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IN THIS ISSUE – “At every stage of life in California — from early schooling, to getting a higher degree, to that crucial step of buying a first home — success feels increasingly out of reach”
New Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas in his inaugural speech
- Legislature Sends Infrastructure Acceleration Bills to Newsom
- TBD: Billions in Bonds for Climate, Mental Health, Housing…Stay Tuned
- Assembly Speaker Rivas Takes the Gavel…and the Mic
- Rivas Announces New Assembly Team
- Senate Leader Atkins Serves as Acting Governor; First LGBTQ Person to Sign Bills
- State Budget Winners & Loser
- Control of the US House May Depend on California’s Inland Voters
Capital News & Notes (CN&N) harvests California policy, legislative and regulatory insights from dozens of media and official sources for the past week. Please feel free to forward this unique client service.
FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 7, 2023
Legislature Sends Infrastructure Acceleration Bills to Newsom
Sacramento Bee
Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to sign a package of five bills in the coming days that he says will make it easier to build $180 billion worth of clean energy, water, transportation and broadband internet projects across California over the next decade. But what projects would benefit and how quickly they could be completed remains to be seen.
The governor fought hard for his infrastructure plan, taking deliberations over the state’s $310 billion 2023-24 budget down to the wire last month. He threatened to veto the legislature’s budget priorities if they failed to approve his proposals.
In the end, he agreed to drop a provision that could have fast-tracked the Delta Conveyance project, a 45-mile tunnel that would pull water from the Sacramento River and pipe it underneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The Senate passed the bills Wednesday, following overwhelming approval in the Assembly. They will take effect as soon as Newsom signs them. One bill is designed to expedite certain water, energy and transportation projects by limiting legal challenges based on the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, to nine months. Another cuts red tape by authorizing the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue permits allowing species designated as “fully protected” to be harmed during the construction of specified projects that meet various mitigation requirements.
Other provisions empower the Department of Water Resources to streamline procurement and make it easier for the Department of Transportation to offset the environmental impacts of its future projects.
The Newsom Administration declined to name specific projects that are expected to benefit from the new legislation. But Sites Reservoir — a $4 billion water storage facility to capture storm water from the Sacramento River — is expected to be a top priority. Mark Tollefson, undersecretary for the State Transportation Agency, said construction of suicide barriers on the Coronado Bridge in San Diego could also be expedited.
“Every single one of these provisions — depending on the type of project — we did to reduce time, reduce money,” said Gayle Miller, chief deputy of policy at the California Department of Finance.
The Newsom Administration calls the bills California’s “most ambitious permitting and project review reforms in a half-century” and claimed that they would slash the timeline for major infrastructure builds by up to a third.
Others are more skeptical of the significance the legislation will have. One telling wrinkle can be found in the bill calling for expedited judicial review of lawsuits filed under CEQA. It requires that a judge rule within 270 days — “to the extent feasible.”
The bill mirrors a 2011 law that allowed certain projects certified by the governor, including Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center and San Francisco’s Chase Center, to go through a similar accelerated CEQA review.
Although the timelines for the applicable projects were cut from 3-5 years to 1-2 years, none were reviewed within 270 days, according to a state Senate analysis of 18 projects completed between 2011-2018.
“The ‘if feasible’ part is really the loophole that swallows up the rule,” said David Pettit, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The legal process will take what it’s going to take and there’s nothing in the trailer bill that forces a judge to go more quickly.”
Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Association, said she anticipates the package of bills will have a “marginal impact” on wind projects in California.
“There are a lot of other ways that we could expedite transmission and renewable energy projects that would have a much more tangible impact but aren’t included in this package,” Rader said.
In particular, she said, the state should revamp drawn-out and duplicative reviews by the California Public Utilities Commission that can add up to three years to the approval of a transmission project.
Peter Tateishi, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of California, wouldn’t put a figure on it but said he believes the package will help projects move more efficiently through permitting — the phase where contractors usually face the longest delays.
