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Gov. Jerry Brown doubles down on California measure changing recall process, calling it ‘eminently reasonable’

State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Compton), left, and Gov. Jerry Brown talk about funding for projects under the state transportation bill, SB1, at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson.
(Christian K. Lee/ Los Angeles Times)

The partisan volleys have continued this week in the effort to recall state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) over his vote to pass an increase in the gas tax. Those seeking to recall Newman submitted more than enough signatures needed to qualify the measure for the ballot, if they’re all deemed valid.

Newman supporters looking to halt the recall filed a lawsuit Thursday, claiming signature gatherers had misled voters. And Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that makes changes to long-standing recall rules, an effort that Republicans have decried as an attempt by Democrats to “rig the system” to protect one of their own.

Brown seemed to double down on that measure Friday at a press conference at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he discussed the new gas tax, calling the new recall process “eminently reasonable.”

The measure allows voters up to 30 days to remove their signature from a recall petition and creates a new process to review costs associated with a recall election. Brown said the bill provides an opportunity for “people who have been hoodwinked” to change their mind.

“It’s all about truth and giving people the opportunity to make sure that their vote and their signature is knowingly given,” Brown. “The only people who would be against that are people who wanted to fool people and don’t want to test it in court or in the light of day.”

Brown’s comments came after a roundtable discussion in which he and state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Compton) spoke about the importance of directing transportation dollars raised by the gas tax increase to businesses owned by women, minorities and people who are disabled. Brown cast it as part of a larger question of equality and opportunity in America.

But the discussion took place even as Brown mused about efforts to repeal the controversial tax package, which is expected to raise $52 billion over 10 years for road repairs and other transportation projects.

“If people want to not fund the roads, then they can put something on the ballot and maybe change things,” Brown said. “But I think most people in California want to fix the roads.”

Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), who is running for governor, has filed a ballot measure to repeal the gas tax.

Brown dismissed a recent poll by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, which said that a majority of registered voters oppose the gas tax increases Brown and legislators recently approved.

“That was a poll that said, ‘Do you want to raise a tax?’” Brown said. “Of course people are going to say no.”

Brown added that when voters are given “concrete situations” like education and roads, they’re more likely to support tax increases.

“I think Californians are always leery of taxes. I’m leery of taxes,” Brown said. “You want to drive around on gravel roads? I’ve got a gravel road out in front of my house in the country. It’s not bad. But I don’t think that’s what people want. I think they want real, paved roads — and to have paved roads you’ve got to spend real money.”

Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report.

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San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says he won’t run for governor, dashing hopes of GOP leaders

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer speaks during a news conference about the San Diego Chargers in 2015.
(Gregory Bull / AP)

Republican San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who has been lobbied intensely by GOP leaders to run for California governor, on Friday rejected the idea and vowed to serve out his second term at city hall.

Both House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and state Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte had urged Faulconer to run.

A fiscal conservative and social moderate who has demonstrated crossover appeal by winning over Democrats, Faulconer has been seen as the GOP’s strongest potential gubernatorial candidate, and one who could help Republicans in down-ballot races if he was at the top of the ticket in 2018. But Falconer nixed the idea of a gubernatorial bid in a Facebook post Friday afternoon, saying he was “deeply honored” by “so many” encouraging him to run.

“It’s a testament to the people of San Diego, and the progress we’ve made to create a fiscally responsible, prosperous city that is moving in the right direction. I made a pledge last year to serve out my second term as mayor, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Faulconer said in the post.

He was facing pressure to enter the race and GOP insiders who were familiar with his thinking believed he was leaning toward running.

Faulconer ultimately decided not to run because he did not see a certain path to victory, according to a top state party official who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak for the San Diego mayor.

The last time a GOP candidate won a statewide race was in 2006.

The governor’s race already has attracted a handful of Republican candidates, but none with Faulconer’s political stature. They include conservative Orange County Assemblyman Travis Allen and Rancho Santa Fe venture capitalist John Cox. Speculation is mounting that former state Assemblyman David Hadley plans to announce a run.

The Democratic heavyweights in the race include Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang.

A strong GOP top-of-the-ticket candidate would be expected to increase Republican turnout next fall. Faulconer’s decision not to run could impact some hotly contested congressional races in California, and potentially affect Republican efforts to retain control of the House of Representatives.

If a Republican gubernatorial candidate fails to make the general election, creating a Democrat-on-Democrat race in November 2018, that could depress GOP turnout and affect those targeted congressional races.

“It leaves the Republicans without an obvious front-runner that the donors would have confidence in,” said GOP strategist Rob Stutzman, who previously advised former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and 2010 GOP nominee Meg Whitman. But “it still depends on the nature of the race next November. It’s too early to say.”

Update 4:21 p.m.: This story was updated with reaction about Faulconer’s decision and more information about the 2018 election.

This story was originally published at 3:30 p.m.

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Assembly Democrats denounce threats made after single-payer healthcare bill was sidelined

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Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom blasts National Rifle Assn. recruitment video, saying it could lead to violence

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom called on the National Rifle Assn. to take down a controversial new video that he argued villanizes political rivals and could lead to violence.

“Come after politicians. Come after policy makers. Come after ME,” Newsom wrote on his Facebook page Thursday. But “do not implicitly call for demonstrations of force against your fellow Americans in a country that is already reeling. You are powerful. People are listening to you. And your message could lead to tragedy.”

The NRA video, which urges people to join the organization, was posted earlier this month and features conservative commentator Dana Loesch talking about political rivals who she argues use the media, schools and Hollywood for sinister purposes.

The video features footage of police clashing with protesters and a bloodied Trump supporter, and flashes images such as the Hollywood sign, Disney Hall and the Los Angeles Times building as Loesch repeatedly invokes an unnamed opponent she refers to as “they.”

Loesch’s concluding remarks in the minute-long video have drawn the most ire.

“The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom, is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth,” Loesch said. “I’m the National Rifle Assn. of America, and I’m freedom’s safest place.”

Newsom is a longtime foe of the NRA. He was a primary sponsor of Proposition 63, a ballot measure voters approved in November that requires background checks to purchase ammunition, bans possession of high-capacity magazines and other gun-safety efforts.

On Thursday, the NRA claimed victory when a federal judge, at their attorney’s request, granted a preliminary injunction blocking a related law that would have required Californians to get rid of large-capacity magazines by Saturday or face fines and potential jail time.

Newsom, the state’s lieutenant governor, wrote that he felt a “chill down my spine” when he watched the video.

He said while he and the NRA have long disagreed, the video crosses the line of appropriate political debate. He described it as “dangerous” because it tells viewers “that our fellow Americans are to be feared … and even worse.”

“How does this video advance debate? How does it bring people together for common ideals? How does it do anything but cast Americans as ‘enemies’ to be defeated in a cynical ploy to sell as many weapons as possible?” he wrote.

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Tired of exporting campaign cash, these politicos are putting California first

Air Force One leaves California after another fundraising foray.
Air Force One leaves California after another fundraising foray.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

California feeds the world with its bounty, fuels the economy with its innovation, fires the imagination with its creativity.

There is one export, though, that is far less celebrated: the unceasing torrent of outbound campaign cash.

For political fundraisers, California has long been the Big Rock Candy Mountain, excavated, mined and, ultimately, shafted by candidates of both parties who use the boodle to run for president in Iowa or New Hampshire, or Congress in East Podunk.

Now, Democratic efforts are underway to put California first, directing more campaign cash from whence it came by focusing on seven targeted House districts in the Central Valley and southern part of the state.

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Federal judge blocks California gun law

A handgun is displayed with 10- and 15-shot magazines.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A federal judge Thursday granted a request by attorneys for the National Rifle Assn. to block a law that requires Californians to dispose of large-capacity ammunition magazines by Saturday or face fines and possible jail time.

U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez wrote in San Diego that the rights of voters who approved Proposition 63 in November have to be balanced against the rights of gun owners.

“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,” Benitez wrote. “That is a choice they should not have to make.”

C.D. Michel, an attorney for the NRA and state gun owners, welcomed the decision, which allows a lawsuit to be decided on its merits before the law takes effect.

“My clients are pleased the Court affirmed that the Second Amendment is not a second class right, and that law abiding gun owners have a right to choose to have these magazines to help them defend themselves and their families,” Michel said in a statement.

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Two California Democrats join with House Republicans to vote for ‘Kate’s Law’

There would be tougher penalties for people repeatedly caught crossing the border illegally, and millions of dollars less in federal funds for so-called sanctuary jurisdictions such as Los Angeles under two House immigration bills approved Thursday.

Both bills would fulfill President Trump’s campaign promises if they became law, but the Senate has killed similar legislation and is unlikely to be able to reach the 60-vote requirement to pass the bills.

The House voted 257 to 167, with 24 Democrats crossing party lines, to pass “Kate’s Law,” which would create harsher mandatory minimum prison sentences for people who repeatedly enter the U.S. illegally.

It is named after Kathryn Steinle, who allegedly was shot and killed in San Francisco in 2015 by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant who had repeatedly entered the country illegally and was released from jail by sheriff’s officials despite a request by immigration officials to keep him behind bars.

Two California Democrats, Reps. Jackie Speier of Hillsborough and Eric Swalwell of Dublin, joined Republicans in voting for the bill.

Swalwell grew up with Steinle and is still in touch with her family, he said.

“This bill is not perfect, and it’s shameful that the Republicans did not allow any debate…. But it does improve our ability to punish individuals who repeatedly break the law and to deter those who may do so,” he Swalwell said in a statement.

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Committee unexpectedly opens door to Rep. Barbara Lee’s push to end military force authorization

(Paul Morigi/Getty Images)

In September 2001, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) was the only member of Congress to object to an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, a resolution in response to the terrorist attacks that paved the way for the war in Afghanistan.

In the 16 years since, the resolution has been used by President George W. Bush, President Obama and now President Trump as justification for more than 35 military actions in nearly 20 countries around the world -- which means those presidents have not gone back to Congress for new permission to send troops into harm’s way.

On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee opened the door to ending that 2001 authorization when it added Lee’s amendment to a Defense Department measure. Congress would have 240 days to debate a new authorization. At the end of that time the 2001 authorization would be repealed.

Lee has lobbied hard just to get to this first step, which was approved by a voice vote in the Republican led committee.

“I’ve been working on this for years and years and years. I’m just really pleased that Republicans and Democrats today really understood what I’ve been saying and I’ve been explaining for the last 16 years, and that is, this resolution is a blank check for perpetual war,” Lee said.

Committee members broke into applause after the unexpected vote.

Lee said Thursday she plans to personally call Speaker Paul Ryan and make the case for keeping her amendment in the bill when it gets to the House floor.

“The public wants to see a debate,” Lee said. “Our young men and women in harm’s way need to know their Congress is supporting them and backing them up, or not.”

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Volkswagen submits revised plan for installing charging stations as part of emission-cheating settlement

(Markus Schreiber / Associated Press)

Volkswagen would build more electric vehicle charging stations in disadvantaged communities under an updated plan being submitted to state regulators on Thursday.

The company’s subsidiary, Electrify America, revised its proposal after an earlier version was rejected as inadequate by the California Air Resources Board.

The proposal is the first phase of an $800-million investment in the state, one piece of a much larger settlement over Volkswagen’s cheating on vehicle emission rules.

Although the money is expected to yield hundreds of new charging stations and boost California’s efforts to foster the market for electric cars, it’s also been a source of controversy.

State regulators want 35% of the money to be spent in disadvantaged communities, a target endorsed by the Legislature as well. Electrify America CEO Mark McNabb said, “We will strive hard to hit it.”

The updated plan adds Fresno to the list of metropolitan areas, which already included Los Angeles and Sacramento, where charging stations would be installed.

“It made sense to get out into the Central Valley,” McNabb said. “We thought that was an improvement we could make to the plan.”

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California’s top elections officer to Trump’s voting fraud panel: No

(Dylan Stewart / HS Insider)

President Trump’s voter fraud commission will not be getting the names and addresses of California’s registered voters. The panel’s request was denied on Thursday by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who said it would only “legitimize” false claims of massive election cheating last fall.

Padilla refused to hand over data, including the names, addresses, political party and voting history of California’s 19.4 million voters. Kris Kobach, the secretary of state of Kansas who serves as vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, sent letters to all 50 states on Wednesday for information he said would help the group examine rules that either “enhance or undermine the American people’s confidence in the integrity of federal elections processes.”

Padilla, though, suggested the effort is little more than a ruse.

“I will not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that has already inaccurately passed judgment that millions of Californians voted illegally,” he said in a written statement. “California’s participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the President, the Vice President, and Mr. Kobach.”

Last November, Trump tweeted that California was one of three states where “serious voter fraud” took place in the general election. No state or local elections official has found any evidence to back up the president’s assertion.

Kobach’s request says the panel seeks only “publicly available” information. Basic information about California voters is routinely shared with journalists, political campaigns and researchers after a written request and payment of a fee.

The letter asks for data including “information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information.”

Padilla also criticized the selection of Kobach to help lead Trump’s commission, accusing the Kansas official of past efforts at racial profiling and suppressing voter turnout.

“His role as vice chair is proof that the ultimate goal of the commission is to enact policies that will result in the disenfranchisement of American citizens,” Padilla said.

The presidential commission’s first meeting is scheduled for July 19.

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Supporters of state Sen. Josh Newman sue to stop effort to recall him, alleging voters have been misled

Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) faces a recall.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Supporters of state Sen. Josh Newman filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to stop a recall campaign against the lawmaker, alleging that signature gatherers have misled voters and the petition contains false information.

The Democratic legislator from Fullerton faces a recall funded by the California Republican Party for voting with other lawmakers to increase the state’s gas tax and vehicle fees to raise $5.2 billion annually for road repairs.

On Tuesday, the state party announced it had submitted 84,988 signatures to election officials, some 20,000 more signatures than would be needed if officials determine they are valid.

The lawsuit against Secretary of State Alex Padilla was filed in Sacramento Superior Court by three residents of Newman’s Senate district and paid for by the campaign against the recall. It alleges that signature gatherers misled voters to sign the petitions by saying they would repeal the car tax.

The “petition gathering campaign has misrepresented the nature of the petition by informing voters that it will ‘Stop the Gas Tax’ when it will not,” the lawsuit says. “These statements are intentionally misleading statements of fact that are false beyond dispute and mislead voters…”

The legal complaint, which also names several signature gatherers, alleges that the notice of intent to file the petition is inaccurate in saying that the tax bill provides billions of dollars for mass transit in Northern California without Newman’s district benefiting from the revenue. The bill itself does not earmark where money will go, but the intent of lawmakers was that Newman’s district would benefit, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit asks that the circulation of the petition be stopped and the recall effort, using the petition as drafted, be halted.

“This suit is about nothing less than the integrity of our election process; a recall election simply should not be certified when signatures were gathered based on lies to voters,” said James Harrison, an attorney who filed the lawsuit.

Former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, an organizer of the recall, said the lawsuit is without merit.

“Josh Newman refuses to accept accountability for his disastrous vote to raise the car and gas tax and instead has chosen to blame others for the recall against him with lies and frivolous lawsuits,” DeMaio said.

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State to pay $2.9 million to three men wrongfully convicted in Los Angeles cases

Kash Delano Register outside a Los Angeles restaurant in November 2013 after his release from prison.
Kash Delano Register outside a Los Angeles restaurant in November 2013 after his release from prison.
(Christina House / For The Times)

The state Senate has approved payment of $2.96 million to settle three claims by men who were wrongly convicted for crimes in Los Angeles and served time in prison before they were exonerated.

The approval of the payments, amounting to $140 for each day served behind bars, next goes to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The largest payment — $1.7 million — goes to Kash Delano Register, who said he was wrongfully convicted of a 1979 murder because of a flawed LAPD investigation.

He served 34 years in prison. In 2013, the Los Angeles County Superior Court ordered that Register be released from prison after it found he had been denied due process of law and a fair trial because material exculpatory information and evidence was not disclosed.

The court acted after lawyers and students from Loyola Law School cast doubt on the testimony of a key prosecution witness.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office later dismissed the charges, and Register was found by the court to be factually innocent.

The Senate payment for 12,427 days served in custody is in addition to a $16.7-million settlement paid to Register by the city of Los Angeles.

The Senate also voted Thursday to pay $886,760 to Luis Vargas, who spent more than 17 years in custody before a court ruled him factually innocent of a 1998 rape.

In 2012, DNA evidence from one of the victims showed that a suspect known as the “Teardrop Rapist,” not Vargas, was the perpetrator of the rape.

The third payment, $340,620, goes to Reggie Cole, who was found factually innocent after serving time in prison for the shooting death of a man outside a South Los Angeles house of prostitution in 1995.

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Public affairs strategist Fiona Hutton hosts fundraiser for Antonio Villaraigosa

Antonio Villaraigosa in July
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles public affairs strategist Fiona Hutton is hosting a San Fernando Valley fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa in July.

Hutton, who has worked on a number of statewide campaigns, also raised money for Villaraigosa during his successful campaign for mayor of Los Angeles in 2005.

The July 25 fundraiser is being held at Hutton’s office in Studio City. Tickets run $1,000 apiece. To be a “co-host,” it’ll cost $10,000.

Along with serving as president of her company, Fiona Hutton & Associates, Hutton sits on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

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California joins other states asking the Trump administration for information on how it’s enforcing immigration law

Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra wants more information on federal enforcement of immigration laws.
( Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

A group of nine state attorneys general, including California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday seeking records that would clarify how the Trump administration is enforcing federal immigration law.

The request seeks the number of immigration detentions, deportations and detainer requests, and the rationale for each, as well as clarifying information on whether Trump is following through on comments that he will not target young people who were brought to the country illegally by their parents.

The attorneys general also want to know whether immigrants in the country illegally have been detained at schools, hospitals and places of worship, which the state officials feel should be off-limits for enforcement.

“Mixed messages from the Trump Administration on immigration enforcement are sowing confusion and increasing anxiety among immigrants,” Becerra said in a statement. “Today we ask the Administration to tell us what it is doing in this area.”

The data could be used in a barrage of legal challenges the states have filed against federal immigration policies.

Becerra noted that immigration-related arrests have increased nearly 40% since Trump became president, and there is concern that some of the arrests have included young people who were given a deferral from deportation under the Obama administration.

“The President’s Executive Orders, and the steps taken by the Department of Homeland Security to implement those orders, have generated new fears and uncertainties in immigrant communities across the country,” the attorneys general wrote in the request for information.

The other states represented in the request are New York, Illinois, Washington, Massachusetts, Iowa, Maryland, Oregon and Hawaii.

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This is why California’s Legislature can’t fix the state’s housing problems

An apartment complex in Hollywood
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

For 50 years, California has had a law that aims to encourage developers to build housing.

But the law has failed at helping stem the statewide shortage of homes that drives California’s affordability problems. The reason? The law requires cities and counties to produce prodigious reports to plan for housing — but it doesn’t hold them accountable for any resulting home building.

Cities and counties resent the law. To avoid complying, they’ve asked the state to let prison beds count toward their low-income housing goals, among other things. And despite knowing about the law’s weaknesses for decades, state lawmakers have provided no incentive, such as a greater share of tax dollars, for cities and counties to meet their housing goals.

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California’s attorney general joins the fight against President Trump’s ‘sanctuary city’ order

Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra led a group of 10 states Wednesday in filing an court brief supporting San Francisco and other California communities that challenged President Trump’s executive order to withhold federal funds from “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

After the local governments won a preliminary injunction against the order, the Trump administration asked the courts to dismiss the cities’ lawsuit.

The brief filed by Becerra argues that public safety is improved when local law enforcement agencies focus on crime prevention instead of helping federal authorities enforce immigration laws.

“The Trump Administration does not have the right to coerce states, counties or municipalities to do the federal government’s job,” Becerra said in a statement. “California’s state and local law enforcement officials are in the business of public safety, not of deportation. Threatening public safety funding to compel localities to do immigration work is a dangerous game that undermines public safety.”

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California Supreme Court leaves in place decision upholding cap-and-trade system

Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the Air Resources Board, oversees the cap-and-trade program.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

After more than four years, a legal challenge to California’s cap-and-trade program has reached an unsuccessful conclusion.

The end came on Wednesday when the California Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal from business groups who consider the program to be an unconstitutional tax.

The program requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases, a system intended to provide a financial incentive to reduce emissions.

The law that provided the program’s foundation was not passed with a two-thirds vote in the Legislature, the legal threshold for new taxes, sparking lawsuits from the California Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Legal Foundation.

A state appeals court rejected their arguments in April, but they appealed. Business groups were also concerned the decision was too broad and could open the door to additional taxes.

Despite the state’s victory in court, there are other legal questions around cap and trade. Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing lawmakers to extend the program past 2020 with new legislation.

“With this Supreme Court victory, now it’s up to us to take action extending California’s cap-and-trade system on a more permanent basis,” Brown said in a statement.

This story has been updated with a statement from the governor.

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Rohrabacher on meeting with Manafort while he was a foreign agent: ‘It was a nice little dinner’

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

When former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort belatedly filed as a foreign agent on behalf of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party this week, he listed a meeting with just one U.S. politician — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach.

Manafort’s years-late filing with the Justice Department details $17 million in political consulting work he did between 2012 and 2014 for the Party of Regions, a Ukrainian party considered friendly with the Kremlin.

Rohrabacher told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that the March 2013 meeting happened over dinner at the Capitol Hill Club, a popular Washington Republican social club. He said Manafort billed it as a chance to get reacquainted decades after they worked together in the 1970s on President Reagan’s campaign. Still, he assumed Manafort had an agenda.

“I assume when old friends call me up and are wanting to get reacquainted and stuff I always assume they are in some way under contract with somebody,” Rohrabacher said.

Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, has long been known for encouraging improved relations with Russia, something that’s made him an outlier in the Republican Party.

He said Russia and the Baltic states probably came up during dinner, but it wasn’t the focus of their conversation.

“We discussed a myriad of things, a lot of personal stuff, a lot of different analysis of the politics of the day,” Rohrabacher said. “It was a nice little dinner.”

Three days later, Manafort contributed $1,000 to Rohrabacher’s reelection campaign. Manafort’s “modest” donation didn’t stand out, Rohrabacher said.

Ongoing FBI and congressional investigations into Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election, and how the Trump campaign may have been involved, have heightened interest in any connections American politicians may have had with the Russian government or its proxies.

Rohrabacher’s opponents immediately began fundraising off the revelation that Manafort met with the congressman while serving as a foreign agent. Democrat Harley Rouda, who’s running for Rohrabacher’s seat in 2018, called it “embarrassing” in a solicitation email Tuesday.

“We need someone who cares more about Orange County and America than supporting Russia and Putin,” Rouda’s email stated.

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Democrats block Republican legislator’s proposal for forensic audit of UC Office of President

Two months after a state audit found mismanagement at the University of California, Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday blocked a Republican legislator’s proposal to have auditors go back in and look deeper at spending, this time with an eye for possible criminal activity.

Assemblyman Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita) said the follow-up examination was justified after an audit in April found the UC Office of the President had failed to disclose a $175-million budget surplus to the Board of Regents and the public, was paying excessive salaries and expenses and had inadequate financial safeguards in place to prevent abuse.

The lack of controls, the audit concluded, was “putting millions of dollars at risk of abuse.”

“I am fighting to return trust in the institution of the UC Office of the President for students, parents, faculty and staff,” Acosta said. “Only complete transparency can accomplish that goal.”

However, no Democratic lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted to authorize a new audit, so the motion failed. Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) said the university administration should be given time to address the recommendations of its recent audit.

“I believe this request is premature,” he said.

State Auditor Elaine Howle said Wednesday in response to a legislator’s question that she did not find any evidence of misuse of funds. “We didn’t see anything nefarious,” Howle told the panel.

UC President Janet Napolitano said funds were not hidden, but she has agreed to adopt policies to make the budget process more transparent. Monica Lozano, chairwoman of the UC Board of Regents, told the legislative committee Wednesday that a new audit is “unnecessary” and may interfere with the system’s implementation of recommendations from the last audit, including the hiring of an accountant to look at UC spending.

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Single-payer healthcare advocates protest at Capitol with a message for California’s Assembly speaker: ‘Shame on you!’

Backers of a measure to establish a single-payer healthcare system in California rallied at the Capitol on Wednesday to renounce Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), who shelved the bill last week.

Several hundred demonstrators, many affiliated with the California Nurses Assn., the legislation’s sponsor, convened in the Capitol rotunda, where they unfurled a banner that blared “Inaction = Death,” before handing off signs with written complaints to a member of Rendon’s staff.

The rally, on the heels of a smaller demonstration at Rendon’s district office on Tuesday, is a sign of how single-payer backers continue to seethe after the bill, SB 562, stalled on Friday.

Patty Estefes, a retired nurse from San Jose, said the campaign for single-payer heathcare, in which the government would cover all residents’ healthcare costs, was her passion.

“Rendon sabotaged SB 562 and we want to take the knife out,” said Estefes, explaining her sign, which had an image of the California grizzly bear stabbed in the back with a blade labeled “Rendon.”

The image has become popular among supporters of the bill, although other Democrats have said the violence of the image makes them uneasy.

Meanwhile, another union leader, Robbie Hunter of the powerful State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, chimed in Wednesday with support for the state Assembly speaker.

“Working people have real fights, and they are not with a labor champion like Anthony Rendon,” said Hunter, who denounced the criticism from single-payer advocates as “unfair and unwarranted attacks.”

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Garcetti and Schwarzenegger urge cities and states to lead fight against climate change in Trump era

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday called on cities and states to lead the nation’s fight against global warming as the federal government begins to reverse its climate change policies.

The Republican former film star — who signed a landmark 2006 law to reduce California’s carbon emissions — and the Democratic mayor spoke out against President Trump’s denial of climate science at a forum at Creative Artists Agency in Century City.

Both argued that steps taken by cities and states to promote renewable energy could largely make up for the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the worldwide Paris agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

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California voters could decide in 2020 whether to remove mandatory punishment for falsifying U.S. citizenship records

A proposed California law would let state voters decide in November 2020 whether to remove the mandatory punishment for a person who falsifies citizenship documents.

