Sacramento Bee's RYAN SABALOW/DALE KASLER: "Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is taking unprecedented steps to combat President Donald Trump’s efforts to ship more water to his agricultural allies in the San Joaquin Valley."
"Saying Trump’s water plans are scientifically indefensible and would violate the state’s Endangered Species Act, the state Department of Water Resources on Friday began drawing up new regulations governing how water is pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the southern half of the state."
"The move sets the stage for another confrontation between Trump and Newsom over the future of California’s water supply and the fish that live in it. Already, the state has sued the Trump administration more than 45 times over issues ranging from immigration to climate change."
SCOTUS weighs Trump's push on citizenship question
LA Times's DAVID G SAVAGE: "President Trump’s lawyers will urge the Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn three lower courts and to clear the way for census takers to ask all American households next year whether their residents are U.S. citizens."
"Debates over the census are usually reserved for demographers and statisticians, but the dispute over the citizenship question is one of high politics."
"Lawyers for California and other blue states with large numbers of immigrants fear that millions of households will refuse to fill out the census forms if the citizen question is included out of concern that the confidential information will be shared with immigration agencies."
Gas prices are at their highest in a half-decade. When will it end?
Sacramento Bee's TIM SHEEHAN: "Gasoline prices continued to increase over the past week in Fresno and across California, but there are hopes that oil refineries in the state may be on the brink of resuming normal operations after a spate of maintenance work."
"The statewide average price for regular unleaded on Monday was $4.03 per gallon, about three cents higher than a week ago and 60 cents higher than the price on March 22, according to AAA’s daily gas price report. Prices across the state are now higher than any time in the last five years."
"In most of the central San Joaquin Valley, the average pump price for regular unleaded continued to hover – barely – below $4 per gallon in the AAA report. In the Fresno-Clovis metro area, the average on Monday was $3.97, three cents higher than a week ago. On March 22, it was $3.36 per gallon."
Way to Win projected to give millions to 2020 grassroots causes
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "A California progressive group will announce Tuesday that it intends to spend tens of millions on the 2020 elections, but plans to distribute the money differently from most big funders: It will give directly to local grassroots organizations, particularly those working in communities of color."
"Way to Win, a 2-year-old group led by women, focuses on creating a multiracial coalition to back Democrats in red and swing states where changing demographics may favor the party, such as Georgia and Arizona, instead of chasing working-class white voters across the Midwest, where Republicans have made substantial gains in recent years."
"The group spent $22 million on 2018 races, and 25 of the 28 Democrats who received its help in House contests won. Over the next two years, it intends to spend at least twice that amount on federal, state and local elections, organizers said."
California bill encourages banks to work with pot businesses
AP's MICHAEL R BLOOD: "California legislators considered a plan Monday intended to encourage more banks to do business with marijuana companies that have been frozen out of thousands of financial institutions."
"Most Americans live in states where marijuana is legally available in some form. But most financial institutions don't want anything to do with money from the cannabis industry for fear it could expose them to legal trouble since the federal government still considers marijuana illegal."
"The conflict between state and federal law has left businesses in California's emerging legal pot industry in a legal dilemma, shutting many out of everyday services such as opening a bank account or obtaining a credit card. It also has forced many businesses to operate only in cash — sometimes vast amounts — making them ripe targets for crime."
Soda tax proposal shelved temporarily
Sacramento Bee's SOPHIA BOLLAG: "A proposed California soda tax is dead for the year after the lawmaker running the bill announced Monday it’s being held in committee for the rest of 2019."
"Assemblyman Richard Bloom said his proposed 2 cent per fluid ounce tax on sugary drinks will become a “two-year bill,” meaning it could be taken up again next year."
"While this is not the outcome I had hoped for, (Assembly Bill) 138 remains alive in the legislative process, albeit on a slower track,” the Santa Monica Democrat said in a statement. “This delay is unfortunate because, with the health outcomes of millions of Californians at stake, there is no time to lose."
