Getting into the weeds

Presented by SEIU-UHW: Inside the Golden State political arena

Jun 13, 2024 View in browser   By Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner Presented by SEIU-UHW Stoner icons Cheech and Chong are fighting an effort to tighten state regulations on hemp products. | Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images THE BUZZ — Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry wants to blunt a legal loophole allowing laxer rules for high-inducing hemp products than for marijuana. But she’s facing pushback from some of California’s most famous stoners, Cheech and Chong, who fear it means their own hemp goods could go up in smoke. As a quick rehash, federal law from 2018 distinguished legal hemp from marijuana as long as it had less than 0.3 percent THC, the principal psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. That has fueled a proliferation of hemp products that offer similarly intoxicating feelings as marijuana — without being subject to the same government oversight. Aguiar-Curry wants to increase enforcement around hemp and make sure all intoxicating products are treated and taxed the same as marijuana. Her bill would also drastically limit the amount of THC allowed in hemp products to 1 milligram (many hemp seltzers and gummies offer 2.5 to 15 milligrams of THC) with a requirement that anything stronger be sold through a dispensary. The legislation, which glided out of the Assembly and will be heard in the Senate later this month, has received little attention in Sacramento, but could have major implications nationwide as other states and Congress try to tackle the issue as well as for California’s fledgling multibillion-dollar cannabis industry that, since state legalization in 2016, has been rife with legal quandaries. It has elicited pushback from major hemp retailers — most recently by Cheech and Chong’s Global Holding Company, the cannabis company owned by the iconic comedy duo — and is moving through the state Capitol as Congress considers its own legislation. Aguiar-Curry managed to push through some regulations for the hemp market in 2021 with a law that, among other things, set safety and testing standards, but said she’s increasingly concerned about how easy it is for minors to access the products, arguing it’s time for more regulation. "This is absolutely out of control," she said at a hearing in April where she brought along packs of 10 mg THC seltzers she was able to buy at a major liquor store. "We want to put some more guardrails around it." Many lawmakers in Washington didn’t realize they were legalizing a product with intoxicating qualities in 2018. Since then, growers have developed ways to create more intoxicating hemp products that still comply with the rules but don’t face the same restrictions as marijuana, often found in normal retail stores. That’s led to a huge upset within California’s highly-controlled and taxed marijuana industry, which complains that they’re being undercut because hemp-derived products are cheaper to produce and easier to access due to the lack of regulation. The industry is now hoping Aguiar-Curry’s bill can even the playing field "Every sale of THC beverages outside dispensaries robs the state's cannabis tax fund roughly $6.08," Caren Woodson, president of the California Cannabis Industry Association, said at an Assembly committee hearing in April. "Worse still, that revenue loss puts the cannabis industry at dramatic risk of a tax increase." But the 1 milligram THC limit in Aguiar-Curry's bill would mean a massive hit to the hemp industry, argued Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. “If those [limits] wind up in the final bill, it would shut down 90 to 95 percent of the consumable hemp industry,” he said. Some hemp retailers say they’re willing to work with lawmakers on safety regulations and age limits — and would even be amenable to an excise tax to lower the burden on the regulated marijuana sector. "I think if you're at a party and you're not helping clean up after dinner, that's just not cool," said Ted Whitney, head of sales at Rexis Biotech. "We've got to pull our weight." Aguiar-Curry’s bill is set to be heard in the Senate’s Business and Professions committee on June 24. Whether Cheech Marin or Tommy Chong will show up to oppose it, however, depends on their filming schedules, said Jonathan Black, CEO of their company. “They're both very brilliant men," he said. "So I'm sure they would love to testify if that opportunity presents itself." GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. 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.   A message from SEIU-UHW: The Healthcare Minimum Wage Law is set to give hundreds of thousands of our caregivers a raise on July 1st. This pay increase is long overdue for workers and more important than ever for patients, whose care is being jeopardized every day by the short staffing crisis. A $25/hour minimum wage will ensure that facilities across the state can retain experienced staff and attract new workers to the field. Learn more.   