Catch up on California politics and policy in 2023

Today, CalMatters launches a collection of concise summaries of what happened this year for key players and on key issues in California policy and politics. 

In such a dynamic state, it isn’t always easy to remember all the important developments on the state budget, homelessness, education and more. CalMatters has you covered. The first installments focus on Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature.

Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff writes that in his second term, Newsom is positioning himself as a national — and even international — political figure. Yet, as he took on the role as Democratic defender of civil rights, he rejected several high-profile efforts to expand new protections to marginalized communities in California. And he got into a personal and political fight with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (see more on that below).

Read more of Alexei’s assessment here.

CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal explains that the most diverse Legislature ever tried to navigate leadership changes and a budget deficit, while still responding to rising public concerns about crime and homelessness. While legislators are lobbied by all manner of interest groups, unions had a particularly successful 2023 session amid the “hot labor summer” of union activism.

Read more of Sameea’s summary here. And if you can’t wait to catch up on other subjects, you can read all of the summaries here.

These summaries also include brief lookaheads at what to expect in 2024. If you missed it, you can watch Alexei and Sameea talk about policy and politics next year, in a panel earlier this week moderated by CalMatters editor-in-chief Kristen Go. 

Speaking of the governor and Legislature: Assembly Republicans urged Newsom on Thursday to call a special session to address the state’s budget deficit. They said that the spending freeze announced this week isn’t enough and that spending cuts are needed now to start filling the projected $68 billion hole.

Without a special session, the Legislature returns on Jan. 3. Newsom submits his proposed 2024-25 budget by Jan. 10 and the Legislature has until June to approve a spending plan.

“Delaying will make matters worse — and harm the most vulnerable residents — over the next six months,“ Assembly GOP leader James Gallagher and Assembymember Vince Fong, vice chairperson of the Assembly Budget Committee, wrote to Newsom. 

On Friday, Senate Republican leaders urged Newsom to make early “prudent adjustments,” but stopped short of calling for a special session.

There was a lot of implicit, and at times not-so-implicit, finger-pointing during the Little Hoover Commission’s second hearing on retail theft Thursday. After more than 60 legislators, Democrats and Republicans, sent a letter to the independent oversight agency in June requesting that it study the issue, commissioners set out to determine the scope and various responses of shoplifting and organized retail theft in California.

The commission heard from experts in the retail industry, law enforcement and district attorney offices — with some in each group passing partial blame to one another. A retail spokesperson cited slow response times from officers; a sheriff said few arrests end in conviction; and representatives of some district attorneys say current laws don’t give them enough tools to prosecute effectively.

But what perhaps drew the most condemnation was Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot measure that recategorized a handful of crimes as misdemeanors instead of felonies as a response to California’s soaring prison population. 

While most shoplifting and petty theft that do not exceed $950 has already been considered a misdemeanor since a 2010 law, Prop. 47 further codified the statute. And it’s what state Republican lawmakers — including Roseville Sen. Roger Niello — point to as a major factor to the “rampant acts of theft” occurring across the state.

• Niello, at the hearing: “When the consequence of a crime is so reduced — as in the case of retail theft, shoplifting — the lesser angels of us will take that as an official sign that that crime really isn’t so bad, maybe even acceptable.”

In agreement, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, a former Democratic Assemblymember, emphasized that “misdemeanors don’t get booked in jail,” and that Prop. 47 discourages retailers from reporting theft. He also said that though any significant change would require the tall order of going back to the voters, reforming it should be worth considering.

• Cooper: “We’ve never gone back and said, ‘Hey what’s working?’ There’s never been a revisit. Just that hard-and-fast: ‘We’re not changing it, we don’t want to lock people up, that’s not the answer.’ But you know, we’re in a conundrum.”

A study by the Public Policy Institute of California, however, found that shoplifting did not significantly increase after Prop. 47’s enactment, and though it increased in 2022, it remains 8% below pre-pandemic levels. The hearing also comes on the heels of the National Retail Federation recently retracting its claim that half of the $94.5 billion the industry experienced in merchandise loss in 2021 was due to organized retail theft. Experts put the figure closer to 5%, reports The New York Times. 

Nonetheless, California is experiencing a recent uptick in commercial burglaries of items that total more than $950, according to the same PPIC study. And Little Hoover isn’t the only panel looking at the issue: On Tuesday, a new select Assembly committee appointed by Speaker Robert Rivas is set to hold its first hearing. 

Gov. Newsom went after Florida Gov. DeSantis at their much-hyped Fox News TV debate last month, then his team complained that DeSantis cheated.

Newsom still isn’t over DeSantis, apparently. On “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Wednesday night, California’s governor let loose even more.

• Newsom, in a clip released by the show: “I’ve developed a lot of animus towards him because of his animus towards all of you. This guy is out there scapegoating vulnerable communities. He’s attacking minorities, attacking women. And I don’t like it. And I wanted to push back against it.”

Newsom specifically accused DeSantis of censoring and rewriting Black history, including slavery: “For me, it’s not anti-woke, what he really means is anti-Black.”

And Newsom patted himself on the back for not being as “timid” as other Democrats and for going on Fox News, “where they don’t hear from guys like me, ever.” 

A day earlier, the Biden campaign called on Newsom to respond to the DeSantis town hall on CNN. In a statement, Newsom said “in true DeSantis fashion” he instead delivered “his signature rant and scare tactics that offer no solutions to the real issues that matter to Americans.”

For his part, DeSantis is promoting his face-off with Newsom as the “most substantive” debate this year — more so than the Republican presidential events. 

• DeSantis, to Fox News host Sean Hannity: “The reaction that I’ve gotten has been incredible in terms of obviously being able to show that freedom works and the California model is a failure, what that means for the country.”  

California started Homekey as an emergency program during the pandemic to get homeless individuals off the streets and to prevent COVID outbreaks. The conversions of motels drew praise.

Three years later, a major developer is under state investigation after it defaulted on several multimillion-dollar loans tied to seven Homekey-funded projects, reports CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang. In addition to defaulting, Los Angeles-based Shangri-La Industries failed to legally guarantee that the properties remained affordable, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

But Shangri-La CEO Andy Meyers says that the state is partly responsible, arguing that the housing department took “forever” to approve the affordability agreements and began fast- tracking them only after news of the defaulted loans got out. Other issues including high interest rates and issues with property taxes, Meyers said, contributed to the company’s woes.

With this investigation underway, the futures of some Homekey projects are in doubt. That includes a 44-unit motel conversion in King City that was slated to finish in 2022, but has yet to be completed. The small Monterey County city has scarce resources to provide services for the unhoused, and is now seeking assistance from the state to avoid foreclosure.

• Mike LeBarre, King City mayor: “We’re trying to find solutions of how to keep the project alive.”

For more on the state investigation, read Jeanne’s story.