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Presented by SEIU-UHW: Inside the Golden State political arena

Jun 11, 2024 View in browser   By Lara Korte, Tyler Katzenberger and Dustin Gardiner Presented by SEIU-UHW California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks speaks at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on June 27, 2022. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP THE BUZZ: YOU BREAK IT, YOU BUY IT? —  Lawmakers who want tech’s biggest players to bolster an atrophied news industry are back with an updated plan to make platforms pay up. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks is reviving a proposal from last year that would make large platforms pay California newsrooms a portion of their online advertising revenues in exchange for using their content, hoping a set of narrowing amendments will bring skeptical tech giants like Google and Meta, as well as smaller news outlets, to the table. Wicks' bill now incorporates elements of a deal Google made with government officials in Canada last year, just before a similar measure designed to send a portion of ads revenue on news links back to journalists took full effect. Google, one of the Canadian law’s two prime targets, agreed at the last minute to pay C$100 million annually to Canada’s news industry rather than end news-link sharing in the country. The company formally inked a deal Friday with the nonprofit Canadian Journalism Collective to distribute the money to Canadian outlets. Wicks and proponents of her bill, which include the California News Publishers Association, have argued that the tech industry has been heavily profiting off newsrooms while the journalism industry has floundered. Google and Meta have yet to weigh in on the changes to Assembly Bill 886, but were vocal last year in their opposition to the original version. Tech groups argued that it would have only stood to benefit large, out-of-state outlets, and threatened to pull news content from their sites if the legislation passed. Meta decried Wicks’ bill as a “slush fund'' that would benefit media conglomerates over California publishers. To drive home its point, Google temporarily blocked California-based news content in April.  Undeterred by such threats, Wicks is plowing ahead. The new amendments published Monday, nearly a year after the bill was put on hold in the Senate Judiciary Committee, appear to address some of the concerns raised by detractors. The latest version would give platforms the option of paying an annual fee — an amount yet to be determined — into a fund to support California journalism, instead of shelling out a percentage of advertising revenue quarterly to news organizations based on the number of links from each outlet. The bill now specifies that the funds would support journalists primarily assigned to cover California and that payouts would be based on the number of journalists a newsroom employs, rather than impressions generated by articles. The bill gives extra flexibility and compensation options for small newsrooms, defined as those with five or fewer employees. The amendments “help ensure journalism providers both large and small benefit from its provisions and provide a more straightforward framework,” Wicks said in a statement to POLITICO, acknowledging the bill was “a work in progress.” Wicks’ proposal is moving as declining advertising revenues force continued newsroom layoffs and closures, leaving many Californians in news deserts. The recent upheaval at the Los Angeles Times, which laid off nearly 20 percent of its newsroom in January, h ighlighted the industry’s volatility. As news coverage contracts, many have pointed fingers at social media and digital platforms, which for decades have hosted news articles free of charge in an agreement that some argue drives value for both sides. One Poynter study, conducted last year, estimates Meta and Google owe publishers about $14 billion per year.  AB 886 is set for a hearing June 25 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chair Tom Umberg told Playbook that lawmakers want to hear the work-in-progress bill before the July 3 policy committee deadline. He said he wants the bill to support digital journalism while ensuring platforms continue to display news content. Brittney Barsotti, general counsel for the California News Publishers Association, said it’s critical that platforms pay for news — especially since they can afford it. “What we’re talking about here is a rounding error because they’re a few of the largest companies in the entire world,” Barsotti said. GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. 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 SEIU-UHW: The Healthcare Minimum Wage Law is set to give hundreds of thousands of our caregivers a raise on July 1st. This pay increase is long overdue for workers and more important than ever for patients, whose care is being jeopardized every day by the short staffing crisis. A $25/hour minimum wage will ensure that facilities across the state can retain experienced staff and attract new workers to the field. Learn more.   FOR GOOD MEASURE Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrives for a bail hearing at Manhattan Federal Court on Aug. 11, 2023, in New York City. | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images FROM THE CRYPTO CRYPT— Sam Bankman-Fried’s trading firm is bankrupt. His cryptocurrency exchange began liquidating assets earlier this year. And he was recently sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. But one final vestige of his political influence — a pandemic-era ballot measure — is still in play, and set to appear on voters’ ballots this November. As POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White reports this morning, the Pandemic Early Detection and Prevention Institute Initiative would levy a 0.75 percent tax on Californians earning more than $5 million for a decade. Half of the proceeds are earmarked to flow toward a new state institute that mapped viral genomes. The other half would be split between bolstering public health agencies and helping schools reduce infectious disease risk with tools like air filtration systems. The measure was introduced by Bankman-Fried and his brother, Gabe, in the fall of 2021. The then-29 year old billionaire would end up bankrolling about half of the campaign. The measure went on to win support from the California Medical Association and prominent politicians like Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla. But since Bankman-Fried’s demise, momentum has all but halted around the initiative. The campaign to sell it to voters has seen its cash on hand dwindle from more than $15 million at its peak to a reported $78 on hand at the end of last year. A fleet of political consultants once on retainer have signed up to work on other campaigns instead. Politicians who lined up to throw their support behind the proposal stopped talking about it after the main benefactor was disgraced. Read more about the distinctively California story behind the ballot measure — and what’s in store for this fall.   