The legislation by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) would make the crime a “wobbler,” meaning prosecutors would have the discretion to charge suspects in such cases with either felony offenses or lower-level misdemeanors. That, supporters say, would bring the penalties in line with those for similar crimes committed by legal residents who falsify government records, such as driver’s licenses.

Assembly Bill 222 moved out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday with a 5-2 vote along party lines. An amendment added Tuesday places the issue on the ballot in November 2020.

Bocangera said the measure was introduced as a response to President Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration and would reverse part of Proposition 187, a 1994 California ballot measure to deny public services to immigrants in the country illegally.

The bill would repeal provisions in the penal code that require a person to serve an automatic five-year mandatory prison sentence or pay a $75,000 fine if they are convicted on charges of manufacturing, distributing or selling false documents to conceal someone else’s citizenship or residency status.

It has the support of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which says there are far more serious crimes that carry substantially lower penalties.

“Today, if an underage college student uses a fake ID to purchase a six-pack of beer, he or she can be charged with a misdemeanor,” Bocanegra said in a statement. “However, if an immigrant is caught using that same fake ID, he or she is automatically charged with a felony and is subject to five years in prison.”

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It’s all good: Gov. Jerry Brown (again) signs a budget without any vetoed spending

Gov. Jerry Brown, signs bills in his Capitol office on Oct. 9, 2015.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Gov. Jerry Brown holds two unique records when it comes to state budgets. No governor has signed more of them, and none in modern times have been as hesitant to veto items they don’t like.

In the budget he signed on Monday, Brown made no changes. It’s not the first time. This was Brown’s second consecutive budget in which he took no veto actions, and his third veto-free budget since 1982.

Governors have line-item veto power to erase budget expenditures, decisions that aren’t subject to review by the Legislature. Previous chief executives have used their unilateral power far more often, a way to trim spending from a variety of state budget-related programs.

State documents show former Gov. George Deukmejian holds the modern record for the most budget changes, issuing 367 line-item vetoes on July 21, 1983. In total amount of spending, the record belongs to former Gov. Pete Wilson, whose budget vetoes in 1998 added up to more than $1.9 million.

Brown also has the distinction of issuing fewer vetoes of stand-alone legislation of any governor in the last half-century, suggesting it’s a sign of “respect” for the legislative branch of government.

The governor’s signature on the latest state budget sets in place $183.2-billion in spending, covering a wide range of programs and services while setting aside more in cash reserves than ever before.

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Jimmy Gomez scheduled to be sworn in more than a month after he was elected to Congress

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Rep.-elect Jimmy Gomez is scheduled to be sworn into Congress on July 11, the day the House returns from its July Fourth recess, according to a senior Democratic aide.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) complained about the 34th Congressional District’s “elongated vacancy” in a letter Tuesday, calling the three-week span since the June 6 Los Angeles special election “an abdication” of Gomez’ responsibilities.

Gomez, a current Democratic state assemblyman, told The Times after the election he would try to delay his Assembly resignation to vote on extending the state’s cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas. He’s since said he could not be sworn in with other new members of Congress this week because of a family conflict.

Discussions on cap-and-trade have dragged on in Sacramento, and it appeared Democrats were delaying Gomez’ swearing in, and Assembly resignation, to help Gov. Jerry Brown pass the bill with a two-thirds majority before the Legislature leaves on July 21.

The office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) pushed back on McCarthy on Wednesday, saying Republicans should worry about getting their own house in order.

“As the majority leader well knows, the Republican majority has canceled votes the last two Fridays because there is nothing to vote on. While we appreciate his interest in having a full complement of Democrats in Congress, perhaps his time would be better spent identifying exactly what and where the Republican agenda is,” said Pelosi spokeswoman Caroline Behringer.

It is unusual for so much time to pass between a special election and the winner taking office. In the last several congresses, the time between a special election and its winner taking the oath averaged one week.

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L.A.’s newest congressman still hasn’t taken his oath. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy wants to know why

(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) wants to know why Rep.-elect Jimmy Gomez hasn’t been sworn in, saying the seat’s “elongated vacancy” is “an abdication” of his responsibilities.

Twenty one days have passed since Gomez won a special election to replace now-California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, who resigned Los Angeles’ 34th Congressional District last January.

Gomez, a current Democratic state assemblyman, told The Times after the election he would try to delay his Assembly resignation to vote on extending the state’s cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas.

Negotiations on cap and trade are escalating in Sacramento, and there are rumblings Gov. Jerry Brown would like to be able to count on Gomez’ vote to pass the bill with a two-thirds majority before the Legislature leaves on July 21. McCarthy took issue with that in a letter to Gomez, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.

“If this delay persists due to his prioritization of state legislative matters, Congressman-elect Gomez should be honest with the constituents of California’s 34th congressional district who he was elected to serve and resign from his newly-elected seat so they can elect someone ready to serve on Day One,” McCarthy wrote.

Brown wants the deal to pass with a two-thirds majority to help insulate it from legal challenges, and Gomez could be an important vote if legislative leaders can’t get some moderate Democrats on board.

Gomez said Monday he only offered to be available for a cap and trade vote until June 15, and had a family conflict this week, but has been willing to be sworn in at any other time.

Because Congress leaves Friday for the July Fourth recess, the soonest Gomez can take office is July 10, but no date for the ceremony has been set. A spokeswoman for Gomez did not return a call Tuesday afternoon.

McCarthy also questioned why Gomez has not been sworn in even though two members who were elected after Gomez have already taken office.

It is unusual for so much time to pass between a special election and the winner taking office. In the last several congresses, there was an average of one week between a special election and the winner taking the oath.

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Campaign to recall freshman state senator submits more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot

State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) at the Capitol on April 20.
State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) at the Capitol on April 20.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

The campaign against state Sen. Josh Newman has turned in more than enough signatures to force the freshman Democrat from Fullerton into a recall election.

Republican Carl DeMaio, a lead organizer of the effort, said the group submitted 84,988 signatures on Tuesday.

More signatures are being collected but only 63,500 registered voters in the 29th Senate District are needed to put the recall question on the ballot.

“It shows that there is an unbelievable grass roots movement to fire Josh Newman for his disasterous vote to support an increase in the gas tax,” said DeMaio, a conservative radio talk show host from San Diego.

The recall drive was complicated by recently enacted legislation that allows voters to ask that their signatures not be included in the recall petitions if they felt they were misled.

Elections officials in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties must now determine whether there are sufficient valid signatures to qualify the recall.

Mike Roth, a spokesman for the campaign against the recall, said special interests including Chevron have helped fuel a misleading petition drive.

“The recall petition is a costly power grab by out-of-district special interests that won’t save taxpayers a dime and won’t solve any problem voters care about,” Roth said. “What it will do is cost up to $3 million in tax dollars that would be better spent on our schools and public safety.”

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In massive shake-up, Gov. Jerry Brown breaks up California’s scandal-plagued tax collection agency

In a move that triggers the most dramatic shake-up of the California Board of Equalization in its 138-year history, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday that strips the embattled state tax collection agency of most of its powers and duties as officials scramble to create an entirely new department by July 1.

The board is the target of an investigation by the state Department of Justice, and its employees and members have been accused by auditors of mismanagement, including putting $350 million in sales taxes in the wrong accounts and improperly interfering with decisions to open field offices and transfer staff.

The governor signed a bill that pares the state board from an agency with 4,800 workers to one of 400 employees, shifting the other staff engaged in the collection of sales and excise taxes to a new California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

The elected, five-member Board of Equalization will also give up its role hearing taxpayer appeals to a new Office of Tax Appeals, leaving the board to advocate for taxpayers and continue setting rates for gas taxes and pipeline levies, and making sure counties fairly assess property taxes.

Anticipating the governor’s action, officials had already started work to create a new state department by July 1.

“It’s a short period,” acknowledged Marybel Batjer, secretary of the California Government Operations Agency, who is coordinating the changes.

The new department will be headed by a director appointed by the governor and requiring state Senate approval. Brown will also appoint a chief deputy and chief counsel.

“The recruitment is underway” for those positions, Batjer said, adding that “the transition will continue after July 1, obviously. Not every ‘i’ will be dotted and ‘t’ crossed between now and July 1. We will do our mighty best to do the most important things before July 1.”

Learn more on the history of the state board and what’s next.

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Gov. Jerry Brown approves a $183-billion state budget, though a few details are unfinished

(Justin Sullivan/Getty)

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a $183.2-billion budget, a spending plan with significant boosts for public schools and a variety of programs to help California’s most needy residents.

While the blueprint depends on a series of other related bills that haven’t reached his desk, Brown’s action largely ratifies the plan approved by the Legislature and ensures the state will have a budget in place for the new fiscal year that begins Saturday.

“This budget provides money to repair our roads and bridges, pay down debt, invest in schools, fund the earned income tax credit and provide Medi-Cal health care for millions of Californians,” Brown said in a written statement released by his office.

The budget boosts total state and local spending on K-12 education and community colleges to $74.5 billion, roughly $11,000 per pupil in the coming school year. It also increases funding for the University of California and Cal State University systems, and provides additional money for preschool and child care programs.

Brown and lawmakers agreed to devote a portion of new tobacco tax dollars to higher payments for doctors and dentists that treat patients in Medi-Cal, the state’s healthcare program for the poor. Divvying up the dollars generated by last fall’s Proposition 56 was among one of the most contentious issues during spring budget negotiations.

The budget sets aside additional money in the state’s rainy-day reserve fund, growing the contingency account to $8.5 billion.

Brown, who rarely uses his line-item veto power in trimming budgets, left entirely intact the plan ratified by the Legislature on June 15.

While the governor signed 15 budget-related bills Tuesday, a handful of other related bills have yet to make their way to his desk. Those include a plan to make an extra $6-billion payment to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS, borrowing the money from surplus state revenues. The plan was approved by the state Senate on Monday.

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Gov. Jerry Brown says GOP healthcare bill cuts ‘right into the heart of what is already a divided nation’

California's senators, Kamala Harris, left, and Dianne Feinstein.
California’s senators, Kamala Harris, left, and Dianne Feinstein.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

One in three California residents are covered by Medicaid, and California is thought to have the most to lose if Republicans gather enough votes to roll back major aspects of the Affordable Care Act.

California would see the nation’s biggest increase in uninsured people by next year and face a $24-billion budget shortfall by 2026 because of reduced Medicaid funding, California’s Democratic senators and Gov. Jerry Brown warned during a call with reporters on Tuesday.

The Californians’ call was just one of dozens of events House and Senate Democrats held Tuesday to try to stir up anger over the bill.

Brown called the bill divisive, saying it puts tax cuts for the wealthy above healthcare for the poor.

“This is such a political bill,” he said. “This bill will be the most divisive maneuver, cutting right into the heart of what is already a divided nation.”

The bill would increase the number of people without health coverage by 22 million and push up medical costs for millions of other poor and sick Americans, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

After pledging to pass the bill this week, Senate Republicans abruptly delayed a vote until after the July Fourth recess. A handful of Republicans have announced they are leery of the bill, saying it either goes too far or doesn’t go far enough, and the White House is lobbying them to get on board.

Every major medical association has come out against the bill, which was written by a small group of senators behind closed doors. Sen. Kamala Harris said the bill is being rushed to the Senate floor without hearings, debate or much time for senators to review it.

“It’s absolutely wrong, it is harmful and it is unconscionable. The bill would restructure our nation’s entire health care system,” she said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said it’s not enough to amend the existing GOP bill, and Congress needs to start over instead. She said 10 or 12 Republican senators need to defect so the bill is not revived after a few changes, as a similar bill was in the House.

“I am optimistic that it is doable to kill it,” Feinstein said. “It’s the most indefensible bill I’ve actually seen in 24 years in the Senate.”

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National Republicans target California water needs in new ads against House Democrats

The National Republican Congressional Committee is going after five California Democrats for votes on a water issue.

The online ads are identical except for one line tailored to target each Democrat: Reps. John Garamendi of Walnut Grove, Ami Bera of Elk Grove, Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara, Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert and Scott Peters of San Diego. They specifically are about the Democrats voting against a bill to funnel dam permits through a single federal agency in an effort to speed up new water storage projects.

“Tell Congressman Garamendi to stop letting politics get in the way of our water,” one ad says.

Sponsored by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), the bill passed the House last week, with a 233-180 largely partisan vote.

Democrats need 24 seats to regain control of the House, and are expected to focus their attention in the midterms on tying Republicans to President Trump. Their list of seats they need to flip includes 9 of the 14 California seats held by Republicans.

The ads, which will run online for the next week, could be the first glimpse of an NRCC strategy of trying to keep the focus on local issues in the 2018 election.

“California Democrats want to help radical environmentalists more than their drought-stricken constituents. If Democrats continue to sit on their hands and let this chance to capture much-needed water float on by, the NRCC will hold them accountable,” said spokesman Jack Pandol.

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Only a few California counties may use the new state law for sending every voter a ballot in the mail

A broad effort to close thousands of California neighborhood polling places in favor of absentee ballots and multi-purpose “vote centers” has yet to find traction beyond a handful of counties.

Data collected by Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s office concludes only two counties have a plan in place to implement the sweeping change in state election law enacted last year. As many as 14 counties can do so in 2018, with Los Angeles County and others able to switch to the system in 2020.

“Change is hard,” said Jill LaVine, registrar of voters in Sacramento County, one of the counties that has already approved adoption of the system to swap polling places for a limited number of “vote centers” offering several different election services.

Meanwhile, leaders in the county that has done the most planning to move toward changing its election system -- Orange County -- have rejected the new law for 2018.

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Nurses union uses the image of a California bear stabbed in the back after single-payer bill is blocked

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As cap-and-trade deal lingers, Jimmy Gomez has still not been sworn in to Congress

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Rep.-elect Jimmy Gomez will probably not be sworn in as downtown Los Angeles’ newest member of Congress until at least July 10, more than a month after he was elected to fill the empty seat in the 34th Congressional District.

Gomez, a current state assemblyman, told The Times after the election he would try to delay his Assembly resignation to help Democrats reach a two-thirds vote on extending the state’s cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas.

Democrats hold 55 of 80 Assembly seats, more than needed for a two-thirds vote, but Gomez could be an important vote if legislative leaders can’t get some moderate Democrats on board. The high vote threshold is intended to insulate the program from future legal challenges.

After a cap-and-trade deal wasn’t included as part of the state budget vote this month, Gomez told The Times that his congressional swearing-in date would be up to House leadership. He repeated that Monday.

“I gave a commitment to be available for cap and trade until June 15 ... and I notified [Minority] Leader [Nancy] Pelosi’s office that anytime after the 15th I would be ready to be sworn-in, except the week of June 26th because [of] a family scheduling conflict,” Gomez said by text message Monday.

Because of the House’s weeklong July Fourth holiday, Gomez isn’t likely to be sworn in until at least July 10.

Discussions on the cap-and-trade program escalated between Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders in Sacramento late last week, but they have yet to unite on a single bill.

Brown would like to strike a deal in July, and state lawmakers leave Sacramento for a monthlong break on July 21.

Residents of the 34th District have been without a congressman since late January, when Xavier Becerra resigned to become California’s attorney general.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Monday will swear in Reps.-elect Karen Handel (R-Ga.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who were both elected last week. The speaker’s spokeswoman said Friday that Ryan wanted to do all three ceremonies at once, but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) had not signed off on Gomez’s swearing-in. (Her staff pointed to his family scheduling conflict as the reason.)

If Gomez stays in the Assembly for the cap-and-trade vote, it could be his last vote as a member of the majority party for some time.

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Rep. Grace Napolitano to miss House votes for several weeks while husband receives cancer treatment

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) will miss House votes while her husband, Frank Napolitano, undergoes chemotherapy and radiation to treat esophageal cancer, her spokesman said.

The congresswoman, 80, easily beat out former Democratic state Assemblyman Roger Hernandez of West Covina in the November election. She said in April that she would seek reelection in 2018, and her husband’s health does not change her plan to seek an 11th term, spokesman Jerry O’Donnell said.

Napolitano has missed the last two weeks of House votes, though she’s working some from the district, and is expected to remain in California for several more weeks to care for her husband during the treatment, O’Donnell said. He did not know for sure how long Napolitano would be gone, but it is possible she might make it back for some votes during the seven-week-long treatment, he said.

Napolitano said by phone she will try to return if the House votes again on the GOP health care bill.

“I intend to be back at work soon,” Napolitano said.

The House leaves Friday for a one-week break and leaves again at the end of July for the August recess.

Napolitano suffered a minor stroke in 2016 that affected her ability to write and slightly slowed her walk.

For the record, 8:47 a.m.: An earlier version of this post identified the type of cancer Napolitano’s husband has as lung cancer. It is esophageal cancer.

8:47 a.m., June 27: This post has been updated with a quote from Napolitano.

2:45 p.m. This post has been updated to correct how many terms the congresswoman has served.

2:26 p.m. This post has been updated with more details about when Napolitano might return.

This post was originally published at 2:06 p.m.

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Sen. Kamala Harris makes her pick in California’s lieutenant governor’s race

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After a career in the majority, Jimmy Gomez prepares for life in the minority in Washington

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Congressman-elect Jimmy Gomez has spent his entire political career as a member of the majority party. When he’s sworn in as central and northeast Los Angeles’ newest member of Congress in the coming weeks, he’ll be the most junior Democrat — 194th out of 194 — in Congress.

He’ll have to find a path forward in a Congress dominated by the opposing party. Even if Democrats win back control, he’ll have hundreds of more senior and just as eager colleagues ahead of him in line.

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Rep. Maxine Waters focuses on GOP healthcare bill at packed town hall

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Rep. Maxine Waters, who spoke Saturday at a packed town hall meeting in Gardena, said she worries some Americans will be forced to do what her family did if the Republican healthcare bill passes.

Senate Republicans have pledged to pass a bill before the July Fourth holiday.

To illustrate why she believes everyone should have access to comprehensive healthcare, the Los Angeles Democrat said she and her 12 siblings never saw a physician or a dentist their entire childhood.

“I was born at home in St. Louis back in the day when it was hard for minorities to get into hospitals,” she said.

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This former Jeff Denham challenger won’t run again, but he’s launching a committee to elect Democrats

Two-time congressional challenger Michael Eggman says he won’t try for a third campaign against Republican Rep. Jeff Denham (Turlock), but he’s hoping to help Democrats running against the him.

Eggman, a beekeeper and farmer, announced Monday that he’s starting a political action committee to help oust Republicans in seven seats, including Denham’s in the Central Valley, which Democrats have targeted for 2018.

The committee, Red to Blue California, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission in March but so far hasn’t reported raising any money. Andrew Feldman, a spokesman for the PAC, said the group has taken in about $50,000 and its goal is to raise at least $7 million in the 2018 cycle. Eggman will serve as chair of the committee.

In a statement, Eggman said that while he lost last year, “I learned a heck of a lot on the way. Now as Donald Trump threatens to upend the very fabric of what makes our country great, I’m doing my part to join the resistance.”

In addition to Denham’s seat, the committee will target Republican Reps. Steve Knight (Palmdale), David Valadao (Hanford), Ed Royce (Fullerton), Mimi Walters (Irvine), Dana Rohrabacher (Huntington Beach) and Darrell Issa (Vista). All seven were reelected in districts won by Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.

The committee also plans to use some of the money to promote down-ballot candidates in each of the districts as a way of building a base of Democratic candidates.

Eggman, a beekeeper and farmer who received a rare endorsement from Barack Obama in the Democrats’ unsuccessful quest to take back the House last year, lost to Denham by 5% in November. Spending in that race topped $14 million.

Six Democrats have already filed to run in Denham’s 10th Congressional District, including Josh Harder, a venture capital executive whose campaign manager worked for Eggman in 2016.

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California Politics Podcast: There’s a powerful new ally of those who support a sanctuary state

Supporters of an ambitious California effort to limit law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities begin the week with a prominent new ally.

On this week’s California Politics Podcast, we take a look at the impact of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck endorsing the “sanctuary state” bill that’s now under consideration in Sacramento.

We also discuss the decision by Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) to run for governor, and how his conservative politics could have a big effect on how Republican voters view their choices in 2018.

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

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California won’t be passing a single-payer healthcare system any time soon — the plan is dead for this year

A high-profile effort to establish a single-payer healthcare system in California sputtered on Friday when Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) decided to shelve the proposal.

Rendon announced late Friday afternoon that the bill, SB 562 by state Sens. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), would not advance to a policy hearing in his house, dampening the measure’s prospect for swift passage this year.

“SB 562 was sent to the Assembly woefully incomplete,” Rendon said in a statement. “Even senators who voted for SB 562 noted there are potentially fatal flaws in the bill, including the fact it does not address many serious issues, such as financing, delivery of care, cost controls, or the realities of needed action by the Trump Administration and voters to make SB 562 a genuine piece of legislation.”

Rendon took pains to note that his action does not kill the bill entirely — because it is the first year of a two-year session, it could be revived next year.

But the move is nonetheless a major setback for legislation that has electrified the Democratic party’s progressive flank.

The California Nurses Assn., the bill’s sponsors and the state’s most vocal advocates for single-payer, blasted Rendon’s decision as “cowardly.”

“Acting in secret in the interests of the profiteering insurance companies late Friday afternoon abandons all those people already threatened by Congress and the Trump administration,” Deborah Burger, the union’s co-president, said in a statement.

Burger continued: “The people of California are counting on the Legislature to protect them now, not sometime next year, and as polls have shown Californians support this proposal by a wide majority. A solution to this health care emergency could be at hand; Speaker Rendon is standing in opposition.”

In a joint statement, Lara and Atkins, the measure’s authors, said they were “disappointed the robust debate about healthcare for all that started in the California Senate will not continue in the Assembly this year.”

“This issue is not going away,” they added.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who had signaled wariness about the proposal’s costs, said in a statement that Rendon “made the case that there’s clearly more work to do before anyone is in a position to vote on revamping California’s healthcare system.”

“I recognize the tremendous excitement behind the measure, but basic and fundamental questions remain unanswered,” Brown said.

Updated at 6:44 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment from Gov. Jerry Brown.

Updated at 5:38 p.m.: This article was updated to include comments from the California Nurses Assn. and the measure’s authors.

This article was originally published at 4:38 p.m.

Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report.

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California politicians are in Dallas despite new ban on state employees traveling to Texas

Sen. Ricardo Lara
Sen. Ricardo Lara
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A day after California banned state employees from going to Texas on official business, a group of politicians from the Golden State was in Dallas on Friday for a major conference.

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Thursday announced he was prohibiting state employees from traveling at state expense to Texas and three other states that he determined have approved laws that discriminate against gay and transgender people.

Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), who is openly gay, is among those attending the annual gathering of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). A spokesman said he is using his own money, not taxpayer funds. Lara voted for the bill that enacted the travel ban.

Lara felt participating in a panel discussion on immigration was important amid debate over Gov. Greg Abbott’s signage of a controversial immigration law that bans “sanctuary cities” for immigrants in the country illegally, spokesman Michael Soller said.

“Texas just passed one of the nation’s most anti-immigrant laws with Senate Bill 4, and California went down this road with Proposition 187 more than 20 years ago,” Lara said in a statement. “With LGBT and immigrant rights under assault across the country, I thought it was important to join other Latino leaders and show California’s example.”

Like Lara, West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John Duran made plans to attend the Dallas convention well before Becerra announced the travel ban, which does not apply to non-state employees.

Duran is the national chairman of NALEO and said the conference was scheduled for Dallas three years ago.

“I don’t know about the LGBT laws in Texas or AG Becerra’s call for a boycott -- I am not only LGBT but also Latino,” Duran said in an email, adding he is “very angry” over Texas’ SB 4, which requires law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials in enforcing immigration laws.

“I am here supporting my elected official colleagues in Texas from Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas who are joining together to sue the state of Texas,” Duran said. “Being a Californian who worked against Gov. Pete Wilson’s Prop 187 -- I have experiences and strategies to share with them.”

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Texas responds to California LGBT travel ban, saying Golden State firms ‘fleeing over taxation and regulation’

A day after California officials said they are banning state workers from traveling to Texas on official business, an aide to Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott returned a verbal volley claiming mistreatment of businesses.

On Thursday, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Texas and three other states were being put on a list of states that had adopted laws seen by Becerra as discriminatory to the LGBT community and therefore were off-limits for state-sponsored travel.

That drew a response Friday from John Wittman, Abbott’s press secretary.

“California may be able to stop their state employees, but they can’t stop all the businesses that are fleeing over taxation and regulation and relocating to Texas,” Wittman said.

Becerra put Texas on the travel-ban list after the governor signed HB 3859 last week. The new law allows foster care agencies to deny adoptions and services to children and parents based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Becerra said the measure allows agencies to discriminate against children in foster care and potentially disqualify LGBT families from the state’s foster and adoption system.

A spokesman for Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin also criticized California officials.

“It is fascinating that the very same West Coast liberals who rail against the President’s executive order, that protects our nation from foreign terrorists, have now contrived their own travel ban aimed at punishing states who don’t fall in lockstep with their far-left political ideology,” said Woody Maglinger, Bevin’s press secretary.

Updated at 1:35 pm to include comment from Woody Maglinger.

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Rep. Tom McClintock’s bill to streamline dam permits passes House largely on party lines

Dam permits would be funneled through a single federal agency in an effort to speed up new water storage projects under a bill that passed the House on Thursday.

Sponsored by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), the 233-180 vote was largely along partisan lines. Reps. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and six other Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the bill.

McClintock said the various local, state and federal agencies that must sign off on new projects don’t have to communicate or set deadlines, and often require redundant information from permit applicants, which can make the application process drag on for years and drive up costs.

“Dam applications can go on endlessly,” McClintock said after the vote. “A lot of these projects become cost prohibitive.”

He pointed to a dam project proposed by the town of Foresthill in his district as an example. Conflicting demands from several federal agencies about a plan to install a spillway gate on the dam at the Sugar Pine Reservoir have driven up the cost, he said. The project application is still under review.

“So a $2-million project that was a heavy lift for a little community, but within reach, becomes an $11-million cost-prohibitive boondoggle,” McClintock said.

Under the bill, the Bureau of Reclamation would coordinate with other federal agencies on all aspects of a dam application and set deadlines for deciding whether to approve a project.

