Five years after a deadly PG&E pipeline explosion killed eight people, critics are blaming Jerry Brown for failing to reform the tarnished California Public Utilities Commission. Marisa Lagos and Lisa Pickoff-White, KQED:
“Jerry Brown really wants to take the public out of the Public Utilities Commission, so he vetoed bills this year that would have gone a long way to cleaning up the act of the PUC,” [Jamie] Court said. ‘His message in the veto message is more secrecy, and I have absolutely no faith that the members of the PUC, [who] would like nothing more than to operate behind closed doors, would be able to write a law that makes the PUC more open and transparent so we don’t see these types of abuses occurring.’”
Climate activist and Dem funder Tom Steyer is backing off on a threat to fund an oil-severance tax measure on the 2016 ballot. Christopher Cadelago, Sacramento Bee:
“While he hasn’t formally closed the book on the oil tax or related transparency measure aimed at oil companies, Steyer said his team has yet to accomplish everything he said needs to happen to qualify and ultimately pass a statewide initiative next year. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking down for prospective proponents.
“’It’s looking less likely, I would say,’ he said after an event Thursday in Sacramento.”
Assemblyman Henry Perea (D-Fesno) was a thorn in Steyer’s side during this year’s battle over SB350, leading moderate Dems to successfully oppose elements of the bill, including language to cut gasoline use in half by 2050. Now, Perea is about to step down, having resigned his seat to take a job – unannounced as of yet – in the private sector. The special election to replace him is projected to cost over $500,000 and is likely to produce a subpar turnout. Laurel Rosenhall, CALmatters:
“His decision to quit early marks an emerging trend in the Capitol: Perea is the third lawmaker in recent years to leave mid-term for the business world. In 2013, state Sen. Michael Rubio (D-Shafter) quit to do government affairs work for Chevron, and Sen. Bill Emmerson (R-Hemet) quit to become a vice president of the California Hospital Association.
“Their resignations triggered special elections that many voters ignored. In the Inland Empire race to replace Emmerson, 19 percent of voters turned out compared with 65 percent average turnout for the last two general elections. In the Central Valley race to replace Rubio, 33 percent of voters turned out – compared with 47 percent average turnout for the last two general elections.”
Dan Walters digs out numbers from a new Department of Finance report that projects population trends. Lots of interesting nuggets, including these:
“While the state’s population continues to grow, it’s relatively slow, under 1 percent a year or about half of what it was in the 1980s.
“Immigration from other countries, legal and illegal, has slowed to a trickle while we lose about as many people to other states as we gain…”
More at the Sacramento Bee.
Attorney General Kamala Harris’ campaign spending habits have garnered plenty of attention as she ramps up the race for a U.S. Senate seat. Phil Willon shows how one spends $600,000 on consultants in nine months. From the LA Times:
“California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris spent more than $600,000 on 19 political and fundraising consultants between January and the end of September – close to three times the amount spent combined by her Democratic rival and the three top Republicans in the race.
“The outside consultants who have worked on the Harris campaign over the last year include some of the most successful political advisors and campaign fundraisers in California and across the nation, including aides who worked for Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
“Also on the list is the Smoot Tewes Group, a Washington, D.C., firm run in part by Julianna Smoot, who served as President Obama's chief campaign finance advisor, and Paul Tewes, who worked with Obama’s campaign. Harris paid the firm $60,000 to boost her campaign coffers.
“In fact, most of Harris’ consultant spending was for fundraising — helping her raise $5.9 million through September, far more than any other candidate in the race.”
While we wouldn’t call it good news that Harris can’t seem to shake the “overspending” narrative, she’s still the presumptive frontrunner and still has bucks in the bank, so probably not that big of a deal in a campaign with a long way to go.
On the other hand, it may well be a big deal that Assemblyman Roger Hernández of West Covina has announced a challenge to his former boss, Rep. Grace Napolitano. From Christopher Cadelago at the Bee:
“Napolitano may be in for a tough fight. While she has more than $310,000 to spend on her reelection as of Sept. 30, she raised just $39,000 in the last quarter. In challenging a long-time incumbent, Hernández appears to be borrowing from a playbook successfully executed by the likes of Rep. Eric Swalwell in 2012, at the time a 31-year-old county prosecutor who unseated fellow Democrat and former Rep. Peter Stark, a 40-year veteran.”
And while Hernández hasn’t specifically called out Napolitano’s age (79), he all but called her a “seat warmer” in the House. Oof.
Frankly, we’re not sure how this is going to play out, but we are sure that Napolitano was having a better week before Hernández announced. With that, she wins our #WorstWeekinCA politics sweepstakes this time around. Congrats!
