For Clients & Friends of The Gualco Group, Inc.
IN THIS ISSUE – “Conventional Wisdom Goes Out the Window”
- 8 Legislators Form Bipartisan “Problem-Solvers Caucus”
- Newsom Shifts to Recall Defense Mode with Statewide Tour
- Q&A: Dee Dee Myers, Governor’s New Strategic Advisor
- Biden’s 2 California Cabinet Nominees Face Tough Confirmations
- San Francisco’s Largest Employer Shifts to Remote Work
- Utilities Ordered to Find Extra Power for Summer: “Not A Day to Waste”
Capital News & Notes (CN&N) harvests California legislative and regulatory insights from dozens of media and official sources for the past week, tailored to your business and advocacy interests. Please feel free to forward.
READ ALL ABOUT IT!!
FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEB. 12, 2021
8 Legislators Form Bipartisan “Problem-Solvers Caucus”
CalMatters commentary
Who does your government work for? It’s a question that people of all political persuasions frequently answer in the same way: “Not me.”
As members of the state Legislature, we can tell you firsthand that our government isn’t working for most Californians. Instead of being dedicated to protecting the lives and livelihoods of our 40 million residents and delivering real results for working families, politicians today often seem more interested in ideological maneuvering, bolstering Twitter followers, or smearing the other side.
When the political environment becomes so toxic that protesters turn into violent insurrectionists who invade the halls of our nation’s Capitol, it’s time to take stock of our democracy. Differing political opinions are no longer just an uncomfortable topic we avoid at holiday gatherings. They have become so poisonous that they are ripping our families and our country apart.
We are a group of very different elected leaders who share very similar concerns about what afflicts our country and our state. Despite our varied backgrounds – Republicans from Los Angeles and the Central Coast, Democrats from farming communities and Orange County, and a political independent – we have arrived at the same conclusion: Government too often does not work for the people we represent.
That must change, and we intend to help change it.
In Washington, D.C., partisan bickering has sidetracked solutions, and stalemates have caused government shutdowns. The best hope of getting beyond these deep divisions is the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus, which has emerged as a forum for compromise. Its 50 members – 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans – are all committed to putting partisanship aside to find workable solutions to the most difficult disagreements. For example, we have the Problem Solvers to thank for breaking the gridlock that secured a COVID-19 relief bill before Christmas.
California’s challenges differ, but they are no less destructive. In the state Legislature, party loyalty determines committee assignments, staff resources and even office space. Republicans are pressured by their caucus to disavow any solutions offered by Democrats, and Democrats are expected to march in lockstep behind their leaders. Diverge from either party line and expect swift retribution – something many of us have experienced.
What has this behavior gotten us? Wildfires burn out of control. The line at the DMV is hours long. Millions of hardworking people still cannot access unemployment benefits during a pandemic while billions of dollars have been paid out to fraudsters and criminals. The cost of living and home prices are still too high. Our schools don’t have the resources they need to give every student a quality education.
In Washington, politicians have the other side of the aisle to blame for any problem they have failed to solve. With essentially single-party rule in California, what is our excuse?
We must do better.
That is why we are forming the California Problem Solvers Caucus – a bi-cameral (Senate and Assembly) and party-agnostic (Democrats, Republicans and Independents) group dedicated to finding solutions and creating results.
Our goal is to create a group of legislators committed more to progress than to ideology. Compromise is not a bad word. We intend to be a forum where bipartisan solutions are rewarded. If a solution makes sense, we will do everything in our power to get it over the finish line no matter who came up with the idea.
Most of all, we believe in reforming the legislative process to foster an environment that encourages rather than discourages common-sense solutions.
Some of our ideas include:
- A non-partisan Attorney General and Secretary of State;
- Consolidation and reorganization of California’s more than 200 state agencies, departments and commissions with clear lines of accountability;
- A two-year budget cycle, where each even-numbered year the Legislature focuses on oversight of the executive branch and its vast array of departments;
- A streamlined legislative process for bills with bipartisan support.
Some 225 years ago, George Washington called political parties “the worst enemy” of government leading to the “ruin of liberty.” In that spirit, the California Problem Solvers Caucus will work with thought leaders across the spectrum to create a government that works for the people it serves.
We invite all of our colleagues in the Legislature who share these values to join this caucus. Together, we can change our state’s trajectory and make the California dream a California reality.
Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, represents the 36thAssembly District, [email protected].
Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from Sanger, represents the 14th Senate District, [email protected].
Sen. Josh Newman, a Democrat from Fullerton, represents the 29th Senate District, [email protected].
Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, a Democrat from Laguna Beach, represents the 74th Assembly District, [email protected].
