inland Empire Democrats. So, it went Wednesday: Reyes’ measure barring local governments from allowing the centers within a thousand feet won over advocates who felt ignored by their city councils but earned CalChambers’ “job killer” epithet. It failed as Assemblymember James Ramos’ less-stringent version advanced. Colleagues the neighboring Democrats to make a deal: “Please go work this out in the IE caucus,” Assemblymember Tasha Horvath implored. BUENOS DÍAS, good Thursday morning. The Assembly Public Safety Committee is set to take up a package of fentanyl bills this morning after lawmakers struck a deal to hold a special hearing. A Democratic measure to bolster penalties against repeat fentanyl dealers stalled earlier this week. 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? Headed to Washington, D.C. to fundraise for President Joe Biden’s re-election.
| | | | A message from California Resources Corporation: California Resources Corporation (CRC) is committed to the energy transition and advancing our Net Zero future. To help meet California’s ambitious emissions reduction goals, CRC’s Carbon TerraVault provides a real solution that enables the capture, transport and permanent storage of carbon dioxide deep underground. These services help mitigate climate change by offering both immediate decarbonization benefits and a long-term solution to reach and maintain carbon neutrality. CRC's CarbonTerraVault | | | QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Imagine, if you’re Christian and if the Garden of Eden reappeared, how exciting would that be? It’s the same thing for the tribe. The lake is what created the tribe. It’s what made them who they are.” Shana Powers of the Tachi Yokut’s Santa Rosa Rancheria on Tulare Lake’s re-emergence, via the San Francisco Chronicle. BONUS QOTD: “It is hypocritical as legislators that we ask our employees to staff committees and write legislation that often expands collective bargaining rights for other workers in California but we intentionally prohibit our own workers from that same right.” Assemblymember Tina McKinnor on her staff unionization bill, which Wednesday cleared the same committee where it had stalled a year earlier. TWEET OF THE DAY:
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Twitter | 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 MEET & GREET! We did it before and we're doing it again! Join California Playbook and POLITICO’s growing team in Sacramento at Smic’s Sip & Quip on Thursday, May 11, 2023, for an evening of cocktails and conversation. As POLITICO expands in California, we're convening our most influential readers in Sacramento and beyond. Swing by and have a cocktail on us—you never know who you might run into! Register here. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | — “Inside Biden's strategy to repair Harris' image,” by Axios’ Alex Thompson: “There's zero chance Biden will replace her on the ticket — doing so would be an admission that he botched the most important decision he made as a candidate. So the White House and campaign team are working to give Harris a boost — which her allies feel is long overdue.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | L.A. DOMINOES — The race to replace embattled Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León is getting crowded: Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo confirmed Wednesday she’s running, which means she’ll vie with fellow Assembly Democrat Miguel Santiago. De León still hasn’t said if he intends to seek another term, which would be his first election since appearing on tapes of a conversation that upended L.A. politics. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — We also get a new Los Angeles candidate for the Legislature today. Education advocate Dulce Vasquez is running to succeed Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer in AD-57 as the termed-out Jones-Sawyer challenges L.A. City Council member Heather Hutt. Vazquez knows about challenging sitting council members, having run against Council member Curren Price last year. — “Who Wants To Run San Francisco? Mystery Polls Lay Out London Breed's Potential Challengers,” by The San Francisco Standard’s Josh Koehn and Mike Ege: “The results have not been published, and the list of candidates vary between polls—but at least one of them lists as many as seven individuals, including Mayor London Breed, three supervisors and a tech entrepreneur.”
