Steve Garvey starts campaigning for U.S. Senate, sort of

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu:

Steve Garvey, the Los Angeles Dodgers legend running for U.S. Senate, is finally campaigning in public.

Well, kind of.

This week, the first-time Republican candidate is making several stops in the Imperial Valley and near the U.S.-Mexico border — but with limited media access. 

The events received little coverage because only a few news outlets were notified of the tour, and even fewer were able to attend — even though Garvey’s policy positions remain largely unknown to the public.

The trips are among his first in-person public appearances after launching his bid in October. Until this week, Garvey has stayed largely behind the curtain, despite several polls showing him as the leading Republican in the crowded March 5 primary, though behind Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. (A Politico/Morning Consult poll out today put Garvey in a statistical tie for the second slot in the top-two primary with Porter and Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee.)

On Tuesday morning, Garvey toured the Salton Sea area to address the need for its restoration, according to FOX40 News Capitol reporter Eytan Wallace, who is the only journalist embedded with the campaign. The shrinking lake has left exposed lakebed that created toxic dust for nearby residents for decades, but restoration projects are just starting to show signs of progress.

• Garvey, during a Tuesday interview with TV station KYMA: “It’s got a great infrastructure of people who really care about their land in this country, and I’m trying to find out what their needs are.”

That afternoon, Garvey spoke before roughly two dozen employees at a beef processing plant in Brawley to “address the need for more middle class jobs in California,” Wallace reported.

And on Wednesday, Garvey joined U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a San Diego Republican, on a border tour hosted by the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing roughly 18,000 border patrol agents, Garvey spokesperson Matt Shupe told CalMatters. 

Garvey met with volunteers providing migrant aid and encountered a group of migrants who had just crossed into California, Wallace reported. Garvey also said he wanted to complete the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, the reporter said. 

For the Tuesday event, Garvey’s campaign only invited local media in El Centro, Palm Springs and in Yuma, Arizona — but just KYMA showed up, Schupe told CalMatters.

Wallace was the only reporter covering the Wednesday event because “there was only space for one,” Shupe said Tuesday, stating the U.S. Customs and Border Protection made that decision. But Michael Scappechio, spokesperson for the agency’s San Diego office, said the CBP could not have restricted media access since it was not facilitating the event.

Shupe on Wednesday stressed the campaign did not restrict media access, arguing he wanted more press coverage, but “between staff, VIPs,” the group only had room for Wallace and his photographer between two SUVs. When asked why other reporters could not drive their own cars, Shupe said there was “off roading involved and you need vehicles rated for it.”

Issa spokesperson Jonathan Wilcox said the office did not limit anyone’s participation, but said border tours tend to be “rugged” and he’d never seen private cars there. The border patrol union did not immediately respond to CalMatters inquiries Wednesday.

This past legislative session, California labor groups notched two big victories: Raising the hourly minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 beginning in April ($4 higher than what the $16 overall state minimum wage will be starting Jan. 1), and boosting the minimum pay for health care workers, with certain roles reaching $25 an hour by 2027.

While the pay bumps are in specific industries, their impacts could ripple into other industries, explains CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay and former health reporting intern Shreya Agrawal. The gig and retail industries, for example, may need to increase employee pay to remain competitive with fast-food companies.

• Keith Miller, American Association of Franchisees & Dealers spokesperson, which opposed the fast food bill: “It’s kind of a fallacy that this impacts only fast-food workers. It kind of creates a market rate. In effect, the minimum wage for a lot of people will be $20.”

Some economists also raise concerns that to offset the rise in wages, companies will pass the costs to consumers — McDonald’s and Chipotle executives, for instance, said they plan to raise prices next year for this reason.

But other economists, including UC Berkeley professor Michael Reich, push back on that rationale. Reich argues that increased wages have little effect on product costs, and that when wages rise 10%, costs in the restaurant industry go up, usually on a one-time basis, by about 2% to 3%. 

