| | | | |  | | By Dustin Gardiner and Lara Korte | Presented by Californians Resources Corporation | | 
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Saturday in Rome, GA. | AP | THE BUZZ: NO LAUGHING MATTER — Former President Donald Trump drew laughter from supporters at a rally in Georgia over the weekend as he mocked President Joe Biden for his stutter. He also fired up a network of “proud stutterers” ready to put Trump on blast over his behavior. Among them is Maya Chupkov, a stuttering advocate and San Francisco-based podcast host and author. Chupkov was flying home from a weekend trip to Los Angeles when her husband texted her a video clip of Trump. “I’m gonna bring the country tuh-tuh-tuh-together,’” the former president said as he parodied Biden’s State of the Union Speech on Saturday. “Just hearing the audience laugh took me back to the bullying days,” she said, recalling painful high school memories. Within hours, Chupkov and a network of stutterers around the country sprang into action. They sent a press release to major media outlets denouncing Trump and launched campaigns to urge stutterers to respond on social media and write letters to the editor. The response has been swift. Around the country, advocates have been giving media interviews and sharing emotional testimonials. “This time, we’re not going to stay silent,” said Chupkov, who wrote a comic book called “Proud Stutterer” and hosts a podcast of the same name. Her nonprofit holds events around the country. Trump’s ridiculing of Biden comes as advocates have built broader acceptance of speech impediments. Chupov said Biden’s visibility as president has helped and noted the headlines Biden made a few years ago when he met a boy with a stutter and offered his encouragement. The president has spoken openly about how coping with a stutter was one of his greatest challenges as a young person, and he still sometimes struggles with halting speech in his public appearances.
|  Stuttering advocate Maya Chupkov speaks at a press conference with California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. | Courtesy Maya Chupkov | He’s not the only public figure to embrace a speech challenge. California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, who also stutters, authored a bill last year to designate Stuttering Awareness Week in May and spoke at a Capitol press conference with Chupkov and other stutterers. “I still have my stutter,” Rivas said at the time. “But certainly, at the end of the day, that is who I am, and I am a better person now because of my stutter.” Chupkov said she worries that Trump’s behavior could “normalize” insults directed at people with speech impediments. She said many advocates are hopeful Trump's mockery will inspire Biden to have an open conversation about stuttering, which advocates estimate affects 3 million people nationwide. “That would be really powerful, especially for young people. I just wish he could talk more about that,” she said. “It makes him more empathetic. It makes him a good listener.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Now you can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
| | | | A message from Californians Resources Corporation: California Resources Corporation (CRC) is committed to advancing the energy transition and empowering California to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. CRC’s Carbon TerraVault provides innovative carbon management solutions that will enable the capture and permanent storage of carbon dioxide, helping deliver the deep emissions reductions needed to decarbonize California’s local economies and achieve its ambitious climate goals. CRC's Carbon TerraVault | | | |  | FOR GOOD MEASURE | | |  Photo/Nam Y. Huh | AP | PERSONAL FINANCE — The campaign to require California high school students to take a personal finance class will today turn in the signatures needed to put its proposal on the November ballot. Backers have racked up more than 880,000 signatures, they said, and the state only needs to verify around 547,000, or 62 percent, for the measure to go before voters. Advocates turned to the initiative process last year when an effort to mandate the one-semester course stalled in the state Legislature under opposition from school boards. The bill is back this year, but it’s not clear it has a path through Sacramento. Tim Ranzetta, an entrepreneur funding the initiative campaign, said in an interview that he has poured $7 million into signature gathering and outreach. He previously taught personal finance at an East Palo Alto school as a volunteer and is the co-founder of the nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance, which he said will continue to provide free financial education materials to schools if the measure passes. — Blake Jones Speaking of measures... Nothing distinguishes policymaking in California like its lively realm of ballot-measure campaigns. As part of POLITICO’s ongoing California expansion, we are embarking on an initiative of our own — to cover this sphere with the depth and sustained attention it deserves. We are building a team of journalists dedicated solely to covering ballot measures at all levels, and are brimming with ideas for how to tell fresh stories about the strategies, policy ideas, personalities, and money behind them. Expect scoops, analysis, features and investigations across our POLITICO California platforms, including here under the “For Good Measure” banner in our California Playbook editions. | | | | DON’T MISS AN IMPORTANT TALK ON ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS IN CA: Join POLITICO on March 19 to dive into the challenges of affordable prescription drugs accessibility across the state. While Washington continues to debate legislative action, POLITICO will explore the challenges unique to California, along with the potential pitfalls and solutions the CA Legislature must examine to address prescription drug affordability for its constituents. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | CITY BY THE BAY | | | |  Former San Francisco interim Mayor Mark Farrell. | Getty Images | TOUGH TALK IN SF — San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell is quickly trying to define himself as the most tough-on-crime candidate in the race — beefing up his already aggressive list of ideas to take on the city’s crime and drug crises. Farrell is expected to unveil a sweeping set of policy proposals today, including banning street vending in more places, expanding park closure hours and ramping up officer hiring. His ideas, especially his strict proposal on retail vending, would be major, conservative-leaning shifts for San Francisco. Farrell, a former interim mayor and member of the Board of Supervisors, said the city hasn’t done enough to combat the open sale of stolen goods, which he said is directly tied to the desperation of drug addicts who steal from retailers. Mayor London Breed has already expanded a moratorium on street vending along Mission Street. But Farrell said the city’s enforcement of that ban has been haphazard — and he wants to dramatically expand it to include problem areas like U.N. Plaza, Civic Center, the Tenderloin neighborhood and portions of Market Street. The ban would apply to merchandise vendors, not food carts. “Her administration is focused on the harm-reduction approach to the drug crisis on our streets, and that has simply failed,” Farrell told Playbook. His park-hours proposal would close select parks, which have become hotspots for illegal activity, from sunset to dawn. Farrell also wants to ramp up police officer hiring by funding at least five police academies per year and creating a program that allows retired officers to return to patrol work without affecting their pensions.
