What will Dems do if Gavin Newsom loses? + Hazard pay for workers + Human composting
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
‘THESE FOLKS ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PASS A SLICE OF PUMPKIN PIE’
If voters kick Gov. Gavin Newsom out of office next month, whoever replaces him won’t have the political muscle of the last Republican to unseat a Democratic governor.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie star and champion bodybuilder, captivated voters in 2003 in the recall of Gov. Gray Davis with his international celebrity and pledge to hand Sacramento back to the people.
But even Schwarzenegger struggled to translate that fame into political victories in California’s Democrat-dominated Capitol. His terms were marked by budget stalemates and impasses with the Legislature on unions, pensions and government spending.
A Republican following Newsom after the recall would face even tougher odds in today’s Legislature, said Paul Hefner, a longtime Democratic political adviser.
Democrats now have a supermajority in both the Assembly and Senate. They can override a veto and implement a budget without the governor.
A recall governor after Newsom would have only a year before the next election, which leaves little time to staff an administration and execute policy priorities.
“These folks are not going to be able to pass a slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. It’s not happening,” Hefner said about the GOP candidates running in the recall.
Recent polls show the race to recall Newsom on Sept. 14 is close, but no candidate yet enjoys the widespread enthusiasm that propelled Schwarzenegger to office.
Conservative talk show host Larry Elder leads the field with 27% of the likely vote, according to an Aug. 26 Change Research poll. Assemblyman Kevin Kiley followed with 4%, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer with 3%, businessman John Cox with 2% and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner with 1%.
Democratic party leaders argue that the recall Republicans are too far-right or Trumpian for bipartisanship. The Republican candidates are largely against mask and vaccine mandates, which Democratic leaders consider key tools to killing COVID.
Former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, a Democrat, said it’s “hard to point to anyone who I could work with” among the Republican candidates.
“Because I don’t think they represent the values that California espouses,” Nuñez said. “Schwarzenegger did.”
GOP contenders say they’re not worried, and believe they can strengthen their party’s weak hand in the Legislature.
Faulconer said he’ll use his experience working with Democrats on the San Diego city council to build bipartisan bridges. Cox said he’ll use political pressure and special sessions to force the Legislature into compliance. Kiley said he’ll leverage his legislative experience to block bad bills. Elder and Jenner did not respond to interview requests.
Do you think they can pull out some Republican wins in the Capitol? Read more on what Democrats have planned in Hannah Wiley’s report today.
LEGISLATORS CALL FOR HAZARD PAY FOR WORKERS
Via Jeong Park...
Nearly 50 legislators are renewing the push for the state to give out hazard pay for its essential workers.
The legislators wrote a letter Friday to their leaders, saying the state can use part of its $76 billion surplus to create a fund that would give one-time payments to eligible essential workers.
“A budget is a statement of values, and with the significant surplus California has received this year, we cannot close out this budget without providing essential workers with the recognition that they deserve for the sacrifices they have made during a difficult time in our nation’s history,” legislators wrote in their letter.
The letter specifically called out grocery, healthcare, warehouse, transit and garment workers as those who have worked “even amid inadequate and unsafe working conditions.” Some cities such as Oxnard and states such as Louisiana have already given out hazard pay to essential workers, legislators noted in their letter.
The push comes months after major California unions began pushing the state to give $8 billion in bonuses to essential workers.
HUMAN COMPOSTING BILL HELD BY APPROPRIATIONS
The powerful Senate Appropriations Committee has held a bill that would legalize the composting of human remains.
The bill, AB 501, was authored by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, and had sailed through the Assembly with a unanimous vote.
Garcia issued a statement, expressing her disappointment that the bill was held in the Appropriations Committee’s suspense file.
“I don’t know what Chair (Anthony) Portantino was thinking, but I am confident that this is the right policy at the right time. COVID-19 continues to take too many of our loved ones, so much so, that we recently witnessed the South Coast Air Quality Management District suspend cremation limits traditionally set to limit harmful emissions from filling our air,” Garcia said in a statement. “This is another sad reminder that we must legalize a more environmentally friendly option like Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) as soon as possible. AB 501 will provide an additional option for California residents that is more environmentally-friendly and gives them another choice for burial.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I love my job.”
- Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee of Roseville in an Instagram post from Afghanistan days before she was killed in a suicide attack at the Kabul airport.
Best of the Bee:
A federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit that claimed the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom is unconstitutional, allowing the election to proceed, via Andrew Sheeler.
The leading Republican recall candidate says he’s not African American. He’s an American who is Black, via Lara Korte.
‘Exposed to toxic smoke and ash’: Proposed law would increase workplace protections amid wildfires, via Kim Bojórquez.