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IN THIS ISSUE – “You see people trying to shop, you know, for a third-house gig or something like that”  

Termed-out Assemblymember Devon Mathis on one-quarter of the Legislature looking for new jobs in 2025

Capital News & Notes (CN&N) curates 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 AUG. 16, 2024

 

Legislative Appropriations Committees Pass >500 Bills; Governor Warns of Vetoes for New Spending

CalMatters

California lawmakers yesterday weeded out hundreds of pricey proposals, including notable ones on crime and technology.

As they culled about one-third of 830 bills, legislative committees killed one that aimed to prohibit broadband providers from charging more or offering slower Internet service in low-income areas, and another to bar law enforcement agencies from relying solely on facial recognition to arrest or search suspects.

The more than 500 bills that did get through today still must win final approval before the Legislature adjourns Aug. 31 to reach Newsom’s desk. The cost of bills he signs into law will be accounted for in the governor’s January budget proposal.

While the governor’s office did not comment on the suspense file, his office pointed to his July 18 veto message on AB 1272: “It is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications that are not included in the budget.”

The committees also held several Republican crime bills, including one aimed at adding stricter reviews before the state releases sexually violent predators.

That prompted the author, Senate GOP leader Brian Jones of San Diego, to state that Assembly Democratic leaders are “now complicit in helping the Newsom Administration protect these predators over families.”

Also held were two crime bills from the newest Senate Republican, Marie Alvarado-Gil of Modesto: one to increase the severity of the crime for making threats at schools or places of worship, and one that makes it a felony to have fentanyl while armed.

The suspense file hurdle happens twice a year, as the two appropriations committees go through hundreds of bills with a price tag ($50,000 or more from the general fund, $150,000 or more from a special fund), with no discussion and few recorded votes. Besides weeding out costly bills, it’s also a notorious way for legislators to kill politically dicey bills.

The Appropriations Committees of each house decided the fate of bills passed by the other chamber. The Senate committee held 174 of 515 Assembly bills, and the Assembly panel about 100 of 313 Senate bills — a total of 33% held.

That’s similar to the 32% held of the 1,009 bills in the May suspense file hearings. But it’s higher than the 25% average over the last decade

Assembly Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat, said the budget situation “weighed heavy” on the committee.

Bills that didn’t survive would have:

One of the most closely watched bills — to require Google and Meta to pay publishers for using news content — was sent to the Senate rules committee. That gives bill author Wicks, supporters and the opponents — a powerful coalition of tech companies — more time to negotiate.

https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/08/california-laws-legislature-suspense-file/

 

A Quarter of the Legislature is Leaving; Job-Hunting is Perilous

CalMatters

With some of the year’s biggest decisions still pending, nearly a quarter of California’s 120 lawmakers may soon be unemployed. Many of them are thinking about their next job as the Legislature wraps up this month.

If past experience is any guide, at least one in five departing lawmakers will end up working for companies or organizations trying to influence state government. In all, 20 incumbents are leaving elected office this year and another 15 are running for other seats.

“August is kind of … the interview period,” departing Visalia Republican Assemblymember Devon Mathis told CalMatters. “You see people that are trying to shop, you know, for a third-house gig or something like that,” he said, referring to lobbying organizations.

A CalMatters review of the 180 lawmakers who left office since 2012 reveals that around 40 of them registered as lobbyists, worked as political consultants or took executive-level jobs with companies or organizations actively lobbying at the Capitol.

Ethics experts say the prospect of current lawmakers job hunting as they’re voting on bills raises concerns that their future employers could influence their votes in the final weeks of the session.

A legislative ethics committee handout given to departing lawmakers outlines the stakes. It warns that they could face criminal charges if they “take official action in exchange for a promise of future employment (this is bribery).” It’s also illegal if they “use state resources to search for or secure outside or prospective employment.”

Despite the potential criminal consequences, there are no requirements for lawmakers to tell the public if they’re negotiating or actually have a new employment agreement with an outside organization trying to influence state policy.

That’s a problem, said Sean McMorris, the transparency, ethics and accountability program manager for California Common Cause.

