Capital News & Notes
For Clients & Friends of The Gualco Group, Inc.
IN THIS ISSUE – “The proposals the Governor brings forward – we don’t bring forward lightly into the budget process – we have to take action now.”
Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot to the Legislature on the two major sticking points to a final FY23-24 budget
- Infrastructure Acceleration
- Mental Health Funding Reform
- State Economy Has Pluses and Minuses in May
- The Joe & Gavin Show Premiers in California
- New Assembly Speaker Rivas: “He Can’t Stand Being on the Losing Team”
- Californians Like It Here, But 40% Want to Leave – New Poll
- Fire Season Outlook Cools…So Far
- Capitol Crowd Plugs In to Electric Scooters
- California Playlist Gets New Tunes
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 JUNE 23, 2023
CalMatters
Two of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s major initiatives that he’s trying to jam through the Legislature are facing blowback this week. And as environmentalists and children’s advocates rally against his proposals, legislators are trying to wrap up budget negotiations with the governor before the new fiscal year starts July 1.
First, environmental permitting acceleration for infrastructure projects:
Disagreements over the proposed Delta tunnel — which bubbled up last week when the Legislature passed its spending proposal for 2023-24 — resurfaced once again, highlighting its outsized role in this year’s budget negotiations.
The final budget is not contingent on Newsom’s infrastructure proposals, and they could be enacted after it’s signed. But experts suspect they will be used as a political lever while negotiations hashing out the budget continue through the end of this month.
Introduced as budget trailer bills less than a month before the Legislature’s June 15 budget deadline, Newsom’s proposals bypass the typical legislative policy committee lineup and give lawmakers and the public less opportunity for deliberation or amendments.
Ten Delta region lawmakers this week penned a letter urging Newsom and legislative leaders to delay his package of infrastructure bills (which were introduced in May and are trailer bills to the budget) “for as long as the Delta Conveyance Project remains a part of the proposal.”
The tunnel is an ambitious project to send water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta south to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland. According to the latest estimates from 2020, it’s expected to cost $16 billion.
To streamline state approval for such an endeavor, Newsom unveiled an executive order and a series of measures that would prevent major infrastructure projects, including the Delta tunnel, from being tied up in court under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
This is a red flag for environmentalists, local communities surrounding the Delta and some legislators. They argue that without the guardrails held in place by CEQA, development of the tunnel will continue unchecked, disrupting residents’ way of life, threatening sensitive ecosystems and harming endangered species.
And because the governor’s measures are budget trailer bills, they could bypass the typical policy committee process, giving lawmakers less opportunity for scrutiny.
But proponents of Gov. Newsom’s infrastructure package argue that it will enable major projects, which have been historically stalled for years, to proceed, and make the state more competitive for federal funding.
“The proposals that the governor brings forward we don’t bring forward lightly into the budget process, but because we have to take action now,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said at a joint hearing of the Assembly Judiciary and Natural Resources committees. “We need to be in a dead sprint implementing what we call our water supply strategy for a hotter, drier future.”
Alex Stack, Newsom spokesperson: “To delay these projects is to delay climate action, clean energy, safe drinking water and put millions more Californians at risk of devastating climate impacts.”
Though the governor’s proposal could be enacted after officials pass the budget, it could be used as a bargaining chip as negotiations continue.
Second, Mental Health Services funding reform:
Youth advocates are pushing back on the governor’s proposal to overhaul the state’s Mental Health Services Act, writes CalMatters’ health reporter Kristen Hwang.
In March, Newsom proposed to divert about $1 billion of the law’s funds to housing homeless individuals with severe mental illness. His office released more information on Tuesday about the changes, including details on money for services and clinical treatments, as well as eliminating funds for programs that support minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
The details do little to assuage the fears of children’s mental health advocates, who argue that Gov. Newsom’s proposal still fails to address their earlier concerns about cuts to youth services, LGBTQ+ programs, school-based suicide prevention programs, and mental health consultations.
Lishaun Francis, senior director of behavioral health at Children Now: “We want to support our unhoused population, but we don’t want to do that at the expense of our youth.”
