Mike McGuire in the housing hot seat
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THE BUZZ: HOUSES DIVIDED — When it comes to housing legislation, Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire has increasingly become the outlier of the proverbial three-legged stool of state government in Sacramento.
His counterparts — Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Gov. Gavin Newsom — have made it abundantly clear this year that they want to go big on measures to accelerate housing construction, including legislation that would slash local restrictions and environmental reviews for new development.
But McGuire has been ambiguous about where he stands on the most high-profile housing legislation this session, including a landmark package of bills to overhaul the California Environmental Quality Act (commonly known as CEQA).
The pressure on McGuire will grow this week as the Appropriations Committee faces an end-of-week deadline to act on fiscal bills. Several sweeping housing measures are on the potential chopping block — namely Senate Bill 607, which would reduce delays due to environmental reviews for new housing as well as other projects, including transportation and energy infrastructure.
Already, business groups and pro-development YIMBY (or Yes in My Back Yard) activists have criticized McGuire after housing bills have faced hiccups getting through Senate committees. Some have gone as far as dubbing the Senate the less pro-housing chamber.
'We'll see where he stands on Friday — that will be very telling,' said Jim Wunderman, president of the Bay Area Council, a powerful business group that's sponsoring SB 607 and other housing bills. 'This is the moment for California to really take the jump here' and address the housing shortage.
In a statement to Playbook, McGuire said he's committed to 'working hard to increase housing stock especially in the regions most impacted by shortages, and to build housing faster.'
Still, McGuire hasn't ruled out amendments to scale back SB 607, for example — a contrast with Rivas. The speaker has championed a related CEQA-reform measure, Assembly Bill 609, which would exempt most urban infill housing from environmental reviews. The bill sailed through a floor vote this week on a 67-0 vote.
Nick Miller, a spokesperson for Rivas, said the speaker is '100 percent behind' both measures to overhaul CEQA. Miller added, 'His message has been clear all year: We need to build more housing. We feel like we have the votes to back it up.'
The governor has also upped the pressure on McGuire in recent days. Last week, Newsom announced that he would seek to advance both major CEQA-reform bills through the state budget — a tactic that would circumvent obstacles like hostile Senate committee chairs. It was a rare foray into the legislative process from Newsom, who typically doesn't wade into housing fights until legislation is on his desk.
McGuire's allies in the Senate, including Housing Chair Aisha Wahab, are pushing back against the onslaught facing the pro tem. She has derided the CEQA effort as a developer giveaway that won't make housing more affordable or stabilize rent increases for tenants.
'Blanket deregulation may cut costs for developers, but it doesn't guarantee affordable homes for residents,' Wahab said in a text message. Many environmentalists and building trade unions also oppose the effort to reform CEQA, which has typically been a fraught third rail in Sacramento.
Sen. Scott Wiener, who's carrying SB 607, has so far succeeded in pushing most of the year's major housing measures through the Senate. But doing so has been a heavy lift already — Wiener has twice been forced to persuade his colleagues to advance bills over the objections of committee chairs, Wahab included.
Wiener said critics should be careful not to read too much into McGuire's silence, saying it's common for legislative leaders not to make definitive statements about controversial bills early in the session.
'Don't count the Senate out,' Wiener said, noting McGuire has co-authored several aggressive housing bills in the past.
McGuire said Thursday that he looks 'forward to continuing these conversations with the Assembly and the governor.' He also left the door open to putting CEQA reform in the budget.
GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook.
You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@politico.com and bjones@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej.
WHERE'S GAVIN? In downtown Sacramento for an 11 a.m. press conference with Attorney General Rob Bonta about California's clean air efforts. Watch here
CAMPAIGN YEAR(S)
RUNNING IT BACK — Secretary of State Shirley Weber today officially announced she's running for reelection, a move that was expected by insiders but nevertheless closes off another office to Democratic officials planning their next moves.
'With my powerful voice for justice, I fight every day to make sure that eligible Californians can exercise their right to vote, and I will never back down,' Weber said in a statement that also highlighted her upbringing in the Jim Crow South where her parents were unable to vote.
Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is also running for a second term, backed Weber in a statement, calling her a 'thoughtful partner against the Trump administration's unlawful attacks on elections.'
CONVENTION EXTRAS
LINEUP DROP — Sen. Adam Schiff, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta and labor icon Dolores Huerta are all slated to speak at the California Democratic Party Convention in Anaheim later this month. They round out a lineup that includes Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
SAN DIEGO
TENT TAKEDOWNS — San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria led his meetings in Sacramento yesterday with a request for homelessness money endorsed by all California's big-city mayors. But he also brought a request having little to do with money: that the state clear more encampments on its own turf.
'Caltrans,' Gloria specified in an interview with Playbook, 'needs to do more.'
The leader of California's second-largest city bemoaned the tents that have cropped up around freeways outside his city's jurisdiction. Behind fences dividing city and state territory, he said tents are abundant and causing complaints from his constituents.
'It can be frustrating, as the worst encampments in my city are on Caltrans property,' Gloria said. 'Our relationship with them could be better. It's not for want of trying. There's regular communication. But whether it's lack of resources on Caltrans or lack of will, this is tough stuff.'
He empathized with the agency — 'I respect and understand that they tend to be transportation professionals, not social workers' — but said the same applies to municipal governments.
'Cities are not social service agencies either,' he said.
CLIMATE AND ENERGY
TILL THE STORM BLOWS OVER — California is — conveniently — not expecting to build any offshore wind turbines until after President Donald Trump, who's lashed out against the technology, leaves office. Instead, offshore wind proponents are focused on getting money to upgrade the state's ports to build and ship out the massive blades, when the time is right. Read more in last night's California Climate.
TOP TALKERS
FED UP — Schiff told EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin that he will cause a litany of cancers at a Senate Environment and Public Works on Wednesday, Fox News reported.
'You could give a rat's ass about how much cancer your agency causes,' he said.
LEVI IT ALONE — San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's office has privately suggested that he would gut an ordinance to put at least one behavioral health facility in every supervisor district and prohibit new sites in areas that already have them, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, would rather 'endeavor to' have a facility in every district.
AROUND THE STATE
— The San Mateo Board of Supervisors will require quarterly reports for all county purchases over $100,000. (Mercury News)
— The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors established the Behavioral Health Commission to advise the board on how to improve behavioral health policy and programs. (Sacramento Bee)
— In Fresno, if voters do not pass Measure C, they risk losing tens of millions of dollars in road maintenance and expansion for a large portion of the county's transportation projects. (The Fresno Bee)
Compiled by Nicole Norman
PLAYBOOKERS
PEOPLE MOVES — Jon Koriel has joined the firm Bryson Gillette as a director of public affairs in Los Angeles. He was most recently public affairs manager at Comcast California in San Francisco.
BIRTHDAYS — State Data Officer Jason Lally (favorite b-day treats: princess cake and gin/elderflower cocktail) … Cassidy Denny in the office of state Sen. Angelique Ashby … Ed Manning at KP Public Affairs … Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Abel Guillén … David Schenkein … Jay Carney at Airbnb … Matt Roman … Oren Cass at American Compass
BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Wednesday): radio journalist Joshua Nehmeh … James Castañeda at the American Planning Association
WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
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