Ethics experts say the prospect of current lawmakers job hunting as they’re voting on bills raises concerns that their future employers could influence their votes in the final weeks of the session.

McMorris said powerful and wealthy industries and advocacy organizations love hiring former lawmakers “because they already know the system, and they have access and influence to other politicians there at the Capitol.”

He said it’s also why California, like nearly every other state, has “revolving door” rules intended to keep companies and organizations from dangling future salaries in front of lawmakers in exchange for legislative favors or state contracts.

The rules include a “cooling-off period” preventing lawmakers from directly lobbying the Legislature for at least a year after leaving office. These restrictions are intended to prevent lawmakers from using fresh insider knowledge to help their new employer game the system.

But there’s nothing preventing a former lawmaker from taking a job at a company that’s lobbying the Legislature during their cooling-off period as long as he or she is not the one directly discussing policy with their former colleagues.

“Providing compensated advice to a client, including a lobbyist, lobbying firm or lobbyist employer, is not prohibited so long as the former Assemblymember does not communicate with sitting legislators or legislative staff,” according to the ethics committee handout.

Plus, they can still lobby the governor’s administration and local agencies.

McMorris said it’s time to update the laws to require that lawmakers at the very least disclose when they have a new job lined up while they’re still casting votes.

“Not only would that help the public, just for transparency’s sake,” he said, “but it would also help … just to keep them honest.”

There are 20 incumbent legislators who will be out of a job this year because they are termed out of office, they are not seeking re-election or they ran for another office this year and lost in the March primary. Another 15 legislators are candidates for local, state or federal office including 13 on the ballot this November and two seeking statewide office in 2026.

Some might retire from public life, go back to their old careers or consider a 2026  run for another state office. Those who aren’t are probably looking for work.

Mathis is not shy about his career plans when he leaves office this year. Last month, he started a public relations firm, and he agreed to work for an energy company, Origyn International, as a “public benefit project specialist.” He said he checked with state ethics officials to make sure he wasn’t violating state laws.

Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from Los Angeles, also is in need of a job after he lost a bid for an LA City Council seat in the March primary.
Jones-Sawyer told CalMatters he’s not going to discuss his career with potential employers until he casts the final vote of the session.

He said his personal attorney advised him not to job hunt while still casting votes. Jones-Sawyer said it didn’t take much convincing, given what happened to Curren Price. The Los Angeles City Council member and former state senator has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in a case that included allegations Price voted for measures before the council that financially benefited his wife.

Jones-Sawyer said he could see how easily a lawmaker could get themselves in similar trouble. “All of a sudden, they have a half-million dollar job in September,” he said. “And … the press is … speculating, ‘Well, that looks a little hinky and suspicious.’ ”

Lawmakers earn $128,215 a year, plus per diem and benefits. Lawmakers will receive their final state paycheck in late December.

https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/08/california-legislators-job-hunt-conflicts-ethics/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=When%20does%20job-hunting%20by%20CA%20lawmakers%20raise%20questions%3F&utm_campaign=WhatMatters

 

Dems Divided on Tough-On-Crime Ballot Proposition 

Politico

If you want to know where California Democrats stand on the tough-on-crime Proposition 36, look at where they sit.

On one side of the ballot-measure contest are the Capitol’s top Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, who have fought efforts to roll back parts of Prop 47, the landmark 2014 criminal justice ballot initiative that downgraded certain theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.

On the other side are big-city mayors like San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who have argued that strengthened penalties are necessary to assuage their constituents’ growing concerns about public safety. They have been joined by organizations like the League of California Cities and the California Contract Cities Association, which represent the interests of city hall officials statewide.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and two local officials — Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho and Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen — are now launching their own committee supporting Prop 36. They hope the Common Sense for Safety committee will open space for other Democratic office-holders willing to cross Newsom and other prominent state officials.

“We see the consequences on the ground every day,” said Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock. “Look at Mayor Breed, Mayor Mahan, mayors down here in southern California — we’re exasperated, we’re frustrated, and so many days we feel helpless. We need some help, we need some assistance.”

