Gavin Newsom to Hollywood: Come back
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DRIVING THE DAY — Elon Musk's escalating feud with President Donald Trump was catnip for California Democrats — who've long brooded over Musk's conservative pivot after California subsidies drove Tesla's early success.
The rift threatens to blow up Republicans' megabill to fund Trump's domestic agenda. While some Democrats are weary about welcoming Musk back to their lunch table, Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna said the party should 'be in a dialogue' given their shared opposition to the megabill.
'We should ultimately be trying to convince him that the Democratic Party has more of the values that he agrees with,' Khanna told our colleagues in D.C.
Meanwhile, Musk's Trump criticism hasn't opened the floodgates for other tech world elites to start bashing the president — yet, as our Chase DiFeliciantonio and Christine Mui write in this morning's California Decoded newsletter.
LEADING MAN — Gov. Gavin Newsom and Hollywood's elite have always gone hand-in-hand, with wealthy donors from the industry helping fuel every stage of Newsom's rise up California's political ladder.
Now the Democratic governor has made saving the Golden State's iconic industry a central mission of his final two years in office.
Doubling the state's film tax credit is Newsom's No. 1 budget priority in Sacramento this legislative session, despite the state facing a $12 billion deficit. As our colleague Melanie Mason writes this morning, Newsom wants to lure back production companies that have fled in droves to other states and countries.
THE STAKES … It's a gambit that could also help Newsom prepare for the next stage of his career as he eyes a potential 2028 White House bid — when he would surely need Hollywood's support.
The governor is already competing with President Donald Trump to be Hollywood's savior. Trump, who regularly trades barbs with the governor, has chided Newsom's treatment of the film industry as 'grossly incompetent.' And if Newsom does run in 2028, he likely cannot afford to lose major swaths of the industry in his home state to any other Democratic primary contender.
IT'S A TALL TASK FOR NEWSOM … Hollywood has been pummeled by a perfect storm of problems: Many production studios have already relocated due to more lucrative incentives in Georgia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Moreover, the pandemic, the dual writers' and actors' strikes in 2023 and the historic Los Angeles wildfires in January have jolted Tinseltown.
'The time for this discussion was 10, 15, 20 years ago,' Richard Rushfield, editorial director and columnist with The Ankler, an industry newsletter, told Melanie. He added, 'If he's going to run for president, this is gonna come up. And he's got to be able to say that he tried.'
BUT HE HAS TINSELTOWN SWAGGER … Other Hollywood insiders said Newsom's proposal for a revamped $750 million tax break has been greeted with great enthusiasm. Some see it as a signal that Sacramento is becoming more attuned to the industry's needs — traditionally, the perception has been that the capital crowd cares little about one of the state's crown industries.
'My hope is we blow through this money, and we're gonna have to go back to the governor for even more next year, and we can show that it's an economic engine for the state as well,' said Scott Budnick, the film producer behind 'The Hangover' and other blockbusters.
Don't miss Melanie's story out today about Newsom's quest to save the film industry.
GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. 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? Nothing official announced.
NEWSOMLAND
FIRST IN POLITICO: HOLLYWOOD HUDDLE — Newsom and Jon Voight, the actor-turned-show biz emissary for Trump, met privately Thursday afternoon in Century City, to discuss their shared interest in boosting Hollywood.
As Melanie also reported, the pair talked about Voight's proposal to reshore the American film industry through a combination of federal tax credits and tax code changes, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting granted anonymity to discuss it. They also talked about Newsom's push to double California's film tax credit.
'They shared a commitment to working together to help to build up the film industry in the U.S. — particularly California and Los Angeles,' the person said, adding that Newsom expressed interest in working with Trump on the issue.
ON THE HILL
AFTER GRADUATION — Former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will serve on the advisory board of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, becoming the latest Biden administration official to dip his toes in California's policy world.
Others include former Small Business Administration Secretary Isabel Casillas Guzman, who moved back to California and started a consulting firm after the election, and Newsom Cabinet Secretary Nani Coloretti, who was deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Cardona served throughout Biden's term, overseeing efforts to cancel student loan debt as well as the rocky rollout of the new FAFSA form. Before that, he was the top education official in Connecticut, a school administrator and a teacher.
'Miguel's leadership on closing opportunity gaps and expanding access to quality education aligns perfectly with our mission to put people over politics and champion solutions that work,' former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. 'We both share a deep commitment to expanding access to quality after-school programs, which play a critical role in keeping kids safe and helping them reach their full potential.'