“We think it’s going to be better than doing nothing,” Tateishi said. “The bill does have some ambiguous terminology for the courts. However, on the examples that have been previewed, it has effectively sped up the timelines getting to construction.” Tateishi specifically pointed to Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, which was reviewed by a judge in just under a year.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article276909908.html#storylink=cpy
ANALYSES OF THE BILLS:
TBD: Billions in Bonds for Climate, Mental Health, Housing…Stay Tuned
Politico’s California Playbook
Gov. Gavin Newsom knows he’s got tough choices ahead with a shrinking budget. Lawmakers are jockeying to fill budget holes on mental health, climate, housing and education via voter-approved bonds next year.
“The November bond is starting to stack up,” Newsom said, “and we have to figure out exactly where we need to land.”
The governor has backed a bond to build behavioral health housing and called it his “No. 1, 2 and 3” priority, followed by climate change. But he said he’s open to raising revenue for other areas: “We have to have a housing bond. And a school bond.”
Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin’s $4.68 billion mental health bond is first out of the gate in aiming for the March ballot; the other three issues are threatening to crowd each other on the November one.
Lawmakers want voters to approve roughly $15 billion alone for climate change, under competing measures by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and Sen. Ben Allen.
There’s also a bit of a brain drain in the speaker’s office with the departure of former Speaker Anthony Rendon’s longtime environmental aides, Alf Brandt and Marie Liu.
Assembly Speaker Rivas Takes the Gavel…and the Mic
Sacramento Bee
After more than seven years and a protracted, fiery succession battle, California finally has a new Assembly speaker.
Hollister Democrat Robert Rivas on Friday officially became the leader of the state’s biggest legislative body at a Capitol swearing-in ceremony that highlighted his Central Coast district and his desire to unify a fractured Democratic caucus.
Rivas succeeds Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, who served as speaker for more than seven years. Rendon took over the leadership role in 2016 from now-Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego. He was the longest-serving speaker of the modern term-limit era that started in 2012, when voters approved a measure allowing lawmakers to serve a consecutive 12 years in the Assembly, the Senate or both.
Rivas will try to mirror Rendon’s longevity while uniting the caucus and tackling California’s current issues. The two spent the past year locked in a battle for the leadership position that dragged into the midterm election and divided Assembly Democrats.
It ended in November with an agreement that allowed Rendon to retain the speakership through the end of June and the conclusion of budget negotiations. Rivas is one of the very few speakers in modern state history to hail from an area outside California’s power and population centers in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. His swearing-in ceremony paid tribute to his rural district and his family’s legacy of farmworker labor activism. It featured speeches, mariachi music and plenty of political glad-handing.
Rivas took his oath of office surrounded by famous California political figures, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who previously served as Assembly speaker.
A group of farmworkers also made the trip to the Capitol for the ceremony, including some who marched with the United Farm Workers labor union last summer to push a bill aimed at making it easier for them to organize.
Rivas has not yet been specific about his leadership style or his policy priorities, sticking to the “one speaker at a time” line during the six-month transition period. But he provided some hints during his Friday speech and a post-ceremony news conference. Rivas used his remarks to draw a parallel between his upbringing and the state’s most serious struggles. He retold the story of his family’s rise — from growing up in farmworker housing with eight family members to buying a $140,000 home in Hollister during the late 1980s.
“I wonder if our story would be possible today,” Rivas said. Rivas cited increasing home prices and said ownership is “out of reach” for nearly all residents. He also reflected on years spent at California’s public schools and universities. Today, Rivas said, students question the value of college due to high tuition costs.
“At every stage of life in California — from early schooling, to getting a higher degree, to that crucial step of buying a first home — success feels increasingly out of reach,” he said.
Rivas also pointed to other priorities, including homelessness, the environment and infrastructure issues. “We must use every tool at our disposal to end homelessness,” he said. “Because the inhumane conditions on our streets are completely unacceptable.” Rivas did not provide any specific policy recommendations in his speech, but he did allude to a potential new leadership style.
He pointed to “focusing less on how many bills we can pass and more on the impact.” “Sometimes this will mean going back and fixing something rather than passing a new law,” Rivas said.
In conversation with reporters, Rivas did not have any specific examples of how we would put those lines into action. But he did mention he wanted to “bring back the power of oversight legislation” and “see how we can improve laws that have been on the books for quite some time.”
