Disappearing bills: More than 2,300 bills died without a vote in the last two years
CALMatters's SAMEEA KAMAL: "We know how legislatures work: lawmakers introduce bills, debate on them and vote yes or no.
Right?"
Donald Trump hates Adam Schiff. Can Schiff be an effective California US senator?
Sacramento Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN: "Adam Schiff will start his Senate career next week with more clout than most newcomers — and more instant suspicion from the Trump loyalists who will dominate Washington policy-making.
President-elect Donald Trump has hated Schiff for years, and said so, sometimes in crude terms. In turn, Democrats have a history of rallying around the Los Angeles politician, usually in very public ways."
Did your county back Trump more this time than in 2020?
CALMatters's JEREMIA KIMELMAN: "No Republican presidential candidate has won California since George H.W. Bush made it five in a row for the GOP in 1988. So it’s no big surprise that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris easily won California’s 54 electoral votes this November.
But while the vice president defeated Donald Trump 58.5% to 38%, she did much worse in her home Golden State than Joe Biden did in 2020: She lost vote share in all but one of the state’s 58 counties (including several with sizable Latino populations), and she lost at least 10 percentage points of the vote in 43 counties."
Reporter’s Notebook: Trump gained support in California. What does that mean for the so-called resistance?
LAT's HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS: "Hi, and happy Thursday. There are 46 days until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but hey, who’s counting? Well, we are. And, it seems, Gov. Gavin Newsom is too.
At the Democratic governor’s behest, California lawmakers at the state Capitol this week kicked off a special legislative session intended to shield the state from Trump’s stated priorities, like deporting millions of people in the country illegally and repealing environmental protections."
4 reasons why California Democrats flipped House seats despite broad GOP wins
The Chronicle's SHIRA STEIN: "In an election year in which Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate, the party managed to flip three House seats in California.
Democratic challengers won against incumbent Reps. John Duarte of Turlock (Stanislaus County), Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County) and Michelle Steel of Cypress (Orange County). Republican Reps. Ken Calvert of Palm Desert (Riverside County) and David Valadao of Bakersfield held on to their seats, beating their opponents by about 12,000 and 11,000 votes each, respectively."
How to increase California Legislature’s socioeconomic diversity? Lawmaker proposes pensions
Sacramento Bee's WILLIAM MELHADO: "Retirement benefits for tenured lawmakers—an effort to attract younger and more lower-income Californians to the Legislature—is one of the first pieces of legislation filed ahead of next year’s session.
Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Moreno Valley, introduced a constitutional amendment earlier this week that would create a retirement system for legislators, who could receive a pension after a decade of service."
Bas to resign seat, serve as interim Oakland mayor until January replacement
The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI: "Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas said Wednesday that she plans to resign from her post effective next month after winning a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
As sitting council president, Bas is slated to become the interim mayor of Oakland after residents voted on Nov. 5 to recall Mayor Sheng Thao less than two years into her first term."
What we learned from the most detailed data on S.F. mayoral ranked-choice voting
The Chronicle's CHRISTIAN LEONARD: "Daniel Lurie’s victory in the San Francisco mayoral election was fueled by his favorable position in the city’s ranked-choice voting system. Even many supporters of Mayor London Breed, his chief competitor in the race, named him as a second pick.
That’s according to a Chronicle analysis of San Francisco’s cast vote record, a dataset showing how each page of every ballot was marked. The cast vote record is the only way to see how each voter ranked all the candidates. The data shows about 28% of Breed’s supporters ranked Lurie as their second-top choice — though a roughly even percentage made no alternate pick at all."
ICE is looking for a new detention center in Blue California. The state probably can’t stop it
CALMatters's WENDY FRY: "Federal immigration authorities are looking for a potential new detention center in Northern California, an effort that alarms advocates and some Democratic state lawmakers as President-elect Donald Trump gears up to unleash his mass deportation plan.
In August, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a request for information to identify additional detention bed space in the state as other federal agencies intensified border enforcement. The effort began in the wake of the Biden administration’s sweeping asylum ban, implemented in June, for migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border outside designated entry points. Under the ban, border agents can deport such migrants within hours or days without considering their asylum claims."
Ahead of second Trump term, California vows ‘ironclad’ abortion access
LAT's MACKENZIE MAYS: "California lawmakers are rushing to introduce legislation that reaffirms the state’s role as a reproductive rights “haven” as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House and abortion rights advocates warn of an uncertain future.
Abortion remains legal in California, home to the strongest reproductive rights in the nation — unlike in some states, there is no required waiting period or counseling before the procedure, and minors can get abortions without parental involvement. In 2022, voters solidified abortion access in the state Constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right, limiting healthcare for millions of women."
Gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO still at large
AP: "UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton in Midtown, blocks from tourist draws like Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art.
The gunman is still at large and a manhunt is underway."
READ MORE -- ‘Deny,’ ‘defend’ and ‘depose': Ammunition used in CEO’s killing had writing on it, AP source says -- AP's JAKE OFFENHARTZ, MICHAEL BALSAMO, MICHAEL R. SISAK
California AG warns schools, libraries to be prepared for deportation efforts
The Chronicle's MOLLY BURKE: "Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning public institutions like libraries, hospitals, schools to be prepared to protect immigrants’ rights when President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to implement mass deportations, takes office.
