Battle lines – POLITICO
BATTLE LINES: Any hope that new Attorney General Rob Bonta and local prosecutors will continue to play nice is quickly going out the window.
The criminal justice reformer appointed to serve out the rest of Xavier Becerra’s term has shown that he’s not afraid to take a combative approach to dealing with the state’s more traditional prosecutors. But his public shaming of one such DA seems to have given Bonta’s ideological rivals permission to openly mobilize against him as he runs for a full term next year.
The progressive former state lawmaker went out of his way to assail Solano County DA Krishna Abrams last week, calling her refusal to investigate the high-profile police shooting of Sean Monterrosa a “failure to act” that “only serves to create more obfuscation and distrust in our justice system.”
Almost instantly, the soft praise local prosecutors and law enforcement groups had mustered for California’s newly installed top cop gave way to harsh rhetoric. On Friday, the DA’s group issued a scathing letter questioning Bonta’s grasp of California law.
The 2022 AG’s race is on.
The establishment prosecutors’ message to voters has a 1990s-era tinge. The reforms of liberal lawmakers like Bonta and a growing class of progressive DAs like George Gascón and Chesa Boudin, they say, have made California a more dangerous place.
Sacramento DA Anne Marie Schubert, a Republican-turned-Independent who has entered the race, spent a substantial portion of her April campaign launch telling the stories of crime victims and talking about “chaos” in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
California voters have shown little interest in rolling back reforms, most recently rejecting Proposition 20, a law enforcement effort to reinstate stiffer crime sentencing and limit prison inmate releases. But a recent spike in violent crime could keep the AG race close, said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic campaign strategist.
“Where voters are in a year could be an interesting place,” he said. “It could be different than where they were with these abstract reforms when they’re seeing and reading about violence.”
SOLAR PARADE: The latest protest craze is to encircle Capitol Park in vehicles while blaring your horns. This time, it was rooftop solar installers railing against Assembly Bill 1139, a proposal by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez that could reduce incentives for solar customers. Gonzalez’s Appropriations Committee placed the bill on the suspense file today ahead of tomorrow’s big suspense hearing. Another controversial Gonzalez bill, AB 5, led to regular — and much louder — semi-truck parades around the Capitol in 2019.
HAPPY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, we’re more than halfway to the weekend! Welcome to California PM Playbook, a new POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check of California politics and a look at where the surplus dollars are headed this budget season. We’ll go through June 18 before returning in August for the legislative homestretch. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to [email protected] and [email protected] or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open!
SPECIAL UPDATE: Democrat Isaac Bryan is half a percentage point away from avoiding a runoff in the special election to fill the 54th Assembly District seat that Sen. Sydney Kamlager vacated when she was elected in March to the state Senate.
Bryan currently has an enormous 25-point lead over Democrat Heather Hutt, but his 49.6 percent of the vote isn’t quite enough to win outright. To avoid a July top-two clash, Bryan would need to inch above the 50 percent threshold as mail ballots are tallied in the coming days. The next update is Friday.
AD-54 is an overwhelmingly Democratic district, so the question in this race was always which Democrat would prevail. The vote has split between five different Democrats and one no-party-preference candidate. Bryan has drawn heavy support from organized labor, including unions representing workers at UCLA, where Bryan founded the Black Policy Project. Union-funded PACs have spent more than $750,000 to elect him. — Jeremy B. White
NOT SO FAST: State fiscal analysts are casting a skeptical eye on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s splashy budget proposals, and his massive $11 billion infusion for climate and environment spending hasn’t eluded their scrutiny.
The climate plan lacks details and oversight, Rachel Ehlers of the Legislative Analyst’s Office told lawmakers at a Wednesday hearing, suggesting the Legislature defer some of the spending until later this summer. She didn’t specify which proposals should be delayed, but said the magnitude of the “really unprecedented investments” could warrant more time.
Among lawmakers’ concerns: Newsom’s proposal to cap income eligibility for the popular Clean Vehicle Rebate Project at four times the federal poverty level — for example, $106,000 for a family of four. Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) said it could slow down the state’s pursuit of all zero-emission new car sales by 2035.
Lawmakers also questioned whether the state’s high-speed rail project really needs all of the $4.2 billion that Newsom has proposed spending from a 2008 bond. “I continue to be concerned that the math doesn’t add up for the HSR project,” said Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood). — Debra Kahn
MEET THE PRESS: Two new editors of major Northern California newspapers joined the Sacramento Press Club today to discuss the future of news. Colleen McCain Nelson became executive editor of The Sacramento Bee in January, while Emilio Garcia-Ruiz started as editor in chief of the San Francisco Chronicle in September.
In an event moderated by POLITICO’s Kevin Yamamura and former Bee executive editor Joyce Terhaar, McCain Nelson and Garcia-Ruiz explained their vision for news coverage and the industry in the years ahead.
ON ‘FAKE NEWS’ CLAIMS: Garcia-Ruiz said he has an “apocalyptic” view. “In the next five years, the future of democracy as we know it will be decided. Those who want to destabilize democracy because it no longer works for them, because they don’t have the numbers to win elections anymore, will do anything in their power to retain power. And that includes lie. We’re well beyond the concerns about ‘fake news,’ we’re well into full propaganda campaigns that harken back to any moment in history.”
McCain Nelson said, “It creates challenges within our own newsrooms because there are certainly unsubstantiated rumors that our reporters hear and we’re not going to publish unless we’re actually able to confirm the facts. And these partisan news outlets will just publish some of these rumors. And so we need to help readers understand what the difference is among these outlets and help them understand why they can trust what they see on Sacbee.com.”
ON THE POST-PANDEMIC NEWSROOM: The Bee is moving to new digs at The Cannery near midtown Sacramento later this year after vacating 2100 Q St., its longtime home. McCain Nelson said, “We’re going to have a fantastic newsroom there, but I’ve already told my staff, ‘I’m not going to require you to come to the office,’ and we will have individual conversations about what makes sense for different people.”
Asked about the traditional newsroom, Garcia-Ruiz said, “I think it’s dead. I think we’re going to have to embrace an entire new paradigm. I think we’re not alone, I think every industry is going to have to do this. And it’s going to start with some of us older-school managers letting go of some notions that we’ve always had.” He said the journalism during the pandemic has been fantastic. “You’re going to tell me we all have to go back again? I just don’t buy it.” — Kevin Yamamura
Compiled by Richard Tzul
— California considers allowing workplaces to discard social distancing and masking requirements if everyone on site is vaccinated. (Los Angeles Times)
— UCLA and Healthy Future California are leading an initiative in which thousands across the state are knocking on doors to see if folks are vaccinated, with California pouring $10 million into the effort. (The Sacramento Bee)
— Los Angeles and cities across the state are using a lottery to grant emergency rent relief, while Gov. Newsom has pitched doubling state aid for rent in his budget proposal. (CalMatters)
— Nearly a third of California restaurants permanently closed during the pandemic, while two-thirds of restaurant workers at least temporarily lost their jobs. (AP)
— The American Rescue Plan was passed into law out of fear of state deficits and cuts. But some states, including California, have projected significant surpluses. (Bloomberg)
— California is experiencing its worst drought in over 40 years, amplifying the dangers of water shortage and wildfires. (The Mercury News)
