THE BUZZ: California Democrats are trying to strengthen the state’s concealed carry laws, but even Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledges the “elephant in the room.”
“We fell short last year,” he told reporters Wednesday. “No one is naive about that.”
Since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bruen last year, a handful of states, including California, have been unable to enforce a provision of their concealed carry laws that require applicants to show good cause, or something similar, to receive a license.
New York quickly changed its law to meet constitutional muster, but similar efforts to change the statute in California floundered due to a small cohort of moderate Democratic holdouts in the Assembly. Lawmakers were already prepared for a redo this session, but the recent mass shootings in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay and Oakland have brought the issue to the fore.
The chances of the bill passing this year are higher — for now. Without an urgency clause, Senate Bill 2 only needs a simple majority, unlike last year. But getting it through the Legislature is only the first hurdle. Much like in New York, the changes California is proposing to its concealed carry law are almost guaranteed to garner legal challenges.
“I think the only certainty is that this law will be challenged in court,” said Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor specializing in gun policy.
SB 2 was tailor-made to meet the Supreme Court’s specifications around concealed carry, said Attorney General Rob Bonta and Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), who authored the bill. But gun rights advocates have cast a wary eye on the extensive list of prohibited places California is proposing. They include certain parking lots, places of worship, museums, zoos and sporting venues.
Even though the bill eliminates the “good cause” provision the court struck down, it still requires significant screening for concealed carry applicants, including an in-person interview and three character references.
It’s hard to know how the court will view these provisions, Winkler said. New York’s updated concealed carry law, which similarly prohibits weapons in certain sensitive places, is winding its way through the courts. Last month, Bonta joined 15 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief defending the law.
Newsom and fellow Democrats vowed to stay optimistic Wednesday, but the governor acknowledged there’re limits to what the state can do in the face of gun violence.
“We’re not an island on our own,” he said. “We need the federal government to participate.”
BUENOS DÍAS, good Thursday morning. Happy Groundhog Day. After nine rounds of brutal winter weather last month, we’re praying Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow.
Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up at [email protected] and [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “She should blame herself. … I’m sick and tired of being lectured by her on public safety — sick and tired. With all due respect to her statement, she should be ashamed of herself and she should look in the mirror.” Newsom in response to Fresno County District Attorney Lisa A. Smittcamp saying he has the blood of a recently killed Selma police officer on his hands.
TWEET OF THE DAY:
WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
NEW POLL JUST DROPPED — More than half of Californians are concerned about the younger generation’s ability to buy a home, according to a new survey released by the Public Policy Institute of California Wednesday night — not surprising given the $760,000 average price tag.
Other notable toplines from the survey:
- Newsom’s approval rating holds steady at 58 percent among adults. It hasn’t dipped below 50 percent since the beginning of 2020.
- 70 percent of Californians said homelessness is a big problem in their part of the state.
- Almost half (49 percent) of Californians feel the state is going in the right direction, up slightly from 47 percent in September.
- Jobs, economy and inflation top the list of concerns, followed by homelessness and environmental issues.
— “Tom Girardi, disgraced L.A. lawyer and ‘Real Housewives’ spouse, indicted on fraud charges,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Matt Hamilton and Harriet Ryan: “In Los Angeles, Girardi was charged with wire fraud in an indictment that accuses him of embezzling more than $15 million from clients and using the funds to cover his law firm’s payroll and pay his personal expenses, including a hefty American Express bill and fees at two country clubs.”
FOURTH TIME’S A CHARM? — “Voters in Kevin de León’s district support recalling him. Now comes the hard part,” opines Gustavo Arrellano in the Los Angeles Times: “Gone is the councilmember who spent his December trying to rehabilitate his image by handing out freebies to constituents, physically and rhetorically slamming activists who tried to shame him into resigning, and appearing on national and local media to reiterate why he was staying put.”
— “For the first time, students can take African American studies as an AP class,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde: “The course recently came under fire from some conservatives and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who responded to a draft version of the course by calling it “indoctrination” that pushed a political agenda — and said his state would ban the course unless changes were made.”
LATE WORK — “Most Bay Area cities missed the deadline to submit their housing plans. New penalties could be in store,” by the East Bay Times’ Ethan Varian: “As of Wednesday afternoon, just 14 of the region’s 109 cities and counties had submitted adopted plans, dubbed “housing elements,” according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development.”
COST OF DOING BUSINESS — “UC academic workers won big raises in their new contracts. How will the university pay?” by The Sacramento Bee’s Maya Miller: “The total cost of increased salaries and benefits across the 10-campus system, the UC Office of the President estimates, ranges from $500 million to $570 million. Individual campuses have tallied their own estimates.”