THE SCOOP Assemblymember Buffy Wicks. | Adam Beam/AP Photo FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: A HOUSE DIVIDED — Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, one of Sacramento’s most vocal advocates for easing restrictions on housing, is facing opposition from an unlikely force over one of her bills: groups that also want to ease housing restrictions. Two of the state’s most powerful organizations in the Yes in My Backyard Movement — — YIMBY Action and YIMBY Law — sent Wicks a letter Wednesday threatening to use their sway to oppose Assembly Bill 1893 if she doesn’t make major amendments. “This bill tries to do a lot of things, but it doesn’t do any of them very well,” the groups wrote in their letter, obtained exclusively by Playbook and co-signed by a host of other like-minded allies. Wicks’ proposal would set tighter rules for when developers can invoke the “builder’s remedy,” a cudgel in state law that requires cities to approve any size of housing project if the local government hasn’t planned for enough homes. She and the bill’s main sponsor, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, argue laying out clearer rules — including around project density and building codes — would actually make it easier for developers to use the remedy because cities would have less ground to sue and therefore delay or block a project. “Modernizing the builder's remedy to make it clear,” Wicks said in a statement, will make it “objective and easily usable.” But the YIMBY groups argue the rules would limit the cases where the remedy could be used and that it wouldn’t be worthwhile anyway because some cities are going to fight new housing regardless. They want Wicks to leave the existing remedy in place and create a separate, streamlined route for smaller projects. “It’s not a difference of goals, it’s a difference of strategy,” Sonja Trauss, executive director of YIMBY Law, said of the split with Wicks and Bonta. “They overestimate cities’ deference and regard for the law.” Not all groups considered part of the YIMBY movement are opposing Wicks’ approach. Her bill has the support of California YIMBY and the Housing Action Coalition.   HAPPENING 6/18 — A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION IN CA: California’s adoption of zero-emission vehicle policies will change the transportation landscape over the next two decades. How will the transition impact current transportation infrastructure and how will lawmakers fund future changes? Join POLITICO on June 18 to hear from lawmakers, industry officials and stakeholders to examine the future of transportation infrastructure, from transit, pedestrian and bike lanes to local streets, roads, highways, bridges and overpasses. REGISTER HERE.     STATE CAPITOL Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo. | José Luis Villegas/AP Photo PERSONAL TESTIMONY — Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo spoke candidly about her struggles with alcohol and her DUI arrest in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, at times choking up as she made the case for a bill that would require schools to teach students about the long-term effects of excessive drinking. “I wish that I would have known in high school what I know now,” she said. “I would’ve made different choices.” Carrillo introduced the bill earlier this year after she was charged with drunk driving in November. The state lawmaker, who at the time was running for a hotly-contested city council seat, was taken into custody after crashing into two parked cars in a Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood. Speaking in the committee Wednesday, Carrillo described it as a moment that changed her life. “Aside from a very public fall, I had to take a very hard look in the mirror about my behavior, my coping mechanisms, my mental health and the ways in which I manage my stress and my work,” she said. Carrillo said she subsequently started a program for her alcohol use and therapy, where she realized how little she knew about the long-term effects of drinking. She said she grew angry at the people in her life who had enabled her drinking from an early age, from liquor store cashiers to her friends and family. Multiple senators on the panel thanked Carrillo for her courage and applauded her efforts to “turn a difficult situation into something that’s going to benefit people,” as state Sen. Monique Limón put it. “There is no shame in seeking support and assistance,” Carrillo said in closing. “There is no shame in admitting you have lost a handle on your consumption. There is no shame in wanting to be a better version of yourself.”   A message from SEIU-UHW:   SAN FRANCISCO Incumbent Mayor London Breed faced off against her challengers in the first major debate. | Eric Risberg/AP Photo MEETING OF THE MINDS — Five San Francisco mayoral candidates met for the race’s first debate last night, hosted by Manny’s and City Arts & Lectures at the Sydney Goldstein Theater. Moderators Heather Knight, NYT’s San Francisco bureau chief, and Manny Yekutiel, owner of the eponymous bar, tested candidates on a medley of chronic city issues including homelessness, fentanyl and street crime, as well as an infamous $1.7 million public toilet. Candidates weren’t afraid to name and shame each other or chastise vulnerable incumbent Mayor London Breed, though challengers did so without mentioning her directly to cheese the debate’s rules and deny her a rebuttal. Five highlights from the debate: Breed on her opponents: “These guys have one thing in common. They want us to feel bad about San Francisco. They want to take us backwards. They are working against San Francisco. I'm the only one on this stage working for San Francisco.” Former Mayor Mark Farrell on public safety: “I believe we need a new police chief. I believe we need to restore the budget of our police department inside of city hall and not strip money away from our police department.” Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie on his opponents after they critiqued his “inexperience” in city government: “They have over 70 years of combined experience on this stage. Look at where it's gotten us. Are we happy?” Supervisor Aaron Peskin on curbing open-air drug markets: “We need officers on foot patrol day and night. We need a visible and fixed police presence to stop drug dealers where they congregate, to combat fentanyl addiction. We need to dramatically expand treatment.” Supervisor Ahsha Safai, who’s championed labor in his campaign, on whether the city’s police union has too much power: “I don't see one union in this city [that] has too much power. It's about how you engage with them, how you bring the disparate parties together.” In more serious business: Candidates were asked to name their favorite burrito spots, drag queen idols and another candidate they’d vote for: Lurie and Breed wouldn’t name an alternative politician. — Tyler Katzenberger   A message from SEIU-UHW: California’s short staffing crisis affects patients everywhere by delaying care and putting unsustainable strain on our caregivers. With the skyrocketing cost of living we’re seeing across California, it’s more important than ever to make sure healthcare workers are being paid a liveable wage. Not only will that help hundreds of thousands of workers take care of their families, it will improve patient care by keeping caregivers on the job and encouraging more Californians to join the industry. Additionally, the impact on the state budget has been exaggerated, with much of the costs predicted to be offset by workers no longer relying on state-funded services like Medi-Cal after receiving higher wages. See this in-depth UC Berkeley Labor Center report for more details.   ON THE AGENDA FLOOR SESH — The state Senate and Assembly will hold floor sessions at 9 a.m. CLIMATE AND ENERGY SHOTS FIRED — Republicans are picking a fight over climate policies and gas prices in a competitive Central Valley race. Read about the latest round of sparring in a district that’s key to determining next year's congressional majority in last night’s California Climate. TOP TALKERS — Labor unions, social justice organizations and defense attorneys tend to get their way in the state Legislature, according to a new analysis. Being from the Bay Area or Los Angeles helps, too. (CalMatters) — California Democratic Rep. Mike Levin wants to ban active members of Congress from stock trading. (CNN) AROUND THE STATE — New Covid-19 subvariants are driving up California’s case numbers. (Los Angeles Times) — Fresno police Chief Paco Balderrama’s is under investigation over an allegation that he had an extended affair with an officer’s wife. (Fresno Bee) — San Diego City Council members approved a last-minute budget deal with new funds for homelessness programs, pothole repairs and flood victims. (San Diego Union-Tribune) PLAYBOOKERS PEOPLE MOVES — Sarah Boot, an expert in privacy, AI and tech issues, announced the launch of her new firm, Boot Advocacy. Previously, she was senior policy manager at Amazon, an advocate at the CalChamber and legislative director for state Sen. Toni Atkins. MEDIA MOVES — Sarah Parvini has joined the Associated Press as a reporter covering AI. She previously covered video games for the LA Times. — Jeremy Childs has joined Agence France-Presse as an English editor in its Los Angeles bureau. He previously was a breaking news reporter at the LA Times. — Jennifer Maas has been promoted to senior business writer for television and video games at Variety. She previously covered TV business for the publication. — Samantha Melbourneweaver has joined NPR as managing editor over digital audience growth and engagement. She was previously the LA Times’ assistant managing editor over audience. WEDDING WATCH — Jonathan Cousimano, director of federal affairs for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Kate Brescia, associate director at Everytown for Gun Safety, got married over Memorial Day Weekend on Cape Cod. Kathryn Irwin Bronstein officiated. The couple met at a mutual friend’s summer solstice party when Kate was working on Capitol Hill and Jonathan was at the DCCC. Pic … Another pic BIRTHDAYS — LA Times’ Seema Mehta … POLITICO’s Eli Stokols … NTIA’s Margaret Harding McGill … Jim Fellinger of the Consumer Technology Association … Sarah Lovenheim … Rebecca Rinkevich BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Wednesday): former Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) … Coco Pannell … (was Tuesday): Shia LaBeouf WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form. Disclaimer: All information will be verified. 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 Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Dustin Gardiner @dustingardiner Lara Korte @lara_korte   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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