DRIVING THE DAY — Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire released committee assignments Friday evening when one Playbook author was already at the Kings game. He named 20 new chairs, (POLITICO Pro story here), but made a notable omission. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas released his picks the prior week on Friday evening, anointing a dozen new chairs. (POLITICO Pro) THE BUZZ: RETURN RADAR — Welcome back. We hope you enjoyed the holidays, because the Legislature returns today. Gov. Gavin Newsom will be in the San Joaquin Valley to release topline numbers from his opening budget proposal. And a handful of new laws are on life support amid court challenges. Here are five things we’re watching this week (other than the new film "Nosferatu," a display of vampiric yearning matched only by legislators snubbed from their committees of choice). 1. Newsom’s opening budget play The governor will complete a media tour on jobs and the economy today and preview his initial budget proposal. His Department of Finance will brief the public on his full spending plan on Friday, when Newsom will be in Washington D.C. for former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Newsom was planning to on Thursday give a full budget presentation that would also serve as his state of the state address, but changed plans after Carter’s death, according to his office. The governor has already hinted in October that he’ll project a surplus after two years of large deficits, and laid out plans to spend it. He wants $420 million more for film tax credits, $100 million for a new career education masterplan and $25 million for legal fights with the President-elect Donald Trump’s White House. This week, we’ll learn how much he wants to set aside for disaster relief in case Trump withholds federal aid, along with the administration’s estimate of the surplus. 2. How much Democrats will spend to fight Trump in court Assembly leaders want only an extra $500,000 on top of what Newsom has proposed, but the Senate has floated a much larger, $60 million appropriation for federal litigation. The negotiations have a de facto deadline: Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. The administration is seeking a resolution before then so Newsom can sign a budget bill before President Joe Biden is gone. Newsom called lawmakers into a special session to expedite that priority (which is running concurrently with their regular session). 3. Whether Newsom will attempt to prevent mass deportations His administration has drafted plans to support undocumented immigrants by connecting them with legal services and schools, among other services, as our colleague Lindsey Holden scooped while we were away. But some of the immigration advocates who are backing the Senate’s larger spending plan are unhappy with Newsom’s draft document, believing it doesn’t go far enough, the Los Angeles Times reported in a follow-up piece. The plan to create so-called support hubs did not spell out how they’d be funded, but the incoming budget framework could shed more light. 4. McGuire’s Senate Insurance Committee conundrum The upper chamber leader did not yet choose the members of the insurance panel after last session’s chair, state Sen. Susan Rubio, was seemingly linked to a cannabis bribery scheme in court documents that were unsealed last month. Rubio, via a spokesperson, has said she "has no reason to believe that she would be included in any criminal allegations.” McGuire will have only a few weeks to fill out the committee before policy hearings are slated to ramp up. The decision is delicate because of the legal questions surrounding Rubio, to be sure. B, but it could hold added weight if McGuire enters the 2026 race for insurance commissioner — for which he has opened a campaign account. 5. New laws, new lawsuits A federal judge last week temporarily blocked a new law giving parents more control over their kids’ social media use, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has until only next month to decide whether to continue blocking the rules while an industry-instigated legal fight plays out. (POLITICO Pro) Business groups also sued the state over a law banning employers from punishing workers who don't attend anti-union meetings. (POLITICO Pro) And tribes took advantage of a law giving them standing to sue card rooms just hours after it took effect. (POLITICO Pro) GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. 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 dgardiner@politico.com and bjones@politico.com, or on X — @dustingardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE’S GAVIN? In the San Joaquin Valley previewing his budget proposal and then providing an update on high-speed rail.
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