| | | | A message from Californians Resources Corporation:   | | | | | ELECTION UPDATES | | HAS PROP. 1 BEEN CALLED YET? — No. Support ticked up slightly on Monday, from 50.3 to 50.4 percent. We, along with much of Sacramento, will keep anxiously hitting “refresh.” MCCARTHY'S SEAT: Assemblymember Vince Fong will advance to the November general election in the race for the open seat held by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The second-place winner has yet to be called, but Republican Mike Boudreaux was leading Democrat Marisa Wood by more than 3 points as of Monday night. LICCARDO ADVANCES: Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has survived a crowded and extraordinarily expensive primary for a safe Democratic seat in the Bay Area held by retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo. Which rival he will face in November has yet to be determined, with Democrats Joe Simitian and Evan Low in a tight race for second place.
| | ON THE AGENDA | | | | 
Assemblymember Corey Jackson gives then-Speaker Anthony Rendon, center, a bear hug during a June 2023 session in Sacramento. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP | HAPPY TIMES — Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon today at 1:30 p.m. will hold the inaugural hearing of his Select Committee on Happiness and Public Policy Outcomes. On the agenda is one item — “happiness: an overview.”
| | | | In celebration of Earth Month, the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability and the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, in collaboration with POLITICO, host “Climate Forward 2024: Climate at the Crossroads” on April 4, 2024 at USC. Top experts from politics, government, media, and academia will discuss climate change issues with a focus on finding practical policy and business solutions as well identifying ways to remove political obstacles to implementing those changes. Register to attend in person or virtually. | | | | | | | ON THE HILL | | |  Rep. Michelle Steel, center. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | STEEL SIDLES UP — Yesterday, we told you about the congressional Republicans who were still on the fence about endorsing former President Donald Trump in 2024. Among the lawmakers we wrote about was Orange County Rep. Michelle Steel, whose team had not responded to multiple calls and emails from POLITICO on the subject, and who even dodged one of our reporters in the halls of Congress. As it turns out, Steel added herself to a list of Trump delegates, published last week. We tried to ask why she’s been keeping her support of the former president so quiet, but our requests for comment again went unanswered on Monday.
| | | TOP TALKERS | | | — PG&E’s price hike is jolting costs for electric car owners, and it isn’t stopping. (San Francisco Chronicle) — Michael Weinstein, California lightning rod and president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is lashing out at Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he says have failed to confront wealth inequality. (RealClear Politics) — The list of colleges facing federal investigation for discrimination since the Israel-Hamas war started is growing. UC Berkeley is the newest addition. (Los Angeles Times) — The only thing standing between Disneyland and its $1.9 billion expansion is a vote by seven Anaheim officials. (Los Angeles Times) — Tesla’s luck is powering down as it is officially the worst performer in the S&P 500 and buckles up for another wrongful death lawsuit. (The Fresno Bee)
| | | | A message from Californians Resources Corporation: California Resources Corporation (CRC) provides innovative solutions to reduce emissions while powering California's communities with reliable local energy. CRC is committed to our net zero future and helping California reach carbon neutrality by 2045. 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.
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Get The Facts on CRC's Carbon TerraVault | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | TRANSITIONS — Nick Hardeman is leaving the Capitol Friday after a 20-year career that culminated in serving as chief of staff to former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins. John Casey will replace Hardeman as chief, returning to Atkins’ office after leaving to be then-Speaker Anthony Rendon’s comms chief. Eric Jones is now deputy comms director for Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). He previously was press secretary and digital director for Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.). BIRTHDAYS — Assemblymember Tom Lackey … Rachel Levitan … Marcy Stech … (was Monday): David Newman ... Mark Rachesky 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. | | | | 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 | | | | |
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