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Presented by Californians for Energy Independence: Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte’s must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State | | | | |  | | By Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte, Matthew Brown and Ramon Castanos | Presented by Californians for Energy Independence | THE BUZZ: Homelessness in California, spending on homelessness in California, and voter frustration with homelessness in California. What do they have in common? They’ve risen year after year, contributing to Californians’ sense that their state cannot make concrete progress on a fundamental societal failure — even as Gov. Gavin Newsom has prioritized the issue and dedicated billions of dollars to addressing it. Californians rank homelessness the state’s most pressing issue, and yet three years after Newsom dedicated his entire State of the State address to the issue, 73 percent of voters say the problem has worsened in the last year, a record high. . Statistics show they’re not imagining it: The number of homeless people in California stands at roughly 171,000, compared to roughly 130,000 in 2018. California has increased its homelessness outlays from about $515 million for the 2018-19 cycle to roughly $4.6 billion for the current one, per the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Lawmakers want to know more about how that money is being spent. Democrats and Republicans sang from the same hymnal during a Senate budget hearing on homelessness Monday. The chorus: How do we know if all that spending is working? With Newsom proposing to spend $3.4 billion on homelessness in the next budget, “all of us would very much like to see, against each of these allocations, either number of units or number of people served,” budget Chair Nancy Skinner said. Sen. John Laird called the LAO’s summary “a long list of things” lacking evidence of “what’s been successful.” “What have these programs actually accomplished in terms of reducing the number of people living on the streets?” Sen. Roger Niello asked. The governor’s office points to successes like the Homekey project funding hotel and motel conversions. Newsom has trumpeted the state’s clearing of hundreds of homeless encampments. He has extolled behavioral health funding and argued his Care Courts program will help people who are chronically homeless because of underlying mental health problems. But the numbers continue to march upwards. Newsom has long faulted cities and counties for not doing enough to build housing. He warned this year that, unless locals make significant strides on encampments, “I'm going to be hard-pressed to make a case to the Legislature to provide them one dollar more” beyond the $400 million he’s proposing. Newsom threatened to withhold hundreds of millions until he saw more detailed homelessness plans. Housing costs indisputably play a role, with median home prices roughly doubling in the last decade, and locals surely bear some responsibility. But lawmakers considering how to budget diminished revenue see the buck stopping with Newsom. The governor understands, state Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly told senators Monday, that “despite all these investments we haven’t moved the needle like we expect to or certainly like we want to.”
| | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 2/9 TO HEAR FROM AMERICA’S GOVERNORS: In a divided Congress, more legislative and policy enforcement will shift to the states, meaning governors will take a leading role in setting the agenda for the nation. Join POLITICO on Thursday, Feb. 9 at World Wide Technology's D.C. Innovation Center for The Fifty: America's Governors, presented by Cisco, where we will examine where innovations are taking shape and new regulatory red lines, the future of reproductive health, and how climate change is being addressed across a series of one-on-one interviews. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. The California Public Utilities Commission is looking into surging natural gas prices that have driven home utility bills higher at an en banc hearing today. This comes after Newsom asked federal regulators to look into potential market manipulation, arguing plunging temperatures shouldn’t account for the price spike. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up at jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.
| | | | A message from Californians for Energy Independence: California energy shutdowns have resulted in about a 25% decrease in local oil production in the last four years - but if California isn’t producing the energy we need locally, it has to come from somewhere else. California now imports 75% of the oil we use - mostly from foreign countries without our same environmental, labor, and human rights standards, resulting in an unstable energy supply, and higher gas prices for working families. Get The Facts | | | QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I find it off-putting to just engage in platitudes. I much prefer to deconstruct an issue and speak of it in a way that hopefully elevates public discourse and educates the public.” Vice President Kamala Harris on her preferred speaking style, via The New York Times. TWEET OF THE DAY:
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KirstenAllen46 | WHERE’S GAVIN? In Washington to attend the National Governors Association conference and meet with White House officials.
