Big Tobacco sues + New Latino Caucus chair + Stars promote emergency safety

Good morning and happy Wednesday! It’s the middle of the week!

FIRST UP: The Employment Development Department is back before the Senate today with a new hearing on its backlog of unpaid unemployment claims. It’ll all face questions on the Newsom administration’s plan to prevent a future crisis at the department in the next recession. Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, plans to the lead hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m. Find more details here.

BIG TOBACCO SUES TO BLOCK LAW

Big Tobacco is taking the State of California to court in a bid to block SB 793 from going into effect.

In a complaint filed late last week, plaintiffs including tobacco giants R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Philip Morris USA argue that the state’s newly passed ban on the sale of most flavored tobacco products was “an overbroad reaction to legitimate public-health concerns about youth use of tobacco products” and “the most draconian ban on tobacco products of any state in the nation.”

The plaintiffs argue further that the ban is unconstitutional on several grounds.

First, they argue that federal law supersedes state law, and the manufacture of tobacco “is subject to intensive regulation by the federal government.”

“In striking a balance between federal authority and state authority over the regulation of tobacco products, Congress expressly denied states the ability to promulgate any requirement relating to tobacco product standards that are different from or in addition to federal standards,” the complaint reads.

The plaintiffs also argue that the law unlawfully attempts to regulate manufacturers who are outside of the state borders, which they say is a violation of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.

Finally, they argue that California “has no legitimate interest in enforcing its unconstitutional law.”

In addition to the complaint, the plaintiffs have also filed a request for a preliminary injunction to stop the law from going into effect on Jan. 1 while the courts sort it out.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids condemned the move, calling it a “last-ditch maneuver.”

“For decades, Big Tobacco has relied on hooking kids with candy-flavored tobacco products that taste better than cigarettes, forcing them into lifelong addiction. But the Legislature and the governor saw through these dirty tricks, and we’re confident California’s courts will help stop the cloud of smoke Big Tobacco uses to hide the truth,” the campaign’s advocacy director, Lindsey Freitas, said in a statement.

The group argues that if the tobacco industry delays SB 793 from going into effect, the industry would generate $1.1 billion in revenue from the sale of menthol cigarettes over a 22-month period.

“Approximately 17,000 lives will be lost, 37,000 more high school kids will start using e-cigarettes, and the state will rack up another $800 million in health care costs related to tobacco use,” according to the campaign.

DURAZO GETS CAUCUS CHAIR

The California Latino Legislative Caucus announced that Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, will serve as the new chair, replacing outgoing chair Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, whose two-year term is up.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, was elected to serve as vice-chair of the caucus.

“I first and foremost want to thank our outgoing Chair Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez for her steadfast leadership and vision for the California Latino Legislative Caucus. Under her leadership, 21 priority bills were signed into law and we raised $500,000 for scholarships to benefit students across California,” Durazo said in a statement. “I also want to thank my colleagues for trusting me to continue the caucus’s work. During COVID-19, we will continue to focus on worker health and safety, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the Latino community, expanding the state’s safety net to include all Californians, and ensuring Latinos in California get equity education and economic opportunities they deserve, regardless of immigration status. I very much look forward to working with the Vice Chair Assemblymember Robert Rivas.”

STARS SPEAK OUT ON COVID, DISASTERS

Actors Jimmy Smits, Melissa Barrera and Noemi Gonzalez are set to appear alongside Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris and others on InformaGente Extra!, a Facebook Live event hosted by Listos California, an emergency preparedness agency.

“Forty percent of California residents are Latinx, and there are more than 335,000 cases of COVID-19 among this community, which represents 61 percent of all total cases in the state. Given the urgency of COVID-19 and wildfires, InformaGente aims to connect our communities with lifesaving public health information and disaster preparedness. We’re thankful to partner with such influential national organizations, talent and California’s state and local leaders who are all lending their time, support and voice to ready our people,” said Co-Chair Justin Knighten in a statement.

You can tune into the livestream, which starts at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, by visiting here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Apparently, Republicans in our legislature think that when I wrote that a voter could designate a ‘person’ to turn in their ballot, they thought I meant a fraudulently labeled box. I’m terribly sorry. I will define person next time.”

- Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• Ballot drop boxes appearing in California this week prompted state officials to issue cease and desist orders against the Republican Party organizations that set them up. Yet California Republicans are refusing to remove the boxes, which Democratic officials say are illegal under state election law. The dispute highlights a longstanding rift between parties over a practice known as ballot collecting, sometimes called ballot harvesting, via Lara Korte.

• Trick-or-treating and Halloween parties are “strongly discouraged” in California this year because they present a high risk of spreading COVID-19, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced Tuesday, via Sophia Bollag.

• A landmark state Supreme Court decision from July might have breathed new life into a felon’s four-year fight to get his full public pension back, via Wes Venteicher.