A reminder: The debate centers around a reallocation of revenue from the act, which levies a 1% tax on millionaires and is separate from the state’s general fund budget. If legislators go along, voters will decide next March whether to pass Newsom’s reforms, including a $4.7 billion bond measure to add treatment beds.
Governor’s infrastructure package & Delta tunnel coverage:
https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/06/california-water-lawmakers-newsom-delta/
Mental health funding explained:
State Economy Has Pluses and Minuses in May
Dept. of Finance Monthly Bulletin
Newly released global financial data confirm that California remained the fifth largest economy in the world in 2022 for the sixth consecutive year. The state’s Gross Domestic Product grew by $225 billion to total nearly $3.6 trillion in current dollar terms, ranking ahead of India and behind Germany.
While high refunds potentially indicate weakness related to tax year 2022 liability, it is an incomplete picture until payments in October related to tax year 2022 are received. The May Revision monthly cashflow reflects the expected impact of delayed payment and filing deadlines for Californians in most counties to October 16.
MONTHLY CASH REPORT
- Preliminary General Fund agency cash receipts for the first eleven months of the 2022-23 fiscal year were $195 million below the 2023-24 May Revision forecast of $147.497 billion and matched the forecast in May. However, it is worth noting these numbers exclude $173 million in May personal income withholding that will be reflected in June cash receipts due to a processing delay.
- Adjusting for the $173-million shift in withholding, General Fund agency cash receipts would have been $22 million below forecast fiscal year-to-date, and $173 million above forecast for May.
- Personal income tax withholding, adjusting for the $173-million shift, increased by 3 percent year-over-year, its highest growth since May 2022. Personal income and corporate income tax refunds were cumulatively $813 million higher than projected fiscal year-to-date, offsetting gains in payments and revenues from personal income tax, corporate income tax, pooled money interest, insurance, and other revenues.
- Personal income tax cash receipts for the first eleven months of the fiscal year were $371 million below the forecast of $85.622 billion and were $177 million below forecast in May. May withholding through May 30 was $127 million above forecast.
- May refunds were $476 million higher than projected. Estimated payments, final payments, and other payments were cumulatively up $127 million relative to forecast for the month. Adjusting for the $173-million shift, May personal income tax receipts would have been $4 million below forecast.
- Corporation tax cash receipts for the first eleven months of the fiscal year were $153 million below the forecast of $23.67 billion and were $153 million below forecast in May. May refunds were $231 million higher than projected. Pass-Through Entity (PTE) Elective Tax payments were $100 million above projections in May. Excluding PTE payments, net corporation tax revenues were cumulatively down $252 million relative to forecast for the fiscal year-to-date.
- Sales and use tax cash receipts for the first eleven months of the fiscal year were $56 million below the forecast of $31.318 billion and were $56 million below forecast in May.
EMPLOYMENT
- California’s unemployment rate remained at 4.5 percent in May 2023 as the labor force increased by 25,000 while civilian household employment rose by 10,000, and the number of unemployed workers increased by 15,000.
- California added 47,300 nonfarm payroll jobs in May 2023, driven by gains in private education and health services (16,400) and professional and business services (11,700). The construction sector added 6,500 jobs. The largest job loss was in manufacturing (-5,700), followed by information (-2,800) and mining and logging (-100).
BUILDING ACTIVITY & REAL ESTATE
- Year-to-date, California permitted 98,000 units on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) basis in April 2023, up 1 percent from March 2023 but down 21.4 percent from April 2022. April 2023 permits consisted of 47,000 single-family units (up 0.6 percent from March 2023, and down 35.6 percent year-over-year) and 51,000 multi-family units (up 1.3 percent from March 2023 and down 1.2 percent year-over-year).
- The statewide median price of existing single-family homes increased to $836,110 in May 2023, up 3 percent from April 2023 and down 6.4 percent from May 2022. Sales of existing single-family homes in California totaled 289,460 units (SAAR) in May 2023, up 9.8 percent from April 2023, and down 23.6 percent from May 2022. Year-to-date through May 2023, sales volume averaged 271,938 units (SAAR), which was 35.1 percent lower than during the same period in 2022. June 2023
https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/352/2023/06/Finance-Bulletin-June-2023.pdf
The Joe & Gavin Show Premiers in California
Politico
Gavin Newsom didn’t just roll out the welcome mat for Joe Biden when the president landed in San Francisco this week for public events and fundraisers.