Democrats who voted against the bill said the bureau would be able to set arbitrary deadlines for the at-times lengthy environmental reviews required for water projects, which could undermine reviews required by laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act.

“Fixing the process isn’t just about saving some headaches or a few hours of time. This is about making sure millions of people in California and across America have the water they need and deserve,” said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield).

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has filed similar legislation in the Senate, and McClintock said he is cautiously optimistic it will pass.

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California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra expands ban on government-sponsored travel to ‘discriminatory’ states

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Thursday that state employees will be prohibited from official travel to four additional states — Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota and Texas — based on his determination that they have enacted laws that are discriminatory toward sexual orientation and gender identification.

“Each of those states in the recent weeks have enacted legislation that may deprive some of the individuals of those states and individuals who visit those states of their constitutional rights,” Becerra said during a news conference in San Francisco.

The state Legislature approved a bill last year that prohibits state-sanctioned travel to North Carolina, Mississippi, Kansas, Tennessee and other states that have laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The measure was in response to a North Carolina bill that overturned an ordinance in the city of Charlotte that allowed transgender people to use public restrooms based on the gender with which they most identify.

“There are consequences to discrimination,” Becerra said. “Restricting state-sponsored travel is a consequence.”

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Gov. Jerry Brown says Senate healthcare bill has ‘same stench’ as House version

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California’s doctors in Congress don their white coats to criticize GOP healthcare bill

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Travis Allen, a conservative and controversial Orange County lawmaker, jumps into California governor’s race

Conservative Orange County Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) is jumping into California’s 2018 race for governor, a move that could splinter the GOP vote in what promises to be a crowded and competitive race.

Travis, elected to the Legislature in 2012, said he decided to run because of the years of “wasteful spending and dictatorial policies pushed by Jerry Brown and the Sacramento Democrats.”

“I am running to be the next governor of California to take back our state for the forgotten ordinary citizens of California, who will no longer tolerate the squandering of our incredible natural abundance of people, economy, and resources by limousine liberals beholden to ravenous public sector union bosses and extremist environmentalists,” Travis said in a statement announcing his campaign.

Outspoken and controversial, Travis has filed a ballot measure to repeal the recently approved gas tax and sponsored legislation requiring voters to show photo ID.

Allen has faced criticism for claiming that a new law that barred police from arresting people under 18 for soliciting sex or loitering with intent to commit prostitution was an effort to “legalize” child prostitution. The purpose of the law was to treat minors as victims of sex trafficking rather than offenders.

Allen, 43, worked as a certified financial planner before he ran for the Legislature. His Assembly district includes all or portions of Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Garden Grove.

Allen will face stiff competition from fellow Republican John Cox, a Rancho Santa Fe venture capitalist who already has put $3 million of his own money into his campaign. Former GOP Assemblyman David Hadley of Manhattan Beach also is exploring a run, and former Los Angeles Rams football player Rosey Grier announced plans to jump into the race but thus far has not established an official campaign.

The race also has attracted a cadre of Democratic heavyweights, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang. Delaine Eastin, a former state legislator and state schools’ chief, is also running.

In California, Democrats hold a 19-percentage point advantage over Republicans in voter registration, a strong head wind against GOP candidates running for statewide office.

Because of the large field of Democrats in the race, a Republican could have a good shot of finishing in the top two in the June 2018 primary if they can put together GOP support. But Allen’s entry into the race could divide Republican voters, reducing the odds of a GOP candidate making it to the November general election.

The first- and second-place finishers in the primary advance to the general election regardless of their party.

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Pelosi on rumbles for new leadership: ‘I’m worth the trouble, quite frankly’

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday dismissed calls from some in her party who say it’s time for her to step aside.

A handful of Democrats have publicly said that after losing four special elections since January, especially a race in the Atlanta suburbs earlier this week, and failing to regain the majority in the House in the last four national elections, their party needs new leadership in the House. Others have privately said Pelosi weighs down Democrats and could prevent the party from retaking the House in the upcoming midterm elections.

In her weekly news conference, the San Francisco lawmaker called herself a “master legislator” and a “strategic, politically astute leader” who can raise a lot of money and has experience winning a majority in Congress.

With Republicans controlling both chambers, and President Trump in the White House, now isn’t the right time for new leadership, she said.

“I’m worth the trouble, quite frankly,” she said. “I love the fray.”

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Coastal panel spawned by 1930s oil scandal now a player in governor’s race

(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

When John Chiang joined the State Lands Commission, it quickly became a platform to showcase his environmental record, starting with his 2007 vote to block construction of a shipping terminal for liquefied natural gas in Ventura County.

The commission has served the same purpose for Gavin Newsom, who often uses his seat on the panel to remind Californians that he opposes offshore oil drilling.

Now that both Chiang and Newsom are running for governor, they are drawing rare attention to the little-known but powerful State Lands Commission, which oversees 4 million acres of land beneath California waters.

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Ballot measure to expand L.A. County Board of Supervisors advances

State Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, wants to expand the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from five to seven members. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press
State Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, wants to expand the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from five to seven members. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press
( Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors would be expanded from five to seven members and an elected chief executive post would be created under a measure recommended Wednesday by a state Senate panel despite opposition from the county.

Two members of the county’s 2015-16 civil grand jury testified that the group felt the current government is inadequate for a county of more than 10 million residents. They said that if the county was a state, it would be the eighth-largest state in the country based on population.

“The board is too small to adequately serve the diverse needs of county residents,” grand jury member Molly Milligan told the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, before its 5-1 vote to recommend Senate Constitutional Amendment 12. The proposed statewide ballot measure was introduced by Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia).

The proposal was opposed by Phyllis Marshall, the chief legislative representative for Los Angeles County, who noted that the proposal would allow voters statewide to decide the governance structure for one county.

“Voters in other counties do not have sufficient knowledge to vote on a constitutional amendment to change the governing structure of Los Angeles County,” Marshall told the panel before the measure was sent to another policy panel on its way to a possible full Senate vote.

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Kimberly Ellis blames Democratic Party ‘hacks’ for losses in Tuesday’s congressional races

Kimberly Ellis
Kimberly Ellis
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Kimberly Ellis, who has challenged the results of the California Democratic Party leadership election she lost, blamed party “establishment hacks” who are the “worst in the biz” for losses in congressional races in Georgia and South Carolina on Tuesday.

Ellis, a progressive Bay Area Democrat who tapped into a wellspring of disaffected Bernie Sanders backers, on Tuesday night sent a tweet saying that it was “time for a new coalition.”

That drew a sharp rebuke from veteran Democratic operative Bob Mulholland, who has criticized Ellis for not conceding.

Ellis blamed her narrow May loss to Eric Bauman for state Democratic Party chairperson on voting irregularities. Ellis, who lost the race by 62 votes,has called on the party to conduct an independent audit of the election.

Bauman rejected that request, saying the party already has a process in place to review contested elections. The party’s compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former chairman John Burton’s tenure, is currently reviewing the election.

On Friday, Bauman announced that the party hired the law firm of Olson Hagel & Fishburn LLC to “oversee, advise and counsel” the commission during the inquiry.

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These legislators are trying to make sure Jimmy Gomez’s replacement in the Assembly is a woman

As soon as Congressman-elect Jimmy Gomez announced he was running for Congress, his Assembly colleague Cristina Garcia got to work.

Garcia, a legislator from Bell Gardens who became chair of the Women’s Legislative Caucus in December, called Gomez, other Assembly members, and labor and environmental groups to make it clear: If Gomez won the 34th Congressional District and vacated his Assembly seat, her priority would be electing a woman in his place.

With Gomez headed to Washington after his June 6 win, Garcia said it’s time to put her group’s plan into action.

“It’s simple,” said Garcia in a recent interview. “As long as we don’t have parity, we’re going to fight at every opportunity to try to get another woman in office.”

Women hold 17 out of 80 seats in the state Assembly and nine of 40 of the state Senate seats.

On Wednesday morning, the Democratic arm of the women’s legislative caucus announced it was endorsing Wendy Carrillo, a Democrat who ran in the 34th District primary against Gomez, and who is the only woman running to replace him so far.

“I am impressed by her ongoing activism for environmental justice, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants and social justice movements that are the bedrocks of a progressive democracy and welcome the tenacity she will bring to further promote these issues in the state Legislature with a woman’s perspective,” Garcia said in a statement.

Eight other candidates have filed to run for or have announced campaigns for Gomez’s 51st Assembly District. The election date and its accompanying filing deadlines have not yet been set, mainly because Gomez has not stepped down, so another woman could still jump in.

But Garcia is hoping her caucus’ announcement will head that off.

“If the 34th Congressional District race is going to teach us any lessons, it’s that we don’t have the luxury of having multiple women split the field,” Garcia said.

More than a dozen women ran in the crowded primary to replace Xavier Becerra in the central Los Angeles District. None of them won more than 10% of the vote.

So Garcia and her colleagues haven’t just been talking about their mission; they’ve been trying to shape the field of candidates, too. Garcia said she reached out to former 34th District hopefuls to gauge their interest, solicited names of potential female candidates from interest groups, and had conversations with half a dozen women who were considering jumping in.

Garcia said she didn’t discourage any women, but was up front with them about the challenges each might face. She’s also encouraged women who expressed interest to “work it out among themselves” in hopes that they could unite behind one female candidate.

It’s a somewhat new tactic for the women’s caucus, which has struggled to unite on political endorsements in the past and is hoping to flex more muscle in Sacramento.

“We are being more strategic now,” Garcia said. “It can’t just be like, ‘I like you and you have a great heart.’ That’s not good enough. You have to put in the work and be able to build a coalition and win.”

Carrillo said it was “unfortunate” that none of the women in the 34th District race made it past the primary. But, she added: “Men don’t get asked the question of whether they’re worried about splitting the vote.”

The outcome in the congressional primary, Carrillo said, had more to do with a lack of money flowing to many of the womens’ campaigns, something she hopes to remedy.

“I’ve learned a lot ... [about] just what it takes to build coalitions and how best to move forward in terms of having a strategy to win,” Carrillo said.

“Ultimately, the voters are going to decide based on issues,” Carrillo said. “I think that I bring a very unique perspective, having grown up in the district, in terms of advocating for labor and for education and for healthcare and all the issues that residents care for.”

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FOR THE RECORD

June 21, 2:53 p.m.: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Cristina Garcia became chair of the Women’s Legislative Caucus in January. She took over the position in December.

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Prompted by San Bernardino shooting, House passes bill to require reports to Congress after terrorist attacks

Evacuated workers pray on the fairway of the San Bernardino Golf Club shortly after the 2015 mass shooting at the nearby Inland Regional Center.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Intelligence agencies would have to make recommendations to Congress on how to stop the next domestic terrorist attack under a bill inspired by the 2015 San Bernardino shooting.

The bill, which passed the House on Tuesday without opposition, requires the Homeland Security secretary to submit a report to Congress within one year of a terrorist attack in the U.S. The report, which would be unclassified, must include details of what happened and recommendations for laws or policies that can be changed to prevent a similar attack. It would also include input from the attorney general, FBI director and the head of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), who represents San Bernardino, filed the bill about a year after the Dec. 2, 2015, shooting in which 14 people were killed and 22 were wounded by a married couple at the Inland Regional Center.

Aguilar told The Times that individual members of Congress shouldn’t have to press agencies for details about what happened after an attack.

“By nature every terrorist event is unique, and so we need something to prod the agencies to tell us why it’s unique and what we can do better,” Aguilar said. “There is no current requirement for the agencies to submit a report to Congress after a terrorist event. We think that it makes sense to do that and that it will help us learn from these events and become smarter about it.”

After the San Bernardino attack, the Justice Department worked with the Police Foundation, a Washington-based research group, to create a report, but it was aimed at training law enforcement on responding to an attack.

“We think there are more lessons to be learned, but that only happens when those agencies work with Congress on what we can change,” Aguilar said.

The bipartisan bill was backed by nine other Californians: Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley), Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro), David Valadao (R-Hanford), Jeff Denham (R-Turlock), Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine).

Aguilar said he is still working to line up a sponsor for the bill in the Senate.

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New super PAC targets seven California Republicans

Former Northern California Rep. Ellen Tauscher has launched a new super PAC targeting seven vulnerable Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation, hoping to aid the Democratic effort to win control of the House of Representatives in 2018.

Each Republican represents a district that backed Hillary Clinton in the November election.

On the Fight Back California PAC’s list are Reps. Jeff Denham of Turlock; David Valadao of Hanford; Steve Knight of Palmdale; Ed Royce of Fullerton; Mimi Walters of Irvine; Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and Darrell Issa of Vista.

Of those, the former congresswoman served with Issa, Royce and Rohrabacher.

“This isn’t personal,” Tauscher said. “But the fact is that I’m a Californian, and they don’t vote in the interest of my state.”

Tauscher represented Northern California’s 10th Congressional District for 14 years before becoming undersecretary of State during the Obama administration in 2009.

Katie Merrill, the PAC’s political strategist, said the campaign will target the Republicans’ records on issues that directly affect voters in the district, such as the GOP’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“We intend to soften the ground. So when the Democratic nominee emerges ... they are facing a significantly weakened incumbent,” Merrill said.

Updated at 4:02 p.m.: This story was updated to include a comment from Tauscher.

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Overhaul of California’s state tax board plagued by confusion, members say

Board of Equalization Chairwoman Diane Harkey says there is confusion around the reorganization of the board.
(Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

State tax board members on Tuesday said there remain a lot of unanswered questions about how their agency will transfer many of its duties to two new offices, a reorganization approved last week by the state Legislature in response to problems with the panel.

About 4,400 of the state Board of Equalization’s 4,800 employees will be transferred to a new California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which will take over collection of sales and excise taxes, and an office of administrative law judges who will take over taxpayer appeals. The change was outlined by the board’s executive director, David Gau, at a meeting with the panel Tuesday.

“I don’t think anything is easy,” Board Chairwoman Diane Harkey said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I think it’s going to be expensive. There is a lot of confusion.”

Board member George Runner said there are questions about whether he can continue to hold educational events for taxpayers, while board member Jerome Horton said he wants to know whether he can continue to advocate for taxpayers.

“There are still some issues they need to work out,” Horton said.

Harkey said new bills will have to be approved with clarifying language on some issues. For instance, the newly approved legislation takes away the board’s power to hear appeals after July 1 even though lawmakers want the board to continue handling the hearings until the new administrative law judges are operating Jan. 1.

In addition, the board employs civil service workers who are trained for jobs that will no longer exist with the board, she said, adding that the new department is supposed to begin operating July 1.

“This is all still in flux. It’s a huge step to take in a couple of weeks,” Harkey said.

Marybel Batjer, secretary of the California Government Operations Agency, has addressed the board employees, assuring them that they will be able to shift to jobs in the new department. She told The Times on Tuesday that planning has already begun for the new department, including the early stages of recruitment of its administrative staff.

Meanwhile, board representatives, including Harkey, confirmed that investigators from the state attorney general’s office have begun interviewing agency employees after Gov. Jerry Brown called for a probe into whether staff and resources were mishandled by the agency.

“We’re just hearing that they are around,” Harkey said of investigators. “I think it scares everybody.”

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Sister of Sen. Kamala Harris is hired as a political analyst by MSNBC

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California’s Clean Air Act waiver should be yanked, Trump’s former environmental advisor says

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The head of President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency may not be prepared to battle California over air regulations, but the man who led Trump’s transition team for the department is ready.

Myron Ebell, who works at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington and helped devise Trump’s environmental agenda, said California should not be allowed to set its own standards for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes.

The state has that authority under a Clean Air Act waiver granted by President Obama, one of dozens that have been issued over the years.

“The waiver has to go, in my view,” Ebell told journalists on Monday at a training program organized by the National Press Foundation.

The problem, he said, is that the California regulations are a backdoor attempt to regulate fuel economy, a power that’s reserved for the federal government.

California said it would push forward on greenhouse gas rules earlier this year even though the Trump administration has opened the door to rolling them back on the federal level.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had previously suggested that the Trump administration could try to revoke California’s waiver, but during a recent Capitol Hill hearing he said it wasn’t currently under review.

Ebell has denied mainstream science on global warming. But apart from the waiver he wants to see revoked, he told journalists that he didn’t have a problem with California trying to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.

“I believe in competitive federalism,” he said.

The only problem, Ebell said, is whether Gov. Jerry Brown tries to conduct his own foreign policy and sign international treaties.

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A new audit says some California agencies sidestepped competitive bidding rules on contracts

Two California agencies in charge of high-tech projects failed to provide proper oversight for billions of dollars in contracts awarded without competitive bidding, according to a state audit released Tuesday.

State law requires the Department of General Services and the California Department of Technology (CDT) to use the competitive bidding process whenever possible “to ensure fair competition and eliminate favoritism, fraud, and corruption,” State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The investigation examined a sample of those contracts and found nine noncompetitive requests valued at almost $1 billion that “agencies likely could have avoided had they engaged in sufficient planning,” Howle wrote.

The auditors cited approval of a request by the California High-Speed Rail Authority for a $3-million noncompetitive contract amendment to provide financial consulting services. The proposal was submitted 17 days before the existing contract was set to expire.

“When justifying its noncompetitive request, High-Speed Rail stated that the financial consulting services were critical to its mission and that the vendor’s skills were ‘specialized and not widely available.’ However, it did not provide a valid reason why this vendor alone could meet the state’s needs, as financial consulting services are not unique,” the audit found.

In all, auditors estimated that the state awarded at least $44 billion in noncompetitive contracts of more than $1 million each during the five fiscal years ending June 30, 2016.

The two agencies have the power to enforce contract rules but “they rarely employed them, allowing agencies to continue inappropriately using noncompetitive requests,” the audit concluded.

State workers also allegedly wrote reports in ways that misled about which projects were competitively bid. In one case, a $3-million contract was identified as competitively bid, to which an additional $31 million in noncompetitive contracts was added through nine amendments.

Amy Tong, director of the California Deptartment of Technology, agreed with the auditor’s recommendations, saying the agency “believes that the recommendations will strengthen CDT’s oversight of information technology and telecommunication procurements, especially those acquired through the noncompetitive request process.”

Daniel C. Kim, director of the Department of General Services, also agreed to improve the process, writing to auditors that his agency “will take appropriate action to address the issues presented in the report.”

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Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer has a big decision to make

Tom Steyer at a Los Angeles high school in 2014.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

For months, billionaire Democratic donor and environmental activist Tom Steyer has been acting like a candidate running for governor – hobnobbing with Democratic loyalists, putting out a position paper on income inequality and continuing his aggressive efforts to combat climate change.

Steyer says he’s still considering jumping into the race. But he may have another target on his radar.

Steyer has starting mounting his own challenge to President Trump, going so far as to call for impeachment and use his nonprofit, NextGen Climate, to encourage citizens to lobby their congressional representatives for it.

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Kamala Harris celebrates Warriors win with beer she won in a bet from an Ohio senator

Begrudgingly wearing Steph Curry’s No. 30 jersey, and trash talking throughout, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio delivered Ohio beer to Sen. Kamala Harris on Tuesday.

The two Democrats bet each other some local beer that their home state teams would win the NBA championship, and after the Golden State Warriors won in five games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was time for Brown to pay up.

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‘An affront to our democratic system:’ Feinstein and Harris join Democrats’ healthcare protest on Senate floor

Watch live as the Senate talk-a-thon to protest healthcare bill that could re-write Obamacare continues.

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Gavin Newsom wins backing of former Democratic chair in race for California governor

See who is running for governor of California and what’s next in the 2018 race.

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Lobbying firm fined $4,000 for violating gift limit buying dinner for former state Sen. Ronald Calderon

Ron Calderon, shown in while still in the senate in 2014, was treated to a dinner by a lobbying firm that violated a gift limit.
( (Rich Pedroncelli / AP))

Mercury Public Affairs has agreed to pay $4,000 in fines to California’s ethics watchdog agency for violating the $10 gift limit on lobbying firms when it provided dinners worth $200 to former state Sen. Ronald Calderon and his wife.

In October, Calderon was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in a public corruption case unrelated to the Mercury dinner.

The fines proposed against Mercury by the enforcement staff of the state Fair Political Practices Commission stem from violating the $10 gift limit and failing to report that Calderon’s wife also received a dinner, according to the investigative report.

Calderon and his wife attended an April 2013 dinner paid for by Mercury at Mastro’s in Beverly Hills. Also present was former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a non-lobbyist partner of Mercury, and four other unidentified people.

The violation of the state Political Reform Act was found by a random audit by the state Franchise Tax Board.

“Mercury’s $200 gift to Sen. Calderon, while not extravagant, significantly exceeded the gift limit,” the investigative report said. “A central purpose of the act is to prevent improper influence by lobbyists and the act’s strict gift limit on lobbying firms is intended to effectuate that purpose.”

The commission will vote on the fines on June 29.

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California bill aims to revive broadband privacy rules that were killed by Trump and Congress

A woman works on her laptop in the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library.
( Mark Lennihan / Associated Press)

Several months ago, President Trump signed into law a repeal of sweeping privacy regulations limiting what broadband providers can do with customer data. Now, an Assembly Democrat is trying to resuscitate those rules for Californians.

Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) unveiled a measure on Monday that would largely enshrine the sputtered federal regulations into California state law. The bill would require Internet service providers, such as Verizon, Comcast and AT&T, to get permission from customers before using, selling or permitting access to data about their browsing history.

Such restrictions were crafted by the Federal Communications Commission under the Obama administration. But the FCC under Trump sought to roll back those rules before they went into effect. Congress approved the repeal in March, and the president signed it.

“Congress and the administration went against the will of the vast majority of Americans when they revoked the FCC rules,” Chau said at a news conference, adding that with his measure, AB 375, “California is going to restore what Washington stripped away.”

California is the 20th state to introduce a bill to restore privacy rules in the wake of the action in Washington. Supporters of the bill acknowledged that they’ll face stiff opposition from Internet service providers and a possible challenge over whether these state-level regulations conflict with federal law.

Ernesto Falcon, legislative counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said he was confident the proposed bill would not be preempted by federal law, because communications law has traditionally allowed a division of responsibilities between the state and federal government.

Joining Chau at a Capitol news conference was an array of privacy advocates and consumer groups boosting the bill.

“AB 375 means that no Californian will be forced to pay for access to the Internet with their money and their privacy rights,” said Becca Cramer, legislative coordinator for the American Civil Liberties Union of California.

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Gov. Jerry Brown and California legislators are granted pay raises by citizens panel

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, left, Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León appear in Riverside in April to call for gas tax hike. All three are getting raises.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown, state legislators and other state elected officials were granted 3% pay raises Monday by a state panel that noted that it is slightly less than the salary increase that was recently given to rank-and-file state workers.

Anthony Barkett, one member of the state Citizens Compensation Commission, said the increase was reasonable given his concern about the state’s unfunded liabilities for pensions and the potential for “catastrophic” budget effects if Obamacare is repealed.

“I’m for a moderate increase again,” Barkett told the panel, adding, “Our legislators need to address these bigger problems.”

The action, which takes effect December 4, raises salaries for California officials that mostly were already higher than the pay of counterparts in other states.

Gov. Brown’s pay will jump from $190,100 to $195,803, which makes him the highest paid governor in the country. The second highest salary is the $193,304 paid to the governor of Pennsylvania, but Gov. Tom Wolf does not accept the salary.

California’s legislators will see their salaries increase from $104,115 to $107,238. They also get $183 per day in tax free per diem payments to cover expenses for each day they are in session in Sacramento.

The commission, which is appointed by the governor, also gave 3% raises to 11 other constitutional officers, including the attorney general, lieutenant governor and treasurer.

“Our data shows our legislators and constitutional officers’ salaries are greater than they are in most states,” Commission Chairman Thomas Dalzell said.

Even without the raise, California lawmakers received the highest base salary in the country. The second highest base salary is the $86,479 that goes to lawmakers in Pennsylvania.

The Legislature and governor recently granted 4% raises effective July 1 to the largest union of state rank-and-file workers.

The timing of the raises for lawmakers, coming two months after legislators voted to raise gas taxes and vehicle fees by $5.2 billion annually, was questioned by Lew Uhler, head of the California-based National Tax Limitation Committee.

“They raised our taxes and spent our money and they seek a reward for that? Come on,” said a skeptical Uhler.

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Democratic volunteers take to the streets of Rep. Steve Knight’s district to register voters

How badly do Democrats want to oust Rep. Steve Knight?

Rep. Karen Bass, a Westside Democrat, is already paying for buses and vans to ferry volunteers over the Sepulveda Pass into Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and the Antelope Valley to reinforce local Democrats as they start up voter registration drives. Organizers say they have registered 80 voters over three trips so far.

California may offer Democrats a lopsided advantage as a whole, but this patch of the state — where the suburban sprawl of Los Angeles comes to an end and the Mojave Desert begins — is still a bastion for the Republican Party.

The volunteers are in no short supply. Many are political neophytes newly invigorated by opposition to President Trump and itching for something to do.

“In L.A., you kind of feel like you are in this helpless political bubble,” Zoe Ward, a 32-year-old student in UCLA’s film directing master’s program, said after scouring Palmdale for new voters on a recent Saturday. “Coming out here, it feels like my minutes and hours go further.”

Two weekend trips into the district this spring show the task is grueling but uplifting work for some Democrats feeling guilty that they did not do enough in 2016 to help their party.

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Rep. Devin Nunes says it’s ‘critical’ for Republicans to keep winning in Orange County

As Orange County faces questions about its reputation as a Republican bastion, Rep. Devin Nunes told party donors on Saturday night that their pushback was key to fighting the majority Democrats’ power in the state.

“It is so critical for us to win here and keep winning here,” the Tulare Republican said.

Nunes was the keynote speaker of the Orange County GOP’s annual Flag Day fundraiser. The event was a testament to the vulnerability of some of his fellow Republicans — members of Congress who were reelected last fall but also saw Hillary Clinton win their districts.

Protesters greeted attendees on their way into the Hotel Irvine. And several of the lawmakers who are under pressure ahead of the 2018 midterm were at the fundraiser.

