| | | | |  | | By Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner | | Presented by |  | | | |  Gov. Gavin Newsom's new requirements come after months of protests from state worker unions. | Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo | THE BUZZ: POST-PANDEMIC BLUES — After four years of remote work, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants California’s 240,000 state workers to return to their offices. The state workers are not taking it well. Cabinet Secretary Ann Patterson sent a letter to top state officials on Wednesday saying state employees will have to return to office two days a week starting June 17. The news, shared exclusively with POLITICO’s Wes Venteicher, comes after months of protests from state worker unions, who have pushed back as some departments have curtailed remote work options. “Obviously, we’re not happy with it,” said Tim O’Connor, president of CASE, a union representing about 4,500 state attorneys and judicial workers. O’Connor said members have made it clear that they want to fight “nonsensical” return to office mandates, and that the latest declaration from the governor “seems as nonsensical as they get." As Wes reports, the directive is a significant policy shift for the administration, which, since the start of the pandemic, has allowed leaders of the state’s roughly 150 agencies to set their own policy for remote work. That approach has led to varying rules — with some agencies allowing full-time remote work and others mandating a minimum number of days per week in the office. “Unfortunately, the varied approaches have created confusion around expectations and are likely to exacerbate inconsistencies across agencies and departments,” Patterson said in the memo. Among the administration’s early concerns was staying competitive with the private sector on remote work. But now, much of the private sector is migrating back to offices as well. The governor is also facing pressure from city leaders to return workers to the office, including from Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who is looking to boost the local economy downtown. Patterson cited many benefits of returning to the office, including “enhanced collaboration, cohesion and communication,” as well as “improved supervision and accountability.” But unions argue that, after four years of remote work, employees have proven themselves more than capable of carrying out their duties while working from home — and that doing so saves them time and money. Bill Hall, the board chair of SEIU Local 1000, said there's an additional financial burden that comes with commuting to the office that the state won’t cover. He argued a mandatory return to office means workers will have to pay to commute, for parking, childcare arrangements, and, after years away from an office setting, maybe even new workwear. “[Members] have proven that they can work remotely,” he said. “So they’re frustrated that’s not being taken into account.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. 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? Out of state for some spring break fun with the fam.
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Assemblymember Evan Low. | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for CAPE | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: BUILDING A BENCH — Asian American justices once comprised a majority of the California Supreme Court, with four sitting on the bench in 2014, and three until as recently as 2022. Today, just one of the high court’s seven judges — Associate Justice Goodwin Liu — hails from the community. But AAPI lawmakers, judges and lawyers across the state are now joining forces to try to reverse that loss of representation. They sent Gov. Newsom a letter on Wednesday to urge him to appoint an Asian justice, should there be a vacancy. The letter, exclusively shared with Playbook, recommended 11 justices currently serving on lower- or federal-court benches in California, asserting, “we want to aid you in the selection process for any future opening.” Assemblymember Evan Low, who chairs the powerful AAPI Caucus, spearheaded the letter on behalf of the group. It was also signed by the California Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the California Asian-Pacific American Judges Association. Low told Playbook that many in the community are alarmed to see a decline in AAPI people holding power at multiple levels of California government, especially in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Liu has also noted there are few Asian judges relative to the community’s hefty share of law school graduates. In California, less than 9 percent of the state’s roughly 1,700 judges were AAPI in 2021, even though the community comprises about 17 percent of the state’s total population. Low argued more representation on the courts could have practical effects on rulings in areas like immigration and language access — issues where he said an AAPI judge might have a deeper sense of empathy due to their personal experiences. “That’s meaningful. It’s not just empty tokenism,” he said. “The lens is very important.”
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Don’t miss out on POLITICO’s Global Playbook, the newsletter taking you inside pivotal discussions at the most influential gatherings in the world, including WEF in Davos, Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to UNGA in NYC and many more. Suzanne Lynch delivers the world's elite and influential moments directly to you. Stay in the global loop. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | FOR GOOD MEASURE | | BONDING TIME — Prop 1’s recent narrow victory suggested Californians are wary of more bond spending. But a new poll suggests there’s nevertheless still support for a potential statewide school bond measure, as our colleague Jeremy B. White reports for POLITICO Pro. The survey released last night by the Public Policy Institute of California shows a majority of Californians (58 percent), likely voters (53 percent) and public school parents (72 percent) said they would vote “yes” on a state bond to pay for school construction projects. Support is not as high as it’s been in previous years — in June of 2023, 64 percent of Californians approved of the same bond idea — but it's a positive sign for lawmakers as they consider sending such a bond measure to voters in November. Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi and state Sen. Steve Glazer both have proposed bills that would ask voters to borrow $14 billion and $15 billion, respectively, to provide facilities support for TK-12 schools and institutes of higher education. But legislative leaders have signaled that the state has a limited bond capacity this year — somewhere between $15 billion and $20 billion — and an education bond may have to compete with climate and housing bonds for room on the November ballot. Whatever the legislature puts forth, there’s always the question of whether voters have an appetite for borrowing large sums of money, especially in a year when California has a gaping budget deficit. For some, Prop 1’s narrow passage is a warning that the electorate won’t be keen to approve borrowing, but bond proponents are hoping a stronger turnout in November, especially from Democrats, will be enough to push them over the halfway mark.