During Biden’s three-day swing through the Bay Area, the California governor forcefully embraced his new role: a top Biden surrogate. The trip came days after Newsom took that defense directly into what many Democrats consider the beating heart of enemy territory — over an hourlong interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
Biden world is taking notice. It wasn’t that long ago when Newsom annoyed Democratic leaders by failing to sufficiently tamp down speculation that he planned to challenge Biden for the 2024 nomination. Then, Newsom frustrated them anew by suggesting they weren’t prepared to take on escalating Republican attacks on issues Democrats hold dear, including abortion rights.
Now, he’s doing the attacking on Biden’s behalf.
Campaigns want surrogates “to be doing both supportive, affirmative messages around the record and agenda. You also want them to take the fight to the other party,” said a Biden adviser of their emerging stable of influential surrogates, speaking freely on the condition of anonymity. On Newsom directly, the adviser said: “Our view is he’s been doing a good job on both.”
While it’s customary for governors to line up behind their party’s president, Newsom has gone to even greater lengths in recent months to demonstrate his fealty and offer up his services to help for 2024.
The California governor hopscotched the Bay Area for nearly 36 hours this week to greet Biden at the airport, speak about the administration’s climate policy at a Palo Alto nature preserve, chat artificial intelligence in San Francisco and co-headline a reelection fundraiser for the president across the Golden Gate in the deep-pocketed woodlands of Marin County.
Appearing before more than 100 donors gathered Tuesday afternoon in Kentfield, Newsom piled on praise, calling Biden a “remarkable leader” who needs another four-year term.
Biden traded compliments with him from behind the microphone at the AI event, calling Newsom his “buddy” and “one of the best governors I’ve ever worked with.”
As the trip wrapped Wednesday, Biden advisers and several aides felt that Newsom and Biden lifted each other up during the visit. And officials back in Washington were commenting to each other about how well things had gone with Newsom, according to people with knowledge of the conversations.
According to aides and close allies, Newsom has coordinated with Biden’s team on everything from his own PAC to national travel to even his major interviews — all with the idea of ensuring he doesn’t fall out of step with the party’s leader. Newsom has long personally maintained a strong relationship with Biden himself, but he previously rubbed some presidential aides and allies the wrong way by calling out the Democratic Party as sluggish in the face of the concerted GOP attacks. Lately, he checks in regularly with Biden’s close-knit circle of top advisers and last year bonded over family and education policy with first lady Jill Biden on a trip to Washington.
“Gov. Newsom loves that man — loves him,” said Anthony York, a Newsom senior adviser.
Newsom sees a role for himself in elevating Biden’s sweeping policy wins, such as the infrastructure, veterans’ health care and computer chips legislation.
MORE:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/21/biden-gavin-newsom-00102887
New Assembly Speaker Rivas: “He Can’t Stand Being on the Losing Team”
Sacramento Bee
Robert Rivas tells anyone who will listen that his rise from farmworker housing on the rural Central Coast to Assembly Speaker is wholly unexpected, the California Dream become reality.
The Hollister Assemblyman, who assumes the role on June 30, presents himself as a humble, soft-spoken person who fell into the job.
But many who have watched his climb from an outgoing high-schooler to a San Benito County supervisor to one of the most powerful political offices in the state are not surprised.
Throughout his journey, Rivas, 43, has carefully balanced policy and pragmatism. He made an early name for himself as an anti-fracking environmental champion, but he’s also proven he can collaborate with more conservative colleagues.
And even in a Capitol filled with strivers seeking more powerful roles, Rivas’ ambition stands out. At least six months before making his move against current Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, Rivas and his political consultant brother were already starting to plot his power play.
Rivas spent much of his childhood in Paicines, an unincorporated San Benito County community about 55 miles southeast of San Jose. He was an infant when his mother, Mayra Flores, brought him from Henderson, Nevada, to live with her parents. As a single mom, she worked as a school secretary and kindergarten teacher while raising him and younger brother Rick.