“If not for Orange County, I might be standing here, but it wouldn’t be as a congressman,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) told the crowd. His district straddles Orange and San Diego counties, and he was sent back to Congress by just 2,300 votes in November.

The gathering came at a time when the GOP brand is in peril in Orange County, where voters favored a Democrat for president for the first time since the Depression. Four Orange County House seats are key to Democratic efforts to retake Congress next year.

But the roughly 1,000 attendees were unfazed.

“Bring it on,” said Fred Whitaker, the county party chairman. He noted that national Democrats planned to set up an office nearby to challenge the vulnerable Republicans here. “We save those seats, we save the House, we do our part.”

About 100 people rallied across the street from the entrance to Hotel Irvine to protest the Orange County GOP annual Flag Day fundraiser in Irvine.
About 100 people rallied across the street from the entrance to Hotel Irvine to protest the Orange County GOP annual Flag Day fundraiser in Irvine.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Nunes also spoke about a recent $52-billion gas tax passed in Sacramento, which he argued should be the focus of a recall ballot effort. “It’s going to be up to folks like you to pass initiatives. We need to get some common sense back in the state.”

The congressman spent much of his remarks excoriating the media, including the Los Angeles Times. He suggested at one point that the media was partly responsible for the shooting at a GOP baseball practice this week that left Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana critically wounded.

“You could almost see this coming when it happened last week because the level of civil discourse has reached a point that I’ve never seen in my time in office,” he said when Whitaker asked him about the shooting. “And I think finally what manifested itself after the election is that you finally had the curtains come down on the relationship the Democratic Party and the extreme left have with the media, the universities, Hollywood, we could go on and on and on.

“What you’re seeing is a political party not willing to accept what happened in the last election,” Nunes continued. “Hopefully it’s a warning sign and hopefully the media will get back to at least pretending to do some real investigative work.”

Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, addressed the ongoing investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 elections, from which he has recused himself because he is under Ethics Committee investigation for his handling of classified material related to the inquiry.

“All the major papers in the country did a total character assassination on me because I was telling the truth – there was never any collusion between Donald Trump and the Russians,” he said. “Donald Trump and his agenda have stumbled out of the gate because you have an opposing political party develop a narrative, never let it go, continue to this day, and now we have a special counsel who, if you believe the leaks, is not looking at Russian collusion anymore. Was this an investigation in search of a crime?”

The audience cheered and applauded as Nunes spoke.

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Congressman grabs a guitar at Orange County fundraiser

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Republicans trumpet Janet Nguyen at fundraiser

California state Sen. Janet Nguyen
(Carl Costas / For The Times)

The Orange County GOP showcased state Sen. Janet Nguyen at its Saturday fundraiser in Irvine, having the Garden Grove Republican deliver the pledge.

Nguyen, a Vietnamese war refugee, was in the headlines this year when she was forcefully removed while trying to speak out on the Senate floor against the late Sen. Tom Hayden, one of the most outspoken opponents of the Vietnam War.

Democrats were forced to apologize after the dustup and Nguyen has gotten a lot of attention ever since.

More here, here and here.

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Protesters crash Orange County GOP fundraiser

Susan Wong, a registered nurse from Orange, and her husband, Jim, who uses a wheelchair, were among scores of protesters on hand to greet Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) and other GOP lawmakers who gathered Saturday at the Orange County Republican Party’s annual Flag Day fundraiser.

“It’s all the deplorables in one basket,” said Wong, 64, outside of Hotel Irvine. “You just can’t stay home. I’m horrified every day. Instead of yelling at the television I’m going to come out and protest.”

Wong said she has seen a sharp decline in the number of uninsured people at the community college clinic where she works, progress she fears will be undone if President Trump is successful in his campaign promise to repeal former President Obama’s signature healthcare law. And she worries about the impact on her husband, a former research biologist with Parkinson’s disease who is on disability.

“I’m a nurse. I know what happens when people don’t have insurance,” she said.

Many of the protesters attended the event because they are trying to oust their representatives in Congress as well as other GOP members from California.

Nunes, the keynote speaker who is from the Central Valley and leads the House Intelligence Committee, has been at the center of controversy because of his handling of confidential information in the probe of Russian interference in the November election.

He will be introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), one of a handful of Republican members in California who represent districts that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. These elected officials are major targets for Democrats as they try to retake the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.

Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Mimi Walters of Irvine and Darrell Issa of Vista all have purchased tables at the fundraiser.

Their critics complain about infrequent meetings with their constituents and have been calling for town halls.

Lulu Hammad, 42, held a poster featuring pictures of all five Republicans reading, “Missing Persons. Have you seen them? If found, please notify their congressional districts.”

The Aliso Viejo resident, a lawyer turned stay-at-home mom, said she is among the protestors who have repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to meet Rohrabacher at his district office. She also said she tried to ask a question about healthcare on a tele-town hall but was hung up on. The lawmaker is holding a birthday fundraiser with a $250 entry fee next weekend, Hammad said. She feels as if the only way she could reach her congressman is by paying.

“I can’t really get a hold of him,” Hammad said.

Throughout the protest, there was talk of impeaching Trump and Russian interference in the election.

Nettie Bryan, 40, of Cypress held a sign that read, “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” a reference to a joke that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield made behind closed doors among fellow Republicans in 2016.

Bryan said she was most drawn to the event to urge GOP members of Congress to hold town halls to hear from voters.

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California Politics Podcast: The state budget deal explained

Even in a time when Democrats settle their differences quickly when it comes to California’s state budget, this year’s finale was marked by a series of bitter political debates.

On this week’s episode of the California Politics Podcast, we take a look at that intense debate over proposals to change the duties of a state tax board and the rules governing recall elections. We also step back and look at the final policy agreements on healthcare funding and social services programs.

And for our second topic, we offer up a list of California politicians who have found their way into the spotlight during the early days of President Trump’s administration.

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

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These Californians made decisive plays in the Congressional Baseball Game

Eight California Democrats scored runs or made decisive plays that contributed to the Democrats 11-2 win at the Congressional Baseball Game Thursday night.

The event, played annually at Nationals Park, sold a record 25,000 tickets and raised $1 million for charity the day after a gunman who appeared to be targeting Republicans unleashed a spray of bullets on a practice field in Alexandria, Va. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and three others were shot.

Freelance politics and baseball writer Nathaniel Rakich keeps unofficial statistics for the game, and shared highlights from the California delegation with The Times. In all, lawmakers from this state scored 6 of the 11 runs.

Second baseman Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) was the lead off hitter for the Democrats. He scored a run, stole a base and made a double play.

Ruiz spent a lot of time in the batting cages getting ready for the game this year “and learned how to be patient with my self out there on the plate, and just waited for it to come across the plate, and bam,” he said after the game. “That’s what the lead off hitter needs to do, is get the momentum going early on so we can take the lead.”

The only two women who played in the game represent Southern California districts — Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-San Pedro) and Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier). Both seemed to be fan favorites, with the Democratic side of the stadium screaming and standing whenever they came to bat.

Barragán batted in a runner in the sixth inning.

“Every kid who plays in Little League, including me, dreams of the opportunity to play ball on a big league field,” Barragán said in a statement.

Other highlights included:

  • Third baseman Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) walked once, struck out once and scored a run.
  • Pinch runner Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles) scored a run.
  • Pinch runner Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) stole three bases and scored two runs.
  • Right fielder Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel) walked once, was hit by a pitch and scored one run.
  • Center fielder Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) hit a double and batted three runs in.
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California has a long way to go in its fight against climate change

When it comes to California’s contribution to climate change, no challenge looms larger than cars.

New figures from state regulators show that transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions at 37% of the total, and passenger vehicles make up the largest chunk of that sector.

And even though the state has been reducing its emissions, tailpipe pollution increased 4.4% in 2015, the most recent statistics available.

We crunched the numbers on California’s greenhouse gases and the state’s progress toward its goals on climate change. Dive in.

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California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra announces probe of drugmakers over epidemic of opioid deaths

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Citing an epidemic of opioid overdose deaths across the country, state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Friday that California is joining with more than 26 other states to investigate whether drugmakers have used illegal marketing and sales practices.

Becerra said the probe would focus on whether drug manufacturers have played a role in creating or extending the opioid problem.

Makers of opioids have been under heat in recent years as the addiction crisis has intensified. A 2016 Times investigation revealed that Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin, knew its drug’s painkilling effects might not last as long as long as marketed, which could potentially promote addiction. The investigation also found Purdue Pharma collected extensive evidence of criminal trafficking of its drug but in many cases did not alert law enforcement.

In 2015, nearly 2,000 people in California died from opioid overdoses, and there were about 4,000 emergency department visits for overdoses. That same year, doctors wrote nearly 25 million opioid prescriptions, Becerra said, citing the California Opioid Overdose Surveillance Dashboard.

“The opioid crisis is a serious public health threat that is taking the lives of too many Californians, destroying our communities, ripping apart families, and impacting the work of law enforcement,” Becerra said in a statement.

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Dianne Feinstein says she’s concerned Trump will try to fire Mueller, Rosenstein

Tweets sent by President Trump have Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) concerned that he will try to fire the special prosecutor appointed to investigate Russian attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election, and the deputy attorney general who appointed him.

“The message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him and that anyone who thinks otherwise will be fired. That’s undemocratic on its face and a blatant violation of the president’s oath of office,” Feinstein said in a statement Friday.

“It’s becoming clear to me that the president has embarked on an effort to undermine anyone with the ability to bring any misdeeds to light, be that Congress, the media or the Justice Department. The Senate should not let that happen. We’re a nation of laws that apply equally to everyone, a lesson the president would be wise to learn,” she said.

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What’s the future of Uber and Lyft in the Legislature?

Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) is one of the leaders in the Legislature who is thinking about the future of Uber, Lyft and the ride-hailing industry. Low, who co-founded the Legislature’s tech and millennial caucuses, now has a bill aimed at easing regulations for taxis to make them more competitive.

We spoke with Low about his motivations for supporting ride-hailing and whether the state is set up to oversee all the changes, including autonomous vehicles, heading to the industry.

“I do think it’s an appropriate time to engage in a wider conversation about the vision of California in the transportation space,” Low said. “We are very much engaged in that conversation. But we are also guilty of being slow at that process and not keeping up to date with that.”

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California jails won’t be able to restrict face-to-face family visits for inmates under state budget deal

A county jail inmate uses the phone.
A county jail inmate uses the phone.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

California county jails will not be able to restrict face-to-face family visits for inmates under a budget plan approved Thursday by state lawmakers.

The measure prohibits a local detention facility that offered in-person visitation as of Jan. 1, from converting to video-only visitation.

Over the last five years, an increasing number of jails and prisons across California and nationwide have moved to offer Skype-like video visits through phone and computer screens. But some jails have used the video systems to replace on-site meetings that have traditionally occurred through a glass window.

Under the budget bill approved Thursday, counties would not be allowed to charge for the first hour of video visitation or to charge at all when that video visitation takes place at the jail.

Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed similar efforts in a bipartisan bill last year, pointing to the development of new state agency regulations under way. But at a joint legislative oversight hearing in February, public safety subcommittee members scrutinized the new rules, saying they went against the governor’s directive and the state’s rehabilitation goals.

An initial budget proposal would have required all but eight jails to provide space for in-person visitations.

12:06 p.m.: This article was corrected to reflect the updated budget proposal. An earlier version of this story stated that state agencies would have to provide in-person visitation. But the updated proposal says they will not be allowed to ban it.

This article was originally published at 7:15 p.m.

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California Legislature votes to strip key powers from state tax board hit by scandal

State Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) led an effort Thursday to pass a bill overhauling the state's troubled tax board.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

The state Legislature on Thursday voted to strip the state’s scandal-plagued tax board of most of its duties and powers, sending the governor a bill that would transfer taxpayer appeals hearings to a new office of administrative law judges.

The state Board of Equalization has been hit by a series of scandals, including audits showing that it misallocated hundreds of millions of sales tax dollars to the wrong accounts and that elected board members opened field offices and transferred workers without authority to do so.

Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said the measure will make structural reforms to address “significant issues of mismanagement and misuse of budget resources and disregard of directives of this Legislature.”

The measure, which also shifts oversight of sales and excise taxes to a new collection office, was sent by the Senate and Assembly to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has told lawmakers he supports the change.

Republicans including Sen. Jeff Stone of Temecula said the action takes away an important process for small businesses that want to appeal tax judgments. Stone said the legislative maneuver used to pass the change was an “abuse” of a process not meant to make sweeping policy change.

Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) said the bill violates the state Constitution and policies restricting how the Legislature can make major structural changes to state departments. That legal issue could be grounds for a ballot measure to restore the board’s powers, said board member George Runner.

In the Assembly, Budget Committee Chairman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) said having three panels of administrative law judges hearing appeals will greatly speed up the process, which he noted took 15 years for one case.

“No taxpayer should have to wait 15 years to get their day in court,” Ting said.

Republican Assemblyman Jay Obernolte of Big Bear Lake said having elected board members hear tax appeals allows voters to get help from someone independent from the state bureaucracy and hold officials accountable.

“This bill will eliminate that very important taxpayer protection,” Obernolte said.

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Lawmakers approve changes to recall elections after an angry debate over political gamesmanship

State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) listens to debate on the state budget on June 15.
(Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)

A controversial bill to revise the rules of special recall elections against lawmakers was approved by both houses of the Legislature on Thursday, but not before angry accusations over the pending recall effort against an Orange County state senator.

The bill, one of 17 pieces of legislation related to a new state budget, would add new procedures to the process by which a recall election is certified for removing an incumbent state official. It allows voters up to 30 days to remove their signature from a recall petition, if they change their mind about supporting it. It would also create a new process to review the costs associated with a recall election.

Both changes would slow down the scheduling of a recall election, and could therefore benefit state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), the subject of a recall attempt in the wake of his vote for a $52-billion transportation bill that included a gas tax increase.

In both the state Senate and Assembly, the bill was the subject of scathing attacks by Republicans who accused majority Democrats of shamelessly manipulating the budget process.

“I haven’t seen one Democratic member get up in support of this bill, because you can’t defend it,” said Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).

Other Republicans blasted the proposal because it was included in a budget bill that also benefited veterans. The effect, said Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia), was to “bastardize the process” of passing a budget.

Democrats counterpunched by railing against the Newman recall effort and signature gathering efforts. They accused Republicans of attempting to deceive voters in Newman’s Southern California district by casting the effort as a way to repeal the gas tax that will take effect in November.

It says “repeal the car tax,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) of the signs being used by some signature gatherers working on the effort against Newman. “Now you sign that, you’re not repealing the car tax.”

Newman, who abstained from voting on the bill, delivered a sharp speech critiquing the effort to remove him from an office he won last November.

“It’s a pretext of the most cynical and calculating kind,” he said.

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Nearly $50 million in the California state budget will go to expanded legal services for immigrants

About 100 people demonstrate outside a federal immigration court in Los Angeles.
(Michael Balsamo / AP)

California state lawmakers approved $45 million in a state budget plan to expand legal services for immigrants, a response to the Trump administration’s call to increase deportations.

The funds, greater than what Gov. Jerry Brown earmarked in May and which will be an ongoing allocation through 2020, will go to a coalition of legal services agencies, immigrant rights groups and faith-based organizations called One California.

The $30-million legal assistance program, run by the state Department of Social Services, was first assembled to help thousands of immigrants apply for naturalization and former President Obama’s deferred action programs. With the additional money, providers will now also be able to help immigrants fighting deportation or removal proceedings.

Here’s how $183 billion in taxpayer dollars will be spent in California’s new budget>>

In a statement, the coalition called it a modest and reasonable investment to bolster much needed relief services.

“While the federal government proposes billions of dollars to tear communities apart through mass deportations, California takes another critical step on immigration to protect against the devastating consequences of deportations,” it said.

Improving legal defense for immigrants has been a significant part of a legislative package proposed by Democrats, in an attempt to assist more than 2 million people living in the state illegally. Among the proposals was a bill by Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) to create a $12-million legal defense program for immigrants facing deportation who do not have a violent felony on their records.

What you need to know about California’s ‘sanctuary state’ bill and how it would work>>

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for his office said he would no longer be pushing the bill through the legislative process in its current form.

The budget preserves a separate $3 million allotment for an unaccompanied minors program, which was created in 2014 to provide legal aid to an unprecedented number of children arriving alone at the U.S.-Mexico border from Central America.

“Today’s vote confirms our responsibility to protect the due process rights of people living within our borders which is fundamental to our democracy,” Hueso, chair of the Latino Caucus, said in a statement.

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California’s tobacco tax spending plan, a major sticking point in the state budget, easily clears Legislature

(Jan Pitman / Getty Images)

The squabble over how to spend around $1.3 billion in new tobacco tax revenues in California was one of the most prolonged standoffs of the budget season. But on Thursday, the compromise plan easily cleared the Legislature.

Under the spending plan, $465 million will go toward increased payments for doctors and dentists who see patients in the Medi-Cal program. Those healthcare providers had envisioned getting more money when they backed Proposition 56 last year, but Gov. Jerry Brown had resisted upping reimbursements at all for most of the budget season.

Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans sided with the medical groups, arguing that voters had backed the tax in order to expand access to Medi-Cal and that higher payments to doctors and dentists would encourage them to participate in the program.

But while Democrats appeared satisfied by the compromise — which also included $50 million to increase payments to family planning providers such as Planned Parenthood — most Republicans said more money should have gone to increase reimbursement rates.

“The will of the voters is being usurped by the governor,” state Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) said.

In a subtle jab at Republicans, who largely did not back the $2-per-pack tax hike last fall, state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) thanked those of his colleagues that “endorsed and campaigned” for the initiative. He called the higher payments in the spending plan “a substantial step forward.”

Still, some Democrats were not fully enthusiastic with the final figure. Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) said he was “disappointed” that more money was not going to physician and dentist payments but said “less than half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.”

The spending plan passed the Senate on a 25-11 vote and the Assembly on a 65-8 vote.

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John Cox, GOP candidate for governor, gives himself another $2 million

See more about the money in California’s gubernatorial race.

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California Republicans fail in two attempts Thursday to force vote on repealing gas tax increase

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New state budget would stop short of ‘debt-free’ college but takes smaller steps on college costs

UC Berkeley student Cameron Morgan, center, protests with other students against tuition increases.
UC Berkeley student Cameron Morgan, center, protests with other students against tuition increases.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

Three months ago, Democratic legislators unveiled a bold “debt-free college” plan that sought to eliminate the need for nearly 400,000 students to take out loans to finance their UC and Cal State degrees.

Now, they’re poised to approve a budget that includes more modest efforts to chip away at the spiraling costs of attending college.

“We didn’t get into this problem overnight and we’re not going to get out of it overnight either,” said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who helped lead the proposal. “This is a long-term conversation ... that I think the Assembly and frankly the Legislature is totally committed to.”

Assembly Democrats had proposed new scholarships -- which would supplement existing aid programs -- that would offset the cost of room and board, textbooks and other living expenses that tend to be bigger drivers of college costs than tuition. The fully implemented plan would cost $1.6 billion per year; legislators had suggested phasing in the program over five years, with an initial cost of $320 million.

The budget doesn’t put any money toward such grants. Instead, it directs the California Student Aid Commission to consider how to consolidate existing scholarships in ways that would lower students’ overall college costs, including non-tuition expenses such as housing and transportation.

There are other nods toward the college affordability issue in the budget. The plan maintains the Middle Class Scholarship -- which Gov. Jerry Brown had proposed axing -- and allocates $50 million in grants for community college students to cover living expenses. It also puts $3 million toward a state-sponsored college savings account, in which the state will match up to $200 for low-income families who open such accounts for their young children.

Left out of the budget was a proposal to make the first year of community college tuition-free for all full-time students. Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), who has championed the idea, said he’ll continue to pursue it through his bill, AB 19. The measure currently doesn’t have any funding attached to it but he said he’s seeking ways to repurpose existing community college money.

Santiago called the budget “a step in the right direction” for tackling the high cost of college.

“This is going to become a conversation that is important every single year as we go through the budget process, and that hasn’t happened in the past,” he said.

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California’s air quality waiver appears secure for now as Trump’s EPA chief tells Congress it’s not under review

California’s unique authority to set tougher air quality standards than the federal government isn’t being targeted right now, according to Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt.

“Currently the waiver is not under review,” Pruitt said Thursday.

The comment, made during a Capitol Hill hearing, could deescalate what appeared to be a brewing battle between California and President Trump’s administration.

During Pruitt’s confirmation hearing earlier this year, he raised the possibility of reviewing California’s waivers under the Clean Air Act, a decades-old mechanism that has helped the state become a leader in fighting smog and climate change.

But Pruitt said Thursday that his office hadn’t taken that step when asked by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), who emphasized bipartisan support for the waivers over the years.

Pruitt said he understood the history.

“This has been something that has been granted going back to the beginning of the Clean Air Act because of the leadership California demonstrated,” Pruitt said.

California regulators are counting on using their waiver authority to pursue tougher standards on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, even as the Trump administration opens the door to rolling back federal rules. A dozen other states are also adopting California’s regulations as their own.

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Lawmakers haven’t missed a California budget deadline in 6 years, and won’t break the streak in 2017

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Lawmakers convene Thursday afternoon to sign off on a package of bills that comprise California’s state budget, and by day’s end will have extended a streak once thought impossible in Sacramento: eight years of on-time budgets.

From 1987 through 2010, the Legislature consistently missed its constitutional deadline to ratify a state budget no later than June 15. In most years, debate over a spending plan stretched well into the summer. In 2010, lawmakers didn’t send a budget to the governor until Oct. 10.

In addition to the strain of crafting budgets during deep recessions, the annual logjam was a function of California’s long-standing requirement that a budget be approved by supermajority votes in both the state Assembly and Senate. That meant bipartisan cooperation in the Legislature, in addition to striking deals with both Republican and Democratic governors. The state was one of only three in the nation with such a legislative hurdle to pass a budget.

Voters changed the system in 2010 with the passage of Proposition 25. The constitutional amendment not only made budgets subject to a simple majority vote, but it also required legislators to forfeit their pay if they failed to act by June 15.

Official state records don’t count the budget in 2011 as being on time, the first year under the new rules, because Gov. Jerry Brown took the unprecedented step of vetoing the first spending plan sent to him by the Legislature. It took almost another two weeks to settle the differences, and a subsequent court ruling found that lawmakers are still entitled to their pay if a budget is rejected.

While Thursday’s action will send as many as 17 budget-related bills to Brown’s desk, a handful of proposals related to the spending plan may linger for a few weeks. Legislative attorneys have maintained that those “trailer bills” can be implemented well into the fiscal year, again by a simple majority vote of each house, and would take effect immediately because they are designated as a part of the budget.

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Stem cell scientist to become the latest Democrat trying to topple Dana Rohrabacher in O.C. House race

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

An internationally known stem cell scientist and entrepreneur will join the ranks of candidates trying to unseat Republican incumbents in contested House races next year when he announces Thursday his challenge of 18-term Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

Hans Keirstead, a 50-year-old Democrat from Laguna Beach, said Wednesday that he will run in the 48th Congressional District, one of more than half a dozen in California that have been targeted by Democrats seeking to harness sentiment against President Trump in their fight for a House majority.

Keirstead’s candidacy has been sought by some national Democratic figures, who see his science and business background as a good fit for the district. It runs along the Orange County coastline from Laguna Beach to Seal Beach and includes some nearby inland cities.

Republicans represent a plurality of the district with more than 40% of its registration, to about 30% for Democrats. A quarter of voters are registered as nonpartisan. The Huntington Beach-based Rohrabacher, who is 69, has served in the House since 1988.

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Big stakes, little focus. So who’s running for California governor, anyway?

Who’ll be the next governor of California? It’s a complete and utter mystery.

Insurance Commissioner Gavin Newsom? Antonio Villagarosa? Kamala Harris?

Actually, none of the above.

Newsom is California’s lieutenant governor, not insurance commissioner. The former mayor of Los Angeles spells his name Villaraigosa. And unlike those two, Harris is not even running for governor; indeed, she’s just starting to warm the U.S. Senate seat she won in November.

The fight to succeed Democrat Jerry Brown is likely to be the most wide-open and unpredictable California governor’s race since at least 1998, when the overwhelming underdog Gray Davis surged to victory in the final weeks of the Democratic primary and took the office in a November landslide.

One would hardly know it, though, talking to voters who haven’t the foggiest notion who’s pursuing the job.

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A state senator targeted for removal from office says his opponents are misleading voters

State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton)
(Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)

Attorneys for a Democratic state senator targeted for possible removal from office accused the lawmaker’s political opponents on Wednesday of “knowingly and willfully misleading voters” in their effort to force a special election.

Complaints were filed on behalf of state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) with the secretary of state, attorney general and local district attorneys, all seeking an investigation of the recall campaign being waged by Newman’s opponents.

The complaint alleges that voter signatures are being gathered for a recall election by promoting a repeal of the upcoming increase in California’s gas tax. Newman voted for the transportation plan, which is why a political campaign partly funded by the California Republican Party seeks to remove him from office before his four-year term ends in 2020.

But the political fate of Newman, a freshman lawmaker narrowly elected last November, will have no bearing on a hike in fuel taxes or the creation of a new vehicle registration fee — both features of a $52-billion transportation plan signed into law in April.

“The campaign literature, materials and other messaging clearly demonstrate an effort to persuade voters to sign a petition based on false and misleading information regarding the content of the petition,” wrote Richard Rios, Newman’s attorney, in the complaint.

Supporters of the recall effort have regularly posted photos on social media showing signatures gathered alongside large “Stop the car tax” signs. Some of the photos also include Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego councilman and current radio talk show host who is one of the chief supporters of the recall.

DeMaio said Newman and state Democrats have dispatched their own troops to the region in an effort to try to coerce voters to not sign the recall petition.

In an emailed statement, DeMaio said Newman “is a liar and a bully who is being recalled from office because he cast the deciding vote to increase car and gas tax hikes — a point we spell out specifically in the recall petition that everyone is signing.”

The complaints come two days after legislators unveiled a last-minute addendum to the state budget that seeks to revise state law governing recall elections. The change would likely slow down the process enough so that any recall election for Newman would be delayed to next June, where he likely would benefit from higher turnout.

