The future is female in the California Senate

Inside the Golden State political arena
Mar 19, 2024 View in browser
 
POLITICO California Playbook

By Dustin Gardiner, Ariel Gans and Lara Korte

JOIN US LIVE TODAY Meet us at the Elks Tower in Sacramento for POLITICO Live this morning. We're hosting a health care conversation exploring the challenges of 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. for continental breakfast, program begins at 9:00 a.m. RSVP here to receive the livestream notification or to join us in person for “Corrective Action: How to Address Prescription Drug Cost.”

California State Senate President Pro Tempore, Toni Atkins, of San Diego, flanked by other members of the Legislative Women's Caucus discusses the groups efforts to strengthen women's reproductive rights at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. California lawmakers ended their legislative session on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, after approving more than a dozen bills to make it easier for women to get an abortion.

Toni Atkins, of San Diego, flanked by other members of the Legislative Women's Caucus discusses the groups efforts to strengthen women's reproductive rights at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 | Rich Pedroncelli/AP

THE BUZZ: FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Californians are likely to be represented by a female majority in the state Senate next year — a first for either chamber in the Golden State’s 174-year history, according to a group that helps elect women legislators.

Close the Gap CA is projecting that the 40-member Senate will include 21 women, up from 18, an analysis exclusively shared with Playbook. About 90 percent of the female state senators would be Democratic women of color, with Latinas comprising the majority.

There will likely also be more Black women in both houses, as a record number are running for office.

State Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, the only Black woman serving in the Senate, said the change is long overdue. “These women will come with solutions," she said. "They will come with a different lens.”

Women have long been at the forefront of major policy fights in Sacramento, from boosting funding for subsidized child care and family leave to pay disclosure requirements and making California a national refuge for women seeking reproductive care banned in other states. Susannah Delano, executive director of Close The Gap, predicted that having more female lawmakers at the Capitol will enhance the focus on such issues.

While men now hold the top leadership positions in the Assembly and Senate, women hold many key leadership and committee posts.

This election cycle, advocates working to even the gender power balance in the Legislature have seized an opening as large numbers of term-limited lawmakers prepare to leave office. It will be a dramatic turnaround from just seven years ago, when California saw its portion of female state lawmakers drop to 21.5 percent overall, the lowest level in decades.

“This is a landmark moment for California and exactly what we've been working towards these last 10 years,” Delano said.

California has lagged nearby states in female legislative representation. Colorado and Arizona reached parity in their state Assembly and Senate, respectively, in 2019. Nevada is the only state that has achieved gender parity in both houses of its legislature.

In the state Assembly, where female lawmakers hold 32 of the chamber’s 80 seats, women are not expected to achieve parity this cycle. Close the Gap projects they will hold 31 to 36 Assembly seats after the November election.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, who leads the Women’s Caucus, said she was relieved to know that a large and diverse group of women will follow her generation of outgoing senators, which includes former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and state Sen. Susan Eggman.

At the same time, Skinner said the caucus isn't taking any gains for granted — and noted that California has seen a loss of representation at other levels of government. Next year, the state won’t send any women to the U.S. Senate for the first time in more than 30 years.

“This is a great accomplishment,” she said about more women being elected to the statehouse. “But we want the same thing in the boardroom, in the CEO position, in the governorship, in the presidency.”

GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook.

Now you can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte.

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

 

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BILLS BILLS BILLS

A woman looks at her social media apps.

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Twitter, Messenger and Linkedin on a smartphone | Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: SOCIAL MEDIA SHOWDOWN — Tech’s impact on kids will be in the Sacramento spotlight again this year as Common Sense Media pursues legislation imposing huge financial penalties on companies that knowingly harm young people — a bill that mirrors the advocacy organization’s late-lobbed ballot initiative. Jeremy B. White has the details for subscribers.

UNDER THE DOME

TRANSGENDER YOUTH — Senate Republicans on Monday opposed a resolution to recognize Trans Day of Visibility, using a recurrent conservative argument that it’s unfair to allow trans athletes to play girls’ sports.

Several Republican senators spoke against an “otherwise great” resolution, which establishes March 31 as Trans Day of Visibility and mentions in passing that trans students are often excluded from sports. State Sens. Brian Jones, Shannon Grove and Kelly Seyarto said they were concerned about trans girls playing sports against athletes who are “competing like heck” to win scholarships.

