California lawmaker wants to empower cities to ban driverless cars. Critics call it NIMBYism

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

SHOULD CITIES BE ALLOWED TO BAN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES?

Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, has introduced a bill, SB 915, that would empower local governments to ban autonomous vehicles from operating within their jurisdictions.

In a Los Angeles press conference Friday, Cortese laid out his argument.

“In cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, it’s becoming common to glance over as you’re stepping off the sidewalk and see a moving car without a driver. And it’s unnerving for people and it should be,” he said.

Currently, driverless cars are regulated by the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission.

Cortese referenced an October incident in which a driverless vehicle struck a pedestrian and seriously injured her.

He said that while the Legislature is ponderous and slow to act, “local governments are nimble” and able to quickly respond to community needs.

Unsurprisingly, the bill has received pushback from the tech sector, with center-left Chamber of Progress, founded and run by former Google executive Adam Kovacevich, saying in a statement that there is a crisis of traffic safety, “but instead of solving that crisis, lawmakers are introducing legislation that would move California in the opposite direction by banning autonomous vehicles at the local level.”

“This is the California housing and homelessness crisis all over again. Local lawmakers are squashing a good idea because of not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) sentiment, and the result is a disaster for public health and safety,” he said in a statement.

SB 915 is awaiting committee assignment.

GARVEY CAMPAIGN LACKS FINANCIAL OOMPH

Via Gillian Brassil...

Retired baseball star Steve Garvey, the leading Republican in the California Senate race, is miles behind the top Democratic opponents in fundraising.

Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, and Katie Porter, D-Irvine, are notoriously formidable fundraisers with monetary reserves that shadow Garvey’s.

Garvey, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the 1970s and 1980s, raised just over $610,000 in the final three months of 2023. He reported a little more than $308,000 in campaign cash in Federal Election Commission filings shared last week.

Schiff collected about $6.2 million last quarter and had almost $35 million in his campaign bank. Porter gathered more than $3 million and had over $13.2 million on hand. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, reported $815,960 on hand.

Having a lot of cash on hand keeps a campaign viable longer, allowing candidates to spend on advertisements and other means to gain visibility and attack opponents.

Since Garvey did not hop into the race until October, last week’s report is the first glimpse at his fundraising ability.

California Republicans haven’t won a statewide race since 2006.

Schiff, 63, is the presumed frontrunner in the race to succeed the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., according to recent polls. Porter, 50, and Garvey, 75, are in a close race for second. The top two vote-getters regardless of party advance from the March 5 primary to the Nov. 5 general election.

Schiff, Porter, Garvey and Lee, 77, debated in Los Angeles in January. But there are many contenders who trail them significantly in the crowded 2024 Senate race.

There are two elections on the March 5 ballot that these four candidates and others are running in: One for a full six-year term to start in January 2025 and another to complete the last few months of Feinstein’s unfinished one. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointee Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., is holding the seat in the interim; Butler, 44, declined to run in either election.

HOUSE COULD VOTE ON FEDERAL INCOME TAX DEDUCTION SOON

Via David Lightman...

Finally — The House could vote this week on increasing the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes. And the new break would be in effect for the 2023 tax year, meaning people now filing their tax returns would get help.

The plan still has far to go legislatively. It’s hardly a sure thing it will pass the House, let alone the Senate.

Efforts to increase the break have languished as opponents say it’s a break largely for the wealthy and would cost too much money.

But House leaders promised supporters a renewed effort, and last week began the process that is expected to lead to a floor vote.

The deduction had been unlimited. It was cut to $10,000 in the 2017 tax act, and ever since, lawmakers from California and other higher-tax states have pushed hard to raise the limit. Last week, the House Rules Committee voted to send the plan to the floor..

The plan would double the current $10,000 limit for joint filers with adjusted gross incomes up to $500,000 for 2023 only. The $10,000 limit would then be in effect for 2024 earnings.

Support comes largely from New York, New Jersey and California lawmakers. The bill “fixes an unfair and anti-family penalty and provides immediate tax relief to middle-class working families,” said a statement from supporters including Reps. Young Kim, R-La Habra and Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita.

The progress on their effort is the result of negotiations over a broader tax cut bill. That bill, which provides a higher child tax credit and breaks for business, passed the House overwhelmingly last week. To win support from some members who insisted on including the higher state and local tax deduction, House leaders pledged to push their initiative separately.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The governor often claims to be a champion of democracy, yet he is afraid of letting voters decide whether they deserve commonsense protections on how California spends their money.”

- Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, in a statement announcing the filing of an amicus brief opposing Newsom’s lawsuit to block a ballot measure making it harder for state and local governments to raise taxes from going to the voters in November.

Best of The Bee:

• As Sacramento faces a $50 million budget deficit, the four viable mayoral candidates have vastly different views on how to fund its most costly and controversial department, via Theresa Clift.

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom saw a shoplifting at a local Target. But the real controversy came when a clerk did nothing—and blamed the governor for motivating her not to act, via Andrew Sheeler.

• A new survey of California voters shows Schiff with a comfortable lead in the race to become the state’s next senator, but the race for second place — and thus a spot on the November ballot — is a dead heat, via Andrew Sheeler.

• Vice President Kamala Harris returned to her native Northern California this week, and it wasn’t always a friendly homecoming, via Jenavieve Hatch.