He also suggested the Assembly may see some committee position shake-ups, saying his office will “have some initial changes that we will be announcing next week.” Rendon was known for his hands-off approach to legislation and committee chairs, and Rivas didn’t indicate whether that would change under his speakership. “Every member wants to be supported, but they also want to be involved,” Rivas said. “
They want to feel a part of the decisions we have to make. And so, certainly, we really look forward to ensuring that we’re developing a speaker’s office that’s going to enable that.”
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article276881218.html#storylink=cpy
Rivas Announces New Assembly Team
Politico’s California Playbook
New Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, announced his appointments for Speaker Pro Tem and Assembly Majority leader on Monday afternoon.
Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, will assume the role of Speaker Pro Tem, the second most powerful role in the Assembly.
Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, will be the new Majority Leader for the 62-member Democratic caucus — the largest . The 31-year-old is the youngest to be appointed majority leader in the Legislature’s history.
Aguiar-Curry and Bryan were allies of Rivas during his long, bitter fight for the Speaker role — a fight that split the Democratic caucus.
At a news conference on Monday, Bryan said that the team would work on “building a different kind of culture in the body.” Rivas emphasized efficiency and unifying the caucus.
Replacing Aguiar-Curry as chair of the Assembly Local Government Committee is Assemblyman Juan Carrillo, D-Palmdale. Also announced on Monday was the new chair of the Agriculture Committee, Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Merced. It was previously chaired by Rivas. Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, will succeed Bryan as chair of the Assembly Elections Committee. Pilar Schiavo will fill Soria’s former slot heading Veterans Affairs. Akilah Weber is taking a Budget spot from Joaquin Arambula, who briefly tried to reopen the speakership fight.
Rivas told the news media on Monday that other committee leadership shake-ups were coming, though mostly in the next session to “minimize disruptions in the legislative year.”
Senate Leader Atkins Serves as Acting Governor; First LGBTQ Person to Sign Bills
CalMatters’ WhatMatters newsletter
It wasn’t Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins’ first turn standing in for the governor of California while he was out of the state. (That came in 2014, when she was Assembly speaker and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel tried to get her to invade Oregon during her 10 hours in charge.)
But the San Diego Democrat did break some new ground this time when she signed a trio of bills into law Thursday, becoming the first openly LGBTQ person to do so in California.
“I’m thrilled to step into the governor’s shoes,” Atkins said during a brief ceremony at a legislative office building in downtown Sacramento, “though I have better shoes than him.”
With Gov. Gavin Newsom on vacation/another political tour of red states and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis visiting family in Greece, Atkins is momentarily in charge as acting governor. It is usually a blissfully quiet responsibility — although Kounalakis herself signed a last-minute measure to extend eviction protections last year, the first woman in California history to sign a bill into law.
The legislation Atkins signed — dealing with the membership of a regional transit board and a local water agency, as well as Braille signage on motorized scooters — doesn’t have nearly the same urgent statewide implications. Rather, the Newsom administration, which famously loves to make history, was having fun with a longtime political ally.
Atkins posed for photographs at the signing desk with her spouse, Jennifer LeSar, and one audience member compared her to former President Abraham Lincoln. It was an opportunity, Atkins said, for Californians to see the diversity of the state’s citizens reflected in positions of power and influence.
“It’s long overdue, frankly, particularly for women to be in these roles,” she said. “It is important to be in these positions and to claim them.”
The event, naturally, prompted speculation about whether Atkins might seek a more permanent tenure in the governor’s office when she terms out of the Senate in 2024.
A growing field of potential candidates is already eyeing the next gubernatorial race, which is three years away. While Atkins hasn’t announced any plans yet, like many California politicians, she has an open campaign account for lieutenant governor where she is raising money.
“That’s a question for another day,” Atkins said, though she later acknowledged that she hopes to continue serving in elected office in some capacity. “I’m going to keep options open.”
CalMatters commentary from Dan Walters
In the months leading up to last week’s passage of a new state budget, three major public service coalitions mounted full-blown lobbying campaigns to obtain billions of dollars in additional state aid.
Although all three said more state financing was vital to keep their services alive, they were hard sells because Capitol politicians were confronting a $30-plus billion budget deficit.
