California Politics: Feinstein’s legacy at Lake Tahoe

On the shores of Lake Tahoe this week another milestone was evident in the slow transition of California’s top leadership to a new generation of rising politicians.

In 1997, Sen. Dianne Feinstein helped inaugurate the annual Lake Tahoe Summit, a bipartisan environmental partnership between California and Nevada meant to keep the lake healthy and the forests maintained. On Wednesday, California’s junior senator, Sen. Alex Padilla, played host.

Feinstein, who is 90 and frail after a bout with shingles and encephalitis earlier this year, was home in San Francisco. She was briefly hospitalized Tuesday after a minor fall in her kitchen.

But Feinstein — and her legacy of environmental stewardship — were very much a focus of the event, Times political writer Benjamin Oreskes reports from Lake Tahoe. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the crowd by reading a text message from Feinstein:

“Tell them this: ‘I was a child in Lake Tahoe,’” Feinstein said in the message Pelosi read aloud. “‘I was an adult at Lake Tahoe. I am a senator for Lake Tahoe. And I’m determined that Lake Tahoe will survive.’”

Feinstein plans to retire after her current term, following Sen. Barbara Boxer and Gov. Jerry Brown out of public office. Pelosi, who stepped down from House leadership, has not announced whether she’ll seek reelection next year.

The race for Feinstein’s Senate seat is poised to be the liveliest contest on California’s ballot next year. Here are two new articles that look at emerging dynamics in the race:

• Past donors to Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee face a dilemma in Senate race
  Thousands of donors have given money to at least two of the main Democratic Senate candidates’ 2022 congressional campaigns. The Times analyzed these shared donors to see how voters are parsing the subtle differences among the 2024 Senate candidates.
  
• Three co-workers running for the same Senate seat? That’s awkward
  Capitol Hill is tight quarters, especially for members from the same state. While the Senate hopefuls and their colleagues insist that no one’s trying to make things weird, some California Democrats admit that having the three running against one another has created an uncomfortable situation.

I’m Laurel Rosenhall, The Times’ Sacramento bureau chief, delivering your guide to the week’s news in California politics.

Newsom’s backstage role in Hollywood strikes

Writers and actors on the picket line outside of Universal Studios in Burbank on Aug. 4.

(Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images)

Many Democratic politicians in California and across the country have been quick to flex their pro-labor muscles by supporting the Hollywood writers and actors who are on strike.

Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee — the leading Democrats running for Senate — have all shown up on the picket lines, as has GOP candidate Eric Early. Almost every Democrat that represents California in the House of Representatives signed a letter to studio executives and union leaders urging them to “respect and affirm collective bargaining rights.” President Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have voiced support for the striking show biz workers, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined actors and writers on the New York City picket lines.

But Gov. Gavin Newsom so far has taken a backstage role, reports Times political writer Taryn Luna.

California’s top politician rarely shies from the spotlight, she writes, but the fight between his union allies and the studio executives who are among his most generous donors puts Newsom in a potentially perilous spot. With California’s multibillion-dollar film and television industry ground to a halt, the economic losses — and the pressure on Newsom — grow each day.

“He’s in a very difficult situation,” Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic strategist said. “He has to navigate very carefully, not just for the sake of his own career, but for the sake of everybody involved. There are very significant downsides and risks of a misstep here.”

Read more about the dilemma and Newsom’s personal and political ties to Hollywood in this article: Big risk, high reward for Newsom if he tries to end Hollywood strike

A field trip to Africa

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell speaks to residents of a village in Kenya about universal basic income.

(Courtesy of GiveDirectly)

California officials representing some of the wealthiest cities in the world traveled to one of the poorest villages in Africa this week to… study a strategy for alleviating poverty.

That’s not a punchline, but a fact reported by Mackenzie Mays, who talked to Assemblymember Matt Haney of San Francisco and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell by phone during a stop on their drive through rural Kenya. The officials, both Democrats, visited Kisumu, Kenya, a village where residents have received $25 a month for the past five years as part of the world’s largest guaranteed income project.

Basic income programs provide cash to people in need with no strings attached. Advocates of universal income are pushing to broaden the practice, Mays reports, pointing to early research that shows it is more effective in alleviating poverty than some existing safety net programs subject to government mandated rules and bureaucratic delays in services.

It’s a poverty solution Mitchell and Haney hope to expand in California, where more than a quarter of residents are living in or near poverty despite the state’s vast wealth.

Can California curb the dark side of social media?

Efforts by California lawmakers to crack down on social media’s potential harms stalled in the past amid fierce opposition from multibillion-dollar tech giants. Last year, the tech industry used its lobbying power in Sacramento to kill one social media bill, and its deep pockets to block another by filing a lawsuit after it was signed into law.

Will renewed attempts suffer the same fate?

Tech policy reporter Queenie Wong digs into two social media bills that face critical votes in the coming weeks as California lawmakers race toward the end of the legislative session next month. Senate Bill 680 would allow the government to prosecute platforms for promoting harmful content about eating disorders, self-harm, illegal firearms and drugs like fentanyl. Lawmakers are trying to combat online child sex abuse material too, but they’re bracing for the possibility that tech companies will attempt to block new online safety laws like they have in the past.

Social media platforms such as Meta-owned Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok have removed some harmful content, but parents, teens and lawmakers say they need to do more to make their services safer for kids and teens.

Keeping up with California Politics

California has made voting easier, but regular voters still skew white and old, poll finds
Voting in California has never been easier, with ballots sent to voters’ homes and drop-off boxes available for those who can’t get to the polls on election day. Despite all that, the people who vote most often remain older, whiter and wealthier than most Californians, according to a new survey from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

California has billions to spend on mental health. Where should the money go?
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to overhaul how California spends mental health funding by putting about $1 billion a year into housing for those with serious mental illnesses or substance use disorders. But Los Angeles County leaders are pushing back, saying Newsom’s proposal could result in cuts to services for adults and children who need the most care.

California, facing another wet winter, races to prevent more flooding with levee repairs
As forecasters sound the alarm about another potentially wet California winter fueled by El Niño, Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking urgent but controversial measures to prevent a repeat of the devastating floods that befell the state this year.

Editorial: California’s strong gun laws need better enforcement. AB 732 could help
Because of spotty enforcement, firearms remain in the hands of thousands of Californians who once lawfully possessed guns but are no longer authorized to have them. The Times editorial board urges lawmakers to pass legislation by Assemblymember Mike Fong (D-Alhambra) that would make it easier to enforce California’s ban on felons possessing guns by blocking judges from closing criminal cases until defendants have turned over their firearms.

As Proposition 12 takes effect, L.A. pitmasters face a ‘once-in-a-generation’ pork price crisis
In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12 to make meat production more humane. Now, five years later, pork is moving slowly through the supply chain. In the face of constricted supply and increasing pork prices, Los Angeles pitmasters who are defining the city’s barbecue style are squirreling away the last bit of pork they can find on the shelves to be able to open for the day.

Was racism a factor in death at Centinela Hospital? California is ill-equipped to investigate
The family of a Black woman who died during childbirth in an Inglewood hospital wants the state to investigate how she died and whether racism could have played a role. But state authorities are ill-equipped to investigate discrimination complaints and often avoid fining hospitals that violate regulations, highlighting a gap in the state’s ability to hold doctors and hospitals accountable when it comes to reducing bias in maternal care.