THE BUZZ: AGREE TO DISAGREE? — Things between Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Gov. Gavin Newsom are awkward — and, based on their public remarks, only getting more so. It's not the first time Newsom has called a special session to deal with gas prices — but it's the first time a legislative leader has ever refused such a request, according to longtime Capitol observers. McGuire's refusal to convene is made even weirder by the fact that he, Rivas and Newsom all agree there’s a need to address gas price spikes. He just doesn't want to do it in the special session. “The Senate always had the votes and was ready to get these important measures across the finish line this legislative year and deliver the relief Californians need at the pump and on their electricity bills,” he said in a statement Saturday night, later telling reporters “we will be very focused on this issue here in the fall, and look forward to picking it back up.” It's happening against a backdrop of deepening distrust between the two legislative houses. Assembly Democrats are on board with the special session after complaining last week that they didn’t have enough time to vet the bills by Saturday. Now, they’re moving ahead with the governor despite the Senate’s cold shoulder. Rivas and Newsom last night announced that they are preparing to introduce special session legislation — carried by Assemblymembers Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and Gregg Hart — that will “tackle the problem of gasoline price spikes.” “I'm glad to see the Assembly is moving this important proposal forward to save Californians hundreds of millions of dollars at the pump,” the governor said in a statement. Meanwhile, Senate Dems appear to be in lockstep behind McGuire. They're all being as diplomatic as the situation could possibly permit: "I respect that the Assembly wanted to take more time," state Sen. Scott Wiener told our Jeremy B. White Tuesday. "In the Senate, we were prepared to move." But that just raises more questions about why exactly the Senate isn’t playing ball now, and what kind of outcome McGuire is hoping to achieve. We sent him the following questions, but he didn’t respond. So, we’re asking them anyway: Can the Senate legally not convene? The fact that McGuire is refusing to convene must mean he thinks it's legally defensible — but it’s murky territory at best. Rivas or Newsom could take him to court if they feel what he’s doing is illegal, though neither has indicated a willingness to do so. The strongest response has come from Newsom, who has asserted that McGuire doesn’t have the latitude to avoid a special session. Why not just gavel in and refuse to pass anything out? A governor can call a special session, but that doesn’t mean lawmakers have to do anything. Some special sessions have been incredibly short as a result; the quickest one, in 1973, lasted just one hour, as Alex Vassar of the California State Library noted. But McGuire’s outright defiance appears to be unprecedented. And even though he emphatically voiced his respect for Rivas and Newsom on Saturday night, it’s being viewed as an intentional snub towards the other two. What do you hope to accomplish by refusing to convene? This is the big question mark for McGuire. He had previously resisted the idea of a special session on the grounds that the Senate had the votes and the ability to get the bills out the door during the regular session. With a special session, lawmakers could still get those proposals to Newsom’s desk — albeit a bit later than McGuire might’ve wanted. But without Senate participation, anything the Assembly does will languish. McGuire, speaking to reporters early Sunday morning, seemed to express doubt that a special session could make any expeditious changes. He noted that the sessions can drag on for months, and unless a bill is passed with an urgency clause, it’ll take 90 days to go into effect. Is the entire Democratic caucus on board with this? We have yet to track down any dissent from Democratic senators about McGuire’s decision to buck a special session. The pro tem this weekend described the caucus as “united.” Republican Minority Leader Brian Jones praised McGuire in a statement for “defending the integrity of the legislative process and telling the governor NO.” Are you worried this protracted fight over oil costs could hurt down-ballot Democrats? Calling lawmakers back to Sacramento during peak campaign season could hurt those in tight races, and drawing continued attention to high gas prices could also prove to be a liability for Democrats. We’ve already seen the National Republican Congressional Committee find a way to slam former state legislator Rudy Salas, who hasn’t served in the Capitol since 2022, for being “conspicuously silent” on Newsom’s plan, which the committee argues would raise gas prices. GOOD MORNING. Happy Wednesday. 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? Newsom is scheduled to do a press conference with Attorney General Rob Bonta in Sacramento today regarding an Elk Grove housing settlement.
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