Counting Californians + A public takeover of PG&E + The voting begins

Good Tuesday morning to you, California. I’ll be at Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s legislative economic summit today and tomorrow. I’ll deliver updates and hot takes here.

COUNTING 40 MILLION PEOPLE

No big deal, right? Actually, the biggest of deals.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla underscored the importance of counting every Californian during the upcoming 2020 Census at a Monday Public Policy Institute of California event.

The once-a-decade headcount means a lot for every state. California could lose anything from federal dollars to a congressional seat.

“It is our population count that determines our share of federal funding for the next 10 years,” Padilla said. “It’s each community’s share of transportation dollars, housing dollars, healthcare dollars, education dollars, public safety dollars, on and on and on.”

The census is also political. California has 53 members in the U.S. House of Representatives, what was determined 10 years ago to be the Golden State’s fair share of the 435-member chamber, based on its population numbers.

The state is taking a serious, near-$200 million commitment to make sure every Californian is counted. Padilla has held dozens of roundtables and workshops, launched public awareness campaigns and allocated money to grassroots efforts that target “hard-to-count” communities like young kids, immigrants and renters.

“If there’s an undercount in California, it’s not that we don’t get the funds that we deserve and need, it’s literally our voice in Congress that’s at stake. Electoral votes, the same,” Padilla said, adding that education funding also relies on an accurate number.

Important dates:

• March 12-20: Invites to participate in the count online will be mailed
• March 16-24: Reminder letters mailed
• March 26-April 3: Reminder postcards sent
• April 8-16: Ding ding, another reminder! And also a hard copy questionnaire gets mailed
• April 20-27: Final reminder, and then someone might show up at your door to physically count you

A PUBLIC PG&E

But not PG&E.

Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, wants an entirely new utility in California, one that does away with Pacific Gas and Electric and allows for a public takeover.

Wiener announced on Monday his plan for a “safer, more reliable and affordable energy” company. The measure arrives ahead of a June 30 deadline for PG&E to exit bankruptcy, and after mass power shutoffs prompted statewide uproar during last year’s wildfire season.

“This legislation is long overdue,” Wiener said. “It will put and end to the dangerous roller coaster ride that we have been on with PG&E for the last decade.”

It’s not like we didn’t see this coming.

PG&E ruffled some serious political feathers last year when it shut power off to millions of Californians during fire-risky fall weather, and then again when its bankruptcy plan failed to meet Gov. Gavin Newsom’s standards.

“This legislation is long overdue,” Wiener said. “It will put and end to the dangerous roller coaster ride that we have been on with PG&E for the last decade.”

Newsom has similarly promised a “new company,” one that works for all Californians, but not one that necessarily requires a state takeover.

“We are pursuing a deal with PG&E. If we are not able to secure that deal, the state is prepared to take it over,” Newsom said last week during a Public Policy Institute of California event. “It’s not the preferred option, but it’s a necessary option if they can’t do that for themselves.”

Flanked by San Francisco Mayor London Breed and local officials, Wiener said his bill would end PG&E’s “broken” business model. The promises did not persuade a crowd gathered at the San Francisco press conference, which drowned Wiener’s and others’ voices with loud choruses of booing.

PG&E was also quick to disparage the plan.

“We oppose Senator Weiner’s proposed framework, and PG&E’s facilities are not for sale,” PG&E said in a statement. “Additionally, changing the structure of the company would not create a safer or cleaner operation. Recent takeover attempts have largely failed due to a range of factors. We remain firmly convinced that a government or customer takeover is not the optimal solution that will address the challenges ahead and serve the long-run interests of all customers in the communities we serve.”

IT’S GO TIME

Super Tuesday is right around the corner. Can you feel it?

Maybe not yet, but likely by the end of the week.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced on Monday that “millions of ballots” are headed to Californians who opted to vote by mail for the March 3 presidential primary.

And make no mistake. Monday might have been Iowa’s day, but according to Padilla, California gets a whole month.

“More vote-by-mail ballots will be sent out in California than the populations of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada—combined,” Padilla said in a press statement. “The California Presidential Primary may be on Super Tuesday, but for millions of Californians, it is really Super February.”

Some voting reminders:

• “No stamp, no problem.” Every ballot comes with a prepaid postage ballot.
• You can also return the ballot at a polling place, county elections office or voting center.
• Vote early, Padilla said, adding that he expects “record turnout this year.”
• No Party Preference tip — Only the American Independent, Democratic and Libertarian parties are accepting NPP votes for presidential candidates. The Republican party opted out.

Over the weekend — The California Democratic Party announced on Sunday that it was opening 14 regional offices throughout the state for its 2020 Coordinated Campaign. Rusty Hicks, the party’s chair, said the campaign will include “tens of thousands of volunteers,” “millions of phone calls” and knocks on hundreds of thousands of doors” to get Democrats into local and state offices and progressive measures on the ballot. And, of course, the party wants one of its own in the White House.

The offices are in: Bakersfield, Brea, Camarillo, Fresno, Huntington Beach, Los Angeles, Modesto, Oakland, Oceanside, Palmdale, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Stockton and Walnut Creek.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The ballot measure is a distraction aimed at delaying important advances in protecting renters and building housing to alleviate the crisis impacting our working families. We will work hard to ensure its defeat in November.”

— Cesar Diaz, legislative and political director of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, in response to a proposed ballot initiative to establish rent control in California.

Best of The Bee:

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• California is mailing ballots to millions of residents a month ahead of the March 3 presidential primary. That doesn’t necessarily mean voters should send them back right away, by Bryan Anderson