Latest news with #JesseArreguín
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bay Area transit systems put up life-or-death ballot measures
On Friday, the Bay Area's largest commuter-rail network suffered an hours-long outage that left its trains stalled on the tracks as commuters across the region waited for a ride that would never come. It was, as state senators Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguín said in a statement, a peek 'into what life in the Bay Area will be like without robust BART service.' Next year, voters across the region will decide whether they're ready to see their transit systems go dark for good. In 2026, a set of unrelated taxes are likely to appear on local ballots across California's second-largest metropolitan area. Each would fund a different transit network whose leadership says a yes vote is necessary to keep the trains running. Together they add up to a real-time service update for one of the country's most transit-reliant regions: how much do Bay Area voters believe in their public-transport systems after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted commuting patterns? 'Letting transit deteriorate is really not an option,' said Laura Tolkoff, the transportation policy director of SPUR, a Bay Area non-profit public policy organization. 'The Bay Area runs on transit.' In San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties, voters will likely be asked to approve a regional transit tax to fund the operation of BART, which will soon run out of money to operate at its current service level. In San Francisco, residents are likely to see yet another measure, its details still unclear, to address the MUNI system's structural deficit. In the North Bay, the board of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit is discussing when to put up the renewal of a quarter-cent sales tax in the two counties in 2026 after the same measure failed in 2020. 'Our fiscal cliff is very real,' said Eddy Cummins, the general manager of SMART, which connects Santa Rosa to Larkspur and San Rafael via rail. 'If the sales tax is not passed by the end of 2028, we're out of business.' Transit operators say each of the measures is necessary to preserve existing services in the Bay Area region. But it will take a high-wire act to get them all over the two-thirds supermajority hurdle required for local governments to increase taxes at the ballot. Recent surveys conducted by East Bay-based pollster FM3 measured voter support for a renewal of the SMART sales tax at upwards of 70 percent. But backing for the three-county regional measure is struggling to reach 60 percent, even as BART enjoys some of its highest customer satisfaction while improving safety and cleanliness and cracking down on fare evasion. But the transit agencies also face different consumer realities. The BART measure would raise taxes, whereas SMART would extend one. The SMART system actually has 30 percent higher ridership than it did pre-pandemic, whereas BART and MUNI are trying to establish a new funding mechanism for systems that long relied on fare revenue to fund its services. Compounding problems for BART is the reality that funds from a 2026 sales tax measure won't start flowing into the system's coffers until early 2027. That means BART and MUNI, which would also see some share of the funding, would need to cut services next summer, just as voters are being asked to fund them. To stabilize the situation, Arreguín and Assemblymember Mark González are currently pushing for $2 billion in new transit funding across the state to address that shortfall until regional funding comes online. The challenge of convincing voters will likely fall to the Bay Area Council, which has played a lead role in previous transit tax campaigns. The group has already committed to helping pass the regional measure on the condition that a financial efficiency review was added to the state legislation. It is unclear if the well-funded business group will step in to aid the individual SMART and MUNI measures, although a representative acknowledged the political fates of all the systems could be dangerously intertwined. 'What we're really concerned about is if that funding doesn't come through and BART and MUNI have to scale back service,' said Emily Loper, the council's vice president of public policy. 'We don't want to see service reductions while we're trying to run a campaign to pass a measure talking about how important transit is.' Wiener and Arreguín's SB 63, the state legislation that serves as the primary vehicle for building consensus around the BART-funding measure, recognizes the precarious politics. The bill raises the possibility that the tax might fare better if it reaches the ballot via citizen signatures, rather than sent there by the regional transit commission, thereby requiring only a simple majority to pass.