A message from SEIU-UHW:   SAN FRANCISCO MAYORAL MATTERS — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and San Francisco Mayor London Breed shared a stage Monday night at Manny’s in SF’s Mission district. The mayors talked about their work to address the housing crisis and the challenges they face as the first Black women to lead their cities. But the discussion also featured plenty of lighter moments as host Manny Yekutiel, owner of the eponymous bar, asked the mayors off-beat questions like whether they ever get lonely. To which Breed quipped, “I got a man now” as the audience roared. Six highlights from the event: Breed on housing politics: The mayor said her rivals of the Board of Supervisors, especially those now running for mayor, are “starting to be easier to work with on housing policies. And I’m like, 'Yes!’ We rezoned the whole downtown.” (a thinly-veiled reference to Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, mayoral candidates.) Bass on her housing approach: “I’ve done executive directives to cut the red tape, so what used to take six months takes 30 days. I look at everything that I could possibly do that would be legal.” Bass on the root causes of homelessness: “The most important thing we did last year was dispel the myth that people don't want to leave the streets. Because they do not want to live like that. I don't know about here, but one of our fastest-growing sectors are people who are in their late 60s and 70s, primarily women who worked in the service industry, no pension, no 401k and Social Security.” Bass on leading as a Black woman: “You have to deal with gender, you have to deal with race. As soon as you walk in the room, that's what somebody sees. That's what triggers in their head, whether they say so or not… I don't mind being underestimated because underestimate me and I come at you and you won’t see it coming.” Breed on leading as a Black woman: “I understand exactly what you're talking about because I’ve had situations, in my office, where people would talk to my chief of staff, who happens to be a white man, while they're sitting across my desk, and look at him and talk to him. And I'm like, ‘Excuse me. I'm right here. I'm right here.’” Breed on her decades-long friendship with Kamala Harris: “I didn't try to make her my mentor. She made me her mentee more so, and told me what I was going to do.” ON THE AGENDA GOP PUSHBACK — Legislative Republicans will convene at 8:30 a.m. to condemn amendments to several public safety bills that would revoke the laws if a ballot measure to roll back parts of Proposition 47 passed in November. Livestream here. More on that battle below… PUBLIC SAFETY — The Assembly and Senate Public Safety committees today are taking up bills in their retail theft and public safety packages. Democrats said the inoperability clauses they added to some of those proposals are necessary to prevent conflicting provisions with the ballot measure to change Prop 47, but the move has been heavily criticized by Republicans and other supporters of the measure. CLIMATE AND ENERGY PRICE TIME — After Greens took a thumping in EU elections last weekend and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pulled the plug on congestion pricing, California politicians are also feeling the economic headwinds. We read the tea leaves to understand why officials and lawmakers are delaying votes on consequential climate policies in last night’s California Climate. Top Talkers — Yesterday’s tax giveaway is today’s budget headache for California Democrats, who face a $45 million budget deficit two years after passing a nearly $10 billion tax break. (Los Angeles Times) — Republicans, including California Reps. David Valadao and Michelle Steel, are taking credit for federal infrastructure funds they voted against. (POLITICO) AROUND THE STATE — Mexico’s newly-elected President Claudia Sheinbaum spent time in the Bay Area — and it could affect how she governs. (The Mercury News) — Residents of a coastal California town drive 40 minutes round-trip to mail a letter since losing their local post office 466 days ago. (Los Angeles Times) — The construction of illegal accessory dwelling units — sometimes called “granny flats” — are outpacing permitted ones. (The Mercury News)   A message from SEIU-UHW: California’s short staffing crisis affects patients everywhere by delaying care and putting unsustainable strain on our caregivers. With the skyrocketing cost of living we’re seeing across California, it’s more important than ever to make sure healthcare workers are being paid a liveable wage. Not only will that help hundreds of thousands of workers take care of their families, it will improve patient care by keeping caregivers on the job and encouraging more Californians to join the industry. Additionally, the impact on the state budget has been exaggerated, with much of the costs predicted to be offset by workers no longer relying on state-funded services like Medi-Cal after receiving higher wages. See this in-depth UC Berkeley Labor Center report for more details.   PLAYBOOKERS PEOPLE MOVES — Joshua Baum is the new director of public policy and community development at Zenith Economics. — Flynn Rico-Johnson is now policy adviser for FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks covering spectrum, space and AI. He previously was deputy chief of staff for Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) — Niree Kodaverdian has joined Beacon Economics in Los Angeles as a senior research associate. She was previously an assistant professor at Chapman University's Argyros College of Business and Economics. — Miriam Valdes Ibarra has joined Beacon Economics as policy and economic development manager. She was previously an economics professor and researcher at Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila. MEDIA MATTERS — CapRadio Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez is taking a leave of absence after a breast cancer diagnosis. Gonzalez shared more in a personal message to listeners. Playbook sends our best wishes for a quick recovery. BIRTHDAYS — Disney’s Lucas Acosta … Jamal Brown … Juliette Medina … BELATED B-DAY WISHES —(was Monday): Meredith Carden … Tyler Gregory ... Mike Rosenthal … Mayer Marx… WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form. Disclaimer: All information will be verified. 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 Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Dustin Gardiner @dustingardiner Lara Korte @lara_korte   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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