Gov. Gavin Newsom is on trip in Montana visiting household, I was the first to report Tuesday night.
It was information that the governor’s workplace appeared loath to reveal. Although the workplace mentioned Friday the governor had left California to spend time with household, it didn’t till Tuesday reply questions on the place he was or when particularly he would return, a noticeable distinction from communication surrounding different latest out-of-state journeys. (A spokesperson mentioned Tuesday Newsom hasn’t but booked his return journey, however that he’ll return to California over the weekend and be again within the workplace on Monday.)
The governor’s workplace didn’t reply to a query about why that information wasn’t initially shared. But one potential cause might be that Montana is among the 22 states to which California has banned state-funded and state-sponsored journey, citing insurance policies it deems discriminatory to LGBTQ+ folks.
Montana can be one of many states Newsom’s office has called out for proscribing abortion entry. His workplace said in a June 24 press release that Montana will seemingly ban the process following the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest resolution to overturn Roe v. Wade, although local outlets say abortion is prone to stay authorized there for the foreseeable future.
- Anthony York, Newsom’s senior advisor for communications, advised me: “We don’t legislate where people vacation. Never have. The travel ban applies to expending state funds. The Governor’s travel is not being paid for by the state.”
- Asked if the state is paying for Newsom’s safety whereas he’s in Montana, York mentioned: “We don’t comment or provide details on the governor’s security.”
The mother and father of Newsom’s spouse, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, personal a ranch in Montana and the couple was married there in 2008, according to the Associated Press.
The reluctance of Newsom’s workplace to share particulars concerning the trip contrasts sharply with clearer communication surrounding different latest out-of-state journeys. And it suggests the governor is conscious of the politically perilous optics of vacationing in a pink state whereas he makes an attempt to place himself on the vanguard of the Democratic Party — a technique praised by columnists in nationwide shops corresponding to the Washington Post and the Atlantic — and he slams Republican-led states for COVID-19 policies and high crime rates, amongst different issues.
For instance, when Newsom and his household departed on trip for spring break, the governor’s workplace disclosed that they might be in Central and South America from March 30 to April 12. And final yr, when Newsom and his household took a visit for Thanksgiving, the governor’s workplace shared they might be in Mexico from Nov. 22-28.
- Harmeet Dhillon, California’s Republican National Committeewoman, advised me in an announcement: “At a time when Californians are still living under a two years and counting state of emergency, our gas taxes were raised (again) July 1 to the highest levels in the nation … Gavin Newsom is running campaign ads in better-run states and refusing to tell the taxpayers where he is or when he will return to his overtaxed, under-served constituents. We’d love to know the gas prices and the COVID emergency status where the Governor is. Most Californians can’t afford to take their normal holidays this year, thanks to Gavin Newsom and his party’s lack of leadership of our state.”
Dhillon was referring to the advertisements that Newsom’s reelection marketing campaign started airing Monday not in California, however in Florida — which can be on the journey ban checklist. On Tuesday, Newsom’s reelection marketing campaign adopted up with a fundraising email whose topic line learn merely, “Florida.”
- The e-mail reads: “Ron DeSantis (the Republican governor of Florida) likes to talk a lot about ‘freedom.’ He signed a ‘Freedom First Budget.’ His hashtag is #KeepFloridaFree. His team even released a tortuous rock ballad about Florida’s freedom. But the truth is, Freedom is under attack in Florida.”
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis is serving as performing governor in Newsom’s absence, but it surely’s unlikely that she must take motion on any payments. The governor’s workplace mentioned it isn’t conscious of any payments which have a signing deadline this week; based on veteran Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli, 55 payments are at the moment awaiting motion on the governor’s desk.
Kounalakis grew to become the primary girl to signal a invoice into California regulation throughout Newsom’s household trip in March. The invoice she signed — which prolonged statewide pandemic eviction protections for residents ready for funds from California’s hire aid program — expired on June 30.
Geoffrey Ross, a deputy director for the state Department of Housing and Community Development, advised CalIssues’ Manuela Tobias that each one eligible hire aid purposes had been accredited as of July 1. He mentioned the division continues to be processing about 13,000 purposes which might be lacking documentation or signify an attraction following a denial, and that the state expects to clear all of these pending purposes by early August.
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The coronavirus backside line: As of Thursday, California had 9,431,299 confirmed instances (+0.6% from earlier day) and 91,701 deaths (+0.2% from earlier day), based on state data now up to date simply twice every week on Tuesdays and Fridays. CalIssues can be monitoring coronavirus hospitalizations by county.
California has administered 77,630,160 vaccine doses, and 75.7% of eligible Californians are fully vaccinated.