| | | | A message from Californians for Energy Independence:   | | | | | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | |  | TOP TALKERS | | ‘WORK IN PROGRESS’ — “Kamala Harris is trying to define her vice presidency. Even her allies are tired of waiting,” by The New York Times’ Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Katie Rogers and Peter Baker: “Through much of the fall, a quiet panic set in among key Democrats about what would happen if President Biden opted not to run for a second term. Most Democrats interviewed, who insisted on anonymity to avoid alienating the White House, said flatly that they did not think Ms. Harris could win the presidency in 2024.” UH OH — “A 7.8 earthquake like Turkey's would devastate Southern California. Here's how,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Rong-Gong Lin II: “A quake as strong as magnitude 8.2 is possible on the southern San Andreas fault and would bring disaster to all of Southern California simultaneously, with the fault rupturing from near the Mexican border to Monterey County. Such an earthquake would cause widespread damage from Palm Springs to San Luis Obispo — and everything in between, experts say.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — SCHIFF IE: Rep. Adam Schiff’s Senate run will be backed by an independent expenditure committee, Standing Strong PAC, led by DCCC alum Kyle Layman, steered by powerhouse California firm Bearstar Strategies and enlisting DCCC veteran Jesse Ferguson, DSCC adviser Molly Murphy, and mail strategist Natalie LeBlanc. Such committees can raise unlimited sums, and you can bet this Senate race will see heavy spending. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — MINMENTUM: State Sen. Dave Min is rolling out endorsements from 51 state lawmakers, including both Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, in support of his House run in CA-47. — Jeffrey Katzenberg’s escape to L.A., by POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago: If Caruso took the high road, Katzenberg said that he would, too. But, “If you take the low road,” a person familiar with the conversation recounted, “I’m going lower.” L.A. DOMINOES — Former Sierra Madre mayor and L.A. supervisor candidate John Harabedian is running to replace outgoing Sen. Anthony Portantino in the solidly Democratic SD-25. ‘A HEAVYWEIGHT CLASH’ — “Conservative clash. Bredefeld in, running against Brandau. Patterson out,” by GV Wire’s David Taub: “Garry Bredefeld announced he is running for Fresno County Supervisor on Saturday. Hours later, Jim Patterson announced he will not run despite previous public intentions to do so. And, incumbent Steve Brandau says he isn’t going anywhere.”
| | CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR | | — “These Californians must move every school year. Here's why a law meant to help isn't working,” by The Sacramento Bee’s Lindsey Holden and Mathew Miranda: “In 2018, advocates won an exemption from the 50-mile requirement for families with school-age children. Relaxing the rule, they believed, would make it easier for migrant children to stay in one place and improve educational outcomes. But five years later, few families are using the exemption.” — “Rules for thee: How California Legislature skirts its own laws,” by CalMatters Sameea Kamal: “On one emblematic issue, however, this may be the session when that changes: Lawmakers, who have pushed through major bills to support unions throughout California, may finally let their own staffers organize.” — “Newsom Targets Trusts Set Up to Avoid California Income Tax,” by Bloomberg Tax’s Laura Mahoney: “Prospects for a broad tax increase on wealthy Californians may be dim, but Gov. Gavin Newsom is targeting a narrow slice of them for higher tax bills if they have trusts set up out of state.” — “Will San Francisco’s case for reparations light the fuse for the nation?” by The San Francisco Standard’s Josh Koehn: “The conservative Hoover Institute projects the tab for this singular demand alone to cost as much as $175 billion, which is almost 13 times the city’s total budget and larger than the annual spending of all but three states in the country.” A WAY WITH WORDS— “Column: Newsom promised to punish "Big oil" for profiteering, but so far it's just talk,” opines George Skelton in the Los Angeles Times: “Newsom dramatically called a special session of the Legislature in early December to slap oil companies with a windfall profits tax. The “T” word ultimately was switched to “penalty” to make it seem more like a fee.”
| | BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL | | THAT TIME OF THE YEAR ALREADY? — “Biden’s State of the Union prep: No acronyms and tricks to conquer a stutter,” by The New York Times’ Katie Rogers: “The main ideas in the speech will be true to the themes Mr. Biden has espoused throughout his career: working together, asserting America’s leadership in the world and giving the working and middle classes a leg up — a continuation of the “bottom up, middle out” philosophy he has honed over his last half century in politics.”
| | SILICON VALLEYLAND | | — “Musk pledged to cleanse Twitter of child abuse content. It's been rough going,” by The New York Times’ Michael H. Keller and Kate Conger: “‘Twitter 2.0’ will be different, the company promised. But a review by The New York Times found that the imagery, commonly known as child pornography, persisted on the platform, including widely circulated material that the authorities consider the easiest to detect and eliminate.”
| | CANNABIS COUNTRY | | A DUTCH AESTHETIC — “You could sip a latte and smoke cannabis in the same cafe under proposed California law,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sophia Bollag: “The measure aims to allow for the kind of cannabis cafes that have become popular in Amsterdam. Assembly Member Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, who introduced the measure, said it could help pot shops struggling to compete with the illegal market attract new customers.”
| | MIXTAPE | | RUN IT BACK — “Santa Clara County attorney is suing the DA — again,” by the San Jose Spotlight’s Joseph Geha. — “Dirty truth: UC Riverside study suggests new way climate change is fueling itself,” by The Press-Enterprise’s Brook Staggs. — “Blame Palo Alto,” opines Scott W. Stern in The New Republic. — “Golden State Killer and DNA testing: Barbara Rae-Venter’s 'I Know Who You Are', reviewed,” by Slate’s Laura Miller. CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this -only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Californians for Energy Independence: California energy shutdowns have resulted in about a 25% decrease in local oil production in the last four years - but if California isn’t producing the energy we need locally, it has to come from somewhere else. California now imports 75% of the oil we use - mostly from foreign countries without our same environmental, labor, and human rights standards, resulting in an unstable energy supply, and higher gas prices for working families.
As we transition to a cleaner energy economy, we can continue to produce the oil and gas Californians need locally, where production is the most regulated, and meets the highest environmental standards in the world - rather than increase our reliance on more costly foreign oil and the volatile countries that produce it.
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