Assemblymember Adam Gray, a Democrat from Merced, represents the 21st Assembly District, [email protected].
Assemblymember Suzette Valladares, a Republican from Santa Clarita, represents the 38th Assembly District, [email protected].
Assemblymember Chad Mayes, an independent from Yucca Valley, represents the 42ndAssembly District, [email protected].
Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham, a Republican from San Luis Obispo, represents the 35th Assembly District, [email protected].
Newsom Shifts to Recall Defense Mode with Statewide Media Blitz
Politico
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has shifted into recall defense mode this week with daily appearances up and down the state, complete with local officials praising his work and swiping at his would-be opponents.
The Democratic governor still refuses to utter the word “recall,” as if doing so acknowledges his vulnerability. But his actions suggest he’s well aware the effort to place the recall on the ballot has a strong chance of qualifying and derailing a political arc that many believed could lead to the White House.
In the past eight days, Newsom has held news conferences touting mass vaccination clinics in Oakland, San Diego, Santa Clara and Fresno. Apart from two budget briefings, for the first time since March, he opened access Tuesday to all media in person, rather than relying on a pool reporter or taking questions only through a tightly controlled virtual news conference.
The recall has become real enough that President Joe Biden weighed in Tuesday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Twitter that “@POTUS clearly opposes any effort to recall @GavinNewsom.”
After spending a few weeks curtailing public appearances and dropping a budget announcement on TikTok, Newsom has reversed course with campaign-style events where he is trying to control the narrative. If the recall qualifies, the governor could find himself in campaign mode for the next two years while trying to navigate the state through crisis, spending this year trying to save his job and next year running for reelection should he survive.
Newsom, 53, is facing an unexpected California backlash as residents tire of stringent business restrictions and school closures. The state saw an unprecedented winter Covid-19 surge that filled hospitals beyond capacity, while California this week surpassed New York as the nation’s leader in coronavirus deaths at nearly 45,000, though its population-based rate is still lower than in most states.
Democratic strategist Katie Merrill said Newsom’s more intensive approach on the public stage is not only timely — but strategically important, as he confronts an emboldened and vocal army of Republican critics, fundraisers and potential opponents.
“It’s certainly smart for him, politically, to be doing more of these live events,” especially those that underscore some recent victories in the fight against Covid-19, she said.
The new approach coincides with the release last week of two respected California polls showing the governor’s approval rating has dropped since the fall. Public Policy Institute of California President and CEO Mark Baldassare, whose survey showed Newsom still clinging to 52 percent support from likely voters, wrote that the recall is likely to qualify but that the electorate will probably keep the governor in office.
Sources close to Newsom insist it’s not the recall alone that’s driving changes in his public schedule. They say Newsom’s move to live events comes after his administration lifted stay-at-home orders based on hospitalization declines, allowing him a chance to interact with public officials and reporters — something they say has been one of the stronger tools in the governor’s communications wheelhouse in the past.
The governor’s new approach became obvious with an appearance Feb. 3 to unveil a vaccination clinic at the Oakland Coliseum in conjunction with the Biden administration. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, a Democrat, ladled praise on him: “I talk to mayors all over the country, and I cannot tell you how lucky we are in California to have Gavin Newsom as our governor.”
The sixth drive to recall Newsom, a goal once dismissed as a GOP fantasy, has come tantalizing close to collecting the 1.5 million valid signatures needed to qualify by mid-March — a development that could put an election before the voters later this year.
Newsom’s news conference in Fresno on Wednesday was disrupted by protesters yelling “Recall Gavin!” as elected officials and the governor touted the opening of the first Central Valley mass vaccination center. Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), introduced the governor over the shouts and noted wryly, “He’s made tough decisions that aren’t popular right now … as you can tell from some folks.”
Republican fundraiser Anne Dunsmore, the campaign manager with dominant recall committee RescueCalifornia.org, said the movement to pluck Newsom from office has now raised $2.27 million from 13,000 contributors since November. Combined with money raised from a second recall committee, the effort has drawn $3.5 million, she said.
In the latest bad sign for Newsom, the windfall has enabled proponents to hire paid signature gatherers, who are getting $3.70 per signature, she said.
“After the first week, they came back and said they didn’t know it would be so easy,” Dunsmore said, adding the professionals are expected to produce as many as 100,000 signatures a week — in addition to mountains of petitions arriving by mail.
Democratic strategist Roger Salazar warned that the road ahead could be wild: “Whatever conventional wisdom you have in politics goes out the window in a recall, where it’s a free-for-all.’’