Kamala Harris unveils gun safety plan
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "Sen. Kamala Harris laid out a series of steps Monday night that she would take to try to reduce gun violence if Congress fails to act in her first 100 days if she’s elected president — without having to seek congressional approval."
"They include a plan to use executive authority to expand the federal requirement to conduct background checks to more gun sellers, a high priority of gun safety advocates who say loopholes in background-check laws allow too many weapons to fall into the hands of criminals or people who are unstable."
Pelosi continues to downplay impeachment talk
The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN: "Top House Democrats urged a go-slow approach Monday on impeachment proceedings against President Trump, as a growing number of their caucus members pushed for action in response to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the 2016 election and its aftermath."
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats would pursue congressional investigations into Trump’s actions during and after the campaign before deciding whether to try to impeach him."
PG&E: We need higher rates and profits to cope with disaster risk
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER: "PG&E asked California regulators Monday for a hefty increase in rates and profits, raising average customer bills by more than $20 a month, saying the hike is needed to attract investment capital and deal with wildfire safety as the utility struggles in bankruptcy."
"Along with an earlier rate increase proposed in December, PG&E’s new request would increase average household bills by $22.67 a month for electricity and natural gas, beginning in January 2020."
"PG&E and California’s other major utilities, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, asked the Public Utilities Commission for fatter profit margins, seeing they need to offer investors a much higher return to compensate for the financial perils of major wildfires. The requests, which must be made every three years, come as Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials wrestle with PG&E’s bankruptcy and the financial health of utilities generally."
California court ruling could change the culture of fining defendants who can't pay
The Chronicle's MEGAN CASSIDY: "In the last year, Ramon Wence-Valladolid was arrested for drunken driving, charged with having a blood alcohol content exceeding 0.20 — the legal limit is 0.08 — and sentenced to 10 days in jail and three years of probation."
"He also became part of a statewide trend."
"As a first-time, misdemeanor DUI offender, Wence-Valladolid was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines and fees — a tab the father of three said he couldn’t afford as an out-of-work cook with a wife and young children to support."
In California National Guard, whistleblower claims of retaliation go beyond Fresno
LA Times's ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN/PAUL PRINGLE: "Allegations of retaliation against whistleblowers in the California National Guard are more widespread than the complaints made at a Fresno air base that led to a dramatic leadership shakeup of the organization earlier this month, The Times has found."
"Interviews with current and former Guard members and an examination of internal documents show that complaints go well beyond Fresno and extend to the army side as well. The allegations have come from fighter pilots, a top military prosecutor, Special Forces officers and a colonel who hoped to head the organization."
"They allege a pattern of both retaliation against whistleblowers and others who accuse their superiors of misconduct and a failure of the Guard’s justice system to protect them."
California plan would put the state, not doctors, in charge of who can/can't be vaccinated
Sacramento Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "Dr. Richard Pan has fought the vaccine fight before."
"First, as a pediatrician in Philadelphia during a deadly measles outbreak. Then, four years ago, as a doctor-turned-lawmaker who battled death threats and a coalition of parents enraged over Pan’s 2015 legislation. The proposal — Senate Bill 277 — cut the personal belief exemption from a list of approved reasons not to immunize a child."
"The new law dealt a major blow to anti-vaccine advocates who relied on religion or philosophical convictions to avoid vaccinations. California parents who wanted to send their children to school now had to vaccinate their kids."
Mueller report takes muzzle off pro-impeachment Democrats
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI/JOHN WILDERMUTH: "In the aftermath of Robert Mueller’s report, impeachment is turning into a major problem — for Democrats. They can’t agree on whether to pursue it."
"The special counsel’s 448-page breakdown of Russian interference in the 2016 election offered detailed findings into how President Trump tried to sidetrack the investigation. Some of the Democratic Party’s most progressive members are sprinting down the path Mueller outlined, calling for impeachment proceedings after months of Democratic leaders telling them to keep quiet for fear of distracting from the party’s focus on kitchen table issues such as health care."
READ MORE related to POTUS45/KremlinGate: Harris calls for impeachment, Sanders does not -- LA Times's JANET HOOK/MELANIE MASON