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This is Essential Politics, our in-the-moment look at California political and government news.

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When Halloween gets political: Check out this tiny Maxine Waters

It happens every year: Halloween and politics mix.

California’s politicos got in the spirit on social media.

Rep. Maxine Waters got a shoutout from a little girl in Oakland, with a play ona now viral incident in which Waters dismissed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for not answering her questions in a committee hearing and using up her allotted time.

Sen. Kamala Harris posted a photo of a mini-me of her own, saying 4-year-old Micaela “wins best Halloween costume in my book.”

California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman’s costume was pointed: President Trump in a clown suit.

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Orange County at center of fundraising in California’s most contested races

More than half of the money raised for the most contested House races in California is going to candidates in Orange County, another indication of its starring role in the Democratic effort to win back control of the House next year.

Of the 80 or so challengers in California, 27 are running in Orange County. A Los Angeles Times analysis of this year’s campaign finance filings found it is also where the cash is going to: About $15 million of the nearly $28.5 million raised this year for 13 key races went to candidates in just four Orange County districts:

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Gov. Jerry Brown plans climate trip to Vatican, Belgium, Norway and Germany

(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

Gov. Jerry Brown has mapped out a busy European travel schedule that includes attending the next United Nations conference on climate change in Bonn, Germany.

“While the White House declares war on climate science and retreats from the Paris Agreement, California is doing the opposite and taking action,” Brown said in a statement. “We are joining with our partners from every part of the world to do what needs to be done to prevent irreversible climate change.”

Roughly two dozen public events are planned over 10 days, starting with a speech at a Vatican symposium on Saturday. Brown won’t be the only California politician at the conference. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) is speaking later that day, and state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) is scheduled to appear Friday.

After the Vatican, the governor is bouncing between Germany and Belgium, plus a stop in Norway to meet with scientists. He’s holding press conferences with the president of the European Parliament and the minister-president of Baden-Württemberg, a German state that has collaborated with California on an international climate pact.

Once the Bonn conference begins, much of Brown’s focus will be on how states, provinces and other local governments can tackle climate change absent stronger action from national leaders. He was named a special advisor to the U.N. conference for states and regions earlier this year.

Brown is scheduled to appear with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Nov. 11 and speak at numerous other events, a packed itinerary much like the one he kept at the Paris climate conference two years ago.

His last event is expected to take place Nov. 14.

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Tom Steyer’s impeachment petition gets over 1 million signatures in first week

Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer says his online petition asking Congress to impeach President Trump garnered more than 1.1 million signatures in its first week.

Last week, Steyer began airing an ad calling for Trump’s impeachment and asking viewers to sign his petition urging Congress to do so. He has spent more than $10 million to air the ad nationwide, including during the World Series.

Trump attacked the effort -- and Steyer -- on Twitter after the ad ran during “Fox and Friends” on Friday. Steyer’s staff members said they haven’t determined whether the president’s tweet boosted the signature effort.

Steyer has donated millions to Democrats and get-out-the-vote efforts in recent years. He’s weighing a primary challenge to California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Petitions are a common way to try to change politicians’ minds, though they work to differing degrees. Still, the rate of people signing on to Steyer’s effort is quick. For example, one of the most popular petitions on Change.org deals with removing health insurance for members of Congress if they get rid of the Affordable Care Act. It took four months for it to top 1 million signatures.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Porter Ranch) drafted and circulated articles of impeachment against Trump this summer, but most members of Congress -- even Democratic leaders -- have been reluctant to press for impeachment and Sherman’s efforts haven’t gained traction.

UPDATES

1:19 p.m.: The post was updated with details about Rep. Brad Sherman’s impeachment efforts.

This post was originally published at 1:08 p.m.

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California business tax incentive program should end, legislative analyst says

California no longer should give specific tax incentives to businesses and instead should provide broad-based tax relief, the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said in a new report.

The analyst’s office examined California Competes, a program that began four years ago to give tax credits to businesses looking to move to the state or remain here, and found it puts existing companies that don’t receive the awards at a disadvantage without clear benefits to the overall economy.

“Picking winners and losers inevitably leads to problems. In the case of California Competes, we are struck by how awarding benefits to a select group of businesses harms their competitors in California,” the report said. “We also think the resources consumed by the program are not as focused as they should be on winning economic development competitions with other states to attract major employers that sell to customers around the country and the world.”

California Competes has allowed the awarding of nearly $800 million in tax credits.

The legislative analyst found that more than a third of the credits awarded through California Competes resulted in no change to the overall economy and put the state’s existing businesses at a competitive disadvantage. The analyst couldn’t assess the value of the remainder of the credits because it’s impossible to know how businesses would have reacted had they not received them.

California Competes is scheduled to end next year. The analyst’s office recommends replacing it by lowering business taxes overall or, should lawmakers want to keep it, tailor the program more narrowly to focus on attracting and retaining high-value companies.

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Electric companies found at fault in North Bay fires won’t be able to pass costs onto residents under proposed bill

Jason Miller, 45, plants an American flag on the charred remains of his house in Coffey Park. He had lived in the Santa Rosa neighborhood for 23 years.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

If electric utilities are found at fault in the recent wildfires in the North Bay, a group of state lawmakers want to ensure they don’t pass along their costs to residents.

“Victims of devastating fires and other customers should not be forced to pay for the mistakes made by utilities,” state Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said in a release.

Hill is one of four Bay Area legislators who said they plan to introduce a bill when lawmakers return to the Capitol in January to block any effort by utilities found at fault to recoup any costs from ratepayers.

Investigators have not identified the cause of the wildfires that ripped across Northern California this month that left more than 40 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed.

But the lawmakers said their legislation is motivated by San Diego Gas & Electric’s efforts to recover costs from wildfires in that region a decade ago.

Co-authoring the bill with Hill is Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael).

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Nancy Pelosi endorses Sen. Dianne Feinstein for reelection

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) endorsed the reelection bid of longtime colleague Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Monday, saying her seniority is a source of strength for the state.

“Feinstein is a strong voice and a staunch advocate for the people of California. Dianne Feinstein is uniquely positioned to defend California against Donald Trump’s constant attacks on health care, immigration and voting rights. She is a recognized leader in the Senate on economic policies that work for all Californians, defending against tax policies that hurt our state,” Pelosi said in a statement released by the Feinstein campaign.

Pelosi avoided getting deeply involved in the expected fight between Senate leader Kevin De León and Feinstein during an interview at a Los Angeles Times and Berggruen Institute event in downtown Los Angeles.

“People running against each other for office, that is a democracy,” she said at the event. “I do think that it is important to note how powerful Dianne Feinstein is in Washington, D.C., and how important that is to the state of California…. Another case can be made as to whether that is valuable or not, and that is what the discussion is about.”

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Proposed initiative would end early release for some crimes, allow more DNA collection

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A coalition including police officers and prosecutors on Monday proposed a California state initiative that would end early release of rapists and child traffickers and expand the number of crimes for which authorities could collect DNA samples from those convicted.

The ballot measure is sponsored by the California Public Safety Partnership, and would reverse some elements of Proposition 47, which was approved by voters in 2014 and reduced some crimes deemed nonviolent from a felony to a misdemeanor.

The proposed initiative would add 15 crimes to the list of violent crimes for which early release is not an option, including child abuse, rape of an unconscious person, trafficking a child for sex, domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon.

“These reforms make sure that truly violent criminals stay in jail and don’t get out early,” said Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, a leader of the coalition.

The initiative would also allow DNA collection for certain crimes, including drug offenses, that were reduced to misdemeanors under Proposition 47.

Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) said there have been 2,000 fewer hits matching DNA to cold cases annually in recent years.

He cited one case from 1989 involving the murder of two young girls in Sacramento that was solved last year by DNA taken from a man in a drug case before those were excluded from DNA collection.

“If that case happens today, right now, it does not get solved,” said Cooper, a former sheriff’s captain.

Changes in law also made theft of goods valued at less than $950 a misdemeanor, so some criminals are committing serial thefts and keeping each one to $949 or less, Cooper said. The initiative would make serial theft a felony.

The measure also mandates a parole revocation hearing for anyone who violates the terms of their parole three times.

“A Whittier police officer was recently murdered by a parolee who had violated parole five times,” said Los Angeles Police Protective League President Craig Lally, who supports the initiative.

A representative of the group behind Proposition 47 said it was not reasonable to blame the ballot measure for an uptick in some crimes in some parts of the state.

“Fluctuations in crime have much more to do with economic and social policies and practices,” said Tom Hoffman, a spokesman for the group Californians for Safety and Justice. “It’s so much more complicated than one piece of legislation as an issue.”

The proponents of the initiative need to collect signatures from 365,880 voters by the end of April to qualify the initiative for the November 2018 election.

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When men with power go too far: After years of whispers, women speak out about harassment in California’s Capitol

Tina McKinnor, left, Sadalia King, Amy Thoma Tan, Jodi Hicks and Sabrina Lockhart have come forward to talk about their experiences with sexual harassment at the Capitol.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

It started with a dinner invitation from a former assemblyman more than twice her age. He had offered his services as a mentor, but his hand reaching for her knee under the table revealed other intentions. Then came the late-night phone calls and unexpected appearances at events she had to attend for her job in the Capitol.

Fresh out of college, Amy Brown did what she thought women were supposed to do in these situations — she reported him. The former assemblyman accused her of slander, an experience that left her so humiliated that she left Sacramento for a new job in San Jose.

“I immediately got the hell out of town,” Brown said. “I felt like the people — the person — I was relying on for advancement in my career was preying on me.”

Stories like these have taken many forms through the years. Sometimes it’s a professional meeting that turned inappropriately sexual, or it’s a groping hand on a backside. In one case, a woman said a lawmaker masturbated in front of her in a bar bathroom.

No matter the details, each story involves a man with power — the kind of power bestowed by voters, an influential lobbying client or a supply of campaign cash. And instead of wielding that power to shape politics or public policy, the man used it to proposition women or to touch them inappropriately.

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Big jump in the number of House challengers isn’t great news for California Republicans

So far this year, 80 challengers have reported raising money across California for the 2018 midterm elections, more than triple the number who had done so at this point in the 2016 election. Collectively, they’ve raised more than $14.9 million, and 70% of that has gone to the four Republican-held districts in Orange County that Democrats consider key to their chances.

There haven’t been this many congressional challengers in California’s House races this early in the game since at least 2003, and that could be bad news for Republican incumbents.

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California’s Senate culture doesn’t encourage women to file complaints. Here’s how that could change

Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), shown in September, acknowledged that the Senate could improve its procedures for reporting misconduct.
Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), shown in September, acknowledged that the Senate could improve its procedures for reporting misconduct.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

In 2014, reeling from scandals that led to the suspension of three Democratic senators, California’s state Senate changed its policies to make it easier for employees, members and the public to sound the alarm about misconduct.

A Times analysis of those rule changes shows a lack of follow-through to make reporting complaints more accessible. And the lawmaker who worked on changes in the Senate’s operations after that scandal says more could have been done.

Then-Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) suggested at the time that the move would lead to “positive cultural change and strengthen the integrity of this great institution.”

But as the Capitol now soul-searches over allegations of widespread sexual harassment, the current legislative leaders acknowledge the culture still does not encourage women to file complaints. The Senate’s effort to reform itself three years ago — and how it fell short — is instructive as both legislative houses embark on a new round of self-improvement.

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From the 1979 archives: Politics, Marriage Hard to Mix, Legislators Find

Today’s column about sexual harassment in Sacramento references the above May 7, 1979, article detailing how the Capitol was a sexual playground.

I’ve been closely watching Sacramento for half a century. It’s my observation — OK, a guess, because no one keeps statistics — that sexual harassment at the state Capitol is about the same now as it was decades ago. Sexual bullies of both parties have always plagued politics.

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High taxes on legal pot in California could mean black market will thrive

The Farmacy, a California medical marijuana dispensary.
The Farmacy, a California medical marijuana dispensary.
(Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times)

State and local taxes on marijuana could surpass 45% in some parts of California, jeopardizing efforts to bring all growers and sellers into a state-licensed market in January, according to the global credit ratings firm Fitch Ratings.

“High tax rates raise prices in legal markets, reinforcing the price advantage of black markets,” the firm said in a report Monday. “California’s black markets for cannabis were well established long before its voters legalized cannabis in November 2016 and are expected to dominate post-legalization production.”

As the top pot-producing state in the nation, California could be on thin ice with the federal government >>

The report said that increased enforcement may blunt the illegal market, “but high taxes may complicate such efforts by diverting in-state sales to the black market.”

California is scheduled to begin issuing licenses to grow, transport and sell medical and recreational marijuana on Jan. 1 and will charge a 15% excise tax, as well as a state cultivation levy of $9.25 per ounce for cannabis flowers and $2.75 per ounce for leaves.

Hundreds applied to be on California’s pot advisory committee. Here’s who got picked >>

In addition, local business taxes have been approved by 61 cities and counties ranging from 7.75% to 9.75%.

The marijuana market is expected to provide a windfall for state and local treasuries.

“In the handful of states that legalized nonmedical cannabis prior to 2016, tax receipts have generally outpaced initial revenue estimates and have shown strong year-over-year gains,” Fitch Ratings said. But California could end up being one of the highest taxing states in the country if proposals stand.

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says he won’t run for governor

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Have you experienced sexual harassment in government or politics? Tell us your story

If you work in government or politics and have experienced sexual harassment, we’d like to hear from you.

Please tell us your story using the form below. We will not share your personal contact information.

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California Assembly Speaker applauds Capitol staffer’s ‘bravery’ in going public with complaint against assemblyman

Gyore spoke publicly for the first time about a 2009 complaint she filed against Bocanegra.
Gyore spoke publicly for the first time about a 2009 complaint she filed against Bocanegra.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said Friday that the experience of a staffer who filed a complaint eight years ago against now-Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra illustrates why the Capitol culture must change.

Elise Flynn Gyore told The Times about her experience filing a complaint against Bocanegra, who was then a legislative staffer, after she said he groped her and followed her in a manner she found threatening at a 2009 after-work event in a Sacramento bar.

The Friday morning story in The Times was the first time she had spoken publicly of the incident and the complaint, which resulted in Bocanegra being disciplined.

“I appreciate Ms. Gyore’s bravery in bringing this incident forward. We have to change the culture in the Capitol and in society and her experience shows why,” Rendon said in a statement Friday afternoon. “How incidents of harassment were handled in the past can inform our current efforts to improve the system and to build a future where these injustices are prevented before they happen and no employee has to fear harassment or abuse.”

Bocanegra, who was first elected in 2012, is part of Rendon’s leadership team, serving in the position of majority whip. A top lieutenant to Rendon, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), also chimed in with support for Gyore on Friday.

Former Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), who led the Assembly from 2010 to 2014, said he was unaware of the complaint’s existence until The Times’ report.

He said he had never heard of any complaints — formal or informal — against Bocanegra, nor had he witnessed any inappropriate behavior from the Pacoima Democrat.

Also on Friday, the organizers of We Said Enough, a recently launched campaign against harassment, thanked Gyore for sharing her story.

“This is an act of true courage — and we support every woman who chooses to do so. Sadly, this story is just one example of how the existing system fails victims and survivors. We are resolute in our call for action,” the group said in a statement. The group’s organizers added that they are calling for an overhaul to the complaint process — such as confidential reporting, an independent oversight body and whistleblower protections — to better guard against harassment.

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Rep. Darrell Issa goes after Gov. Jerry Brown on tax debate, criticizing ‘contrived letters pretending to care’

As the debate over tax reform rages in Washington, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) is blaming Gov. Jerry Brown’s policies for creating a situation where Californians pay high local and state taxes and claim them as a deduction of their federal taxes.

An estimated one in three Californians claim the State and Local Tax, or SALT, deduction, that would end under a tax plan proposed by the GOP.

“I recognize the role of the state and local tax deduction to reduce the tax burden on many Californians, but let’s be clear: It has only become of such importance as a direct result of the tremendous weight that your misguided policies have put on California taxpayers,” Issa wrote in a letter to Brown on Friday.

Brown sent letters of his own to the GOP delegation Wednesday urging them all not to support the Republican budget, which allowed for a $1.5-trillion deficit increase that sets the stage for President Trump’s tax cuts.

With the midterm elections critical to the battle for control of the U.S. House, Issa and other vulnerable California Republicans, especially those in wealthy Southern California, where constituents save thousands on their taxes through the deduction, are being closely watched.

There were 20 Republican “no” votes. Several opposed the budget because of a potential repeal of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which would hit especially hard in wealthier states such as New York and California. But all 14 California Republicans voted for the budget.

Issa also admonished Brown for sending the letters.

“Government must foster an environment that promotes economic growth. Rather than sending contrived letters pretending to care about the burdens placed on taxpayers in our state, I implore you to turn away from the era of ever-increasing taxes that have continued under your Administration and instead seek policies that actually lower the tax burden on all Californians,” Issa said in his letter.

Brown responded Friday in a statement to The Times: “It’s unconscionable that Rep. Issa would tax the people of his district while exempting his corporate allies and sponsors. What a betrayal of his oath of office.”

2:04 p.m.: This post has been updated with comment from Brown. It was originally published at 12:58 p.m.

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California Legislature colleagues back Kevin de León’s U.S. Senate bid

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Behavior that didn’t meet ‘expectations for professionalism.’ Read the 2009 letter disciplining Raul Bocanegra

Bocanegra
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

California Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra was disciplined after a human resources investigation eight years ago, when a female Capitol staffer accused him of “inappropriate and unwelcome physical contact,” The Times has learned.

Elise Flynn Gyore said Bocanegra, at the time chief of staff to then-Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, groped her and followed her in a manner she found threatening at an after-work event attended by legislators, staff and lobbyists.

A weeks-long investigation by independent attorneys hired by the Legislature concluded that “it is more likely than not that Bocanegra engaged in behavior that night which does not meet the Assembly’s expectations for professionalism,” according to a June 22, 2009, letter from the Assembly Rules Committee reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

Read our story >>

Read the letter >>

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Gov. Jerry Brown says California Republicans have ‘slavish adherence’ to their party’s tax plan

(Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

Gov. Jerry Brown took aim at the sweeping tax overhaul plan in Congress and California’s Republican delegation on Thursday, saying their support of the plan is wrong “economically and morally.”

Brown, who joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a conference call with reporters, aimed most of his fire at the provision to cancel deducting local and state taxes paid from federal taxes. Both governors said it could have a profound impact on their states’ bottom lines. Brown criticized California’s 14 Republican House members for their Thursday budget vote, which allows for a $1.5-trillion deficit to help finance tax cuts.

“I know there is a lot of slavish adherence to the Republican leadership,” Brown said. “It’s bad for California. They’re doing a disservice.”

California and New York taxpayers have long been able to deduct the cost of paying local and state taxes from their federal tax liability. Both governors said Thursday they believed the effort by President Trump and Republicans to be at least somewhat motivated by their states voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump last November.

“It’s using a handful of states to finance the tax cuts for their states,” Cuomo said.

Brown, who sent personal letters to all California GOP members of the House urging them not to go along, said the proposal was particularly unfair in light of how it would not apply equally to corporations.

“It’s a gross manipulation of our tax code,” he said. “It’s a Hail Mary pass by the Republicans.”

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California Rep. Jackie Speier shares her sexual assault story in an effort to change Capitol Hill

Rep. Jackie Speier told a story of being forcibly kissed by a high-ranking congressional staff member to kick off her effort to change how sexual abuse reports are handled on Capitol Hill.

Speier is urging other members of Congress and staff to tell their stories using the hashtag #MeTooCongress in a play off the viral #MeToo hashtag that began after a New York Times story detailed sexual harassment and assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Speier (D-Hillsborough) said in a video posted Friday morning that she was a staffer on Capitol Hill when a chief of staff she doesn’t identify grabbed her face and kissed her. Speier worked for a congressman in the 1970s.

Speier told Politico she will introduce legislation next week calling for an overhaul of the Office of Compliance, where Capitol Hill staffers are expected to file harassment complaints.

Speier has repeatedly filed legislation aimed at changing the reporting process for victims who work on Capitol Hill. Harassment victims must contact a little-known office, where they first receive up to 30 days of counseling. Then, victims must go through a 30-day period of mediation with the accused before they are eligible to pursue an administrative hearing or a lawsuit against their attackers.

The current system is “constructed to protect the institution — and to impede the victim from getting justice,” Speier told Politico.

Speier told Politico that few staffers are aware of where to go, or are put off by the long process. That means individual Capitol Hill offices handle claims internally, or not at all, she said. Sexual harassment training also is not a requirement for working in Congress — it’s left to individual offices.

Speier has used personal stories as examples before, including when she discussed an abortion she had on the House floor in 2011.

9:49 a.m.: This post had been updated with more detail.

This post originally published at 5:58 a.m.

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Here’s why Republicans could help send Dianne Feinstein back to Washington — even if they can’t stand her

It’s the voters like Republican Larry Ward — conservatives who feel voiceless and adrift, bobbing like red specks in a blue sea — who could help usher the 84-year-old Dianne Feinstein back to Washington with a new lease on her Senate seat.

Like most voters here in El Dorado County, Ward supported President Trump. He can’t understand why Democrats and the media pile on and keep him from cutting taxes and fulfilling a campaign pledge to repeal Obamacare.

He certainly doesn’t think Feinstein’s been too kind to Trump — the argument made by her newly announced challenger, Kevin de León. The state senator from Los Angeles and others on the left were spitting fire a few weeks back when Feinstein allowed as how she hoped, given time and a radical transformation, Trump might end up being a good president.

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Trump calls billionaire activist Tom Steyer ‘wacky’ and ‘unhinged’

President Trump called Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer “wacky” and “unhinged” Friday after apparently seeing an ad that features the San Francisco billionaire calling for Trump to be impeached.

The 60-second television ad has been running for nearly a week, and has been spotted during World Series broadcasts, but it was its appearance during “Fox and Friends” on Friday morning that might have caught Trump’s attention.

Trump tweeted shortly after the ad ran that Steyer “has been fighting me and my Make America Great Again agenda from the beginning,” adding the billionaire environmentalist “never wins elections!”

The $10-million advertising campaign directs people to a website with a petition calling on Trump to be impeached.

Steyer has donated tens of millions to Democratic candidates, and funded get-out-the-vote operations through his climate change political action committee.

The former hedge fund manager has flirted with running for office, and is currently weighing whether to challenge Sen. Dianne Feinstein for the U.S. Senate seat she currently holds.

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Car runs into immigration protesters outside Rep. Ed Royce’s district office

A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside of GOP Rep. Ed Royce’s office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries have been reported to police so far. (Tony Mendoza / Unite Here)

A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside GOP Rep. Ed Royce’s office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries have been reported to police so far.

The alleged driver, 56-year-old Daniel Wenzek of Brea, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked and released pending further investigation, according to Lt. Kelly Carpenter of the Brea Police Department.

Organizers say several hundred people were protesting outside Royce’s office, many of them arriving on buses after a morning news conference with elected officials and labor leaders in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park. They were trying to deliver letters to Royce (R-Fullerton) about what losing temporary protected immigration status would mean to them, said Andrew Cohen, a communications specialist with the organization Unite Here.

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California Secretary of State Alex Padilla backs Gavin Newsom for governor over former colleague Antonio Villaraigosa

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, left, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the highest-ranking Latino in a statewide elected position in California, endorsed Gavin Newsom for governor on Thursday.

Padilla said he had known Newsom for more than a decade and admired his track record as mayor of San Francisco and now lieutenant governor.

“It’s always important to [have] leaders that are committed and get it done, and that’s what I’ve seen in Gavin Newsom over and over and over again,” Padilla said, speaking to dozens of Newsom supporters at a union hall in downtown Los Angeles.

The endorsement was seen as a slap at former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is one of Newsom’s top rivals in the governor’s race. Padilla was president of the Los Angeles City Council during the two years Villaraigosa was a member of the body, and for the first six months of Villaraigosa’s tenure as mayor.

But the two men have never been viewed as close allies. They come from different power bases for Latino politicians in Los Angeles — Villaraigosa from the Eastside and Padilla from the San Fernando Valley. They also have not supported each other’s political pursuits. In 2001, Padilla backed James Hahn over Villaraigosa in the mayoral race. In 2006, Villaraigosa backed Cindy Montañez in a state Senate race over Padilla.

Padilla said he has a relationship with all of the top Democrats running for governor.

“This is a tough one because I do know Antonio Villaraigosa and I know John Chiang and I know Gavin Newsom, but I think that because of what’s happening in the political environment at this time, this isn’t one where we can sit back, ‘Yeah. OK. Cool, let’s see who wins and we’ll work with whoever,’” Padilla said. “If there is a candidate I believe is best for the future of California, I’m compelled to weigh in and that’s what I’m doing today.”

Luis Vizcaino, a Vilaraigosa spokesman, said the announcement was to be expected and noted that Padilla had a leadership role in Newsom’s short-lived 2009 gubernatorial campaign.

“The only surprise here is we thought Alex had endorsed Gavin months ago considering he was Gavin’s Campaign Chair the first time he ran for governor,” Vizcaino said in an email.

Villaraigosa and Chiang, the state treasurer, have also received key endorsements from Latino politicians. Villaraigosa has the backing of the Latino Caucus in the state Legislature, former Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina and Lucille Roybal-Allard. Chiang has won the support of Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar.

Updated at 2:07 p.m.: This post was updated to add a comment from Villaraigosa’s campaign.

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Rep. Maxine Waters asks Twitter for information about Russian accounts used to attack her

(Aaron P. Bernstein / Getty Images)

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters wants Twitter to hand over information about any Russian-linked accounts that have attacked her or her Los Angeles congressional district.

In a letter to Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey on Thursday, the outspoken Democrat asked the company to disclose all of the accounts associated with Russian- or Kremlin-linked firms that have targeted her since the 2016 election. She also asked for details on how many times the tweets mentioning her were shared, including if they were shared by President Trump or conservative outlets.

Waters has been a vocal critic of Trump, which has made her a darling of the left and a frequent source of derision on the right.

“While I have never publicly discussed it before today, I have been aware for some time that I was targeted by Russian operatives whose interests were aligned with Donald Trump,” Waters said in a statement. “I have often noticed that every time I tweeted about Trump and Russia, dozens of strange accounts would immediately tweet various lies and falsehoods that fringe alt-right websites would subsequently use as a basis to write fake news stories.”

Waters said the information from Twitter is needed to demonstrate that congressional members’ efforts to communicate with constituents online have been targeted by Russian disinformation campaigns.

Earlier this month, Buzzfeed reported that an account pretending to speak for the Tennessee Republican Party was actually run by Russian trolls. The account tweeted about Waters for months, including during a town hall meeting in her district, prompting an “Impeach Maxine Waters” hashtag to trend on Twitter.

She blames her criticism of Trump as the reason she was targeted by the account.

“I am concerned that if this issue is left unresolved, more elected officials whom Russians determine are Donald Trump’s political opponents, both Republicans and Democrats, will be targeted and subjected to social media schemes to undermine and interfere in their elections at local, state and national levels,” Waters wrote in the letter.

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California’s Rep. Paul Cook picked to lead Foreign Affairs subcommittee

Rep. Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) has been named chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) made the announcement in a news release Thursday morning following the former subcommittee chairman Rep. Jeff Duncan’s (R-S.C.) departure from the committee this week.

“As a former Marine Corps colonel, Rep. Cook is deeply committed to defending U.S. interests worldwide. I look forward to working with him to continue holding the [Raul] Castro and [Nicolas] Maduro regimes [of Cuba and Venezuela, respectively] accountable for their brutal repression, while increasing U.S. commercial opportunities throughout the hemisphere,” Royce said in a statement.

California holds several leadership positions on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) is the chairman of the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats subcommittee. Rep. Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks is the highest ranking Democrat on the Asia and the Pacific subcommittee and Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles is the highest ranking Democrat on the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations subcommittee.

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GOP tightens restrictions on Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s subcommittee because of scrutiny over his Russia connections

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher speaks to Russian lawmakers at a meeting in the Russian parliament's lower house in Moscow in 2013.
(Misha Japaridze / Associated Press)

The congressional subcommittee led by California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) is being heavily monitored by GOP leaders because of allegations the Orange County congressman has been overly influenced by his connections to Russia.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) will be “more involved in guiding the direction” of the subcommittee that is in part responsible for examining U.S. policy in Russia, said a senior congressional aide who asked not to be identified in order to discuss internal committee matters.

Rohrabacher has long said that the United States needs a better relationship with Russia, puzzling colleagues who have speculated privately about why he’s willing to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Connections between Rohrabacher and Russian officials have been newly highlighted as Congress investigates Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

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California’s GOP members vote in favor of Republican budget, paving way for tax overhaul

All 14 California House Republicans on Thursday voted in favor of the GOP’s budget, which paves the way for overhauling the U.S. tax system.

The budget, which allows for a $1.5-trillion deficit increase that sets the stage for President Trump’s tax cuts, passed 216 to 212, with 20 Republicans joining Democrats in opposing it.

At the root of their objection is the potential repeal of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which would hit especially hard in wealthier states like New York and California.

Gov. Jerry Brown had implored the GOP members not to support the budget, saying there hasn’t been enough time to fully understand what it will mean to the estimated 1 in 3 Californians who claim the deduction. Democrats are targeting nine of the state’s 14 Republican-held districts, and have said they’ll make the elimination of the tax deduction an issue in the campaign.

Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale said he voted for the budget because he’s been assured that a fix will be made to the tax plan that will address or offset the potential tax increase caused by the elimination of the tax deduction. The tax plan is scheduled to be unveiled next week.

“Still worried about it, still working on it,” Knight said after the vote. “I am confident [it will be fixed], but I’ve also said that is my No. 1 priority, so if we can’t get it fixed then we’re going to have problems.”

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Gov. Jerry Brown urges California GOP House members to vote no on budget bill: ‘First let’s get the facts’

Gov. Jerry Brown implored California’s GOP House members to oppose their party’s budget bill over a provision that will end a deduction for state and local taxes used by one in three Californians.

In letters to each Republican member of the California congressional delegation, Brown asked the members to at least ask for more time to learn the specifics of the plan.

“First let’s get the facts. Then, debate the issue. And then we can decide what’s the right thing to do,” Brown says in his letter.

The potential repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction — the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes paid — would hit especially hard in wealthier areas.

The vote is scheduled to take place Thursday morning.

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Six female California lawmakers back Dianne Feinstein in Senate race

Assemblywomen Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, right, and Susan Talamantes-Eggman in May.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Six California Assembly committee chairwomen endorsed Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday over their state Capitol colleague, Senate leader Kevin de León.

In a statement released by Feinstein’s campaign, Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), Blanca E. Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) said the state needs Feinstein “in these uncertain and difficult times.”

“We are proud to endorse Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has been an inspiration for all of us. The first woman to serve on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Feinstein is now the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. In that position, she is defending California against the Republicans and the Trump administration on critical issues like immigration, women’s rights, federal judicial appointments, LGBT rights, civil rights, and gun control,” they said.

De León is the highest-profile Democrat to announce plans to challenge Feinstein in her bid for a fifth full term.

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Rep. Scott Peters endorses fellow Democrat Paul Kerr in House race against Darrell Issa

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Kevin de León vows to back Medicare for all, signaling key issue in 2018 Senate campaign

State Senate leader Kevin de León’s opening salvo in the U.S. Senate race against Sen. Dianne Feinstein takes on one of the main frustrations progressives have voiced with her, a refusal to support single-payer health care.

“I believe that every family, it doesn’t make a difference who you are or where you come from, deserves to have quality healthcare. It is a universal right,” De León says in a video released by his campaign Wednesday. “It’s not the exclusive privilege of the elite and the wealthy.”

The concept of single-payer healthcare has grown in popularity among Democrats since the 2016 election, with some members of the so-called Sanders wing of the party urging Democrats to use support for it as a litmus test in 2018.

Such a program is unlikely to become law while Republicans control both chambers of Congress.

Feinstein has said she doesn’t support expanding Medicare to the entire population “at this stage” and has cited the cost of doing so as a reason.

If he were elected, De León would join Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and 15 other Democratic Senators as co-sponsors of the bill proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

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Sen. Kamala Harris won’t back federal spending bill without DACA fix

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that she won’t back a bill that allows the federal government to spend money unless Congress has a legislative fix to address the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people brought to the country illegally as children.

“I will not vote for an end-of-year spending bill until we are clear about what we are going to do to protect and take care of our DACA young people in this country,” Harris said. “Each day in the life of these young people is a very long time, and we’ve got to stop playing politics with their lives.”

President Trump announced in September that he was giving Congress until March before the program would shutter and recipients would begin losing work permits and protection from deportation. An estimated 200,000 of the nearly 800,000 recipients of the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals program live in California, giving the Golden State an outsized stake in resolving their legal status.

Harris spoke at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday with other members of the California delegation to urge quick action on the issue.

“It is absolutely urgent that we pass the legislation,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said. “We are determined that the Dream Act will be the law of the land before the year is out.”

Democrats and Republicans are negotiating the details of a fix, and when something could pass. Pelosi has hinted that if Republicans don’t have the votes within their party to pass the end-of-year spending bill, which Congress has to pass to keep the government open, Democrats will offer their votes — for a price.

