California can enforce flavored tobacco ban + Holstege concedes + Abortion misinformation
Good morning, and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
U.S. SUPREME COURT LETS CALIFORNIA ENFORCE FLAVORED TOBACCO BAN
California’s voter-approved ban on flavored tobacco will take effect on Dec. 21, after the U.S. Supreme Court Monday rejected a bid by the industry to prevent the state from enforcing the law.
Golden State residents in November overwhelmingly approved Proposition 31, which allows the state to ban products like menthol cigarettes and e-cigarettes that health advocates say hook young people on tobacco products. About 63% of voters approved of the ban, while 37% were against it.
Following the election, R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco manufacturers petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — overseen by Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan — for an injunction to temporarily prevent the ban from taking effect. But the Supreme Court denied the request.
Proposition 31 took shape in 2020 after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a flavored tobacco ban that the Legislature passed that year. R.J. Reynolds and Phillip Morris USA ran a petition campaign to put the law to a vote, and the measure gathered enough signatures for a spot on the ballot in early 2021.
This kept the ban from taking effect until the 2022 election.
The tobacco companies argued in their application for injunction that the ban would cause “irreparable harm” because California is one of the United States’ largest markets for their products. Menthol cigarettes make up one-third of that market, the companies said.
R.J. Reynolds and other manufacturers filed the federal lawsuit immediately following the election, and will continue to fight the ban in court even after it takes effect.
In a statement, Attorney General Rob Bonta said he “(applauds) the Supreme Court for denying Big Tobacco’s latest attempt to block California’s commonsense ban on flavored tobacco products” and looks forward to defending the law “against any further legal challenges.”
HOLSTEGE CONCEDES TIGHT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY RACE
Democrat Christy Holstege on Monday conceded her Palm Springs-area Assembly race, which she lost by just 85 votes.
“The votes have all been counted, and it is clear that by the very thinnest of margins, we have fallen just short of victory, coming the closest this district has ever come to electing a Democrat to State Assembly,” Holstege said on Twitter.
The Palm Springs Desert Sun reported Republican Greg Wallis took his oath of office on Monday afternoon.
The race between Holstege and Wallis was expensive. The California Democratic and Republican parties each spent more than $1 million trying to win the seat, according to campaign finance data from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Holstege has described the vote-counting process as a roller coaster, as she and Wallis took turns winning and losing the lead.
On Monday, Holstege said “slightly better turnout” could have helped her flip the district blue.
“I’m proud of the nearly 85,000 votes we earned in this race and I’m grateful to voters for responding to our message, caring deeply about the issues we highlighted, and participating in our democracy,” Holstege said.
FUTURE OF ABORTION COUNCIL WANTS STATE TO TAKE ON MISINFORMATION
Via Gillian Brassil
California’s Future of Abortion Council wants the state to fund a campaign against misinformation and tighten online privacy for people seeking the procedure.
Those and a dozen other recommendations add to a list of proposed policies that the council pushed for over the last year as the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to overturn federal abortion protections through its 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
California adopted more than half of the original 45 recommendations in last December’s report, according to a press release from the council on Monday. Among measures passed in 2022 was what became Proposition 1, the amendment overwhelmingly approved by California voters in November to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution.
The California Future of Abortion Council, comprised of over 40 organizations and lawmakers, came together last year to recommend policies that bolster California as a “reproductive freedom state” while other states moved to restrict access and associated health care.
“We secured many victories in 2022, but there is still work to be done,” Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins, D-San Diego, wrote alongside this December’s addendum to the report.
The addendum adds 16 policy recommendations since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, the precedent that had set federal abortion rights almost 50 years ago.
The council wants to crack down on crisis pregnancy centers, organizations that counsel women to have their babies, through an information and research campaign on their practices.
Leaders hope to heighten privacy protections for medical records and other information that could be tracked digitally.
Click here for the full addendum with all of the council’s recommendations.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If anybody ever tells you their vote doesn’t count, tell them about this Assembly race that was decided by just 85 votes. Our democracy depends on everyone participating and voting like their rights and their futures depend on it.”
- Democratic Assembly candidate Christy Holstege, via Twitter.
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