| | | | A message from California Resources Corporation:   | | | | | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — Newsom rejects state Senate Democrats' proposed big-business tax hike, by POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White: A framework the caucus released would avoid dipping into the state’s rainy-day fund and reverse Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts in spending on housing and infrastructure. Instead, the Senate Democrats would hike the corporate tax rate on high-earning firms, estimating the change could generate $7 billion in its first year and an annual $6 billion thereafter. The administration said no way. — California lobbying-reform bill gets shelved until 2024, by POLITICO’s Lara Korte: “Wahab agreed to certain amendments in a committee hearing last week, including one that would reduce the "cooling off" period to one year, which is the same amount of time legislators must abstain from lobbying after leaving office, but it did little to soothe the vitriol from some current and former staffers.” — “Newsom asks state Supreme Court to let UC Berkeley build housing in People's Park,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bob Egelko: “UC Berkeley now provides housing for only 23% of its students, the lowest rate in the UC system, and says they need housing that the new development would provide.” — “California poised to ban new diesel trucks,” by CalMatters’ Nadia Lopez: “The proposal aims to clean up noxious diesel exhaust and greenhouse gases spewed by big rigs, garbage trucks, delivery trucks and other large vehicles by converting them to models powered by electricity or hydrogen.” — “A lost California lake has roared back to life. Now some want to make it permanent,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Kurtis Alexander: “The Department of Water Resources is considering an intervention to try to take water out of the river system and limit what’s piling onto the lake. The possibilities, state officials say, include pumping water from the Kings and Kern rivers, via a conduit known as the Friant-Kern Canal, to the California Aqueduct, which moves water to Los Angeles and other points south.” — “Future of California at risk the longer landmark CEQA environmental law remains unchanged,” opined Tracey Hernandez and Jim Wunderman for CalMatters: “Those who can’t afford to leave, many with lower incomes or from communities of color, are forced to pay exorbitant rents and denied the opportunity of homeownership.” — Lawmaker shelves effort to make the California schools chief a governor’s appointee, POLITICO’s Blake Jones: “Just eight other states elect their superintendents of public instruction. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 9 would have added California to the majority of states where the official is appointed by the governor or a state board of education, but it died under opposition from the California Teachers Association, California School Boards Association and conservative-leaning parent groups.” — “A race against time in California town: Floodwaters rising, snow melting, worst still to come,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Hayley Smith: “The state is taking steps to help, including providing shelter assistance for displaced residents and aid for affected farmworkers, as well as supplying millions of sandbags, portable barriers called muscle walls and other flood prevention supplies, Newsom said.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | — “In Google founder’s shadow, CEO Pichai discovered the limits of his power,” by The Information’s Jon Victor and Amir Efrati: “Since Sundar Pichai became CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in 2019, he has been honest with colleagues about the difficulties of overseeing a sprawling conglomerate that’s under constant strain from internal power struggles, regulators and rebellious employees. In one example of that candor, he said in an internal meeting several years ago that the job had taken its toll and he envisioned passing the baton in a few years, according to a person who was present.”
| | MIXTAPE | | — “A Santa Monica police employee molested more than 200 kids. Why were warnings ignored?,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Richard Winton — “Sacramento County incarcerates girls in high numbers. Here's how that could change,” by The Sacramento Bee’s Maggie Angst — “Fresno County Superior Court ends ‘illegal late fees’ program,” by The Fresno Bee’s Yesenia Amaro — “L.A. rapper MoneySign Suede stabbed to death in shower at California prison, attorney says,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Keri Blakinger, Kenan Draughorne and Salvador Hernandez
| | | | A message from California Resources Corporation: California Resources Corporation (CRC) is committed to our Net Zero future and helping California meet its emissions reduction goals under the Paris Climate Accord. CRC’s 2045 Full-Scope Net Zero Goal for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions places us among a select few industry peers to include scope 3 emissions in their Net Zero goal.
CRC’s Carbon TerraVault offers a real solution for reaching and maintaining carbon neutrality through services that include the capture, transport and permanent storage of carbon dioxide deep underground - supporting California in its efforts to combat climate change. CRC is dedicated to developing innovative solutions like Carbon TerraVault to advance the energy transition, and helping decarbonize our local economies in alignment with the state’s ambitious climate goals.
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