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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher gets a second Republican challenger

A second Republican is jumping in to challenge GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, and he’s pitching himself as an alternative for conservatives who are fed up with Rohrabacher’s controversial antics.

Paul Martin, 52, is a freelance writer and self-proclaimed “Reagan Republican” who lives in Costa Mesa. Rohrabacher is himself a former speechwriter for Reagan.

Martin grew up in Anaheim with an Italian immigrant mother and a Mexican American father, and says he’s opposed to many of the policies coming out of the Trump administration.

“I’ve had enormous struggle with the rhetoric that’s coming out of Washington, D.C., and even more so with the rhetoric that comes out of Dana Rohrabacher’s mouth,” Martin said in an interview. “It’s just not in the spirit that I grew up with.”

Following President Trump’s travel ban announcement, Martin started the Christian-Muslim Alliance, a campaign aimed at fostering dialogue between people of different faiths. He describes himself as a “raging centrist” on a personal blog, where he’s criticized Trump’s response to white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va., and Rohrabacher for taking money from the National Rifle Assn.

Still, Martin says he’s a “true conservative” who wants to focus on issues of “human dignity” and bring better-paying jobs to the district.

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Gov. Jerry Brown, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott send a message with their World Series bet

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

As governors of states hit hard by natural disasters, the leaders of California and Texas hope to send a message with their wager on the outcome of the World Series.

The winner will receive food or drink from either California’s wine country or Houston’s best barbecue joints.

The bet, made Tuesday before the start of the first World Series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, came with a request from both Gov. Jerry Brown and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for tourists to come back to those regions as soon as possible.

“While we don’t expect to have to send any vino to Texas, we hope travelers from all over the world – yes, even the Lone Star State – will continue to visit California,” said Brown in a written statement.

If the Dodgers win, Abbott will send Brown Texas-style barbecue and a six-pack of Houston-brewed beer. Should the Astros prevail, Brown has promised wine from the Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino regions.

“Texas and California are recovering from some of the worst natural disasters our states have ever encountered,” Abbott said in a joint statement from the two governors. “As we work to overcome these challenges, our two states are united by America’s pastime as we cheer on our home teams in the World Series. Go Astros!”

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California Assembly to hold public hearings to address sexual harassment

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, right.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press))

The California Assembly will hold public hearings next month to address sexual harassment in the Capitol, Democratic lawmakers announced Tuesday, as allegations of pervasive mistreatment continue to ripple through Sacramento.

The announcement comes one day after the California Senate announced it has hired lawyers and human resources consultants to investigate allegations of widespread sexual harassment and evaluate Senate procedures.

In a joint statement, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) said that “sexual harassment of any kind is intolerable.”

The lawmakers say a three-pronged approach is necessary to confront the issue: changing a climate that has been permissive to sexual harassment, offering victims have a safe place to discuss complaints and ensuring that “sexual harassment is dealt with expeditiously and that the seriousness of consequences match the violations committed,” they said in a statement.

Vowing a “comprehensive effort” to address these issues, lawmakers said there will be public hearings in November to discuss how the Legislature can tackle the issue. The panel, tasked to discuss harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention and response, is chaired by Friedman and was formed in June, though it has not yet met.

The panel is a subcommittee of the powerful Rules committee, chaired by Cooley, which functions as the chamber’s de facto human resources department.

“As we move forward, we must remember that the bottom line is harassers need to stop their abusive actions,” the statement said. “The rest of us need to call out harassment and abuse by its name and stigmatize this behavior each and every single time we see it.”

Adama Iwu, who helped organize the public letter published last week decrying an atmosphere of sexual harassment in the Capitol, said she and some of the women who signed the letter were concerned if any victim would be asked to testify “with no legal guarantee against retaliation.”

“Furthermore, we are concerned about the divergent paths of the Assembly and Senate,” Iwu said in a statement. “It is imperative that we work with outside experts, as part of a public independent review with whistleblower protections, to address the pervasive culture of sexual harassment in the Capitol community.”

Meanwhile, the trade association representing lobbyists, the Institute of Governmental Advocates, said in a statement Tuesday that it “unequivocally supports [the women who signed the letter] and any other person in our Capitol community who has suffered harassment.”

Dates for the hearings, which are expected in late November, have not been set.

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Recall effort against Sen. Josh Newman still on track after too few voters request to remove their names from petitions

State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), left, listens to debate in June on a measure to change the rules governing recall elections.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Of the more than 70,600 voters who signed petitions to hold a recall vote on state Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton, only 849 asked that their signatures be withdrawn by the deadline, clearing a major hurdle for an election on whether to oust the Democratic lawmaker, officials said Tuesday.

Opponents of the recall needed to get more than 7,000 voters to withdraw their signatures to deprive supporters of the 63,593 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot, under a new system approved recently by the Democratic-controlled Legislature that slows down the process.

“Sen. Josh Newman has spent months lying to his constituents by claiming people were duped into signing the recall petition against him, and with today’s tally, he has been unmasked again as a pathological liar who is unfit to hold office,” said Carl DeMaio, a Republican activist heading the recall drive. “We eagerly look forward to voters having a chance to vote him out for his lies and his decision to increase the gas tax.”

Newman won a close contest last November in a district formerly represented by a Republican. He was targeted for recall by Republican activists for voting in April for a $52-billion transportation plan that raises gas taxes and imposes a new annual vehicle fee. A successful recall would deprive Democrats of a supermajority in the Senate.

Once Secretary of State Alex Padilla certifies that there are sufficient valid signatures based on the data collected Tuesday, the new process calls for him to notify the state Department of Finance, which will be given 30 business days to prepare a cost estimate for the recall election.

Once the estimate is prepared, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee will have 30 calendar days to review and comment on the estimate, said Sam Mahood, a spokesman for Padilla.

On the following business day, the secretary of State will certify to the governor that the recall has qualified for the ballot. That could happen as late as Jan. 11 if the reviews take all the time allotted.

Gov. Jerry Brown must then call an election to be held 60 to 80 days later, or within 180 days if there is a regularly scheduled election within Senate District 29 during that period. There will be a June 2018 primary election for the Assembly districts that make up the Senate District, so Brown could consolidate the Senate recall vote with that state primary.

However, the new, longer process could end up being abandoned if supporters of the recall are successful in a lawsuit alleging the new rules are improper. At the same time, opponents of the recall have filed a lawsuit to block the recall, alleging petition circulators misled voters by saying their signatures would help repeal the gas tax.

“The underhanded methods used to qualify this recall likely represent one of the worst cases of voter fraud in California history,” said Derek Humphrey, a consultant for the Newman campaign. “Now, millions of tax dollars will be wasted to redo an election the Sacramento special interests lost barely a year ago. It’s a shameful waste of money that voters will soundly reject and vote to keep Josh Newman fighting for them in the state Senate.”

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Kevin De León pledges to sponsor Medicare-for-all bill if elected to the U.S. Senate

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Rep. Devin Nunes announces investigation into Obama-era uranium deal

House Republicans are opening investigations of the Obama administration’s 2010 decision to approve the sale of American uranium mines to a Russian-backed company, and California Rep. Devin Nunes is at the forefront.

Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said at a news conference that his panel and the House Oversight Committee would jointly probe the deal, which President Trump has called “the real Russia story.”

Nunes and other Trump supporters have raised the 7-year-old uranium deal while four congressional committees and Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III are looking into Russia interference the 2016 election and whether Moscow had any direct links to the Trump campaign.

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Former deputy director of California tax agency says he was fired for whistleblowing

The state Capitol
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A former deputy director of the state Board of Equalization said Tuesday he was improperly fired this month after cooperating with a state Department of Justice investigation into allegations that agency officials improperly used public resources.

Mark DeSio was fired Oct. 12 as the director for external affairs of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which recently was split off from the board in an agency shakeup. He has filed a whistleblower complaint and appeal to the state Personnel Board seeking reinstatement to his position.

He alleges the agency before its split up was rife with nepotism and that there is improper hiring and use of employees from one fund to instead help elected board members in field offices.

“For more than a year, DeSio gave information about the BOE to the Department of Justice and several state agencies and auditors, right up until the time of his firing,” said a press release from his attorney, Mary-Alice Coleman. “Despite being pressured, DeSio refused to engage in certain activities. DeSio’s job was threatened multiple times during the course of his employment.”

In April, Gov. Jerry Brown called for a Justice Department probe of allegations that employees of the state Board of Equalization misused state resources assigning high-paid tax auditors to tasks such as directing traffic for community events promoting elected board members. Brown also set in motion steps that broke up the agency in June, putting the five-member board in one office, and tax collection and appeal system in two other offices.

At the time, Brown cited “serious problems” of mismanagement identified in a Department of Finance audit of the agency, which is responsible for collecting $60 billion in tax revenue annually.

DeSio said he has also provided information on alleged improprieties to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which investigates political wrongdoing.

Days before he was notified of his termination, DeSio said he told Department of Justice investigators that the board had “misused” 30 information officer positions as personal staff for board members.

He also said supervisors overruled him when he refused to hire 10 new call center employees from funds not set aside for that purpose. He said 10 people were hired even after Brown had revoked the agency’s hiring power.

DeSio’s complaint alleges that in August 2016, board member Jerome Horton “pressured” DeSio to promote a particular employee who was funded by DeSio’s office, but actually worked in Horton’s office.

When DeSio refused, saying the employee was not the top-scoring candidate, the complaint says Horton became angry and his chief of staff threatened DeSio. Board Executive Director David Gau, the complaint alleges, contacted Desio and “told him to either do what Horton wanted or be fired.”

After meeting with Department of Finance auditors, DeSio said he was contacted by Horton in November 2016. “Horton demanded to know what DOF had asked and what documentation Desio had provided in response.” DeSio said he refused to disclose what he gave the auditor.

“Horton threatened DeSio, saying, ‘I only need one more vote to take you out,’” the complaint alleges.

Horton disputed the allegations.

“If he has filed a complaint, the facts will show that I had an excellent professional relationship with Mr. DeSio and the allegations are not true, I had nothing to do with his termination,” Horton said in a statement.

Gau did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

DeSio also alleged multiple cases of nepotism in the agency. In one example, he alleges agency officials “improperly orchestrated the hiring” of the man whose wife worked for a top manager at the agency.

Updated at 3 pm to include comment from Board member Jerome Horton.

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Campaign manager for Orange County congressional candidate resigns following sexual harassment allegations

The campaign manager for Orange County congressional challenger Phil Janowicz resigned last week following allegations he had sexually harassed women while working as a top official with the Democratic Party of Orange County.

Erik Taylor, who had worked for Janowicz’s campaign for less than five months, resigned Thursday, according to Janowicz, a Democrat who is running to unseat GOP Rep. Ed Royce in the 39th Congressional District.

In a Facebook statement Friday, Janowicz identified Taylor as a “senior member” of his campaign staff who “vehemently denies the allegations.”

“I await the results of the formal investigation,” Janowicz continued, adding that “sexual harassment and sexual assault have absolutely no place in our society and absolutely no place on a political campaign.”

Janowicz said he first heard about the allegations Tuesday afternoon and called Taylor to ask for an explanation. Janowicz said after that conversation, he immediately asked for Taylor’s resignation, which was finalized Thursday afternoon.

Taylor’s name, along with the name of a prominent Orange County labor leader, was first publicly mentioned in a report from OC Weekly that detailed the allegations by unnamed accusers.

Efforts to reach Taylor were unsuccessful.

The alleged incidents came to light in part through social media posts inspired by the #metoo campaign that has prompted women to share their experiences with sexual harassment. They caught the attention of many Orange County politicos after a post from Danielle Serbin, chairwoman of the Orange County Young Democrats, demanded that party leaders “call out the harassers, name them and shame them, and remove them from positions of power in our community.”

In a statement, the Democratic Party of Orange County said it takes the accusations seriously and promised a raft of changes to its operation, including training for members and volunteers, a code of conduct that applies to all members, staff and volunteers of the party and taking “immediate action” to investigate accusations as they arise.

Elsewhere in California politics, state Senate leader Kevin de León announced Monday that he will hire two outside firms to look into allegations of a widespread culture of sexual harassment in the state Capitol.

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Gavin Newsom calls for California to nearly quadruple its annual housing production

Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom
(Jenna Schoenefeld / For The Times)

Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom says California officials should set a goal to help 3.5 million new homes get built by 2025 to stem the state’s housing problems.

“Simply put, we’re experiencing a housing affordability crisis, driven by a simple economic argument,” the lieutenant governor said in a post on Medium outlining his housing plan. “California is leading the national recovery, but it’s producing far more jobs than homes. Providing adequate housing is fundamental to growing the state’s economy.”

To reach that number, which comes from a 2016 analysis by consulting firm McKinsey Global Institute, the state would need to nearly quadruple its annual production of roughly 100,000 new homes a year to 378,000. That amount of new homes in one year hasn’t been built since at least 1954, according to permit data from the construction industry.

Newsom outlined a number of policy changes he’d make including:

  • Expand by $500 million the low-income housing income tax credit program to build more affordable homes.
  • Allow cities to sequester local tax dollars to help finance new development in certain neighborhoods.
  • Link state transportation funding to local governments’ housing growth targets, which cities and cities currently have little incentive to meet.
  • Revamp local tax incentives so it makes more financial sense for cities to approve new homes.
  • Appoint a homelessness czar.

“There is significant work ahead of us to tackle the housing and homelessness crisis gripping our state,” Newsom wrote in the post. “But I’m committed to turning the tide, because each new unit built and each individual with a place to call their own is one more person who can feel at home in California.”

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Want the Sierra Club’s endorsement? Here are its standards

The Sierra Club is setting some ground rules for California gubernatorial candidates that may want its endorsement.

No. 1 on the list is independence from the oil industry, which has been a fault line in the Capitol during debates over climate change policies.

“This year, given how important California’s role has become to the nation for leadership on the environment, it made sense to lay out in advance what some of the overall characteristics that the endorsement committee will be looking for in candidates,” said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California.

Other requirements include independence from the tobacco and e-cigarette industry and a commitment to public health, environmental equity and transparency.

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Rent control in California could expand dramatically under a possible 2018 initiative

California’s cities and counties would be able to dramatically expand rent control under a potential 2018 statewide ballot initiative filed Monday.

The initiative would repeal the landmark Costa-Hawkins Act, a 1995 law that barred rent caps on single-family homes and apartments built after that year. If it passes, local governments would be able to implement rent control on newer properties.

“Rent in California is out of control,” Ismail Marcus Allgood, a South Los Angeles resident and a leader with faith-based community organization LA Voice, said in a press release announcing the measure. “I moved here in 2013, and have already moved four times due to my rent being raised. That is just ridiculous. The homeless problem in L.A. is only going to get worse if we don’t repeal Costa-Hawkins right now.”

The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a nonprofit community organizing group, is the primary backer of the initiative. In a release, the organization said it had the support of major tenant groups up and down the state and Michael Weinstein, the leader of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. That organization has funded numerous state and local ballot measures, including an unsuccessful effort earlier this year to limit growth in the city of Los Angeles.

Apartment developers and landlords are strongly supportive of the Costa-Hawkins Act, which tenant groups have long fought. Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) introduced a bill last year to repeal the law, but he pulled it before a committee hearing, citing stiff opposition. Bloom has vowed to bring back his bill in 2018.

After the proposed initiative receives an official title and summary from the Attorney General’s Office and a financial analysis, organizers will have to decide whether to collect signatures to place it on the November 2018 ballot.

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California Senate hires investigators to look into sexual harassment allegations

California Senate leader Kevin de León will hire two outside firms to look into allegations of a widespread culture of sexual harassment in the state Capitol.

De León announced Monday he has hired the law office of Amy Oppenheimer to conduct an external investigation into harassment and assault allegations, and the consulting firm CPS HR Consulting to review Senate policies on harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

De León also sent letters to lobbyists in the Capitol community detailing how existing rules protect non-employees.

“There’s always more employers can do to protect their employees,” De León said in a statement. “Everyone deserves a workplace free of fear, harassment and sexual misbehavior and I applaud the courage of women working in and around the Capitol who are coming forward and making their voices heard.

The women behind an open letter sent last week calling out a “pervasive” culture of mistreatment in the political industry said that De León’s actions were insufficient.

More than 140 women, including legislators, Capitol staff, political consultants and lobbyists, signed the letter.

“To find the truth and rebuild trust, we need a truly independent investigation, not a secretly hand-picked self-investigation,” said Adama Iwu, a government affairs director for Visa who spearheaded the campaign. “We need full transparency. How was this firm selected? Who will they report their findings to? What exactly are they investigating? Is the Assembly involved?”

Meanwhile, the women who have signed the letter, who have coalesced into a group called “We Said Enough,” announced they were formalizing their advocacy efforts on Monday by launching a nonprofit organization.

The group plans to hold forums to “outline a plan of action for improving how harassment and abuse complaints are reported, investigated and addressed.”

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Kevin de León has millions in state campaign accounts that can’t be rolled over to his Senate race

State Senate leader Kevin De León has millions of dollars socked away in state campaign accounts, but federal law prohibits him from rolling over the money into his federal campaign for the U.S. Senate.

So what options does the Los Angeles legislator have as he puts together a campaign to unseat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat, in next year’s election?

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Candidates for California governor debate whether single-payer healthcare is right for the state

The top four Democrats running for California governor took part in a candidate forum Sunday at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim.
The top four Democrats running for California governor took part in a candidate forum Sunday at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim.
(Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times)

The top four Democrats running for California governor stood onstage Sunday for the first major candidate forum, splintering over single-payer healthcare but little else.

The divide on healthcare mirrored the conflict within the Democratic Party both nationally and in California, with progressives — including those who backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president — aggressively pushing for universal healthcare while moderates and establishment party members want to plot a more deliberative, cautious course.

On almost every other issue, from immigration to making housing more affordable in California, the four gubernatorial candidates aligned on Sunday. They remained cordial throughout the 90-minute exchange, taking only a few subtle digs at one another that would probably go unnoticed by voters paying only casual attention to the race.

The candidates each called for an increase in coverage for mental health and for holding healthcare companies more accountable. They threw sharp jabs at the Trump administration, vowing to take legal action to shield immigrants in California.

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Gov. Jerry Brown heads to Washington to talk about the threat of nuclear war

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Watch: California’s Democratic candidates for governor discuss healthcare issues in Anaheim

California Democratic gubernatorial candidates John Chiang, Delaine Eastin, Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa are in Anaheim to discuss healthcare issues at a forum hosted by the National Union of Healthcare Workers.

The candidates will be asked questions by Times reporter Melanie Mason along with Bob Butler of KCBS radio, Maria Paula Ochoa of Telemundo and and Jeff Horseman of Southern California News Group. The event will be moderated by ABC News correspondent John Donvan.

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California Politics Podcast: What happens next in Sacramento’s discussion of sexual harassment is important

There’s a big, challenging question beyond the initial shock of sexual harassment stories told by women working in California politics: What happens next?

On this week’s California Politics Podcast, we discuss the allegations that have emerged from an open letter first reported by The Times on Tuesday. And a key part of the next chapter is how legislative leaders and the state’s major political parties respond to the concerns raised in the letter signed by more than 140 women.

We also take a closer look at the new effort by wealthy activist Tom Steyer to demand impeachment proceedings against President Trump, and whether the San Francisco Democrat is thinking seriously about jumping into the U.S. Senate race.

And with Gov. Jerry Brown’s action on hundreds of bills complete, we offer up a few notable decisions in those final signings and vetoes.

I’m joined by Times staff writer Melanie Mason and Marisa Lagos of KQED.

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Sen. Tom Cotton chides Californians: ‘Your sanctuary cities weren’t enough, you had to have a sanctuary state instead’

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton addresses the California Republican Party at its fall convention in Anaheim.
(Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times)

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton told California Republicans they should expect better days ahead, in part, because of liberal overreach by California Democrats on taxes, immigration and other issues affecting the daily lives of working-class Americans.

Cotton invoked the memory of former president and California governor Ronald Reagan as a guiding light, and ridiculed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) as a harbinger of doom.

“All it takes is a little new thinking applied with old principles. The principles of Ronald Reagan,” Cotton told a packed ballroom at the California Republican Party’s fall convention in Anaheim on Saturday.

Cotton’s keynote address hewed toward traditional conservative themes and was peppered with light moments and witty jabs about the Democrats’ grip on California politics.

“When Jerry Brown has to veto your legislation because it’s too liberal, you might have to take a look in the mirror,” Cotton told the crowd.

It was a big departure from the speech the night before by GOP firebrand Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former political strategist.

Bannon unleased attacks on former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). He told Republicans they needed to rise up in California or else the progressive left and “lords of the Silicon Valley” would try to secede from the union in 10 to 15 years.

Cotton, who at 40 is the youngest member of the U.S. Senate, is widely believed to be eyeing a run for higher office. During the 2016 Republican National Convention, he was the most active politician on the breakfast circuit, visiting the South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and California delegations.

California, of course, is home to more than 5 million Republican voters and has been a wellspring of political cash for GOP presidential candidates.

Cotton’s message of hope has been a running theme throughout the three-day GOP gathering as the state party tries once again to turn things around in left-leaning California. The party’s share of the state electorate has fallen to 26% and no Republican has been elected to statewide office since 2006.

Cotton, however, told the party faithful to remain upbeat. California’s Republican members of Congress play a pivotal role in Washington, and there are ample opportunities to rekindle the party’s presence in Sacramento and throughout the state.

Cotton zeroed in on the new gas tax and vehicle fee hike in the state, which would raise $5.2 billion annually for transportation and mass transit improvements, saying it would hurt ordinary Californians.

“If you live in West L.A. or San Francisco and you have the money to afford a Tesla, maybe you’ll be OK,” Cotton said. “What about the farmer in the Central Valley who has a pickup truck and needs to fill it up three times a week?”

He also took shots at the so-called sanctuary state law signed this month by Gov. Jerry Brown, which will limit law enforcement agencies from questioning and detaining people for immigration violations.

“Your sanctuary cities weren’t enough, you had to have a sanctuary state instead,” Cotton said. “So all your citizens will face greater danger no matter where they live.”

Before he took the stage, the state GOP played a short video introduction of the Arkansas senator, focused on his experiences serving as an Army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Washington, Cotton was a harsh critic of President Obama and is considered a hawk on national defense. During a hearing in June, Cotton also openly mocked the idea of the Trump administration colluding with Russia.

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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticizes Gov. Brown, lauds Trump at California GOP convention

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) on Saturday blasted Gov. Jerry Brown over Democrats positioning the state as the liberal resistance to President Trump and for legislative efforts to circumvent the president’s policies.

Brown, he warned, could be viewed similarly to southern governors who sought to “pick and choose” which federal laws to uphold during the civil rights era. He focused on Brown’s recent signing of a bill to make California a so-called sanctuary state, which will limit law enforcement agencies from questioning and detaining people for immigration violations.

“I don’t think history will be very kind to Gov. Brown,” McCarthy told a few hundred delegates and guests at a luncheon at the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim.

California is a critical part of Democrats’ efforts to retake the House of Representatives, with a focus on seven Republican-held districts that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Only one of the Republican representatives of those targeted districts had appeared at the convention as of Saturday afternoon, Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine.

McCarthy said Vice President Mike Pence raised $5 million for the efforts to protect the seats during a recent three-day fundraising trip through California, but he did not otherwise go into detail about the congressional battle expected in 2018.

He instead lashed out at Republican members of the state Legislature who voted for Democratic policies.

“My advice to those Assembly members in Sacramento: You will not win a majority by thinking you’ll be Democrat-light. You will win the majority by showing the differences in the party,” McCarthy said. “You will not win the majority by voting against your own principles on a Democratic policy, and let Democratic targets vote no. You will not win the majority if you’re concerned about being able to stand behind a podium with a Democratic governor instead of giving the freedom to Californians across this entire state.”

McCarthy did not name the members he was speaking about, but it was clear he was referring to Assemblyman Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) and other Republicans who voted for an extension of the state’s cap-and-trade program this year. Mayes stepped down as Assembly Republican leader under pressure from others in his party who were upset over his vote for the climate change program, which requires companies to purchase permits to release greenhouse gases.

McCarthy spoke a day after former Trump White House advisor Stephen K. Bannon addressed the group. Bannon has declared “war” on the GOP establishment, of which McCarthy is a member. McCarthy did not push back at Bannon’s remarks, which included criticism of former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Rather, McCarthy lauded Trump’s vision, compared him to former President Reagan and pointed to economic gains and regulatory reform since Trump took office.

“What a difference nine months and one election makes,” McCarthy said. “What a difference: A man who ran for president on issues and keeps his word and actually enacts the things he promised to do.”

Trump has tried to enact many of his campaign promises but has been unsuccessful on several priorities, including a travel ban on citizens from Muslim-majority countries and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Tax reform is the latest priority on the Republicans’ agenda, and McCarthy promised that Congress would push a package by Thanksgiving that includes lowering rates for small businesses and corporations, and simplifying the tax code from seven income tax brackets to three. He also spoke out in support of one of the more controversial parts of the proposal: eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes.

“I don’t think it’s fair for somebody else to subsidize poor management in California,” McCarthy said. “Look at the entire [tax reform] bill when it comes out, you will pay less. But no longer can Sacramento say, ‘I’m going to raise the rates just because I’ll have the federal government subsidize it.’ They will have to be held accountable for when they want to raise taxes.”

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John Chiang endorsed for governor by San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher

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Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who clashed with Trump during the election, goes after him again in California

Khizr Khan at the National Union of Healthcare Workers conference in Anaheim on Saturday.
(Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times)

Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq who feuded with Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, on Saturday criticized the Trump White House for its clash with a widow of a fallen soldier this week.

Khan, speaking to reporters after addressing a National Union of Healthcare Workers conference in Anaheim, said the families of all military members killed in combat deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, especially in the days and weeks immediately following the death of their loved one.

“It was disappointing to see the behavior of [the White House],” Khan said, before criticizing Trump administration officials for standing “in front of the cameras and providing a defense for the indefensible behavior.”

Khan’s comments came just days after the uproar over Trump’s call to the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson of Florida, one of four U.S. soldiers who died in an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger.

Rep. Frederica S. Wilson of Florida was with Johnson’s wife, Myeshia Johnson, in a car when the widow took Trump’s call on speakerphone. Wilson publicly described Trump’s comments as insensitive, saying he suggested that the sergeant knew what he was getting into when he joined the Army.

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, whose son was killed in combat, defended the president’s comments, saying that he advised Trump on what to say and that the president was trying to praise Johnson’s unselfish military service as well as offer words of comfort to his widow.

Khan avoided attacking Trump directly or expanding on his remarks, saying he will address the controversy in more detail after Johnson’s memorial services.

The clash between Khan and Trump ignited after Khan’s speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. There, Khan ripped into Trump, then the Republican nominee for president.

“Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son ‘the best of America.’ If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America,” Khan said at the convention. “Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities — women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country.”

Trump responded by questioning whether Khan’s wife, who stood by her husband’s side during the couple’s high-profile appearance, was silent because of her Muslim faith. The controversy ignited by Trump’s jabs at a Gold Star family dragged on for days, and he drew rebukes from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

During his speech to the healthcare union Saturday, Khan lamented the loss of “civility” in national political discourse and pointed squarely at the president. He said the current White House has “sown division” by attacking immigrants and belittling political rivals.

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California Teachers Assn. votes to endorse Gavin Newsom for governor

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with participants of a march in Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide in April.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The politically influential California Teachers Assn. on Saturday endorsed Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor, praising his support for public schools and his promise to hold charter schools more accountable.

“Gavin has long supported increased funding for education and is committed to making investing in students a top priority as governor,” CTA President Eric Heins said in a written statement Saturday. “He supports a public education system that attracts, not attacks, teachers, universal preschool and affordable college for all.”

The move is not entirely surprising given the antagonism between one of Newsom’s top Democratic rivals, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and teachers unions in California.

Villaraigosa launched his career as a union organizer, including for United Teachers Los Angeles, and labor played a critical role in getting him elected to office. But after he tried to gain control of Los Angeles schools, he questioned policies fiercely guarded by teachers unions, such as seniority protections that resulted in regular layoff notices to younger teachers who tend to staff the most challenging schools. He grew to support using student test scores to evaluate teachers and other overhauls opposed by union leaders.

Villaraigosa, who eventually gained control of more than a dozen struggling city schools through a nonprofit, ultimately blasted the city’s teachers union where he once worked as “the largest obstacle to creating quality schools.”

The teachers association also passed over Democrat Delaine Eastin, a long-shot candidate who jumped into the 2018 governor’s race last year. Eastin, who served as California’s state superintendent of public instruction, has vowed to put education at the forefront of her campaign.

The key question going forward is how much CTA plans to invest in the governor’s race and how it plans to spend it. In 2014, the union spent $12 million to defeat Marshall Tuck, a huge sum in an obscure race to be state superintendent of public instruction. A Democrat and former charter school leader, Tuck was hired by Villaraigosa to run the nonprofit that oversaw his schools.

Tuck, who narrowly lost his race in 2014 against an incumbent, is running for state superintendent again in 2018. CTA on Saturday also endorsed his opponent, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond).

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Republican Justin Fareed jumps into race (again) to oppose Rep. Salud Carbajal

(Javier Panzar / Los Angeles Times)

Republican Justin Fareed announced Saturday that he will make a third run for Congress.

Fareed, 29, lost by nearly 7 percentage points last year to Democrat Salud Carbajal in the 24th Congressional District. It was one of the most expensive House races in the state. He also ran in 2014, but did not make it past the primary.

Speaking to supporters at a restaurant in Santa Barbara, Fareed called Carbajal “at best ... an ineffective politician.”

“He gave us lip service last cycle. He said that he will work across the aisle, that he will work in a bipartisan way,” Fareed said, noting that Carbajal had voted with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi “more than 97% of the time.”

Fareed’s announcement came days after he reported raising more than $215,000 for his campaign.

During his campaign last year, Fareed described himself as a “third-generation cattle rancher” and vice president of his family’s company, ProBand Sports Industries, which makes medical devices to treat repetitive stress injuries.

In a statement, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Drew Godinich said Fareed’s previous failed runs show he doesn’t have the “values that families of California’s 24th District are looking for.”

“The people of this community know Salud Carbajal’s record of defending our healthcare and fighting for good paying jobs,” Godinich said.

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Bannon rallies college Republicans at California GOP convention: ‘You guys are the cutting edge’

Former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon stopped by a gathering of college Republicans in Anaheim on Friday night, telling them it was up to their generation to right the nation’s course.

“You guys are the cutting edge. You’re the vanguard,” he told a crowd of students gathered at a cigar reception at the California Republican Party’s fall convention. “The millennial generation, you guys are the next greatest generation.”

Bannon spoke to the students shortly after addressing about 500 delegates and guests as the keynote dinner speaker at the state GOP gathering. He told them they must continue the movement started by President Trump and others.

“I couldn’t be prouder to be a small part of this revolution. But on your shoulders, it’s going to happen or not. It’s not Trump, it’s not me, it’s not Laura Ingraham, it’s not Sean Hannity. It’s going to be you guys,” he said. “If you ever need any help … track me down. I’ve got your back the entire time.”

Bannon was mobbed by students seeking pictures and autographs on his way out.

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Bannon’s mention of Sen. John McCain, George W. Bush draws boos at California GOP convention

Former Trump White House advisor Stephen K. Bannon ripped into former President George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain Friday night at the California Republican Party Convention in Anaheim, saying “there has not been a more destructive presiden

Mere mentions of former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) drew loud boos and catcalls as former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon derided the GOP leaders in his address to California Republicans on Friday night at their fall convention in Anaheim.

Bannon, who runs the far-right website Breitbart News, blasted Bush for his harsh assessment of Trump and his policies, which the former president delivered at a policy seminar in New York on Thursday. Bush suggested that Trump has promoted bigotry and falsehoods, violating this country’s values.

“President Bush to me embarrassed himself. Speech writers wrote a highfalutin speech,” Bannon said. “It’s clear he didn’t understand anything he was talking about. … Just like it was when he was president of the United States.”

Bannon, who was ousted from the White House in August but said he considers himself Trump’s “wingman,” didn’t stop there. He ripped into Bush, saying he allowed China to grow as a world power under the premise that global engagement might shepherd the county toward democracy.

“There’s not been a more destructive presidency than George Bush’s,” Bannon said.

Bannon also had no love for McCain, who has openly clashed with Trump and helped torpedo Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

He praised McCain’s military service, but said as a politician, “He’s just another senator from Arizona.”

The boos from the crowd of Republican donors and activists show how much the state party has changed as its influence has waned and its numbers have dwindled in California. The brand of conservatism belonging to Bush and McCain resonated with California’s GOP voters during their presidential campaigns. Both men forged deep ties with the state’s Republican elected leaders and donors, raising tens of millions of dollars here for their political campaigns.

In California, Bush received 1.1 million more votes in the November 2004 presidential election than Trump did last November. McCain received almost 600,000 more votes in the November 2008 presidential election than Trump received in the state in 2016.

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College journalists say covering Bannon at GOP convention prepares them for Yiannopoulos on campus

Student journalists Amy Wells and Brandon Pho from Cal State Fullerton teamed up outside Anaheim’s Marriott Hotel as night descended, assigned to cover Stephen K. Bannon’s speech and protesters targeting him.