One of Newsom’s most formidable GOP challengers, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, launched his own bid last week on a Los Angeles street near an open private school and a closed public school. He invited all media, and a bank of television cameras and reporters showed up to hear him announce his long-awaited candidacy.
Newsom’s 2018 Republican gubernatorial opponent, businessman John Cox, launched a television ad this week slamming both Faulconer and Newsom as typical politicians. He said he was the outsider who would solve California’s problems.
The governor’s allies aren’t ignoring the situation. During another vaccination clinic news conference Monday at Petco Park in San Diego, one Democratic local leader took a dig at Faulconer, who was termed out of office last year.
“It’s truly wonderful to now have a mayor committed to doing the difficult work,” Nathan Fletcher, chair of the county’s Board of Supervisors, said in reference to newly installed Democrat Todd Gloria replacing Republican Faulconer.
But Newsom still won’t acknowledge the recall drive. “I’m not focusing on that at all,” Newsom said Tuesday at an event to open a vaccination clinic at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. “I’m focusing on administration of vaccines.’’
Cox said Newsom’s nonchalance about the looming political threat is fooling no one.
“Who does he think he’s kidding?” Cox said with a laugh. “People have had it with his arrogant attitude. It’s all about producing results — and he hasn’t.”
The changes come as GOP recall proponents, fueled by coverage on Fox News and within conservative circles, say that the recall has changed everything in Newsom’s world — whether he wants to admit it or not. “It’s driving the agenda,” Dunsmore argued.
Dunsmore said mailings to homes of California voters, have been equally successful, producing signed petitions from more than just Republicans. While 66 percent are GOP voters, she said 22 percent have been signed by those unaffiliated with a political party and nearly 10 percent have come from Democrats, she said.
But Newsom has plenty of power on his side — not least of which is owning the bully pulpit in the nation’s most populous state.
“I think they realized that he needs to be associated with good news,” said Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio, who added that Newsom has “been flanked by Democrats that’ll pump him up.”
Maviglio was the press secretary for former Gov. Gray Davis before Davis was recalled in 2003 and replaced by movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger. He observed that Newsom’s approach may serve not only to blunt Republican attacks but to keep other Democrats at bay.
In the 2003 recall, Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante ran in the free-for-all among 135 candidates. Some Democrats still blame Bustamante for giving left-leaning voters justification to vote for the recall rather than keep Davis in office.
“Newsom’s sole goal should be keeping other Democrats out of the race,”Maviglio said. “I think that’s what you’re seeing, with the Biden stuff, and being surrounded by elected officials who are Democrats and legislators, is ‘Operation Keep Another Democrat Out.'”
Newsom’s political adviser, Dan Newman, has dismissed GOP candidates as Trump acolytes and signaled that Democrats will not hesitate to remind voters that Faulconer and Cox not only voted for Trump in 2020 — but have repeatedly backed his policies in a state where Trump has been historically unpopular.
Still, Democrats say neither they — nor their governor — can afford to dismiss the GOP’s surprisingly successful effort, which threatens to be the second gubernatorial recall effort in less than two decades to go before the voters. No Republican has won statewide office in California since 2006, but a recall election involves unpredictable dynamics. In 2003, 135 candidates ran for office and Schwarzenegger emerged from the pack.
“Whatever conventional wisdom you have in politics goes out the window in a recall, where it’s a free-for-all,” said Democratic strategist Roger Salazar, another former Davis press aide.
Christine Pelosi, who chairs the Democratic Party’s women’s caucus and is the daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said Republicans’ move is an obvious effort to sidestep Newsom’s regular election in 2022.
But she predicted the GOP attacks will not resonate by midyear “when Gavin figures out the vaccines, and kids are back in school in September,” and the state is on the economic road to recovery from a devastating global pandemic over which Newsom himself had little control.
Q&A: Dee Dee Myers, Governor’s New Strategic Advisor
CalMatters
Mass confusion about vaccines. Enough small business owners scrambling for state cash to crash a website. Contentious battles over COVID-19 reopening rules and getting kids back into classrooms.
All in a day’s work for Dee Dee Myers.
As 2020 came to a chaotic close, the former Warner Bros. communications executive and the country’s first female White House press secretary took over California’s faltering economic response to the pandemic. Myers joined as a senior adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom and director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development after predecessor Lenny Mendonca resigned, a high-profile recovery task force dissolved and Newsom tried to regain credibility after attending a lobbyist’s birthday party at the French Laundry.
In an interview edited for length and clarity, Myers spoke with CalMatters this week about navigating reopening conflicts, the state’s evolving COVID-19 recovery plan and why she doesn’t fear Elon Musk’s move to Texas.