Politico
12-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Bay Area transit faces life-or-death ballot in 2026
DOORS ARE CLOSING — On Friday, the Bay Area's largest commuter-rail network suffered an hourslong outage that left its trains stalled on the tracks as commuters across the region waited for a ride that would never come. It was, as state Sens. Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguín said in a statement, a peek 'into what life in the Bay Area will be like without robust BART service.' Next year, voters across the region will decide whether they're ready to see their transit systems go dark for good. In 2026, a set of unrelated taxes are likely to appear on local ballots across California's second-largest metropolitan area. Each would fund a different transit network whose leadership says a yes vote is necessary to keep the trains running. Together they add up to a real-time service update for one of the country's most transit-reliant regions: How much do Bay Area voters believe in their public-transport systems after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted commuting patterns? 'Letting transit deteriorate is really not an option,' said Laura Tolkoff, the transportation policy director of SPUR, a Bay Area nonprofit public policy organization. 'The Bay Area runs on transit.' In San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, voters will likely be asked to approve a regional transit tax to fund the operation of BART, which will soon run out of money to operate at its current service level. In San Francisco, residents are likely to see yet another measure, its details still unclear, to address the MUNI system's structural deficit. In the North Bay, the board of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit is discussing when to put up the renewal of a quarter-cent sales tax in the two counties in 2026 after the same measure failed in 2020. 'Our fiscal cliff is very real,' said Eddy Cummins, the general manager of SMART, which connects Santa Rosa to Larkspur and San Rafael via rail. 'If the sales tax is not passed by the end of 2028, we're out of business.' Transit operators say each of the measures is necessary to preserve existing services in the Bay Area region. But it will take a high-wire act to get them all over the two-thirds supermajority hurdle required for local governments to increase taxes at the ballot. Recent surveys conducted by East Bay-based pollster FM3 measured voter support for a renewal of the SMART sales tax at upwards of 70 percent. But backing for the three-county regional measure is struggling to reach 60 percent, even as BART enjoys some of its highest customer satisfaction while improving safety and cleanliness and cracking down on fare evasion. But the transit agencies also face different consumer realities. The BART measure would raise taxes, whereas SMART would extend one. The SMART system actually has 30 percent higher ridership than it did pre-pandemic, whereas BART and MUNI are trying to establish a new funding mechanism for systems that long relied on fare revenue to fund its services. Compounding problems for BART is the reality that funds from a 2026 sales tax measure won't start flowing into the system's coffers until early 2027. That means BART and MUNI, which would also see some share of the funding, would need to cut services next summer, just as voters are being asked to fund them. To stabilize the situation, Arreguín and Assemblymember Mark González are currently pushing for $2 billion in new transit funding across the state to address that shortfall until regional funding comes online. The challenge of convincing voters will likely fall to the Bay Area Council, which has played a lead role in previous transit tax campaigns. The group has already committed to helping pass the regional measure on the condition that a financial efficiency review was added to the state legislation. It is unclear if the well-funded business group will step in to aid the individual SMART and MUNI measures, although a representative acknowledged the political fates of all the systems could be dangerously intertwined. 'What we're really concerned about is if that funding doesn't come through and BART and MUNI have to scale back service,' said Emily Loper, the council's vice president of public policy. 'We don't want to see service reductions while we're trying to run a campaign to pass a measure talking about how important transit is.' Wiener and Arreguín's SB 63, the state legislation that serves as the primary vehicle for building consensus around the BART-funding measure, recognizes the precarious politics. The bill raises the possibility that the tax might fare better if it reaches the ballot via citizen signatures, rather than sent there by the regional transit commission, thereby requiring only a simple majority to pass. NEWS BREAK: Gov. Gavin Newsom to announce May revised budget proposal Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. … ICE investigates LA County over immigrant benefits … Newsom calls for tougher response on homelessness. Welcome to Ballot Measure Weekly, a special edition of Playbook PM focused on California's lively realm of ballot measure campaigns. Drop us a line at eschultheis@ and wmccarthy@ or find us on X — @emilyrs and @wrmccart. TOP OF THE TICKET A highly subjective ranking of the ballot measures — past and future, certain and possible — getting our attention this week. 1. Home downpayment loans for UC staff (2026?): The University of California is planning to argue at a Wednesday hearing that extending zero-interest home loans to all employees could cost its schools as much as a billion dollars before they begin to see investment returns. The proposed constitutional amendment from Assemblymember Matt Haney arrives in the Assembly's appropriations committee with a growing list of coauthors but rising resistance from UC leadership. 2. Measure A (San Jose, 2025): The effort to renew a school parcel tax for academic programs and teacher-retention efforts in San Jose looks to be falling short of the two-thirds it needs to pass, with just 60.5 percent of the vote in preliminary results. The existing parcel tax, which brings in $5 million annually, is set to expire on June 30. 3. Proposition 12 (2018): A group called the Center for Environment and Welfare, funded by a PR firm known for its challenges to environmental and consumer regulations, has joined a congressional effort to defang California's enforcement of its animal-rights initiative. Last week, the group launched a 'Food Price Fix' campaign arguing the heightened welfare standards for farm animals is driving up food costs nationwide. 