What Newsom didn’t say in his virtual State of the State speech and why it matters
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WHAT WASN’T SAID DURING NEWSOM’S SOTS SPEECH
Via Stephen Hobbs...
Over 27 minutes, Gov. Gavin Newsom ticked through familiar talking points during Tuesday’s State of the State speech: homelessness, climate policies and abortion rights. To some, it looked like a warm-up speech for a future presidential campaign. At the least, it was an attempt to defend himself and the state from critics.
But just as interesting was what Newsom didn’t talk about:
His plan for a 28th Amendment
Last June, Newsom called for a constitutional amendment to “permanently enshrine four broadly supported gun safety principles”: raising the federal minimum age to buy one, mandating universal background checks on buyers, instituting a waiting period for all purchases and barring purchases of assault weapons.
It passed the California Legislature, but no other state has joined his push. Still, social media advertisements and fundraising emails from the governor’s PAC continue to encourage people to support the effort.
Prison reform
In March of 2023, Newsom announced a plan to transform San Quentin State Prison into a rehabilitation and education facility. It was all part of a “California model,” meant to reimagine incarceration in the state. A key symbol of that proposal is to create a new educational and vocational center on the waterfront Bay Area prison.
China
The images and videos that ran with the speech showed a governor on the move: There was Newsom speaking with homeless residents. Newsom at the southern border. Newsom at the United Nations. He touted the state’s standing as a “beacon to the world.”
But what about the governor’s October visit to China? It was billed as an opportunity to discuss “climate action, economic development, cultural exchange, human rights concerns, and democracy.” The governor’s photo sitting alongside China’s leader Xi Jinping was also not included. Republican lawmakers criticized the visit because of the country’s record on human rights. U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, who represents parts of Southern California, called it “delusional.”
Donald Trump
Newsom has been a vocal surrogate for President Joe Biden. While the governor took swings at “conservatives and delusional California bashers,’‘ “detractors” and “forces” threatening the state’s success, he never mentioned, and the videos and images never showed, the former president, a vocal Newsom critic.
JOURNALlSM PRESERVATION ACT HEADS TO SENATE APPROPS
Legislation that would require tech giants to pay news outlets for their online content passed another hurdle yesterday.
Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks’ AB 886, the California Journalism Preservation Act, would require tech companies like Google and Meta to pay for accessing, crawling, indexing and displaying news links that appear on their platforms. (Read more about what the bill would do here.)
The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 9-2 vote along party lines. It next heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Wicks acknowledged the bill “remains a work in progress” and said she remains actively engaged in conversations with multibillion-dollar tech companies and small news publishers.
Opponents of the legislation included Jaffer Zaidi, vice president for news partnerships at Google. He argued the bill would benefit “out-of-state private-equity firms and hedge funds with histories of stripping newsrooms for parts” and “misinformation-oriented actors” while placing the burden of support on “one or two” large companies.
The concern was echoed by Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, who raised concerns about government meddling in a marketplace. He also questioned how the bill would impact news creators who work on podcasts, subscription-based newsletters and other digital news products.
“There’s a significant change in behavior of consumers as well as the offerings in the marketplace,” Niello said. “Which one is the chicken and which one is the egg, I don’t know.”
Committee chair Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, said comparing the news industry’s woes to other technological changes is an unfair comparison.
“The demise of pagers probably didn’t really impact our democracy, but the demise of credible journalism, I think, does impact our democracy,” he said. “We have an obligation to find a way to support reasonable, credible journalism.”
AB 886 is supported by The Sacramento Bee’s parent company, McClatchy, which also publishes The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee, San Luis Obispo Tribune and Merced Sun-Star.
SCOTUS’ REMAINING CASES COULD HAVE BIG IMPACT IN CALIFORNIA
Via Gillian Brassil...
Multiple high-profile U.S. Supreme Court decisions released over the next week will impact Californians directly.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to release decisions beginning at 7 a.m. Pacific Time today and again on Thursday and Friday. Typically the court releases three-to-five rulings each day. With more than a dozen cases unresolved, the court could feasibly release its final opinions of this term this week or the beginning of next.
A decision that Newsom and California officials across the political spectrum are highly anticipating questions the constitutionality of criminal penalties for homelessness and clearing homeless encampments.
The overarching contention during oral arguments in Grants Pass v. Johnson was whether courts should be involved in the decision-making of how towns regulate homelessness. Justices, especially the conservatives, seemed hesitant to interfere.
The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Another decision could lead to reduced sentences for California defendants who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. Justices were asked to decide whether prosecutors rightfully charged defendants under a federal law that, before being used in Jan. 6 cases, was typically reserved for tampering with business documents in corporate scandals.
Three Sacramento-area defendants were convicted on the felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding — certification of 2020 presidential election results. Two are still imprisoned and another is under supervised release. One of the defendants still in prison was also convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon for dispensing bear spray on police officers and encouraging rioters onward with a megaphone and a metal sign.
That case and another related to the subversion of 2020 election results will affect former President Donald Trump.
In a separate case this term, Supreme Court justices were asked about presidential immunity — specifically, whether ex-presidents can be shielded from criminal prosecution for acts they carried out in the White House. The forthcoming ruling could have broad implications for the 2024 election and shape presidential powers.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Anyone who really knows California knows that the state of our state is strong and resilient — a beacon to the world.”
-Gov. Gavin Newsom in his State of the State speech, which criticized “delusional California bashers” and “haters.”
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California Gov. Newsom labels state a ‘beacon of hope’ in State of the State speech, via Vik Jolly
Governor Gavin Newsom claims California is not a ‘high-tax state.’ Is he correct? via David Lightman
California Republicans respond to Gov. Newsom’s ‘unhinged’ State of the State address, via Jenavieve Hatch
California lawmakers fold in budget spat, approve Gavin Newsom’s $400M loan to Diablo Canyon, via Ari Plachta
Newsom family will move to Marin County this summer, citing children’s education
