The Senate leader’s next move

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Aug 30, 2023 View in browser   By Melanie Mason Presented by Connected Commerce Council California Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) looks on as her successor-to-be, State Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), speaks. | Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Senate Leader Toni Atkins could be announcing a run for governor any minute now. Not so fast, she told POLITICO this week. While Senate Democrats voted Monday to anoint Healdsburg Sen. Mike McGuire to be the next pro tem, Atkins is still in charge — and she’s keeping her immediate focus on steering the chamber through the final end-of-session sprint. Still, speculation around Atkins’ next move has been percolating in California political circles for a while, especially since the San Diego Democrat is termed out of the Legislature next year. She currently has more than $1.4 million socked away for a 2026 lieutenant governor run. But that money can easily be moved to a gubernatorial campaign account — and much of the rumor mill centers on her interest in the state’s top job. If Atkins does jump into the race, she’ll join an already-crowded field that includes Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and former Controller Betty Yee, not to mention Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, who have both publicly said they’re considering a run. Now that the succession question is settled, Atkins said, she feels she can look beyond her time in the Legislature. “It does give me the freedom to actually start to explore and be able to discuss soon what I intend to do,” she said. “I want to stay in public service. I will be having those conversations.” The leadership hand-off feels liberating in another sense, Atkins said. It lacks the sting she felt in 2015 when Assemblymember Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) cobbled together the votes to replace her as speaker (he officially took the reins the following year). “Although I knew I was going to term out the next year in the Assembly, it was still somewhat painful,” Atkins said. Given that she was managing a much larger caucus in that chamber, “it felt like I had barely gotten started,” she added. She needed an extra day or two to accept that Rendon had in fact enough support to secure the speakership. Not so this time around; it was clear Sunday night that McGuire had locked down a majority of the caucus, and by Monday afternoon the vote had happened. “I come away feeling grateful,” Atkins said. “I’m really proud of these five and a half years, what we’ve created here in the Senate as a caucus.” CAPTION THAT TRAIN — You might have spotted the POLITICO train rolling around Sacramento! It’s all part of our California expansion. CONTEST ALERT: We want your best photos of the POLITICO CA Express in the wild. Share them with your best creative caption using the hashtag #PoliticoCAExpress on “X” (Twitter) or Instagram so we don’t miss them. You can also send them to lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com. The winner will get a MAJOR prize — a VIP admission (including a special POLITICO swag bag) to our Sept. 12 launch event featuring a conversation with Gov. Gavin Newsom (think open bar featuring specialty Cali Cocktails, tasty nibbles & apps, and a chance to rub elbows with California power brokers and Playbookers). Happy hunting! 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 mmason@politico.com or send a shout on Twitter. DMs are open!   A message from Connected Commerce Council: Over 2 million CA small businesses sell online — to reach customers nationwide, track performance metrics, and manage logistics. Keep California small businesses connected with online marketplaces. Learn more.   WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY THE HURRICANE ACCORDS: Political rivalries are strong, but Mother Nature is stronger. For the second time this month, Newsom and his fierce foe Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida have extended an olive branch in the face of historic storm threats. The most recent overture came Tuesday from Newsom, who announced that California would send urban search-and-rescue personnel to assist in Florida and Georgia with Tropical Storm Idalia, which made landfall in Florida this morning as a Category 3 hurricane before being downgraded later in the day. Just 10 days earlier, DeSantis vowed that Florida would “stand ready to help the people of California in any way we can” as Southern California braced for Tropical Storm Hilary. It was a rare public detente for the two partisan warriors. Of course, extreme weather can go only so far to bridge political divides — just see how much agreement the two governors have on whether these catastrophic events are signs of human-caused climate change.   SUBSCRIBE TO CALIFORNIA CLIMATE: Climate change isn’t just about the weather. It's also about how we do business and create new policies, especially in California. So we have something cool for you: A brand-new California Climate newsletter. It's not just climate or science chat, it's your daily cheat sheet to understanding how the legislative landscape around climate change is shaking up industries across the Golden State. Cut through the jargon and get the latest developments in California as lawmakers and industry leaders adapt to the changing climate. Subscribe now to California Climate to keep up with the changes.     ON THE BEATS ANOTHER KIND OF LOAN FORGIVENESS: More than 2,300 students defrauded by a California college will have their federal student loans wiped away and have past payments refunded, the U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Justice announced today. Former students of the for-profit, San Diego-based Ashford University will see $72 million in debt effectively canceled after it was determined that the online school gave them false or misleading information about the financial aid and career opportunities that would be available if they enrolled. The university struggled through years of state scrutiny and legal fights until it was purchased by the University of Arizona in 2020. Ashford then became an online wing of U of A and was renamed the University of Arizona Global Campus, but litigation of its past management continued. The state DOJ won a lawsuit against Ashford and its parent company last year, extracting more than $22 million in fines. Now, the Education Department is seeking to recoup money from not only Ashford’s former parent company, Zovio, but also its new owner, the University of Arizona. — Blake Jones TIME TO QUIT: Bonta and 32 other attorneys general are asking the federal government to crack down on flavored vape products, especially disposable ones. In a letter sent today to the Food and Drug Administration, the attorneys general also asked the FDA to impose limits on nicotine concentration and adopt new rules for marketing on social media along with other suggestions for reducing teen use. “I urge the FDA to move swiftly to put a stop to the sale of these products before a new generation of teens starts vaping and smoking,” Bonta said in a statement. Flavored tobacco is already prohibited in California, but authorities — including Bonta — have struggled to educate retailers or enforce the law. — Rachel Bluth    A message from Connected Commerce Council:   AROUND CALIFORNIA PICKLEBALL FOR ME: Presidio Heights residents Holly and Karl Peterson recently launched a petition demanding that the city of San Francisco shut down 12 nearby pickleball courts because of the traffic from the “flood of pickleball fanatics” and the excruciating thwack of the balls, neglecting to mention that their 12,000-square-foot mansion features — wait for it — a pickleball court. GETTING WILD: A pack of gray wolves has apparently settled into Giant Sequoia National Monument for the first time in more than a century. NETWORKING, SILICON VALLEY-STYLE: An update from The Wall Street Journal on the life and times of Jeffrey Epstein reveals that the late sex-trafficking financier set up a meetings during the 2016 presidential campaign with venture capitalist Peter Thiel and investor Thomas Barrack, both prominent backers of Donald Trump at the time. Epstein also set up a meeting with the two men and Russia’s then-ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin. Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, told the Journal that he had been “naive” in agreeing to meetings with Epstein, whom he called a “crazed networker.” Thiel had been connected to him by Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and a Democratic fundraiser. Hoffman said he made the introduction to raise money for MIT. Hoffman, a Stanford grad, said he regrets his Epstein interactions.   GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE.     MIXTAPE “Burning Man’s climate protesters have a point: Building a temporary city of 80,000 people in the desert is actually bad for the planet,” by Vox’s Adam Clark Estes.   A message from Connected Commerce Council: "Selling online and using social media allow us to reach thousands of customers, and also connect with stores and independent retailers across the country" – Jeff, Instant Biologics. Keep California small businesses like Instant Biologics in San Diego connected with online marketplaces. 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