| | | | A message from Amazon:   | | | | | SAN FRANCISCO | | |  San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | BACKING TOP BRASS — A coalition of nearly two dozen Black community leaders and activists are criticizing mayoral candidate Mark Farrell for saying that he, if elected, would fire Police Chief Bill Scott on day one. In an open letter shared on social media, the group chided Farrell and defended the chief’s record, noting his support for accountability reforms and when he marched with Black leaders after the killing of George Floyd. They called Farrell’s tough-on-crime rhetoric “tone deaf and offensive.” “Instead of having any real ideas, Mark Farrell is looking for an easy scapegoat. And he chose the Black man leading the police department,” the letter states. Farrell, a former interim mayor and city supervisor, responded Wednesday, saying while he respects Scott, he wants a chief who will more aggressively address the city’s officer shortage. He added in a statement, “The police department is down nearly 600 officers since I left office, and we need to send a strong message that the status quo is not acceptable.” Signatories on the letter criticizing Farrell are predominantly allies of Mayor London Breed, whom Farrell is trying to oust in November. Supporters of the letter also include: Amos Brown, a longtime civil rights leader; Mattie Scott, president of the gun-violence prevention group Brady California; and Shakirah Simley, former director of the city’s Office of Racial Equity.
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Actress and activist Jane Fonda joins environmental justice groups at a Beverly Hills fundraiser. | Alex Nieves/POLITICO | FONDA'S FIGHT — Legendary actress and activist Jane Fonda has trained her sights on defending California’s oil well setback law from an industry referendum, and she’s already helped rake in more than $10 million for the cause. Read more in last night’s California Climate newsletter.
| | ON THE AGENDA | | FLOOR SESH — The Assembly and Senate both convene at 9 a.m. today. In the lower chamber, lawmakers are expected to take up early action on the budget, which includes $17 billion of cuts, delays and shifts to shrink the budget shortfall before final negotiations in June.
| | TOP TALKERS | | — The mayor of a California border town came out as transgender after her reelection. Now she’s fighting a recall campaign. (Los Angeles Times) — Drones, airplanes and high-altitude balloons are just a few of the ways home insurance companies are spying on customers. (The Wall Street Journal)
| | AROUND THE STATE | | ORANGE COUNTY: Two Orange Unified School District trustees, Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma, have been recalled. Who will fill their former seats? (The Orange County Register) SAN FRANCISCO: Mayor Breed will use her upcoming trip to China to pitch leaders of Fudan University, a research institution in Shanghai, about opening a satellite location in her city’s downtown core. (San Francisco Chronicle) IMPERIAL COUNTY: An indigenous tribe won its third legal battle to ward off gold mining on its sacred lands. (Desert Sun) OAKLAND: Arrests, gun seizures and stolen vehicle recoveries jumped during an eight-week-long law enforcement surge. Some Oaklanders say they are still a long way from feeling safe. (East Bay Times) BERKELEY: An event meant to celebrate UC Berkeley law students’ graduation became the scene of the latest campus flashpoint over the Israel-Hamas war. (San Francisco Chronicle) VENTURA: Organizers of an annual Grateful Dead tribute festival abruptly canceled the event and — in the biggest bummer of all — they aren’t even giving refunds. (San Francisco Chronicle) — with help from Ariel Gans
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Learn how Amazon breaks down barriers to growth. | | | | | PLAYBOOKERS | | SPOTTED: RIP, CAR G — The Capitol Hill swing space was thrown into chaos again on Wednesday as one of three elevators, car G, was temporarily out of order, creating long lines and exasperating the lobbyists, staff and advocates trying to get to their meetings in the temporary workspace. As Disability Rights California noted, it also made it difficult for those with disabilities to access the building. In the afternoon, a photo was circulating among staff and lawmakers of a makeshift memorial for the broken car. MEDIA MOVES — Nicole Nixon is now a state politics reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously covered politics for CapRadio, the capital city’s NPR affiliate. — Erika D. Smith announced that she’s leaving her columnist role with the Los Angeles Times. Smith will cover policy and politics on the West Coast for Bloomberg Opinion, starting later this month. TRANSITIONS — Brian Ferguson is leaving the Newsom administration to join the California State Association of Counties as the director of public affairs. Ferguson has served as a spokesperson for all things disaster-related at California’s Office of Emergency Services since 2019, and was previously a press secretary for Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown. BIRTHDAYS — RIAA’s Michele Ballantyne … Amanda Golden … Jon Berrier … Aaron Bennett … Paul Arden … Erika Masonhall … (was Wednesday): Alan Rothenberg ... Shirley Bloomfield SHARE YOUR B-DAY ( … OR BAR MITZVAH) — Want us to feature a birthday or another special occasion in POLITICO's California Playbook? You can now submit a shout-out using this nifty form. Subscribers are invited to submit a timely occasion on behalf of a coworker, boss, friend and/or significant other. (Or even themselves!) And no, Eytan Wallace of Nexstar Media, your bar mitzvah on “April 4, 2009" doesn’t qualify as timely, but we appreciate the enthusiasm! Disclaimers: All information will be verified. We reserve the right to edit any final content. 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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