“We don’t underestimate how movements can pull in more youth, especially if they hear other youth pushing it on social media,” said Pho, a sophomore majoring in journalism.

“We’re always on the lookout for more policy to dig into because we have a lot of undocumented students on our campus and they’re way aware of national issues,” added Wells, a senior pursuing a journalism degree.

Pho and Wells said reporting on the small crowd of protesters will prepare them for much larger turnouts when provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos visits their campus at the end of this month.

“While Bannon is more provocative, he doesn’t have the reach of someone like Milo who knows how to engage an online audience,” said Pho, 19. “We learn from watching how different public figures do outreach.”

Wells, 22, described the night’s gathering as having “the feel of a college campus protest. And of course, that feels familiar, with people here maybe figuring out what to do next. Small steps.”

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Indivisible members rally ahead of Stephen K. Bannon’s speech to California Republicans

Growing up as a Republican in Southern California, Michelle Fowle said she automatically registered to join the party because her parents were also members.

“I didn’t know the right civics,” recalled the Northridge activist, 50. “I didn’t really know women died for the right to vote. I just voted for whoever I saw on signs, or whose names I remembered.”

Now Fowle is the founder of The Resistance - Northridge, Indivisible, which united supporters outside the California GOP convention in Anaheim on Friday to protest an appearance by Stephen K. Bannon.

She joined a crowd of about 50 people across the street from the Anaheim Marriott on Friday night as they denounced President Trump’s former advisor. They were separated from conventiongoers by metal barriers and a cordon of private security guards while police officers observed from nearby.

“Information and exposure and understanding show us that he is dangerous. He’s a very, very good manipulator,” Fowle said of Bannon. “His goal is to try and get rid of established Republicans and bring in more extreme people. Bannon is using whatever base Trump has left to recruit.”

Carolyn Criss, a retired film industry researcher, drove from Sherman Oaks to protest.

“Bannon is a clear danger to our democracy,” she said.

Criss said Trump’s election awoke her dormant activist tendencies, and she now regularly attends protests against the president.

She said she thought Bannon’s visit was an effort to “amplify his voice” while also helping the GOP raise money.

“I really hope the GOP just wants to make some money off him and doesn’t believe what he says,” she said.

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Small protest gathers ahead of Steve Bannon speech at California GOP convention

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California Republicans kick off state party convention in Anaheim

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California lawmaker plans to introduce legislation to protect workers who exercise right to free speech

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, left, take a knee during the national anthem in a 2016 game against the Rams.
(Daniel Gluskoter / Associated Press Images for Panini)

A California lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that would help protect workers from employer retribution for exercising their right to free speech.

Sen. Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) said Friday that the state should be a sanctuary for free speech, including the kind that some might find offensive. He said he will introduce a measure when the Legislature is back in session in January.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re Ben Shapiro speaking at UC Berkeley, a brave female employee standing up to misogyny in her workplace through the #MeToo movement, or a Dallas Cowboy playing in California this Sunday,” he said in a statement. “The Constitution does not limit speech based on value judgments so long as it doesn’t harm others.”

Stern said the president’s attempt to urge NFL owners to fire players who kneel during the National Anthem is a “troubling attack” on the 1st Amendment.

“The Constitution trumps Trump,” he said. “Americans of all political stripes ought to stand up and defend it.”

The legislation would also help public institutions fund security for events that could include offensive speech. Public institutions and law enforcement shouldn’t have to bear the cost of ensuring constitutional protections for such events, Stern said.

Stern, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is part of the ongoing work to define hate speech and find a way to address it while upholding the Constitution.

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Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom fights NRA over gun control law in federal court

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.
(Tim Berger / Times Community News)

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked the courts to lift an order that blocks California’s ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines, which was approved in November by voters when they passed Proposition 63.

In June, a federal judge in San Diego ruled in favor of a request by the National Rifle Assn. to temporarily delay the magazine ban until the court could make a final decision on the law.

U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez wrote then: “If this injunction does not issue, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of otherwise law-abiding citizens will have an untenable choice: become an outlaw or dispossess one’s self of lawfully acquired property.”

In a friend-of-the-court filing, Newsom and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence argued the ban on large-capacity magazines is needed “to help prevent the occurrence of high-fatality gun massacres, and to reduce the bloodshed when these tragedies occur.”

Newsom, a candidate for governor, sponsored Proposition 63 with the law center.

“It’s a tragic reality that as time passes, we are presented with more and more evidence on the devastating power of large-capacity magazines, which are consistently the accessory of choice in mass shootings for mass murderers,” Newsom said Friday in a statement, predicting the federal courts would uphold the ban.

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State GOP leader says the new gas tax and high poverty rate make Democrats vulnerable in California

California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte, center, addresses GOP delegates at the state party's convention in Anaheim on Friday.
(Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times)

California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte kicked off the state GOP’s fall convention with a speech to delegates that outlined why he thinks Democrats will be vulnerable in the upcoming 2018 elections.

Brulte zeroed in on the new gas tax and policy declaring California a “sanctuary state” — both approved by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic-controlled Legislature and both, he said, unpopular with California voters.

He said Democrats have tried to deflect voter attention from these issues, as well as California’s high poverty rate and an uptick in crime, by continually attacking President Trump.

“Here in California, the reason they want to talk about Donald Trump is because they don’t want to talk about the record they created,” Brulte said. “They broke it. They own it. If Donald Trump were not president, we would still have 22% of Californians living below the poverty line. That’s not Donald Trump’s fault. That’s the Democrats who control California.”

The state GOP’s three-day convention at the Anaheim Marriott will kick off in earnest Friday night when Trump’s former political strategist, Steve Bannon, takes the stage for a keynote address to delegates.

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Nancy Pelosi says she needs to stay on as Democratic leader so there is a woman at the table

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday she needs to keep her leadership position so there is a “top” woman at the table when decisions are made.

Pelosi made the comment on ABC’s “The View” while recounting being interrupted by Cabinet officials during a recent White House dinner with President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“I was the only woman at the table, and that’s why I have to stay there, to be one of the top women, top people, at the table,” she said.

WATCH: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi talks to the L.A. Times >>

The Democrat from San Francisco previously said she was considering retiring if Hillary Clinton won the presidency. She said Friday she stayed in order to protect the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature healthcare law.

Pelosi, who has been in Democratic leadership since 2001 and was the first female House speaker, has faced calls to step aside to make way for a new generation of leaders. Among those calling for her to step aside is fellow Californian Rep. Linda Sanchez of Whittier.

Pelosi on Friday brushed aside a question about calls for new leadership from “The View” panelist Meghan McCain, saying that while a few Democrats want her to go, many others want her to stay.

ALSO: Female lawmakers, staffers and lobbyists speak out on ‘pervasive’ harassment in California’s Capitol >>

Earlier this week, Pelosi told The Times, “I don’t want to be dismissive of this, but I’m not worried about it.”

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Far-right blogger Chuck C. Johnson gave bitcoin donation to Dana Rohrabacher

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) speaks to Russian lawmakers at a meeting in Moscow in May 2013.
(Misha Japaridze / Associated Press)

Right-wing blogger and provocateur Chuck C. Johnson gave Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) a $5,400 campaign contribution weeks after he said he helped arrange a meeting between the Orange County congressman and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The donation, the maximum amount allowed by law, came in the form of bitcoin, a virtual currency.

Johnson, who previously was banned from Twitter after soliciting donations toward “taking out” a prominent black activist, is listed on campaign finance forms as a self-employed investor who lives in Rosemead.

Rohrabacher campaign spokesman Jason Pitkin confirmed the donor was the same person who helped arrange the Assange meeting.

Johnson also recently sat in on a meeting between Rohrabacher and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in the Capitol. Pitkin said they discussed Assange’s legal situation and cannabis policy, among other things.

Rohrabacher previously said Assange had “emphatically stated that the Russians were not involved” in hacking the 2016 elections but claimed his plans to bring the information directly to President Trump have been thwarted by White House staffers.

Pitkin said Johnson approached the Rohrabacher campaign shortly after his trip to London and said he wanted to donate. “He said, ‘Do you take bitcoin?’ and I said, ‘I think we can,’ ” Pitkin recalled.

The campaign then set up a bitcoin wallet to receive the funds, Pitkin said.

Rohrabacher is not the only California House candidate this cycle who has accepted contributions in bitcoin. Democrat Brian Forde, who is challenging GOP Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine, reported raising more than $59,000 in bitcoin donations between July 1 and Sept. 30.

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Government needs more women, Nancy Pelosi says

Nancy Pelosi has 30 years’ worth of insight for women starting out in politics. She’s run into plenty of naysayers over the years, but said she hasn’t let other people’s doubt stop her.

Her advice for those at the beginning of their career is simple.

“Know your purpose,” she said in an interview Wednesday night before a Summit event hosted by the Los Angeles Times and the Berggruen Institute.

The House minority leader said she hopes more women will run for office, calling their participation a necessity for government and the future.

“Whether it’s education, the environment, equal rights, women’s health — whatever it is. Master your subject. Have a plan on how you will implement your ideas and you will attract support.”

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Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer launches nationwide call for Trump’s impeachment

Billionaire environmentalist and megadonor Tom Steyer has launched a nationwide TV and digital campaign asking Americans to petition their members of Congress to impeach President Trump.

“He’s brought us to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice at the FBI, and in direct violation of the Constitution has taken money from foreign governments and threatened to shut down news organizations that report the truth. If that isn’t a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has our government become?” Steyer says in the video, which identifies him as simply “American Citizen.”

“Join us and tell your member of Congress that they have a moral responsibility to stop doing what’s political and start doing what’s right,” Steyer says in the ad.

The ad is part of both an eight-figure national television buy and a seven-figure digital ad buy. It directs people to a website with a petition.

Steyer has donated tens of millions to Democratic candidates, and funded get-out-the-vote operations through his climate change political action committee, including a new effort targeting GOP House members in California. He’s also weighing a run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is seeking another term.

Steyer this week also penned an open letter asking mayors and governors to support impeaching Trump. It contains a veiled swipe at the long-serving Feinstein, who angered some progressives in August by urging “patience” and saying Trump could grow to become a good president.

“This is not a time to give in to an establishment that insists on acting the way the establishment always does, with “patience” or “caution.” It is an unprecedented moment, and it calls for extraordinary measures,” the letter says.

Steyer sent a similar letter last week to Democratic members and congressional candidates, demanding they support impeachment if the party regains control of Congress in 2018. It made similiar references to “patience.”

Few incumbent Democrats have called for Trump to be impeached outright, but Steyer is one of the largest Democratic donors and they could find it difficult to continue to avoid the topic.

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This Los Angeles representative spent $105,500 on Hamilton tickets

Rep. Tony Cárdenas asks a question of Lin-Manuel Miranda during a town hall at Panorama High School in Panorama City.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

“Hamilton” fever has caught at least two Los Angeles area members of Congress who’ve used campaign funds to purchase tickets to the hit musical’s run at the Hollywood Pantages.

Rep. Tony Cárdenas’ campaign and his political action committee Victory by Investing, Building and Empowering PAC spent $105,500 in April buying tickets to the show, which is playing in L.A. until Dec. 30.

Two fundraisers using the approximately 400 tickets have raised more than $300,000, a spokesman for the congressman’s campaign said. For both Cárdenas’ campaign and the PAC, the tickets were the single most costly expense of the year.

“Basically they saw this as an opportunity to have a nice fundraising opportunity and go to a show that celebrates American democracy,” campaign spokesman Josh Pulliam said.

The Los Angeles Democrat is friends with the father of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning creator of “Hamilton.” When the show opened in Los Angeles in mid-August, Miranda spoke to nearly 1,000 students in Cárdenas’ largely Latino San Fernando Valley district. He raffled off some tickets to the show as an online fundraiser in September.

Miranda has a history of supporting Democrats, and “Hamilton” has been used as a fundraiser before. In July 2016, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign hosted a special showing of the musical for donors, with a starting ticket price of $2,700.

Cárdenas held two fundraisers tied to the show. Miranda did not attend either event, Pulliam said.

Pulliam said a few dozen tickets went to people in the community as gifts. He also raffled off some tickets to the show as an online fundraiser in September.

Cárdenas isn’t in a particularly tough race for 2018. A Democrat and a Green Party member have filed to run in his district, but neither have raised or spent enough to require them to file campaign finance reports.

Cárdenas’ most recent report, which covers what he raised and spent in the last three months, shows he raised $232,389 and had $481,049 in the bank as of Sept. 30.

It’s fairly common for lawmakers or candidates to use sports events or concerts as major fundraising opportunities, especially when big names such as Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen play concerts in Washington.

Rep. Maxine Waters’ campaign spent just under $11,000 on tickets to “Hamilton” in August.

Reached by phone, the Los Angeles Democrat seemed surprised reporters were asking about the tickets. She said her campaign made $110,000 at a fundraiser using the tickets.

“Everybody does it, whether it’s a concert or a baseball game,” she said.

Several conservative groups have targeted Waters, an outspoken critic of President Trump, for the 2018 election. She won in 2016 with 76% of the vote over Republican Omar Navarro, who is challenging her again.

In a statement released by her campaign, Waters stressed that fundraising at an event means the campaign doesn’t have to rent space or buy food.

“These fundraising activities are similar and sometimes less expensive than the amount of money a candidate would spend to host a fundraising dinner within a private room at a restaurant or hotel — once you factor in associated catering costs,” she said. “The price for the ‘Hamilton’ tickets was similar to what one would have to pay at these venues. There was nothing improper or unusual about the expenditure.”

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California Republicans increase security at state convention ahead of Steve Bannon speech

(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)

The California Republican Party is ramping up security at its weekend convention in anticipation of protests at the Friday night keynote speech by Steve Bannon, a former advisor to President Trump and the executive chairman of Breitbart News.

“Part of providing a good experience for our convention goers is assuring your safety,” state party Executive Director Cynthia Bryant wrote in an email to attendees on Thursday describing the security measures.

Attendees will pass through metal detectors and their property is subject to be searched before they are allowed to enter the ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott, where the speech and dinner are taking place. Weapons, noisemakers and signs are prohibited.

“We did not make the decision for the additional security lightly and we know that it does impact your convention going experience,” Bryant wrote. “I sincerely regret that.”

It’s a level of security rarely seen at political party gatherings in California. Convention attendees were also screened when Donald Trump, then a candidate seeking the GOP presidential nomination, appeared at the spring 2015 convention in Burlingame. That decision was made in consultation with the Secret Service, which had already begun protecting Trump.

That convention attracted large-scale protests that at times turned into tense stand-offs between activists and police officers. Bannon’s speech is also expected to draw protests.

Bannon, a conservative media leader, promoted Breitbart as a “platform of the alt-right” and needled establishment Republicans when Trump selected him to be the chief executive of his 2016 presidential campaign. His views as a nationalist, economic populist and nativist indelibly shaped Trump’s message to voters.

Once Trump was sworn in as president, Bannon was named White House chief strategist. He was a divisive figure in the administration, disparaging his colleagues to the media before he left the White House in August. He has since declared war on the GOP establishment, including supporting challengers to incumbents and other candidates backed by Trump.

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L.A. County Supervisors unanimously back Sen. Feinstein for reelection

L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

The five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have all endorsed Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the senator’s campaign announced Thursday.

The announcement comes as factions of California Democrats begin weighing in on the Senate race between Feinstein and state Senate leader Kevin de León next year.

It’s a snub for De León, a native Angeleno who has represented part of the city for more than a decade in the Assembly and state Senate.

“Sen. Feinstein has been our strong partner on the critical issues confronting L.A. County … homelessness, healthcare, and transportation. Her support for our county hospitals, including her commitment to our new Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, has been essential to our county’s healthcare system,” Board Chairman and 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said in a statement.

Ridley-Thomas said the board members support Feinstein -- including the lone Republican on the board, 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who said in a statement that California needs Feinstein in the Senate.

“I’ve worked with Sen. Feinstein for many years. She’s extremely knowledgeable and always prepared on the tough issues we confront. She’s a problem solver we can count on now and in the future,” Barger said.

Feinstein already has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which traditionally backs incumbents. Soon after he announced a challenge, De León was endorsed by Democracy for America, the progressive political action committee formed by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in 2004.

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Northern California wildfires mean thousands of families will flood the region’s already strained housing market

Tom and Shelly Lanning, from left, talk with Lanning's mother, Jeannie Anderson, on Oct.17, 2017. The Lannings have been staying with Anderson since they lost their home in wildfires.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Even before devastating wildfires struck Northern California last week, the region’s housing market was in crisis.

Home values and rents already were at or near record highs, and decades of slow construction has left few homes available for the thousands of displaced residents.

The number of new families flooding the market is giving rise to fears of widespread displacement and even higher costs.

“The scope and magnitude of the rehousing is unfathomable,” said Larry Florin, chief executive of the nonprofit Burbank Housing, one of Santa Rosa’s largest low-income housing providers. “If you take 3,000 units being demolished in a market that was already dramatically constrained, it’s hard to imagine what’s going to happen, where people are going to go.”

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California lawmaker wants to ban secret settlements in sexual harassment cases after Weinstein scandal

State Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), shown speaking at a 2016 news conference for ending the statute of limitations for rape, wants to ban confidentiality provisions from sexual harassment settlements.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A California state senator says she intends to introduce a bill next year to ban confidentiality provisions in monetary settlements stemming from sexual harassment, assault and discrimination cases.

“Secret settlements in sexual assault and related cases can jeopardize the public — including other potential victims — and allow perpetrators to escape justice just because they have the money to pay the cost of the settlements,” Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) said in a statement Thursday. “This bill will ensure that sexual predators can be held accountable for their actions and ideally prevent them from victimizing others.”

The measure comes after revelations of decades-long alleged sexual misconduct by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Some of those incidents were obscured from public view thanks to monetary settlements whose terms required confidentiality.

The issue has a renewed resonance in Sacramento after scores of women working in state politics renounced a “pervasive” culture of harassment and abuse in the Capitol in a public letter this week.

Leyva told the Times she intends for her proposed settlement ban to include both private employers and public ones, such as the Legislature.

9:41 a.m.: This post was updated to specify Leyva’s proposal would apply to private and public employers.

This post was originally published at 8:54 a.m.

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Nancy Pelosi: ‘It’s your problem if you don’t recognize that women are ready to do any job’

Nancy Pelosi knows what it feels like to have to prove herself in politics simply because she’s a woman. She says she experiences the pressure every day.

But “it’s your problem if you don’t recognize that women are ready to do any job,” the House minority leader said in an interview before a Summit event hosted by the Los Angeles Times and the Berggruen Institute on Wednesday night.

When she decided to run for a leadership position in Congress, Pelosi said a man questioned her move.

“As if a woman had to be told she could run,” she recalled. “We just laughed and said ‘poor babies.’”

In the midst of a growing sexual misconduct scandal centered on Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, many women are sharing their stories of sexual harassment and assault. No industry has been spared — women at California’s Capitol signed an open letter Tuesday outlining “pervasive” harassment in Sacramento.

Pelosi said she wasn’t prepared to share a so-called “me too” moment, but she thanked the women who have.

“The sheer numbers speak eloquently to the fact that we should get to zero tolerance,” she said.

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Watch: The View from California political panel with John Myers

Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers hosted a panel discussion about the view from California as part of our L.A. Times and Berggruen Institute Summit series.

Joining him were state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), Republican strategist Luis Alvarado, UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Alma Hernandez, executive director of SEIU California.

We also had a conversation with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Watch that here.

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Watch: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi talks to the L.A. Times

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) spoke Wednesday about her view of national news, working with the Trump White House and the future of the Democratic Party. The event was co-hosted by The L.A. Times and the Berggruen Institute.

Following that conversation, Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers hosted a panel discussion about the view from California. Joining him were state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), Republican strategist Luis Alvarado, UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Alma Hernandez, executive director of SEIU California. Watch that here.

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Kevin de León: ‘My whole life, I’ve been told to wait my turn and know my place’

You know, my whole life, I’ve been told to wait my turn and know my place. Well, it’s California’s turn to lead. And California’s place to be a shining example for the world and a stark contrast to the failures of Washington.

— State Senate leader Kevin de León, kicking off his U.S. Senate campaign

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Pelosi, in Los Angeles visit, calls on Congress to pass Dream Act

Rep. Nancy Pelosi meets with young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in downtown Los Angeles.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called on the GOP-controlled Congress to pass the Dream Act by year’s end.

Pelosi appeared at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights with community leaders and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients in Los Angeles.

The San Francisco Democrat said she has confidence Republicans and Democrats will be able to work together to pass the Dream Act.

President Trump “said we had shared values when we spoke to him,” Pelosi said. “I trust that he will honor that commitment because the American people want him to do so.”

The Democratic leader had conversations with Trump about continuing DACA after his “heartless” decision to end the program.

Pelosi said that President Reagan was “great on immigration” and noted his immigration agenda protected a larger percentage of people than President Obama did with his executive order regarding DACA. She added the last three Republican presidents “strongly acknowledged the value of immigration to America.”

A majority of the estimated 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children live in California.

“These newcomers make America more American,” Pelosi said.

She noted there have been a handful of Republicans who support forcing a Dream Act vote via a procedural move. Still, her party is in the minority. “You can have all the conversation in the world that you want, but you’ve got to have the votes,” she said, encouraging moderate Republicans to support the Dream Act.

She was joined by Democratic Reps. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, Judy Chu of Monterey Park and Lucille Roybal-Allard of Downey, the first Mexican American woman elected to Congress and original co-author of the Dream Act.

Roybal-Allard said the so-called Dreamers “have lived in this country, they have grown up here, they have pledged allegiance to our flag.”

“To do anything else but to protect them by passing the Dream Act is a betrayal and would be a disgrace and a very ugly mark on this country,” she said.

Jiho Yu, a DACA recipient who moved from South Korea to Los Angeles at age 5, and a second-year student at Los Angeles City College, said she was hopeful about her status in the future. “I know that our congressmen and -women, they’re fighting very hard for us,” she said.

Pelosi is in Los Angeles for an event hosted Wednesday night by The Times.

Watch this space for the livestream, which begins at 7 p.m.

4:20 p.m.: This post was updated to clarify Pelosi’s comments about Reagan’s immigration agenda and that she was not referencing the midterm elections when talking about the need for votes.

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Kevin de León kicks off his campaign for U.S. Senate in Los Angeles

Sen. Kevin de Leon gets a show of support as he kicked off his campaign for the U.S. Senate today at Los Angeles Trade Technical College in downtown Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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California and other states seek emergency order to stop Trump administration from cutting off healthcare subsidies

(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra asked a federal court Wednesday to issue an emergency temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration from cutting off cost-sharing subsidies that help reduce the price of healthcare for millions of Americans.

A week after California and 17 other states filed a lawsuit challenging the decision on its merits, the same attorneys general requested a restraining order to avoid immediate harm to millions of people who get subsidized healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, Becerra said.

“The actions of the president of the United States to deny people affordable healthcare insurance, or make it so they will pay more money out of pocket for that health insurance, is not only irresponsible but it is illegal,” Becerra said at a news conference.

Trump has said on Twitter that he was stopping “massive subsidy payments” to Democrats’ “pet insurance companies,” and called on Congress to negotiate a fix.

The latest court filing argues the federal government payments are required by law and the decision to stop making the payments violates administrative procedures.

The request for a restraining order says the states “have shown that immediate and irreparable injury” is threatened to “millions of Americans who have access to affordable healthcare coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act if defendants stop making timely and complete cost-sharing reduction payments.”

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John Cox, Republican candidate for governor, pledges ‘six figures’ support for initiative to repeal gas tax hike

John Cox speaks at a tea party conference in Fresno.
((Silvia Flores / For The Times) )

Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox said Wednesday he will donate a “substantial” amount of money — in the “six figures” — to a campaign to qualify a ballot measure that would repeal increases in gas taxes and vehicle fees in California.

Cox, a wealthy businessman, was named Wednesday as honorary co-chairman for the campaign, which needs to collect 584,000 signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment for the November 2018 ballot that would repeal the tax increases and require action by voters to raise taxes in the future.

“In my travels across the state, I am finding working Californians who are questioning whether they can even stay in a state that the politicians are making even more unaffordable, even as we speak,” Cox said at a news conference at California Republican Party headquarters in Sacramento. “You also can’t keep making it unaffordable for businesses to be in this state.”

Cox’s announcement means there are two Republican candidates for governor backing separate initiatives to repeal the gas tax. Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) is launching a different initiative — which is not a constitutional amendment — that would invalidate the gas tax and vehicle fee increases approved by the Legislature in April.

Both ballot measures are opposed by the Fix Our Roads coalition, which includes business and civic groups. The coalition is open to talks on alternatives to ballot measures, said spokeswoman Kathy Fairbanks.

“We will campaign against it if it should get on the ballot,” Fairbanks said. “Voters are fed up with the traffic, with the bad roads and they want to move forward and fix our roads.”

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Republican Justin Fareed hasn’t announced he’s running for Congress again, but fundraising numbers suggest he will

(Javier Panzar / Los Angeles Times)

Republican Justin Fareed has tried to be coy about whether he’ll make a third run for Congress against Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara).

He filed in August for the 2018 election cycle but hasn’t made any announcements on social media or elsewhere about his plans. He told a local TV news station that he’s “been encouraged by friends, family and countless voters” to throw his hat in the ring again. An email to supporters this week said he’s still “exploring” whether to run.

But his campaign fundraising tells a different story.

Fareed, 29, reported raising $215,565 between July 1 and Sept. 30, and he had $258,528 in cash on hand as of that date. That’s after he reported receiving no campaign contributions in the first six months of the year.

Another Republican, civil engineer Michael Erin Woody, has said he’s challenging Carbajal. He reported raising a total of $11,200 as of Sept. 30, nearly half of it in the form of a loan to himself.

Last year, Fareed lost to Carbajal by nearly 7 percentage points in a race to fill the open seat of Lois Capps, who was retiring. It was one of the most expensive races in the state.

A campaign spokesman for Fareed did not return calls for comment.

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Conservative activists want to overturn California’s ‘sanctuary state’ law through a 2018 ballot measure

Gov. Jerry Brown with state Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), the author of the “sanctuary state” legislation.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Marco Gutierrez, the founder of Latinos for Trump, gained overnight notoriety during the 2016 presidential campaign when he warned against the spread of his culture.

“If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner,” he said on national television.

On Tuesday, Gutierrez and a handful of conservative activists from Fresno filed a referendum to allow voters to block the implementation of California’s landmark “sanctuary state” law. Supporters would have to collect 365,880 voter signatures by early January to qualify the measure. The law would then be on hold pending the results of the November statewide election, when voters would be asked whether to keep or reject the law.

The law, signed earlier this month by Gov. Jerry Brown, will limit law enforcement agencies from questioning and detaining people for immigration violations. It was the centerpiece of an effort by legislative Democrats to seek new protections for some 2.3 million people living illegally in California from the Trump administration’s call for more deportations.

Ben Bergquam, a Trump supporter and small business owner who identified himself on Tuesday as a spokesman for the small group pushing the referendum, said the effort is led by five citizens in California and a few others across the state.

“It is a lawless law by politicians,” he said.

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A Darrell Issa challenger has raised nearly $1 million this year, and it’s not the one who almost beat him

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) is on the defensive this year, with three Democrats already jumping in to challenge him fresh off a narrow 1,621-vote victory in 2016.

One of them, environmental attorney Mike Levin, has raised more than $918,000 since the beginning of the year, the most of any challenger facing Issa. Nearly all of that money has come from individual donations, campaign finance records show, and Levin posted the biggest fundraising numbers of any California challenger last quarter.

Another challenger, real estate investor Paul Kerr, outraised Issa during the third quarter of 2017, pulling in $504,327 in his first campaign finance report thanks to more than $262,000 of his own money.

And Doug Applegate, the retired Marine colonel who nearly bested Issa last year, has raised $734,704.

All three challengers still have much less money in the bank than Issa, who has raised more than $1.6 million this year and reported $852,028 in cash on hand as of Sept. 30.

Levin reported having $530,326 in the bank, while Kerr had $229,040 and Applegate had $263,160.

Issa is considered one of the most vulnerable GOP members in California but is also one of the wealthiest.

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California Assembly leader on harassment in the Capitol: ‘Clearly we need to do more’

Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, is among six legislators to sign the letter
Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, is among six legislators to sign the letter
(Rich Pedroncelli / AP)

A blunt open letter on a culture of sexual harassment and mistreatment in the Capitol has prompted Democratic leaders to pledge to review the Legislature’s policies on handling abuse complaints.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said the scandal over Harvey Weinstein’s treatment of women has prompted introspection in the California statehouse.

“When women stand up to point out those abuses, I applaud their bravery and I cringe for their pain. My discomfort is for what they have gone through, not for how it reflects on the institution I represent,” he wrote in a Huffington Post blog post Tuesday afternoon.

Rendon said a special panel on harassment — which was created in June to examine the Assembly’s reporting protocols — will examine the issue. The panel is chaired by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), one of six sitting legislators to sign the original letter.

Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said Monday night, prior to the letter’s publication, that the Senate also can do more to protect its workers.

“The Senate is reviewing its procedures and policies to ensure we are doing all we can to promote a safe workplace and culture of respect, to encourage and protect victims who come forward and to demand accountability from those who violate these policies,” De León said in a statement.

The letter was published Tuesday morning with more than 140 signatories. More than 200 women have now signed the letter.

Other California elected officials chimed in on Twitter with their support.

5:05 p.m.: This post incorrectly stated the special subcommittee on harassment was established in August. It was created in June.

This post was originally published at 4:53 p.m.

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California’s GOP members got a big boost from group that held fundraiser with Vice President Pence

(Andrew Jansen / Associated Press)

California Republican House members have received more than $1 million from a committee that recently benefited from a fundraiser with Vice President Pence.

California Victory 2018 -- a joint fundraising committee that helps political action committees belonging to Pence and Rep. Kevin McCarthy as well as congressional campaign accounts of McCarthy and seven California Republicans -- received proceeds from a string of Pence fundraisers across the state last week.

The fundraisers were originally scheduled for the week of Sept. 14 but were canceled at the last minute due to hurricane recovery efforts.

McCarthy’s campaign account received the biggest chunk of money, about $392,700 from California Victory 2018. The other seven members who got money were Reps. Jeff Denham of Turlock, David Valadao of Hanford, Steve Knight of Palmdale, Darrell Issa of Vista, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, and Mimi Walters of Irvine, whose campaign accounts received $70,000 to $97,000 each.

All seven are considered some of the most vulnerable California Republican members in next year’s midterm elections.

Democrats who have been deemed vulnerable by the National Republican Congressional Committee didn’t get nearly as much help from joint fundraising committees. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) and Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) each received $8,670 from the Bold Frontline Democrats PAC, which also benefits the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove) took in $1,942 from the Bera Victory Fund.

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Join us in person or online for our event with Nancy Pelosi and state political leaders Wednesday

Wednesday night I’ll sit down with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to get her view of national news, working with the Trump White House and the future of the Democratic Party.

Following our conversation, Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers will host a panel discussion about the view from California. Joining him will be state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), Republican strategist Luis Alvarado, UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Alma Hernandez, executive director of SEIU California

We’ll livestream the event here starting at 7 p.m.

This post has been updated because the event is sold out.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein had $4 million in the bank just before she announced another run

(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein had nearly $4 million in the bank with just over a year to go before the 2018 election.

Campaign finance reports also show she raised just over half a million dollars in the last three months as speculation swirled about whether she would run for reelection and whether a formidable Democrat might challenge her in the June primary. The contributions overwhelmingly came from individual donors, rather than political action committees or other campaigns.

Feinstein announced last week that she would run for a sixth time, just ahead of an announcement over the weekend that state Senate leader Kevin de León would seek the seat. At least one other prominent Democrat — billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer — also is considering a bid.

Feinstein is a prodigious fundraiser. In her last three campaigns, she raised between $8 million and $13 million, and she has the wealth to personally fund a campaign if necessary.

Feinstein’s campaign raised an additional $400,000 in the week since her announcement, Feinstein strategist Bill Carrick said. Some of the new cash likely came from a Los Angeles fundraiser she attended on Oct. 10.

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Read the letter: Women in California politics call out ‘pervasive’ culture of sexual harassment

A state legislator who was groped by a male lobbyist weeks after she was sworn into office. A legislative staffer-turned-lobbyist who for years would only wear pantsuits in order to project a “business-only” air. A government affairs director who faced inappropriate advances from an associate in full view of male colleagues, who seemed oblivious as it happened.

As Hollywood takes a hard look at itself in the wake of the spiraling Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal, the women of California politics are publicly declaring: Us too.

More than 140 women — including legislators, Capitol staff, political consultants and lobbyists — are signing onto a letter calling out the “pervasive” culture of sexual harassment and mistreatment that plagues their industry.

READ THE LETTER >>

The signatories include six of 26 women in the Legislature, two retired lawmakers, a Board of Equalization member and officials from the state Democratic and Republican parties.

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California Politics Podcast: The battle between Feinstein and De León

California voters will face a big choice, and an unusual one, in next year’s race for the U.S. Senate: A long-time incumbent Democrat challenged by a prominent politician from her own party.

The decision by state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) to challenge Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018 is already dividing Democrats on issues ranging from seniority and pragmatism to battling President Trump and promoting issues favored by the party’s liberal base.

