POLITICO California Playbook PM: Can't stand the heat

Your afternoon must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State

Aug 10, 2022 View in browser   By Camille von Kaenel HOT HOT HOT: A warming world is watching California this month as lawmakers weigh bills designed to cope with extreme heat. Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-North Hollywood) has been leading the charge. She said she's received messages from around the world urging California to create a blueprint following recent heat waves in Europe and the Pacific Northwest. "Last year, the San Fernando Valley reached over 120 degrees, and the DIY methods that people have used in the past are not working .... We're seeing that via increases in admissions to emergency rooms, health effects on our communities," Rivas said in an interview. The problem: As climate change raises temperatures, the heat waves that some California communities like farmworkers and desert communities have long had to deal with have gotten longer and more extreme — and are expected to keep getting worse. The impact is clear but sometimes hard to measure. Around 600 death certificates claimed heat exposure between 2010 and 2019, but a recent Los Angeles Times investigation put the number of excess heat-related deaths at about 3,900. What's more, heat does not affect everybody the same. An average heat day sends more than 8,000 additional people to emergency rooms across California, according to a UCLA analysis in July, but wealthier and leafier neighborhoods have fared far better than those in lower-income areas, particularly in rural places with a lot of people who work outside. Yet California's policy remains fractured and limited. A 2021 study by UCLA's Luskin Center for Innovation provided a laundry list of problems. The responsibility of dealing with extreme heat is split among a variety of agencies with little coordination, it found, and existing heat standards are inadequate. For example, an indoor heat-illness prevention rule drafted in 2019 by Cal OSHA has yet to be finalized. What now: Two key bills and some funding is at play in the next few weeks. Most prominently, Rivas' AB 2338 would require the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to develop a first-in-the-nation statewide extreme heat ranking system. Another bill — AB 2076, also from Rivas — would bolster state and local efforts on extreme heat, and set up an extreme heat hospitalization and death reporting system. It's a modified version of last year's AB 585, which failed to pass. Both of Rivas' bills will be vetted in a key fiscal hearing Thursday. Keep your eyes on funding, too. Last year's budget included $800 million over three years for extreme heat, and $300 million over two years. The 2022-23 budget includes approximately $175 million for extreme heat programs. HAPPY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON! Welcome to California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check of California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to cvonkaenel@politico.com or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open! WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY JUDICIAL PROMOTION: California could soon have its first Latina Chief Justice. Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced he had nominated Supreme Court Associate Patricia Guerrero to replace current Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to lead the seven-member board after Cantil-Sakauye retires in early January. Guerrero was sworn in to her position as associate judge in March. Newsom highlighted her experience as a "first-generation Californian from the Imperial Valley" in his announcement. To replace her after she moves into the chief justice role, Newsom nominated Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kelli Evans. This is the first time Newsom has selected a chief justice. The picks must be confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, and Guerrero's new role will also have to be approved by voters in the Nov. 8 general election. ON THE BEATS FEET TO THE FIRE: Supporters of legislation to allow a handful of large California cities to operate facilities where people can use illicit drugs under medical supervision had this message today for Newsom: You've been a leader on controversial issues before. Don't back down on this one. "A veto message of SB 57 would send such a negative, toxic message to the rest of the country about where progressive California is on drug use, on addiction and overdoses and on the war on drugs," said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) at this morning's press briefing at Glide in San Francisco's Tenderloin. Wiener is the author of the Senate bill that would authorize San Francisco, Oakland and the city and county of Los Angeles to test these so-called supervised injection sites and evaluate whether they save lives amid an out-of-control overdose epidemic. While Newsom declared himself "very, very open" to the concept during his campaign for governor in 2018, it's unclear whether he'll sign it. The political climate has changed in four years, with increased polarization around the concept — which the opposition refers to as "open drug den" sites. There is also increasing speculation about Newsom's presidential ambitions. He has dismissed talk of seeking national office, but that possibility still looms. All of this clearly makes the bill's supporters nervous. SB 57 could reach the governor's desk as soon as today. — Victoria Colliver TURBINES ON THE HORIZON: Get ready for wind turbines off California's coast. The California Energy Commission unanimously voted today to more than double the amount of power the state gets from wind by the end of the decade and to quadruple it by 2045 as part of a larger shift away from fossil fuels. Though California is known for its wind-whipped coastline, it doesn't have any turbines in the ocean right now, so developing offshore wind will require major infrastructure and transmission development in the coming years. But the state needs the technology to meet its climate and clean energy goals. If it meets these targets, California could get roughly 25 percent of its electricity from offshore wind by mid-century. CAN'T SKIP AD: Youth advocates took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times print edition and multiple spots on the online edition today, calling on Tech CEOs to support a bill that would require online platforms and applications to implement protective features for kids . Assembly Bill 2273 was written by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton) and modeled after UK rules that pushed tech giants such as Google and Tiktok to add further protections for children. The ad, signed by 120 teens, was from the DesignItForUs campaign, which last week sent a billboard to legislators and tech industry lobbyists at a conference in Napa. Tech industry lobbyists were working last month to narrow the bill by lowering the age cutoff for children. This bill and a proposal to make tech companies liable for addicting children , Assembly Bill 2408, are slated for a Senate appropriations hearing Thursday. — Sakura Cannestra AROUND CALIFORNIA " UC admits record number of Californians and far fewer out-of-state students ," by the Los Angeles Times' Teresa Watanabe: "The University's enduring dedication to California's young people and its partnership with the state continue to attract unprecedented numbers of talented Golden State students,' UC President Michael V. Drake said in a statement. 'It is our privilege to be able to offer admission to the state's largest-ever class of California students.'" "The rollback in out-of-state and international students represents a significant policy shift years in the making. The public research university system began aggressively recruiting and enrolling higher-paying nonresident students as a source of additional tuition revenue after the 2008 recession when the state slashed its UC funding by one-third. "UCLA and UC Berkeley, for instance, increased the share of nonresidents among undergraduates from about 9.5 percent in fall 2008 to about 24 percent in 2021." " Fears of losing battle to control monkeypox in California, U.S. as cases surge ," by the Los Angeles Times' Rong-Gong Lin II, Luke Money and Melody Gutierrez: "As of Tuesday, 1,733 probable and confirmed monkeypox cases had been reported in California, according to the state Department of Public Health." "'When you look at the rates of increase, you can see that it's really approaching an exponential curve. And unfortunately, it's going to become harder and harder to control the ... higher these numbers get,' said UC San Francisco infectious diseases expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong." Compiled by Sakura Cannestra. MIXTAPE — " Open letter to Gov. Newsom: Please don't veto this bill that will save many lives in San Francisco ," opines the San Francisco Chronicle's Heather Knight. — " San Francisco's Unresolved Teacher Payroll Baggage Drags Into New School Year ," by the San Francisco Standard's Ida Mojadad. — " Frustrated buyers in the Bay Area housing market buying 'second homes' first ," by the SFGate's Tessa McLean.   Follow us on Twitter Katy Murphy @katymurphy POLITICO California @politicoca   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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