Q: You started this role leading the state’s business and economic development efforts in December, right as new stay-at-home orders went into effect and the virus surged again. How did you come in and start to prioritize relief efforts in that environment?
A: I started on Dec. 15, so I did walk into a difficult situation that was yet more difficult. There was already work ongoing. The governor and the Legislature had announced at the end of November that they were going to stand up this $500 million small business grant program. It opened on Dec. 30.
At the same time, the governor and team were working on his budget, which also prioritized economic recovery more broadly. That included another round of spending on small business grants, which we’re continuing to discuss with the Legislature. It included other incentives — tax incentives, regulatory relief, other things to continue to support small businesses.
And then there are other programs, too. You know, vaccine distribution is a business-important program, right? Investments in higher education. A lot of people in economically difficult times go back to school. Job training programs. And the Golden State Stimulus, which will put $600 into the hands of millions of Californians. So all of those programs working together. And by the way, adding another dimension: education. Reopening schools has also been a priority.
Q: When it comes to the state’s reopening rules, we’ve also seen several lawsuits from businesses like salons, gyms and breweries that say the rules are too arbitrary. Do you see a scenario where those industry-specific rules change as vaccines roll out, or what’s your response to those concerns?
A: Yes. There’s so many things that have made this challenging. It’s unprecedented, it continues to change. We haven’t been operating on a static playing field. It’s a three-dimensional kind of thing where the rules change on everybody every day. That said, we will definitely try to evolve our guidance as we go forward and as circumstances on the ground change, as more people get vaccinated, as we see what happens with infection rates and other metrics.
I think on the one hand, people feel relieved to see a substantial drop in infection rates. On the other hand, there are these variants out there that are big wild cards, so nobody wants to take their foot off the brakes of social distance, wear your mask, don’t mix, be smart. So that will continue, but I mean look, ideally we want to open the economy as quickly as it’s safe to do so. The state’s and the governor’s strategy has always been health first. Until you get the pandemic under control, you can’t fully open the economy.
Entire interview:
Biden’s 2 California Cabinet Nominees Face Tough Confirmations
Politico
Two Californians nominated for top positions in President Joe Biden’s administration could face tough confirmation hearings later this month, putting the Golden State’s pandemic response under a national microscope.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra, tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, appears to be Senate Republicans’ main target. For the past three decades, there has been at least one sacrificial lamb among a president’s Cabinet nominees — and this year, the GOP has homed in on Becerra as the most vulnerable of Biden’s picks. Chief among their criticisms are his 110 lawsuits against the Trump administration, his defense of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s church closures and shelter-in-place restrictions, and his support of Medicare for All and abortion rights.
A GOP official close to Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who’s leading the nominee vetting process: “There really is a consensus that Becerra is the worst of the nominees. (We) feel it will be hard to stop any of these nominees, but if there is one, Becerra ought to be the one who goes down.”
Republicans would need to secure at least one Democratic vote to block Becerra’s nomination, but many seem unconvinced by the GOP’s arguments.
A person close to the Biden administration: “Republicans are being completely contradictory. They’re saying both that (Becerra) doesn’t have enough health care experience but also that he’s responsible for the pandemic response in California.”
California Labor Secretary Julie Su, whom Biden nominated Wednesday as deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor, could also face a contentious confirmation hearing. Congressional Republicans have criticized Su for her oversight of the state’s beleaguered employment department, where more than 1 million claims remain backlogged amid fraudulent payments that could reach $31 billion. The California Business and Industrial Alliance has been an especially vocal critic: In addition to taking out full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, the group sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opposing Su’s nomination.
Newsom: “With a leader like Julie at the helm … the U.S. Department of Labor will play a central role in guiding us through recovery.”
San Francisco’s Largest Employer Shifts to Remote Work
CalMatters
Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest private employer, announced it will permanently allow most employees to work from home for most of the week. It joins numerous tech companies — including Twitter, Square, Coinbase, Pinterest, Dropbox and Yelp — that have embraced a long-term shift to remote work amid the pandemic, throwing into question the Bay Area’s status as the nation’s tech capital as well as the future of its commercial and residential real estate market. Two-thirds of Bay Area tech workers said last year they would consider leaving the region if they had the option to work remotely — and many appear to have moved to Sacramento in search of cheaper rent and more space.
Jennifer Stojkovic, executive director of SF.citi, the city’s main tech industry trade group: “As we think through the future of work and what it means for San Francisco, I implore our city leadership to consider the policies we are putting in place today — and whether or not these policies will help us grow the next Salesforce and remain competitive as the world’s capital of innovation.”