3. Voter ID (2026): If Assemblymember Carl DeMaio can gather the signatures for the ballot, his voter-ID proposal could find smooth sailing: New polling shows 71 percent of Californians back at least one element of his proposal – requiring a government-issue ID to vote. The Berkeley IGS survey shows the requirement receiving majority support from both parties, including 59 percent of the state's Democrats. 4. Measure E (Ross Valley School District, 2025): The Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers appears to have succeeded in shooting down a parcel tax to fund teacher salaries, with early returns showing support just under the two-thirds threshold for passage. The measure's defeat would be a win for the emerging local anti-tax group, and a blow to district officials who have typically been able to rely on their liberal tax base to increase revenue. 5. Transit tax (San Diego County, 2026?): A San Diego-based transportation advocacy nonprofit is hoping to revive Measure G, a transit tax that failed on the countywide ballot last November. RideSD researcher Alex Wong recently made the case that a tweaked measure could pass next year. 7. Measures M and N (California Pines, Modoc County, 2025): Residents in California's largest subdivision appeared set to reject two measures that would have increased their taxes to fund community services. In initial returns, both the parcel tax to fund fire response and another to pay for power and wastewater systems trailed by a handful of votes. Sources close to this YouTube link speculate Erik Estrada's lack of endorsement may have made the difference. ON OTHER BALLOTS Arkansas' attorney general rejected for the third time a proposed constitutional amendment from the League of Women Voters to amend the initiative process, this time citing a new law requiring all issue questions to be written at an eighth-grade reading level or lower … Ohio voters last week approved a proposal to authorize $2.5 billion in local infrastructure bonds that will be issued over the next decade … Supporters of an initiative to require photo ID to vote in Maine are suing state election officials over what they say is a misleading title and summary assigned to the measure for the November 2025 ballot … Vermont's state legislature voted to place an amendment on the November 2026 ballot that would enshrine collective bargaining rights in the state constitution … Voters in Philadelphia will consider a charter amendment in its May 20 primary election that would close a loophole in local housing regulations intended to increase the city's supply of affordable housing … And Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called for the repeal of Initiative 82, approved by voters in 2022 to gradually increase the minimum wage for tipped workers to match that of non-tipped workers. HOW TO PICK YOUR LOCAL BATTLES: For decades, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has tried to defeat tax increases across the state. We spoke with president Jon Coupal about how he decides where to get involved. Step 1: You can't always be fighting city hall. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association made its reputation as anti-government crusaders, but that doesn't keep them from working with local officeholders to achieve their priorities. Sometimes that means working to nix tax increases before they're up for a vote. Sometimes, city officials will even call them first to head off conflict. 'They say, 'Hey, can you let us know if you're going to sue us over this?' says Coupal. 'We've advised local governments on how to comply with our various measures.' Step 2: Prioritize big markets. The association counted 115 tax measures on local ballots last fall, as Coupal wrote in a recent op-ed, of which 90 passed. The sheer number of potential battles means HJTA needs to 'triage,' as Coupal puts it. Although the association is primarily focused on statewide ballot issues, it will weigh in on local measures when they target large markets like San Francisco and Los Angeles or could set a dangerous precedent that will be followed elsewhere. Step 3: Follow the lead of business. The primarily grassroots-funded HJTA can't bankroll a big-budget campaign itself, so looks to align itself against measures that threaten the interests of corporations or the trade associations that represent them. 'We can't raise the same kind of money that the unions do, so we partner with the business community,' Coupal says. 'They like us.' Step 4: Keep your spending old-fashioned. Without the resources for TV advertising budget, HJTA keeps what Coupal calls a 'fine-tuned' approach to broadcast media buys, focusing primarily on terrestrial radio and podcasts along with direct mail. Its earned media efforts are aimed at shaping the conversation on conservative talk shows. 'That for us seems to be a very good medium,' Coupal said. 'We try to be very surgical.' THAT TIME VOTERS ... … WEIGHED IN ON WATER: Californians have seen ballot measures on a wide variety of questions related to the state's water infrastructure, including to: Establish the Klamath River Fish and Game District and prohibit the construction or maintenance of any dams or artificial obstruction of waters in the district (1924, passed) … Prohibit liquid from state water development projects from being used to irrigate more than 160 acres of land held by one person (1958, did not qualify) … Amend the state water code to require large-scale water suppliers to water conservation programs, restrict the amount of water stored in the New Melones Dam and designate 11 basins for groundwater management (1982, failed) … Issue $150 million in bonds for water conservation and management (1986, passed) … Prohibit timber harvesting without a permit near waterways and limit it in watershed areas (1992, did not qualify) … Ban fluoridation of public water systems (1997, did not qualify) … Issue $3.4 billion in bonds for water-related projects, including the CALFED Bay-Delta program (2002, passed) … Issue $5.4 billion in bonds to address water quality and supply, flood control, and pollution (2006, passed) … And issue $8.9 billion in bonds for water storage, groundwater supplies, dam repairs, fishery improvements and habitat protection (2018, failed). POSTCARD FROM ... … LOS ANGELES: Last year, voters in this automobile-loving metropolis approved Measure HLA, an ambitious plan to add bike