California congressional Democrats who voted for a Republican bill to tighten restrictions on refugees are walking a fine line between alienating their supporters and appealing to more conservative voters in swing districts. Sean Cockerham, Sacramento Bee:
“All eight House Democrats from California who voted for the Republican bill are pro-immigration and support a pathway to citizenship. But all are running in potentially competitive swing districts where Syrian refugees might be a potent Republican campaign issue.
“Dan Schnur, the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, said no politician wanted to open himself or herself up to allegations of being soft on terror – particularly those in districts where Republicans might launch a credible challenge.
“’If it looks like you’re facing a competitive election, you cross party lines,’ Schnur said.”
Proponents of a ballot measure to hang a $2 per pack tax on cigarettes have been cleared to begin collecting signatures. Josh Richman, Political Blotter:
“Proponents including California Medical Association CEO Dustin Corcoran, SEIU California President Laphonza Butler, American Lung Association of California president and CEO Olivia Diaz-Lapham, and hedge-fund billionaire turned environmental activist Tom Steyer have until June 13 to collect valid signatures from at least 585,407 registered voters in order to place the measure on next November’s ballot.”
Los Angeles County Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman has announced that he will seek the chairmanship of the state Democratic Party when current Chair John Burton steps down in 2017. Christopher Cadelago, Sacramento Bee:
“Bauman, a vice chairman of the state party, wrote in an email to party activists that he was hesitant to formally announce his bid to succeed Chairman John Burton in the spring of 2017 because he wanted to avoid a protracted intraparty battle. But as others test their viability in weighing potential campaigns, Bauman said he felt compelled to circulate the email to ask for early support.
“’I am a candidate for chair of the California Democratic Party when Chairman Burton's term ends, but I firmly believe that now is the time to focus on things that bring us together, not things that divide us,’ Bauman wrote. ‘And that is why, even though others have already started their own full-fledged campaigns for chair of the CDP, I remain focused on defeating Republicans and electing strong progressives in 2016, not on internal party elections.’”
Proposed rules for self-driving cars, including mandates that the vehicles have a steering wheel and that licensed drivers can take control at any moment, were unveiled Wednesday by regulators at the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Associated Press has the story:
“California unveiled precedent-setting draft rules Wednesday that would slow the public's access to self-driving cars of the future until regulators are confident the technology is safe.
“That cautious approach requires that the cars have a steering wheel, and a licensed driver must be ready to take over if the machine fails.
“The draft sets out the framework for how the state Department of Motor Vehicles wants to move from the current small-scale testing of prototypes on roads and highways to giving consumers access to the fast-evolving technology.”
Speaking of motor vehicles, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) has proposed using $1.4 billion in cap-and-trade polluter fees to address California transportation problems. Chris Megerian, Sacramento Bee:
“Any proposal for spending the money is likely to be controversial, especially because it’s also a factor in conversations over how the state will pay to fix its dilapidated roads. Brown and Republican lawmakers have suggested using varying amounts as part of a larger multibillion-dollar plan.
“Gomez, who is also co-chairman of a committee looking at the state’s roads, said he’s comfortable using some, but not all, of the cap-and-trade funding for maintenance. He’d rather see more go to mass transit.”
If you thought you saw a bald guy with a couple of Corgis stalking around 16th and H recently, you probably did - Governor Brown is in the house. David Siders, Sacramento Bee:
“The Governor’s Office said Wednesday that Brown’s move to the mansion is ‘still ongoing” but that he spent his first nights there after returning from the United Nations climate summit outside of Paris last week.”
And, finally, we are very sad to report that longtime AP California political writer Doug Willis has died following surgery to repair a broken hip. Tom Verdin, Associated Press:
“Willis started with the AP in San Francisco in 1969 after beginning his career as a police and general assignment reporter for the old San Jose News and a brief stint as an editor for a newspaper in Bend, Oregon.
“A year later, he was offered a temporary job helping the AP's Sacramento bureau cover the state Legislature. He did so well he was invited back the following year, when his assignment in the capital became permanent. He became correspondent, the bureau's top position, in 1974.
“In a memoir written a decade after he retired, Willis recalled his first big scoop as a young reporter covering state government, one that relied on his analytical skills: Piecing together various threads of information, he was able to say how much state taxpayers were shelling out for each trip then-Gov. Ronald Reagan took in a leased private plane. Willis said his reporting on the cost every time Reagan flew to an event ‘annoyed both Reagan and my press corps rivals for the next three years.’"