When prosecutors and big-box retailers came forward earlier this year with their initiative to restore harsh penalties for non-violent crimes, Newsom and legislative leaders began working to get it off the ballot. After failing to persuade the initiative’s proponents to drop their quest and abandoning plans to promote an anti-crime measure of their own, the Capitol’s top Democrats are leading the charge against Prop 36.

They warn the measure will take California back to the era of mass incarceration and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

It has not stopped Democratic mayors and other local officeholders from coming out in favor of the initiative. Yes on Prop 36, the main campaign committee supporting the initiative, has put out a steady drumbeat of endorsements from local-level politicians, including many Democrats.

“My great fear is that by decriminalizing low-level crime, we have allowed people’s conditions to deepen and worsen,” Mahan said in an interview ahead of his group’s launch in which he promoted Prop 36 as crucial to tackling interconnected problems in his city, including homelessness.

Local officials and organizations that represent them say there are clear reasons for the measure’s strong support on the local level: They’re less insulated from the effects of retail theft and drug issues than politicians in Sacramento, giving them more of an on-the-ground perspective on how dire the situation really is.

“Cities feel like they’re the first line of defense when it comes to public safety,” said Marcel Rodarte, executive director of the California Contract Cities Association, which endorsed Prop 36 earlier this summer. “They’re the ones their constituents call — they don’t call Assembly members, they don’t call state senators — so they bear the brunt of this.”

Rodarte added that, although not every mayor of the group’s 80 member cities is supporting Prop 36, most are — and the measure hasn’t been especially divisive within the organization, because public safety is an issue that largely draws “consensus” among members.

One notable exception to the surge of Democratic mayoral support is in Los Angeles county, where Los Angeles’ Karen Bass and Long Beach’s Rex Richardson have resisted entreaties from their fellow mayors to join the No on 36 coalition.

Prop 36’s backers say they do not believe the initiative’s passage will augur a return to mass incarceration, but that it would reintroduce much-needed “accountability” for repeat offenders.

“In an ideal world you wouldn’t need penalties,” said Brock, “but that’s not the reality right now.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/14/tough-on-crime-california-democrats-00173998

 

Republican Voter Registration Ticks Up…After 18 Years

CalMatters

California Republicans have an 18-year losing streak, and counting, in statewide races. But there’s a glimmer of hope in the latest voter registration numbers. The GOP picked up nearly 95,000 registered voters between Feb. 20 and July 5, while the Democratic Party lost nearly 44,000 over the same period, according to a report issued Friday by the Secretary of State’s office.

The number of Californians registered as no party preference increased by 28,000. Democrats, however, still account for 46% of the electorate, about the same as in July 2020. Republicans make up 25%, up slightly from four years ago. While the GOP boomlet likely won’t matter statewide, it could tip the scales in close legislative and congressional races.

Overall, a total of 22,171,899 Californians are registered to vote, or 82.4% of those eligible.That’s a little lower than the 83.5% at the same point in 2020. Reminder: Oct. 21 is the deadline to register online to vote in the Nov. 5 election.

 

Get Ready to Pay-By-The-Mile as EVs Drain Gas Tax

Politco

California officials want you to start driving an electric vehicle. There’s just one big problem: The more EVs you put on the road, the less money the state has to pay for highways and bridges.

California — like the rest of the country — relies on state and federal gas taxes to fund maintenance of its expansive transportation infrastructure, a solution that has worked smoothly for most of the last century.

But the future is approaching most rapidly in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal to end the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 is projected to produce a 64 percent — or $5 billion — decline in gas taxes over the next decade. EVs already make up about 5 percent of all cars on the road in California and a quarter of new car sales, meaning their share is growing fast.

California knows what the answer is: charging residents directly for the number of miles they drive. State economic analysts say a road-usage charge is the clearest path forward to reversing potentially billions in lost revenue. Caltrans has been testing the concept for a decade and is about to embark on its fourth pilot project.

But getting elected officials to actually take the plunge and overhaul the gas tax system is easier said than done.

“It is certainly the third-rail issue here,” said state Sen. Dave Cortese, chair of the Senate’s Transportation Committee. “That all tends to rear its ugly head whenever anybody even talks about gas tax increases or this issue of a potential replacement for it.”