DOMINO EFFECT — “S.F. apartment rents fall. Tech layoffs to further weaken housing market,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Roland Li: “San Francisco median rents fell 1.1 percent to $2,174 per month compared to December, one of the biggest drops in the country. Metro area rents are down 5 percent compared to March 2020 when the pandemic started, making San Francisco and San Jose the only two metro areas with more than 1 million people that have rents that are below pre-pandemic levels.”
HOUSING IN BULK — “Costco wants to build a different kind of store in South L.A. — with bulk housing,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Nathan Solis: “Artist’s renderings for the proposed mixed-use project show the familiar Costco Wholesale logo crowned with an apartment complex. The project would sit on a vacant 5-acre lot that was previously home to View Park Community Hospital in Baldwin Village. It would be the first Costco in South L.A.”
— “Epic California snowpack is now the deepest it’s been in decades,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Hayley Smith: “Statewide Sierra snowpack was 205 percent of normal for the date on Wednesday, said officials with the Department of Water Resources during the second snow survey of the season. Even more promising, snowpack was 128 percent of its April 1 average, referring to the end-of-season date when snowpack in California is typically at its deepest.”
— “L.A. students will be able to carry Narcan in schools under updated policy,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Emily Alpert Reyes: “School district officials did not immediately provide additional information late Tuesday about the details of the policy update. The existing Los Angeles Unified policy on administering Narcan, issued in October, says that the medication ‘must be kept at the school in a secure location accessible to designated school personnel.’”
A FAMILIAR FACE — “New Sacramento Superior Court judge worked for Newsom, Brown,” by The Sacramento Bee’s Rosalio Ahumado: “Onishi is filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael A. Savage. He has been deputy legal affairs secretary in the Governor’s Office since 2017 under Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown.”
‘NOT NEGOTIABLE OR CONDITIONAL’ — Biden and McCarthy hold ‘first good’ White House meeting on debt ceiling, but ‘no agreements, no promises’, by POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn: “The president and I had a first good meeting — I shared my perspective with him, he shared his,” McCarthy told reporters afterward. “No agreements, no promises, except that we would continue this conversation.”
PARTICIPATION PRIZES — Where McCarthy’s detractors landed, by POLITICO’s Anthony Adragna and Andrew Milligan: “We’ve grouped the lawmakers by how well they’ve made out — top-tier assignments, influential roles on the Oversight committee, other positions critical to the party’s priorities and less visible posts.”
— “Mourners call for end to police violence at Tyre Nichols funeral,” by Reuters’ Alyssa Pointer: “Speaking over a flower-bedecked casket at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, preachers recalled a young man who loved photography and skateboarding, and demanded justice for Nichols.”
READ THE ROOM — “S.F. tech CEO apologizes after quoting MLK in email announcing layoffs,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s: “The quote I included from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inappropriate and insensitive,” she wrote in the email. She continued, “I should have been more upfront about the layoffs in the email, more thoughtful about my tone, and more concise. I am sorry.”
— “Self-driving car services want to expand in San Francisco despite recent hiccups,” by The New York Times’ Cade Metz: “The day before the Waymo car snarled traffic, the City of San Francisco sent letters to the California state regulator asking that it slow the expansion of the services until officials gain a better understanding of the technology and its limitations.”
NOT EVEN HIS DENTIST WAS SAFE — “How an L.A. grifter ripped off his best friends and got rich with his sprawling weed scams,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Michael Finnegan: “Forging documents to make Holy Smokes Holdings LLC and other fake businesses look real, Bunevacz fleeced more than 100 people, including some of his best friends, a federal judge found.”
— “From Orange County to the Texas border: How Bill Melugin became a Fox News fixture,” by the Los Angeles Times’ Stephan Battaglio: “Right before Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin goes on the air to deliver a live report — these days mostly from the southern border — he looks down for a moment and whispers. While it might appear that he’s talking to a control room in New York, he says he’s summoning his late father for moral support.”
— “49ers’ Kyle Shanahan: No scenario in which Jimmy Garoppolo is on team in 2023,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch.
— “Former VP sentenced to six years in prison for role in solar company ‘Ponzi scheme’,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bob Egelko.
— “An elusive creature is staring at you from Joshua Tree in this photo. Do you see it?” by The Sacramento Bee’s Brooke Baitinger.
— Kate Gould starts this month as the lead foreign affairs officer covering the United Arab Emirates for the Bureau of Democracy, Labor, and Human Rights at the State Department. She has been the deputy chief of staff and human rights and national security adviser for Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
— The Associated Press’ Kathleen Ronayne will be its new assistant news director for the state, running AP’s California news coverage across text, photo and video.
Jen Duck … Cisco’s Dan Knight … Nika Nour … Sean Evins
CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: [email protected]