On this special episode of the California Politics Podcast, we take a closer look at the early dynamics of the race. We also assess the chances of additional prominent candidates from both major parties jumping in the contest, as well as the keys to success for Feinstein and De León.

I’m joined by Times staff writer Melanie Mason and Marisa Lagos of KQED.

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Feinstein supporters launch super PAC to support her in reelection battle with fellow Democrat

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles TImes)

A prominent Democratic campaign firm announced Monday that it is launching a super PAC to back California Sen. Dianne Feinstein after her reelection bid was challenged by a fellow Democrat.

“We see the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. Senate under attack by political opportunists, and we are determined to fight just as hard for her as she fights for California,” said Sean Clegg, a partner at SCN Strategies, which represents Gov. Jerry Brown, Sen. Kamala Harris, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and others.

Donors can contribute unlimited amounts to a super PAC, which cannot coordinate with a candidate’s campaign.

The San Francisco group announced the formation of the “Fight for California” super PAC one day after Democratic state Senate leader Kevin de León announced he would challenge Feinstein, and on the same day a pro-De León super PAC was launched.

De León faces many hurdles in challenging Feinstein, a decades-long fixture in California politics. Among the most pressing is money.

De León lacks the donor base of other candidates who have run for statewide office. The nearly $3 million he has in state campaign accounts can’t be used in a federal race. He does enjoy support from donors because of his leadership role, but they may be reluctant to open their wallets and anger Feinstein.

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Half a dozen GOP House incumbents were out-raised by Democratic challengers in California

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), shown in 2014, had lower fundraising figures than competitors.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), shown in 2014, had lower fundraising figures than competitors.
(Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

Half of California’s 14 Republican House members were out-raised by upstart Democratic challengers, the latest campaign finance filings show.

Six of the seven are considered vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), who has several opponents who have put hundreds of thousands or more into their own campaigns, was the most behind. Royce raised a total of $705,069 from July 1 to Sep. 30. Democrat Andy Thorburn reported raising $2,142,477, of which about $2 million was a loan to his own campaign. Gil Cisneros, another Democratic challenger, reported raising $732,789, including a $550,000 loan to himself.

Discounting personal money, Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove had the biggest deficit. Democratic challenger Jessica Morse raised six figures more than him, with $268,271 in contributions.

Embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter of Alpine also posted anemic numbers compared with his challengers. Democrats Ammar Campa-Najjar and Josh Butner raised $170,304 and $175,146 respectively, nearly double the $91,446 Hunter reported raising at the end of the quarter.

Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale was out-raised by a competitor and nearly overtaken by another. Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) also had lower fundraising figures than competitors.

And although Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) reported raising more last quarter than his seven Democratic challengers, more than $75,000 of that was a partial restitution payment from a case in which his former campaign treasurer admitted to embezzling funds from the campaign. Without the restitution check, Rohrabacher’s third-quarter fundraising was actually just $272,606, less money than Democratic challengers Hans Keirstead, Omar Siddiqui, and Harley Rouda each took in.

The combined amounts Democrats running against Walters, Knight, Issa, Hunter and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) have raised so far this year are higher than the incumbents they’re facing as well.

UPDATE:

5:01 p.m.: This post was updated to clarify that Rohrabacher was out-raised by opponents when discounting the restitution payment his campaign received.

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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s campaign gets paid back some of the money an ex-treasurer stole

One of the biggest checks written to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s campaign account last quarter wasn’t from an individual donor or a political action committee.

It was for $75,033.36 — a part of the restitution Rohrbacher’s campaign is owed by disgraced former campaign treasurer, Jack Wenppo Wu.

Wu pleaded guilty in January to embezzling more than $300,000 from Rohrabacher’s reelection committee. In April, he was sentenced to a year in county jail and five years of probation, and was ordered to pay $202,351.36 in restitution to Rohrabacher’s campaign.

He served as the committee’s volunteer campaign treasurer for about seven years, Rohrabacher’s attorney has previously said. The campaign discovered the funds were missing in 2015, when a campaign manager tried to use one of the committee’s debit cards and the transaction was denied.

Without the restitution check, Rohrabacher’s third quarter fundraising was actually just $272,606, less money than Democratic challengers Hans Keirstead, Omar Siddiqui, and Harley Rouda each took in.

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Sen. Kamala Harris raises $440,547 this quarter

Sen. Kamala Harris raised $440,547 in the last three months, bringing her war chest to $1.5 million with five years to go before she’s up for reelection.

Most of Harris’ contributions come from individual donors.

Unlike House members, who have to file reports electronically with the Federal Election Commission, senators file reports on paper with the Secretary of the Senate. The Senate then forwards those paper reports to the FEC, which pays a company to hand input them into a digital system. It’s a time-consuming process that can delay for weeks or months the release of public information about how much a candidate raises or spends.

Harris is among about 20 senators who voluntarily submit campaign finance reports directly to the Federal Election Commission so they can be made public more quickly.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) does her filing the old-fashioned way, so some time could pass before a detailed picture emerges of how much she raised and spent in the third quarter.

The last report showed Feinstein with $3.6 million in the bank, a fraction of what she will need ahead of the 2018 election, especially with the announcement over the weekend that state Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) is challenging her and speculation swirling about who else will jump into the race.

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Former local news anchor will challenge Palm Desert Rep. Raul Ruiz

Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) has picked up a second Republican challenger in his Riverside County district.

Republican Dan Ball, a former local news anchor, announced Monday that he’ll run in the 36th Congressional District against Ruiz.

Ball, 42, most recently worked at KMIR-TV in Palm Desert but left the station in February and is now working as a real estate agent. Born and raised in Ohio, Ball is an Air Force veteran and spent more than two decades as a TV reporter and anchor, including stints in Riverside County and Las Vegas. He has lived in Palm Desert for the last three years.

“It’s time this district had a strong community leader represent us in Washington who will put constituents first, work across the aisle and actually get things done for our community,” Ball said in a statement announcing his run.

He also faces fellow Republican Kimberlin Brown, an actress and businesswoman who announced last week.

Ruiz, who is considered one of the least vulnerable congressional Democrats being targeted next year, reported having more than $1.7 million in cash on hand as of Sep. 30. His opponents, who entered the race after the reporting deadline for the third quarter, have not reported raising any money.

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This California congressional candidate has lent himself $2 million to run against Rep. Ed Royce

Democrat Andy Thorburn’s campaign finance report stands out just a bit from other first-time candidates in California.

That’s because the health insurance executive lent himself $2 million to kick off his bid against Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) in Orange County’s 39th Congressional District.

Many first-time candidates might raise $100,000 in their first few months, if they are lucky. But a handful of aspiring California politicians have made some rather substantial contributions to kick-start their campaigns.

Thornburn’s loan was the largest, but six other Democratic candidates have also lent their campaigns more than $100,000. All of them are running for one of two districts in the traditional Republican stronghold of Orange County, either against Royce or against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) in the coastal 48th Congressional District.

At $550,000, lottery winner Gil Cisneros made the second largest loan to his campaign. Rounding out the list are doctors, lawyers and real estate magnates.

It’s not unusual for political party committees, presidential candidates or senate candidates to lend their campaigns large sums, but it is fairly unusual to see a House candidate make a multimillion-dollar loan.

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California will build greener under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown

Gov. Jerry Brown signed climate legislation from Assemblyman Rob Bonta, center.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed climate legislation from Assemblyman Rob Bonta, center.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed legislation that will require state officials to consider greenhouse gas emissions when choosing construction materials.

The measure, AB 262, was authored by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) and directs the Department of General Services to draft standards for emissions. Bidders seeking state contracts for materials including steel, glass and insulation will have to start meeting them by July 1, 2019.

“The goal of this bill is laudable and consistent with our efforts to address climate change,” Brown wrote in a letter when signing the legislation.

The governor asked state officials to continue looking at state contracting and submit more recommendations about ways to reduce emissions.

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This Republican is running to the right in California: ‘I will help the president make America great again’

Tim Donnelly, former California state assemblyman and current columnist for the far right outlet Breitbart, announced a bid for Congress on Monday, saying he’ll have President Trump’s back.

In a state that’s positioned itself as the leader of the so-called resistance to Trump, it’s an unusual statement of support for the president, but not that unexpected given the source.

Donnelly is known as a conservative firebrand and a tea party favorite who has run for multiple offices. In a video announcing his bid for the 8th Congressional District, Donnelly says he’ll advocate for a wall along the Mexican border, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act without replacing it, an end to laws requiring people to be vaccinated, and literal interpretation of the Constitution.

It’s his second try for the district, which ranges along most of the state’s eastern border from Joshua Tree to near Lake Tahoe. Yucca Valley Rep. Paul Cook has represented the area for three terms.

In the video, Donnelly claims the district “overwhelmingly” supported the president in the last election, but Trump won with just 54.7% of the vote.

“We sent him to D.C. because he said he would make America great again, and we’ve watched as the Congress, this ‘do-nothing’ Congress has stymied him at every turn,” Donnelly said in an announcement video. “So my promise to you is very simple: I will back the president’s agenda because I know you back it—and I’ll have his back because he’s got yours.”

Cook won reelection in 2016 with 62.3% of the vote. His most recent campaign finance report shows he has $761,287 in cash on hand. Three Democrats have also filed to run against Cook.

Donnelly also ran for governor in 2014, finishing third in the primary behind Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican Neel Kashkari.

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Kevin de León, fresh off U.S. Senate campaign launch, celebrates free community college law

California Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles)
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

The day after state Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) announced that he was challenging U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, he celebrated a new law that will waive fees for first-time full-time community college students for one year.

“Regardless of who you are and where you come from, regardless of your legal status, your country of origin, your hue of skin, everyone deserves access to higher education,” De León said Monday at a press conference in front of students at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights. “This is about real opportunity. This is an investment the state of California is making in each and every one of you.”

Tuition-free college was one of the proposals that became popular among liberal voters during the 2016 presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). De León needs to appeal to those voters in his challenge against Feinstein, a fellow Democrat who has represented California in the Senate for a quarter-century.

De León declined to comment on his campaign, which he launched Sunday in an email to supporters. He said he would discuss his candidacy at a formal kickoff event Wednesday.

Still, the race was in the backdrop of the event Monday, with attendees wishing him good luck on his campaign, and California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Oakley introduced De León as someone “I believe may be the next senator of the state of California.”

Hours earlier, a pro-De León group announced the formation of a super PAC that can accept unlimited donations to support his candidacy. Liberal voters are often critical of such groups because of their concerns about the influence of money on elections.

De León said he did not know about the political action committee.

“I’m not even aware of it,” he said.

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Gov. Brown vetoes required paid pregnancy leave for California teachers, school employees

Ruth Greene of Venice High School talks to parents and students at Crenshaw High School in 2015.
Ruth Greene of Venice High School talks to parents and students at Crenshaw High School in 2015.
(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Required paid pregnancy leave is off the table for California teachers and school employees.

On Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed AB 568, which would have required schools to give teachers six weeks of paid time off for pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriages or other reproductive health issues.

Brown cited two bills he previously signed that allow employees to receive pay for maternity and paternity leave.

“I believe further decisions regarding leave policies for school employees are best resolved through the collective bargaining process at the school level,” Brown wrote in his veto note.

Currently, teachers who want to take time during a pregnancy have to use vacation or sick days, or forfeit pay.

The measure would have applied to public schools, charters and community colleges.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) wrote the legislation.

The bill was one of the last the governor reviewed before the Legislature adjourned for the year.

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Fundraising reports show Rep. Tom McClintock’s challengers could give him a run for his money

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove) might be the incumbent, but his campaign cash advantage is eroding.

One of four Democratic challengers, Jessica Morse, raised more money than McClintock in the third quarter of this year, according to new federal filings.

Morse, who previously worked on national security issues for the federal government, pulled in $268,271. That’s way more than McClintock’s $149,503. She had $247,799 in cash on hand, only $105,917 less than McClintock, as of Sept. 30.

Check out The Times’ rankings on key California congressional campaigns.

Three other Democrats also are raising money in the race.

Regina Bateson, a political science professor and former foreign service officer, raised $100,056 and had $122,974 cash on hand.

Roza Calderon, a Democratic activist who runs a mapping company, raised $12,305 and had $52,636 in the bank.

Rochelle Wilcox, a lawyer and writer, trailed the rest of the pack with just $11,801 in cash on hand. She raised $18,390 in the third quarter.

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Students’ right to wear cultural clothing to graduation is already protected, Gov. Brown says in veto

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation Sunday night that would give students the right to wear cultural clothing to their graduation ceremonies.

AB 233, proposed by Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), would have let students wear religious, ceremonial or cultural clothes to graduation.

Brown said a student’s right to express views through symbolic acts is “clearly protected” under the state Education Code and the 1st Amendment.

“To the extent that there is a dispute about what a student can wear at school graduation ceremonies, I believe those closest to the problem — principals and democratically elected school boards — are in the best position to make wise judgments,” Brown wrote in his veto note.

In 2015, a Native American student was allowed to wear an eagle feather to his Clovis High School graduation ceremony after suing the school district.

Last year an African American student in Elk Grove was removed from his graduation for wearing kente cloth that originates from Africa.

The measure would not have limited local school officials from prohibiting items that can cause a disruption or interference or changed a student’s right to free speech within boundaries of the school dress code.

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Central Valley’s Rep. Jeff Denham continues to raise more money than crowded field of challengers

Rep. Jeff Denham raised $660,542 in the last three months, more than the combined total raised by his nine announced opponents.

A frequent target of House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Turlock Republican already has a $1.5-million war chest to take on the eight Democrats and one independent who have raised enough money to file reports with the Federal Election Commission.

Denham’s fundraising is split fairly evenly between individual donors and political action committees and campaigns.

Among the challengers, Democrat Josh Harder has raised the most, bringing in $240,596 in the last three months. He has $511,691 in the bank. Democrat TJ Cox raised $181,896 (with $57,500 coming from money he loaned his campaign) and had $137,056 at the end of the quarter.

Another Central Valley Republican, Rep. David Valadao of Hanford, similarly vastly outraised his single Democratic opponent.

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Rep. David Valadao has raised a lot more than Democratic Central Valley challenger Emilio Huerta

(Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times)

Democrats again have their eye on the Central Valley seat held by Rep. David Valadao, but so far the only Democrat challenger, Emilio Huerta, hasn’t raised very much money.

Huerta, the son of labor rights icon Dolores Huerta, raised just $34,753 in the last three months and spent nearly all of it. Most of the $112,023 he has in the bank is leftover from Huerta’s 2016 run for the seat.

Valadao of Hanford had a strong fundraising quarter, with the $351,645 he raised adding to the $862,980 he has in the bank. About two thirds of his donations came from political action committees and transfers from other political committees.

Although it is relatively early in the campaign cycle, this is the second quarter in a row Huerta and Valadao have put up disparate fundraising figures. That could be bad for Huerta in the long term.

As the campaign progresses, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will be looking at which candidates have raised enough to signal they are worth additional financial and planning assistance. The national political arm of House Democrats has said winning the district is a priority because the party has a voter registration lead there and Hillary Clinton won the district with 54.7% of the vote.

In 2016, Valadao beat Huerta with 56.7% of the vote.

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One of Rep. Steve Knight’s challengers raised more money than he did last quarter, and another came close

Rep. Steve Knight was out-raised by one of his Democratic opponents in the past three months, with a second Democrat close on his heels.

The Antelope Valley area’s 25th Congressional District has been a top pickup goal of House Democrat’s campaign arm for years, and with the district narrowly backing Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, the party is again focusing on flipping the district.

The most recent campaign finance reports show repeat challenger Bryan Caforio raised $241,104, slightly more than the $240,307 Knight brought in. Democrat Katie Hill was close behind, with $223,703 for the quarter.

It is the second quarter in which Caforio closely matched the congressman’s fundraising. Nonetheless, Knight leads the pack with $595,040 in the bank.

The vast majority of Caforio’s and Hill’s money came from individual donations, while the bulk of Knight’s donations were from political action committees and other campaigns.

Democrat Jess Phoenix trailed, bringing in about $50,000 and having $25,300 in the bank when the quarter ended Sept. 30.

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State taxpayers will back L.A. Olympics bid if it goes over budget

Los Angeles was officially awarded the 2028 Summer Games on Sept. 15 at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Lima, Peru.
(Fabrice Coffrrini / Getty Images)

Los Angeles’ 2028 Olympics bid received official support from the state on late Sunday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a measure giving the effort a financial backstop from California taxpayers.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 132 from Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), allows the state to spend up to $270 million to cover cost overruns from the 2028 Summer Games. The bill, which was supported by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the city’s bid committee, is seen as an endorsement by state officials of Los Angeles’ effort to host the Olympic Games.

Bid organizers have said they expect to cover the $5.3-billion price tag through corporate sponsorships, ticket sales and other revenue sources. The state dollars only will be tapped if the city’s own $270 million set aside for cost overruns is exhausted first.

Brown and lawmakers have backed L.A.’s Olympic efforts before. Last year, the governor signed a measure that would have provided a similar guarantee, but it only would have applied if the city hosted the 2024 Games, instead.

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California voters who don’t speak English will get more help in 2018

(Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images)

California elections officials will have to provide more voting materials in the languages of a community’s voters — including sample ballots — under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday.

Assembly Bill 918 was inspired in part by reports showing a sizable number of limited-English-speaking voters in 2016 had very little of the help that existing laws require in casting ballots.

The report, by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California, found an average of 25% of polling places required to provide a “facsimile ballot” in another language actually did so. In some larger counties, the single copy of the non-English ballot was missing from as many as 40% of the precincts visited by the group’s volunteers.

“California’s current language access requirements are not sufficient to provide meaningful language assistance to limited-English-proficient voters and lack any reporting or oversight mechanisms,” said Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), the bill’s author.

The new law will require more copies of non-English sample ballots in specific precincts, and more signs in these polling places notifying voters with limited English skills of these election materials. The new law also requires more help for these voters who cast ballots by mail, and more information to be posted on local election websites about getting a copy of a “facsimile ballot.”

Bonta said earlier this year that about 550,000 Latino and Asian American Californians live in counties that aren’t covered by a more robust federal law governing access to non-English-language voting materials.

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Rep. Duncan Hunter has spent nearly half a million dollars on legal fees amid FBI probe

Rep. Duncan Hunter’s campaign has spent nearly half a million dollars on legal fees this year amid the ongoing FBI investigation into alleged misuse of his campaign funds.

Hunter’s most recent report to the Federal Election Commission shows the campaign spent $134,794 with six prominent Washington, D.C., area and San Diego law firms in the last three months.

That exceeds the $91,446 the fifth-term congressman raised in the same three months for his reelection campaign. Democrats have declared the district a battleground for the 2018 midterm election.

Previous reports showed he spent $336,664 with seven law firms in the first six months of the year as the FBI looks at whether the Alpine Republican misused campaign funds.

Hunter can use campaign funds to pay for legal defense of himself, family or staff as long as the alleged crimes are related to the campaign or his job as an elected official.

Almost half the legal fees, $65,946, went to San Diego-based Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek, which has a variety of specialties. An additional $30,599 went to Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC of Warrenton, Va.

The House Ethics Committee disclosed the FBI’s investigation in late March to explain why it was not pursuing its own probe of the San Diego-area congressman.

An FBI warrant to search the offices of Hunter’s campaign treasurer, which came to light in August when most of the legal fees were incurred, indicated agents were looking for evidence showing whether Hunter’s campaign funds were used for personal reasons, whether there was a scheme to defraud a bank over video game purchases, and whether Hunter’s campaign finance reports were falsified to “impede or influence” FBI and House Ethics Committee inquiries into his use of campaign funds.

Hunter’s attorneys have said he is cooperating with the FBI investigation.

The nonpartisan analysts at Cook Political Report recently moved Hunter’s 50th District from “solid” to “likely” Republican, saying the FBI investigation could drag Hunter down, but Democrats privately acknowledge taking down Hunter will be a tough job unless he is indicted. Hunter’s father previously represented the district, and 42.82% of voters there are registered as Republicans.

Two of Hunter’s half a dozen opponents out-raised him this quarter, though with $504,456 in cash, the congressman still has a substantial financial advantage. As of Sept. 30, Democrat Josh Butner raised $175,146 and had $231,891 in the bank. Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar raised $170,304 and had $202,414 in the bank.

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Super PAC forms to back Kevin De León over Sen. Dianne Feinstein in Senate race

State Senate leader Kevin de León’s campaign for the U.S. Senate is getting some help from “A Progressive California,” a super PAC aimed at backing progressive candidates for office.

The group launched Monday with a digital video ad in support of De León’s campaign for Senate, which he announced over the weekend.

De León is expected to have an uphill fundraising climb to take on Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had $3.6 million in the bank this summer and has the personal wealth to finance her campaign if necessary. De León cannot use any money he has from state races and starts from scratch reaching out to a national donor base that has known Feinstein for decades.

Super PACs can raise unlimited contributions, including from labor groups and other left-leaning groups that contributed to De León as a state-level candidate, but face stricter limits in how much they can donate to a federal campaign. The PAC, created by California political strategists Dave Jacobson and Maclen Zilber, is not allowed to coordinate with the campaign.

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Another congressional challenger debuts a video featuring Trump. Will this strategy work?

Like many other congressional challengers in California right now, Democrat Kia Hamadanchy is trying to tie his opponent to Donald Trump.

Hamandanchy, who is running to be the first Iranian American member of Congress, released his first campaign video ad in his race against Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine).

“When Donald Trump announced his Muslim ban, I knew I had to step up,” Hamadanchy says in the video, calling the president’s travel ban a “policy built on hatred that would have made my story impossible.”

The video juxtaposes audio of people chanting “white lives matter” and anti-Muslim messages with family photos of his parents who fled Iran, one of the countries covered by the travel ban.

Hamadanchy’s campaign says it’s spending $10,000 on its initial digital ad buy over several weeks.

He’s not the first candidate to prominently feature Trump’s image in early campaign materials. Dave Min, another Democrat running against Walters, ran a clip of the congresswoman saying she’s “very pleased” with what Trump has done so far. And Andrew Janz, a Democrat challenging Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a video featuring news clips accusing the congressman of “trying to cover up President Trump’s Russian connections.”

But it remains to be seen if this strategy, which was featured prominently and mostly failed in 2016 races across California, will work. Other campaigns seem to already be shifting their focus toward making increasingly unpopular House Speaker Paul Ryan their bogeyman.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee started running ads last week that featured Ryan and warned voters that he and other Republicans would “never stop ... coming after your healthcare.”

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Gov. Jerry Brown was less picky in 2017, vetoing fewer bills than he did in 2016

(Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press)

For a governor with the distinction of vetoing fewer bills than any chief executive in modern California history, Gov. Jerry Brown didn’t abruptly change course in 2017.

As he’s done the last seven years — and the eight years he served as governor a generation ago — Brown signed the vast majority of bills that reached his desk this year.

On Sunday night, he weighed in on the final bills approved by the Legislature before it adjourned for the year on Sept. 16. In all, Brown signed 859 bills in 2017 and vetoed just 118. That veto rate — 12% — is lower than the 15% of proposed laws he rejected in 2016.

Republican governors hold the record for the most bills vetoed. Former Gov. George Deukmejian rejected 436 bills in 1990, according to a report compiled last year by the state Senate Office of Research. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a close second in 2008, vetoing 414 bills. On a percentage basis, though, Schwarzenegger’s actions that year come out on top. He vetoed 35% of the bills sent to him by the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Brown’s rate of rejecting bills has grown since his first stint as governor. The Senate report concludes that he holds the record for fewest vetoes, refusing to sign only 1.8% of the bills that crossed his desk in 1982 — the final year of his second term.

The governor has said that he tries to respect the role of the Legislature as a co-equal branch, even though some of his most well-known veto messages have hinged on the fact that there are too many laws on the books in California. In several instances this year, Brown again returned to the theme that some bills are unnecessary.

No one, however, has reviewed or acted on as many bills as Brown, the longest-serving governor in California history. With one year remaining in his final term, the Democratic politician has reviewed more than 18,000 proposed laws over his four terms in office. Fewer than 8% of those were vetoed.

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Get ready to see a plan for billions of dollars in parks and water improvements on California’s 2018 ballot

(Joseph Plotz / Los Angeles Times)

Voters will decide in June 2018 whether to borrow $4 billion to fund improvements to the California’s parks and water systems after Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 5 on Sunday.

The bond measure, which must be paid back over time with interest, will finance boosts to water recycling, stormwater capture and conservation infrastructure as well as expansion and repairs to state, regional and local parks.

Supporters of the measure, including its author, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), have said the state’s parks needs have outgrown available resources. The last statewide parks bond was approved by voters in 2002.

California voters approved a $7.5-billion water bond in 2014, but advocates of the current bond contend that most of that money is now allocated to specific projects. Two outside groups also are considering collecting signatures to place other, larger water bonds on the November 2018 ballot.

Brown had previously signed a $4-billion bond to finance low-income housing development and subsidize home loans for veterans. That measure will appear on the November 2018 ballot.

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Californians will no longer have only ‘male’ and ‘female’ as a choice on government documents

State Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego)
(Hector Amezcua / Associated Press)

Californians will soon be able to identify as non-binary, as opposed to male or female, on their driver’s licenses and birth certificates, under a measure signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday.

State Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) touted her bill, SB 179, as offering a gender-neutral option on state documents for those who are transgender, intersex and others who do not identify as male or female.

The new non-binary designation will be available for California driver’s licenses starting in 2019.

The law also will make it easier for people to change their gender identity on official documents by doing away with a requirement in current law that individuals undergo clinical treatment before making a change to their birth certificates.

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Gov. Jerry Brown sides with local governments, vetoes state rules for installing 5G cellular equipment

(Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images )

The installation of high-speed “small cell” equipment in California will not be driven by new statewide mandates after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill pitting the lobbying power of the telecommunications industry against that of local governments.

The bill would have downsized the role played by city and county officials in setting limits on where the equipment for new 5G cellular service would be placed. Local governments would have had less power to unilaterally block the installation of the devices, which Brown said in his veto message was a problem.

“I believe that the interest which localities have in managing rights of way requires a more balanced solution than the one achieved in this bill,” he wrote.

Supporters of Senate Bill 649 had claimed it would help ensure more communities are connected faster.

“This is a bill that will create lots of jobs,” said state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego), the proposal’s author, during floor debate on Sept. 14. “It will increase connectivity in our state.”

But local government officials insisted throughout long legislative negotiations that citizens should have the power to say where new, potentially unsightly equipment will be placed in their communities.

The final version of the bill called for a streamlining of the process for obtaining permits to install the new equipment, limiting both the fees that local governments could charge and the discretion they have in rejecting plans for the cellular equipment.

The bill was amended half a dozen times throughout the course of the year, but the changes produced little to no common ground. Brown’s decision was a rare defeat for the powerful telecommunications giants on high-profile legislation.

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Trump won’t have to disclose tax returns to get on California’s ballot, as Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes bill

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

An unprecedented effort to force President Trump and other White House hopefuls to disclose their personal income tax returns was blocked by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday, who argued the plan would likely be overturned by the courts.

Brown’s veto of Senate Bill 149 put him at odds with legislative Democrats who insisted its mandate for five years of income tax information would help voters make an informed choice. In his veto message, though, the governor said the proposal could have led to other litmus tests for candidates.

“Today we require tax returns, but what would be next?” Brown wrote. “Five years of health records? A certified birth certificate? High school report cards? And will these requirements vary depending on which political party is in power?”

Democrats in the Legislature introduced the plan last December, angered by Trump’s refusal to disclose information about his personal finances.

“For decades, every president has put their personal beliefs aside and put our country first and released their returns,” state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), the bill’s author, said last month. “The American people shouldn’t be in the dark about their president’s financial entanglements.”

Trump is the first president in four decades to fully conceal his personal income tax filings from voters. He cited pending audits of those documents during the 2016 campaign and has since deflected new calls for the information. Democrats said the state legislation was an effort to keep that from happening again in 2020.

“This bill is about giving the American people the honesty and transparency they deserve from anyone who wishes to serve as their president,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the bill’s coauthor, shortly after it passed the Legislature.

Most Republicans derided SB 149 as little more than an attempt to embarrass Trump. They pointed out Brown failed to release copies of his tax returns during campaigns for governor in 2010 and 2014. He was also one of a handful of presidential candidates to eschew the practice, releasing only part of his tax returns during his third unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1992.

The bill sparked a robust debate as to whether any state could impose such a litmus test for access to its presidential primary ballot. Legislative lawyers wrote an opinion just before its final passage suggesting SB 149 was unconstitutional, and critics pounced on U.S. Supreme Court rulings against qualification rules imposed on congressional candidates as proof the presidential limit would also be struck down.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard University law professor, insisted that the California bill would pass constitutional muster. He and two other legal scholars wrote that the proposal fell on the side of being constitutionally allowed when evaluating “permissible ballot access laws and impermissible attempts to add qualifications.”

In the end, though, Brown sided with the skeptics. And even the measure ultimately survived, legal challenges would undoubtedly have been mounted.

Although two GOP lawmakers voted for the bill during legislative debate, leaders of the California Republican Party were prepared to circumvent the state’s presidential primary in awarding delegates in 2020 had SB 149 been enacted.

The bill was one of two closely watched efforts by California’s legislative Democrats to harness the state’s electoral clout in hopes of thwarting a Trump reelection effort. The other proposal — moving the state’s presidential primary from June to early March — was signed into law by Brown late last month.

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What it’s like for one lawmaker to wait for Gov. Jerry Brown to act on the final bills of the legislative session

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) kept a bit of a tweet diary Sunday as she waited for Gov. Jerry Brown to take action on the final pieces of legislation on his desk.

Here’s just a sample of what she shared with her nearly 13,000 followers.

Brown’s 11:59 p.m. legislative update was a mixed result for the Assemblywoman.

The governor signed two of these measures and vetoed two.

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California’s ‘independent’ voters will get help in picking a 2020 presidential ballot under a new state law

Following reports of unaffiliated “independent” California voters who didn’t realize they needed a different ballot to participate in last year’s Democratic presidential primary, a new state law will mandate more outreach to make sure those voters know the rules.

Assembly Bill 837, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday, requires state and local elections officials to provide voters registered as having “no party preference” with detailed information on which political parties will allow them to cast ballots in presidential primaries. Only three recognized parties opened their primary to unaffiliated voters in 2016.

Some of those voters wanted to cast ballots in the June primary between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders but failed to realize they had to request a Democratic ballot. Ballots for unaffiliated voters in the primary didn’t include any presidential candidates.

Other voters discovered that they had mistakenly registered with the American Independent Party, not as an unaffiliated independent, and couldn’t switch to a Democratic ballot. The Republican Party refused to allow unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in its primary.

AB 837 requires that information be posted at polling places and be included with absentee ballots so that these voters, who now represent a quarter of the registered electorate, know which parties do — and don’t — allow them to request a partisan ballot in the 2020 presidential primary and beyond.

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California becomes the first state to require broad disclosure of chemicals in cleaning products

Any hazardous chemicals found in household cleaning products will have to be clearly disclosed on labels and online under a California law that will be phased in over the next three years.

The law, signed Sunday by Gov. Jerry Brown, is poised to put the state at the front of a national discussion about the rights of consumers to know what dangerous chemicals or allergens may be in common cleaners. The ingredients must be posted online by manufacturers in 2020, and on product labels by 2021.

“People around the country and especially Californians are demanding more disclosure about the chemicals in products we use,” said state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), the bill’s author, in a written statement. “The science is clear, and we have seen the data about how cleaning product chemicals affect parents, children, people with pre-existing conditions, and workers who use these products all day, every day.”

The bill, amended a half-dozen times over the course of legislative negotiations this year, would give consumers additional information when it comes to selecting which cleaners they use. Supporters said it could also allow consumers with specific allergies or asthma to determine if a specific cleaner’s ingredients might make that condition worse.

California’s size and prominence could spark changes from major manufacturers in how they market their products across the nation. Lara said he was motivated to champion the bill based on the experiences of his mother, who worked as a house cleaner.

“After a day of scrubbing toilets my mother would be dizzy and sick, but she never knew if it was the product she was using,” he said.

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Gov. Jerry Brown kills proposal for disclosure of salary information by gender

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego).
(Kirk McCoy / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a measure on Sunday that would have required large companies in California to disclose data on how they’re paying men and women differently.

The measure, AB 1209 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) sought to shed light on gender pay disparities to better understand the persistent pay gap women face. Companies would have had to report to the state aggregate data on the difference in wages between male and female employees with similar job descriptions, as well as compensation disparities between male and female board members.

Brown’s veto message sounded a note of caution about the bill’s “ambiguous” details. “I am worried that this ambiguity could be exploited to encourage more litigation than pay equity.”

The proposal was fiercely opposed by business interests. The California Chamber of Commerce labeled it a “job killer,” arguing the measure was meant to shame companies for wage disparities without taking into consideration other justifications for differences in pay.

“We know there is a wage gap at all levels of work. This is indisputable,” Gonzalez Fletcher said in a statement on Sunday after Brown rejected the bill. “Policies that tinker on the edges will help, but until we become honest with ourselves and transparent, we will spend decades tackling this issue.”

Updates

5:30 p.m. This story was updated with a comment from the governor’s veto message.

5:37 p.m. This story was updated with a comment from the bill’s author.