STATE CAPITOL
TUCK'S RENAISSANCE — Marshall Tuck was seen as a force for charter schools when he twice ran for state superintendent in the 2010s.
But these days, he said, the schools seldom come up at his day job.
The former charter system leader has since 2022 healmed the education nonprofit EdVoice, a group that historically fought on charters' behalf against teachers unions, most memorably in a major policy brawl in 2019.
But after Newsom signed sweeping new rules for charters, the organization went dormant, before relaunching in 2023 newly under Tuck's leadership with a focus on closing achievement gaps. Not rejoining the charter wars.
'There was no being beholden to what the organization had done historically,' Tuck told Playbook. 'It was almost like a clean slate.'
The organization has, since rebooting, focused primarily on literacy and teacher training legislation that has little to do with charters.
'We believe that there's too much emphasis on school governance and not enough emphasis on classroom instruction, student supports, more time for kids to learn,' Tuck said of the group's philosophy. 'We think charters are an important part of the public education system, but they're just a part.'
The shift in focus was on display Thursday, when the Assembly passed a pair of major education bills.
EdVoice was a central proponent of one — a landmark proposal to push schools to use evidence-based reading instruction. Meanwhile, the nonprofit didn't even take a position on a hotly contested bill that would place new rules on virtual charter schools. The organization hasn't to this point lobbied on that proposal, either, Tuck said Thursday.
The organization's de-emphasizing of charter issues has seemingly paid dividends. The literacy proposal nabbed Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas' support, and Newsom included $200 million for training teachers on evidence-based literacy instruction in his latest budget proposal. Newsom also in 2023 signed EdVoice-backed legislation to mandate dyslexia risk screenings after similar efforts stalled repeatedly during his first term.
CLIMATE AND ENERGY
ESSAYLI STRIKES — The assemblymember-turned-U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned SoCal air regulators Thursday that he plans to sue over a pair of rules they're set to consider today restricting gas-powered space and water heaters, as POLITICO's Alex Nieves reports for subscribers.
'The President has directed us to take a strong stand against state and local policies that obstruct domestic energy production and usage,' Essayli said in a statement. 'My office is fully committed to upholding that directive and protecting our communities from these reckless measures.'
The hot-button rules have drawn some 14,000 public comments ahead of today's hearing, including an op-ed this week from former Los Angeles mayor and gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa arguing the rules will be too expensive when added atop Trump's trade war.
BLAME TESLA — Trump is laying his and Musk's shattered bromance at the feet of a disagreement over electric vehicles. Read last night's California Climate to see why Californians aren't buying it.
TOP TALKERS
THROWN UNDER THE BUS — Most of the job cuts proposed in San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's budget are in the Municipal Transportation Agency, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The agency is slated to lose about 300 jobs as the city looks to reduce its roughly $800 million two-year budget deficit.
TORRANCE LOCKS ARMS — The story of a fourth-grader at Torrance Elementary School, who was detained by ICE and is set to be deported to Honduras with his father, has prompted his classmates' parents and the PTA to reach out to elected officials for support, the Los Angeles Times reports.
'When something like this happens, it shakes all of us in the community. There's not a child at our school that we don't treat as our own,' said Torrance Elementary PTA volunteer Ria Villanueva.
AROUND THE STATE
— Videos posted on Facebook appear to show Poway City Councilmember Tony Blain being detained by police outside of City Hall this week; he faces allegations of vote trading. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
— A jury found that Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer harassed former prosecutor Tracy Miller and awarded her $3 million in damages. (The Daily Pilot)
— A California court ruled that state law prohibits you from holding your phone to look at a map while driving. (Los Angeles Times)
— Longtime Democratic strategist Garry South opines that Newsom will be a 'hard act to follow' for the next governor. (Capitol Weekly)
Compiled by Nicole Norman
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: HOLD THAT PLANE! — Several Republican lawmakers, including Assemblymembers Carl DeMaio, Tri Ta, Kate Sanchez and Diane Dixon, were seen sprinting through the Sacramento airport Thursday to catch their flight home to SoCal.
PEOPLE MOVES — Adam Taylor is now chief of staff for Rep. Scott Peters. He was previously Peters' legislative director. Dillon Cooke is now legislative director for Peters. He was previously Peters' senior legislative assistant.
BIRTHDAYS — director Abby Ginzberg … actor Jason Isaacs … Paul Giamatti
BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Thursday): Dov Waxman … Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins (favorite cake: her grandmother's lemon cake recipe)
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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