POLITICO California Playbook PM: Weed and the workplace

Presented by ESS Inc. : Your afternoon must-read briefing on politics and government in the Golden State

Aug 15, 2022 View in browser   By Alexander Nieves Presented by ESS Inc. POT PROTECTIONS: For many Californians, using cannabis during down time is now as normal as sipping a glass of wine. But that can still cost you a job at businesses around the state. While the number of California companies that screen for cannabis has steadily decreased in recent years amid a competitive job market, nearly 10 percent of establishments till require drug tests for new applicants or current employees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bill Quirk, a Bay Area Assemblymember, is pushing to ban the practice. Quirk has successfully guided legislation to the Senate floor that would do away with urine, hair and blood tests that have traditionally been used to test for cannabis metabolites, traces of the plant that can stay in the body for up to a month. Employee-rights groups have long argued those tests are discriminatory, penalizing people for using a legal product on their own time. Businesses would still be allowed to use saliva tests that look for active Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a sign that a worker could be intoxicated on the job. SB 2188 also includes a list of exemptions for workers in the building and construction trades as well as people who are employed in positions that require a federal background investigation or security clearance. It also exempts businesses that have to abide by stricter testing rules to qualify for federal licensing and contracts. The fact that California, which loves to tout its credentials as an innovator of progressive labor and cannabis policies, doesn't already have this policy in place has been a source of frustration for marijuana advocates. Voters in the state authorized recreational pot sales in 2016, and made it the first to legalize medical cannabis nearly three decades ago. California's Democrat-led government has fallen noticeably behind as nearly half the country — including red states like Arkansas, North Dakota and Oklahoma — have passed protections for employees who use medical cannabis. Six other states — Connecticut, Montana, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island — have also extended that right to recreational consumers. It's still far from a slam dunk that the bill will reach Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk. Quirk's measure faces a long list of opposition from business groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, which argues it would lead to lawsuits by workers against their employers. And three previous versions of the measure have failed to clear the Legislature. HAPPY MONDAY 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 anieves@politico.com or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open!   A message from ESS Inc.: We have a solution to power outages and high energy costs in California – Long-Duration Energy Storage. California can accelerate its transition to 100% clean energy by increasing its investment in shovel-ready long-duration energy storage projects. Storing clean energy will reduce power outages and energy costs by capturing it when it's the cheapest to produce and using it during peak periods when electricity demand and prices are the highest.   WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY GASCÓN SAFE: Los Angeles will not vote on recalling progressive District Attorney George Gascón, averting a second bruising fight over criminal justice reform in a major California city. Opponents of Gascón fell about 50,000 valid signatures short of what they needed to trigger a vote, the Los Angeles County elections office said on Monday. The outcome spares Gascón needing to defend his job two years after assuming office, setting him up for a 2024 reelection bid. Despite falling short, the effort to recall Gascón reflected a fraught moment for the criminal justice reform movement that catapulted Gascón into office after 2020's summer of racial reckoning. Democratic officials rallied behind Gascón as he vowed to implement a new vision. But rising anxiety about public safety has since shifted the political landscape and fueled the recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Gascón's successor and ally. — Jeremy B. White. ON THE BEATS WATER'S FOR FIGHTING: The seven states that rely on the Colorado River have failed to reach a deal to drastically cut back on their water use in light of continued drought, and the state of Nevada is calling for help from a higher authority: the federal government. Nevada's top Colorado River negotiator asked the Interior Department to force farmers, cities and industries to reduce water use and keep water flowing for "health and human safety" should reservoir levels continue to drop, in a biting letter on Monday. He's particularly upset with California and Arizona farmers who want money in exchange for conserving water for which they have senior rights, calling out "the unreasonable expectations of water users, including the prices and drought profiteering proposals." — Camille von Kaenel THE LATEST ON LAGUNA HONDA:  Federal regulators today announced Medi-Cal and Medicare payments at San Francisco's Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center will be extended to Nov. 13 — a full two months after the federal government's original deadline for the 600 remaining patients to be discharged or transferred. The city of San Francisco sued the federal government earlier this month over its order to force all patients out of the nursing facility by Sept. 13, a deadline local authorities called unworkable. At least nine patients died shortly after the city relocated them in the spring. The federal government had decertified and cut off funding to Laguna Honda after it was found to be out of compliance on a number of safety standards during inspections. The city runs the facility, one of the largest skilled nursing homes in the country, and is working to get it recertified. Patient transfers will remain paused during the extension. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) called the extension welcome news. "My office will continue working with Mayor @LondonBreed and the Biden Administration to support the dedicated staff of Laguna Honda to make necessary improvements and ensure the hospital remains a pillar of health for some of our City's most vulnerable residents," she said in a tweet. — Victoria Colliver   A message from ESS Inc.:   AROUND CALIFORNIA "Families hoping for near-normal school year as classes begin throughout L.A. area," by the Los Angeles Times' Howard Blume: "'We want to welcome all the parents back,' said Principal Ibia Gomez. 'We want them to feel that they're part of the team.'" "As the new school year began in Los Angeles and several other districts across California on Monday, the first bell rang in later start times in middle and high schools, districts stepped back from pandemic safety measures and many campuses had increased security in response to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas." " California state agencies free to delete emails after legislators kill retention bill," by the Sacramento Bee's Wes Venteicher: "The Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-Burbank, kept the bill from advancing to a vote in the full chamber, effectively quashing it without explanation or debate." "The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-Greenbrae, received unanimous support in the Assembly in May." "'The two-year retention standard is good enough for cities and counties, so you've got to scratch your head and wonder why the state isn't willing to embrace that standard,' Levine said in an interview Friday." MIXTAPE — "They thought it was food poisoning — then came the ventilator. Inside a California couple's battle with Legionnaires' disease," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Carolyn Said. — "A Year After Fall Of Kabul, LA Group Making Good Progress Resettling Afghan Refugees," by the LAist's  Leslie Berestein Rojas. — " Netflix puts an entire Bay Area campus up for sublease amid turbulent year," by the SFGate's Andrew Charmings.   A message from ESS Inc.: California can increase reliability and control energy price spikes with long-duration energy storage. California is a leader in the transition to renewable energy. However, even with that progress, we still cannot rely upon renewable power when the sun isn't shining, and the wind isn't blowing. There are still times of the day when we generate more low-cost renewable energy than Californians can use and must shut down renewable generation because there is nowhere for the energy to go. In California, we waste 1.5 terawatt hours of power annually due to solar curtailment – enough energy to power over 218,000 homes for an entire year. Imagine if we could capture this wasted renewable energy and use it when we need it the most – like on hot summer days. With federal tax incentives on the horizon, California's investment in long-duration energy storage will undoubtedly pay off.     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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