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Other Stories You Should Know
1
Bonta publication below scrutiny
California taxpayers footed the $204,700 invoice for Attorney General Rob Bonta’s workplace to rent an information expertise agency to arrange the software program essential to ship a weekly publication to thousands and thousands of voters — whose emails Bonta’s workplace obtained from a voter registration database managed by the California Secretary of State, according to a Tuesday investigation from the Sacramento Bee. In the lead-up to the June major election, the emails rounding up California Department of Justice news started that includes a first-person greeting from and portrait of Bonta, whom Newsom had appointed to the place a few yr prior. The Bee’s findings prompted some critics to surprise if Bonta was bending marketing campaign ethics legal guidelines to extend his identify recognition — although the emails by no means particularly talked about that he was dealing with reelection.
- Rob Stutzman, a Republican political advisor who labored on Anne Marie Schubert’s legal professional basic bid: “I think public officials should and can communicate to citizens. But when the project is specifically focused on emailing registered voters, that seems like an update to the Political Reform Act would be appropriate.”
- Bonta’s workplace: “Attorney General Bonta is proud of (the Department of Justice’s) work to defend Californians’ rights and protect public safety. And he is excited to share updates on that work with Californians on DOJ resources available to the public.”
Conspicuously absent from Bonta’s newest newsletters: point out of a database revealed final week that inadvertently revealed the complete names, dwelling addresses and different private information of greater than 240,000 Californians who had utilized for a allow to hold a hid gun from 2011 to 2021. The state Department of Justice eliminated the database final Tuesday, and its public data portal has now been offline for a full week.
In different election news:
- A brand new Yahoo News/YouGov survey means that Newsom would have a greater likelihood than Vice President Kamala Harris of defeating Donald Trump within the 2024 presidential race — and he would additionally seemingly beat GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But with the election so far-off and the candidate lineup unsure — and given the ballot’s share of undecided voters and margins of error — it’s most likely greatest not to draw too many conclusions at this point.
- Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced Tuesday {that a} measure to hike revenue taxes on Californians incomes greater than $5 million to fund pandemic detection and safety packages is eligible for the November 2024 poll.
- And a November 2022 poll measure to tax millionaires to fund electrical car rebates and charging stations gained a robust supporter Tuesday: the formidable labor union referred to as the State Building and Construction Trades Council. The measure “will provide good-paying green jobs to help build the charging station infrastructure we need across the state to reduce emissions and fight climate change,” mentioned President Andrew Meredith.
2
Bullet practice to get extra oversight
“There is nothing but problems on the project. … We need to be vigilant.”
“You can’t have enough oversight on a project like this.”
Those feedback — from Democratic Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lakewood and Assembly Transportation Committee Chairperson Laura Friedman of Burbank, respectively — underscore legislative leaders’ excessive expectations for the long run inspector basic of California’s beleaguered bullet practice undertaking, Ralph Vartabedian stories for CalIssues. The new investigative place was included in a deal struck between Newsom and lawmakers as a part of the state price range, when lawmakers after a long-simmering dispute agreed handy over $4.2 billion in bond funds to construct a 171-mile monitor section from Bakersfield to Merced.
- Friedman: “They need to deliver something soon that the public understands is a train.” Having the inspector basic “will be a very big change for the project.”
3
Electra Fire explodes
Despite the relatively mild summer weather that Californians can anticipate to take pleasure in till this weekend when temperatures are predicted to start out rising once more, the Electra Fire that ignited Monday night time in Amador and Calaveras counties had exploded to three,900 acres and solely 5% contained as of Tuesday night time, according to Cal Fire. About 1,000 folks were under evacuation orders and greater than 15,000 PG&E prospects have been with out energy Tuesday morning, a spokeswoman for the utility told the Los Angeles Times. Hundreds of buildings, together with some PG&E belongings, have been additionally threatened.
- On Monday, about 100 folks — a lot of them celebrating Fourth of July at Vox Beach in Amador County — have been pressured to quickly shelter in a close-by PG&E facility before being safely evacuated.
- A PG&E spokesperson told the San Francisco Chronicle Tuesday that the utility believes its gear wasn’t concerned in inflicting the hearth on account of when and the place it began; native authorities told the Associated Press it might have been sparked by fireworks or a barbecue. The trigger stays below investigation.
- Dave Rice, an Amador County resident, told the Chronicle: “If God pulls the rug out from under our feet” and burns his household’s home down, “then we’re gone” and can seemingly transfer to Florida to be nearer to his daughter.
CalIssues Commentary
CalIssues columnist Dan Walters: A brand new audit will probe California’s dismal report on utilizing information expertise to make state businesses extra environment friendly.
California should replace water agreements to replicate local weather realities: State and federal water managers have drawn down reservoirs quickly over the previous three years to supply water to a small subset of business growers, threatening salmon and on a regular basis Californians, argues Tom Stokely of the California Water Impact Network.
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