The story was originally published at 5:12 p.m.

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California law will bar cities and counties from providing information for a ‘Muslim registry’

A discussion at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids, in Iowa, in November 2016.
(John Richard / For The Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a closely watched bill on Sunday to block the creation of any so-called Muslim registry should President Trump choose to act on a proposal he repeatedly suggested during his 2016 campaign.

Senate Bill 31 by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) bars state and local governments from releasing personal information to the federal government for the creation of any religious list, registry or database. It also prohibits them from using resources to create their own lists.

Dubbed the California Religious Freedom Act, the bill coasted through the legislative process this year, the only proposal to gain bipartisan support from a package introduced by majority Democrats to counter Trump’s policies.

In authoring the bill, Lara cited an NBC News interview in which Trump, then a presidential candidate, said there “should be a lot of systems,” beyond a database, that track Muslims in the country. As evidence the president could follow through on that idea, supporters of SB 31 pointed to the creation of travel bans from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Reza Nekumanesh, executive director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, said the fear of a registry was a reality for Muslim communities. It was only a year ago that, he said, that Trump surrogates referenced Japanese internment camps from World War II as “precedent” for a Muslim registry.

“Every time we have thought about registering people based on ethnicity, based on religion, no good has come of it,” Nekumanesh said.

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Billionaire activist Tom Steyer says he’s considering Senate bid of his own

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer says he’s still considering jumping into the U.S. Senate race, even after fellow Democrat — and frequent ally — state Sen. Kevin de León announced his own run.

“I am looking at the best way to take our government back from the political establishment and to stop Donald Trump,” Steyer said in a statement. “That includes a full consideration of running for the United States Senate.”

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Watch: Kevin de León jumps into U.S. Senate race

California Senate leader Kevin de León made it official Sunday morning, announcing he is jumping into the race for U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

“Poverty is poverty,” De León says in a campaign launch video, “and I think it’s incumbent on policy makers, on leaders to provide real opportunity so everyone can succeed.”

“My name is Kevin de León,” he says at the video’s close, “and I am running for the U.S. Senate in California.”

While the video makes no mention of the current White House occupant -- a frequent foil for De León -- his announcement email to political supporters included a swipe at President Trump.

“Friend, we now stand at the frontlines of a historic struggle for the very soul of America, against a President without one,” the email says.

“Every day, his Administration wages war on our people and our progress,” it continues. “He disregards our voices. Demonizes our diversity. Attacks our civil rights, our clean air, our health access and our public safety. We can lead the fight against his administration, but only if we jump into the arena together.”

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Kevin de León to make his move today

State Senate leader Kevin de León has been telling Democrats he will announce a challenge to Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday.

As we await the news, his political site appears to be in transition.

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California legislators who resign face a longer wait before they can lobby

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

State lawmakers who resign will have to wait longer before they can lobby the Legislature under a measure signed Saturday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Currently, legislators must wait one year after they resign from office before they can lobby their former colleagues.

The new law extends the length of the “revolving door” ban so that it remains in effect until a year has passed since the end of the two-year legislative session in which the member resigns. That could mean a ban of three years.

The measure, AB 1620, was introduced by Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills) after some lawmakers resigned and started lobbying a year later while former colleagues were still in the same term.

“AB 1620 will hold politicians more accountable for finishing out their legislative duties and further discourage them from leaving mid-session for a lucrative position lobbying for big corporations,” Dababneh said. “My hope is that this bill will help the Legislature regain the public trust and ensure government officials are making decisions that are in the best interests of their constituents, not themselves.”

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California school employees won’t be allowed to bring concealed weapons to work anymore

A customer shops for a handgun, which will be banned from California school campuses.
(Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law Saturday that will remove the rights of school administrators to decide whether employees with concealed weapon permits can bring guns on campus.

State law already prohibited civilians who are not school workers from bringing firearms onto campuses, but a change in the law last year gave school district superintendents power to decide if employees could bring concealed weapons onto campuses, according to Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D- Sacramento), who authored the bill.

Five California school districts — including the Kingsburg Joint Union and Kern school districts — have begun to issue authorizations for some school employees to bring guns on campuses, McCarty said. He said it has increased the chance of school shootings.

“A safe learning environment is essential for our children to be successful in the classroom,” McCarty said. “That’s not possible if a school district allows armed civilians to roam California school campuses.”

The measure, AB 424, was opposed by groups advocating for gun owners including the National Rifle Assn. and the Firearms Policy Coalition, which noted that there have been no shootings involving California school employees who brought guns to campuses.

“The constitutional right to bear arms is based on the fundamental human right to self-defense,” the coalition wrote to lawmakers. “AB 424 undermines these very important principles based on little more than a whim.”

Under separate legislation signed by Brown on Saturday, Californians who are convicted of hate crimes will be banned from possessing firearms for 10 years.

Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer Sr. (D-Los Angeles) introduced the legislation, AB 785. He recently cited the August violence in Charlottesville, Va., as justification for expanding the gun ban to those who commit hate crimes.

“The recent incident in Charlottesville, where heavily armed neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists, spewing hatred and inciting violence under the guise of protecting free speech and the right to bear arms, is not what the founding fathers of this great nation were protecting when they drafted our constitution,” Jones-Sawyer said.

Misdemeanor hate crimes that will fall under the firearm ban include using force or the threat of force to interfere with another person’s free exercise of any constitutional right because of the other person’s race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

Gun possession will also be banned for people who deface or damage property in order to interfere with constitutional rights. For example, a person prosecuted for painting a swastika on a Jewish house of worship could lose their gun possession rights.

Both measures take effect Jan. 1.

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After scathing audit, UC will have to be more transparent in reporting costs

Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a law that will require the University of California to be more transparent in how it reports costs and how it deals with the state auditor, a measure that was introduced in the wake of a scathing audit of the UC president’s office this spring.

The audit found that the UC Office of the President failed to disclose up to $175 million in budget reserve funds, even as the system looked to lawmakers and tuition hikes for more money.

Records showed that surveys sent to individual campuses as part of the audit were altered after consultation with the president’s office, raising concerns of interference in the audit by the top office.

The new law will prohibit UC campuses from coordinating with the president’s office when the state auditor requests information.

The measure, AB 1655 by Assemblyman Tim Grayson (D-Concord), also will require UC to use publicly available financial information when it publishes its biennial report on the costs of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.

That report, which is required by law, is meant to demystify how much the campuses are spending on instruction and research. But a 2016 state audit found that the reports were “problematic because the source of the data it uses is not apparent, and it does not tie the costs and funding it reported to readily available and public financial data, such as its audited annual financial report.”

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California government workers will soon be added to equal pay laws

California’s equal pay laws must apply to public sector workers, after Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure extending pay equity protections to state employees.

Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) said his bill, AB 46, removes any doubt that public workers were protected under existing equal pay laws.

“I authored AB 46 because not only am I the father of four women of color, but also because I believe it is important to lead by example and ensure that our pay equity laws apply to all sectors, both private and public,” Cooper said in a statement.

The California Department of Human Resources said in a report last year that there is a 20.5% pay disparity between male and female state employees, exceeding the pay gap in the federal civil service and in the private sector. Much of the difference, state officials said, was due to men holding jobs at higher salary scales, such as those in public safety. Women tend to dominate jobs on the lower end of pay classifications, such as administrative assistance and social work.

This is the second measure signed by Brown this year to address the persistent wage gap. Earlier this week, he approved AB 168 by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), which bars employers from asking for a job applicant’s previous salary.

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Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown swoop into California for fundraisers

(Shawn Thew / EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown swooped into California this week for a money run.

Warren of Massachusetts was the beneficiary of a Tuesday fundraiser hosted by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, producer J.J. Abrams and others at the Brentwood home of “Lost” creator Damon Lindelof. Supporters donated between $500 and $5,400 to Warren’s 2018 reelection campaign to attend.

The following day she raised money in Irvine for Katie Porter, who is challenging Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine).

Porter is among the candidates Democrats hope will defeat several California GOP House members who represent districts that voted for Hillary Clinton in November. Porter, 43, is an attorney and UC Irvine professor who oversaw California’s share of a $25-billion national mortgage settlement in the aftermath of the housing bubble.

“She was in there to fight for people who were just barely hanging onto their homes,” Warren told attendees, according to a video of her speech. “That’s what it’s going to take in Washington to turn that place around.”

Brown of Ohio sprinted across the state this week to raise money for his reelection bid, one of the most watched midterm contests in the nation. Donors contributed up to $5,400 to attend.

The event was at the Bel-Air home of Thomas Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group. Co-hosts included Hollywood moguls Peter Chernin and Haim Saban, studio chiefs Kevin Tsujihara and Jeff Shell, Motion Picture Assn. of America President Charles Rivkin, producer Mark Gordon and Hollywood lawyer Skip Brittenham.

Brown also had events scheduled this week in Palo Alto, Berkeley and San Francisco, including a Thursday luncheon at a Greek restaurant co-hosted by former state treasurer Phil Angelides. The wealthy real estate developer unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006.

The Ohio GOP lashed out at Brown for raising money in Northern California as wildfires devastated the region, arguing that he should donate the money to relief efforts.

“Sherrod Brown is showing his disregard for the devastation surrounding him,” state party chair Jane Timken said in a statement. “… Ohioans deserve better from their Senator.”

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Gavin Newsom donated $5,000 Weinstein gave him after learning about producer’s behavior, which his wife saw firsthand

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose wife recently spoke out about her own experience with Hollywood studio chief Harvey Weinstein, has donated the $5,000 the Oscar-winning producer contributed to him during an unsuccessful campaign.

Weinstein, ousted from the company he co-founded after allegations of rape and sexual assault, donated to Newsom in 2009, when he briefly ran for governor.

The day after the New York Times published a scathing investigation exposing decades of sexually inappropriate behavior and legal settlements, Newsom’s wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wrote that she was not surprised by the allegations in the article “because very similar things happened to me.”

Newsom did not disclose the exact details of her interactions with Weinstein. Her description of the circumstances was similar to those described by actresses Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow and others.

“I was naive, new to the industry, and didn’t know how to deal with his aggressive advances ― work invitations with a friend late-night at The Toronto Film Festival, and later an invitation to meet with him about a role in The Peninsula Hotel, where staff were present and then all of a sudden disappeared like clockwork, leaving me alone with this extremely powerful and intimidating Hollywood legend,” Newsom wrote in an article in the Huffington Post.

Cristina Escobar, a spokeswoman for Newsom, said the incident occurred before she met Gavin Newsom. They were married in 2008.

Newsom first told her husband about the incident after The Times story was published, and did not wish to disclose more details of what Escobar called a “horrific” and “traumatic” encounter with Weinstein.

After learning about Weinstein’s behavior, the lieutenant governor donated $5,000 to Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit women’s rights group, spokesman Dan Newman said. The campaign wrote the check on Oct. 6, as soon as they found the 2009 contribution, Newman said.

12:18 p.m.: This article was updated to add additional information about when the donation was made to Equal Rights Advocates.

This article was originally published at 9:14 p.m. Friday.

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Good news, California moms: It’s going to be easier for dads to change diapers away from home

An effort to put more diaper changing stations in men’s bathrooms and public facilities won Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature on Friday.

Starting next year, AB 1127 will require new state buildings owned by the state to include at least one changing station in men’s and women’s bathrooms.

Newly constructed or renovated public facilities including theaters, sports arenas, and libraries will also be required to have a changing station accessible to both women and men.

“Our policies are evolving to meet the needs of families and California is leading the way,” said Assemblyman Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) in a statement.

Calderon, who recently became a father, authored the bill with Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), a father of two.

Brown vetoed a similar bill in 2014 that called for diaper changing stations in new and current bathrooms. At the time, he called the legislation “a good business practice” that the private sector was already taking steps to address.

Brown did not say why he signed the bill on Friday.

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These three California state agencies will no longer have to collaborate with federal immigration officials

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

State agencies overseeing juvenile offenders, state hospitals and developmental services will no longer have to collaborate with federal immigration authorities under a new California law.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed legislation that will repeal provisions in the state welfare code requiring the Division of Juvenile Justice, the Department of State Hospitals and the Department of Developmental Services to help facilitate deportations of people illegally in the country.

Senate Bill 613 by Senate leader Kevin de León was introduced as part of a package by majority Democrats to counter President Trump’s call for more deportations and expanded immigration enforcement.

The new law will leave it up to the departments to change their own policies should they so choose. Together, they oversee facilities that house and provide services to hundreds of people a year. But only 23 have been transferred or reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the past five years, according to data compiled by the Senate Human Services Committee.

The committee found the juvenile justice agency houses more than 650 adolescents per day. The health department oversees five state hospitals and three state prisons, with a total capacity to serve 7,000 patients. The developmental services agency last year served more than 845 people with developmental disabilities and behavioral needs.

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California taxi companies will need fewer permits in bid to compete with Uber and Lyft

Taxi cabs and shuttles make their way through Los Angeles International Airport.
Taxi cabs and shuttles make their way through Los Angeles International Airport.
((Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times) )

In an effort to help the beleaguered taxi industry compete with ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed a bill limiting the permits taxis will need to operate.

The measure, Assembly Bill 1069, allows drivers to operate with a maximum of two permits per county — one where they live and a second where they predominantly operate. Currently, drivers often have to pay fees in every county where they drive, which could cost tens of thousands of dollars and make it harder to remain competitive with the less heavily regulated ride-hailing industry.

“In order to compete in the changing for-hire transportation ecosystem, taxis are in need of some statutory relief because the current system restricts competition by setting different, more onerous rules for taxis,” said Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell).

Last year, Brown vetoed legislation from Low that would have moved taxi cab regulation to the state, instead of the local governments that handle it now. AB 1069 still allows cities and counties to regulate the industry.

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California’s Uber and Lyft drivers will only need one business license

Uber's headquarters in San Francisco
Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco
(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

Drivers for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services will only need one permit to work anywhere in California under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

Under the new law, Senate Bill 182, drivers will obtain a single business license that will make them eligible to transport passengers across the state. Drivers will be licensed where they live.

Uber, Lyft and the bill’s author, Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), have argued the new process will make it easier for drivers to operate in California.

Right now, local governments don’t typically enforce rules that require ride-hailing drivers to have business licenses, but in theory every city a driver passes through could charge a fee.

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California becomes the first state to require pet stores to sell rescue animals

(Courtney Case / Associated Press)

California will be the first state to require pet stores to sell rescue animals under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

Starting in 2019, pet stores will transition to selling dogs, cats and rabbits from shelters or adoption centers. Stores can be fined $500 for each animal for sale that is not a rescue.

“This is a big win for our four-legged friends, of course,” said bill author Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) in a statement.

The bill, AB 485, is aimed at reducing the number of animals in shelters and businesses with mass breeding operations, known as “puppy mills” or “kitten factories.”

The advocacy group Social Compassion in Legislation and multiple animal rescue, welfare and shelter groups supported the measure.

The American Kennel Club and California Retailers Assn. were among the groups that opposed it.

“AB 485 blocks all of California’s pet lovers from having access to professional, licensed, and ethical commercial breeders,” said Sheila Goffe, vice president of government relations for the kennel club, in a statement. “This is not good for Californians or their companion animals.”

UPDATE

7:06 p.m.: This post was updated with a statement from a group that opposed the bill.

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California expands its ban on the open carry of rifles

Two attendees pose with rifles at an NRA convention.
( (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images))

Two months after militia members openly carried semiautomatic rifles during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that will ban the open carrying of rifles in some areas of the state where they were previously allowed.

The new law he signed Friday makes it a misdemeanor to openly carry an unloaded long gun in public unincorporated areas outside of incorporated cities that are deemed by counties as not appropriate for such firearms.

The law was requested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to expand state law that already bans openly carrying handguns in areas outside cities.

“In effect, this bill closes a narrow loophole in California’s existing open carry prohibitions,” Brown wrote in a signing message.

Supporters note the law does not prevent carrying rifles in rural hunting grounds. “This action does not in any way alter the dozens of current provisions of law that allow gun owners to open carry long guns in common everyday situations,” Brown said. “Nor does the bill prevent local cities and counties from determining via ordinance where discharge of a firearm is permissible.”

Lt. Wayne Bilowit, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, said there was concern at times when gun rights activists have shown up in urban areas of Los Angeles County openly carrying rifles to make a point about exercising their rights.

Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D-Carson) introduced the bill, AB 7, with support from the California chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which cited high crime levels in areas of Los Angeles County involving long guns, including assault rifles. Under the law, each county’s board of supervisors would designate which parts of unincorporated areas would be subject to the ban.

The measure was opposed by groups advocating for gun-owner rights, including the National Rifle Assn.

“This assault on our 2nd Amendment rights will not go unanswered,” said Roy Griffith, legislative liaison for the California Rifle and Pistol Assn., the state affiliate of the National Rifle Assn. He added that the state group “will continue to fight for the right to carry in the courts. This fight is far from over.”

Brown on Friday vetoed a bill that would have required gun stores to better secure firearms, in safes or with lock bars, when they are closed, to prevent theft, saying it wasn’t necessary because state law already requires dealers to enact security measures to avoid theft.

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Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes bill to protect climate research and scientists — but vows to preserve data

State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) speaks to a colleague in the Capitol.
State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) speaks to a colleague in the Capitol.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A California measure aiming to protect climate scientists and their research from a hostile Trump administration was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) had sought to make the state Environmental Protection Agency protect and post online scientific data that is at risk of facing censorship or destruction by the federal government.

The measure, SB 51, also would have barred most state regulators from suspending professional licenses for federal whistleblowers.

In his veto message, Brown said it was difficult “to envision a scenario or even a legal basis where the whim of the federal Administration would lead to a disciplinary action in California.”

Still, Brown was sympathetic to the bill’s motivation. He blasted any effort by the federal government to stymie research or undermine scientists as “dangerous and myopic.”

“When it comes to preserving scientific research we cannot be too careful,” he wrote, with a direction to the state Environmental Protection Agency to collaborate with universities and nonprofits to preserve federal scientific research and data.

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New law puts California on path to offering first year free at community colleges

Roommates Jeffrey MacGillivray, center, and Randall Jenkins, right, both 20, enjoy their philosophy class at El Camino College in Torrance.
Roommates Jeffrey MacGillivray, center, and Randall Jenkins, right, both 20, enjoy their philosophy class at El Camino College in Torrance.
(Christina House/For The Times)

A push to make California community colleges more enticing to first-year students was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

The proposal, AB 19 by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), lays the groundwork to waive the fees for the first year of community college for all first-time students. It’s an incentive that would draw in new students who wouldn’t otherwise enroll, Santiago said.

“Community college changed my life. It gave me choices and opportunities and it opened doors,” Santiago said. “I know free community college will change the lives of Californians.”

The state already offers fee waivers for low-income students, but some community college districts report that a substantial percentage of students eligible for the waiver don’t apply for it.

The new law is contingent on securing funds in next year’s budget to fully roll out the promise of a free first year.

Brown signed the bill despite opposition from his own Department of Finance, which expressed concern that all students, regardless of financial need, would be able to get their fees waived. The administration has focused its student aid efforts on those with demonstrable financial hardship.

The measure was supported by a number of community college districts. It also became a rallying call for Rise Inc., a recently launched grassroots group of California students seeking to do away with college tuition and reduce student debt. The group collected more than 6,000 signatures for a petition to the governor urging his signature.

The support “reflects demand among students, among families who want to access higher education,” said Max Lubin, the CEO of Rise. “People want to go to college but don’t see themselves pursuing college because of the cost.”

The cost of college has increasingly become a political flashpoint, with student debt climbing over $1 trillion nationwide. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) proposed free college tuition during his 2016 presidential campaign and California Democrats proposed, but did not enact, a plan to make college debt-free by helping cover living expenses.

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Assembly Republican not happy with Bannon speech

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California joins other states to sue Trump administration over rollback of healthcare subsidies

President Donald Trump
(Michael Reynolds / EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

California and 17 other states filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the Trump administration’s decision to roll back cost-sharing subsidies that help reduce the price of healthcare for millions of Americans.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco.

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said the decision to cease federal payments to health insurers that provide coverage undermines the Affordable Care Act and could result in up to 20% increases in costs, putting healthcare out of reach for millions of families.

“This is patently a decision that is reckless. It is sabotage plain and simple, and President Trump’s price hikes to Americans’ health insurance are hiding in plain sight,” Becerra said during a telephone conference call with the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Kentucky, who are also part of the lawsuit.

The legal challenge says the subsidies are lawful, that the Trump administration action conflicts with federal law and that the president failed to follow proper procedure to change the subsidies that benefit 6 million people, including 700,000 Californians.

“The president can’t pick and choose which laws he wishes to follow,” Becerra said. The federal action, he said, is “essentially a $7-billion dollar tax increase for working families trying to hold onto their health insurance.”

The impact will be blunted somewhat in this state because of adjustments made this week by California’s state-based individual healthcare marketplace, Covered California.

The states also say they are harmed financially by the Trump administration’s decision, which will undermine state budgets by costing states more to provide emergency healthcare to people who lose health insurance, according to Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Maura Healey.

“This is a cruel and irresponsible move,” Healey said. “It is disconnected from reality.”

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Rep. Barbara Lee attending screening of Black Panthers documentary she narrated

The documentary, made seven years ago, will be screened this weekend.

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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s race moved to ‘toss-up’ amid Russia investigation entanglements

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher
(Misha Japaridze / Associated Press)

Saying the actions of the Republican incumbents have put their seats in danger, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted its ratings of the election contests in two Southern California districts toward Democrats on Friday.

Though the general election is 13 months away, potential challengers and donors take a long look at such ratings when they are deciding where to spend their money.

Nine California Republican-held congressional districts are being closely watched as Democrats try to secure the seats they need to win back the House in the 2018 midterms.

See how the Los Angeles Times’ politics editors are ranking the these races

Most surprising is the move in the 48th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, from “lean Republican” to “toss-up.”

Cook political analyst David Wasserman called the seat one of Democrats’ best pick-up opportunities in California, saying Rohrabacher may have had a long career, but “his recent sympathetic comments towards Russia and strange interactions with Julian Assange and internet conspiracy theorist Chuck Johnson could amount to self-sabotage in a district President Trump narrowly lost.”

In August, Rohrabacher met with Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, and said Assange assured him that Russia did not steal emails from the Democratic National Committee. Rohrabacher has said he’s been denied a meeting with Trump to discuss asylum for Assange in exchange for the information he heard.

Rohrabacher, who has picked up quite a few challengers, is ranked No. 4 on The Times’ list of toughest races.

Other Southern California Republicans in the toss-up category are Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale and Darrell Issa of Vista.

Cook on Friday also moved Rep. Duncan Hunter’s 50th Congressional District from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican,” a minor shift that signals Wasserman still believes Hunter of Alpine will win but that he’s on shakier ground.

Wasserman pointed to an ongoing FBI investigation into allegations Hunter’s campaign spent contributions for his family’s personal use, saying “it would take the combination of a Democratic wave and an indicted GOP incumbent to put a seat as Republican as this one anywhere near the competitive radar, but that may be where things are headed.”

Hunter is No. 8 on The Times’ rankings.

FOR THE RECORD

Oct. 16, 12:55 p.m.: An earlier version of this article stated that the Cook Political Report moved Rep. Duncan Hunter’s district was moved to “likely Republican” to “solid Republican.” It was moved from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican.”

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Steve Bannon headlining California GOP convention in Anaheim next week

Steve Bannon, the hard-right conservative media firebrand and former chief strategist to President Trump, will be a keynote speaker at the California Republican Party’s semiannual gathering next week in Anaheim.

Bannon was widely regarded as a key force in engineering Trump’s victory last November, but his brand of conservative populism has been controversial within the party. He resigned from the White House in August shortly after Chief of Staff John F. Kelly took control of the West Wing.

Bannon, who returned to his post as head of the Los Angeles-born conservative media outlet Breitbart, has strong ties to Southern California.

Bannon also has made his name pushing a different vision for the Republican Party and trying to upend the party establishment by promoting primary challenges to establishment incumbents.

Scheduled to speak next Friday at the convention’s banquet, Bannon will face an audience of the party faithful searching for ways to remain relevant as the state GOP continues a decades-long decline.

The Republican share of the state’s registered voters is under 26%, and it last elected a statewide candidate in 2006. Many of the party’s members of Congress are key targets in the Democrats’ effort to retake control of the House.

Staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

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Kevin de León remains coy about a possible run for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

It was clear Thursday night that state Senate leader Kevin de León did not want to talk about it.

Hours after CNN published a report saying De León would challenge Sen. Dianne Feinstein, he appeared on a panel in downtown Los Angeles to talk about housing prices.

But he avoided reporters, slipping into the building after the audience was seated, and demurred when asked about it afterward.

Asked whether he had decided to run, De León said repeatedly, “When I know, you guys will know.”

He claimed he hadn’t read the CNN report, but as he was ushered into another room away from reporters, he cited a quote from a story in The Times that reported he was mulling a run.

“‘Kevin de León ... people don’t know who the hell he is?’ That’s nice,” the Senate leader said before disappearing into the side room.

Asked later to comment on reports that he had been reaching out to labor leaders and elected officials about a decision to run, he said he speaks to them “on a variety of issues all the time.”

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Dealers who sell certain signed collectibles will soon be required to provide express warranty

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill supported an effort to crack down on fake autographs in 2016.
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill supported an effort to crack down on fake autographs in 2016.
(Justin Tallis / AFP/Getty Images)

Gov. Jerry Brown signed off Thursday on a legislative fix to the state’s law regulating autographed memorabilia.

AB 228 will require dealers who sell signed sports and entertainment collectibles for more than $50 to provide an express warranty starting in January 2018.

The measure, proposed by Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), aimed to address some unintended consequences that arose from a bill passed during the previous legislative session.

That law required all signed collectibles sold for more than $5 to come with certificates verifying their authenticity.

After the law became active, there were concerns about the effect on book and comic book stores that often host author signings. Because it applied to any autographed item, owners were required to provide certificates for signed books.

Under the new law Brown signed, autographed books, fine art, furniture and decorative objects are excluded from the express warranty requirement.

Stars Wars actor Mark Hamill supported the 2016 proposal after fans reached out to him on Twitter to ask whether their items had his real signature.

The new measure allows buyers to pursue civil action against a dealer if they fail to comply with express warranty provisions. Previously, customers who didn’t receive an authenticity certificate were entitled to recover damages worth 10 times the cost of the memorabilia.

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California law enforcement agencies will soon have new rules for classifying gang members, sharing gang databases

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California law enforcement agencies will have to count and preserve all of their untested rape kits

Sexual assault exam kits.
(Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)

California law enforcement agencies will have to preserve and count all of their untested rape kits and ensure they inform sexual assault victims of their rights under new laws signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The three measures are part of ongoing efforts in Sacramento to tackle rape kit backlogs at law enforcement agencies and to increase the number of victims who report sexual assault and seek treatment.

They come as sexual assault is once more at the forefront of public discussion amid allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. New laws signed by Brown last year to toughen punishment for rape cases followed high-profile cases against comedian Bill Cosby and former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner.

One bill by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) would require police and sheriff agencies to report the number of untested kits to a state database, an attempt to keep better data on unanalyzed exams, which one advocacy nonprofit estimates number more than 13,500 statewide.

Another proposal by Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) will allow people to make a donation when filing their personal income taxes to help law enforcement agencies test their rape kits.

A third measure, which Brown signed earlier Thursday as part of a package of bills to address women’s and family issues, requires every police and sheriff agency to preserve untested rape kits. That legislation by Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) and Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) also will require agencies to provide a card to sexual assault victims that details their rights, including a clear statement that says they are not required to testify or participate in their abuser’s prosecution.

The new law prevents officers from discouraging victims from receiving a medical or physical exam to compile evidence in a case, and requires medical professionals to provide free contraception.

Sexual assault kits consist of swabs and materials to collect and preserve forensic evidence from a victim’s body in the hours after an attack.

National debate over the high number of kits that remain untested — estimated by the U.S. Department of Justice to be roughly 400,000 in 2015 — has spurred bipartisan legislation in Congress and millions in federal funding over the years to help state and local law enforcement agencies track and analyze the evidence.

4:51 p.m.: This post has been updated with new details on prior high-profile cases.

This post was originally sent at 4:22 p.m.

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Unpaid school lunch fees? New California law will put an end to ‘shaming’ students

Students eat lunch at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Los Angeles.
Students eat lunch at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Los Angeles.
(Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times)

California schools will not be able to deny or delay food to students if their parents haven’t paid lunch fees under a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday.

The measure, SB 250 by state Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), aims to put an end to “school lunch shaming,” when students with unpaid tabs are given snacks instead of a full meal or no food at all. In some cases, students’ meals have been taken from them and dumped into the trash in front of their peers.

The law will direct schools to notify families about unpaid lunch fees, instead of levying the punishment on the child.

“When you’re treated differently as a child in school, it’s shameful,” Hertzberg said in a statement. “And in this case, the child is being harmed as a tool to collect their parent’s debt. That makes no sense whatsoever.”

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‘Most people don’t know who the hell he is.’ Still, Kevin de León is thinking about running against Feinstein

(Rich Pedroncelli / AP)

California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) is strongly considering challenging Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat, in her 2018 reelection bid, according to sources close to De León.

One veteran California politician, who asked for anonymity to freely discuss the matter, said De León considered a campaign launch earlier this week. But the decision was delayed by Feinstein’s Monday announcement that she would run for reelection, which had been expected later in the year, as well as the wildfires ravaging the state.

CNN reported Thursday that De León intends to enter the race, attributing the story to three people with knowledge of his plans. Sources close to De León told The Times that, while he is leaning toward running, he has not yet made a final decision.

De León’s political advisors declined to comment Thursday, but a potential run by the state Senate leader has been the subject of widespread rumors that have heightened in recent weeks.

A top state Democratic leader told The Times that De León called him a couple of weeks ago seeking his advice on challenging the 84-year-old Feinstein. The leader, who also asked for anonymity to discuss the private conversation, ran through the obstacles De León was likely to face, from his lack of name identification among the state’s voters to Feinstein’s wealth and ability to self-fund a campaign.

“I told him despite all his notoriety for all of his good legislative accomplishments, most people don’t know who the hell he is,” the person said, adding that De León would also face a significant fundraising disadvantage.

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This new super PAC says it’s going after all 14 California Republicans in Congress

Nine of California's 14 GOP House members: top from left, Devin Nunes, Darrell Issa, David Valadao; middle, Steve Knight, Dana Rohrabacher, Duncan Hunter; bottom, Mimi Walters, Jeff Denham, Ed Royce.
(Associated Press / AFP / Getty Images)

As the 2018 midterms approach, most Democrats in California are focused on the seven Republican-held congressional districts where Hillary Clinton won last year.

But Flip the 14, a new super PAC, says that’s not enough.

In a video announcing its launch Wednesday, the new group says it’s going to organize field operations in all 14 California districts represented by Republicans.

In an interview, campaign manager Doug Linney said the group’s goal is to “organize and empower the resistance” all over California.

“We’re setting ourselves up for what we think can be a blue wave this time,” said Linney, who heads a Bay Area political consulting firm. “The circumstances are ripe to do better than ... what’s usually been done.”

Also heading the Flip the 14 effort are campaign consultants Maureen Erwin and Don Perata, former California state Senate leader.

The committee reported raising a little more than $6,200 as of June 30, most of it from the campaign account of Bay Area Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda). Linney says the group has raised about $50,000 total so far, most of it from individual donors.

Linney said the goal is to raise about $1.5 million, enough to hire a field organizer in each of the 14 districts to help grassroots activists learn how to approach voters, set up door-knocking operations and lead get-out-the-vote operations.

It’s highly unlikely that Linney’s group will succeed in turning the entire California congressional delegation Democratic. Democrats are already facing uphill battles to unseat the nine GOP incumbents they’re eyeing, many of whom were reelected by double-digit margins last year.

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California lawmakers call Trump immigration chief comments on ‘sanctuary state’ law ‘reprehensible’

Several lawmakers in California’s congressional delegation are asking Trump’s top immigration official for a meeting, pointing to what they called his “reprehensible” statement on a new so-called sanctuary state law that will limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

In a letter to Thomas Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Rep. Jimmy Gomez and 13 other Congress members argue Senate Bill 54 will not “shield removable aliens from immigration enforcement,” nor create another “magnet for illegal immigration,” as Homan has said.

“California law enforcement should not be deputized as immigration agents to incite fear in our communities and undermine public safety,” the letter stated. “We request that you meet with us to clarify your statements and restore the trust in public safety that is necessary for our communities.”

The sanctuary state bill, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 5, will vastly limit whom state and local law enforcement agencies can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration authorities. The measure is part of a broader effort by majority Democrats in the California Legislature to shield more than 2.3 million immigrants living illegally in the state.

It has drawn sharp criticism from Republican state lawmakers, sheriffs and Trump administration officials. In March, Homan hosted a town hall with Republican Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones on immigration enforcement that erupted in protests. Emails later showed Scott Jones had asked Homan for his help to lobby against the legislation.

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Juvenile justice groups celebrate new California laws to ease punishment, criminal fines for young people

Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed nine bills to aid young people facing charges and serving time, a victory for a statewide coalition of criminal justice groups that brought together celebrities and former youth offenders in a push to divert children from a path to prison.

