Prop 12’s day in court + Jane Fonda endorses Dave Jones + NARAL grades CA lawmakers
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
SCOTUS TO TAKE UP PROP 12 NEXT WEEK
California’s Proposition 12, passed in 2018 and intended to provide more humane living conditions for livestock pigs and chickens at concentrated animal feeding operations (factory farms), will soon get its day in court: The United States Supreme Court.
SCOTUS is set to take up the question of whether the initiative violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by imposing steep regulatory burdens on predominantly out-of-state pork suppliers. Justices are set to hear oral arguments in the case of National Pork Producers Council v. Karen Ross next Tuesday.
In their petition for a Supreme Court hearing, the NPPC’s lawyers argue that while California consumes approximately 13% of the nation’s pork, it produces very little of that meat itself.
“The massive costs of complying with Proposition 12 fall almost exclusively on out-of-state farmers. And because a single pig is processed into cuts that are sold nationwide in response to demand, those costs will be passed on to consumers everywhere, in countless transactions having nothing to do with California,” according to the petition.
The state, in its response brief, points out that nearly two-thirds of Californians voted for Proposition 12, while the response brief from ballot measure sponsor Humane Society of the United States points out that Proposition 12 applies only to pork products sold in the state of California.
“It does not apply, however, to products sold outside California. Producers can freely sell products outside California from farm animals confined contrary to Proposition 12’s standards,” according to the response.
JANE FONDA ENDORSES DAVE JONES
In the scuffle between Dave Jones and Angelique Ashby for big-name endorsements, Jones on Wednesday scored the latest victory, when he secured a testimonial from actor and activist Jane Fonda.
Fonda, and her Jane Fonda Climate PAC, signaled their support for Jones in the race for Senate District 8, calling him “a true climate champion.”
“Dave’s record of defending our environment and communities spans two decades, and includes landmark climate legislation and policies that have made California a national leader in the fight to combat climate change. We support Dave because we know that in the State Senate he will fight to protect future generations and the planet,” Fonda said in a statement.
Jones is Director of the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE). He has picked up several high-profile endorsements, including the California Democratic Party, the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice California and the California Labor Federation.
His opponent, Ashby, made headlines earlier this week when she announced that Gov. Gavin Newsom had endorsed her campaign.
NARAL RELEASES ITS LATEST LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD
Abortion is a top issue with California voters, particularly in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. With that in mind, NARAL Pro-Choice California has just released its 2022 Reproductive Freedom Legislative Scorecard, grading state lawmakers on their support. .
The number of legislators earning an A+ designation more than doubled from 2021 to 2022, from 17 last year to 38 this year.
“These legislators not only take the right votes, they also lead author and co-author reproductive freedom bills, whip necessary committee and floor votes to advance these bills, and proactively and publicly utilize their platform to speak up and push to expand reproductive freedom,” according to a NARAL statement.
On the other end of the spectrum, 30 lawmakers — 9 state senators and 21 assemblymembers — earned Fs. That includes every Republican legislator, plus independent Chad Mayes and Democrat Ken Cooley.
LA ABEJA EVENT TO TACKLE LATINOS AND POLITICS
And finally, La Abeja, McClatchy California’s reporting team dedicated to Latino issues in the state, is hosting a live, virtual panel discussion Thursday featuring some top experts to discuss Latino political power in the state.
The event starts at 6 p.m.
Speakers at the hour-long event include Republican consultant Mike Madrid, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project and a nationally recognized expert on Latino voting trends; Yammilette Rodriguez, of the Central Valley’s Youth Leadership Institute; Rachel Hernandez, a Riverbank City Council member; and Amanda Renteria, the CEO of Code for America and former national political director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Topicswill include Latino voting trendsstatewide and across the country, Generation Z Latinos in politics, and races to watch in the San Joaquin Valley.
You can RSVP to attend here. And don’t forget to sign up for our free La Abeja newsletter!
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“A bunch of GOP campaign ads in California are gonna be worthless in a few days.”
- California Republican consultant Mike Madrid, responding to news of falling gas prices, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
- The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board is unimpressed with either choice in the race for insurance commissioner, via The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board.
An ambitious bill that aimed to make promotions more accessible for minorities and women in California state government was winnowed down to just a few provisions by the time Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it last month, via Wes Venteicher.
Another Weed resident is suing the owner of the lumber mill linked to last month’s deadly wildfire, blasting the company for storing hot ash in a warehouse that burned to the ground, via Dale Kasler and Jason Pohl.