State Sen. Scott Wiener who co-authored the resolution with Sen. Toni Atkins, denounced the comments, noting that letting trans students participate in school sports doesn’t mean “a bunch of LeBrons” would be playing against high school girls.

Atkins said that the response from Republicans only underscores the importance of the resolution, which passed 32-5. — Sarah Grace Taylor

ELECTION UPDATES

MCCARTHY’S SEAT — Central Valley voters are again headed to the polls today — this time, for a special election to finish out the remainder of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s House term.

The two top vote-getters from the March 5 primary, Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, will appear on the ballot, along with seven other candidates. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote tonight, the race will advance to a May 21 runoff.

Whoever wins the special election will have a major incumbent advantage heading into November’s general election for the next term.

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO — If Gov. Gavin Newsom is sweating his microscopic lead on Proposition 1, he’s certainly not letting it show.

On the day he was supposed to be in the chambers for his State of the State address, the governor swung through the Assembly to chat with Speaker Robert Rivas about the budget. On his way out, he deflected questions from POLITICO reporter Rachel Bluth about the performance of his prized mental health and housing measure, which was hanging on by a thread almost two weeks after Election Day.

“Let's count the votes and we'll make a determination on it. I'll have something to say then,” he told her. “I'm looking forward to the final count, it's important to know the outcome of the election.”

 

In celebration of Earth Month, the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability and the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, in collaboration with POLITICO, host “Climate Forward 2024: Climate at the Crossroads” on April 4, 2024 at USC. Top experts from politics, government, media, and academia will discuss climate change issues with a focus on finding practical policy and business solutions as well identifying ways to remove political obstacles to implementing those changes. Register to attend in person or virtually.

 
 
CLIMATE AND ENERGY

ONE WORD — Plastics. Lawmakers have taken big swings the past couple years to cut down on plastic waste and now they're picking new fights with industry. An expanded plastic bag ban is up for its first hearing today — read more in last night's California Climate.

ON THE AGENDA

California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero is in the Legislature today to give the annual State of the Judiciary address. Remarks will be given at 3:45 p.m. in the Assembly chambers.  

Top Talkers

ON THE RADAR — Uber, the San Francisco-based rideshare and delivery company with a growing presence in California politics, and other business groups unveiled a ballot question in Nevada to cap how much attorneys can charge in fees and civil cases. The petition, which turned some heads in Sacramento on Monday, was filed by Nevadans for Fair Recovery, a newly formed PAC backed by Uber. The company has increasingly played in state legislative races in California, a sign it wants to grow its political heft.

— California Senate frontrunner Adam Schiff blamed the Justice Department for the possibility that former President Donald Trump may not face trial in his federal cases before the 2024 election. (POLITICO)

— California is speeding up its effort to empty San Quentin’s death row, with plans to transfer the last 457 condemned men to other state prisons by summer. (Los Angeles Times)

Taylor Swift shook Los Angeles to seismic proportions during one of her six-night stadium performances in August, a new study shows. The audience’s jumping and dancing was so strong that researchers can identify every song Swift performed. (Los Angeles Times)

— Stalkers are using Apple AirTags to track their victims. A judge says Apple could be held responsible. (East Bay Times)

— Two-thirds of California voters skipped the ballot box on Super Tuesday, primary numbers show. Turnout came within three percentage points of a record-low. (The Desert Sun)

PLAYBOOKERS

IN MEMORIAM  — Former state Sen. Alan Sieroty died in his Los Angeles home on Saturday at the age of 93. Sieroty, a Democrat from Beverly Hills, was elected to the Assembly in 1967 and served there until 1977, when he transitioned to the Senate. Sieroty authored over 100 bills during his tenure, with his most prominent ones tackling disability rights and coastal protections.

A beach lover, Sieroty is widely credited for helping craft the legislation that formed the California Coastal Commission. The California legislature named a state beach in Marin County after him when he retired from the Senate in 1982.

BIRTHDAYS — (was Monday): Sen. Shannon Grove …(was Saturday): Sen. Scott Wilk

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here.

Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.

 

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POLITICO California @politicoca

 

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