The new laws will increase parole opportunities and ease punishment for people who committed crimes as children or teens. They will allow courts to seal certain juvenile records and limit the administrative fees that counties charge families with children in juvenile detention.

Five of the bills were part of a package of proposals introduced by state Sens. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), who contended the juvenile system should treat young offenders like children and not hardened criminals.

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With the DACA deadline looming, vulnerable Republicans shy away from hard-line immigration stances

Students march through the Fullerton College campus chanting, "Undocumented and unafraid."
( Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In her first run for Congress, Rep. Mimi Walters campaigned saying that people who enter the U.S. illegally “should not be rewarded” and in office she’s voted at least three times against protections for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Rep. Ed Royce once called the Dream Act, which would have given those young people a path to citizenship, “amnesty” and warned that illegal immigrants would take university spots away from American citizens.

But when President Trump announced last month that he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, both Orange County Republicans sympathized with so-called Dreamers and called on Congress to pass a permanent solution to help them.

With a March date set for DACA’s phaseout and hundreds of thousands of young livelihoods on the line, immigrant advocates are ramping up pressure on Orange County Republicans: Royce, Walters, and Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Darrell Issa.

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It’s official: Carrillo vs. Lopez in L.A. Assembly race runoff

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California files legal challenge to Trump administration’s revised travel restrictions

California and other states are challenging new travel restrictions proposed by the Trump administration.
(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

California joined five other states Thursday in filing a court action seeking to block the Trump administration’s new restrictions on travelers from a handful of countries, arguing it is unconstitutionally motivated by anti-Muslim animus.

State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said the new restrictions, which take effect Oct. 18, contain the same flaws as those previously challenged by states in the courts.

The restrictions affect visitors from North Korea and Venezuela and from countries with large Muslim populations: Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Chad and Somalia.

“The courts have previously rebuffed different versions of this blatantly discriminatory anti-Muslim travel ban,” Becerra said. “Yet, the Trump administration continues to play games with the lives of thousands of people who work and attend college here, play by the rules, and have helped our state become the sixth-largest economy in the world.”

An amended complaint filed Thursday by California, Washington, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon also alleges that the travel restrictions cause significant hardship to the states and their economies.

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Limousine rides, other improper conduct by state employees uncovered through whistleblower hotline

State auditors found a UC Davis professor improperly spent $1,200 on travel expenses including three limousine rides.
( Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Whistleblowers led California auditors to discover misconduct by several state employees during the last year, including misuse of money for limousine trips and inaccurate time reporting that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars, according to a report released Thursday.

State Auditor Elaine Howle’s twice-yearly report of employee misconduct comes after her office investigated 50 cases that raised concerns.

“State agencies must report to my office any corrective or disciplinary action taken in response to recommendations we make,” Howle wrote to Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature.

In one case, a psychiatric technician at Atascadero State Hospital engaged in a pattern of attendance abuse — arriving late, leaving early and taking long lunches — without reporting his absences, resulting in him receiving more than $7,500 in improper overtime pay in a year, the auditors said.

A UC Davis professor wasted funds by improperly billing the system nearly $1,200 for three limousine trips and two additional travel expenses, the auditors said. The professor said the limousine rides were used to discuss business matters with visitors from outside organizations, but he was unable to back up the claim, the audit said.

In addition, auditors determined that an analyst at the California Department of Social Services misused state resources when she used her state email account to send or receive almost 400 personal emails from August 2015 through May 2016.

Two other inaccurate timekeeping cases uncovered by auditors cost the state more than $10,000.

The whistleblower hotline has helped auditors identify improper governmental activities that have cost the state a total of $576.6 million since 1993.

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No one has ever gone straight from City Hall to the White House. Could L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti end that streak?

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

There are many paths to the presidency, most of them a standard climb from one elected office to the next.

A whole passel of lawmakers have cycled their way through a governorship or the U.S. Senate en route to the White House. Others arrived with less buttoned-down backgrounds. There have been war heroes, a former haberdasher, a onetime movie actor.

And then, of course, there is the current occupant whose resume — real estate developer, beauty pageant promoter, conspiracy monger, reality TV celebrity — makes up a category all its own.

In the whole history of the United States, however, there has never been a candidate who made the leap straight from City Hall to the White House, or who even managed to win his party’s presidential nomination.

Now Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is mentioned as a presidential prospect, fresh off his inauguration to a second term. He insists that more than 250 years of unbroken mayoral futility are no deterrent.

“I think all the rules are off,” he told a Wisconsin TV interviewer during a June visit to the Midwestern swing state. “No African American could be president until one was. No reality star could be president until one is.”

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Gov. Brown gives judges discretion over when to lengthen prison sentences in gun crimes

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a bill that allows judges to decide against imposing prison sentencing enhancements of 10 or more years in cases where firearms are used in committing a felony.

State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) introduced the measure, saying public safety is not served by the current mandate for enhancements, which come in the form of an additional sentence of 10 years, 20 years or life in prison.

“Far too many people of color are disproportionately impacted by our state’s overly punitive sentencing laws, which tie the hands of our judges,” Bradford said after the signing. “We must provide judges with the same level of discretion at sentencing as we afford prosecutors when filing charges.”

The governor drew criticism Wednesday from state Senate Republican leader Patricia Bates of Laguna Niguel for signing the measure a little more than a week after a gunman killed 58 people in Las Vegas.

“In light of the Las Vegas massacre, it makes no sense for the governor to sign a bill that would give judges the ability to reduce sentences for criminals who use guns,” Bates said. “Any criminal who used a gun to terrorize individuals, families and communities deserves the maximum sentence available.”

Brown acted, his office said, to “restore the power of judges to impose criminal sentences.”

The measure was opposed by some criminal justice leaders including Michele Hanisee, president of the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys, which represents 1,000 prosecutors for Los Angeles County.

“The illegal use of guns to kill or wound innocent victims is a tragic story that occurs far too often,” Hanisee said recently in urging a veto. “Mandatory punishment for using a gun during a violent crime is right and just.”

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Tom Steyer says Democrats must tell public where they stand on idea of impeaching President Trump

(Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

Tom Steyer, a San Francisco environmentalist and a major political donor, is calling on all Democrats to support the impeachment of President Trump.

In a Tuesday letter to campaign committees and every Democratic member of Congress, Steyer said the president is “not fit for office” and is “engaged in a systematic attack on the future of our children.”

“The public deserves to know where every Democrat stands on the issue of the highest import to the lives of every single American now, before those elections happen,” Steyer wrote. “I am asking you today to make public your position on the impeachment of Donald Trump and call for his removal from office.”

The letter raises the potential of a litmus test for candidates to receive financial backing from Steyer, who has spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Democratic candidates and causes. The party will be attempting to take back control of Congress during next year’s midterm elections.

Steyer, who has considered running for office himself, also took a veiled shot at Sen. Dianne Feinstein, saying “this is not a time for ‘patience.’ ”

Feinstein, a veteran California Democrat who recently announced she is running for reelection, sparked a backlash from liberals when she said “we have to have some patience” with Trump as it related to his response to the natural disasters in the last few months.

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Gov. Brown vetoes effort to regulate Blue Apron, other meal delivery services in California

This 2014 photo shows an example of a home delivered meal from Blue Apron, a New Hampshire firm.
This 2014 photo shows an example of a home delivered meal from Blue Apron, a New Hampshire firm.
((Matthew Mead / Associated Press) )

Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday put the brakes on an effort to further regulate the burgeoning meal subscription business, in which firms deliver to customers original recipes and proportioned ingredients needed to prepare food at home.

Brown vetoed a bill that would have required those subscription services to get food handler cards for employees handling unpackaged ingredients. It was sponsored by the California Grocers Assn. and United Food and Commercial Workers State Council, competitors of the new businesses.

Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) introduced the measure, citing public health concerns.

“The emergence of food facility meal-kit subscriptions directly to consumers has raised serious concerns of public health and environmental safety with consumers and public health officials alike,” Thurmond said. “This is a preventative measure to help protect families and children from getting food poisoning and sick.”

Brown said the issue needs more consideration.

“This bill attempts to regulate a burgeoning new business model of home food delivery,” Brown wrote in his veto message. “I’m not convinced, however, that the existing regulatory scheme for food facilities is suitable for this new industry.”

The governor went on to say, “I encourage the Legislature to continue to work on this issue with the Department of Public Health and interested stakeholders to ensure food safety is protected and innovation is encouraged.”

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Violent felonies shown on Facebook Live could receive tougher sentences under a new California law

(Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images)

Violent incidents videotaped or streamed live on sites such as Facebook by attackers or accomplices could result in tougher punishment in California under a law signed Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Assembly Bill 1542 provides that a judge will be able to consider additional penalties for anyone involved in a violent crime who “willfully recorded a video” while the attack was happening. But the new law doesn’t require a judge to hand down the tougher sentence, and applies only to the 23 existing crimes in California identified as “violent” felonies.

Assemblyman Matt Dababneh (D-Woodland Hills), the proposal’s author, said that there have been an increasing number of attacks motivated by the ability to instantly share footage on social media.

“Our criminal code has simply not kept pace with technology-driven social media changes,” he said during an Assembly floor debate in May.

Dababneh said the bill was inspired by an attack last year on a San Fernando Valley teenager that was captured on video and shared on Snapchat. The teenager suffered a fractured skull in the incident.

AB 1542 had bipartisan support in the Legislature, and originally would have added an additional year of prison time for the videotaped crimes. Amendments taken during the legislative year leave the issue up to judges to consider as an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes.

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Nunes never fully stepped away from the House Russia investigation. Now he’s being accused of derailing it again

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) is again being questioned concerning his involvement in the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Nunes is chairman of the committee, but he indicated months ago that he would step away from leading the probe after a series of missteps that included a secret visit to the White House to view classified documents.

The Times’ Sarah D. Wire wrote in June about how Nunes’ statements on handing over leadership of the House investigation were interpreted as a full recusal by Democrats. But Nunes has since made it clear that’s not what he intended, and that he won’t be shy about staying involved in certain aspects of the investigation.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein once thought she might ‘just walk away’ from another race, she tells donors

A day after announcing she would seek a sixth term in office, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Tuesday fundraiser that she had considered retiring but decided that she just couldn’t because of President Trump.

“Let me be very candid with you. I thought about not doing this,” Feinstein said at the evening gathering of some of Los Angeles’ top civic leaders and philanthropists. “I thought, well, maybe I’ve been there long enough. Maybe I should just walk away. I could actually have a pretty good life, and I’ve worked all my life. Maybe it’s time.”

But the 84-year-old Democrat – first elected in 1992 and one of the wealthiest members of Congress -- said the actions of Trump, from his statements about North Korea and Iran to his controversial tweets, persuaded her to seek another term because she believes her relationships and knowledge of the inner workings of the nation’s capital are critical for Democrats as they try to negotiate this president’s tenure.

“Seniority matters,” she said, noting her positions on the judiciary, intelligence and appropriations committees.

Feinstein spoke poolside at philanthropist Erika Glazer’s Beverly Hills home, in an expansive Moroccan-style yard dotted with tall palm trees wrapped in twinkling white lights, a home once owned by Kennedy family patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy.

About 60 people donated up to $5,400 to attend, sipping wine and nibbling charcuterie and exotic fruits. Feinstein spoke briefly and spent much of her time mingling with the well-heeled crowd, which included philanthropist Eli Broad.

Those in attendance included Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, former Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner, former Paramount Pictures Chief Executive Sherry Lansing, and Rick Jacobs, a prominent Democratic fundraiser and the founder of the Courage Campaign.

Feinstein is among the most popular politicians in California, but recent polling has hinted that voters might be open to someone new in the Senate. There is also opposition from some of the party’s most liberal members who argue that Feinstein’s values are no longer progressive enough to represent the state that has positioned itself as the liberal resistance to the president.

State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De León is among the Democrats who could be considering a challenge to Feinstein in next year’s statewide primary.

Outside the fundraiser, a couple of dozen protesters criticized Feinstein her for not supporting single-payer healthcare, chanting, “People over profits,” and “Compassion over corporations.”

Lucas Reilly, a 21-year-old UCLA student, held a sign that said, “Retire Dianne the DINO,” an acronym standing for “Democrat in Name Only” -- a twist on an insult Republicans usually deliver to members of their party -- RINOs -- who aren’t seen as being conservative enough.

“She is the senator of one of the bluest states in this country and she can’t take a firm stand on single-payer,” Reilly said. “If she can’t do this, she needs to retire.”

Glazer, the daughter of the late shopping mall magnate Guilford Glazer, said she was sympathetic to those concerns but the top priority right now is keeping an experienced, steady hand in the Senate.

“I want to see her there. I also want to see her mentoring women” who could be her successors, Glazer said. “Having Democrats protest Democrats is not good policy. We don’t need contention. There are enough issues.”

Garcetti, who introduced Feinstein, was more jugular in his description of any potential Democratic challenger to Feinstein.

“This cannibalistic approach, that somehow we should be at each other’s throats right now … is wrong for Democrats and what California should be doing right now,” Garcetti said, ticking off Trump policies that the state needed to fight, such as a tax reform that could disadvantage large states and the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Feinstein didn’t explicitly mention a potential challenger, but swatted at politicians whom she described as more talk than action and contrasted that with her reputation as a skilled cross-party negotiator.

“It’s my way of working to make whatever we do meaningful,” she said. “You can stand up in this arena … and pound your chest and you don’t get anything done. You need to work with people.”

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Lawsuit alleges fraud by California GOP in recall campaign against state Sen. Josh Newman

State Sen. Josh Newman
State Sen. Josh Newman
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A group of voters filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging they were defrauded when they were convinced to sign petitions to recall Democratic state Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton based on claims that the petitions would repeal an increase in the state gas tax.

The latest of a handful of lawsuits involving the recall drive was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against the California Republican Party, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. and some of the petition circulators.

Republicans collected more than 66,000 valid signatures to seek a ballot measure that would recall Newman for voting in April with the Democratic majority in favor of increasing the state gas taxes and vehicle fees. Having won election by one of the slimmest margins of any Democratic senator, Newman was seen as vulnerable for recall, which would deprive the Democrats of their two-thirds supermajority in the state Senate.

The lawsuit alleges that Newman’s opponents could not beat him in the election so they “concocted a scheme to deceive thousands of voters to sign their recall petition — misrepresenting the very nature of their petition as a petition to repeal a so-called gas tax.”

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of voters by Malibu attorney Kevin I. Shenkman, adds, “That fraudulent scheme has been largely successful at achieving Defendant’s nefarious ends, ironically requiring the expenditure of millions of tax dollars to entertain Defendant’s cynical partisan game.”

Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Council member and a leader of the recall campaign, noted the lawsuit is one of a few filed against those seeking to oust Newman.

“Once again, Democrats are filing a frivolous lawsuit filled with lies in an attempt to deprive California voters of their constitutional right to recall and fire their politicians,” DeMaio said. “This abuse of the legal system shows that absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The lawsuit has four named voters as plaintiffs but seeks to become a class-action case for more voters. It asks for “nominal, compensatory and general damages according to proof.”

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California wildfires destroying pot farms just before legal sales begin in state

A firefighter hoses down a fire-ravaged home in Napa.
A firefighter hoses down a fire-ravaged home in Napa.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

The Northern California wildfires this week have destroyed at least seven marijuana farms just months before the state begins licensing legal sales of cannabis, making it the “worst year on record” for loss of crops, an industry leader said Tuesday.

Many growers lost their homes and farms in the Redwood Complex fire in Mendocino County, the Atlas fire in Napa County and the Stubbs and Nuns fires in Sonoma County, according to Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Assn.

“The October 2017 firestorm is having an extremely severe impact on our communities,” Allen said. “It is the worst year on record, and the worst year I can remember, in terms of farms lost. We have been able to confirm seven farms lost, but we expect the number to be much higher as more information comes in.”

The loss is especially severe this year because many growers had spent their life savings getting local permits and preparing crops for state licensure and sales scheduled to begin Jan. 2, Allen said.

In addition, he said, marijuana growers do not qualify for crop insurance or federal emergency relief funds.

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National Nurses United endorse repeat challenger to GOP Rep. Steve Knight

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California’s high school exit exam is officially a thing of the past

(Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times)

Eighteen years after lawmakers agreed that California high school students should prove their skills on a final exam before earning diplomas, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday to permanently repeal the requirement.

The move comes two years after Brown and lawmakers imposed a three-year suspension of the law, which would have expired next spring. It marks the final chapter of a law that was originally promised to ensure students should be able to prove a series of basic reading and math skills before graduating.

But the exam was suspended in 2015, after state officials said it wasn’t aligned with recently adopted Common Core education standards. The suspension, approved later that year, allowed some 32,000 students who failed to pass the test as far back as 2004 to receive diplomas, as long as they had completed their other coursework.

Education officials told lawmakers this year that new, more thorough assessment tools are now in place and have made the idea of the exit exam obsolete.

“We believe that it accomplished its mission, and now that the state has moved on to new standards with higher standards,” said Keric Ashley, the deputy state superintendent of public instruction, during an Assembly committee hearing in April. “And now the emphasis is to make students college and career ready. And we have an assessment to match that.”

The bill, which again means state-mandated coursework and any local requirements will be sufficient to earn a diploma, faced opposition this year from Republicans who believed the exam should have been revised, not eliminated.

California’s high school exit exam was part of a package of curriculum and testing changes enacted in 1999. It was supposed to fully take effect in 2004, but a high failure rate in some early uses of the test prompted state officials to delay its full roll-out until 2006.

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A key change to a major state environmental law again misses a deadline

California lawmakers keep passing bills to ease the burden of environmental lawsuits against big developments. And they keep ignoring the fact that the deadline they set for the end of the litigation is never met.

Starting in 2011, state legislators have allowed projects with a price tag of at least $100 million that meet a host of environmental and labor standards to get speedier trials under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, the state’s primary law governing development. Under the law, which was renewed for the third time this year, any CEQA litigation against such projects is supposed to be wrapped up within nine months. Lawmakers supporting the measures have argued that these developments are too important to the state’s economy to wait.

But one project is now waiting longer than it should: a Frank Gehry-designed, mixed-use development at 8150 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. Neighborhood activists sued over the project, arguing that its environmental review was insufficient and questioning plans to demolish a Midcentury Modern bank building on the site.

The nine-month deadline expired earlier this month. The case, however, remains in the California 2nd District Court of Appeal. Both sides are asking appellate court judges to overturn parts of the trial court’s ruling.

This isn’t the only time a case has taken more than nine months to be resolved. In fact, the deadline never has been met.

Eight projects have so far qualified for the streamlined legal review process. Some, such as the new Apple headquarters in Cupertino, weren’t sued. Others, such as a football stadium in San Diego, were never built. The other project that was sued, the under-construction arena for the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, is another case that missed the deadline.

A spokesman for Townscape Partners, the developer of 8150 Sunset, declined to comment. Laura Lake of the activist group Fix the City said that even though the case has taken longer than nine months to resolve, she’s seen the courts move quicker than they otherwise would have in a CEQA case.

“It rushes everything,” Lake said.

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FOR THE RECORD

Oct. 26, 2:44 p.m.: This article states that two projects that qualified for expedited legal review were sued. Three were sued. An initial ruling in a lawsuit against the third project, proposed solar farms in rural San Diego County, occurred within the deadline, but the entire case took longer than nine months to finish.

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti plays coy on possible runs for governor, president

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti made clear from the outset of his appearance at the Sacramento Press Club on Tuesday that he would not be offering definitive pronouncements on his future.

But his remarks did little to dampen what has become a rowdy parlor game among California politicos: speculating on just what Garcetti will do next.

Garcetti’s name has been bandied about for the 2018 race for California governor and as a possible contender for the 2020 presidential election.

“I haven’t made a decision about governor,” Garcetti said. “I’m going to take a little bit more time to think about it. And I’m much more focused on today, my responsibilities in L.A. than plotting my political future.”

He quickly pivoted to touting his years being active in national politics by collaborating with mayors across the country.

Garcetti said he has not committed to remaining as Los Angeles mayor until his term ends in 2022.

“I will say I’m committed to the people of Los Angeles,” he said. “They elected me to help solve the problems, address the challenges we have and also have a presence statewide and nationally in making sure we bring resources and help one another.”

Garcetti acknowledged he has contemplated a gubernatorial run and is having conversations to mull his options.

“I know we can make an impact in local government — right now that feels like that’s where the action’s at. I think that’s where the innovation is,” Garcetti said. “But I care about the state. ...This isn’t about a political calculus, this is a very personal decision. What’s in your heart, what’s in your gut and what’s best for your family.”

One path he appeared to rule out definitively: challenging U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who announced Monday she will seek reelection next year. Garcetti, who is hosting a fundraiser for Feinstein on Tuesday night in Beverly Hills, swiped at Democrats who may consider taking her on.

“The idea of Democrats challenging [Feinstein] right now — that is ripped from the corrosive playbook of our quote-unquote enemies,” he said, adding that Democrats should focus their energies on flipping seats currently held by Republicans.

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Trump campaign surrogate and soap star Kimberlin Brown announces run against Rep. Raul Ruiz

Kimberlin Brown, an actress best known for her roles on “The Bold and the Beautiful” and other soap operas, became the first challenger to announce a run against Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert on Tuesday.

“For the first time in the history of our great country, we are not leaving something better behind for the next generation,” Brown, a Republican, said in a statement. She criticized Ruiz, saying he hasn’t passed any “meaningful” legislation. She promised to work across the aisle and with President Trump to get things done.

Brown, 56, served as a campaign surrogate for Trump last year and spoke at the Republican National Convention, calling Trump a leader who “raised concerns on behalf of working people.” She has also emphasized the challenges of being a small-business owner, highlighting her experience as the owner of an avocado farm and a design firm.

At a meeting of California’s Tea Party caucus this spring, Brown became emotional when she talked about the need for Republicans to unite behind Trump.

Stephen Puetz, a campaign spokesman, said Brown and her husband recently purchased a home inside the district and are in the process of putting their Fallbrook avocado ranch up for sale. Voter records show Brown is still registered to vote in Rep. Duncan Hunter’s district.

Ruiz, a third-term Democrat, has been identified by the National Republican Congressional Committee as a priority to unseat next year, but had no formal challengers until now.

See Times editors rankings of the 13 races to watch

He bested Republican Jeff Stone by more than 24 percentage points last year.

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More zero-emission vehicles will mean better air quality, Gov. Jerry Brown promises while signing new laws

Touting them as a way to further loosen California’s reliance on automobiles powered by fossil fuel, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a dozen laws on Tuesday aimed at boosting the use and sale of zero-emission vehicles.

The laws cover a variety of programs encouraging the use of vehicles that don’t produce greenhouse gases, promoted as necessary elements in helping the state hit its ambitious pollution reduction targets in the coming years.

State agencies will be directed to buy more clean-burning cars and trucks over the next decade and a half under a pair of bills signed by Brown, in both cases expanding goals that were put in place just a few years ago.

The governor also signed a law that extends access to carpool lanes through fall 2025 for some alternative fuel vehicles with only a single occupant. The bill’s legislative analysis cites a UCLA study that found access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes has helped spark the purchase of 24,000 plug-in electric cars and hybrids.

And he signed legislation that will authorize pilot programs for electric vehicle charging stations at California state parks and beaches, though in a signing statement Brown urged lawmakers to “evaluate the effectiveness” of similar programs before passing additional legislation.

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At California tour stop, Hillary Clinton tells supporters: ‘There is too much at stake not to speak out’

Hillary Clinton
(Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

Taking shots at President Trump, sounding the alarm on Russian hackers and doubling down on her call to fight a powerful gun lobby, Hillary Clinton on Monday told advocates and activists in California to get back up and keep going.

“Stand up for you, for our values because there is too much at stake not to speak out against the things that matter most,” she said to cheers and applause from an audience of about 1,700 people at UC Davis.

The stop at the Mondavi Center is the only one scheduled in California on her 16-city tour promoting her new book, “What Happened,” a memoir about her loss to Donald Trump. Her message of resilience seemed to resonate in a state that bills itself as home to “the resistance,” and where supporters handed the former U.S. senator her largest victory.

She beat Trump here by more than 4.2 million votes.

Onstage, Clinton was forceful in articulating her points but shied away from making news. She stuck to familiar ground covered in other tour stops, including the things that helped her recover from a brutal race: grandchildren, yoga, long walks through the woods and “lots of Chardonnay.”

She spoke about issues important to Democrats in California, urging healthcare advocates to continue fighting to hold on to the gains already made, and pointing to Trump’s rule limiting birth control and the lapse of the Children’s Health Insurance Program as examples of “mean-spirited” policies and failures in governing.

She expressed concern for the families fleeing forest fires in Napa and Sonoma counties and called for stronger gun control laws after the mass shooting in Las Vegas that took the lives of 58 people and injured hundreds more.

Of the spread of false information by Russian hackers, she said it helped cost her the presidency and was an assault on democracy. But perhaps no issue drew more applause from the crowd than her observations on the challenges faced by a woman running for president.

“The only way to get sexism out of politics is to get more women into politics,” she said as some people stood in ovation and others shouted, “We love you.”

Recounting the now infamous episodes of male senators silencing Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, Clinton pointed to how one commentator had said Warren had been “Hillary-ed.”

“Prepare to have the most horrible lies said about you,” she said of advice she would give Warren and Harris should they run for president. And to call out sexism, she said, without creating a backlash against you.

“It’s a constant balancing act,” she said.

UC Davis students Emilie Charles, 21, and Amy Schwanhausser, 19, said they came out to see a female icon who inspired them to continue striving in male-dominated fields.

“You look around and all you see are men in your classes,” said Schwanhausser, a political science major.

Catherine Charles, 19, Emilie’s sister, said she was excited to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at her doorstep, one she said she will one day share with her grandchildren.

Hearing Clinton speak of her recovery “is the closure that we needed,” she said.

9:15 a.m.: This post was updated with Clinton’s comments on Harris and Warren.

This post was originally published at 10:48 p.m.

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During stop in suburban Sacramento, Pence says Trump’s tax plan will pass this year

Vice President Mike Pence, center, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), right, talk with small-business owners about President Trump's tax plan.
Vice President Mike Pence, center, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), right, talk with small-business owners about President Trump’s tax plan.
(Liam Dillon / Los Angeles Times)

Vice President Mike Pence toured an industrial machine shop in a Sacramento suburb on Monday evening to pitch President Trump’s tax reform plan.

“President Donald Trump is committed to work with the Congress and pass the largest cut in American history,” Pence told a gathering at Stroppini Enterprises in Rancho Cordova. “And we’re going to do it this year.”

The vice president toured the machine shop with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and held a roundtable discussion with small-business owners about the president’s tax plans.

The president’s proposal could dramatically affect California taxpayers. Proposed elimination of the federal deduction of state and local taxes could cost Californians more than $100 billion, according to nonpartisan estimates. Potential changes to the mortgage interest deduction also could hit state homeowners disproportionately.

At the same time, lower tax rates on corporations and the wealthiest residents would benefit the state’s major companies and highest earners. Top Democratic elected officials in California, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, state Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and State Controller Betty T. Yee, have criticized Trump’s plan, saying it will hurt the state.

Pence also noted during the event that he had spoken with Gov. Jerry Brown about the wildfires that tore through eight Northern California counties on Monday, and pledged the federal government’s full support.

“I can assure you, as I did the governor, the federal government stands ready to provide any and all assistance to the state of California as your courageous firefighters and first responders confront this widening challenge,” Pence said.

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Vice President Pence pledges support from federal government for California wildfires

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Effort to include accents, other marks in names on vital records vetoed by Gov. Brown

Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside), left, in February 2016.
Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside), left, in February 2016.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Accents and other marks on names will not be included on California vital records after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a measure that would have allowed diacritical marks such as accents, tildes and umlauts on birth, death and marriage records.

“Mandating the use of diacritical marks on certain and local vital records without a corresponding requirement for all state and federal government records is a difficult and expensive proposition,” Brown wrote in his veto note.

Since Proposition 83, a measure approved by voters in 1983 to make English the state’s official language, diacritical marks — such as accents (è or á), umlauts (ö or ü) and tildes (ñ or ã) — on vital records were deemed unacceptable.

A previous effort in 2014 to require diacritical marks on state-issued identity documents didn’t make it out of the Assembly’s appropriations committee.

This year’s bill by Assemblyman Jose Medina (D-Riverside) would have allowed people to correct names on state vital records that were missing diacritical marks and request a new certificate.

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Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes measure to create new state task force on opioid prescriptions

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a measure on Monday that sought to curb escalating opioid addiction rates by creating a new state working group tasked with determining best practices in prescribing addictive drugs.

The measure, Assembly Bill 715 by Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg), would have directed the state Department of Public Health to convene doctors, opioid addiction specialists and other experts to examine how painkillers are being prescribed to treat acute, short-term pain.

The goal of the working group would have been to establish statewide guidelines on prescribing such drugs.

In his veto message, Brown acknowledged that opioid abuse “is a national epidemic that has been devastating for many California communities.” But he said the bill was “unnecessary,” noting the state public health department established an opioid addiction work group in 2014.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein on potential 2018 rivals: ‘That’s up to them’

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State will consider lifting contribution limits to California legislators’ legal defense funds

The state Capitol building in Sacramento.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

After successfully fighting to bar restrictions on political donations to legislators facing recall, an attorney who normally represents Democratic lawmakers is asking the state to also drop limits on contributions to legal defense funds used by lawmakers facing criminal or civil investigations.

The request comes a year after two Democratic senators were sentenced to federal prison in corruption cases and a third was convicted of lying about living in his district.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission outraged Republicans in August by granting a request by Senate Democrats to lift the $4,400 campaign contribution limit for legislators giving to colleagues facing recall. That request was made on behalf of the Senate Democrats by attorney Richard Rios.

The change made in August could help state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), who is facing a potential recall campaign by Republicans citing his vote for gas tax increases and wanting to deprive Democrats of their super-majority in the Senate. Petitions have been filed, but a recall election has not yet been certified.

Rios is now asking the commission to also lift the contribution limits from legislators to candidate-controlled legal defense funds and ballot measure committees, according to documents released Monday. In a letter to the commission, Rios said his request is “not offered on behalf of a client, but rather on behalf of our law firm which is in an interested party in this proceeding.”

If granted, the latest request could allow unlimited contributions from colleagues to a ballot measure committee controlled by Newman to fight the recall measure.

The first change on recalls was a step in the “right direction,” Rios wrote, but he said he does not “not believe it goes far enough in addressing the issues presented by the Commission’s adoption of the opinion.”

Rios said the commission action in August opens the door for the additional changes based on similar arguments.

The panel’s general counsel, Jack Woodside, has asked in writing for the commission to give him guidance on the request, saying the two additional proposed changes are “outside the scope” of the legal opinion adopted in August regarding legislators facing recall. He could not be reached immediately for comment.

The commission will consider the proposal by Rios at its meeting on Oct. 19.

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Pence in California for series of fundraisers after Colts football game walkout

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

Hours after Vice President Mike Pence left a professional football game in protest of players taking a knee during the national anthem, he landed Sunday in Southern California for a series of fundraisers aimed at helping vulnerable members of Congress in the state.

Pence spent the evening at the Beverly Hills home of Geoff Palmer, a developer who has been lauded for building homes in areas shunned by other builders, but who has also tangled with affordable-housing activists, preservationists and the city of Los Angeles over the developments. He was building the massive Da Vinci compound near the 110 Freeway before an arsonist burned it to the ground in an alleged protest of police brutality.

An attendee who asked not to be named to discuss the event said Pence lauded House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy during a reception for about 200 donors before a dinner with the vice president.

Details about the fundraising haul were unavailable Sunday night. Pence’s fundraising trip to California was initially scheduled for mid-September, a trip that was canceled because of hurricanes battering the nation. For those events, supporters had been asked to donate as much as $100,000 to attend a kick-off reception and dinner at the Beverly Hilton. Other events were scheduled in Bakersfield, Newport Beach and Sacramento.

Those fundraisers were going to benefit California Victory 2018, a joint fundraising committee that benefits political action committees for Pence and McCarthy, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the congressional campaign accounts of McCarthy, Darrel Issa of Vista, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Mimi Walters of Irvine, Ed Royce of Fullerton, Steve Knight of Palmdale, David Valadao of Hanford and Jeff Denham of Turlock.

Pence heads to a luncheon at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach on Monday, where he is expected to be greeted by protesters from groups including Code Blue, Indivisible and the Orange County Labor Federation.

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Watch live: Gov. Jerry Brown signs law providing new transparency on prescription drug costs

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein announces she’ll run again: ‘I’m all in’

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has made it official: She’ll run for the sixth term in 2018.

The Democrat’s announcement comes amid threats from her left, with more progressive Californians saying that Feinstein’s moderate nature isn’t the right fit for a state that feels the brunt of Trump administration policies.

But Feinstein is leaning on her record as the first woman to be the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and her role on the Senate Intelligence Committee as the reasons she should stay in office.

Feinstein was first elected in 1992 to fill a vacancy for two years, and then elected four more times to full six-year Senate terms. She is the longest consecutively serving California politician, and at 84, the oldest member of the U.S. Senate.

Feinstein has also taken a leading role in efforts against gun violence, sponsoring an assault weapons ban in the 1990s and more recently the proposed ban on the modification used in the Las Vegas shooting that allows a semiautomatic weapon to act more like an automatic weapon.

