Newsletter: The live-or-die moment for hundreds of proposed California laws arrives in Sacramento

For months, powerful interest groups and everyday Californians alike have been in suspense about the fate of scores of bills at the state Capitol in Sacramento.

This time, we’re using the word “suspense” quite literally.

THE CLEARING OF THE ‘SUSPENSE FILE’

Both houses of the California Legislature use what’s called the “suspense file” in their appropriations committees to park any proposed law whose price tag is projected at $150,000 or more. That’s a pretty low bar in state government, which means a lot of bills are held in limbo.

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It’s also a way to thin the herd without a fully transparent final vote. When the fiscal committees of the Assembly and Senate meet on Thursday, a decision on almost every bill will be announced in rapid-fire style without a traditional roll call vote. Amendments to approved bills will be announced verbally, only to appear in print for public review after the committees take action.

We’ll be tracking the most important actions on our Essential Politics news feed.

ONE TO WATCH: BAIL REFORM

An important proposal that must clear the appropriations hurdle this week to survive is a long-debated effort at overhauling California’s money bail system.

The proposal now on the table, Senate Bill 10, would require counties to establish a new system to evaluate the release of defendants and would limit the amount of money posted for bail to the “least restrictive level” needed to ensure the person shows up for court.

There are some heavy hitters behind changing the system, including California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. But several law enforcement and crime victims’ groups have pushed back. And with only three weeks left in the legislative session, this is likely to be a watershed moment.

AND THEN THERE’S WILDFIRE LIABILITY

State lawmakers are also scheduled to hold two additional hearings on the role of utility companies in preventing wildfires, after two other hearings were held last week.

The marching orders of the special legislative conference committee were pretty broad — which is why it’s so noticeable that one part of the subject has come to dominate the discussions: the legal rules governing a utility company’s financial liability when its equipment is involved in a blaze.

“Our citizens at home … they want us to get down to business,” state Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) said at last Thursday’s hearing. “I think we’re being hamstrung by this one issue.”

GOOD LUCK, HERE’S THE CASH, WELCOME BACK

The selection of Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore to lead the department in June won praise in some corners. Less discussed was the fact that Moore had briefly retired from the force, then returned to take the job offered by Mayor Eric Garcetti.

That chain of events provided Moore with a financial windfall: a lump sum retirement payment of $1.27 million from the city, as Jack Dolan reports.

“You may call it suspicious timing, but I didn’t program it that way,” Moore said last week.

ELLIOTT BROIDY: A TALE OF TWO SCANDALS

After years of discreetly forging his way back into the Republican Party’s highest ranks, a wealthy Bel-Air political player is in the news as he fights a lawsuit by a former Playboy playmate.

The lawsuit accuses Elliott Broidy of reneging on his vow to pay Shera Bechard $1.6 million in exchange for her silence about their alleged affair.

It’s not the only challenge facing the man who has been a major fundraiser for President Trump, as a former business partner has landed in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, ONE YEAR LATER

Sunday’s first anniversary of the violent and deadly racial clash in Charlottesville, Va., saw thousands turn out in the nation’s capital.

And that group vastly outnumbered the people they came to protest, a small number of white nationalists. Police managed to keep the groups apart.

Elizabeth Oka, a musician who traveled from California to D.C., said she felt morally obliged to protest hatred in all its forms.

“If enough people do this, it sends a message,” she said, standing in a crowd in a plaza a few blocks from the White House. “As a citizen, it is my right and responsibility to do this.”

NATIONAL LIGHTNING ROUND

-- Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) ended his reelection bid on Saturday, days after the Republican was charged with insider trading.

-- Michael Avenatti, the self-styled provocateur taking on the president for porn actress Stormy Daniels, told Iowa Democrats on Friday that he’s considering a White House bid in 2020.

-- While lawmakers feud over blueprints for 3-D-printed plastic guns, the Transportation Security Administration wants fliers to know that screeners have been able to spot the so-called untraceable and undetectable weapons in carry-on bags.

-- Denaturalization — a complex process of stripping an immigrant of their citizenship, once primarily reserved for Nazi war criminals and human rights violators — is on the rise under the Trump administration.

-- The Senate announced last week that the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will begin on Sept. 4.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

-- This week’s California Politics Podcast takes a closer look at the legislative debate over wildfire liability and the white-hot politics over those long lines at DMV offices across the state.

-- The California Housing Crisis Podcast dives into the debate over Proposition 5, this fall’s ballot measure offering a new tax break for older homeowners.

-- California officials have asked the Trump administration to release documents indicating whether officials considered the potential psychological impact of the “zero tolerance” policy on children separated from their parents after crossing the border.

-- Actress Jane Fonda joined Time magazine “Silence Breakers” Juana Melara and Sandra Pezqueda in Sacramento to support AB 3080, a bill intended to help victims of on-the-job harassment and discrimination.

-- Gov. Jerry Brown appointed a public employee union leader and his state budget director to serve as University of California regents.

-- At UC Santa Cruz, a housing shortage pits the need for beds against a much-loved meadow.

-- A few months after state Sen. Josh Newman was recalled from office by voters, the Fullerton Democrat has scheduled a political fundraiser to collect money for a possible 2020 campaign to reclaim the seat.

LOGISTICS

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