When the final budget was drafted, one of those three – the state’s public transit systems – had pretty much scored what they were seeking. A second – the state’s hospitals – got a partial win. The third – city and county providers of programs for the state’s huge population of homeless people – struck out.
Transit operators told Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators that ridership on buses and rail transit had not recovered from severe declines during the COVID-19 pandemic and were facing a “fiscal cliff” that could mean sharp reductions in service.
Initially, Newsom shrugged off transit pleas, but with support from sympathetic legislators, particularly those from the transit-heavy San Francisco Bay Area, the final budget deal provides $5.1 billion over four years with flexibility to use the money for either construction or operations.
Citing a study, the California Hospital Association said a fifth of California’s hospitals were in danger of closing, in part because reimbursements from Medicare, the federal medical care program for the elderly, and Medi-Cal, the federal-state system of care for the poor, fail to cover costs of services.
The report said that in 2022, California hospital care costs ballooned by $23.4 billion over pre-pandemic levels, leading to losses of $8.5 billion, on top of $12 billion in pandemic-related losses.
Medical care providers won some reprieve in the new budget, which will levy a tax on medical care organizations, use the proceeds to qualify for more federal funds, and increase reimbursements for treating Medi-Cal enrollees. The budget also includes a $150 million fund to help hospitals in financial distress.
City and county officials are often at odds over how to deal with the state’s homeless crisis. Encampments are mostly found on city streets, but counties are responsible for health and welfare services.
However, they agree that providing effective services requires long-term financial commitments. Newsom, often critical of local efforts, has been unwilling to provide more than the annual allocations.
He maintained that attitude and the budget continued to give another one-year $1 billion appropriation, which drew sharp criticism from local officials.
“California is one of the largest economies in the world, yet home to the highest rate of homelessness in the country,” Carolyn Coleman, executive director of the League of California Cities, said in a statement. “So, it defies logic that the budget once again fails to include ongoing funding to match the scale of this emergency.
“City leaders throughout the state are on the front lines of what the Legislature and the governor agree is a crisis. Yet this budget agreement prioritizes short-term fixes over long-term, sustainable solutions. This short-sighted approach will only worsen the state’s growing housing and homelessness crisis and will hurt the Californians who need the most help.”
Rachael Serrao, spokesperson for the California State Association of Counties, was equally critical, saying, “All levels of government simply cannot address this complex issue without ongoing funding to plan and support an effective system.”
While transit systems, hospitals and local governments begged for more aid, Newsom and legislators eagerly provided Southern California’s film and television production industry with enhanced long-term subsidies for basing projects in California. The $330 million per year in tax credits is twice the budget’s safety net for distressed hospitals.
Misplaced priorities, perhaps?
https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/07/californias-winners-losers-state-budget/
Control of the US House May Depend on California’s Inland Voters
Associated Press
In 2024, control of the U.S. House could hinge on congressional districts in one famously liberal state: California.
Command of the narrowly divided chamber will again be in play next year, and leaders in both parties agree on this much: The outcome in a string of contested California districts will be critical in determining the balance of power, after the state played a pivotal role in securing the gavel for Republicans in 2022 and installing Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield as speaker.
The decisive fight for the House “will run through California,” predicts Rep. Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking Democrat in the chamber, who lives in Redlands, east of Los Angeles. North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, who heads the House Republican campaign arm, is bullish about gaining ground, even in a state known as a Democratic monolith.
“I think we can actually pick up seats in California,” said Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
The 10 competitive House districts belie California’s reputation as a liberal protectorate — Democrats hold every statewide office, dominate the Legislature and congressional delegation and outnumber registered Republicans statewide by a staggering 2-1 ratio.
Still, Republicans retain pockets of political clout in the Southern California suburbs and the state’s vast rural stretches, including the Central Valley farm belt, sometimes called America’s salad bowl for its bountiful agricultural production.
With the chamber divided 222-212, with one vacancy, only a handful of seats separate the two parties.
Though the state’s March primary election is months away, the narrative from both parties has taken shape. Democrats are warning about threats to abortion rights, immigration and unchecked gun violence, while Republicans are faulting the party that dominates state politics for high taxes, inflation, vexing crime rates and an out-of-control homeless crisis.
Also on the ballot will be California itself….
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