Feinstein had been coy about her reelection plans for months, telling NBCs Chuck Todd in an interview on ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday: “You are going to find out about that very shortly.”

UPDATE

7:37 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with additional details and background.

This article was originally published at 7:09 a.m.

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Commercial bus riders who choose not to buckle up could be fined under new California law

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law on Sunday to require passengers on commercial buses equipped with seat belts to use them, a decision following a recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board after a San Jose bus crash that killed two people.

The new law requires bus drivers to tell passengers before each trip that they are required to buckle up. Failure to do so will be punishable by a fine of up to $20 for the first offense, and up to $50 for the following offenses.

The federal safety board highlighted the need to ensure passengers wear seat belts in a report released after the San Jose crash in January 2016. That Greyhound bus was equipped with the devices, but the two women killed had not been wearing them and were ejected from the vehicle.

All new buses must have seat belts under a state agency rule that went into effect in November 2016. With that in mind, State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) introduced Senate Bill 20 a month later.

“This is common-sense legislation that will save lives,” Hill said in a statement.

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California updates dating services contract law to include sites like Match.com and Eharmony

(Barbara T Stolarski / Getty Images)

Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed a law updating the state’s Dating Service Contract Act to encompass online dating services like Match.com and Eharmony, an effort to ensure consumers can opt out of services.

The state contract law gives the customer the right to cancel a dating service – “by mail, telegram, or delivery” – within three days of signing up, and states that cancellation is effective when deposited in the mail. But the law was passed in 1989 in response to the aggressive pressure tactics used by sales employees at the time and had not been updated since.

Assembly Bill 314 by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco) will allow online-dating customers to cancel contracts by email and have access to electronic copies of contracts.

Its sponsors, Match.com and the Internet Assn., contended that modernizing the law would reflect the use of a new variety of online dating platforms. Some prosecutors argued changing some of its provisions could jeopardize ongoing consumer protections investigations under current law.

In a statement Sunday, Mullin called it a “common-sense measure,” saying it “simply updates the Dating Services Act to reflect the modern reality of internet dating.”

4:38 p.m.: This post was updated with a statement from Mullin.

This post was originally published at 4:12 p.m.

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Gov. Jerry Brown will sign measure to shed light on prescription drug prices Monday

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Sen. Feinstein says she’ll look into returning Harvey Weinstein donations

(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on Sunday morning that she’ll consider returning or donating decades-old donations from Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, though she seemed unaware she had received them.

The New York Times on Thursday reported allegations of sexual harassment by Weinstein over decades, prompting some Democrats to say they will give away money equal to donations they have received from the Hollywood mogul. Those who have not have been criticized by the Republican National Committee.

According to federal records, Weinstein gave Feinstein $375 in 1992 and $1,000 in 1994. Feinstein was asked by Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” how she planned to respond to criticism from the California Republican Party about the donations.

“I don’t know that I’ve received any. I’ll certainly take a look, and then I’ll make a decision,” the California Democrat said.

“Anytime somebody does something wrong, and he’s done mighty wrong, and no one has ever questioned where I stand on any of this stuff, um, somebody comes to you and says, ‘Oh, they contributed to you, are you giving back the money?’ And you sort of look like a startled bird and say, ‘Well, let me look and see.’ And that’s the best I can do for you today.”

This issue came up on other Sunday news shows. Another Democrat, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that it would probably be wise for politicians who accepted money from Weinstein to return the funds given the disgraced Hollywood mogul’s stature as a “high-profile individual.”

“This is a pretty bad guy who did some really awful things, and if people need for that money to be returned in order to make it clear that the entities that received them want nothing to do with him and his behavior, then that’s probably a smart move,” Murphy said. “People that took money from him should probably give it back.”

Sen. Kamala Harris’ staff said on Friday that the freshman senator would donate $5,000 in contributions from Weinstein to a California-based group that works on issues related to women and equality.

Todd pressed Feinstein on why the sexual harassment allegations didn’t come to light earlier.

“It’s very, very concerning that there can’t be a more defined moral code,” she said, adding, “I am really surprised that people knew these things and did nothing about it.”

Todd suggested that it looks embarrassing for the Democratic Party to have a major donor who advocated for women’s issues turn out to be a hypocrite.

“Well, that appears to be the case. I do not know him personally,” Feinstein responded.

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Feinstein suggests she’s running in 2018: ‘I’m ready for a good fight’

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is staying coy about whether she’ll run for election for the sixth time in 2018, although she continues to drop strong hints she plans to do so.

“You are going to find out about that very shortly,” she told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview on “Meet The Press,” which aired Sunday, adding that she still has “things to fight for.”

A recent poll found half of California’s likely voters don’t think the 84-year-old senator should run again. Feinstein has also been under pressure from liberal activists, and speculation continues that she may face a Democratic challenger in 2018. Among the potential challengers is state Senate leader Kevin de León of Los Angeles, who lashed out at Feinstein after she said in early September that people should have “patience” with President Trump.

But Feinstein on “Meet The Press” said she was undeterred.

“There are polls and then there are polls. I’m ready for a good fight. I’ve got things to fight for. I’m in a position where I can be effective, and hopefully that means something to California,” she said.

Feinstein has previously all but indicated she plans to run in 2018 but has not definitively announced her plans. She was first elected in 1992 to fill a vacancy for two years, and then elected four more times to full six-year Senate terms.

Pressed by Todd on Sunday’s show, Feinstein seemed to demur again.

“That sounds like you’ve just announced your reelection bid. Close?,” he asked.

“Close,” Feinstein responded.

Feinstein also discussed the controversy over Hollywood producer and Democratic fundraiser Harvey Weinstein, who came under fire last week after the New York Times reported he sexually harassed multiple women over many years. Feinstein received a 1994 donation from Weinstein, and the California Republican Party has called on her to donate or return the money. Feinstein said she’d “take a look” and make a decision about what do with the $1,000 donation.

The Russia investigation, and gun-control legislation Feinstein introduced last week following the Las Vegas mass shooting also came up in the interview. Watch the full interview:

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California Politics Podcast: What happens now that the sweeping ‘sanctuary’ immigration effort is law?

The year’s most prominent effort by Democrats to engage on the issue of illegal immigration may also prove to be the main source of friction in coming months between the state and federal governments.

On this week’s California Politics Podcast, we take a closer look at the law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last week to expand “sanctuary” provisions across the state for those in the country illegally.

We also discuss the desire by many Republicans, and the possible pitfalls, for asking voters in 2018 to repeal the state’s new gas tax increase. And we assess the suggestion made by one California Democrat last week that it may be time for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders to step aside.

I’m joined by Times staff writer Melanie Mason and Marisa Lagos of KQED.

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Jennifer Siebel Newsom speaks out about her experience with Harvey Weinstein: ‘Similar things happened to me’

Documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, has spoken out about her experience with embattled Hollywood studio boss Harvey Weinstein following a New York Times report about the producer’s alleged history of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior with women and related legal settlements.

“Based on my years in the industry and unfortunately, my own personal experience with Harvey Weinstein, I can tell you that I believe every single word that was written in the extremely disturbing, but not all that shocking, New York Times piece published yesterday,” she wrote in an article for the Huffington Post. “Not all that shocking because very similar things happened to me.”

Siebel Newsom did not disclose the exact details of her interactions with Weinstein. But she described the circumstances of her experiences with him, which were similar to those described by actress Ashley Judd and others.

“I was naive, new to the industry, and didn’t know how to deal with his aggressive advances ― work invitations with a friend late-night at The Toronto Film Festival, and later an invitation to meet with him about a role in The Peninsula Hotel, where staff were present and then all of a sudden disappeared like clockwork, leaving me alone with this extremely powerful and intimidating Hollywood legend,” she wrote.

Siebel Newsom has explored the portrayal of women in the media and the culture of masculinity in her documentaries “Miss Representation” and “The Mask You Live In.” Her husband is a front-runner in the 2018 governor’s race.

She wrote that she was dumbfounded by how Weinstein’s behavior was well known in Hollywood yet still protected, and said she was hopeful that the revelations about Weinstein represent a turning point.

“There must be consequences for behavior that systemically harms and oppresses women,” she wrote. “… Let this be the end of ‘open secrets.’ Let there be no more passive waiting for the victims to reach a certain number before we actually do something about this culture of sexual harassment and assault. And let this really be the end of Harvey Weinstein and the Weinsteins of the world ― no matter their wealth, no matter their power, no matter their privilege.”

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Gov. Brown vetoes bill that would have established a curfew for California drivers under 21

(Tim Berger / Times Community News)

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a measure Saturday that would have forced tougher restrictions on young California drivers.

Assembly Bill 63 from Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) would have blocked Californians under 21 from driving between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and prohibited them from transporting those under 20 without supervision in the first year of having their license — restrictions that are now only reserved for those 18 and under.

Frazier had argued that the bill would increase road safety. But in a veto message, Brown said such rules should only apply to minors.

“Eighteen-year-olds are eligible to enlist in the military, vote in national, state and local elections, enter into contracts and buy their own car,” Brown wrote. “I believe adults should not be subject to the same driving restrictions presently applied to minors.”

Brown said he believed lawmakers should focus their efforts on teen driver training and educational programs, echoing a view he expressed when he vetoed a similar bill in 2013.

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The people paying for California political ads might be easier to identify under this new state law

A sweeping effort designed to give Californians more information about the biggest donors to ballot measure campaigns was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday, a major victory for groups that insist the current system fails to help voters make an informed choice.

The law will simplify the wording on political advertisements that discloses the top three donors of $50,000 or more to a campaign. It also changes existing state regulations on when and how to disclose “earmarked” donations in campaign finance reports — donations that are bundled together by a group such as a labor union or other membership organization.

“Transparency in elections is critical to our democracy and AB 249 brings that transparency to California, giving our voters the opportunity to make informed decisions based on honest information,” said Assemblyman Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco), the bill’s author, after it was sent to Brown in September.

The governor’s decision to sign Assembly Bill 249 comes just weeks after the chairwoman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission raised concerns about the earmarking provisions, suggesting the bill would make it harder for investigators to track funds that were illegally gathered by a single organization.

Versions of the proposal, known as the California Disclose Act, were debated but ultimately defeated the past seven years in Sacramento. Supporters said it was important to change a system where voters were routinely being misled about who was paying for ballot measure campaigns. Last November, some $473 million was raised by backers or opponents of the 17 propositions on the statewide ballot.

The coalition of activists that helped draft AB 249 called it the strongest campaign finance disclosure law in America.

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California voters warned about their healthcare in new ad: ‘Just like a zombie, repeal keeps coming back’

Republicans may have abandoned their latest effort to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, but some advocacy groups aren’t letting the issue go so easily.

A couple of groups started running ads in the districts of GOP members of Congress this week, encouraging voters to call their representatives and demand that they reject the concept of a healthcare repeal altogether.

Save My Care, a left-leaning healthcare advocacy group in Washington, began running a series of digital ads this week taking aim at California Reps. David Valadao (R-Hanford), Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) and Darrell Issa (R-Vista).

“Just like a zombie, repeal keeps coming back,” the ads warn. They’re part of a “five-figure” national media buy, said Marcos Rodriguez Maciel, a spokesman for the group. He declined to disclose the group’s major funding sources.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also began running its first California TV ad of the year this week. The ad, titled “Never Stop,” features Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and warns that “They’ll never stop...coming after your healthcare.”

The ads are running on MSNBC and CNN in Denham and Valadao’s districts, and are being paired with radio ads that specifically target each member. In Valadao’s Central Valley district, constituents will also hear Spanish-language versions on the radio.

The ads are part of a “sizeable, six-figure” campaign running nationwide, according to the DCCC.

In a statement, spokesman Drew Godinich said it should be “no cause for comfort” that House Republicans have faltered in their attempts to repeal Obamacare and noted that several GOP members have already suggested they’d try again in the coming months.

Every House Republican from California voted in favor of a previous failed effort to repeal Obamacare, stoking Democratic hopes that it could become a galvanizing campaign issue in the 2018 elections.

But for that to happen, left-leaning groups will have to keep healthcare top of mind for many voters, even as more time passes since the latest repeal effort.

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California sues Trump administration over changes to Obama-era birth control coverage rule

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra
(Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)

California sued the Trump administration Friday, claiming it unlawfully discriminated against women in its decision to limit an Obama-era rule that requires employers to provide for contraceptives in their health insurance plans.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco says the new rules jeopardize the Affordable Care Act requirement that employers provide coverage of birth control for employees with no out-of-pocket costs, according to state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, who filed the lawsuit seeking to block the change.

“Therefore, millions of women in California may be left without access to contraceptives and counseling and the state will be shouldering the additional fiscal and administrative burden as women seek access for this coverage through state-funded programs,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also alleges the rule changes violate the 1st Amendment’s Establishment Clause because they allow employers to use religious beliefs as a right to discriminate against employees to deny them a federally entitled health benefit.

Becerra has filed more than two dozen legal actions challenging policy changes by President Trump since the Republican entered the White House in January.

“Donald Trump wants businesses and corporations to control family planning decisions rather than a woman in consultation with her doctor,” Becerra said in a statement Friday. “These anti-women’s health regulations prove once again that the Trump Administration is willing to trample on people’s rights.”

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Gov. Brown vetoes bill barring marketing of pot edibles to children, saying the practice is already banned by law

(Ivan Couronne / AFP/Getty Images)

Just months before shops can begin selling marijuana for recreational use, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday vetoed a measure that aims to prevent marketing pot edibles to minors, saying it conflicts with a similar law previously approved by the state.

The bill by Assemblyman Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) would have banned the sale of marijuana edibles shaped like animals, fruit, people and other shapes that appeal to children.

The Legislature last month approved a law more generally prohibiting the marketing of marijuana to minors. That law said marijuana sold cannot be “designed to be appealing to children or easily confused with commercially sold candy or foods that do not contain cannabis.”

Brown’s veto message was short.

“As currently drafted, this bill would chapter out specific provisions in the recently enacted trailer bill,” Brown wrote in his veto message. “Therefore I cannot sign it at this time.”

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California will soon end lifetime registration of some sex offenders under bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown

(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

Thousands of Californians will be allowed to take their names off the state’s registry of sex offenders as a result of action Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown signed legislation that will end lifetime listings for lower-level offenders judged to be at little risk of committing new crimes. Offenders can file petitions to be removed from the registry beginning in 2021.

The measure was introduced at the request of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and other law enforcement officials who said the registry, which has grown to more than 105,000 names, is less useful to detectives investigating new sex crimes because it is so bulky.

“California’s sex offender registry is broken, which undermines public safety,” said Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who introduced the bill. “SB 384 refocuses the sex offender registry on high-risk offenders and treats low-level offenders more fairly.”

The registry currently requires law enforcement officials to spend hours on paperwork for annual evaluations of every offender, including those who are low risk and have not committed a crime for decades, Wiener said.

Brown declined to comment Friday, but his office referred to a statement put out last month.

“SB 384 proposes thoughtful and balanced reforms that allow prosecutors and law enforcement to focus their resources on tracking sex offenders who pose a real risk to public safety, rather than burying officers in paperwork that has little public benefit,” said Ali Bay, a spokeswoman for the governor, last month.

The measure was opposed by many Republican lawmakers and Erin Runnion, who in 2002 founded the Joyful Child Foundation, an Orange County advocacy group for victims, after the abduction, molestation and murder of her 5-year-old daughter, Samantha.

Runnion said parents should be able to check a comprehensive registry to see if a potential teacher, youth league coach or babysitter for their children has ever been convicted of a sex crime.

California is one of only four states that require lifetime registration of sex offenders. The others are Alabama, South Carolina and Florida.

The new law signed by the governor creates a tiered registry, with high-risk offenders on the registry for life and others able to petition to be removed after either 10 or 20 years without re-offending, depending on the offense.

Offenses for which registrants can be removed from the list after 20 years include include rape by deception and lewd and lascivious behavior with a child under 14.

Offenders who petition for removal after 10 or 20 years will be assessed by a judge — with input from the local district attorney — who can grant or deny the petition.

The registry can be checked by members of the public, including people doing background checks on potential hires or tenants.

Wiener and gay rights activists said it is unfair that the registry includes the names of people caught having consensual sex in parks decades ago, when law enforcement often targeted gay men for enforcement.

Updated 11:33 am to include timing of when offenders can petition to be removed from registry.

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If Trump administration tries to sell federal land in California, a new law says the state gets first dibs

A cholla cactus is backlighted by the setting sun in the Mojave Desert.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

California officials could be barred from transferring the title for federal government land to a private owner under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, prompted by fears that President Trump may shift away from previous efforts at preservation.

The new law, which takes effect in January, will insist that the state government get the first right of refusal to buy any land discarded or sold by federal officials.

“This legislation gives the state a viable way to help prevent the unthinkable sell-off of our public treasures, such as national parks, national monuments and national historic sites,” said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), the bill’s author.

While environmentalists praised the proposal, it had been opposed by the County Recorders Assn. of California, which warned of both legal challenges and potential conflicts with federal law.

The law, which would allow the California State Lands Commission to purchase the land, was crafted largely as a preemptive move in the event the Trump administration or Congress changes course on ownership of some 45.8 million acres of federally controlled land inside the state’s borders.

Last month, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced plans to strip federal protections from 10 national monument sites, though only one includes a portion of land inside California’s borders.

Brown signed the law without comment on Friday. Its supporters say it is the first such action by any state in the nation.

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Knowingly exposing others to HIV will no longer be a felony in California

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection.

The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank that they are HIV-positive.

Modern medicine allows those with HIV to live longer lives and nearly eliminates the possibility of transmission, according to state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), authors of the bill.

“Today California took a major step toward treating HIV as a public health issue, instead of treating people living with HIV as criminals,” Wiener said in a statement. “HIV should be treated like all other serious infectious diseases, and that’s what SB 239 does.”

Supporters of the change said the current law requires an intent to transmit HIV to justify a felony, but others noted cases have been prosecuted where there was no physical contact, so there was an argument intent was lacking.

Brown declined to comment on his action.

HIV has been the only communicable disease for which exposure is a felony under California law. The current law, Wiener argued, may convince people not to be tested for HIV, because without a test they cannot be charged with a felony if they expose a partner to the infection.

“We are going to end new HIV infections, and we will do so not by threatening people with state prison time, but rather by getting people to test and providing them access to care,” Wiener said.

Supporters of the bill said women engaging in prostitution are disproportionately targeted with criminal charges, even in cases where the infection is not transmitted.

Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of Alpine voted against the bill, arguing it puts the public at risk.

“I’m of the mind that if you purposefully inflict another with a disease that alters their lifestyle the rest of their life, puts them on a regimen of medications to maintain any kind of normalcy, it should be a felony,” Anderson said during the floor debate. “It’s absolutely crazy to me that we should go light on this.”

Anderson said the answer could be to extend tougher penalties to those who expose others to other infectious diseases.

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Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes bans on smoking at beaches and parks, calling them too coercive

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday vetoed two bills that would have banned smoking at California parks and beaches, calling them too coercive and saying potential fines are too high.

The measures, which also would have banned smoking marijuana and the use of electronic cigarettes, were proposed by legislators to protect public health from second-hand smoking and to prevent wildfires and reduce litter.

Brown, who vetoed a similar bill last year, said the $100 fine proposed could reach $485 when court assessments are added, an amount he called excessive.

“If people can’t smoke even on a deserted beach, where can they?” Brown asked in his veto message. “There must be some limit to the coercive power of government.”

The Legislature had approved separate but similar bills by Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) and Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) that would have applied the ban to 300 miles of state beaches and areas of 280 state parks that have not been designated by park officials for smoking.

“This bill would reduce the serious health hazards posed by smoking — to people and wildlife — in our state parks and beaches,” Glazer said. “It would reduce fire hazards and litter and the costs for those now borne by the public.”

Second-hand smoke is a health risk, and discarded cigarette butts can poison wildlife if eaten, the lawmaker said.

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Gov. Brown signs bill to ease development burdens for planned Facebook expansion, other large projects

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Treasurer John Chiang calls on state pension funds to divest from retailers who sell guns banned in California

People visit a makeshift memorial for shooting victims on Reno Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
People visit a makeshift memorial for shooting victims on Reno Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Outraged by the shooting Sunday that killed 58 people in Las Vegas, California Treasurer John Chiang called Friday for state pension officials to investigate whether they have investments in retailers or manufacturers of assault rifles and devices that give the weapons rapid-fire ability.

Chiang, a candidate for governor, asked the board members at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System in a letter to go beyond their 2015 action that prohibited investments in firms that make semi-automatic rifles and ammunition that are banned in California.

“I respectfully call upon this board to refrain from allocating even a penny of our $213 billion in investable assets to the benefit of wholesale or retail sellers of these banned weapons,” wrote Chiang, a member of the board. “Neither taxpayer funds nor the pension contribution of any public school educator — such as the three California teachers slain in Las Vegas — should be invested in the purveyors of banned military style assault weapons.”

Chiang planned to send a similar letter to the California Public Employee Retirement System, where he also serves on the board.

State retirement money is invested in big retailers that sell guns. The pension funds would have to determine whether firearms sold in other states by the retailers are prohibited in California, Chiang said.

The divestment proposal also extends to stores and manufacturers that provide “bump-stock” and “slide-fire” devices that allow rifles to accelerate their rate of fire, Chiang said. One such device was used by Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas shooter.

A spokesman for Walmart, a recipient of state pension funds, said the stores stopped selling the prohibited semi-automatic rifles in 2015 and does not sell bump-stock devices. The sale of the devices on Walmart’s website through a third-party vendor was immediately stopped, said Charles Crowson, the spokesman for Walmart.

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Trump’s immigration chief blasts California’s new ‘sanctuary state’ law, saying it will result in more arrests

Hundreds of Sacramento residents protested, listened and shouted while acting ICE Director Thomas Homan, left, and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones held a community forum in March.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

President Trump’s top immigration chief on Friday blasted California’s new “sanctuary state” law, saying it would “undermine public safety,” keep federal officers from performing their jobs and result in more arrests.

In a statement, Thomas Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said his agency “would have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites.”

The new law will largely prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using personnel or funds to hold, question or share information about people with federal immigration agents unless those individuals have been convicted of one or more offenses from a list of 800 crimes outlined in a 2013 state law.

Signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown, the law was the result of months of tough negotiations between the governor, state Senate leader Kevin De León and law enforcement officials. It was the centerpiece of this year’s legislative proposals in Sacramento that sought to challenge President Trump’s stance on illegal immigration and provide protections for families amid the president’s threats of mass deportations.

The legislation has divided law enforcement officials over its impact on public safety. Some officers have argued that entangling police and federal immigration forces pushes crime victims and witnesses further into the shadows.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones asked Homan for help fighting the so-called sanctuary state bill weeks before the two hosted a town hall meeting in March on immigration enforcement that erupted in protests.

In his statement, Homan said the new law eliminates nearly all communication with law enforcement partners, prohibits them from housing immigrant detainees through federal contracts and voids a federal immigration program under the Orange County Sheriff’s Department that allows local officers to perform certain immigration duties.

“Ultimately, SB54 helps shield removable aliens from immigration enforcement and creates another magnet for more illegal immigration, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people it purports to protect,” he said.

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Sen. Kamala Harris to donate Harvey Weinstein contributions to charity

Sen. Kamala Harris will donate the $5,000 in contributions that she received from Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to charity.

In light of news reported Thursday by the New York Times outlining decades of alleged sexual harassment by Weinstein, some Democrats are giving away donations they received from the Hollywood mogul. Those who have not have been criticized by the Republican National Committee.

“If Democrats and the [Democratic National Committee] truly stand up for women like they say they do, then returning the dirty money should be a no-brainer,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.

The California Republican Party also criticized lawmakers who accepted donations from Weinstein.

Harris’ spokesman Tyrone Gayle said the freshman senator plans to donate the contributions to California-based Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit women’s rights organization.

Weinstein made two contributions to Harris: $2,500 to her attorney general campaign in 2014, and $2,500 for her Senate bid in 2017.

Weinstein hasn’t donated to a campaign for anyone else in the California congressional delegation since two contributions to the state’s senators in the early 1990s: $1,000 to Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 1994 and $4,000 to former Sen. Barbara Boxer in 1995, $1,000 of which was returned.

2:39 p.m. This article was updated with the name of the organization Harris plans to donate to.

This article was originally published at 12:27 p.m.

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California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra threatens lawsuit over Trump’s contraceptive-rights decision

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra (
(Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press))

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Friday threatened legal action against the Trump administration over its decision to limit an Obama-era rule that requires employers to provide for contraceptives in their health plans.

The Trump decision would give an exemption to employers who object to the rule based on religious or moral grounds.

In a conference call with representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood, Becerra told reporters that the federal action unlawfully discriminates against women.

“This is just another example of the Trump administration trampling on fundamental rights,” Becerra said.

“We’re prepared in California to take all action, including legal action, to defend a woman’s rights against this unacceptable attack,” he added.

Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Maura Healey and organizations including the ACLU and the National Women’s Law Center have also announced plans to bring legal action against the Trump administration over its decision.

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California prosecutors will soon be able to combine child sexual assault and trafficking cases from different counties

LAPD Lt. Marc Evans issues a Human Trafficking Task Force alert to the media in August 2016 in Van Nuys.
LAPD Lt. Marc Evans issues a Human Trafficking Task Force alert to the media in August 2016 in Van Nuys.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown this week signed a new law that will allow California prosecutors to consolidate more child sexual assault cases from different counties into a single trial, as long as all district attorneys involved agree.

Law enforcement officials say some child sexual assault prosecutions, such as those involving sex trafficking, are time-consuming and difficult to coordinate. They can span multiple jurisdictions as traffickers move victims across the state and country.

But until this week, state law allowed prosecutors to combine certain child sex assault cases only if a victim was between 13 and 10 years old. With the addition of the new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, they will be able to combine such child sex assault, domestic violence and trafficking prosecutions for all children under 14.

The legislation by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) was introduced to close a loophole that he said forces many children to relive the details of the assault through multiple and repetitive trials and court proceedings in different counties.

In a statement, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, whose department sponsored the bill, said the new law addresses a problem prosecutors have long faced.

“Transitory living situations can result in a child sexual assault victim being victimized in multiple jurisdictions, often by the same offender,” she said.

State legislation in recent years has focused on targeting sex traffickers, protecting sexual assault victims and addressing what advocates say is a law enforcement culture in which child survivors sometimes are treated like criminals.

Other bills sent to the governor this session would provide confidential mail addresses for sex trafficking survivors and expand the evidence that prosecutors can bring forth at trial against defendants charged with selling victims for sex.

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A second Republican challenger steps up against GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter

Another member of Rep. Duncan Hunter’s party has stepped up to challenge him for his inland San Diego County congressional seat.

Shamroze “Shamus” Sayed, 40, announced Friday that he’s joining the growing list of people hoping to unseat the five-term Republican, who’s facing ongoing investigations into whether he misused campaign funds for personal expenses.

Sayed is chief operating officer of Interpreters Unlimited, a translation services company, and lives in San Diego, outside the district.

In a statement announcing his run, Sayed emphasized his business experience and pledged to “bring integrity and accountability back” to the district. He said his priorities would be cutting taxes on small business and cutting regulations.

Hunter also faces Republican Andrew Zelt, a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy, and five Democrats: Pierre Beauregard, Josh Butner, Ammar Campa-Najjar, Glenn Jensen and realtor Patrick Malloy.

Daniel Casara, another Republican who initially said he would run against Hunter, changed his mind and announced a campaign against Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) instead.

Hunter, who won reelection by nearly 27 percentage points last year, is considered among the safer GOP incumbents who have been targeted by Democrats in the midterm elections.

Still, Hunter faces a probe into his alleged misuse of campaign funds, and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees this year. In August, The Times reported that the FBI seized computers and documents at the offices of Hunter’s campaign treasurer. Last month, Hunter’s chief of staff stepped down.

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Sexual extortion will be considered a criminal act in California

Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), right, authored SB 500.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Sexual extortion will be considered a criminal act in California under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

SB 500, by Sen. Connie Levya (D-Chino), will add coercion involving sexual acts and sexually explicit images — known as “sextortion” — to the state’s extortion laws.

“The Governor’s signature of SB 500 tells sextortion victims that they matter and that they absolutely deserve to be able to receive justice in a court of law,” Leyva said in a statement.

Perpetrators of sextortion obtain private images by hacking into victims’ computers or smartphones to demand sex or more images, she said.

About 78% of sextortion victims are girls with an average age of 15, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The bill will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

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Reacting to ‘political threats,’ California congressional Republicans write to support repeal of state gas tax increase

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is one of 11 Republicans in Congress to say Thursday they support repeal of a gas tax increase.
(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Reacting to what they deemed “political threats” from a coalition of business and civic groups, 11 of the 14 Republican members of Congress from California said in a letter Thursday that they support the repeal of recent increases to the state’s gas taxes and vehicle fees.

The group of lawmakers, led by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), was responding to a recent letter from Fix Our Roads, a coalition of businesses and civic organizations that support the gas tax increases in Senate Bill 1. The group, which includes the League of California Cities and Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, warned lawmakers of a “robust and powerful” campaign against any initiative to repeal the increases. It added that such an effort would become a distraction for Republican incumbents seeking reelection.

In their letter supporting the law’s repeal, Republican lawmakers wrote: “We agree that we need to take significant steps to improve transportation in California; however, we object to the policy contained in SB 1 as well as the process in which it was enacted.”

The measure, signed by the governor in April, will raise taxes and fees to bring in $5.2 billion annually for the first 10 years to fix roads and bridges and improve mass transit. Two initiatives have been proposed to repeal the tax bill.

“The passage of SB 1 represents a bailout for our transportation programs have been habitually raided, mismanaged, and not made a priority in Sacramento,” the lawmakers said. “Hard working California taxpayers should not be on the hook because democrats in Sacramento have failed to make transportation a priority.”

The members of Congress also objected to approving tax increases without a vote of the people.

“Instead, SB 1 proponents in the Legislature chose to simply take more money out of the pockets of California taxpayers without asking them,” the Republicans said.

The lawmakers wrote that allowing the “gas tax bailout” would encourage Democrats to raise taxes and fees on other industries for other services. They called the legislation “bad policy” because it limits the ability of the state to spend money on increasing the capacity of the road system.

“When the Fix Our Roads coalition is done making political threats and is interested in discussing real, long term solutions to our transportation challenges, please know that our doors are always open,” concluded the letter, also signed by Reps. Ken Calvert of Corona, Darrell Issa of Vista, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Devin Nunes of Tulare, Tom McClintock of Elk Grove, Duncan Hunter of Alpine, Doug LaMalfa of Richvale, David Valadao of Hanford, Mimi Walters of Irvine and Steve Knight of Palmdale.

Kathy Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for the Fix Our Roads coalition, said the group appreciated that the congressional Republicans are willing to have a dialogue.

“Raiding transportation funds is bad for California. It will result in the repeal of vital transportation improvement projects all over the state, including in each of their districts,” she said in response to the letter.

4:12 p.m. This article was updated with a response from Fix Our Roads.

This article was originally published at 3:41 p.m.

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Orange County assemblywoman endorses challenger running against Rep. Mimi Walters

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California expands protections for immigrants against ICE workplace raids

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law Thursday to expand workplace protections for employees who came to the U.S. illegally, part of the state’s response to the Trump administration’s call for greater immigration enforcement.

The bill by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) prohibits employers from allowing federal immigration agents on private business property without a judicial warrant. It also requires business owners to give their employees public notice — within 72 hours — of federal immigration inspections of employee records.

Businesses that fail to provide notice to employees face penalties of $2,000 to $5,000 for a first violation, and $5,000 to $10,000 for each subsequent violation, though some exceptions may apply.

New amendments scaled back some of the requirements on employers, helping quell opposition from dozens of business and agricultural associations. Under the new law, employers will have more flexibility to notify employees about reviews.

Chiu has said he filed the bill in response to President Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities. Lawmakers pointed to California’s troubled history of worksite raids. In the 1980s, the federal government launched aggressive immigration raids in Mexican and Central American neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

“In an environment of division and fear, California must continue to defend its workers, to guard its values and to ensure that its laws protect all of our residents,” Chiu has said.

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Landlords who threaten immigrant tenants with deportation can face civil claims in California

Anti-eviction signs decorate the Rodney Drive apartments in Los Feliz.
(Christina House / For The Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Thursday to prevent landlords from threatening immigrant tenants with deportation, measures he said were part of broader efforts by his administration “to bolster resources and support for the immigrant community.”

One proposal by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) would bar landlords from disclosing information about immigration status in order to intimidate, harass or evict tenants without following proper procedures. It also would allow immigrant tenants to file civil claims against their landlords if they do.

Another bill by Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) would ensure that no state office or entity in California could compel a landlord to obtain and disclose information on a tenant’s immigration status.

The bills were part of a package of legislation introduced by majority Democrats to extend protections for immigrants without legal residency in the U.S., as the Trump administration has called for greater immigration enforcement.

Their approval came amid a state housing crisis and as immigrant rights advocates across the state have received reports of landlords threatening to report tenants to immigration authorities. Often, the advocates say, the threats are in response to residents reporting issues such as exposed electrical wiring or vermin.