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Dianne Feinstein among handful of California Democrats who didn’t sign on to suit over Trump’s foreign earnings

Sen. Dianne Feinstein did not sign on to the lawsuit against President Trump.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

Close to 200 Democrats in Congress filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday alleging President Trump has illegally profited from foreign payments to his worldwide business interests. But the list of plaintiffs was missing a few notable names.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and four other Democrats in California’s congressional delegation, including some representatives of districts with a strong Republican or evenly divided electorate, did not sign onto the lawsuit.

Feinstein, who appears likely to run for reelection in 2018, has taken heat in recent months from liberal activists who have criticized her for not taking a more aggressive stance against Trump.

Her spokesman, Tom Mentzer, said the senator stayed away from the suit because she is the lead Democrat on one of the Senate committees investigating the Trump administration.

“As the lead Democrat on one of the two Senate committees investigating the president, Sen. Feinstein decided joining the lawsuit at this time may create an appearance of bias,” Mentzer said. “The senator will continue to be a vocal opponent of the president’s illegal acceptance of foreign payments and benefits.”

That did not keep Feinstein’s fellow Democrat and California’s junior senator, Kamala Harris, from joining the lawsuit. Like Feinstein, Harris also sits on the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, one of the panels investigating the allegations about Trump and Russia. Harris has not responded to a request for comment.

The lawsuit alleges Trump has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which forbids federal officials from accepting payments from foreign governments without the consent of Congress.

As an example, the suit points to the Trump International Hotel Washington, which it alleges has been actively courting foreign diplomats since Trump’s election in November.

The suit also alleges that Trump, through his business empire, has benefited financially from dozens of trademarks issued by the Chinese government since he was sworn into office.

The legal action comes just two days after the attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia filed an anti-corruption lawsuit against Trump on similar grounds.

The White House has denied that Trump’s business interests violate the Constitution.

The California Democrats in the House who did not sign onto the lawsuit are Ami Bera of Elk Grove, Jim Costa of Fresno, Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert and Lou Correa of Santa Ana.

The Republican Party has said it will target Bera and Ruiz in the 2018 election.

UPDATES
1:31 p.m.:
This story was updated to clarify why Feinstein was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

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Nancy Pelosi: ‘On days like today, there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans’

Read more on the shooting in Virginia at a congressional baseball practice in which five people were shot, including Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).

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Jeff Sessions said Kamala Harris’ questioning made him ‘nervous’

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) turned her aggressive prosecutor tactics on Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions in a tense interrogation Tuesday at a Senate hearing on Russia and the Trump campaign.

The two talked over each other as the freshman Democrat challenged Sessions to produce documents on his work as a top advisor to the campaign.

Read more about their exchange and see other updates from Sessions’ testimony.

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Gun control language tucked into California’s budget bill, irking the NRA

An attendee of the National Rifle Assn. convention in Kentucky in May 2016.
An attendee of the National Rifle Assn. convention in Kentucky in May 2016.
(Mark Humphrey / Associated Press)

Gun rights advocates are fuming over some language buried in a state budget bill that would expand the number of Californians who can’t get guns.

Current law prohibits the possession of firearms by those convicted of a felony, but the new legislation would extend that to those with outstanding warrants for a felony or certain misdemeanors.

The gun provisions were amended into Assembly Bill 103 last Thursday as one of many provisions that deal with public safety, and are expected to be voted on by the Legislature as part of the budget this coming Thursday.

The budget should not be used to push through major policy changes because it bypasses a more detailed public hearing process, said Daniel Reid, state liaison for the National Rifle Assn.

“This drastic policy change will violate an individual’s right to due process as warrants can be issued without notice or hearing,” Reid said.

The budget trailer bill also includes a provision that would help gun owners by extending the deadline for registering all semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines by six months.

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It was a California state budget report that was supposed to be about cannabis

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California’s senators ask residents to tell the federal government to stay away from the state’s national monuments

(Mark Ralston / AFP/ Getty Images)

California’s senators are trying to prevent changes to six national monuments in the Golden State, and they’re asking Californians to help by sending comments to the Interior Department.

President Trump recently ordered Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review 27 national monuments created by the previous three presidents under the Antiquities Act, calling it “a massive federal land grab” that “should never have happened.”

The California monuments being looked at are Giant Sequoia, Carrizo Plain, San Gabriel Mountains, Berryessa Snow Mountain, Mojave Trails and Sand to Snow.

“On behalf of all Californians, we urge that these national monument designations are preserved with their present boundaries, to ensure these special places remain for generations to come,” Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris wrote in a letter to Zinke.

As of Tuesday, 157,807 comments on the national monuments had been submitted. Tens of thousands of the comments are specifically about California and its monuments.

Comments can be submitted until July 10, and Feinstein urged Californians to share their opinion, especially after Zinke issued his initial recommendation to downsize Bears Ears, a new monument in Utah.

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U.S. citizen detained by immigration authorities asks California lawmakers to support ‘sanctuary state’ bill

Guadalupe Plascencia, right, is consoled by her daughter Mahria Torres.
Guadalupe Plascencia, right, is consoled by her daughter Mahria Torres.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Guadalupe Plascencia told state lawmakers on Tuesday that she was frustrated and humiliated when she was handcuffed and detained in March by immigration authorities in San Bernardino, despite having become a U.S. citizen about 20 years ago.

At an Assembly Public Safety Committee hearing, Plascencia urged legislators to support Senate Bill 54, which would prohibit local and state law enforcement agencies from using resources for immigration enforcement.

She said immigrants deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and pointed to her experience as an example of how immigration laws can be wrongfully applied, even against citizens.

“I have always lived my life in accordance to the law,” she said. “But when this happened to me, I realized that while laws are important, they are not always applied fairly.”

SB 54 moved out of the committee with a 5 -2 vote. It now heads to the Assembly Judiciary Committee for consideration.

The so-called sanctuary state bill, which was introduced by Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), bans state and local law enforcement agencies, including school police and security departments, from using resources to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect or arrest people for immigration enforcement purposes.

Before the Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, De León said he was continuing to work with law enforcement officials on amendments to ensure the legislation would not hurt their agencies’ participation in federal task forces or hinder criminal investigations, including cases involving terror attacks, drug cartels or human trafficking charges.

Immigrant rights advocates cited Plascencia’s case as an example of the troubling situations that could arise for U.S. citizens at a time when President Trump has pledged to speed up deportations and increase detentions of immigrants in the country illegally.

The 59-year-old hairdresser was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after she spent the night of March 29 in jail. She was first arrested on a decade-old bench warrant related to her alleged failure to appear as a witness in a court case.

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Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra says he supports single-payer health system for California

Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra
Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Tuesday that he supports a proposal for California to adopt a single-payer health plan and believes it will eventually be enacted because consumers will become “fed up” with the current system that he said is unaffordable to many.

The state Senate approved a bill two weeks ago that would create a system where the state government would replace private insurance companies, paying doctors and hospitals for healthcare. The measure, pending in the Assembly, does not yet include a way to cover the $400-billion annual cost.

Becerra supported single-payer legislation when he was in the Assembly in the early 1990s and for the last 24 years in Congress, he said Tuesday during an event in Sacramento hosted by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California.

“I think it’s the way to go because it takes away the inefficiencies in a system that has turned healthcare for people into a commodity,” Becerra said in a public conversation with PPIC President Mark Baldassare. Becerra said he sees healthcare as a “universally required obligation of our government.”

The attorney general wasn’t sure whether single-payer will happen this year, saying, “We need to figure out a pragmatic way to implement it,” but added, “It’s where the will of the people will take you.”

Becerra also said he would support legislation making California a so-called “sanctuary state” for immigrants in the country illegally “so long as we allow public safety to be done.” He said state law enforcement should work with federal authorities to fight crime, but should not help enforce immigration laws.

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Legal pot may add more than $5 billion to California’s economy

Marijuana plants.
Marijuana plants.
(Richard Vogel / AP)

A study commissioned by the state of California gives a glimpse of the new legal marijuana market’s impact on the state economy.

Get the details here.

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L.A. voters fight fatigue as a fifth, and possibly sixth, election looms

Jimmy Gomez thanks poll volunteers at Sheridan Street School in Boyle Heights during the June 6 election.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

In the doldrums of odd-numbered years, L.A. politics often focuses on elections for mayor and city council. But 2017 has felt like overkill, even for the most diehard voters.

With two city elections and the race to replace Xavier Becerra in Congress, more than 100,000 voters in central and northeast Los Angeles have been asked to vote four times in the last four months.

And, after Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez defeated Robert Lee Ahn last week to become L.A.’s next congressman, they will be asked to vote again soon to replace him.

“It’s like a never-ending cycle since November,” said Amanda Santos, a stay-at-home mom and part-time bookseller who lives in Montecito Heights.

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Jimmy Gomez, soon to be L.A.’s newest congressman, gets a look at his Capitol Hill office

Congressman-elect Jimmy Gomez got the keys to his Capitol Hill office this week after winning the special election to replace Xavier Becerra in the 34th District, which covers central and northeast Los Angeles.

Gomez’s swearing-in will occur in a small, as of yet unscheduled, House ceremony.

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Los Angeles VA ends testing on narcoleptic dogs after California members of Congress question it

After questions from California members of Congress, the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center has halted planned tests on narcoleptic dogs.

In a May letter to the Veterans Affairs inspector general, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and eight members of Los Angeles’ congressional delegation demanded to know more about the experiment, including how much it could cost and what other experiments the Los Angeles VA was conducting on animals.

The proposed experiment would have involved giving 18 narcoleptic Dobermans antidepressants or methamphetamine, then killing the dogs and studying how the drugs affect the production of histamines — the body’s response to allergens — in their brains. The animal rights group White Coat Waste Project, which obtained a 2016 research application for the experiment through a Freedom of Information Act request, brought the approved experiment to the attention of lawmakers.

“A research proposal for breeding and studying these dogs was approved through VA’s Merit Review and the national Office of Research and Development recently,” the VA said in a statement to the members of Congress. “It would have involved giving therapeutic doses of the drugs used to manage narcolepsy in humans, and would have required euthanasia; however the researcher has no current plans to breed further and it is expected the study will not be done.”

The facility has been conducting similar tests for two decades, but the VA said in the statement it has been years since an animal was euthanized.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), one of the members who sent the May letter, said he is relieved the experiments have ended.

“This much needed reform will put the Los Angeles VA back on track to taking care of our veterans without wasting resources to conduct unnecessary and inhumane experiments on dogs,” Lieu said in a statement.

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Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers arrive at a final deal on a new state budget

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, left, Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, right,in Riverside in April.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, left, Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, right,in Riverside in April.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers unveiled a final state budget deal on Tuesday, settling disputes over how to spend tobacco tax dollars and boosting the bottom line of California’s largest public employee pension fund.

The agreement announced by Brown and Democratic leaders of the state Senate and Assembly paves the way for both houses to ratify the spending plan on Thursday — the constitutional deadline for the Legislature to take action.

“This budget keeps California on a sound fiscal path and continues to support struggling families and make investments in our schools,” Brown said in a written statement.

Key to the agreement was a resolution of differences over how to spend an estimated $1.3 billion in new tobacco taxes approved by voters last fall.

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Looking to the next election?

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California proposal would allow pot shops to sell both medical and recreational weed

(Richard Vogel / AP)

Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators proposed Monday to allow medical and recreational marijuana to be sold out of the same locations. The pot industry had sought the change to cut costs and the number of operations.

The co-location rule was one of dozens of new regulations contained in budget bills released Monday. They are aimed at merging regulations of medical cannabis, which the Legislature approved in 2015, and recreational marijuana, approved by voters in November.

“Being able to co-locate is much more cost-efficient for operators,” said Nate Bradley, executive director of the California Cannabis Industry Assn.

He said some policymakers had one school of thought: You couldn’t have medical and recreational pot sold at one address, because recreational use is limited to those older than 21, and medical cannabis is available to minors. Also, medical pot requires a doctor’s recommendation and a state medical marijuana card, while recreational does not, Bradley said.

By allowing both at one location, he said, the result may be half as many businesses open in a city, which could reduce enforcement costs for the city and state.

The state plans to begin issuing licenses for the growing, transporting, testing and sale of marijuana in January.

The measure would also make it an infraction to have opened cannabis products in a motor vehicle, similar to the open-container law for alcohol.

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Democrats seek a change in California recall elections, and it could help an embattled state senator

State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton).
(Rich Pedoncelli/Associated Press)

State Senate Democrats introduced legislation Monday to change the rules governing recall elections to remove a lawmaker from office, potentially helping one of their own survive an effort now underway in Southern California.

The proposal, contained in one of the bills enacting a new state budget, comes after backers of an effort to remove state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) from office have submitted more than 31,000 voter signatures to trigger a special election.

“Recalls are designed to be extraordinary events in response to extraordinary circumstances – and it’s in the public’s overwhelming interest to ensure the security, integrity and legitimacy of the qualification process,” said Jonathan Underland, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).

The bill would effectively give people new ways to block recall efforts by allowing a 30-day window for any voters who signed the petition to change their mind and have their signature be removed. Elections officials would then have 10 days to update their tally, and each signature would have to be verified manually. The proposal would then give lawmakers 30 additional days to review the financial impact of a recall election.

In total, all of that could delay any special election to remove a lawmaker by more than two months. And the language of the legislation makes the change apply to the current effort to recall Newman.

Supporters of the effort to oust Newman, a freshman senator who eked out a narrow win last fall, blasted the budget-related bill as a blatant effort to protect a single lawmaker.

“They can’t simply rewrite the rules,” said Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego city councilman and current radio talk show host who’s leading the effort. “They want to push this election off for as long as possible.”

DeMaio predicted a lawsuit will be filed to block the change from taking effect, assuming it is signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown later this month. The recall campaign has focused almost exclusively on Newman’s vote in favor of the $52-billion transportation plan that hinges on an increase in gas taxes, scheduled to take effect in November.

Republican legislators were equally critical of a change in state election law being added to state government’s annual fiscal plan.

“The Democrats know the gas tax is toxic and Newman will likely lose,” said Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley). “They control every thing in California and need to rig the system to protect their political power.”

Newman, who said he didn’t participate in writing the provision, said recall proponents are falsely promoting their signature drives as a way to stop the gas tax -- and that voters should be given a chance to strike their signature from the petition if they were misled.

“What we’re seeing in my case is how susceptible this system is to manipulation, to distortion,” he said.

Update 3:05 p.m. This story was updated to include comments from Assemblyman Mayes and Senator Newman.

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Rep. Brad Sherman knows Trump won’t be impeached any time soon, but he’s trying anyway

Rep. Brad Sherman, an L.A.-area congressman who joined the effort to impeach President Trump last week, is now circulating his formal proposal to colleagues and asking them for support.

In a letter to other members of Congress, Sherman (D-Porter Ranch) says there’s enough evidence to move forward with his resolution to impeach Trump and “the national interest requires that we do so.” Sherman also asked his colleagues for their “counsel, input and support.”

That doesn’t mean Sherman thinks it will happen any time soon.

“I have no illusions,” he said in a statement Monday. “Articles of Impeachment will not pass the House in the near future. But given the risk posed to the Republic, we should move things forward as quickly as possible.”

Sherman also said he’s not acting for partisan reasons, noting that he disagrees with Vice President Mike Pence, who would become president if Trump was impeached, convicted and removed from office, on most issues.

The four-pages drafted by Sherman accuse Trump of seeking to “use his authority to hinder and cause the termination” of an investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn, including “through threatening, and then terminating, James Comey.”

Sherman spokesman Shane Seaver said the congressman decided to circulate the resolution in part to gauge interest from other members. But so far, aside from Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), no other members have publicly voiced support for the formal effort to impeach Trump.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who called again for Trump’s impeachment at Sunday’s Pride event in West Hollywood, has not contacted Sherman’s office, Seaver said. With members returning to Washington early this week, he added, they’re hopeful more will sign on soon.

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The Legislature could give the taxi industry some help in its fight against Uber and Lyft

A taxi driver enters his vehicle at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.
(Tim Berger / Times Community News)

For years, ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft have been steadily eroding the taxi industry.

Cabs, which operate under notoriously tough governmental regulations, especially compared with ride-hailing, have been thrown a potential lifeline from a state lawmaker. Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) wants to loosen taxi regulations as a way to help cabs compete, and he warns that without reform, cabs could go out of business.

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Troubled California tax board faces shakeup under legislation supported by Brown administration

Gov. Jerry Brown receives applause at his State of the State address before a joint session of the California Legislature last year. He supports an overhaul of the state tax board.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times )

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders are proposing a shakeup of the state tax board that would eliminate many of its duties and shift the job of holding tax appeal hearings to a new office of administrative law judges, State Controller Betty Yee said Monday.

The legislation would also take away the ability of the elected Board of Equalization to get involved in day-to-day oversight of collecting sales taxes. Dubbed the “Taxpayer Transparency and Fairness Act of 2017,” the changes were introduced Monday and will be considered a part of the state budget, Yee said.

The board would continue to oversee the setting of some tax rates, but would be freed up to advocate for its constituents, including those appealing tax decisions, Yee said.

“I think it’s time,” said Yee, who serves on the board. “It’s sweeping. At the same time it’s good for the taxpayers in terms of efficiency and transparency.”

Republican Board member George Runner opposed the proposals Monday, saying it would amount to an expansion of the executive branch.

“This last-minute budget power grab would strip California taxpayers of their right to bring their tax appeals before their elected peers,” Runner said. “In its place, the bill would establish yet another unelected and costly tax bureaucracy.”

The five-member Board of Equalization currently employs 4,800 workers to set rates and collect $60 billion in taxes annually. The proposed change would move about 4,400 of the workers to a new California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which would handle day-to-day tax collections work.

The board would continue to have responsibility for reviewing and adjusting property tax assessments, setting the rate for gas taxes and assessing taxes on pipelines, insurance companies and alcoholic beverages.

The legislation, which would take effect July 1, would also create a new Office of Tax Appeals, whose senior staff would be appointed by the governor. The office would include tax appeal panels consisting of three administrative law judges chosen by the director of the office.

Despite the reduction of board duties, the legislation would not reduce the board members’ annual salaries of $142,577.

A representative of the governor declined comment, deferring to legislators involved in carrying the bills.

One of the proposals was introduced by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee.

Ting said the changes are needed in light of state audits, including one that found $350 million in sales tax revenue had been allocated to the wrong government accounts.

Brown had already temporarily stripped the Board of Equalization of its powers to hire and approve contracts after a state audit found board members had violated policies by having tax auditors help with parking and crowd control at conferences that benefited the members politically.

UPDATES

1 p.m.: This post was updated to include comments from Phil Ting and George Runner, as well as more details about the plan.

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California Politics Podcast: There were big bumps on the road to a state budget deal

Lawmakers are almost certain to vote on a new state budget later week, one that will spend more than $180 billion on hundreds of government services.

But it’s the spending being skipped that could spark the biggest reaction.

On this week’s episode of the California Politics Podcast, we examine the budget agreement outlined Thursday by lawmakers — one that was conspicuous for its silence on how to spend some $1.3 billion in new tobacco tax revenues.

We also look at a new statewide poll showing that a broad swath of Californians oppose the $52-billion transportation plan signed into law this spring that will raise gas taxes in November.

And speaking of polls, a new survey of voters in the early race for governor begs the question: How long will the second-tier candidates have to make their move?

I’m joined by Times staff writer Melanie Mason and Anthony York of the Grizzly Bear Project.

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An L.A.-area congressman has joined the formal effort to impeach Trump

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Porter Ranch)
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Porter Ranch)
(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

A California congressman this week joined the burgeoning effort to impeach President Trump.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Porter Ranch) said at a news conference he was joining Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) to draft articles of impeachment against Trump.

“This matter needs to be analyzed in terms of preserving constitutional rule of law, not on the basis of partisanship,” Sherman said as he stood beside Green. “Our Constitution and democracy require that our leaders be held accountable to the rule of law.”

Sherman said he was working with the House Office of the Legislative Counsel to draft the measure, and he compared the controversy surrounding possible Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and the firing of former FBI Director James B. Comey, to Watergate.

“Richard M. Nixon was required to resign not for the crime but for the cover-up, obstruction of justice,” he said.

Green and Sherman said they are each drafting separate articles of impeachment. While Green offered no timeline for his resolution, Sherman said he expected his version to be ready “fairly soon” in the coming “weeks rather than months.”

While Green said he had not lobbied other members to sign on to his effort, Sherman noted the strategy to gain support from other representatives “is something that needs to be worked out.”

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Jimmy Gomez maintains wide lead in latest 34th Congressional District returns

Workers prepare ballots for counting at the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk's main office.
Workers prepare ballots for counting at the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder/county clerk’s main office.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez maintained his wide lead in the 34th Congressional District race, according to the latest vote tally released Friday.

With only about 1,700 ballots left to count, Gomez was still ahead of opponent Robert Lee Ahn by about 61% to 39%, with a little over 9,000 ballots separating the two.

Ahn conceded the race Tuesday night when he was trailing by about 20%. But in a statement released Thursday, Ahn’s campaign suggested he could still win with a bump in late-arriving provisional and mail-in ballots, citing the more than 10,400 such ballots that had yet to be counted as of Thursday evening.

Ahn would have had to win more than 80% of those ballots to win the election. He won only 37% of the ballots that were added to the count Friday.

Reached by phone after the latest results posted, Ahn campaign spokesman James Lee said, “We are satisfied the count was done in a fair way and that the results will stand.”

See how the candidates did in each of the precincts in the district on our map.

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Budget moves forward with some spending on water projects

Drivers traverse a flooded section of I-5 in Northern California earlier this year.
(Andrew Seng / Associated Press)

The budget plan finalized by lawmakers on Thursday included funding for water projects, after some haggling over the details.

Gov. Jerry Brown had asked for $387 million from the water bond approved by voters in 2014 to pay for flood control, but lawmakers trimmed the request to $111 million.

The change was acceptable because it will still allow projects to move forward on schedule, said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for Brown’s Department of Finance.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wanted an additional $100 million every year to fortify levees along the Sacramento, Feather and Yuba rivers, among other projects.

The funding would have come out of the general fund, but the request was rejected by the budget conference committee.

“The failure to prioritize our state’s infrastructure is incomprehensible,” Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) said in a statement. “Millions of Californians depend on water that passes through these critical water conveyance systems.”

Repairs to the Oroville Dam are being funded separately using bank loans, and there are plans to sell bonds at some point to pay the bills. The state is also seeking federal funding.

Oroville Dam, the tallest in the country, suffered a crisis this year when its spillway, which releases excess water from the reservoir to prevent overflowing, began crumbling. Officials tried to use an emergency spillway, but more erosion forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate from the area.

The state hopes to finish repairs in the fall, before the next rainy season.

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California officials say they’ll move ahead on cutting emissions despite Trump’s delay of ozone rules

After decades of reducing ozone levels, progress has faltered. (June 9, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR)

California officials say they are forging ahead with emissions-cutting measures despite the Trump administration’s move this week to delay implementation of Obama-era limits on ozone, the lung-searing gas in smog.

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Sen. Kamala Harris celebrates Pride Month in her D.C. office

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California voters do not like the new gas tax and vehicle fee increases, poll finds

A construction worker digs next to a roadway at Los Angeles International Airport.
A construction worker digs next to a roadway at Los Angeles International Airport.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

A majority of California voters oppose the state’s recently passed gas tax and vehicle fee increases that will pay for state roads and expand mass transit, according to a poll released Friday.

About 58% of registered voters surveyed said they oppose the increases that were recently approved by the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown, according to the IGS Poll, a survey by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. About 35% said they support the new taxes and fees.

The increases approved in April will generate about $5.2 billion annually during the first 10 years to start paying for a $130-billion backlog of road and highway repairs.

The poll found that nearly three times as many respondents — 39% — said they strongly oppose the higher taxes and fees as those who said they strongly support it.

A large majority of respondents who identified themselves as strongly liberal said they support the change.

But overall, they poll found, the new law is opposed by big majorities of Republicans and no-party-preference respondents, political conservatives and moderates, members of all major races and ethnic groups, men, women, and people over 30.

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California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to Trump: Don’t touch our national monuments

The Carrizo Plain National Monument, carpeted with wildflowers this spring, is one of six national monuments in California that are under review by the Trump administration.
( (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

California’s attorney general argued Thursday that President Trump has no legal authority to revoke or modify national monuments created by previous administrations.

In an 11-page letter to the Interior Department, state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra vowed “to take any and all legal action necessary” to preserve six California monuments, including one in Los Angeles’ backyard, that the Trump administration may attempt to revoke or shrink.

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There’s no major boost to housing funding in next year’s California budget

The Panama Hotel on L.A.'s skid row is being converted from transitional housing with 220 rooms to apartments for 72 permanent residents.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

A proposal to spend $400 million to finance low-income housing development is officially dead.

Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers killed a plan Thursday night to include the money, which would have paid for new and rehabilitated housing projects for low-income residents across the state, in next year’s California budget. Assembly Democrats had pushed for the funding, but it wasn’t included in the final budget deal, which lawmakers are set to vote on by Thursday’s deadline.

The money was left over from last year’s budget negotiations. Brown had agreed to spend $400 million on housing if the Legislature passed new rules to make it easier to build homes — an effort to cut costs and spur supply. But lawmakers balked at Brown’s proposal, the $400 million went unspent and the governor removed it when he unveiled this year’s budget in January.

Brown and lawmakers are working on a separate housing package this year that would also combine new low-income housing money with eased development regulations. Three bills that aim to streamline housing rules passed either the Assembly or the Senate last month. But two others that would raise about $600 million a year for affordable housing by adding a real estate transaction fee and ending the state’s mortgage interest deduction for second homes have stalled and have yet to receive full votes in the Senate or Assembly, respectively.

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State budget plan boosts K-12 spending and fixes Oroville, but how about those tobacco-tax dollars?

(John Myers / Los Angeles Times)

The effort to craft a new state budget before next week’s deadline advanced late Thursday night, although a few hotly debated items — including how to spend new tobacco tax dollars — remained in limbo.

