Newsletters

Good morning, California. “Has he endorsed her? No. No one on our team knew these were going out,” Dana Williamson, consultant to Gov. Jerry Brown, said of Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia’s campaign mailers suggesting Brown endorsed the Bell Gardens Democrat. Garcia is running for reelection, but is on leave pending an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against […]

Good morning, California. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Arizona and San Diego Monday announced a new border enforcement policy in which parents who cross illegally could be separated from their kids: “If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border.” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra: “As a father, the last thing […]

Good Monday morning, California. “He then slowly inhaled the Pineapple Thai. It was the first time he’d had cannabis, he said, since 1979. ‘Somebody said I’m overdue,’ he laughed.” — Leafly, quoting Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer at his West Hollywood fundraiser last week. The Los Angeles Democrat chairs the Assembly Public Safety Committee, which hears bills […]

Happy Friday, California. Well-educated, high-earners are still moving to California. But with housing prices at an all-time high, there’s an exodus of low-wage workers, reports Next10, a nonpartisan group, with research by Beacon Economics. Putting ‘fun’ back in fundraising Democratic legislators will spend this weekend attending the 21st annual Speaker’s Cup, a golf and fund-raising […]

Good morning, California. House Speaker Paul Ryan may not care about California potholes and doesn’t have to pay the new gas tax for road repairs. But the Wisconsin Republican has given $50,000 to a proposed initiative to repeal the new 12-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax, evidently believing it will draw Republicans to the polls in November and […]

Good morning, California. In 2016, Sen. Dianne Feinstein signed the ballot argument against Proposition 64, the initiative that legalized commercial sales of marijuana. She warned the measure would increase highway fatalities, allow cultivation near schools and increase cartels. On Tuesday, Feinstein, running for reelection, changed positions, saying she’s “open to considering federal protection for state-legalized […]

Good morning, California. “Employers will ignore  it at their peril,” Teamster lobbyist Barry Broad said of Monday’s unanimous California Supreme Court decision in Dynamex Operations West. The ruling could upend the gig economy by requiring that employers treat many more workers as employees, not independent contractors. Broad: “A lot of labor representatives are elated.” A drop-out, […]

Good Monday morning, California. Santa Barbara County has nearly 300 wineries, and has granted 730 cannabis cultivation permits, more than anywhere in the state. “The cannabis situation in Lompoc has created a challenge for many wineries,” said Peter Work of Ampelos Cellars. — Santa Barbara Independent. Housing: What would candidates do? CALmatters asked the major […]

Good morning, California. Local governments have set sights on taxing soda. Enter Californians for Accountability and Transparency in Government Spending, a campaign committee set up to promote a November initiative to ban local taxes and fees without approval of two-thirds of the voters. Top funder: Soda companies at $5 million-plus. Who should pay for wildfires? Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, center, […]

Good morning, California. Charter school advocates already are spending $9.5 million to elect former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as  governor. On Wednesday, they disclosed they’re spending $2 million to elect Villaraigosa’s former aide, Marshall Tuck as California superintendent of public instruction. Public school unions back his opponent, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, a Richmond Democrat. An initiative funder’s sad hope […]