Helping low-wage workers afford a place to live or pay for healthcare is also more important, Reich said: “You raise the standard of living. That is quite significant.”
For more on the economics of raising wages in California, and what labor groups have planned for next year, read Levi and Shreya’s story.

To change the way California’s public mental health care programs are funded, the state began rolling out Medi-Cal payment reforms in 2022. But they are leaving some scrambling, writes CalMatters health reporter Jocelyn Wiener.

CalAIM, a multi-year, multi-billion dollar overhaul of the state’s health insurance program for the poor, includes an updated payment system aimed at increasing efficiency, reducing paperwork and offering counties more flexibility over how they distribute Medi-Cal funds to nonprofit behavioral health contractors.

But the new system, behavioral health nonprofits argue, doesn’t allow their organizations to be reimbursed for time spent filling out documentation or traveling to see patients — a necessity to reach more patients who live hours away from the closest mental health services. The result: Nonprofits say they must cut crucial mental health programs — which help treat patients for domestic violence, drug and alcohol use and suicidal thoughts — to keep the rest of their agencies afloat.

The critics include Kerry Venegas, the executive director of Changing Tides Family Services, whose Eureka nonprofit is expected to close in January an outpatient counseling program where 55 children receive services.

• Venegas: “Fifty-five clients may not seem like a big number. But every one of those is a kid. Every one is a kid in crisis and every one has a story.”

For more on mental health program cuts, read Jocelyn’s story.

You can also review key developments in mental health and other health care policies in 2023 from CalMatters’ Ana B. Ibarra.

Speaking of budget cuts: Domestic violence shelters and housing programs help keep abused women housed. But with a shrinking pot of funds from the federal government and California facing a $68 billion budget shortfall, these shelters are facing significant budget cuts, reports CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang.

For one nonprofit program — Domestic Violence Housing First — likely cuts in 2024 will affect more than 17,000 households in California who receive services from the program, and more than 13,000 people who visited domestic violence shelters in a year. And these shelters do much more than assist with housing — they offer legal assistance for victims of sexual assault and human trafficking, provide court-appointed child advocates, run rape crisis centers and more.

To learn more about their funding challenges, read Jeanne’s story.

It didn’t take long for one prominent California Democrat to try to capitalize on the Colorado high court ruling disqualifying former President Donald Trump from its March 5 ballot for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who is running for governor in 2026, jumped into the fray Wednesday by urging Secretary of State Shirley Weber to “explore every legal option” to remove Trump from California’s March 5 presidential primary ballot.

• Kounalakis, in her letter: “California must stand on the right side of history…. There will be the inevitable political punditry about a decision to remove Trump from the ballot, but this is not a matter of political gamesmanship. This is a dire matter that puts at stake the sanctity of our constitution and our democracy.”

State Sen. Dave Min, an Irvine Democrat running for Congress, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he plans to introduce a bill next month to require the Secretary of State to determine the eligibility of presidential candidates.

But Gov. Newsom called the push a “political distraction.” In a Friday statement first reported by Politico, he said: “There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy, but in California, we defeat candidates at the polls.”

Also Friday, Weber replied to Kounalakis that while Trump’s involvement in Jan. 6 was “abhorrent,” there are “complex legal issues.” In the letter obtained by Ashley Zavala of KCRA, Weber said she will follow the legal developments and “assess all our options.” Attorney General Rob Bonta was asked by a group of Democratic legislators in September to go to court to determine Trump’s eligibility, but hasn’t taken any action.  

A couple of reminders: The office puts out the certified list of candidates Dec. 28, so any decision would have to happen soon. But Trump is appealing the Colorado ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And because of rule changes by the state Republican Party, if Trump stays on the March 5 ballot, he appears likely to sweep all of California’s 169 delegates. That would give him a big boost toward winning the GOP nomination and, barring unforeseen events, facing off again with President Biden in November 2024.

California GOP Chairperson Jessica Millan Patterson blasted Kounalakis, calling it an attempt by Democrats to deprive voters of a full choice of candidates.

• Patterson, in a statement: “California Democrats need to quit meddling in Republicans’ primary and leave this decision to California voters.”