It’s veto season

Sep 03, 2024

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Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel holds his bill with Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto lawmakers' legislation. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo

VETO WATCH: California lawmakers have wrapped up their regular work at the Capitol, but now comes the hard part, which is largely out of their hands: veto watch.

It’s the brutal time of year when Gov. Gavin Newsom can make or break the Legislature’s hopes and dreams with the stroke of a pen.

The governor has until Sept. 30 to take action on the bills sent to his desk. Budget considerations will likely continue to be top of mind, as will politics — especially during a presidential election year when so much is at stake for his fellow Democrats in national and state races.

Here’s a sampling of bills we think have significant veto potential.

Stay tuned! Newsom likes to drop signing updates later in the day or during weekends, especially for more controversial decisions.

TRUCK STOP — It’s widely expected that Newsom will veto a bill from Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry limiting autonomous trucks, given that he rejected a similar measure last year.

Reinforcing that logic: A day after the Legislature sent Newsom its second-attempt bill, the California DMV issued draft regulations that would reverse lawmakers’ preferred approach by allowing testing without a human on board.

HOSPITAL SHAKE-UP — The Legislature passed a bill from state Sen. Anna Caballero that would give hospitals more time to reach a 2030 deadline for meeting seismic standards, allowing them to apply for a five-year extension. The legislation elicited the traditional clash between organized labor and major hospitals, with unions pushing for safer conditions sooner and hospitals arguing they need more resources to comply.

Just hours after lawmakers passed the bill, some of the most powerful labor groups in the state launched a pressure campaign to secure a veto. The California Labor Federation, the California Nurses Association, California Professional Firefighters and SEIU California will be working against the bill this month. It will be a test of who has more sway with the governor: hospitals or unions.

TECH-TONIC SHIFTS — We're closely watching whether Newsom approves state Sen. Scott Wiener's bill on safety tests for artificial intelligence — a proposal that, if adopted, has the potential to set nation-leading standards on the most powerful AI models.

The governor has kept his lips zipped on the bill so far, but he has dropped a few hints about which way he leans. In recent months, he's demonstrated support for new AI initiatives — including an agreement with chip developer Nvidia and the addition of an AI accelerator program to a deal with Google on funding journalism — while also warning about the perils of over-regulating AI.

Newsom is also likely to take seriously the concerns from tech giants like OpenAI and A16z, which argue the bill will hurt startups by hampering open-sourced AI models.

HELP WANTED — Newsom will decide whether to require public universities and colleges to employ undocumented students who don't have federal work authorization. His decision is complicated by employment law as well as politics.

Several respected legal scholars argue state entities could legally hire such students in the nation's first test of the Immigration Reform and Control Act. But the University of California Regents, many of whom Newsom appointed, decided against opening up jobs to students who missed out on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before applications were frozen.

Signing a progressive immigrant rights proposal could also carry risk to Newsom's party, as former President Donald Trump hammers Vice President Kamala Harris on the border and ties her to California policies — even some she had no part in crafting.

CLOSING TIME — Newsom may have the tough-on-crime ballot measure Proposition 36 on his mind as he considers a bill from Assemblymember Phil Ting that would push the state to consolidate and ultimately close California prisons.

Ting’s legislation would cap the number of empty beds facilities could maintain. He cited a common refrain from progressive lawmakers when promoting the bill: Why continue to operate underused prisons when the state is confronting spending cuts?

But some moderate Democrats voted against the bill, arguing Prop 36 — which would increase penalties on some theft and drug crimes — may expand the prison population.

Newsom has also bucked lawmakers’ push for him to close more prisons in recent years, although his budget agreement with legislative leaders did cut money from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

REGISTERING CONCERNS — A bill that would expand voter registration by “pre-registering” California’s 4.6 million eligible but unregistered voters once they submit documents to the DMV remains in limbo after Secretary of State Shirley Weber voiced concerns over the proposal — which she would be tasked with implementing.

The measure created a rare split between the hundreds of grassroots organizations backing it and the ACLU, which lobbied heavily in opposition.

— With help from Jeremy B. White, Lara Korte, Rachel Bluth, Blake Jones and Eric He

IT’S TUESDAY 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 lholden@politico.com.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a lectern.

A recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom ran out of time to collect signatures, and organizers chose not to turn in the ones they had collected. | Derrick Tuskan/AP

RECALL BEGONE: The latest effort to recall Newsom ran out of time. Proponents couldn’t gather enough support by today’s deadline from the Secretary of State’s Office.

That means the campaign won’t be moving forward this year, although campaign director Anne Dunsmore did not want to phrase the situation that way.

“The signatures were due today,” she said. “We chose not to turn them in.”

Dunsmore said the campaign had collected “a few hundred thousand” of the more than 1.3 million signatures needed to qualify the recall.

She said she knew the effort would be a struggle, but the campaign felt it had accomplished the goal of getting Newsom to focus less on national politics and more on the state.

The recall campaign launched in February, with Dunsmore hitting similar messaging points about California needing a “full-time governor who is fully focused on the serious problems the state and its citizens are facing.”

FYI: Dunsmore and Rescue California, the group leading the recall campaign, are facing a $1 million lawsuit from the founder of a cryptocurrency exchange who accuses them of deceiving him into donating to their 2021 effort. The case has yet to go to trial.

ON THE BEATS

Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, holds a sign that says 'Stop landlord greed' at a protest against the California Apartment Association in Los Angeles.

Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is running a ballot measure expanding local governments' ability to enact rent control in California. | Mark Von Holden/AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — ADS AND ONE-UPMANSHIP: Not to be outdone by their pro-rent control opponents, the No on Prop 33 and Yes on Prop 34 campaigns are launching two ad buys starting today.

Prop 33 would expand local governments’ ability to enact rent control in California while Prop 34 targets the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s political spending. As Playbook reported this morning, the AHF-backed Yes on Prop 33 campaign also launched a $5 million ad buy today. But the No campaign says their spending surpasses that figure.

Although the interlocking campaigns primarily target AHF’s efforts to enact rent control and future political priorities, the advertisements make no mention of the nonprofit or its polarizing president Michael Weinstein.

In one, UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Ken Rosen lectures on the California housing crisis, which he says Prop 33 would worsen. In the second, an unnamed nurse laments rising health care costs. Those themes are the most concrete look yet at how the California Apartment Association-backed campaigns will pitch voters on their dueling initiatives. — Will McCarthy

PROP 6 LIFTS OFF: Advocates and state legislators gathered at the Capitol this morning in a post-Labor Day launch of the Yes on Proposition 6 campaign to “end slavery in California.”

Prop 6 would repeal involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment and has been endorsed by the ACLU of California, the California Labor Federation and Assemblymember Lori Wilson. Today, representatives from those groups and others gathered for events in Los Angeles and in Sacramento.

But Wilson, the amendment’s sponsor, was conspicuously absent at the Capitol launch, per KCRA’s Ashley Zavala. She was set to headline the event. No reason was given for the absence, although Wilson was at the center of a controversial Legislative Black Caucus decision to hold two reparations bills on the last day of session.

The event marks the official launch of the campaign, which has only taken shape in earnest in recent weeks and has no organized opposition. Just last week, the ACLU of Northern California’s committee dumped $35,000 into the effort — some of the initiative’s first major fundraising. — Will McCarthy

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WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY

— Why California’s economic recovery from Covid continues to lag behind other states. (CalMatters)

— Meet the Joshua Tree National Park search and rescue team responsible for warning visitors against risky behavior. (Los Angeles Times)

— Behind the “Ketamine Queen” at the center of an investigation into “Friends” actor Matthew Perry’s death. (Wall Street Journal)

AROUND THE STATE

— Hollywood workers are tinkering with artificial intelligence, despite fears the technology could replace some entertainment jobs. (Los Angeles Times)

— Environmentalists see California’s recent gray wolf population rebound as a breathtaking success. Ranchers beg to differ. (The Mercury News)

— Sorry, pumpkin spice latte lovers looking forward to fall: Most of SoCal and the Central Valley is forecast to see sweltering triple-digit heat this week.

— Why this Bay Area community called off its November town council election. (San Jose Spotlight)

— compiled by Tyler Katzenberger

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