Their grandfather, Servando Flores, was a Mexican immigrant who found long-term work at Almaden Vineyards. Rivas spent his first few years in grower-provided farmworker housing — a three-bedroom, 600-square-foot duplex he shared with nine relatives, according to Rivas’ aunt, Nidya Norma Flores Fidler.
The legacy of the United Farm Workers labor union looms large in Rivas’ family history. Servando organized for the UFW alongside civil rights icon Dolores Huerta. One of his paychecks hangs on a wall in Rivas’ Assembly office.
“I didn’t know we lived in poverty,” Rivas said. “I spent all my time outside riding my bike. I spent a lot of time with my brother climbing trees — we had these huge fig trees.”
Sacramento Bee reporters attempted to contact multiple Rivas family members at their homes. One, who was willing to talk, told them to coordinate with the Assemblyman’s team, which declined to make him available.
Almaden no longer exists, and neither does the grower-provided housing where Rivas said he lived until he was about 8. That’s when Flores purchased a house in Hollister — a city about 20 minutes northwest of Paicines — and the family moved into town.
An outgoing teen, Rivas has displayed a charisma and competitiveness that his under-the-radar political persona tends to mask.
Cuco Chavez, a friend since childhood, said Rivas always had a strong drive to win. One year, the two were on competing Little League teams and Rivas was frustrated because his friend’s was better. Rivas later insisted on switching to Chavez’s squad. “He could not stand being on the losing team,” Chavez said.
No political origin story about Rivas is complete without his brother Rick, his “closest adviser,” as he frequently calls him. Robert leaves no doubt about Rick’s importance. Together they forged a partnership that continues to this day.
“He’s a political genius,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here without him.” Although Robert ended up as the elected official, some say Rick is the savvier of the two. The brothers “grew up almost as twins but have totally different personalities,” said Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced.
Rick and Robert worked on her successful 2006 Assembly campaign. “(Rick) understands politics in a way that Robert is not interested in,” she added. “Robert is talented in policy and making friends and being a good colleague, and Rick just has different skills.”
Rick was 11 when he lied about his age to volunteer for the local Democratic Party, according to Robert. When Rick was in high school, he led a successful campaign to restore soap to school bathrooms after it was removed because of vandalism concerns. Two of his strategies: Challenging people to shake hands with those leaving the bathroom and giving administrators bars of soap wrapped in ribbon, said Juan Robledo, a teacher at the time.
To this day, Rick remains heavily involved in his brother’s life and career — the two live together with a cousin when they’re in Sacramento.
Their close relationship has raised concerns because of Rick’s deep ties to Sacramento politics. Rick is California vice president for the American Beverage Association, a trade group for PepsiCo, the Coca-Cola Co. and other makers of non-alcoholic drinks. He leads the group’s government and public affairs work in the state, but is not a registered lobbyist.
Rick has also worked as a legislative affairs director for Govern for California, an organization that wants to push back on the influence of “government employee unions, healthcare providers, crony capitalists, regulated entities, and rent seekers.” Despite his lobbying and advocacy background, Rick’s work does not appear to have influenced Robert’s voting record.
Rick declined repeated interview requests, but he was involved in fielding Bee inquiries for other family members. Robert said his brother is not on his payroll. And supporters of the two insist their closeness is not a problem.
According to California law, public officials aren’t supposed to use their positions to make or influence governmental decisions to benefit themselves or family members. But the law only considers spouses, registered domestic partners and dependent children as family members.
“You can’t fault somebody for having family in the business,” said Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Porterville, who serves on the Assembly Agriculture Committee with Rivas. “But it does draw the question: How much of an influence is that?”
Robert Rivas’ early political career included stints as a field representative for former Assemblyman Simon Salinas and a campaign staffer for Caballero. Publicly, however, Rivas has long stated he never thought he could be a politician.
But his mentors saw more potential. Caballero and Salinas encouraged him to run for the San Benito County Board of Supervisors in 2010. Some local leaders told him the campaign would be a good experience, but that he didn’t have much of a shot at winning.
Rick ran the campaign, and Robert spent months door-knocking and struggling through candidate forums that tested his public speaking skills. Rivas said his wife, Christen, couldn’t bear to watch his speeches because they were such a challenge with his stutter.
