Rendon plays ‘power politics’ + Fighting for SB 357 + Rittenhouse verdict reactions
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
‘POWER POLITICS’
Via Hannah Wiley...
The Assembly is playing musical chairs.
In case you missed it, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on Wednesday stripped Assemblyman Evan Low as chair of the Business and Professions Committee. Not only that, but Rendon booted the Silicon Valley Democrat from the committee all together, leaving a vacancy he requested be filled by another member of the party.
Rendon tapped Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, as the new committee chair.
“I’ve asked Assemblymember Berman to take the helm of Business and Professions. His service in the Assembly has demonstrated his commitment to the Democratic Caucus,” Rendon said in a statement. “As a B&P committee member, he has shown mastery of the subject matter and I know I can depend on him to dedicate his time and focus to leading the work of this important committee.”
We asked why Low was removed as chair of the committee, considering his fundraising chops and clear fit for the post.
“As is his practice, the Speaker makes periodic changes to committee chairs,” a spokesperson responded.
Half a dozen credible Capitol sources quickly reached out with another story.
As anyone who’s been in Rendon’s shoes will tell you, not everyone likes the person in power. Leadership is, at times, the worst job in the building. You have to manage caucus infighting, and maneuver legislative and budget negotiations while working with the Senate and governor’s office. It’s hard!
But the last two years have been extraordinary. Frustration over the Assembly’s COVID protocol, considered less rigorous than the Senate’s, festered among members. Then, on the final night of the 2020 session, Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks made national headlines after she rushed to to the chamber floor with her newborn to cast votes on legislation wasn’t initially sure would pass. Rendon’s office denied her request to vote by proxy, a policy reserved at the time only for those at “high risk of COVID.” Rendon dealt with the PR nightmare for weeks. Rendon’s office said Wicks was on maternity leave at the time and wasn’t required to be on the floor. But his caucus further splintered amid the criticism.
At one point this year, sources said, Low’s name popped up as an alternative to Rendon.
Capitol insiders said Low never secured the necessary votes, but he did come close enough to spook Rendon’s team. Expelling Low from B&P chair was Rendon’s way of warning his caucus to fall in line, sources said.
The question now becomes whether Low will accept the public reprimand, or fight back. His allies in the LGBTQ and Asian and Pacific Islander communities have already issued statements defending his leadership, and called on Rendon to provide a reason for his removal. Low is chair of the LGBTQ Legislative Caucus and vice-chair of the Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus.
“Don’t know if he has the votes and now speaker has put fear of god into anyone with that move,” one Democratic consultant told me in a text. “Power politics.”
For now, Low is laying...low.
“It has been an honor to serve as Chair of the Assembly’s Business and Professions Committee, where my colleagues and I crafted legislation to help small businesses, combat the opioid crisis, implement a system to regulate legal cannabis, and work with Governor Newsom to protect patients and health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Low said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to serve in any capacity.”
Editing note: This section was updated to reflect that Wicks was not required to be on the Assembly floor to cast votes.
WIENER GOES TO BAT FOR SB 357
Recall back to the waning days of the 2021 legislative session, when lawmakers voted to pass a hotly contested bill, SB 357, which would decriminalize loitering for the purpose of sex work. The bill passed, but it’s author, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, announced that it would be held for signature consideration until January.
Well, January is fast approaching, and now Wiener is coming out fighting for the bill.
Wiener’s team released an email on Friday championing the bill, pointing out that under current law, it is legal to arrest someone who looks like a sex worker, “AKA is a person of color, an LGBTQ person, or is wearing clothes deemed ‘provocative.’”
“Sex workers are workers. And they are full human beings. Criminalizing them and arresting them doesn’t make anyone safer: it doesn’t deter people from doing sex work and it doesn’t save people from being trafficked. It leaves people with criminal records, which means they’re more likely to get stuck in a bad situation because they have no other options,” Wiener’s team said in the email.
SB 357 sharply divided Democrats when it was under consideration by the Legislature. It’s unclear where Gov. Gavin Newsom stands on the bill, but what is clear is that Wiener’s team isn’t taking any chances. They are currently circulating an online petition in an attempt to build a show of support for the bill.
CALIFORNIA ELECTEDS REACT TO THE RITTENHOUSE VERDICT
California elected officials and lawmakers were quick to react to the news that 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges related to the fatal shooting of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020.