California Democrats still feel the sting from the last time they tinkered with gas prices, a 12-cent-per-gallon hike in 2017. Weathered billboards still dot rural highways in Republican areas blaming state Democrats for raising prices. That vote resulted in a recall campaign led by the Republican Party and anti-tax groups that ousted state Sen. Josh Newman, who represents a competitive district in Orange County.

Newman reclaimed the seat in 2020, but said his experience is what every lawmaker fears. He blamed the recall on a lack of voter education, and said a road-user charge could face a similar backlash if people don’t understand why a change is happening.

“It’s hard for me to envision a smooth transition to a system where Californians get a bill in the mail that says, ‘You drove 1400 miles last month, you owe $140 bucks,’” Newman said. “People would lose their minds.”

Three states — Oregon, Utah and Virginia — have developed voluntary road-user charges for EV drivers that they say have received positive feedback from the small number of drivers who’ve signed up. But challenges remain in expanding those programs statewide. Hawaii became the first state to approve a mandatory road-user charge last summer, which will start for EVs in 2028 and all vehicles in 2033.

Caltrans’ pilot program, launching this month and running through the end of the year, will test the state’s ability to handle credit and debit payments. Newman said he’s among the 800 people selected to participate.

Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson said she plans to hold informational hearings on the issue next year and didn’t rule out the idea of authoring a road-use charge bill in the future. Her committee staff estimate it would take six years to fully switch off from the gas tax system.

“I think people are skeptical because they don’t understand the impacts of it,” she said. “And you don’t want to be the person who touches a hot button and then it goes wrong.”

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2024/08/13/the-dark-side-of-the-ev-revolution-00173921?nname=california-playbook&nid=00000150-384f-da43-aff2-bf7fd35a0000&nrid=0000016a-7368-d919-a96b-f7f9c66d0000&nlid=641189

 

Cisco Systems Has 2nd Big Layoff

NY Times

Cisco Systems, one of the largest makers of computer networking equipment, said  it would cut 7 percent of its work force in its second major round of layoffs this year.

The San Jose-based company did not say how many workers would be affected, but it reported it had 84,900 employees in July 2023, which would amount to around 6,000 jobs cut. In February, Cisco laid off 4,000 employees.

In an earnings report, Cisco posted net income of $2.16 billion in its most recent quarter, down 45 percent from a year ago, and revenue of $13.64 billion, down 10 percent. Still, the company exceeded Wall Street expectations, and its stock was up nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading.

Like other big tech companies, Cisco has raced to take advantage of an industrywide shift into artificial intelligence. While Cisco has long been one of Silicon Valley’s largest companies, and briefly the world’s most valuable publicly traded company during the dot-com boom, it has been overshadowed in recent years by companies offering cloud computing services to big corporate customers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/14/technology/cisco-layoffs.html?campaign_id=49&emc=edit_ca_20240815&instance_id=131772&nl=california-today&regi_id=80823166&segment_id=175216&te=1&user_id=ebedd9f525ae3910eeb31de6bb6c4da0

 

Port of LA Moves Record Cargo

Bloomberg

The Port of Los Angeles processed more container units last month than any other July on record, driven by retailers eager to get their holiday goods in early.

“Toys, clothing, footwear and electronics are arriving now to avoid risk later in the year,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka on Tuesday. “These goods are coming at the same time as our more typical back-to-school, fall fashion and Halloween merchandise.”

Importers have moved peak season earlier as they try to get ahead of tariffs, Red Sea cargo diversions, and a potential strike by East and Gulf Coast dockworkers starting in October, Seroka told reporters Tuesday.

The Port of LA — the busiest container hub in the US — handled a total of 939,600 twenty-foot equivalent units in July, a 37% increase over the previous year. More than 501,000 import units crossed the docks last month, an almost 38% increase from last year and the most since the height of the pandemic. Exports leaving the port totaled nearly 115,000 units in July, a 4% boost from a year earlier.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-14/port-of-la-sets-july-volume-record-as-holiday-goods-arrive-early