But he “powered through it” and ultimately won the seat. At 31, he was younger and more liberal than other supervisors. Former conservative Supervisor Anthony Botelho said he initially felt Rivas was still in campaign mode, criticizing other board members rather than trying to find consensus.
After Rivas’ first year in office, Botelho sat down with him and suggested a different approach. “You have to reach out and see where people are, rather than be critical behind the scenes,” Botelho recalled telling him. He said Rivas followed his advice.
Rivas said his experience in local politics taught him important lessons about relationships and working with people who have different ideologies.
“You have to find a way, whether you’re Republican, Democrat, whether your values align or not,” he said.
Rivas claims he “didn’t come to the building wanting to be speaker.” But within three years, he coveted the role.
He eventually approached colleagues about endorsing him for the position. Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, said he was also interested in the role at the time. “I realized personally, and then I think others who had aspirations, too, that nobody was willing to work harder for the members of the body than Robert,” Bryan said.
By late May 2022, Rivas had built enough support to officially challenge Speaker Rendon. Multiple members who backed Rivas said in interviews they found his childhood story — the years spent in farmworker housing, overcoming a stutter — compelling and part of the reason he would make a good speaker.
“It’s the kind of story that makes you feel good about California and good about the California Dream,” said Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, D-San Fernando Valley.
But Rendon wasn’t prepared to simply give up the speakership. He held onto the job after a bruising six-hour Democratic caucus meeting.
The battle continued through the summer and into Assembly midterm elections. Rivas supporters gave money to a political action committee that had the goal of making him the next speaker, instead of using the more traditional Democratic Party funding operation.
Following the election, an emotional Rivas and a group of jubilant Assembly members emerged from another lengthy caucus meeting and announced a deal that would result in a transfer of power on June 30.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article275765481.html#storylink=cpy
Californians Like It Here, But 40% Want to Leave – New Poll
LA Times
With its unmatched natural splendor and cultural attractions, California is a beacon that attracts people from around the world who put down roots and call it home.
About 70% of residents said they are happy living here, a new statewide poll shows, crediting the state’s diversity, economic opportunities and an enjoyable lifestyle as reasons to stick around.
Yet more than 40% of residents are considering packing up and leaving. Many believe that the state is headed in the wrong direction, and are anxious about the direction of the economy and their ability to pay their bills.
The findings of a new poll from a consortium of local nonprofits aiming to take stock of the state’s mood point to a contradiction playing out across the Golden State: People are pleased by the bounty the country’s largest state had to offer and mostly favor its liberal attitudes on social issues, but are also far more concerned about their livelihoods than last year.
In response to questions about what best describes the state, nearly 70% of Californians polled pointed to the diversity, comforting atmosphere and the abundance of satisfying pursuits it offers. About 60% of residents said it’s a state where they feel accepted; that number jumped to nearly two-thirds among Black residents.
But the poll also showed evidence of a counterpoint: Californians were divided evenly when asked whether the country has “overcorrected and gone too far in its attempts to give everyone equal rights.” A majority of white Californians agreed with that statement; a large majority of Black Californians disagreed. Latino and Asian poll respondents were closely divided. Latinos, in particular, were divided by age, with a majority of respondents older than 50 saying the country had gone too far, while younger respondents disagreed.
State residents also were notably less positive on economic issues.
Nearly half of those surveyed (46%) said they struggle to save money or pay for unexpected expenses even as they scrape by — a jump of 6 percentage points since April 2022 when residents were asked the same question. About 35% said they live comfortably and 18% said they find it difficult to make ends meet every month.
More than 40% of residents say they’re contemplating moving out of California, with nearly half of them saying they’re considering that “very seriously.” About 61% pointed to the high cost of living here as the reason they’d go. People of color are far more likely to say that the expense of living in California is the reason they might leave. About 71% of residents who are either Black or Asian/Pacific Islander and considering relocating cited the cost of living.
Nearly 30% of those surveyed said they might leave because the state’s policies and laws don’t align with their political views, a reflection of the polarization of the state and the nation at the moment. Respondents who identified as conservative were much more likely to cite the politics of the state as the reason why they were considering moving.