Here’s a roundup up their quotes:
“America today: you can break the law, carry around weapons built for a military, shoot and kill people, and get away with it. That’s the message we’ve just sent to armed vigilantes across the nation.”
- Gov. Gavin Newsom, via Twitter.
“To those of us who wake up every morning to seek justice, today is a sad day. I can only reflect on the unnecessary loss of life and think — this is not justice.Tomorrow we rise and continue to fight to build a more just, more equitable America.”
- Attorney General Rob Bonta, via Twitter.
“This is why we can never stop pushing. Never stop organizing. I’m sick right now.”
- Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter.
“The worst, worst, worst possible verdict. I’m sick. And I’m afraid for my daughter, who recently told me that she feels that she is not safe in this world. How can we possibly explain this to our children?”
- Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, via Twitter.
“Gavin Newsom is already attacking the Rittenhouse jury. Ordinary citizens reaching a decision based on evidence and the law goes against everything he stands for.”
- Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, via Twitter.
“White supremacy in America:-12 year old Tamir Rice is killed for looking like a “threat” while playing. 17 year old vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse — who shot & killed 2 people — is acquitted. Our racist justice system has once again profoundly failed the American people.”
- Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, via Twitter.
“Shameful. A prime example of how America & our unequal justice system incentivize gun violence…”
- Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, via Twitter.
“This is America: rewarding and upholding white supremacy”
- Assemblyman Alex Lee, D-San Jose, via Twitter.
“So now it’s legal to shoot and kill protestors? AmeriKKKa, your roots are showing. #RittenhouseVerdict”
- Sen. Sydney Kamlager, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter.
“The verdict is absolutely infuriating. I can’t believe he’s walking away without even a slap on the wrist. This court failed at its one and only responsibility to uphold justice. How do we explain this to the world? How do I explain this to my kids?”
- Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter.
“This is a dark day in America, and an absolute travesty of justice. This sends a clear message to all armed vigilantes that there will be no consequences to their crimes. We have two different justice systems in America - one if you’re white, and one if you’re not.”
- Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, via Twitter.
“The tale of 2 America’s. Despite killing 2 people & wounding a 3rd Rittenhouse is acquitted, yet Julius Jones spends the rest of his life in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Who says race doesn’t matter?”
- Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, via Twitter.
“Today’s verdict was heartbreaking. The gleeful response from white extremists and those who enable them for power and profit is disgusting. We have a long way to go to make this a just and equitable society. Today’s disheartening outcome can’t—and won’t be—the end.”
- Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, via Twitter.
“Tamir Rice was 12yrs old and playing with a toy gun in a park when he was shot and killed. Kyle Rittenhouse at 17, vigilante style, armed himself, and killed two people. He’s now 18, cried at trial and branded himself as the victim. Todays verdict is appalling.”
- Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter.
“You have a constitutional right to free speech. You have a right not to be murdered while exercising that right. But white privilege was on display today, and a murderer walked free. We must continue to work towards a just system and I am committed to doing just that.”
- Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, via Twitter.
“The verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial exposes the systemic racism within our judicial process for the world to see. Communities of color are constantly over-incarcerated and over-sentenced for much less severe crimes than the ones Kyle Rittenhouse stood on trial for. We must push for greater accountability within our judicial system as we work to dismantle institutional racism across all levels of governance.”
- Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, D-Arreta, via Twitter.
“The Rittenhouse verdict is a stark illustration of the inequities of our justice system and the horrific consequences of permitting vigilantism to masquerade as self-defense.”
- Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, via Twitter.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It’s a beary sad day. While @BacteriaBear may have survived through the height of COVID, tough budget years, and three Governors, even solid gold 800lb bears need to hibernate #caleg”
- Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, via Twitter.
(The so-called “Bacteria Bear” has been relocated to the reception area of the temporary governor’s office in the swing space, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.)
Best of the Bee:
The president of California’s largest state employee union has posted six years’ worth of union credit card statements online detailing his spending and the spending of his predecessor, via Wes Venteicher.
Dozens of environmental and preservation activists on Wednesday protested the demolition of the California Capitol annex, a 69-year-old structure attached to the historic statehouse that lawmakers consider outdated and dangerous, via Hannah Wiley.
A Cal-OSHA board is holding off on requiring workers in large California companies get vaccinated or regularly tested for the coronavirus, citing the court’s recent ruling temporarily blocking a similar proposed federal mandate, via Jeong Park.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 4:55 AM.