COME TALK DRUGS — Join POLITICO March 19 at the Elks Tower in Sacramento for a conversation on prescription drug affordability with CAITLIN BERRY, of pharmacy benefit management company Prime Therapeutics; ROBIN FELDMAN, UCSF law professor; ANTHONY WRIGHT, executive director of Health Access California; and state Sen. SCOTT WIENER. How might officials find savings in the drug supply chain ecosystem? Doors open at 8:30 a.m. RSVP here for “Corrective Action: How to Address Prescription Drug Cost.” EXIT STAGE RIGHT: Last year, a movement to infuse conservative policies into California schools was having a moment. That time seems to have passed. Case in point: Two school board members in Orange, a small city near Santa Ana, appear to be on the verge of losing their seats in a recall election. A campaign to oust conservative trustees Rick Ledesma and Madison Miner declared victory Wednesday night. The two candidates are down by more than 6 percent each, with about 8 percent of ballots still outstanding. The recall effort, run by parents and supported by the local teachers union, had for months fought a 4-3 majority that fired the district superintendent and required staff to alert parents if their child asked to use different pronouns or showed other signs of identifying as transgender. “It is evident the voters of Orange Unified have agreed with the OUSD Recall campaign regarding the need to end the chaos and corruption that this board majority has inflicted on the students, staff, and community these last 14 months,” the campaign said. Miner says it’s premature to call the race until every ballot is counted. “I remain committed to upholding the values and principles entrusted to me by the constituents I serve,” she said in a statement. The county won’t certify results for weeks, but the last few rounds of ballots processed have trended in favor of the recall campaign — unsurprising since mail-in ballots usually skew more liberal. If the results hold, it will be a significant setback for the rightward movement that claims the mantle of “parental rights.” The recalls would dissolve one of its most prominent board majorities — at least until members are replaced through an election. It also would signify a defeat of Florida-style education policy in one of California’s tightest battleground regions as angst over coronavirus lockdowns has faded. The limits to the conservative education campaign in deep-blue California have been evident more broadly. At least seven other school districts passed a flurry of similar trans student policies in quick succession last year — but the rapid replication of those rules came to a halt with around 99 percent of the state’s roughly 1,000 school districts opting not to adopt them. A batch of legal challenges to those policies has had mixed results — yielding conflicting rulings that ultimately will likely be decided by higher courts. Also struggling in the California culture war is a proposed ballot measure that would, among other things, require parental notification for children identifying as transgender, place new gender restrictions on school sports and ban gender affirming treatment for minors. The campaign has so far collected less than a fifth of what it would need to qualify for the ballot. It does not appear on track to meet a May 28 deadline. An organizer of the effort, Jonathan Zachreson, said signature collection has sped up in recent weeks but acknowledged the challenge. “If we continue to grow the amount that we’re getting per week,” Zachreson said, the campaign could make the deadline, but “if we just continue to get the thousands per day that we’re getting, that’s a much tougher situation.” IT’S THURSDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to bjones@politico.com or send a shout on X. DMs are open.
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