“Trump’s escalating war on immigrants is ripping apart families, and mass deportations could be our new reality,” Chiu said. “This bill will deter the small minority of landlords who unscrupulously take advantage of the real or perceived immigration status of their tenants to engage in abusive acts.”

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Watch: Rep. Linda Sanchez says Pelosi and other Democratic leaders should move on

Rep. Linda Sanchez said Thursday it is time for Democratic leaders to pass the torch to a new generation.

In an interview to air on C-SPAN this weekend, the Whittier Democrat also touched on gun safety laws, immigration reform and the prospective tax overhaul. But the most striking moment came near the end of the discussion when Sanchez was asked if Democrats should keep their current leaders after the 2018 election.

The Times’ Sarah D. Wire and the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe conducted the interview with Sanchez for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” which airs Sunday at 7 a.m. PST and 3 p.m. PST.

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California becomes ‘sanctuary state’ from Trump immigration policy

Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark “sanctuary state” legislation Thursday.
(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

In a sharp rebuke to President Trump’s expanded deportation orders, Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark “sanctuary state” legislation Thursday, vastly limiting whom state and local law enforcement agencies can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration authorities.

Senate Bill 54, which takes effect in January, has been hailed as part of a broader effort by majority Democrats in the California Legislature to shield more than 2.3 million immigrants living illegally in the state. Weeks before Brown’s signature made it law, it was met with swift denunciations from Trump administration officials and became the focus of a national debate over how far states and cities can go to prevent their officers from enforcing federal immigration laws.

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Watch: Democrats, activists applaud Gov. Jerry Brown for signing California’s ‘sanctuary state’ law

Senate President Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and immigration rights groups are gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate the signing of Senate Bill 54, the “sanctuary state” proposal.

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New California law will get rid of some city and county regulations on housing construction

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

For decades, the city of Los Angeles has forced developers who want to build projects with 50 or more homes to complete an in-depth environmental analysis — no matter what zoning codes say.

A new law authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) aims to wipe away Los Angeles’ rule and similar ones around the state that slow growth and add to the cost of home building in an attempt to address California’s housing affordability crisis.

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It’s time for Nancy Pelosi and other longtime Democratic leaders to leave, California Rep. Linda Sanchez says

U.S. Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Whittier)
U.S. Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Whittier)
(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

It’s time for Nancy Pelosi and other longtime leaders to make way for a new generation to lead House Democrats, caucus Vice Chairwoman Linda Sanchez said Thursday.

“Our leadership does a tremendous job, but we do have this real breadth and depth of talent within our caucus and I do think it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders,” Sanchez said.

It was a bold declaration for a member of House leadership, especially for a member from California, and could signal that she’s reflecting the views of many House Democrats.

There has been quiet grumbling for years about how long Pelosi, the minority leader from San Francisco, Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland and assistant Democratic leader James E. Clyburn of South Carolina have led the party in the House, but few members have been willing to publicly call for a change.

Sanchez, of Whittier, made the statement in an interview with the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post during a taping of CSPAN’s “Newsmakers,” which will air Sunday.

Asked if Pelosi, who has been in Democratic leadership since 2001, would keep her post if a vote were held today, Sanchez wasn’t sure.

“There are a lot of members in our caucus and, again, everybody has their opinion. I just don’t know what the answer to that is,” Sanchez said.

Pelosi has staved off multiple challenges while her political deftness has always kept House Democrats together and her fundraising prowess has kept their coffers full.

“Leader Pelosi enjoys wide support in the caucus and has always said she is not in Congress on a shift, but on a mission. Leader Pelosi is focused on winning back the House and anything else is a distraction from our path to the Majority,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said.

She was challenged most recently for her post in November by Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio. Though he lost 134-63, the vote was closer than previous such elections and put a spotlight on some of the disagreements within the caucus.

Pelosi said she had considered retiring if Hillary Clinton had won the presidential election in 2016, but seems to be reinvigorated by her role as a foil to President Trump.

Sanchez emphasized that she’s not singling Pelosi out, and wasn’t ready to name people who might step up, but she’s concerned about losing talented members who don’t feel like there is a chance for them to advance. Sanchez did say she wants to stay in Democratic leadership.

“I want to be a part of that transition, I want to see that happen,” she said.

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UPDATES:

10:26 a.m.: This post was updated with a quote from Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s spokesman.

It was originally published at 9:04 a.m.

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Hundreds applied to be on California’s pot advisory committee. Here’s who got picked

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

With just three months left to draft new rules for marijuana sales in California, the state on Wednesday appointed a panel of industry members, health experts, law enforcement officials and union leaders to provide advice during the effort.

The 22-member Cannabis Advisory Committee will help the Bureau of Cannabis Control develop regulations on the cultivation, transport, testing and sale of medical and recreational marijuana, with state licenses scheduled to be issued starting Jan. 2.

“These individuals represent the diverse backgrounds of California and the cannabis industry and have the necessary experience to make the committee successful,” said Dean R. Grafilo, director of the state Department of Consumer Affairs. He said hundreds of people applied for the panel.

Members of the panel include Tamar Todd, policy manager and legal director for the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that has pressed for legalization; psychiatrist Timmen Cermak, who specializes in addiction issues; California Highway Patrol Capt. Helena Williams; and Jeff Ferro, director of Cannabis Workers Rising, an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Here’s the full list of committee members.

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Two measures to boost Obamacare in California signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown

(Nick Agro / Associated Press)

Gov. Jerry Brown signed two measures Wednesday to help Californians who buy health insurance under Covered California, the state’s Obamacare marketplace. The measures ensure a longer enrollment period and continued treatment for some patients even if their insurer leaves Covered California.

The first measure, AB 156 by Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg), was spurred by a Trump administration policy that established a 45-day window for shoppers on Obamacare marketplaces to buy new insurance policies for the coming year.

That’s half the amount of time Covered California shoppers are used to, because the state has always offered a three-month enrollment period. Healthcare advocates said Wood’s bill was necessary to both conform to the federal 45-day policy and establish additional enrollment times in order to give Californians adequate time to sign up for coverage.

The second bill, SB 133 by state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), allows certain patients whose insurers have left the individual market to continue seeing their doctors for up to one year, even if those practitioners are not part of their new insurers’ plan.

The guaranteed continuity of care would apply for those who have acute conditions, serious chronic conditions, terminal illness or are receiving maternal and infant care.

The measure came on the heels of news that some high-profile insurers, such as Anthem Blue Cross and Cigna, are scaling back their offerings under Covered California.

“Providing these continuity-of-care protections and keeping a 12-week open enrollment period are simple but important steps to ensure access to care,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, an advocacy group that backed both bills. “If we keep the framework and financing of the [Affordable Care Act] intact, California has the will and the wherewithal to ensure we protect consumers from the Trump administration’s troubling attacks.”

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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher says Trump’s chief of staff is keeping him from talking to the president about Julian Assange

(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly is the reason Rep. Dana Rohrabacher hasn’t spoken with President Trump about a meeting the congressman had with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the Costa Mesa Republican told Business Insider.

Rohrabacher told the news site that Kelly and “a coalition of people in the White House” are keeping him from talking with Trump about what he learned from Assange regarding the theft of emails from the Democratic National Committee. WikiLeaks published the emails before the 2016 presidential election.

“The White House staff and other top people in the administration are trying to protect the president from himself,” Rohrabacher told the publication. “That’s what they think, and in fact they are usurping his authority to make decisions — the important decisions — himself.”

In August, Rohrabacher traveled to London to meet with Assange, who remains in asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy there. He said they discussed a potential presidential pardon in exchange for information about who stole the emails. Rohrabacher said in a statement at the time that Assange “emphatically stated that the Russians were not involved.”

Multiple U.S. intelligence agencies agree Russia was involved in the theft of Democratic Party emails and tried to influence the 2016 election to benefit Trump. Members of Congress and the Justice Department are investigating Russia’s meddling in the election, and Senate investigators have reportedly considered talking with Rohrabacher about the meeting with Assange.

Democrats are hoping to oust Rohrabacher, who has long been known for being friendly to Russia, in 2018.

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Rules for disabled parking placards in California about to get tougher

An undercover DMV officer at the Glendale Galleria.
An undercover DMV officer at the Glendale Galleria.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Months after an audit found widespread problems with the program providing disabled parking placards in California, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday approved legislation aimed at preventing fraud.

“We must make sure the drivers who need this important program have access to the benefits it provides — and block scofflaws and fraudsters from gaming the system,” Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), who authored the bill, said after the governor’s action.

A state audit in April found the California Department of Motor Vehicles isn’t making sure that people issued placards for disabled parking should actually have them. The agency hasn’t canceled tens of thousands of the permits issued to people who have died, which has allowed some placards to be misused by family members, the audit concluded.

The legislation Brown signed requires the DMV to annually compare its record of disabled placards against the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File as well as state databases of the deceased.

The measure, Senate Bill 611, also requires quarterly audits of applications for placards that will cross check them with medical records, and mandates that those applying provide proof of their true full name and date of birth.

Hill’s legislation also prohibits the DMV from issuing replacement placards to the same individual more than four times in a two-year period. Those who apply more than four times in two years must submit a new certificate of disability.

Those issued permanent placards will have to renew the permit every six years.

The state has 2.9 million placards and disabled license plates in service that allow motorists with medical disabilities to park in disabled parking spots and curbside in metered areas.

Auditors found most applications they reviewed “did not include sufficient medical information to demonstrate that the applicant qualified.”

As a result, up to 1.1 million applications may have been issued from July 2013 through June 2016 without sufficient information to demonstrate that the applicant was qualified for a permit, the audit concluded.

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California Republicans who co-sponsored Democrats’ Dream Act not going to help force a vote

California Reps. Jeff Denham and David Valadao co-sponsored Democrats’ legislative fix to address expiring protections for young immigrants, but they don’t plan to join the effort to force a vote on it.

House Democrats announced Sept. 25 that they would try to force a vote on Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard’s version of the Dream Act, which is backed by every House Democrat and four Republicans, through a procedural move called a discharge petition. To pull the bill from committee and force a vote on the House floor, Democrats need signatures on the petition from 218 House members.

The House and Senate have five months to address the legal status of “Dreamers,” people brought into the country illegally as children, before the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects them from deportation and lets them work legally, ends in March.

Valadao of Hanford said Democrats should focus on getting a majority of the House to sign onto their bill as co-sponsors before they try to force a vote.

“They’ve got to focus on getting over 218 co-sponsors before they have any more debate on anything. They are sitting [under] 200,” Valadao said.

As of Wednesday, all 194 Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), had signed the petition. The last signer came on board Sept. 28.

House leaders control which bills come to the floor for a vote and when, and members are often reluctant to force leaders’ hands. That’s one reason discharge petitions are rarely successful.

“It is a political game. Democrats when they were in charge, they weren’t signing on to Republican discharge petitions. If you want to legislate, then legislate,” Denham of Turlock said. “On this issue especially, you’ve got Republicans and Democrats trying to come together and pass a real solution provide certainty to Dreamers.”

Denham hinted that a bipartisan group of lawmakers involved in the various proposed legislative fixes are working on a compromise that would address a few immigration issues, and that something could be announced soon.

“I’m encouraged by where we’re at right now, but playing more political games, playing partisan games isn’t going to get us there,” he said. “We’re having meetings almost every day now. We’re negotiating right now, I can say that.”

Denham and Valadao both represent Central Valley districts with large Latino populations that are among Democrats’ top targets in 2018. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has criticized them for not signing the petition.

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Gov. Jerry Brown says no to increasing penalty for secret ‘body shaming’ photography

Sen. Cathleen Galgiani's bill was vetoed by the governor.
Sen. Cathleen Galgiani’s bill was vetoed by the governor.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would have increased the fine for secretly photographing someone in a private place such as a dressing room and distributing the images.

The proposal, Senate Bill 784 by Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), was intended to deter the type of “body shaming” that occurs when someone mocks another person’s appearance by surreptitiously taking pictures of them.

The term gained wider notice when a Playboy model took a picture of a 70-year-old woman in a gym shower area in Los Angeles and posted it on social media with a disparaging caption.

Brown, however, said that current law “already provides sufficient criminal and civil liability.”

“I don’t believe the additional $1,000 called for in this bill does anything to deter this type of conduct,” he wrote in his veto message. “The underlying crime — the recording of the image — is already punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.”

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Rep. Jimmy Gomez endorses Wendy Carrillo as his successor in Assembly

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles)
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Rep. Jimmy Gomez endorsed Wendy Carrillo on Wednesday, one day after the primary vote left her poised to advance to a runoff election for his old Assembly seat.

Gomez, a Los Angeles Democrat, vacated the seat earlier this year when he was elected to Congress.

“Wendy Carrillo will make an excellent Assembly member for the people I represented in the California state Legislature,” Gomez said in a statement. “She is a proven working-class progressive who understands that she must represent everyone in the 51st District.”

Preliminary results posted on Tuesday night showed Carrillo, a former local radio host and communications manager for a Service Employees International Union affiliate, with 21% of the vote, the most of any candidate.

Coming in second with 19.1% was Luis López, a Planned Parenthood board member who ran against Gomez for the seat in 2012.

Carrillo and López are both Democrats. The runoff is Dec. 5.

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Pay teachers the same salary as state lawmakers? Voters may decide in 2018

Math teacher Liliana Villalpando leads her students through a course at Garfield High School.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

California teachers’ paychecks could equal those of state legislators under a new initiative that proponents are aiming to qualify for the November 2018 ballot.

The proposed measure would require that credentialed teachers in the state are paid no less than lawmakers, most of whom earn $104,118 in yearly pay.

That would be a substantial pay bump for most of the state’s teachers. According to the state education department, average teacher salaries range from around $40,000 to $96,000, depending on the school’s size and the teacher’s experience level.

The initiative would impose a two-cent hike on the state sales tax to pay for the salary increase. It is being reviewed by the state attorney general before backers can gather the signatures to put it on the ballot.

Marc Litchman, the initiative’s backer who runs an education nonprofit, said the pay boost is necessary to attract newcomers to the teaching profession, particularly in the fields of math, science and special education.

“What we’re asking teachers to do is every bit as critical as what we’re asking legislators to do,” Litchman said.

Litchman said he has not yet discussed his proposal with teachers unions, a potent political force in the state, but he hoped the labor group would have interest, as well as those in the private sector.

“It’s a long shot. It is,” Litchman acknowledged. “But it’s important and hopefully will get some traction and make the ballot.”

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Poll: Majority opposes repealing gas tax increases in California

A Chevron gas station in Sacramento shows prices in February.
A Chevron gas station in Sacramento shows prices in February.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

The first poll on a proposed ballot measure indicates 53.9% of California residents oppose repealing a new gas tax and vehicle fee hike.

The poll of 1,000 people via phone interviews and email polling indicates the gas tax has a good chance of surviving any challenge, said Pollster Adam Probolsky, the president of Probolsky Research in Newport Beach. The increases raise $5.2 billion annually for transportation and mass transit improvements.

“The gas tax repeal is unlikely to be successful,” he said. Probolsky said 52% of Republicans would vote to repeal the tax, but their numbers in the state are not large enough to overcome strong opposition to repeal from Democrats.

Probolsky Research does opinion research for clients such as state and local government agencies, corporations and political strategists. Probolsky said the gas-tax poll was not paid for by any client.

The poll used language approved last month by a Superior Court judge for the title of an initiative proposed for the November 2018 ballot by Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), a candidate for governor in next year’s election.

Allen noted that the polling firm’s website says it specializes in opinion research on behalf of corporate and government clients. “It’s not surprising that the poll results match the desires of these clients, who will profit from a $52.4 Billion payday at taxpayers’ expense,” Allen said. “This poll is also in direct contrast to the independent Berkeley IGS poll which showed that 58% of Californians oppose the gas tax.”

Updated at 10:16 am to include comments from Assemblyman Allen.

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L.A. congresswoman joins Latino Democrats asking Trump administration to extend DACA renewal deadline

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard is one of three members of Congress who have asked the Department of Homeland Security to move Thursday’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals renewal deadline to Jan. 5.

The Oct. 5 deadline to renew was set last month when President Trump announced an end to the program that has allowed people brought to U.S. illegally as children to stay and work, but only about a fifth of the estimated 800,000 young people who had been granted DACA status are eligible to apply for a renewal.

The Tuesday letter, also signed by Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois, was addressed to acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and cited a recent DHS estimate that about a third of those eligible to renew their status had not yet applied.

“We are very concerned that because DACA recipients were not individually notified of their eligibility for renewal, tens of thousands of DACA recipients could lose their work authorization and DACA status protections,” read the letter, which was sent on behalf of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The caucus asked for a meeting with Duke to discuss the deadline and for more clarity on how DACA recipients will be handled after their work permits expire.

Other California Democrats, including Rep. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, Rep. Linda Sanchez of Whittier and Rep. Lou Correa of Santa Ana also are caucus members.

In a previous letter to Duke, caucus members called the Oct. 5 deadline “arbitrary” and “unworkable.” Other members of Congress also have sent letters requesting an extension, including one bipartisan letter signed by California Republicans David Valadao and Jeff Denham.

A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said that Duke had received “many letters requesting an extension” but that no extension is planned. The agency said Tuesday it was considering DACA renewal applications from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands “on a case-by-case basis” because of the impact of Hurricane Maria.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose daughter almost went to Vegas concert, proposes ban of ‘bump stock’ gun modifications

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday proposed legislation that would ban gun bump stocks, which police said were used by a Las Vegas shooter this week to make semi-automatic weapons work more like automatic weapons.

“The only reason to modify a gun is to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible,” Feinstein told reporters Wednesday.

Fifty-nine people were killed and more than 500 were injured after a man opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night.

Bump stocks, slide-fire devices and other accessories can accelerate a semi-automatic rifle’s rate of fire from 45 to 60 rounds per minute to 400 to 800 rounds per minute, according to Feinstein’s office. (See how they work in this video.)

Feinstein, the original author of the nation’s assault weapons ban, called the existence of bump stocks a loophole.

California Sen. Kamala Harris and 25 other Senate Democrats joined Feinstein on the bill. Feinstein said she hasn’t reached out to her Republican colleagues yet. Many Republicans said after the shooting that it wasn’t the right time to talk about gun laws.

“It’s premature to be discussing legislative solutions, if there are any,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.

Several prominent Republicans appear open to the idea of banning the modifiers. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told Bloomberg on Wednesday that Congress should hold hearings on whether to ban bump stocks, and North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows of the powerful House Freedom Caucus told reporters that if the modification goes around limits on automatic weapons, it’s “something that we obviously need to look at in the future.”

Feinstein said she has been glued to the television since the shooting and she thinks it’s time for Congress to act.

“Some have said we shouldn’t do this, we should wait, now is not the time. When is the time going to be?” Feinstein said. “There is no better way to honor the 59 people that were slaughtered than to take action to prevent this from happening yet again. If not, when will we ever do it?”

Feinstein also revealed that her daughter nearly attended the music festival and had planned to stay at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where the shooter perched as he shot into the crowd.

“I just thank God. ... It’s one of those misses in life, could have happened to any one of us,” she said.

11:37: This article was updated with reaction from Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Mark Meadows.

It was originally published at 10:14 a.m.

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Mayor Eric Garcetti to host reelection fundraiser for Sen. Dianne Feinstein

(Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

Mayor Eric Garcetti is hosting a fundraiser for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and says the senior senator’s stature is needed in Washington more than ever before.

“Senator Feinstein is not just principled, she is powerful,” Garcetti wrote in an invitation to the fundraiser, which he is cohosting with his wife, Amy Wakeland. “In this topsy-turvy world of the Trump administration, we need her seniority and her experience now, more than ever.”

Feinstein, first elected to the Senate a quarter-century ago, has not yet announced her 2018 plans. She is facing some criticism among some liberals that she is not progressive enough to represent California.

The 84-year-old is widely expected to seek reelection and has been fundraising. Polling shows that Feinstein remains popular with the state’s voters, but that they are also open to a fresh face.

There is talk among Democrats about a primary challenge from her left. Any Democrat running against Feinstein would face an exceedingly difficult battle. She has enormous advantages, including her fundraising ability, her capability to self-fund a campaign and her strong relationships with the state’s most influential political groups and leaders.

Garcetti nodded toward the potential of a primary challenge in the invitation, saying the state’s Democrats must focus on competitive congressional races as the party tries to win control of the U.S. House.

“That’s where our focus should be, which means we must support Senator Feinstein early and in a big way. We cannot afford a primary — that would be the biggest gift we could give to the White House and the GOP,” the invitation reads.

If Feinstein opted against a reelection bid, Garcetti is among the ambitious Democratic elected officials in the state who would be expected to seriously consider running for the seat.

The fundraising reception is scheduled for Oct. 10 at the Beverly Hills home of Erika Glazer, a philanthropist and the daughter of the late shopping mall magnate Guillford Glazer.

Other hosts include former Walt Disney Co. chief Michael Eisner and his wife, Jane; former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing and her husband, director William Friedkin; major Democratic donor Hope Warschaw; and Rick Jacobs, a prominent Democratic fundraiser, top Garcetti political advisor and the founder of the Courage Campaign.

Donors are being asked to contribute between $100 and $5,400.

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Wendy Carrillo and Luis López appear to advance in Assembly special election in Los Angeles

Wendy Carrillo, pictured here in 2013, was the leading vote-getter in a special election for an Assembly seat.
Wendy Carrillo, pictured here in 2013, was the leading vote-getter in a special election for an Assembly seat.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

It appears Wendy Carrillo and Luis López will advance to the runoff in the special election for a state Assembly seat after receiving the most votes in Tuesday’s primary.

The candidates, both Democrats, emerged from a crowded field of 13 hopefuls seeking to represent Assembly District 51 in Los Angeles. Over the next several days officials will count the final ballots sent via mail, so the vote could change.

The special election was held to replace Jimmy Gomez, elected to Congress after Rep. Xavier Becerra was named attorney general.

Carrillo, a former local radio host and communications manager for a Service Employees International Union affiliate, received the most votes on Tuesday, finishing with 21%. The union she used to work for spent more than $314,000 to support her candidacy with mailers and canvassing.

López, a Planned Parenthood board member who ran for the seat in 2012, finished second with 19.1% of the vote.

Mike Fong, a member of the Los Angeles Community College District Board who previously worked as a City Hall liaison for East L.A. neighborhoods, came in third with 16.6% of the vote.

The margins between the candidates were just a few hundred votes, which is why the result could shift.

The California Democratic Party did not endorse a candidate in the primary, but Chair Eric Bauman said he was excited by the deep field.

As ballots were being cast, he said he expected the candidates with the best ground-level operation would win the day.

“In a community that’s used to having elected officials who are truly retail politicians, who spend time in their districts, and are visible to their constituents, that personal touch may very well be the determining factor,” Bauman said.

Update, 4:20 am: This story was updated to reflect ballots that could come in over the next few days.

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Senate committee examines hate speech in California

The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts a hearing on hate speech Tuesday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts a hearing on hate speech Tuesday.
(Mina Corpuz / Los Angeles Times)

Hate speech might be upsetting, but it is generally protected under the 1st Amendment, California legislators were told in Sacramento on Tuesday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee kicked off a series of hearings Tuesday to define hate speech and to find a way to address it while upholding the Constitution.

While the issue has been more prevalent in other states, California has had its share of activity from white supremacist groups, including skinheads and the Aryan Brotherhood.

Joanna Mendelson, a researcher from the Anti-Defamation League, said those groups have been involved in prison gangs and political rallies. They mostly are concentrated in areas such as San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and along Highway 99 from Fresno to Sacramento, she said.

In June 2016, white nationalist skinheads rallied at the Capitol in Sacramento. Marchers clashed with protesters and seven people were stabbed.

The hearings are examining whether additional protections are needed. They are being held in response to a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August that ended in violence. Senate leader Kevin de Léon called for the hearings on the first day the Legislature reconvened.

“California isn’t immune to hateful speech and actions,” said Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), who chairs the committee.

Legislators can condemn hateful speech and behavior and pass stronger hate crime legislation, Mendelson said.

Law enforcement and university counsel shared what strategies and policies have worked for them to support free speech and ensure safety.

Berkeley Police Chief Andrew Greenwood said separating groups of people at protests to create a space for peaceful expression has worked.

Ben Shapiro, a conservative speaker invited by committee member Sen. John Moorlach (R-Cost Mesa), briefly addressed legislators.

Shapiro spoke at UC Berkeley in September. Hundreds of protesters turned out and the university spent about $600,000 on security.

“This intent for some of the folks on the left to conflate speech they don’t like with hate speech and suggest there are legislative remedies is in violation of 1st Amendment ideals, and legislation to actually push that would be a violation of the 1st Amendment itself,” Shapiro told reporters after the hearing.

Hate speech can’t be protected if it incites illegal activity, causes someone to feel imminent fear for their safety or creates a hostile environment through harassment, said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Law.

“The fact that we might have difficulty drawing the line with hate, doesn’t mean that there isn’t hate,” he said.

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For many Angelenos, it’s the fifth election day this year and another could be on the way

(Joe Fox / Los Angeles Times Graphics)

Los Angeles voters in Eagle Rock, Highland Park, East Los Angeles and Chinatown are heading— again — to the polls Tuesday, this time to vote for their next Assembly member.

For many of them, this is the fifth election they’ve been asked to vote in since March, when L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti won reelection. Then came a hotly contested L.A. City Council runoff and two separate elections to fill the congressional seat vacated by Xavier Becerra, who moved on to become state attorney general. (Jimmy Gomez, California’s newest congressman, won that race, leaving his Assembly seat open and setting things in motion for Tuesdays’ election.)

If none of the 13 candidates on the ballot gets more than 50% of the vote Tuesday, voters can expect to be seeing mail about a sixth one soon.

The uncharacteristically busy schedule of elections this year and dismal turnout have led to concerns about voter fatigue.

“It’s like a never-ending cycle since November,” said Amanda Santos, a stay-at-home mom from Montecito Heights, after casting a ballot in June’s congressional race.

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Gov. Jerry Brown’s explanations for vetoing bills follow familiar theme: We don’t need a law to do this

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New law will help students better understand their college debts

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State Sen. Josh Newman defends against Howard Jarvis group lawsuit

State Sen. Josh Newman
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A court filing on behalf of state Sen. Josh Newman said that the California Legislature acted properly in adopting new rules for a recall campaign against him, and it charged a lawsuit challenging the rules is politically motivated.

Republican activists said they launched the recall because Newman, a Democrat from Fullerton, voted to raise gas taxes.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. filed a lawsuit alleging it was improper for the Legislature to retroactively require a recall campaign against Newman to go through additional steps, including a financial analysis of the election and a period during which people can remove their signatures from petitions.

“These newly enacted provisions may have upset HJTA’s plan for a quick election, but they were nevertheless within the specific authority conferred on the Legislature to regulate recall elections,” said the filing by Newman’s attorneys Monday in the state Court of Appeal.

Newman’s filing said the recall was launched “not because of anything he did in particular, but because his election in November 2016 was by the narrowest margin in the state, and was therefore considered the best prospect for ‘breaking’ the current (Democratic) supermajority in the California State Legislature.”

The taxpayer group now gets a chance to file its arguments in the case against the Legislature’s rule change.

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Tuesday’s Los Angeles special election, in seven tweets

We’ll be covering the race Tuesday night. Here’s a primer on the crowded field.

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California politicians tout gun control measures adopted in response to past violence

An injured person is carried to safety after a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.
An injured person is carried to safety after a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.
(David Becker / Getty Images)

As the nation grieves over the Las Vegas mass shooting, California officials point to the actions they have taken in recent decades in response to violence.

That action has led to California having some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation.

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Conservative speaker Ben Shapiro is in Sacramento to raise campaign money for Ami Bera challenger

Ben Shapiro
(Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images for Politicon)

Yona Barash, a Republican surgeon seeking his first elected office, is getting his congressional campaign rolling with a conservative commentator who has stoked controversy in California.

Barash invited Ben Shapiro to his Tuesday evening fundraiser as he tries to build a war chest to unseat Sacramento-area Rep. Ami Bera, a Democrat from Elk Grove. General admission tickets are $150, while attending the VIP reception costs $1,000.

Shapiro runs a website called the Daily Wire and previously worked at Breitbart News, although he’s since become an outspoken critic of Stephen K. Bannon and President Trump. He was a frequent target of anti-Semitic harassment during last year’s campaign.

Shapiro also has provoked a backlash with his criticisms of the Black Lives Matter movement and discussion of gender identity. Hundreds of police, some in riot gear, provided security while he spoke on UC Berkeley’s campus last month.

The fundraiser is not Shapiro’s only event in Sacramento on Tuesday. He also was invited by state Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) to a Capitol hearing on 1st Amendment issues titled “Combating Hate While Protecting the Constitution.” Shapiro is expected to speak during the public comment period of the hearing.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger outside Supreme Court: ‘Say hasta la vista to gerrymandering’

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Billionaire Tom Steyer wants to reach a half a million California voters in vulnerable GOP districts

A volunteer knocks on doors ahead of a special election this year in Georgia.
(Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times)

Billionaire Democratic philanthropist Tom Steyer hopes that investing early in vulnerable California Republican districts could help Democrats take back the House.

Steyer’s nonprofit NextGen America, the California Labor Federation and six voter outreach groups on Tuesday announced a partnership called “Uniting California” aimed at mobilizing voters to unseat seven California Republicans whose districts backed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. The partnership will have several million dollars to work with, NextGen staff said, but a firm amount hasn’t been announced.

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Gov. Jerry Brown will help raise money for an Orange County lawmaker

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Rep. Ami Bera’s father released from prison after serving time for campaign cash scheme

Babulal Bera, left, walks into Sacramento's federal courthouse for his sentencing last year.
Babulal Bera, left, walks into Sacramento’s federal courthouse for his sentencing last year.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Rep. Ami Bera’s father, who was convicted for running a money laundering scheme to help finance his son’s campaigns, was released from federal custody Thursday.

Babulal Bera, 84, had been sentenced last year to one year and one day.

He was incarcerated in a federal prison on Terminal Island until July 29 and then transferred to a halfway house, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Bera was released before the end of his sentence because he earned credit for good behavior.

See our rankings of the 13 California races that could make a difference in 2018

Ami Bera, a Democrat from Elk Grove, narrowly won reelection after his father’s conviction and has denied any knowledge of the laundering operation.

The elder Bera solicited donations from family and friends for congressional campaigns in 2010 and 2012, then reimbursed them for the money, prosecutors said. At least $260,000 in illegal contributions were made.

“It’s been a very tough year for me and my entire family and we are happy to have him home,” Ami Bera said in a statement. “Janine and I are grateful to the hundreds of people who kept my parents in their thoughts and prayers.”

He is running for reelection next year, and he’s facing challengers from both sides of the aisle. Brad Westmoreland, an attorney, is running as a Democrat. Business executive and Marine veteran Andrew Grant and surgeon Yona Barash are running as Republicans.

This post has been updated with more details on Babulal Bera’s incarceration and a comment from the congressman.

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Gov. Jerry Brown, lawmakers say they ‘stand with the people of Nevada’ after mass shooting

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Column: Why Trump’s tax plan could actually be a good thing in California

President Trump believes people no longer should be allowed to deduct state and local taxes when calculating their federal income taxes. And they shouldn’t. He’s right.

That may sound nutty and even disloyal coming from a Californian. Millions of state residents, after all, would be hammered by elimination of the state and local tax deductions.

But let’s be intellectually honest. There’s no credible justification for the federal government subsidizing California’s highest-in-the-nation state income tax — or, for that matter, any local levy like the property tax.

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California GOP vice chair steps down, setting off search for state party’s next leader

California GOP Vice Chair Kristin Olsen
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Kristin Olsen, vice chair of the California Republican Party, announced Sunday she is stepping down from her post, setting off a search for the state party’s next leader.

The former member of the state Assembly cited being a single mother, as well as her work as a consultant and on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, for her decision to resign.

“Given the challenges before the Party, it is essential that we have officers who can fully commit to their volunteer positions. For both personal and professional reasons, I no longer have sufficient time to do so,” Olsen wrote in a letter to party delegates.

Olsen, who became state party vice chair last year and has strong relationships with donors, was widely expected to succeed state party Chairman Jim Brulte when he retired.

Brulte, who has been reelected twice but is not expected to seek another term, will have to pick a vice chair replacement to be approved by the state party’s board of directors. The new vice chair must be from Northern California because Brulte is from Southern California, according to state party rules.

Olsen, 43, announced her resignation less than three weeks before hundreds of party delegates and elected officials are scheduled to meet at a semiannual convention in Anaheim.

The Republican Party in California, which birthed GOP heavyweights such as Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, has been in a decades-long decline. Its share of the state’s registered voters is under 26%, and it last elected a statewide candidate in 2006. Many of the party’s members of Congress are key targets in the Democrats’ effort to retake control of the House.

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California elections officials seek ‘clarity’ when it comes to checking absentee ballot signatures

Absentee ballots are sorted by an Orange County elections worker in Santa Ana.
(Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times)

Few Californians are likely to spend any time thinking about how carefully they signed their voter registration card years ago. Nor is there much reason to assume that those who vote by mail think much about the neatness of their signature on the envelope containing that absentee ballot.

But those two signatures — and whether they’re deemed to match — actually are key to whether the ballot counts.

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