The Legislature’s budget conference committee signed off on both the framework and several detailed proposals of a spending plan that’s likely to exceed $180 billion. Lawmakers must have the agreements drafted and available for public review at least 72 hours before final passage, as required under transparency rules approved by voters in November.

The budget plan boosts K-12 school funding and provides money for more in-state students attending the University of California and California State University systems. It preserves the state’s Middle Class Scholarship program — a concession made by Gov. Jerry Brown, who wanted to phase it out.

Lawmakers agreed to expand access to California’s new earned income tax credit for low-income citizens. And they approved $111 million for repairs to the damaged Oroville Dam spillway and other emergency flood projects.

Not all items had a clear nexus to next year’s state spending. Thursday’s action included approval of orientation meetings for new government workers, at which the benefits of public employee union membership could be promoted. Unions began lobbying for the idea after a lawsuit challenged the state’s rules for union dues. The U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked on the lawsuit in 2016.

No unresolved item loomed larger than how to spend $1.3 billion in proceeds from Proposition 56, which increased the state’s cigarette tax by $2 a pack. Lawmakers have insisted the money must be used to increase payments made to doctors and dentists who treat patients enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s healthcare program for the poor. Brown, however, has said the state needs the money for existing Medi-Cal commitments.

”We’re trying to balance that with the fiscal prudence that we think is required,” Amy Costa, the governor’s deputy budget director, said during testimony at Thursday night’s hearing.

The Brown administration and legislators agreed to keep negotiating how to spend the tobacco taxes. They also left unresolved the issue of whether the budget will include an extension of California’s cap-and-trade program, which limits carbon emissions and forces companies to pay for pollution allowances that exceed the cap. The program is now set to expire in 2020.

The California Constitution requires legislators send Brown a budget plan on June 15 or forfeit their salary until the work is complete. The state’s new fiscal year begins July 1.

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More than $30 million in Prop. 47 savings will go to mental health and drug rehab programs in the Los Angeles area

"We have listened to law enforcement talk about how horrible Prop. 47 is,” said Vonya Quarles, an advocate for the formerly incarcerated. “Now we have a chance to help the people who are hurting.”
“We have listened to law enforcement talk about how horrible Prop. 47 is,” said Vonya Quarles, an advocate for the formerly incarcerated. “Now we have a chance to help the people who are hurting.”
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times))

California state officials on Thursday named the 23 government agencies that will receive $103 million in grant funds from a ballot initiative that downgraded six drug and theft crimes to misdemeanors.

For the large coalition of supporters behind 2014’s Proposition 47, it is a long-awaited step forward. Other states have passed similar laws. But California is the lone state investing the money saved from keeping fewer people behind bars in services to help people stay out of prison.

More than $30 million in funding will go to programs in the Los Angeles area — $20 million alone to Los Angeles County to expand housing for substance abuse treatment and social services for inmates with mental health problems.

The city of Los Angeles received nearly $12 million to launch a drug-intervention initiative under the city attorney’s office and for a program led by the mayor’s office to help former inmates find jobs.

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GOP assemblyman pokes fun at Sen. John McCain’s Comey questions

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Kamala Harris was interrupted by two male colleagues. Democrats are trying to raise money off the outrage

It’s not uncommon for members of Congress to grill subjects during hearings, sometimes asking the same question multiple times.

In the few minutes each Senate intelligence committee member was limited to speak during Wednesday’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act hearing, the 15 Republican and Democratic senators took their turn doing just that. When it came to Harris, the newest member of the group and final inquisitor during the hearing, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) cut her off.

Harris was in the middle of questioning Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein about special counsel Robert Mueller’s independence in the investigation into Russia’s possible coordination with the Trump campaign when McCain cut in.

“Mr. Chairman, they should be allowed to answer the question,” he said.

Harris continued, pressing for a “yes” or “no” answer to whether Rosenstein could provide written confirmation assuring Mueller’s independence.

Then Burr cut her off.

“The committee is on notice to provide the witnesses the courtesy — which has not been extended all the way across — for questions to get answered, “ he said.

And Burr ignored Harris’ attempts to continue.

The moment raised eyebrows on Twitter, with many comparing it to the attempt by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to stop Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) from filibustering Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing.

“Nevertheless, she persisted,” McConnell memorably said, igniting days of outrage.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is trying to capitalize on the Harris incident with a fundraising email.

“Click here to show the GOP our women senators WILL NOT be intimidated or silenced from speaking out on issues that matter to Americans. Add your name today,” it read.

Harris also referenced the incident in a fundraising email that largely focused on her uninterrupted questioning of fired FBI Director James B. Comey on Thursday, and also said: “Thank you for standing with me yesterday when the GOP tried to shut me down.”

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Gov. Jerry Brown is back in California after wrapping up his trip to China

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After conceding congressional race to Jimmy Gomez, Robert Lee Ahn’s campaign says he could still win

Robert Lee Ahn looks up at a television screen displaying election results Tuesday night.
(Javier Panzar / Los Angeles Times)

It was a relatively early end to election night Tuesday: Robert Lee Ahn called to concede to his opponent, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, before 11 p.m. and the Associated Press called the race for Gomez shortly after.

As of Thursday, Gomez was leading Ahn by a 60% to 40% margin in the race for the 34th Congressional District, which includes much of central and northeast Los Angeles.

But in a statement released Thursday morning, the Ahn campaign cited “anomalies” in the vote and said he could still win. “We believe it is critical that every vote cast now be counted,” said Ahn campaign manager David Meraz in the statement.

“We’re now in the statistical margin for victory,” said Ahn campaign spokesman James Lee, citing the more than estimated 10,400 provisional and mail-in ballots that have yet to be counted by county election officials.

A statement from the Ahn campaign claimed that if 70% of those ballots went to Ahn, he would be the “duly elected Representative for the 34th District.”

But the math doesn’t hold up: If 70% of those ballots were counted in favor of Ahn, the tally would put Gomez at approximately 22,800 votes and Ahn at 20,430.

Asked about the discrepancy, Lee said the 70% figure would “get us within the statistical margin,” adding, “That’s our internal analysis and we’re sticking to it.” The campaign then corrected the statement, saying the figure was closer to 80%.

The statement also cited the fact that Ahn received an “unprecedented share” of late-arriving ballots in the primary election and complained because hundreds of voters had not received their mail ballots the weekend before Tuesday’s runoff due to a glitch in the voter registration system. Most of those voters did receive their ballots before election day, the country registrar said.

Lee said it was “just weird” that Ahn received about 90% of the votes from the last major batch of ballots counted in the primary. “Those ballots that were held back were primarily in the western part of the district, which is Robert’s area,” Lee said.

L.A. County Registrar of Voters Dean Logan said some of those ballots in the primary were actually held back until the final count at the request of the Ahn campaign. After a printing mistake on Korean language sample ballots, the Ahn campaign asked for any ballots turned in before the mistake was fixed to be separated. That allowed voters time to request and vote with a new ballot if they wanted. County officials agreed.

Another potential reason for Ahn’s big margin in the late votes last time: weekend early voting ballots are not counted until the end, and that the vast majority of votes cast that weekend came from Pio Pico Library in Koreatown, an Ahn stronghold.

The same was true in the runoff, and those early votes from Saturday and Sunday have yet to be counted.

The next update of the vote tally is expected to be released Friday.

“There’s nothing unusual about this compared to any other election, and if they look back at other elections, they’ll know that,” Logan said, adding that the public is welcome to observe the vote canvassing process at the registrar’s Norwalk office.

County election officials do not call elections in favor of one candidate or another, and the official winner of the race won’t be announced until the election results are certified, which is scheduled to happen June 16.

A consultant for Gomez, who has already begun making preparations to move to Washington, cast doubt on Ahn’s analysis.

“It’s kind of a stretch to think that a 20-point margin is in danger,” said Parke Skelton, a Gomez consultant. “This isn’t the first time that the campaign has alleged that there’s some kind of conspiracy to suppress his vote. It would be good if he presented some evidence rather than just accusations.”

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State analyst recommends lawmakers create accountability measures for spending billions from higher gas tax

The California Legislature should develop methods for holding the administration accountable for effectively spending $5.2 billion annually from recently approved increases to the gas tax and vehicle fees, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said Thursday.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the tax and fee hikes to provide money to maintain and repair state roads and highways and expand mass transit.

“Though SB 1 establishes various long‑term performance outcome measures for highway conditions, the legislation does not include specific mechanisms for holding the administration accountable for achieving these outcomes nor does it set interim benchmarks against which to measure the administration’s progress in the near term,” the LAO report said.

The analyst said the Legislature could pass a law that sets “interim outcome measures against which to measure the administration’s progress in achieving the longer‑term outcomes.”

“It also could consider consequences should the administration not achieve these interim outcome measures,” the LAO report said. “For instance, the Legislature could consider reprioritizing funding across programs (such as from rehabilitation to maintenance) or enacting organizational or governance changes to state transportation agencies to improve their effectiveness.”

One LAO proposal would strengthen the California Transportation Commission to oversee Caltrans’ rehabilitation projects by authorizing the commission to approve or reject individual projects, rather than an entire program of projects.

The analyst noted SB 1 does not explicitly determine how to allocate money between state highway maintenance and rehabilitation programs. The governor’s budget proposes slightly more money for maintenance.

“As maintenance projects can help prevent more costly rehabilitation projects in the future, the Legislature could consider allocating more funding to maintenance to achieve long‑term savings,” the report concluded.

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Darrell Steinberg at a Sacramento Comey watch party: ‘I hope people understand the gravity of this’

In Sacramento, as in cities across the country, they gathered at a bar to watch congressional testimony.

The Sacramento County Young Democrats hosted a watch party at a downtown pub to see fired FBI Director James B. Comey testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat who led the state Senate from 2008 to 2014, said he was appalled and not surprised by some of the testimony, but seeing young people gathered to watch a government hearing gave him hope.

There was no day drinking, and the crowd was mostly silent throughout the three-hour hearing, letting out a few boos at the mention of former national security advisor Michael Flynn early on.

Steinberg believes the investigation into Russian meddling in the election and Trump associates’ possible role in it has the potential to be much worse than Watergate.

“I hope people understand the gravity of this,” he said, a cup of coffee in his hand. “We are living in a different time, and I just hope that people aren’t numb to how shocking this is.”

Read all our Comey hearing coverage, including the watch party in L.A. that featured yoga, of course.

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Chinese climate officials let loose on President Trump as Jerry Brown concludes visit

Gov. Jerry Brown meets with Beijing Mayor Chen Jining, former environmental protection minister, on his last day in Beijing.
(Jessica Meyers / For The Times)

Chinese officials had been avoiding attacks on President Trump for pulling the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, opting instead for oblique references to “global cooperation.”

Not anymore.

Chinese climate change experts on Thursday offered some of their most definitive rebuffs to Trump’s actions, pointedly turning to Gov. Jerry Brown -- and California -- as a substitute partner.

“Your visit will send a very positive signal to those people who did not believe in the efforts for climate change,” Zhou Dadi, former director of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development Reform Commission, told Brown at a “high level dialogue” at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Brown sat at the head of a horseshoe conference table with about 30 Chinese and U.S. experts. The governor, who attended the Paris deal, also concluded that trip with a university stop.

This time, it sounded more woeful.

“I still have vivid memories” of the day U.S. and Chinese officials concluded the Paris accord, said Xie Zhenhua, the lead Chinese negotiator there, describing a moment when people cried with joy and relief. “I am so deeply disappointed at the announcement of President Trump.”

Brown also spoke broadly about Trump’s actions during much of the five-day trip, which included stops in the southern cities of Chengdu and Nanjing.

But hours before he boarded a plane back to California, the governor sounded more pointed.

“When we have a world where the president of the most powerful country says climate change is not only a hoax but a Chinese hoax, you know we’re in big trouble.”,” he said to laughter.

Brown spoke to the group and then took interviews around the time Secretary of Energy Rick Perry met with Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli at Zhongnanhai, China’s equivalent of the White House. Both Perry and Brown attended a conference this week of global energy ministers, but the California governor has received far more media attention.

Brown was the one who attended the announcement of a U.S.-China Climate Change Institute, with Brown and Tsinghua leaders unveiling a blue banner with a thick yellow ribbon.

“I didn’t study science, I studied Latin and Greek, and that’s not going to help,” Brown told the group. “I’m just here to ring the bell, wake people up and get on with this major, major change for humanity.”

While no one discussed details of the partnership, the symbolism was significant.

“I’m really keen to see the stronger cooperation between China and the U.S.,” Xie said, looking at the California delegation.

Brown was in a lighthearted mood earlier that day, when he met with the new mayor of Beijing, a former environmental protection minister.

He joked with sleep-deprived reporters and prepared to return to Sacramento, where he would try to earn the votes for an extension of the state’s cap and trade program -- a return to the domestic battle over climate change.

June 10, 2017: This post was updated to correct the quote about climate change being a hoax, which was missing some words.

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California lawmakers consider making positions on troubled state tax board appointed rather than elected

Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), shown with Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) in March, said the state tax board might benefit from being an appointed rather than an elected panel.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

California’s scandal-plagued tax agency might benefit from making its board appointed rather than elected, according to legislators who held a hearing Wednesday on how to address deep-seated problems.

A recent audit of the state Board of Equalization found that elected board members improperly interfered with the executive director’s role by transferring employees from handling tax collection to constituent services and used agency resources to hold community events that boosted board members’ standing with voters.

A report Wednesday by the legislative analyst’s office said options lawmakers could consider include transferring the board’s responsibility for holding taxpayer appeal hearings to a tax court and submitting “a constitutional amendment to voters to make the board appointed rather than elected — or simply to eliminate the board altogether.”

The idea of making the board appointed drew interest from Assembly members including Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), who said during the hearing that it could be beneficial if board members didn’t need to think about reelection.

Board of Equalization Chairwoman Diane Harkey told lawmakers that being elected means board members would be held accountable at the ballot box if they fail to serve constituents.

“Elected members, we respond,” she said.

She said the board recently took initial action on a series of changes to more clearly spell out the division of powers between the executive director and elected board members.

“We want you to know we are taking command of our own ship. We are trying to right it,” Harkey told the legislators.

Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), who is chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said he is looking for “serious structural reform” of the board, but has not committed to one plan yet. He wants to speed up the time it takes to settle tax appeals, which can take two and a half years, and said one way to do that is to have the board meet more than two or three times a month.

Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) has proposed sweeping changes that include a requirement for disclosure of communications between taxpayers and board members outside normal settings and the creation of an inspector general to make sure board members act ethically.

Updated at 2:20 pm to include comments from Assemblyman Phil Ting.

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With congressional election over, former 34th District candidate Wendy Carrillo enters Assembly race to replace Gomez

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VIDEO: Jimmy Gomez becomes L.A.’s newest congressman

Gomez, campaign workers and supporters celebrate winning a congressional seat at an election night rally for the 34th Congressional District. 

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With Jimmy Gomez headed to Congress, another special election is on the way to fill his Assembly seat in Sacramento

Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), right, was elected to Congress on Tuesday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Voters in a handful of Los Angeles communities will face as many as two more elections before the end of the year, after choosing a sitting member of the state Assembly on Tuesday to fill a vacant seat in Congress.

The victory of Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) in a special election for the 34th Congressional District seat means that Gomez, once the election results are certified, will have to resign his seat in the Legislature.

At that point, Gov. Jerry Brown is required to call a special election to fill Gomez’s current job representing the state’s 51st Assembly District, which includes Echo Park, Eagle Rock and parts of East Los Angeles. State law gives Brown some flexibility in the timing of the election, though voters will be called on to cast ballots before the end of 2017. If any candidate wins a majority in that vote, he or she will replace Gomez and there will be only one election to fill the seat. If not, as was the case in the race to replace Xavier Becerra in Congress -- won by Gomez on Tuesday -- when Becerra became state attorney general, there will also be a runoff between the two candidates who receive the most votes.

Special elections have become increasingly common in California, largely the result of incumbent elected officials seeking new jobs before their terms in their current offices expires. An estimate provided earlier this year found that the congressional election that ended Tuesday night would end up costing Los Angeles taxpayers some $1.3 million.

State records show that there have been more than 50 special elections in California over the past decade. Over the last seven years, the cost of special elections in Los Angeles alone has been $22.7 million.

Federal law requires an election for a vacancy in the House of Representatives, but proposals have been made in Sacramento to allow legislative vacancies to be filled by the governor. Those efforts have all fizzled, often opposed by legislators who themselves won their seats in a special election.

A half-dozen candidates have already opened campaign committees for the Assembly seat that will soon be vacated by Gomez. The winner of the eventual election will serve out the remainder of the current term, through the end of 2018, and would have to run again in the statewide primary next June for an additional two-year term.

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Greenhouse emissions fall for another year in California

California has continued to chip away at its greenhouse gas emissions even as its economy grows, according to new data released by state regulators on Wednesday.

Emissions fell by a third of a percent in 2015, which regulators said was equivalent to removing 300,000 vehicles from state roads for a year.

“These numbers clearly indicate that the state is on track to achieve its 2020 emission reduction goals and that California can grow its economy while continuing to fight climate change,” said a statement from Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board.

The numbers show California has become a less carbon-intensive place to live and do business, with emissions per capita and per gross domestic product falling for a few years in a row

However, despite progress in sectors like electricity generation, emissions from transportation have ticked upwards in recent years. California has struggled to get enough zero emission vehicles on the roads to meet its goals.

The announcement came as Gov. Jerry Brown and Nichols were traveling in China, where they’ve been touting the state’s environmental programs and seeking to improve partnerships as President Trump withdraws from the fight against global warming.

At the same time, lawmakers are debating the next round of California’s policies on climate change, especially as the state pushes toward an even more ambitious target for reducing emissions by 2030. Legislation to extend the cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to pollute, fell short in the Assembly last week, but Brown is still pushing to reach a deal this month.

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Meet Jimmy Gomez, Los Angeles’ newest congressman

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Jimmy Gomez won the election for Los Angeles’ 34th Congressional District on Tuesday night. Here are some essentials on him:

Age: 42

Family: A wife, Mary Hodge, and a dog, Austin

Lives: Eastside neighborhood of Eagle Rock

Previous jobs: State Assemblyman for the 51st District, political director of United Nurses Assns. of California

Education: UCLA, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government

Party: Democratic

Milestone: Gomez continues a decades-long Latino tradition of representing the area. He follows former Rep. Xavier Becerra, who represented the area for 20 years.

Backed by: Much of the Democratic Party establishment, including many sitting California Democrats in Congress, Gov. Jerry Brown and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. He also won the backing of progressive groups like Our Revolution.

Issues: Gomez holds fairly progressive views, especially on healthcare and immigration policy. Read what he told us he thinks about the top issues.

Read more about how election night unfolded.

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Jimmy Gomez will be L.A.’s next congressman. His first order of business will be bringing the 34th District together

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez won a decisive victory in the 34th Congressional District Tuesday, beating fellow Democrat Robert Lee Ahn by more than 20% in preliminary results.

But after a divisive campaign that grew increasingly negative on both sides, and a closely watched vote that hinged in part on ethnic politics, Gomez said one of his first tasks would be to assure all voters that he will be their voice in Congress.

“First, you have to go and meet all of the constituents in every part of the district, tell them that you’re going to represent them,” Gomez said at a get-out-the-vote event Sunday. “To the areas that I don’t win, to the areas that I do win, I need to pay my respects and go talk to them about issues that they care about.”

During the campaign, Gomez and Ahn largely focused on targeting voters in their bases of support: Ahn in Koreatown and other Asian communities and Gomez in the Latino-heavy neighborhoods of Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Boyle Heights.

Preliminary election night results largely reflected those patterns: Ahn received heavy support from Koreatown and neighboring Westlake, as well as portions of Chinatown and Pico Union.

During a recent debate, Gomez appeared to take pains to mention many of those neighborhoods by name.

“If I’m elected, I’m going to represent every single community: Koreatown, MacArthur Park, Pico Union, downtown L.A.,” he told the audience. “I’m going to defend our values and I’m never going to back down, not one inch, not now, not ever.”

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Jimmy Gomez received 60% of the vote in a low-turnout election. Here’s how he won the district

Jimmy Gomez won Tuesday’s runoff election thanks to overwhelming margins in Boyle Heights and the northeast neighborhoods he represents in the state Assembly.

By defeating former L.A. city planning commissioner Robert Lee Ahn, Gomez can claim the congressional seat vacated when Xavier Becerra was appointed California’s attorney general.

Ahn found strong support in Koreatown, where some voters hoped he would become the only Korean American in Congress, but not enough to push his dark-horse candidacy to victory. Gomez won 60% of the vote in a low-turnout election.

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Robert Lee Ahn thanks his parents in speech to supporters after conceding to Jimmy Gomez

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Jimmy Gomez describes Tuesday’s vote as a victory for ‘California values’

Shortly before his rival called to concede, Jimmy Gomez thanked hundreds of cheering supporters for their efforts to get him elected to Congress and pledged to represent all of his constituents after a hard-fought battle with fellow Democrat Robert Lee Ahn.

“Today, our community said yes to California values, our progressive values,” Gomez said at his election party at his campaign headquarters in Highland Park. “All of you here that helped me on this campaign, we are the resistance.”

Gomez’s backers were heartened when the candidate showed a narrow lead in the absentee ballots because Ahn had aggressively courted early voters. As returns from election day poured in and Gomez’s lead grew, they were increasingly optimistic.

Flanked by his family and in front of elected leaders who campaigned for him, Gomez took the stage shortly after 10 p.m. and spoke of his family’s humble origins.

“I’m the son of immigrants, the son of farmers, of braceros who understand the value of hard work but also understand the value of good people,” he said. “So I will always fight for all of you.”

Gomez told the crowd that his values were based on his personal experiences, including lacking health insurance as a child, watching his gay brother being picked on in school, and seeing his sisters rely on Planned Parenthood to get basic medical needs.

He said he was also influenced by hearing from his potential constituents about their needs.

“I try to put myself in your shoes,” he said. “I will continue doing that as your next member of Congress.”

Within 15 minutes of concluding his speech, the crowd erupted in cheers as Gomez retook the stage and shouted out that Ahn had called and conceded.

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Ahn concedes Los Angeles congressional race to Gomez

Robert Lee Ahn.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Lee Ahn has conceded the 34th Congressional District race to Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez.

“I just got off a call with Robert Ahn, and he conceded the race,” Gomez said at his watch party.

An Ahn spokesman confirmed the news.

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L.A. County’s election official reminds voters this could be a long night

After polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the 34th Congressional District special election, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan checked in on Twitter with an update on turnout and mail ballots.

But Logan’s next tweets about the ballot counting process served as a reminder to those waiting for results with anticipation: It could be a long night.

More than an hour after polls closed, Logan reported that ballots in 110 of the district’s 190 precincts had been received at L.A. County’s election inspector check-in centers. He added that ballots for 19 precincts had been transported to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk headquarters in Norwalk for counting.

Follow along with us for live results updates here.

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The candidates arrive

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Waiting for a winner: Scenes from the Gomez and Ahn parties in L.A. congressional race

Polls closed at 8 p.m., and the people gathered at watch parties for congressional candidates Jimmy Gomez and Robert Lee Ahn are still waiting for the action.

Gomez has a narrow lead thanks to early mail ballots, with no precincts yet reporting results from the day’s ballots.

The state Assemblyman has some high-profile Democratic backers, several of whom are at the party or plan to show up later.

At the Ahn party, supporters are sounding a positive note.

Ahn spokesman James Lee said the campaign “feels pretty optimistic with the first batch of numbers.”

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Early mail ballots show Gomez with very slim lead in L.A.’s congressional race

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Congressional race dispatches from Little Tokyo and the Arts District

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Polls are about to close in the 34th District race: Here’s some of what voters told us today

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Chiang backer seems to compare candidate’s Democratic gubernatorial rivals to President Trump

(Christina House / For The Times)

Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar on Tuesday essentially compared fellow Democrats Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa to President Trump as he endorsed state Treasurer John Chiang in the 2018 governor’s race.

“John is the very definition of a public servant,” Huizar said during a news conference in Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. “If you want flash and no substance, look no further than the White House at this time and see how that’s working out. But if you want a trusted, steady and fearless leader who knows when to be tough against special interests, who knows when to cross the aisle to get things done for the people, then John Chiang is your choice for governor.”

Huizar didn’t mention Villaraigosa or Newsom by name, but the reference was clear. The Chiang campaign has framed the race as a wonky state treasurer with a record of fiscal prudence taking on flashier competitors, former big-city mayors with outsized personalities.

The event was viewed especially as a snub of Villaraigosa, because Huizar was his longtime ally and the event took place in the neighborhood where Villaraigosa grew up. Asked why he chose Chiang, Huizar twice said he remained friends with “Mr. Villaraigosa” but believes the treasurer is “pragmatic” and a “realist” who is best qualified for the job.

(Christina House / For the Times)

The gubernatorial primary will take place one year from today. Chiang used the occasion to announce plans for a statewide listening tour. He unveiled a green-and-white camper bearing his picture that will be on hand when he speaks in front of the Golden Gate Bridge on Wednesday, visits a pest-control convention in Lake Tahoe next week, and possibly tailgates at a Fresno State football game later this year.

On Tuesday, Chiang picked up a historical guidebook of California for his travels at Libros Schmibros, a lending library on the plaza, then walked to Al & Bea’s Mexican Restaurant. He spoke with community activists about homeless veterans, affordable housing and the impacts of pollution from a nearby, now-shuttered battery plant, before digging into a shredded beef, bean, cheese and green sauce burrito, the signature item at the 51-year-old institution.

The Newsom campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Villaraigosa’s senior strategist Eric Jaye declined to comment on Huizar’s remarks, but described the camper as “sweet,” adding, “Hope we can camper-pool to events.”

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This conservative super PAC is on a mission to keep California’s vulnerable GOP congressmen in office

More than 200 volunteers will knock on doors in California this weekend, and while they aren’t representing a specific candidate, they do have a cause: keeping the Republican majority in the House.

The volunteers are working on behalf of a conservative super PAC that has set up offices in four California congressional districts 17 months before the 2018 election.

And if you are a swing voter, they may want to talk to you.