Self-identified Republicans were three times as likely as Democrats to say that the state’s politics were why they wanted to go.
The dour mood about the state’s direction had a partisan timbre as well, according to the poll. Forty-three percent of residents said the state was on the wrong track, an 11 percentage point jump from February 2020. About 28% said it was on the right track. Among people who identified as Republicans, 83% said the state was on the wrong track, while about 20% of Democrats said the same thing.
White people were far more pessimistic about the state than people of color.
The survey also provided some insight into the economic crunch many in the state feel. About 80% of residents said they were dissatisfied with the cost of everyday living expenses. Nearly 70% of residents said they were dissatisfied with the economy in California, and about 55% of those surveyed were dissatisfied with the cost of healthcare and housing costs.
In recent months inflation has been dropping, but that has come after a year of price increases and people’s perception of the country’s economic outlook turning sour. In California, where housing costs are especially high, that sense of living on the edge is ever present.
About 46% of respondents said they can get by every month but struggle to save or pay for unexpected expenses. This is a nearly 10 point increase since February 2020.
Nearly a fifth of respondents said they find it difficult to make ends meet every month.
Anxiety among middle-class earners drove this uptick in the numbers who report economic stress.
In 2020, 54% of people in households who made between $50,000 and $100,000 said they could live comfortably and save for the future, while 34% said they could at least get by every month. This year, among that same group, only 28% said they can live comfortably and save for the future while 17% said they find it difficult to make ends meet each month — more than double what it was a few years ago.
“Even if folks make the same income as they did even just three years ago, their sense of financial security has fallen dramatically,” said Ben Winston, a political consultant for Strategies 360, the firm that designed and conducted the poll.
He noted that a similar trend holds true among people making over $100,000 — nearly half say they don’t feel financially comfortable. In 2020, 77% of this class of earners felt comfortable and able to save for the future. That’s now dropped 20 percentage points, to 57%.
The California Community poll, conducted from June 6 to June 16, was sponsored by three community organizations — the Los Angeles Urban League, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality and the Center for Asians United for Self-Empowerment — and was developed in consultation with Times reporters and editors. It surveyed 1,354 Californians over the age of 18, online in English or Spanish, with an estimated margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.
POLL:
https://www.strategies360.com/landing/californiapolling/
Fire Season Outlook Cools…So Far
The Hill
An unusually cool spring has kept the copious quantities of snowpack that built up over the course of California’s stormy winter intact, generating cautious optimism among wildfire experts about what lies ahead this season.
But they are also warning that such conditions can change in an instant — and that new growth nourished by a wet winter could quickly become fuel for fire.
“I’m personally feeling more optimistic about a manageable fire season for the rest of 2023,” Chris Field, professor and director of Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment, told The Hill.
“But one of the things that’s quite dramatic about the drying of fine fuels is that just in a few days of hot weather, it can take you from fire risk to really terrifyingly high fire risk,” Field said.
One of the most critical considerations in determining risk on a year-to-year basis is the length of time in which environmental “conditions are really ripe for fires,” according to Field. That window, he explained, is controlled by how quickly snowpack melts and dries out.
While the availability of moisture can shorten the fire season’s duration and decrease related risk, such conditions also bolster the growth of vegetation — which helps a fire spread once it starts, according to Field.
“You have those two competing factors, and it’s always a little hard to know which ones are going to win,” Field said.
The professor noted that thin grasses can dry out in a matter of days. “It’s important to remember that for the finest fine fuels, they can really go from relatively moist to very dry and very flammable with just a few days of hot weather,” he said.
A period of hot, dry winds blowing from the continent out toward the coast can also exacerbate fire risks in an environment, like much of California, that is already vulnerable to extreme heat and drying events, Field added.
Nonetheless, Field stressed that the spring’s persistent cool weather has both helped maintain snowpack and moist soils in areas that lack snow — conditions that could make for a shorter fire season.
Robert Foxworthy, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), likewise shared some optimism about the season ahead, while also encouraging residents to remain vigilant amid unpredictable conditions.
The status quo could change “if starting next week, we go into multiple 100-degree days and red flag warnings, which could, in turn, make it another one of those busy fire seasons,” Foxworthy told The Hill.
