California Republicans help clinch megabill

Politico

03-07-2025

DRIVING THE DAY: If your inbox exploded this afternoon, it was the sound of the House passing Donald Trump's megabill.
Vulnerable California Republicans who helped push the legislation across the finish line were facing enormous pressure from the president and his allies.
But it was a perilous vote. Central Valley Rep. David Valadao and Orange County Rep. Young Kim ultimately supported the domestic spending package in spite of deeper Senate Medicaid reductions they criticized in a letter to Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson just last week.
Now, they will confront a barrage of attacks from Democrats. More than 60 percent of Valadao's constituents are recipients of Medi-Cal, the state's version of the federal health care program for the poorest Americans.
Valadao said in a statement that the vote was 'not an easy decision for me.' While he still has concerns about some of the Medicaid changes, he was heartened to see money for rural hospitals included in the bill.
'Ultimately, I voted for this bill because it does preserve the Medicaid program for its intended recipients — children, pregnant women, the disabled, and elderly,' he said.
FUNDS LACKING: Five years after Gov. Gavin Newsom created a task force to study reparations, California Democrats still can't get an agency to administer programs off the ground.
The latest setback came this week, with lawmakers and Newsom unwilling to put money behind a state office needed to power programs for descendants of slaves — a project that's become mired in deficit woes and shifting politics.
The state budget Newsom signed did not contain funding to stand up the agency. Caucus Chair Akilah Weber Pierson's bill establishing the office continues to move through the Capitol, although without funding it will be vulnerable to a veto even if it clears the Legislature.
Caucus members and their allies insist they've made progress enacting hundreds of recommendations to address discrimination and create a more equitable state.
But Black lawmakers have struggled to advance foundational legislation that requires ongoing state dollars, especially as leaders just spent most of the year closing a $12 billion spending gap. They're also up against a backlash to the racial justice movement that took hold five years ago, as well as a presidential administration trying to rid the country of DEI initiatives.
Last year, a proposal to stand up a reparations agency stalled on the final day of session amid infighting in the Black Caucus and last-minute amendments from Newsom.
This year's attempt is now on shaky ground, hinging on a longshot effort to fund it.
Los Angeles Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, caucus vice chair, acknowledged these difficulties during an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing this week.
'If anything is to get established, it's probably going to take some incredible lifting from the Black Caucus,' he said. 'We're not talking about one-time money. We're talking about ongoing money during a deficit.'
The budget did include the $12 million state leaders had set aside for reparations last year. Half of that will go to a California State University study determining how people will prove they're descendants of slaves, and the rest will fund an educational campaign about reparations administered by the Tides Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that supports progressive social causes.
Riverside Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a caucus member, said the group 'always knew this was going to be a long process.'
'We know we're going to get it done,' Jackson said of the agency. 'The question is when? And so every year we'll reintroduce it, because you never know what the budget situation is going to be.'
Despite the setbacks, Jackson and task force member Lisa Holder framed lawmakers' progress as significant, given the state of the reparations movement nationally.
'Since emancipation, African Americans have been calling on these governments to put money toward harm repair, reparations,' Holder told Playbook in an interview before the budget was finalized. 'This is the first time that a state has put $12 million just to create a pathway for legislation.'
Jackson called California's movement 'the only game in town in the nation,' a situation underlined in May, when Maryland Gov. Wes Moore vetoed a bill that would've created a similar reparations task force in his state. Illinois and New York previously passed bills to study reparations.
But some reparations supporters are tired of studies. One faction has gone as far as opposing Black Caucus bills, arguing they are too incremental and don't advance their cause.
Bryan said he fears the agency money won't come through because of such 'distractions,' which offer an 'easy out to not do anything budgetarily because folks are confused by spectacles like this.'
'It's important for the governor to put dollars into this effort,' he said. 'And it's important for the state to put efforts [into] this. And I'm hoping there's future budget trailer bills coming down the line that include priorities for Black Californians.'
IT'S THURSDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to [e-mail].
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
DEPORTATION DEBATE: State senators today debated for hours over a resolution condemning ICE raids and the president's troop deployment in response to Los Angeles deportation protests.
Democrats spoke about how they had been personally affected by ICE arrests, while Republicans said federal action was the result of California policies making it harder for immigration officials to target criminals.