The Congressional Leadership Fund isn’t an arm of the congressional campaigns, so federal law prohibits them from coordinating with the candidates or their campaigns. But the political action committee and its sister nonprofit, the American Action Network, have the blessing of House Republican leaders and spent $50 million in 2016 to help Republicans hold onto their majority, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Super PACs traditionally pay for many of the political ads that flood the airwaves, but after the 2016 election, the Congressional Leadership Fund looked for new ways to play a role, said Corry Bliss, executive director of both groups.

“The world is changing, and outside groups should be more than TV factories. What we are providing for these members is more valuable than an extra television commercial,” Bliss said.

The answer, they decided, was to go into a competitive district early, identify the swing voters, find out what they care about and then talk about those topics consistently in ads and online.

“Our goal is to come out with a list of about 60,000 to 80,000 voters that we determine are the crucial [votes],” Bliss said. “We’re focused on that small group of voters for two years. We’re not talking to every voter in the district. That’s up to the campaign to do.”

They’re setting up shop in the districts held by Reps. David Valadao (R-Hanford), Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) and Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), and are hiring staff, renting office space and training volunteers to survey the targeted voters.

Volunteers in Knight’s district ask voters if the congressman should be focused on transportation, veterans or balancing the budget. In Valadao’s Central Valley district, the questions are about water, veterans or overhauling immigration laws.

A third of the 12 districts where the PAC is organizing are in California, and there are plans to move into at least two more California districts soon, Bliss said, adding that it “shows you how serious we are about California, how important California will be.”

All four of the California districts reelected their Republican congressmen by large margins in 2016 but also picked Hillary Clinton for president. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee opened a West Coast office in Irvine, with officials saying it’s a sign of how important flipping GOP seats in California is for Democrats to retake control of the House.

But Bliss dismissed the effort and said he expects precinct-level messaging to sway the outcome by as much as five percentage points.

Bliss managed the reelection campaign of Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), where Portman used targeted, localized messaging to win 58.03% of the vote, while President Trump won the state by only 51.69%

“They didn’t view him through the prism of the presidential race,” Bliss said. “We had created a unique and distinct brand for Rob Portman that was separate and apart.”

The PAC plans to spend $1 million in each district in 2018, Bliss said.

“This model really works. It requires a lot of time, a lot of effort and lot of money, but I think it’s a worthwhile investment,” Bliss said. “No one has ever done this. Certainly no one has ever done this this early.”

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L.A.’s congressional election: Ahn and Gomez get last-minute campaigning in

Robert Ahn thanks his staff and volunteers working on election day at his campaign office.
Robert Ahn thanks his staff and volunteers working on election day at his campaign office.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Jimmy Gomez, right, meets a future voter as he talks to Esmeralda Lozano during a last-day campaign push.
Jimmy Gomez, right, meets a future voter as he talks to Esmeralda Lozano during a last-day campaign push.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

With polls open in today’s runoff in the 34th Congressional District race, Robert Lee Ahn and Jimmy Gomez are spending the last hours of their campaigns trying to get voters to show up.

Both Democrats already voted (Ahn participated in early voting Sunday and Gomez mailed his ballot in) so there will be no Kodak moments of them dropping ballots in the ballot box.

Instead, Gomez spent the morning knocking on voters’ doors in Boyle Heights followed by some phone banking in the afternoon.

Ahn also planned to make calls to voters Tuesday morning.

Over the weekend, Ahn held community coffee meetings and made fundraising calls before voting at Pio Pico Library.

Gomez’s campaign has hosted vigorous get-out-the-vote events and on Monday he held a news conference with labor icon Dolores Huerta and several former primary opponents who have endorsed him.

Both are scheduled to hold election night parties: Gomez at his Highland Park headquarters and Ahn at La Fonda de los Camperos restaurant in Westlake.

Candidate Robert Lee Ahn, attorney

Candidate Jimmy Gomez, assemblyman (Video by Al Seib / Los Angeles Tiems)

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In ‘highly significant’ meeting, Gov. Jerry Brown discusses climate change with China’s president

Gov. Jerry Brown met with President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in a rare move that catapults California’s status as a negotiator with China while the U.S. falls back on climate change.

The leaders met less than a week after President Trump pulled the U.S. from the historic Paris climate accord, with Xi spending nearly an hour talking to one of the administration’s loudest, most powerful critics on the environment.

They discussed global warming and green tech in the Great Hall of the People, a granite-columned building on Tiananmen Square reserved for high-level dignitaries, political gatherings and ceremonial occasions.

“It’s highly significant that the governor of California can meet with the president of China and talk about the foremost issue of our time,” he said, sounding especially jovial on the third day of his weeklong China tour. “It’s very clear he welcomes an increased role on the part of California.”

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California’s new attorney general will soon have to make big decisions on police accountability

Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra at his first confirmation hearing in January.
Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra at his first confirmation hearing in January.
(Rich Pedroncelli / AP)

New California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra has major policing issues on his plate. He has to decide how to implement a 2015 law designed to prevent racial profiling and finish civil rights investigations in Kern County and Bakersfield after years of complaints about police shootings.

In contrast to his numerous statements against the Trump administration, Becerra has been relatively silent about what he’s going to do about policing. Both law enforcement groups and civil rights activists are hopeful and concerned about his tenure.

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34th District voters are showing up to polls this morning and finding them mostly empty

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California lawmakers may add oversight of immigrant detention centers to budget talks

California's largest immigrant detention center is a privately run facility in Adelanto.
(Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

California lawmakers are weighing a proposal to prohibit the expansion of facilities to detain immigrants and require new monitoring of the treatment of immigrants under detention.

A state Senate budget subcommittee first debated the idea in May, and it remains under discussion as conferees from both houses work to mesh their budget plans together this week.

The proposal followed a report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, which found that hundreds of immigrant detainees housed in Orange County’s largest detention facility were served spoiled food, given mold-covered shower facilities and offered phones that didn’t work.

The issue took on new urgency for some lawmakers after nine deaths were reported at the privately run Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino County and news reports that Yolo County officials had been housing migrant teens indefinitely.

In a 2-1 vote along party lines last month, the subcommittee decided to add the plan to upcoming budget negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown. It would require the California Department of Justice to audit each facility annually and report its findings to the Legislature and governor.

Lawmakers also are considering a ban on local governments and law enforcement agencies from entering into, renewing or modifying a contract with the federal government to expand the number of beds used for people detained in civil immigration proceedings.

The proposal could be another tool in a legislative package that aims to improve conditions at immigration detention centers and increase legal defense and protections for immigrants. Lawmakers have until next Thursday to send a full budget plan to Brown.

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Los Angeles, there is actually another election today. Here’s how you can vote

Voters line up at an early voting site at Pio Pico Library in Koreatown on Saturday.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Voters in Los Angeles will choose California’s newest member of Congress today, in the fourth election in as many months within the city.

Democrats Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez and attorney Robert Lee Ahn are in a runoff for the 34th Congressional District, vacated by Xavier Becerra when he became attorney general earlier this year.

The district includes downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown and the Eastside neighborhoods of Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock and Highland Park.

Not sure whether you live in this district? You can check here.

Pretty much everything you need to know about the race can be found here. You can read up on Ahn and Gomez’s policy positions at latimes.com/34issues and see who’s backing their campaigns financially at latimes.com/34money.

Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and you can look up your polling place here.

If you vote by mail, your vote will count as long as your ballot is postmarked by Tuesday and received by election officials by Friday. You can check on the status of your mail ballot here.

A few hundred voters still hadn’t received their mail ballots over the weekend. For help with this or any other voting problems, call county election officials at (800) 815-2666 and choose option 3.

And don’t forget: we’ll be reporting from the polls, election night parties and tracking live results of the race at latimes.com/essentialpolitics.

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Fight in California Democratic Party goes on: ‘It is believed that the wrong individual is serving as chair’

Kimberly Ellis speakers to her supporters have losing the election.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Bay Area Democratic organizer Kimberly Ellis, who narrowly lost the race to be the next leader of the California Democratic Party, on Monday said her campaign found evidence of hundreds of voting discrepancies, including mismatched voter signatures and “multiple” cases of delegates voting more than once.

“Based on the information contained here, the actual vote count is in question. It is believed that the wrong individual is serving as chair,” the Ellis campaign stated in a six-page memo released Monday evening.

Ellis lost the election for state party chairperson to Eric Bauman, the chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, by just over 60 votes during the party’s convention in Sacramento on May 20.

Among other evidence, the Ellis campaign said it found delegates’ signatures on hundreds of votes cast did not match the signatures those same delegates signed when they obtained their credentials for the convention.

Mike Roth, spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said party officials are reviewing Ellis’ memo but that it “appears to be more unsubstantiated allegations and still no facts.”

“Ms. Ellis created a lot of build up to her online release, but our initial read is that she is still lacking any real details,” Roth said in a statement released Monday night.

Ellis had called for an independent audit of the election, a request rejected by Bauman. On Monday, Ellis renewed her call for an independent inquiry.

Bauman said the party already has a process in place to review contested elections. The party’s compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former Chairman John Burton’s tenure, will review the evidence and take oral or written testimony before issuing a ruling in mid- to late June.

The Ellis campaign, however, said the panel would be biased in favor of Bauman since according to its review of the ballots, five of the six members voted for Bauman for chair. Ballots are not secret for the chair election.

Updated at 8:11 p.m.: This post was updated to include a response from the California Democratic Party.

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What early voters said about their pick in L.A.’s congressional race: ‘I think that he is the right voice for our time’

Three early-voting sites were open this weekend so voters could cast ballots in person for the race to replace Xavier Becerra in Congress.

Here’s a sampling of what voters at Pio Pico Library in Koreatown and Arroyo Seco Library in Highland Park had to say:

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Mail-in returns in L.A.’s congressional race suggest another boost in Korean American turnout

Voters line up for early voting over the weekend at Pio Pico Library in Koreatown
(Christine Mai-Duc / Los Angeles Times)

Election day in L.A.’s 34th Congressional District isn’t until tomorrow, but tens of thousands of voters have already cast ballots in the race to choose L.A.’s next congressman.

The runoff, between Robert Lee Ahn and Jimmy Gomez, both Democrats, gives the small but motivated Korean American community in the district the chance to elect its first Democratic congressman.

Their enthusiasm is showing in early return numbers.

As of Monday afternoon, 21,000 mail ballots had been received, an increase of about 20% compared with the day before the April primary.

Korean American voters, who make up just 6% of voters in this majority Latino district, are outpacing Latinos in early returns.

Turnout probably will be key in the election and is being so closely watched that an Ahn campaign volunteer was counting ballots as they were submitted Saturday at Pio Pico Library.

About 5,660, or 30% of Korean American registered voters, have already voted, according to a surname and birthplace analysis by Political Data Inc. The day before the primary election, about 4,000 Korean Americans had already voted.

Latino turnout was about 3% as of Monday, or about 5,550 votes. Election day voting at polling places generally favors Latino turnout: More than 40% of precinct voters in the primary were Latino.

Korean Americans made up about 27% of early mail returns as of Monday evening, and Asians as a whole, who have received targeted ads from Ahn, made up about 38% of the ballots.

This doesn’t include more than 1,400 voters who participated in early voting over the weekend. The vast majority of those weekend votes came from Pio Pico Library in Koreatown, where many Korean Americans also turned out in force to vote.

One of those voters Saturday was Janice Yi, 62, a small-business owner who sells auto parts. Yi, a Republican, said it didn’t matter to her that Ahn is a Democrat.

“Whatever happens to our community, there needs to be a voice to speak up for us,” she said. She said she hoped Ahn could “represent what we think, what our needs are” in Congress. Her daughter, who’s a Democrat, voted for Gomez. Yi said she didn’t try to convince her. “She’s very headstrong and stubborn, like me.”

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Korean Americans have a chance to make history in an L.A. congressional district known as a Latino power base

Voters wait to vote at Pio Pico Library in Koreatown for the special election to replace Xavier Becerra in the 34th Congressional District.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The Eastside of Los Angeles has long been seen as a political power base for Latinos, an incubator for politicians who have made it on to the City Council, statehouse and Congress.

Edward Roybal made history there when he was elected L.A.’s first modern-day Latino councilman in 1949 and again in 1962, when he was seated as California’s first Latino congressman since the 1800s.

Xavier Becerra, who took over much of the district when he was elected in 1992, became the highest-ranking Latino in Congress before leaving to become California attorney general in January.

But in a special election Tuesday to replace Becerra in the 34th Congressional District, an enthusiastic minority of Korean Americans who live on the other end of the district have a shot at making history too.

The runoff between Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, 42, and attorney Robert Lee Ahn, 41, will decide whether the district continues a decades-long tradition of Latino representation or elects the first Korean American Democrat to Congress.

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Orange County pediatrician to challenge Rep. Ed Royce in 2018

Pediatrician Mai Khanh Tran is entering the race to unseat Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) in California’s 39th Congressional District.

Tran, 51, of Fountain Valley, said she was inspired to run by Royce’s support for Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“I am absolutely incensed over what’s been happening,” she said by phone. “He was very callous and he did not vote for the needs of his constituents.”

Royce and the other 13 Republicans in California’s congressional delegation voted for the House Republican healthcare plan to replace Obamacare, and Democrats are expected to use the vote as an issue throughout the 2018 campaign.

Born in Vietnam, Tran and her three siblings came to the U.S. as refugees in 1975. Her parents fled the country after the fall of Saigon and they were reunited in Oregon, where the family spent summers picking strawberries with other immigrant laborers, Tran said.

Tran said she studied psychology and social relations at Harvard University, working her way through school in part by doing janitorial work. She then graduated from the Brown-Dartmouth medical program. She is a part of a private practice in Orange County.

Tran’s Fountain Valley home is in Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s district, where several Democrats have already announced plans to run. Members of Congress don’t have to live in the district they represent and at least a half dozen California members do not.

Still, the National Republican Congressional Committee jumped on the fact quickly.

“While Tran was district-shopping around Orange County, finally settling on one she doesn’t even live in, Ed Royce has been doing what he’s always done — working hard to keep Southern California families safe,” NRCC spokesman Jack Pandol said in an email.

Tran said 25 years of practicing medicine in Orange County means she’s familiar with the district.

“I don’t see this as a real issue,” she said. “I truly think Ed Royce needs to be challenged. I am the best person to take this fight to Ed Royce.”

Tran joins Democrat Phil Janowicz, a former chemistry professor at Cal State Fullerton who now runs an education consulting firm, in the uphill race to unseat Royce, who has represented the area since 1992. Independent Julio Castaneda is also running.

Democrats are targeting the district — which includes voters in northern Orange County, Diamond Bar and Chino Hills — in part because Hillary Clinton earned 51.5% of the vote there in the 2016 presidential race, compared with President Trump’s 42.9%.

But Royce was easily reelected with 57% of the vote, and he starts off with $2.8 million tucked away for his next campaign.

“I’ve overcome pretty incredible odds, so I feel that I have the heart and the steel to make this happen,” Tran said.

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Gov. Jerry Brown says California wants China’s help on electric vehicles

The “Star Wars” theme song blared as participants entered Nanjing’s environmental conference on Monday, a fitting lead-in to Gov. Jerry Brown’s fervent speech about climate change and the new frontiers he pledged to conquer.

The Democratic governor gave his usual rally cry in this coastal Chinese city, imploring the packed ballroom to help reinforce a global commitment to climate change. But a more specific theme also emerged, an undercurrent in his five-night trip that he’s echoed in several meetings with officials: Brown is looking to China for the future of California’s electric vehicles.

The state aims to put 4 million to 5 million electric cars on roads by 2030, he said at the event, “and we aren’t going to get there until Chinese business people, Chinese government leaders make it a priority to develop batteries and electric cars. And we will too.”

Brown emphasized a partnership again when signing a clean-tech agreement with the Communist Party head of Jiangsu province. He told reporters that he highlighted the issue with Sichuan officials a day earlier, and stressed battery and electric car improvement as a tangible goal to reduce carbon pollution.

For the state to reach its environmental goals, “California and the world will need the cost of batteries and electric vehicles to come down,” said Yunshi Wang, director of the China Center for Energy and Transportation at UC Davis, who is in Beijing for a different international clean-energy summit this week. “China is a leader in this area.”

It works like this: More competitors in the market lower the cost, he said, and raise the quality.

Brown spent much of his afternoon Monday on another project he envisions for California — high-speed rail. California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols and members of Brown’s staff snapped photos as a sleek, white bullet train pulled into Nanjing.

Four years ago on his last visit, the governor walked the aisles on another high-speed train. He wanted Chinese investment to fund his longtime dream — one still far from fruition.

“There is Japan, China, Germany, maybe more, they are all in the running,” he said about assistance building the bullet train, the state’s biggest public works project.

If the project proceeds as planned, it will deliver people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours. Work has started on a section in the Central Valley but the effort still faces economic and political obstacles.

“The high speed rail in California is under construction,” he said, standing comfortably between compartments as the train neared Beijing. “We have money and we are spending. And we will continue to do so.”

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War of words over California Democratic Party’s disputed chair race intensifies

Kimberly Ellis, left, narrowly lost the race for California Democratic Party leader to Eric Bauman.
Kimberly Ellis, left, narrowly lost the race for California Democratic Party leader to Eric Bauman.
(Kirk McKoy and Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The drama surrounding the election of a new California Democratic Party leader continues.

Newly elected state party Chairman Eric Bauman on Monday criticized his rival in the race for continuing to allege improprieties in the election she narrowly lost just over two weeks ago at the state party convention, saying her attacks are disparaging the party.

“Ms. Ellis has chosen to ratchet up the rancor at every turn, propagating inaccurate innuendoes and disingenuous half-truths designed to turn our members against each other,” Bauman said a statement released Monday morning.

The Ellis campaign said it has uncovered discrepancies in the election and evidence that ineligible party delegates cast ballots. She has called for an independent audit of the vote, a request Bauman has rejected.

California Controller Betty Yee, in a message to party delegates, called on Bauman and Ellis to “cease resolution of the CDP chair’s race through the media,” saying it’s essential for the party to unify to combat the policies of President Trump. Yee, who endorsed Ellis, also supported Ellis’ call for an independent audit.

Both Ellis and Bauman used Yee’s statement to buttress their positions.

Bauman said he rejects the idea that an outside audit is necessary, saying the party already has a process in place to review contested elections.

The party’s compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former Chairman John Burton’s tenure, will review the evidence and take oral or written testimony before issuing a ruling in mid- to late June.

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Longtime Villaraigosa ally Jose Huizar to back his rival John Chiang for California governor

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

State Treasurer John Chiang plans to poke at one of his top gubernatorial rivals Tuesday when he unveils a notable endorsement at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights.

That neighborhood is the birthplace of former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Chiang will be endorsed there by Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, the man Villaraigosa recruited to run for his council seat when he was elected mayor in 2005. Villaraigosa declined to comment on the endorsement.

“John Chiang is a powerful voice for efficiency and transparency in state and local government who has saved taxpayers billions as Controller and Treasurer,” Huizar said in a statement. “John Chiang is the candidate for Governor with the experience and proven track record to fight for a better future for all Californians.”

Chiang, who entered the gubernatorial race months before Villaraigosa, has raised more money but is lesser known among the state’s voters. He’s also earned a reputation for being wonky and understated, so the foray into Villaraigosa’s home turf was notable.

Huizar and Villaraigosa have a long yet at times complicated history. While Villaraigosa campaigned heavily for Huizar’s 2005 election and the two men were allies throughout Villaraigosa’s tenure as mayor, he backed former county Supervisor Gloria Molina when she unsuccessfully tried to unseat Huizar in 2015.

Villaraigosa’s relationship with Molina predated his ties to Huizar — she helped kickstart his political career by making him an alternate member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors, and by backing his first bid for public office, in 1994 for the state Assembly, and his later campaigns.

Neither Chiang nor Huizar mention Villaraigosa in their statements about the event. Chiang said he chose Boyle Heights to announce the endorsement and a yearlong road trip around California because of its diverse history.

In addition to the event at Mariachi Plaza, Chiang plans to visit Libros Schmibros Lending Library and eat at Al & Bea’s Mexican Restaurant.

“Under the visionary leadership of people like José Huizar, places like Boyle Heights are thriving: light rail transit has returned, restaurants have opened, a bustling farmers market is held here every week, the community is engaged and neighborhoods are safer,” Chiang said. “I am humbled and honored to have his support and share his vision.”

On Wednesday, Chiang plans to head north to unveil an endorsement in San Francisco, the city where Gavin Newsom, his other top rival in the gubernatorial race, made his political name. Newsom served as the city’s mayor for seven years before being elected lieutenant governor, the position he current holds.

Updated at 8:20 p.m.: This post was updated to reflect that Antonio Villaraigosa declined to comment on the endorsement.

This post was originally published at 8:09 p.m.

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Gov. Brown’s China road trip starts on a high note with new allies and pandas

California Gov. Jerry Brown with Mary Nichols, chair of the state Air Resources Board, and Robert Weisenmiller, California Energy Commission chair, center, at the panda center in Chengdu, China.
California Gov. Jerry Brown with Mary Nichols, chair of the state Air Resources Board, and Robert Weisenmiller, California Energy Commission chair, center, at the panda center in Chengdu, China.
(Jessica Meyers / For The Times )

California Gov. Jerry Brown’s first day in China began with a ceremonial signing and then proceeded to pandas.

Brown started the first leg of his five-night China tour Sunday in Chengdu, the southwestern city known for the cuddly creatures, high-tech and fiery hot pot.

He quickly signed a ceremonial document acknowledging a sister relationship between his state and the broader province, known as Sichuan, while traditional Chinese music blared from a speaker. The ceremony added another ally in California’s relationship with China and set the tone for a trip focused on forging climate change partnerships.

The governor referenced the Trump administration obliquely, but his comments reinforced the differing direction he hopes to lead California — and possibly, the world.

“The key to Paris was President Xi [Jinping] and President Obama meeting together,” he told a room of suited Chinese delegates, referring to the international climate pact President Trump pulled the U.S. out of last week.

Now “it’s up to President Xi to advance the ball. We want to stand behind him and make that possible,” the governor said.

The afternoon brought more levity.

Chengdu residents — and diplomatic envoys — insist a visit to their city is not complete without a trip to the panda base. This sprawling, eco-tourism park holds 176 pandas, including a 1-month-old cub.

Who could pass that up?

A small cart carried Brown’s delegation through the park, until they reached a wooded area with twin cubs gnawing on bamboo and a mother sleeping soundly nearby.

Brown and three others entered a building that held more baby pandas. Officials at the park required media and the rest of the staff to wait outside. Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, reported back: The pandas weren’t soft at all, and actually felt wiry.

The governor said they were “very cute” and reminded him of his dog Colusa.

He continued the tour, as a guide fed him information about the animals’ life span and eating habits. Brown stared for a bit at the heaving stomach of a snoozing panda perched on a wood platform.

“They do sit around a lot, don’t they?” he said, walking on.

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County election officials say hundreds of voters in L.A.’s congressional race haven’t received their mail ballots

Voters in L.A.'s congressional election participate in early voting at Pio Pico Library in Koreatown.
(Christine Mai-Duc / Los Angeles Times)

With less than three days until the special congressional election in Los Angeles, hundreds of newly registered voters have not received the mail ballots they requested, county election officials say.

More than 400 voters who registered as permanent mail voters between May 1 and May 31 have not gotten their ballots to vote, said Aaron Nevarez, a manager for governmental and legislative affairs at the L.A. County registrar’s office.

He said although these voters showed up in the Secretary of State’s database as permanent mail voters, they did not appear in the county’s records as mail voters. The campaigns of attorney Robert Lee Ahn and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, both Democrats, received an email about the issue Saturday. The two are running to replace Xavier Becerra, who left Congress to become California’s attorney general.

County election officials are now attempting to reach each of these voters by phone or email or even hand-delivering ballots to voters’ doors, Nevarez said.

“We’ve been attempting to reach these voters through any means necessary,” he said.

Officials are also telling voters about other ways they can cast a ballot: in person at early vote locations this weekend, by dropping off mail ballots at drop-off locations or by voting in person at the polls Tuesday.

The exact cause of the glitch hasn’t been determined yet, and county and state officials are still researching the matter, Nevarez said. It’s not clear whether more voters might be affected.

The discrepancy was discovered after the Ahn campaign began getting complaints from voters that their ballots hadn’t showed up in their mailboxes.

Ahn’s campaign used an aggressive voter registration effort during the April primary and has registered hundreds of voters since then, primarily in Koreatown.

Community activist and Ahn campaign volunteer Grace Yoo said she and others helped many new voters register online. When the complaints began rolling in, Ahn campaign volunteers started researching the ballot status of those they’d help register and discovered many had not gotten their ballots.

“I’m hoping they’ll figure out what the mistake was,” Yoo said Friday. “That just seems like a really high problem rate.”

Didn’t receive your ballot? Here’s what you can do:

  • Vote in person at any of these three early voting locations. They’re open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, but also serve as drop-off locations until Tuesday.
    1. Arroyo Seco Library
      6145 N. Figueroa St.
    2. Puente Learning Center
      501 S. Boyle Ave.
    3. Pio Pico Library
      694 S. Oxford Ave.
  • Vote in person at your polling place on Tuesday.
  • Call the L.A. County registrar’s office at (800) 815-2666 and select option 2 to request another ballot or ask for assistance.
  • Once you receive a mail ballot, you can drop it off at any of the early voting locations above, at Los Angeles City Hall downtown or at any polling location on Tuesday. You can also mail it, as long as it’s postmarked by Tuesday.
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Rep. Darrell Issa grilled about Russia and healthcare at raucous town hall in Orange County

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) speaks at a town hall meeting in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) speaks at a town hall meeting in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday.
(Bill Wechter / AFP/Getty Images)

Seven months since the tightest congressional race in the country made Rep. Darrell Issa the most vulnerable member of Congress, the Vista Republican headed to a stronghold of his district Saturday for another raucous town hall meeting.

After boos, picketing, some yelling, and tough questions from constituents at a San Juan Capistrano high school (plus a 20-foot-tall inflatable chicken bearing a resemblance to President Trump in the parking lot) Issa said he is not fretting about next year’s midterm elections — the primary is now 363 days away.

