It’s make or break for bills at CA Legislature

It’s another big deadline week in California’s Legislature: To keep their bills alive for this session, legislators have until Friday to get them through the house where they were introduced. 

At stake: 553 measures in the Assembly and 365 in the Senate, according to veteran lobbyist and legislative recordkeeper Chris Micheli. Already, the Assembly has passed 304 bills and the Senate 129. So of the 2,159 introduced this session, about 20% have cleared their first house so far. 

Both chambers plan floor sessions every day this week to vote on bills. Among noteworthy developments Monday: 

• Health care wage: The author of a law phasing in a $25 minimum wage for health care workers moved to delay its starting date, from June 1 to July 1. Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing for a delay due to the budget shortfall and said last week negotiations are underway. The office of Sen. María Elena Durazo said the proposed delay gives legislators and the Newsom administration time to continue discussions.

• “Pay to play:” The Senate passed a bill to weaken a 2022 law designed to stop local officials from trading votes for campaign cash. The bill would allow donors with business pending before local elected officials to contribute as much as $1,000 to the officials, up from the $250 limit under current law. The bill initially exempted developers of specific housing projects, but its author, Napa Democrat Bill Dodd, agreed to delete the provision. Under the bill, labor unions would still be exempt from the campaign contribution limits.

• Cannabis cafes: The Assembly advanced a measure by San Francisco Democrat Matt Haney that would allow cannabis retailers to sell non-cannabis food and drinks, as well as host live performances. To overcome concerns in Newsom’s veto of a similar bill last year about second-hand smoke creating a hazardous workplace environment, this year’s proposal prohibits employees and customers from smoking cannabis in areas where food is prepared or stored.

• Coastal housing: The Assembly also passed a bill to lift restrictions on apartment projects within the California Coastal Zone. Backed by David Alvarez, a San Diego Democrat, the proposal seeks to boost housing along the state’s coastline, as long as developers set aside a certain number of units for low-income residents. It was opposed by some coastal legislators, including Democrat Al Muratsuchi of Torrance and Republican Diane Dixon of Newport Beach.

• Social media: A bipartisan majority in the Assembly (including nine Republicans) approved Democrat Josh Lowenthal’s proposal to hold major social media companies financially liable for harms they have caused to minors. The bill includes a $5,000 fine per violation, to as much as $1 million. It is opposed by tech industry groups, such as the Chamber of Progress and TechNet. Meanwhile, the Senate passed Sen. Nancy Skinner’s bill to prohibit social media companies from designing their platforms to be addictive to minors. A similar bill by the Oakland Democrat died last year.

As California seeks to replace all new gas-powered cars with zero-emissions vehicles by 2035, one challenge is charging “deserts” that do not have enough electric vehicle chargers.

The Imperial Valley — a 4,500 square mile region north of the U.S.-Mexico border — is one such desert, explains CalMatters climate reporter Alejandro Lazo in the latest installment of CalMatters’ electric vehicle series. 

But while its 1,200 EV owners struggle to find charging stations, the discovery of lithium at the nearby Salton Sea could transform the region’s economy. Lithium is key to making electric car batteries, and state officials say mineral deposits from the Salton Sea could produce as much as 600,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year, worth about $7.2 billion.

But Luis Olmedo, executive director of an environmental justice advocacy nonprofit, is skeptical that the mineral extraction will meaningfully help Imperial Valley residents become part of the EV movement. High poverty and unemployment rates contribute to the region’s slow adoption of zero-emission cars.

• Olmedo: “We’re about to extract, perhaps, the world’s supply of lithium here, yet we don’t even have the simplest, the lowest of offerings, which is: Let’s build you chargers.”

For more on the Imperial Valley, read Alejandro’s story.

Speaking of the environment: Rising temperatures affect not only outdoor and indoor laborers, but also school children, writes Alejandra Reyes-Velarde of CalMatters’ California Divide team.

Using $121 million in state grants, more than 160 California schools are either designing or building “green” schoolyards with more trees and gardens to shade students. But with the multibillion-dollar state budget deficit looming, some environmental groups are urging the state to allocate money for green schoolyards through a proposed climate bond or proposed school infrastructure bonds.

Legislators behind the school infrastructure proposals, however, are hesitant about the potential carve-out, including Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi.

• Muratsuchi: “Ultimately the priorities for school facilities funding should be driven by educators and not by the environmental lobby.”

Read Alejandra’s story to learn more about this issue.

If it seems like elections never ended in part of the Central Valley, you’d be right.

Today, voters in the 20th Congressional District will decide which Republican will get a head start on seniority and a leg up in the fall campaign — Assemblymember Vince Fong of Bakersfield or Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.

It’s the runoff in the special election to fill the remaining term of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is backing Fong. Boudreaux and Fong (who had to win in court to stay on the ballot) also advanced from the regular March primary to the November general election, when district voters will pick who serves the full two-year term starting in January.

In the special election on March 19, Fong led Boudreaux 42% to 26%. As of Sunday, about 60,000 ballots had been returned of the 453,000 total in Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. 

Besides McCarthy’s blessing, Fong has raised more campaign money, the Los Angeles Times reports. Boudreaux acknowledges he’s the underdog against “the McCarthy machine.” 

• Mark Salvaggio, a Bakersfield political commentator, to the Times: “Boudreaux is the outsider, the David vs. the Goliath. Fong is McCarthy’s heir apparent, and the scales are tilted in his favor.”

Lobbying is big business at the state Capitol — a record $480 million in 2023. Who are the top spenders this year? Find out from CalMatters data reporter Jeremia Kimelman.