The business-software provider, which has 54,000 global employees, is among the largest companies to spell out how it plans staff to work after Covid-19 recedes. Chief People Officer Brent Hyder said Salesforce’s changes would include revamping office layouts to increase collaboration space instead of having a “sea of desks.” As employees are expected to do much of their independent work remotely, the mock-ups of the new offices feature cafe-style seating, open-air conference areas and private nooks, with an emphasis on clean desks and social distancing.
“We’re not going back to the way things were,” Mr. Hyder said in an interview. “I don’t believe that we’ll keep every space in every city that we’re in, including San Francisco.”
Salesforce expects more than 65% of its workforce to come into the office only one to three days a week in the future, up from 40% before the pandemic. An unspecified number of additional employees would be fully remote.
Utilities Ordered to Find Extra Power for Summer: “Not A Day to Waste”
San Diego Union Tribune
Looking to avoid a repeat of the pair of blackouts last August that left nearly a half-million customers across the state without electricity, the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday directed the state’s big three power companies to line up additional sources of energy this summer.
“Customers deserve a reliable grid and they deserve a regulatory body that will be mobilized to do everything in its power to ensure that we have one,” said Marybel Batjer, president of the commission, known as the CPUC for short. “I view this as both my biggest priority and our basic responsibility,”
The 4-0 vote directs San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric to seek energy contracts to supply California’s electric grid with extra capacity to meet increased demand at critical peak periods when temperatures soar and people crank up their air conditioners.
“There is not a day to waste,” Batjer said. “Summer is literally around the corner, if we are speaking in regulatory framework timelines.”
The cost coming from procuring more power will be passed on to the ratepayers of each of the respective utilities.
Each utility has until the beginning of next week to submit their proposals to the commission, which will review them before signing off on them.
SDG&E officials said it was too early to hazard a guess regarding how much more their customers will pay for the extra procurements.
In the 19-page decision adopted Thursday, the commission said it tried to strike a balance between having an “over-procurement” that would lead to higher bills and running the risk of being short of megawatts. It opted to take a “least-regrets” approach.
A number of consumer and environmental groups opposed the CPUC’s decision, saying California’s power grid has enough resources at its disposal to avoid a repeat of last year and that the additions would lead to an increase in natural gas procurements.
“The August 2020 blackouts should have been the final straw to finally move beyond fossil fuels, not an excuse to prop up the aging gas fleet and increase our dependence on it,” said Luis Amezcua of the Sierra Club.
Last year’s statewide outages came as a searing heat wave settled for days over virtually all of California. As energy demand spiked on Aug. 14 and 15, the California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, — which manages the grid for about 80 percent of the state — was unable to maintain a 6 percent minimum in contingency reserves.
The CAISO called a Stage 3 Emergency both days, instructing utilities to shed load until the margins were restored.
The blackout on Aug. 14 affected 491,600 customers statewide, including 59,000 in SDG&E’s service territory, who lost power for up to an hour. The outage on Aug. 15 impacted 321,000 customers, including 17,000 served by SDG&E.
It marked the first time since 2001 that Californians endured rolling blackouts. Just a couple of weeks later, over the Labor Day weekend, another bout of extreme heat nearly led to a repeat.
After being called on the carpet by an angry Gov. Gavin Newsom, the CPUC, the CAISO and the California Energy Commission released a root cause analysis that blamed a host of reasons for the blackouts, most related to the record-high temperatures.
Energy imports from other states, for example, were greatly reduced because the heat covered the West. With their own customers sweltering, grid operators in neighboring states held on to their own sources of power.
In addition, within days of the August outages, the CAISO learned a software glitch in what is called the Residual Unit Commitment process inadvertently led to several thousand megawatts of exports flowing out of California to other states during the critical hours of the outages. The problem has since been fixed.
In a late revision to its decision, the CPUC called on the CAISO to make sure that the additional resources procured as a result of Thursday’s vote do not get exported elsewhere.
Bill Powers of the San Diego-based Protect Our Communities Foundationsaid the megawatts from the inadvertent exports — combined with power from gas plants that should have been running at the time, as well as other resources — means Thursday’s vote was unnecessary.
“There was so much capacity that we should have had at our fingertips that we didn’t,” Powers said. “The reason we had those blackouts is (the CAISO’s) mismanagement of the ample supply resources they had at their disposal, period.”
While Thursday’s vote concentrated on adding supply, Batjer said next month the commission will look at steps to reduce energy demand.
“We can’t solve this summer’s problem with only demand-side resources or only supply-side resources,” Batjer said. “We need both … We need to keep options on the table for this summer.”