“Here in California, we're not going to spend our time, our money or resources going back,” Bonta said while announcing updated guidance on how institutions should respond to enforcement efforts at the Bernal Heights Library Wednesday."
California must put money, mandates behind promises of bilingual education, researchers say
EdSource's ZAIDEE STAVELY: "California needs to mandate bilingual education in districts with significant numbers of English learners and invest much more to support districts to offer it, according to a new report released Thursday.
The report, “Meeting its Potential: A Call and Guide for Universal Access to Bilingual Education in California” was published as part of a package of research and policy proposals on civil rights in education by the UCLA Civil Rights Project."
Judge rejects lawsuit over ‘liberated’ ethnic studies classes in LAUSD
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit against the United Teachers Los Angeles and the organization that created a controversial ethnic studies curriculum adopted by at least two dozen school districts in California.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin’s scathing ruling on Nov. 30 criticized what he concluded was a lack of evidence and unpersuasive arguments made on behalf of the two Jewish teachers and parents in Concerned Jewish Parents and Teachers of Los Angeles, the group that brought the litigation."
Gunman may have targeted California religious school in shooting that wounded 2 kindergartners
AP: "Two children were in “extremely critical condition” after being shot at a tiny religious K-8 school in Northern California and the gunman died at the scene, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said.
The gunman may have targeted the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo on Wednesday because of its religious affiliation, but isn’t believed to have had a prior connection to the victims or the school, Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said. He didn’t explain further."
California officials plan for a dry 2025 with grim water supply guesswork
CALMatters's DAN WALTERS: "Each December there’s a new version of an old guessing game about how much water will be provided to agricultural and municipal users in the year ahead.
Federal and state water agencies post initial, and usually very low, estimates based on the current condition of reservoirs, soil conditions that affect runoff, and assumptions of rain and snow during the winter and spring."
Here’s what is causing the Bay Area’s poor air quality
The Chronicle's GREG PORTER: "Air quality around the Bay Area on Wednesday reached moderately unhealthy levels, as a noticeable haze hovered around the region.
Part of the reason for the poor air quality is due to agriculture pollution drifting from the Central Valley."
California raw milk producer says RFK Jr. has encouraged him to apply for FDA position
LAT's SUSANNE RUST: "Mark McAfee, the California raw milk producer who has been at the center of several bird flu-related product recalls, says a transition team for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has encouraged him to apply for a position at the Food and Drug Administration.
McAfee, CEO of Fresno-based Raw Farm, LLC, told The Times that he has complied with the request and applied for the position of “FDA advisor on raw milk policy and standards development.”"
California bans food ‘sell by’ dates. Will it save you money without getting you sick?
LAT's SANDRA MCDONALD: "There you are, reaching on your tiptoes in the grocery store to grab the milk on the highest shelf marked with the latest date. It’s worth it, you think, to get milk that will stay fresher longer.
You don’t finish the milk by that date, of course, so you dutifully pour the remainder down the drain the day after."
Why Trump and the Federal Reserve could clash in the coming years
AP's CHRISTOPHER RUGABER: "President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the promise that his policies would reduce high borrowing costs and lighten the financial burden on American households.
But what if, as many economists expect, interest rates remain elevated, well above their pre-pandemic lows?"
Oakland approves plan for hundreds of apartments at former art school campus
The Chronicle's SARAH RAVANI: "A plan to redevelop the vacant California College of the Arts site in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood into hundreds of mixed-income apartments took a major step forward this week. But it could be years before the project breaks ground.
The City Council voted Tuesday afternoon to approve the environmental review and greenlight a project that would involve tearing down 10 buildings and redeveloping them into 448 apartments. The development will bring hundreds of new units into an affluent area of the city well served by transit and amenities."
Trump’s return to the White House could mean more doom for BART
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN, ROLAND LI: "With President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House in January, one thing became clear for BART: The regional rail service should give up any expectation of a federal bailout.
Some transportation experts see Trump’s win, and the GOP takeover of Congress, as both a potential death blow and a reality check. The transit system that once dazzled riders with flashy extensions and new train fleets was hobbled by the pandemic. In the years since, it’s limped along on federal and state funding that will soon dry up — potentially with no replacement."
Fearing loss of federal funds, L.A. reverses course, approves Van Nuys Airport lease
LAT's RACHEL URANGA, DAVID ZAHNISER: "Faced with the possibility of losing hundreds of millions in federal funds, the Los Angeles City Council reversed course on Tuesday and awarded a helicopter company a lease at Van Nuys Airport for up to 25 years, despite protests from residents who live nearby.
Airport officials, the city’s lawyers and Mayor Karen Bass warned the city would risk losing funding from the Federal Aviation Administration if the lease were rejected."
Deadly Piedmont crash: Focus shifts to Cybertruck as federal probe begins
The Chronicle's RACHEL SWAN: "A stunning crash in Piedmont that killed three college students, leaving a fourth with severe injuries, has triggered deep suspicion of the vehicle involved: a Tesla Cybertruck, the electric pickup with a space-age look — and a history of engineering mishaps.
Police are still piecing together what happened when a Cybertruck jumped a curb on Hampton Road near King Avenue, shortly after 3 a.m. on Nov. 27. Once it veered off road the truck rammed a retaining wall and got wedged between the wall and a tree. When officers arrived two minutes later, responding to an iPhone alert, the vehicle had burst into flames."