“Not a bit,” he said after speaking with constituents for nearly two hours, his button-down shirt still tucked in, still fielding questions from his feet (he rejected a staffer’s suggestion that he sit down), but on at least his second caffeinated soda.

Issa’s confidence came after he was asked how he feels about the American Health Care Act, a bill that will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. According to a Congressional Budget Office study, it would cause 23 million people to become uninsured and increase premiums for people over 50.

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State Democratic Party dismisses allegations of irregularities in the election of a new party leader

Kimberly Ellis, left, narrowly lost the race for California Democratic Party leader to Eric Bauman.
Kimberly Ellis, left, narrowly lost the race for California Democratic Party leader to Eric Bauman.
(Photos by Kirk McKoy and Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The executive director of the California Democratic Party on Saturday pushed back against allegations of discrepancies in the party’s election for chairperson, saying no evidence has been presented backing the claim.

Bay Area Democratic organizer Kimberly Ellis, the candidate who narrowly lost last month’s race to be the next leader of the state party, made the allegations Friday. She also criticized the party for not granting her request for an independent audit of the election.

Chris Masami Myers said in a statement the party already has allowed Ellis and her campaign team to review all the ballots cast by delegates as well as other election-related material. He noted that Ellis’ team looking over the election material included an attorney and a certified public accountant.

Myers said the party held an “open and fair election” for chairperson, adding that the ballots were counted and recounted in the presence of representatives of all the candidates. Myers said Ellis has not presented any evidence showing the election was tainted.

“During her review, Ms. Ellis submitted a challenge to the election results. That communication, however, did not include any facts, allegations or any basis whatsoever for the challenge,” Myers said. “Consequently, I provided her with an additional seven days to provide support for her claim.”

Los Angeles County Democratic Chairman Eric Bauman was elected to be the new state party chair, beating Ellis by just over 60 votes.

The party’s compliance review commission, made up of six members appointed during former Chairman John Burton’s tenure, will review the evidence and take oral or written testimony before issuing a ruling in mid- to late June.

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California Politics Podcast: Gov. Jerry Brown jabs Trump on climate change

Hours before he embarked on a weeklong trip to China, Gov. Jerry Brown was handed a rare political gift: President Trump’s decision to withdraw from an international climate change agreement.

Within hours, Brown was one of the most visible politicians in the nation taking aim at the president’s action.

On this week’s episode of the California Politics Podcast, we take a closer look at how Brown’s rhetoric will need to deal with reality, both overseas and with an intense climate change debate now going on in Sacramento.

We also discuss big votes in the Legislature this week on a number of bills, from the effort to create a single-payer healthcare system in California to an ambitious overhaul of the court bail process.

I’m joined by Marisa Lagos of KQED News and Anthony York of the Grizzly Bear Project.

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Watch: Rep. Darrell Issa holds a raucous town hall

Rep. Darrell Issa’s Saturday town hall, which you can watch all of above, was the second intense crowd the congressman has faced in as many days.

In a pop-up question-and-answer session on Friday outside his Vista office, Issa took many pointed questions, including ones about his vote for the Republican healthcare plan and President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

He faced many of the same topics at Saturday’s well-attended town hall.

A nine-term congressman, Issa narrowly won re-election in November by a margin of about 1,600 votes out of more than 300,000 cast.

Next year’s race is being closely watched. Democrats have targeted the 49th District in hopes of flipping it in and Republicans are putting in extra money to keep Issa in office.

Some of Issa’s 2018 opponents showed up at Friday’s session.

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Gov. Jerry Brown, in a counter to Trump, lands in China to affirm climate change alliance

Gov. Jerry Brown landed in China on Saturday to seek a broader role in shaping the world’s climate change policies as America retrenches.

His arrival is timely. President Trump on Thursday pulled the U.S. out of the Paris accord, a hard-fought pact negotiated by China and the U.S. under President Obama to battle global warming worldwide. China has vowed to stay in it.

Brown brought a fraction of the nearly 100 officials who accompanied him on his trip four years ago, when he rode China’s high-speed rail and set up a trade office in Shanghai. This time, his five-night mission is more focused: to reaffirm a global obligation to green growth as America’s de facto envoy on climate change.

A gritty layer of smog met Brown as he landed in Chengdu, the teaming capital city of Sichuan, a southwestern province famed for its mouth-numbing peppercorns and pandas.

He’ll travel on Monday to Nanjing in coastal Jiangsu province, which shares a sister relationship with California.

These regions, which are making strides in clean energy development, were the first two Chinese provinces to sign onto an international climate change pact Brown helped create, known as the Under2 Coalition.

The agreement includes more than 100 cities, states, provinces and countries who have committed to limit the increase in global temperatures below 2 degrees — the point when glaciers melt, seas rise and scientists warn of irrevocable consequences.

Brown also will promote clean energy investment in his meetings with regional and national officials, and attend a conference on Tuesday of global energy ministers. He’ll co-host a forum on Wednesday with Sichuan officials and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology that brings together coalition members to plot carbon-cutting efforts.

“China is moving forward in a very serious way,” he told The Times just before his departure. “And so is California.”

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Kimberly Ellis says her request for an independent audit of the vote for California Democratic Party leader was rejected

Democratic organizer Kimberly Ellis, the candidate who narrowly lost the race to be the next leader of the California Democratic Party, on Friday said the state party has rejected her request for an independent audit of the election.

A statement released by the Ellis campaign Friday afternoon claims that it has uncovered “alarming discrepancies and an amassing of ineligible voters” during her campaign’s ongoing review of the ballots cast during the state party’s convention almost two weeks ago.

The Ellis campaign said her request for the audit was rejected by newly elected state party chairperson Eric Bauman, who beat Ellis by just over 60 votes.

“Eric’s rejection of an independent forensic audit is well beyond troubling. If everything was done on the up-and-up, what is there to hide?” said Hilary Crosby, former controller for the state party and an Ellis supporter.

Ellis has already submitted a separate, formal challenge of the election results.

Chris Masami Myers, state party executive director, earlier this week said in a statement that it would be reviewed “in accordance with the standard practices described in the bylaws.”

The party’s compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former Chairman John Burton’s tenure, will review the evidence and take oral or written testimony before issuing a ruling in mid- to late June.

Ellis has called for the party to appoint an interim chair until the challenge is resolved but, in her statement, said Bauman rejected that request.

An attorney for the Ellis campaign also submitted a request to the state party to preserve all of the ballots and other elections material in the party elections.

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Bid to renew California’s landmark anti-climate change program hits roadblocks

Gov. Jerry Brown
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Efforts to expand California’s primary program to combat climate change have hit a snag.

Two bills that aimed to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program failed to make it out of the Assembly by this week’s deadline. And Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) rebuffed Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to lock in cap and trade’s future by the June 15 budget deadline, saying that the issue was too complicated to complete by that time.

“We have to get it right,” de León said this week.

Cap and trade, a system that requires companies to pay to pollute, aims to force down carbon emissions so that the state can meet its goals of substantially reducing greenhouse gases over the coming decades. The program, which generates significant state revenue for anti-global warming investments, is authorized to operate through 2020. Brown, de León and other lawmakers are hoping to extend it through a two-thirds supermajority vote to insulate the effort from legal challenge.

Since the beginning of the year, lawmakers have discussed numerous proposals to extend the program, but nothing has gained traction.

Thursday night, AB 378 from Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) failed after a long roll call vote that didn’t convince skeptical colleagues. Besides extending the program for a decade, Garcia’s bill would have added new restrictions on air pollution, an issue that has been championed by environmental justice groups. Another cap-and-trade extension bill from Assemblywoman Autumn Burke (D-Marina del Rey) never came up for a vote Thursday.

Aside from the two bills, business-aligned Democrats in the Assembly have released their own cap-and-trade plan, a de León-backed measure remains active in the Senate and Assembly Republicans have expressed interest in working to extend the program.

In an interview this week with The Times, Brown said he understands the concerns of lawmakers in low-income, high-pollution communities.

“Cleaning up the air where it’s most dirty makes a lot of sense,” Brown said. “With cap and trade, we’ll have billions of dollars to achieve just that.”

De León said his goal was to have a cap-and-trade deal done by the end of the legislative year in September.

Times Sacramento bureau chief John Myers contributed to this report.

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One of Rep. Mimi Walters’ 2018 challengers gets an endorsement from EMILY’s List

EMILY’s List has endorsed UC Irvine law professor Katie Porter in her bid to unseat Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) in California’s 45th District.

It’s the group’s first House endorsement for the 2018 election. It supports pro-choice, female candidates.

Porter, 43, is an expert on consumer protection law and banking and gave early warnings about mortgage fraud ahead of the 2008 financial collapse. She was picked by then-Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris to monitor distribution of California’s share of a $25-billion mortgage foreclosure settlement.

“We need leaders on Capitol Hill who aren’t afraid to stand up to Trump associates, big banks, and entrenched special interests who wield tremendous power over the White House, the Trump family, and a Republican-controlled Congress,” EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock said in a statement.

Porter entered the race with endorsements from Harris and her former law school professor, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting the seat, but beating a Republican in the 45th District will be a heavy lift. Walters won reelection in 2016 with 58.6% of the vote, even though the Orange County district went for Hillary Clinton by 5% in November’s presidential election.

Four other Democrats have filed to run in the 45th District: Former Capitol Hill staffer Kia Hamadanchy, UC Irvine law professor Dave Min, and small-business owners Eric Rywalski and Ron Varasteh.

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Legislation to overhaul bail reform in California hits a hurdle in Assembly

An ambitious plan to overhaul the bail system in California stalled in the Assembly late Thursday, facing steep opposition from industry lobbyists and lawmakers concerned about the high costs it could impose on counties.

The bill by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) was the last proposal to be reconsidered for a vote and failed to make it out of the chamber near 11 p.m., with 36 lawmakers in favor and 37 opposed.

The result spells challenges ahead for an identical version of the proposal authored by state Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys). That bill is now before the Assembly after it was approved in the Senate this week with a 25-11 vote.

The proposals seek to ensure offenders awaiting trial are not incarcerated solely because they cannot afford to pay their bail. They would end the use of money bail schedules, or fixed fee systems, and require counties to establish pretrial services agencies to weigh whether defendants are fit for release.

On the Assembly floor on Thursday, Bonta said he was committed to working with counties, law enforcement officials and victims and planned to add at least four amendments, including ensuring criminal history remained a factor of consideration for release.

He also said he was willing to make his proposal a two-year bill.

”Colleagues, our system is broken,” he said. “I haven’t talked to any of you who have disagreed.”

Opponents argued that the bill was too soft on crime, plagued with implementation issues and would pass on unfunded liabilities to counties.

“This bill is clearly not a remedy for something that needs reform,” Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) said. “It is a dismantling.”

Supporters agreed it wasn’t perfect, but urged members not to wait to address a system that they said preys on poor families and fuels economic and racial disparities.

“It is theft on the poor people in our community,” Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) said. “It is shocking and wrong, and it is time that we do something.”

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With Democrats divided, Assembly rejects a plan to extend California’s cap-and-trade program

An effort to extend the life of California’s landmark climate change program failed in the last hour of a long Assembly session on Thursday, a sign of how the program’s fate has divided Democratic lawmakers.

Assembly Bill 378 by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) would have added 10 years to the life of the state’s cap-and-trade program, under which greenhouse gas emissions are limited and businesses pay for pollution permits that exceed the limit. The current program’s legal authority runs until 2020.

The bill also would have added something new to the state’s climate change efforts: new restrictions on air pollutants, including possible limits on individual industrial facilities.

Garcia said her bill “meaningfully integrates cap and trade with air quality,” and represented a significant step forward for low-income communities in the state’s climate change agenda.

“We need to assure that our success is shared equitably across all of California,” she said during Thursday night’s floor debate.

But the Assembly’s business-aligned “mod” Democrats refused to support the bill. So too did Republicans who recently embraced a renewal of the cap-and-trade program but disagreed with its linkage to air pollution beyond that strictly linked to greenhouse gases, a move championed by environmental justice groups.

Further complicating the politics is an insistence by Gov. Jerry Brown that the legislation requires a two-thirds vote in both legislative houses, given the legal fight over pollution credits being viewed as government fees.

“That requires a two-thirds vote,” Brown said in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “If we jettison, gut or emasculate our cap and trade, that will do damage to our climate leadership.”

Lawmakers are expected to take the issue up again this summer before adjourning for the year in mid-September.

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Republican Rep. Steve Knight faces heated questions about Trump policies at Santa Clarita town hall

Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) has had three town halls this year. His Thursday afternoon event — at 4 p.m. in a Santa Clarita high school auditorium — was the most sparsely attended and perhaps the most heated.

Factions in the crowd interrupted each other in the auditorium as people tried to ask questions.

One constituent accused Knight of lying about a piece of financial legislation, and another got into a particularly heated back-and-forth with Knight about his vote to kill federal regulations that would have required broadband companies to get customer permission before using or sharing personal information.

“You are an educated person at this; I’m not trying to get in an argument,” Knight said.

“Well clearly you are not,” the constituent responded as the crowd burst into applause and the microphone was passed to the next questioner.

The drama wasn’t reserved just for Knight, whose district is almost evenly split between registered Democrats and Republicans, while about a fifth of voters list themselves as “no party preference.” National Democrats have targeted his seat as one they want to flip in 2018.

At one point, a woman criticized Planned Parenthood and asked Knight to support cutting federal funding for it, as a group of people wearing pink hats shouted her down.

Later, a man in the audience shouted, “Is this a room full of children?”

Things started with a man asking the congressman how he managed to “cope” while “working with with a pathological liar” — a reference to President Trump.

After the crowd died down a bit, Knight said his office focuses on aeronautics issues and helping out small businesses.

“We keep our head down,” he said.

Knight also used the town hall to announce his opposition to certain cuts in Trump’s budget — notably to education and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“I don’t support these cuts,” he said.

One woman, who said her son is on Medicaid, grew emotional when she asked about Trump’s proposed budget. Knight said nobody would be kicked off Medicaid, triggering immediate boos. He noted that Trump’s budget would not be final.

“Remember: The budget is built out of Congress,” he said.

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As Trump withdraws from Paris accord, Gov. Brown leans into role as campaigner in chief against climate change

Gov. Jerry Brown.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

When Gov. Jerry Brown flew across the Pacific four years ago to meet with leaders and business executives in China, the world seemed much different.

President Obama had committed to fight the warming of the planet, while China remained a reluctant actor yet to take a firm stand. On Friday, when the seasoned California governor heads back to China for a series of business and government meetings, the political roles will have reversed.

Now, it’s China that is poised for global leadership. And as President Trump retreats from the nation’s previous path on environmental policy, Brown has the distinction of being America’s unofficial ambassador on climate change.

“Trump is going against science. He’s going against reality,” Brown said in an interview with The Times on Wednesday. “We can’t stand by and give aid and comfort to that. We have to do what’s right.”

Trump’s victory and his administration’s focus on rolling back environmental regulations have left Brown to serve as a political and policy counterweight.

“We want to further strengthen our relationship with China,” the governor told The Times. “The world is moving in a direction that I want California to be a part of.”

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Single-payer healthcare plan advances in California Senate — without a way to pay its $400-billion tab

Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens)
Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens)
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

A proposal to adopt a single-payer healthcare system for California took an initial step forward Thursday when the state Senate approved a bare-bones bill that lacks a method for paying the $400-billion cost of the plan.

The proposal was made by legislators led by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) at the same time President Trump and Republican members of Congress are working to repeal and replace the federal Affordable Care Act.

“Despite the incredible progress California has made, millions still do not have access to health insurance and millions more cannot afford the high deductibles and co-pays, and they often forgo care,” Lara said during a floor debate on the bill.

The bill, which now goes to the state Assembly for consideration, will have to be further developed, Lara conceded, adding he hopes to reach a consensus on a way to pay for it.

Republican senators opposed the bill as a threat to the state’s finances.

“We don’t have the money to pay for it,” Sen. Tom Berryhill (R-Modesto) said. “If we cut every single program and expense from the state budget and redirected that money to this bill, SB 562, we wouldn’t even cover half of the $400-billion price tag.”

Berryhill also said the private sector is better suited to provide healthcare.

“I absolutely don’t trust the government to run our health system,” he said. “What has the government ever done right?”

Lara’s bill would provide a Medicare-for-all-type system that he believed would guarantee health coverage for all Californians without the out-of-pocket costs. Under a single-payer plan, the government replaces private insurance companies, paying doctors and hospitals for healthcare.

The California Nurses Assn., which sponsored the bill, released a fiscal analysis this week that proposed raising the state sales and business receipts taxes by 2.3% to raise $106 billion of the annual cost, with the rest proposed to come from state and federal funding already going to Medicare and Medicaid services.

Sen. Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado Hills) called the plan “reckless” and said the taxes would hurt businesses and families while financially crippling the state government.

“It’s offensive to the people who have to pay for it,” he said.

Some Democrats felt the bill was rushed and undeveloped. Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) withheld his vote on the bill on grounds it does not provide enough detail of what a single-payer system would look like.

“This is the Senate kicking the can down the road to the Assembly and asking the Assembly to fill in all of the blanks,” Hueso said. “That’s not going to happen this year.”

Lara said action is required because of what is happening in Washington.

“With President Trump’s promise to abandon the Affordable Care Act as we know it — for one that leaves millions without access to care — California is once again tasked to lead,” he told his colleagues.

He said his father recently had heart bypass surgery but went through the emergency room for help after his insurance company initially turned him down.

Even if the bill is approved, it has to go to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has been skeptical, and then voters would have to exempt it from spending limits and budget formulas in the state Constitution. In addition, the state would have to get federal approval to repurpose existing funds for Medicare and Medicaid.

Read more about how the single-payer plan would work here.

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California Senate passes package of bills aiming to address housing crisis

California state senators passed a package of housing legislation Thursday, a bid to spend more on low-income housing as well as make it easier for developers to build.

The two marquee measures — Senate Bill 35 from Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Senate Bill 3 from Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) — would force cities that have fallen behind on their state housing production goals to reduce some of the hoops they put in place to approve developments and would authorize a $3-billion bond to spend on low-income housing on the 2018 statewide ballot.

“What the bill does do is create actual accountability,” Wiener said of SB 35. “Because local control is about how you meet your housing goals, not whether you meet your housing goals.”

Beall’s measure would increase state funding for building and preserving low-income multifamily developments, farmworker housing and low-income projects near transit.

“It is the beginning of a solution for our problem,” Beall said.

Both bills received an unusual coalition of support. Some Democratic senators voted no on Wiener’s measure while some GOP lawmakers supported it. Beall’s measure needed two-thirds supermajority support and multiple Republicans voted yes.

The package of housing bills is an effort to meet Gov. Jerry Brown’s demand to approve new funding for low-income housing only if the Legislature also makes building less costly. Efforts last year to address the state’s housing problems failed, and lawmakers introduced more than 130 housing bills this year.

Two major housing funding bills have yet to receive full votes in the Senate or Assembly: a proposal from Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) to add a $75 fee on real estate transactions — except for home and commercial property sales — and one from Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) to eliminate the state’s mortgage interest deduction from second homes. Combined, the measures would raise roughly $600 million a year for low-income housing development. Because those bills require two-thirds supermajority votes of the Legislature, they don’t have to pass their initial house by Friday’s deadline.

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California lawmakers take a (small) first step to doing away with Daylight Saving Time

(Elise Amendola / Associated Press)

Lawmakers in the state Assembly approved an effort on Thursday that could end with California voters scrapping the biannual tradition of moving their clocks ahead or behind by an hour.

Assembly Bill 807 is the second effort in as many years by the Legislature to revisit California’s use of Daylight Saving Time. The state’s voters first approved its use through a 1949 ballot measure. And because of that history, the issue must go back to voters if changes are to be made.

The bill received almost no discussion in Thursday’s 48-6 vote in the Assembly. It now heads to the state Senate, where a similar effort died last year.

The proposal would, if placed on next year’s statewide ballot, seek to keep California on a single measurement of time all year — whether it be Pacific standard time or what’s now only a seasonal adjustment ahead by an hour. The bill by Assemblyman Kansen Chu (D-San Jose) would ask voters to transfer a final decision to the Legislature.

Even then, no changes could be made without federal approval — which would mean the bill could end up changing nothing about timekeeping in California.

Daylight Saving Time was first applied in a uniform fashion across the U.S. in 1966. States can exempt themselves from the law — Arizona and Hawaii have done so — but cannot impose the seasonal change year-round.

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Treasurer John Chiang emphasizes resume in governor’s race

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Treasurer John Chiang acknowledged Thursday that he is not the flashiest candidate in California’s gubernatorial campaign, but said he thinks voters will respond to his record shepherding the state’s finances.

“We’re the fiscally responsible progressive. It doesn’t capture everybody’s imagination at the outset,” he said during a luncheon gathering of the Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum. “But as people start thinking and we’re getting huge responses.”

Chiang entered the race last year and has demonstrated notable fundraising. But his standing in the early polls is in the single digits, and many California voters do not know who he is.

Without naming his better-known rivals in the 2018 contest — Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, for starters — Chiang said other candidates in the race were proposing ideas but not explaining how they would pay for them. He said he has a history of accomplishments from his current job and as former controller. He highlighted his work to improve the state’s bond rating, to deal with its pension-funding gap and to help the poor file income taxes for free.

“We have an established track record. We have got it done,” Chiang said. “So if you want to get it done in the future, go with someone who’s proven that they can.”

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‘Though flawed, the climate accord can be fixed,’ says California Republican Rep. Ed Royce

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Trump’s rejection of Paris climate deal is ‘insane’ and ‘deviant behavior,’ California’s Gov. Jerry Brown says

(Robyn Beck / AFP-Getty Images)

Gov. Jerry Brown lashed out on Thursday at President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from an historic agreement on climate change, calling it wrong on both economic and environmental fronts.

“His effort is misguided. I would even say, this is an insane move by this president,” Brown said in a conference call hosted by the nonprofit World Resources Institute.

The governor, who had been ratcheting up his rhetoric in the hours before the widely expected action on the Paris climate change accord, said the decision may backfire on the president.

“And, in fact, Trump may well create the exact opposite of what he intended,” the governor said. “And that is an aroused citizenry in America, and aroused nations of the world who will not tolerate this kind of deviant behavior from the highest office in the land.”

Brown also announced a pact with the governors of New York and Washington to create an alliance of states that vow to uphold the Paris agreement even without federal support. That agreement, according to a news release from Brown’s office, would create a new partnership to “strengthen existing climate programs, promote the sharing of information and best practices, and implement new programs to reduce carbon emissions from all sectors of the economy.”

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Gov. Jerry Brown on the Paris climate change accord: ‘Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle’

Ahead of President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would pull out of the Paris climate change accord, California Gov. Jerry Brown told The Times such a move would be “unfortunate possible even tragic.”

Ahead of President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would pull out of the Paris climate change accord, California Gov. Jerry Brown said such a move would be tragic.

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As a big deadline looms in the Legislature, there’s a new debate over Proposition 54’s transparency rule

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Almost seven months after California voters imposed new transparency rules for the Legislature, a long simmering debate over the meaning of those rules could put the ultimate fate of dozens of bills in jeopardy.

Proposition 54, overwhelmingly approved by voters last November, requires that all legislation be available to the public for 72 hours before final action is taken. The authors of the ballot measure say that means final action in both the Assembly and Senate.

But when lawmakers convened after the election, the two houses approved different rules to implement the 72-hour waiting period. In the Assembly, officials argued that the rule only applies to the last vote before a bill heads to the governor — and not the last vote in its “house of origin,” which must take place by the end of this week.

A review of bills scheduled for an Assembly vote on Thursday found at least 32 pieces of legislation that had been amended less than 72 hours earlier — but were nonetheless scheduled for a vote.

When the day’s proceedings began, Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) sought to block action on those bills.

“It is a violation to the will of the people,” he said during a procedural debate on the floor. Allen’s effort, which led to a few tense exchanges with Democrats, was blocked.

This is the second time that a debate has emerged over the meaning of Proposition 54. In April, backers of the ballot measure warned of any last-minute changes to the $52-billion transportation deal that was being crafted by lawmakers.

Were a court to reject the Assembly’s interpretation of the new rule, bills passed and signed into law could be subject to legal review and — if a court agreed — blocked from taking effect.

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California Assembly decides not to retain former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder as outside counsel, parting from Senate

Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, center, flanked by California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, left, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

The California Assembly has decided not to continue its contract with former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, even as the Senate says it plans to keep him as outside counsel for legal strategy against the Trump administration.

Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said in a statement that Holder’s firm, Covington & Burling, has provided “valuable guidance” since it was hired on a short-term contract in February.

“We will continue to seek their guidance as the need arises,” Rendon said.

The Senate, meanwhile, said it plans to continue with its high-profile hire, which signaled the aggressive posture California was taking against President Trump.

Dan Reeves, chief of staff to Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said the firm’s “advice and guidance has been very valuable to the Senate in responding to the Trump administration’s sustained attack on California’s polices and values.”

“We currently have a number of ongoing projects with Covington and plan to continue that valuable relationship,” Reeves continued.

He did not specify how the Senate plans to pay to continue its work with Covington. The contract — initially from February through April and then extended for one additional month — was set at $25,000 per month, split between the operating budgets of both houses, with a limit on 40 hours of attorney work each month.

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Bill to allow 4 a.m. last call for alcohol sales clears first hurdle

A bill that would allow local California communities to extend last-call for alcohol service to 4 a.m. has cleared the state Senate.

Sen. Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) bill now moves into the Assembly for debate.

“Nightlife is hugely important to California’s culture and economy, and it’s time to move away from our outdated one-size-fits-all approach to last call,” Wiener said in a statement after it passed the Senate.

In a March interview with The Times about the bill’s impact on local music, Wiener said, “If you’re too restrictive, you just drive venues underground. The reality of life is that you need to meet people where they are.”

The bill has spurred significant debate in L.A. and the Bay Area, especially in the wake of the Ghost Ship fire last year that killed dozens of music fans at an underground arts space in Oakland. Although some residents question its potential impact, L.A. music scenes have embraced the idea, saying it could encourage promoters to throw shows in fully permitted venues rather than illegal spaces.

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91 bills left in Assembly with busy day ahead

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