But with Democrats in charge in Sacramento, the resolution passed. Baldwin Park state Sen. Susan Rubio said she carries her passport with her because she's afraid of being deported. San Fernando Valley state Sen. Caroline Menjivar said immigration officials detained the father of one of her staffers, even though he's a citizen.
'What is it?' she asked. 'It's that I'm too brown. You're too brown. Your skin is not pale enough. That's what it is. That's what it comes down to.'
As we reported last week, the Latino and AAPI caucuses are pushing to fast-track a slate of immigration bills responding to the raids.
Latino Caucus Chair Lena Gonzalez told Playbook today she hopes to get them through the Legislature before lawmakers go on a month-long summer recess starting July 18. She said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and the governor are supportive of the effort.
'We're just trying to figure out what timing, but the sooner the better,' Gonzalez said. 'We're in negotiations right now about that, but we want to get these done.'
IN OTHER NEWS
NEWSOM HITS THE TRAIL: The governor is headed to South Carolina next week to meet with natural disaster victims, touching down in an early primary state ahead of a likely run for president in 2028, our Jacob Wendler reports.
The South Carolina Democratic Party announced the trip today, saying Newsom will 'speak to the urgent need for federal support and investment' in the wake of Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires.
Newsom traveled to the state in January 2024 to stump for then-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the run-up to the presidential election. He received some early interest, but also doubts about his liberal reputation, POLITICO reported at the time.
The state has held a key role in recent nominating contests as the first state in the South to vote. The Democratic National Committee — under Biden — elevated it to be the first sanctioned primary contest in 2024.
CALLING STRIKES: State Attorney General Rob Bonta released his long-awaited opinion on fantasy sports betting today, declaring that online platforms operating in California are in violation of a state law that bans betting on the outcome of sporting events.
Bonta wrote that daily sports fantasy sites, which allow gambling based on the real-world performance of individual athletes, are merely a 'modern variation' of sports betting.
'California law prohibits the operation of daily fantasy sports games with players physically located within California, regardless of where the operators and associated technology are located,' Bonta concluded.
It's unclear what enforcement action Bonta's office might take as a result. In a statement, the state Department of Justice said it 'expects companies to come into compliance with the law.'
But Newsom's office was quick to say he disagrees with Bonta's conclusion — a rare split between the state's Democratic governor and its top prosecutor. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for Newsom, noted that the attorney general issued the opinion 'in his independent capacity.'
'While the Governor does not agree with the outcome, he welcomes a constructive path forward in collaboration with all stakeholders,' Crofts-Pelayo said in a statement.
Bonta's opinion is a response to a request from Republican state lawmakers, who asked him to evaluate the legality of online fantasy sports. Tribal communities — which spent tens of millions of dollars to defeat a 2022 measure to legalize sports gambling — also pushed for the opinion.
Tribal casinos want to block the fantasy industry's growth, and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association on Friday urged Bonta to enforce his opinion by cracking down on sports betting platforms.
'Untold millions if not billions have been illegally wagered over the past decade,' CNIGA Chairman James Siva said in a statement. 'Where is the enforcement? Where is the accountability?'
Fantasy sports platform operators argue that their sites shouldn't be considered traditional sports wagering because selecting players to create a fictional roster of athletes is a game of skill, not chance.
JT Foley, executive director of the Coalition for Fantasy Sports, said the industry agrees with Newsom that 'AG Bonta got it wrong.'
'We are hopeful the attorney general heeds the governor's call to find a constructive solution that preserves the games that California sports fans love,' Foley said in a statement. — Dustin Gardiner
WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY
— Some communities in the Los Angeles region have been canceling Fourth of July plans amid heightened fears and anger following recent immigration raids at farms and businesses in the city. (New York Times)
— Two of the largest school districts in and around the Fresno region expect to lose a combined $9.3 million following the Trump administration's decision to withhold billions of dollars that Congress allocated to K-12 schools in the country. (Fresno Bee)
— The El Rancho Unified School District released a video allegedly showing ICE and Border Patrol agents urinating at a school campus in Pico Rivera. (ABC 7)
AROUND THE STATE
— Federal cleanup crews from the Eaton and Palisades wildfires improperly sent truckloads of waste tainted with asbestos to nonhazardous landfills, state and local records show. (Los Angeles Times)
— A federal judge in San Diego struck down two state laws that effectively banned most non-California residents from carrying guns in the state. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
— Palmdale Mayor Richard J. Loa was stripped of his title and responsibilities pending an investigation into 'confidential allegations.' (KTLA 5)
— compiled by Juliann Ventura