Who’s raking in the cash for U.S. Senate?

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu:

Rep. Adam Schiff has a lot more money to burn than all his U.S. Senate primary opponents.

The Burbank Democrat entered the new year with $35 million on hand — more than all his opponents combined, according to federal campaign finance reports filed Wednesday. Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, his campaign raised $5.7 million from individual donors and more than $136,000 from political action committees.

In comparison, Rep. Katie Porter ended the year with $13 million in the bank, raising almost $3 million from individual donors and $18,000 from political action committees during the last three months of 2023. 

Rep. Barbara Lee, who has lagged behind her fellow Democrats in polling and fundraising, raised more than $1 million in the same period. She had just shy of $816,000 on hand by Jan. 1.

Republican Steve Garvey — the last of all the major candidates to file on Wednesday — raised just shy of $611,000 between Oct. 10 and Dec. 31, with $600,000 from individuals and $10,000 from political action committees. His campaign spent more than $302,000 during the same period, leaving just over $300,000 in the bank by Jan. 1. His campaign also has more than $48,000 in debt for fundraising, consulting and printing costs.

It was a first look at the fundraising power of the former L.A. Dodgers star, who launched his campaign in October. He is the top Republican in polls and the only GOP candidate to qualify for the two televised debates, but lagged behind all three Democrats in last-quarter fundraising and campaign reserves. 

But he may be catching up. Garvey spokesperson Matt Shupe said that, in January alone, the campaign matched what it raised in the last quarter of 2023.

• Shupe: “In just two and a half months, the momentum and support for Steve Garvey’s campaign, along with its rocket-like rise in the polls demonstrates that he is resonating with Californians.”

Some top candidates have spent big on advertising ahead of the March 5 primary. Between October and December, Schiff’s campaign spent at least $862,000 in digital and phone advertising, whereas Porter’s campaign spent more than $536,000. 

Lee’s own campaign spent about $14,000 during the same period, focused primarily on print advertising. She Speaks for Me — a pro-Lee super PAC that launched a $1 million ad buy in November for her — reported raising no money at all in the fall, which could further hurt Lee’s chances of reaching more voters. 

With less than a week until ballots go out, some Senate hopefuls have stepped up TV ad spending. Schiff’s campaign has bought at least $13 million worth of TV ads — the equivalent of Porter’s cash reserves as of Jan. 1, according to an analysis by AdImpact Politics last month. Pro-Porter groups have spent at least $3 million in TV ads, compared to $1.2 million by pro-Lee groups, the analysis said.

Eric Early, a GOP attorney, raised just under $40,000 during the last three months of 2023 and ended the year with $140,000 in the bank. Democrat Christina Pascucci, a Los Angeles TV journalist, raised $352,000 during the quarter and started this year with $154,000 in reserves.

No direct cash payments, yet — but a formal apology for slavery could be on the way.

That’s the bottom line of a package of 14 priority measures announced Wednesday by the California Legislative Black Caucus that aims to help put right centuries of discrimination against Black Californians, especially descendants of enslaved people. 

The package addresses the recommendations the California Reparations Task Force submitted to the Legislature last May after two years of deliberations, reports Wendy Fry of CalMatters’ California Divide team.

Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City and chairperson of the caucus, said in a statement that reparations involve “much more” than direct cash payments, which California voters and some elected officials have been wary to endorse.

• Wilson: “We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism…. The Caucus is looking to make strides in the second half of this legislative session as we build towards righting the wrongs of California’s past in future sessions.”

A key piece of legislation in the package would compensate property owners whose land, home or businesses were seized during “race-based” and discriminatory uses of eminent domain. Other bills include creating a state-funded grant program to confront community violence, limiting the use of solitary confinement and a state constitutional amendment to ban forced prison labor.

In response, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that the governor “continues to have productive conversations” with the caucus and is “committed to… advancing justice, opportunity, and equity for Black Californians.”

Read more about the reparations bills in Wendy’s story.

Odd as it may sound, when legislators introduce bills, not all are intended to become law. As CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal explains, some of these moonshot bills are drafted to please donors, rankle legislators of the opposing party or drum up public discourse.

Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli of Corona, for example, knows it’s unlikely that his more controversial measures, such as a bill to undo funding that provides health care to undocumented immigrants, will be signed by the governor. But Essayli wants to get people talking, and to provide a clear contrast on policy to voters. 

• Essayli: “Ultimately, we use a lot of bills to communicate issues and to get the Democrat Party on record on where they stand on common sense policy positions.”

Essayli isn’t alone in the practice, and despite warnings from legislative leaders and the governor to be prudent in introducing bills given the state budget deficit, it’s a good bet that close to the average of 2,000 bills will be introduced by the Feb. 16 deadline.

But the “price” of new legislation doesn’t come cheap. Using 2002 figures from the Legislative Analyst’s Office and adjusting for inflation, each bill that goes all the way from introduction to the governor’s desk costs about $30,000.

Legislators are limited to the number of bills they can introduce: 40 bills per two-year session in the Senate, and 50 in the Assembly. This session, Republican Assemblymember Kate Sanchez of Rancho Santa Margarita, introduced a resolution (not a bill!) to reduce that number in the Assembly to 25, saying “we need quality, not quantity.”

To learn more about why legislators insist on authoring so many bills, read Sameea’s story.

From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay:

The California Energy Commission’s new Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, established by the law signed by Gov. Newsom last year on gas price gouging, issued two recommendations Wednesday to address one of the big factors it says can cause gasoline prices to spike — spot-market volatility.

The ups and downs of the spot market — the first stop for buying and selling gasoline for near-term delivery — are based on the activity of refiners, large wholesalers, retailers and international trading firms that buy large quantities of gas. California has two spot markets, one for the Bay Area and one for Los Angeles.

“Spot market prices are the biggest driver of statewide gasoline prices even though they represent a small portion of gasoline sales each day,” the division said in a letter to the governor. 

Tai Milder, director of the new division, said that spot-market trades have up until now been reported by a company that sells subscriptions to that data. But under the new law, he said all trades are now required to be reported to the Energy Commission within 24 hours. His division is recommending publicizing that information.

• Milder, in a press conference: “It’s time to democratize the data.”

The new division also recommends that the state impose minimum inventory and resupply requirements on refineries to help ensure adequate supply during times of planned or unplanned maintenance.

The commission’s vice chairperson, Siva Gunda, said draft regulations for data reporting will be released in the spring. The other recommendation, on imposing supply requirements, will be considered as part of the rule-making that is expected to be finalized later this year, he said. That rule-making will include consideration of capping margins and penalizing refineries that exceed the cap.

Kevin Slagle, a Western States Petroleum Association spokesperson, said making spot-market data public could have “so many unintended consequences,” such as “providing an opportunity for outside traders to do all kinds of things to the market.” 

Slagle also said that imposing inventory requirements for refineries isn’t easily achieved: “You can’t just simply add infrastructure.”

Alex Stack, spokesperson for the governor, said Newsom’s office will take “a very close look” at the recommendations. 

• Stack, in an email: “It’s especially concerning that traders and other entities on the volatile and opaque ‘spot market’ can cause prices to skyrocket overnight — largely to the benefit of Big Oil.”

On Wednesday, average California gas prices were $4.54 a gallon, compared with the U.S. average of $3.14, according to AAA.