“But so far, the way things are setting up is we have received an incredible amount of moisture over the winter,” he continued. “We still have areas in the Sierra that are under multiple feet of snow.”
Capitol Crowd Plugs In to Electric Scooters
Politico
For the intrepid California lawmaker or lobbyist who is on a tight schedule and hates chit-chatting with Uber drivers, there’s an increasingly preferred method of transportation around Sacramento — the electric scooter.
California officials for years have tussled with electric scooter companies — including on the issues of data privacy and injury liability. Now, many state lawmakers seem to be adopting them as a primary source of transportation, especially with the traffic headaches caused by Capitol construction. Legislators often live too far away to drive a car to Sacramento every week, and frequently have to run back and forth between the Capitol, the Swing Space, and the many fundraisers and happy hours that fill their evenings.
Perhaps chief among the growing cohort of devotees is Fullerton Sen. Josh Newman, who has earned himself a reputation for zipping around downtown on two wheels, sport coat fluttering in the wind. In a place known for buttoned-up dispositions and political paranoia, Newman is decidedly unpretentious — waving to the staffers and fellow lawmakers from his scooter as he goes about his errands.
He’s been known to carry with him a pack of toilet paper from Target, or an order of six Shake Shack burgers and fries with a big bottle of ketchup (“I don’t like the little packets.”)
But on a recent evening, with a POLITICO reporter in tow, Newman hopped on a Lime scooter and took a load of shirts to be dry cleaned at Mercury Cleaners on 16th Street.
“It takes the otherwise kind of onerous errand and makes it really easy,” he said afterwards, dismounting on the sidewalk outside the Swing Space. “To me, it’s way more enjoyable than riding an Uber or having the transportation folks drive you around. Because you’re still kind of part of your environment.”
It’s not just the electeds who are electing to go electric. The formidable State Building and Trades Council recently purchased a fleet of scooters for legislative and office staff to make their advocacy work in Sacramento easier. With most legislative operations moving over to the Swing Space on O Street, President Andrew Meredith said scooters allow them to get to lawmakers faster.
“The investment has paid itself off multiple times over,” he said in a statement. “They’ve been a huge asset.”
Republican Sen. Shannon Grove has also impressed many bystanders with her ability to ride the scooters in high heels. “She’s nimble!” Newman remarked.
Others find the mode of transportation so handy they’ve bought their own scooters. Sen. Dave Min has used one since he taught law at UC Irvine. Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, has one, too, and says he prefers it to getting in a car or using the sergeants to get around.
“You can actually do more in less periods of time, and environmentally, it’s sound,” he said.
Typical scooters go about 15 miles an hour. But for those who want a bit more zoom in their zip there are alternatives. Assemblymember Heath Flora was recently seen departing his own fundraising event on a white moped-esque vehicle emblazoned with a red “Phat” logo (It’s the name of the company, it turns out, that sells a variety of models starting at $3,000).
Sen. Shannon Grove has impressed many bystanders with her ability to ride scooters in heels. |Courtesy of Grove’s office.
California Playlist Gets New Tunes
NY Times
Nearly 40 million people live in California, and each of us has our own story of how we came to be here and what this place means to us. The diversity of those experiences, across geographies and decades, comes to bear in our California Soundtrack, a collaborative project of this newsletter that tries to capture all of the Golden State in music.
We’ve added 19 tracks to our ever-evolving playlist this week, based on your recommendations. Among the most requested this round were “Dani California” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006), “Hollywood Freaks” by Beck (1999) and “Carmel” by Joe Sample (1979).
You can peruse the full list here (the latest additions are in bold) or listen here.
As always, the California Soundtrack is a work in progress. Email your own song recommendation and a few lines about why you think it deserves inclusion to CAToday@nytimes.com. Please include your name and the city where you live.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u4NLofw_ZSSbUWnnQ3dJa_XiL-00EUsj8-2urXnYIjk/edit?campaign_id=49&emc=edit_ca_20230622&instance_id=95743&nl=california-today®i_id=80823166&segment_id=136645&te=1&user_id=ebedd9f525ae3910eeb31de6bb6c4da0