lanes, crosswalks and curb ramps to more than 2,500 miles of streets that have long prioritized cars. But a six-lane, parking-lined stretch of Vermont Avenue in South Los Angeles isn't getting the makeover that voters backed, argues a local transportation journalist who has sued the city for failing to adhere to the initiative passed in March 2024. Measure HLA specified that any time the city makes significant improvements to a stretch of road longer than one-eighth of a mile, it's required to also upgrade pedestrian and transit infrastructure to align with a mobility plan the city first approved in 2015. Measure HLA's backers saw the ballot measure as a way to ensure the city would gradually implement the plan as part of its ongoing work of repaving city streets. But the lawsuit from Joe Linton, the editor of the transit- and mobility-focused news website Streetsblog LA, alleges that the city is not fulfilling those obligations along three stretches of Vermont Avenue, just west of downtown, that's among the city's busiest transit corridors — and most dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians. 'Since HLA became law, I've been tracking and reporting on the city's effort at implementation — which is mostly the city's lack of implementation,' said Linton, who filed the suit as a private citizen and not in his capacity as editor of Streetsblog. 'A year later, we've seen less new bikeway mileage than we did [before], and that was already very little.' City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto has said that Measure HLA doesn't apply when non-city entities — like LA Metro, the county-wide transit authority — implement projects within the city. (A spokesperson for Feldstein Soto did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.) While City Hall touts major public-transit infrastructure projects aimed to impress Olympic visitors in 2028 — next month a new Metro station will open to serve LAX — it may be neglecting less glamorous streetscape improvements that affect the daily experience of residents, argues Linton. 'It's going to take a lot of community organizing and some lawsuits to get the City of LA and Metro to truly prioritize healthy, climate-friendly, green transportation,' he said.
Politico
12-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Bay Area transit systems put up life-or-death ballot measures
On Friday, the Bay Area's largest commuter-rail network suffered an hours-long outage that left its trains stalled on the tracks as commuters across the region waited for a ride that would never come. It was, as state senators Scott Wiener and Jesse Arreguín said in a statement, a peek 'into what life in the Bay Area will be like without robust BART service.' Next year, voters across the region will decide whether they're ready to see their transit systems go dark for good. In 2026, a set of unrelated taxes are likely to appear on local ballots across California's second-largest metropolitan area. Each would fund a different transit network whose leadership says a yes vote is necessary to keep the trains running. Together they add up to a real-time service update for one of the country's most transit-reliant regions: how much do Bay Area voters believe in their public-transport systems after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted commuting patterns? 'Letting transit deteriorate is really not an option,' said Laura Tolkoff, the transportation policy director of SPUR, a Bay Area non-profit public policy organization. 'The Bay Area runs on transit.' In San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties, voters will likely be asked to approve a regional transit tax to fund the operation of BART, which will soon run out of money to operate at its current service level. In San Francisco, residents are likely to see yet another measure, its details still unclear, to address the MUNI system's structural deficit. In the North Bay, the board of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit is discussing when to put up the renewal of a quarter-cent sales tax in the two counties in 2026 after the same measure failed in 2020. 'Our fiscal cliff is very real,' said Eddy Cummins, the general manager of SMART, which connects Santa Rosa to Larkspur and San Rafael via rail. 'If the sales tax is not passed by the end of 2028, we're out of business.' Transit operators say each of the measures is necessary to preserve existing services in the Bay Area region. But it will take a high-wire act to get them all over the two-thirds supermajority hurdle required for local governments to increase taxes at the ballot. Recent surveys conducted by East Bay-based pollster FM3 measured voter support for a renewal of the SMART sales tax at upwards of 70 percent. But backing for the three-county regional measure is struggling to reach 60 percent, even as BART enjoys some of its highest customer satisfaction while improving safety and cleanliness and cracking down on fare evasion. But the transit agencies also face different consumer realities. The BART measure would raise taxes, whereas SMART would extend one. The SMART system actually has 30 percent higher ridership than it did pre-pandemic, whereas BART and MUNI are trying to establish a new funding mechanism for systems that long relied on fare revenue to fund its services. Compounding problems for BART is the reality that funds from a 2026 sales tax measure won't start flowing into the system's coffers until early 2027. That means BART and MUNI, which would also see some share of the funding, would need to cut services next summer, just as voters are being asked to fund them. To stabilize the situation, Arreguín and Assemblymember Mark González are currently pushing for $2 billion in new transit funding across the state to address that shortfall until regional funding comes online. The challenge of convincing voters will likely fall to the Bay Area Council, which has played a lead role in previous transit tax campaigns. The group has already committed to helping pass the regional measure on the condition that a financial efficiency review was added to the state legislation. It is unclear if the well-funded business group will step in to aid the individual SMART and MUNI measures, although a representative acknowledged the political fates of all the systems could be dangerously intertwined. 'What we're really concerned about is if that funding doesn't come through and BART and MUNI have to scale back service,' said Emily Loper, the council's vice president of public policy. 'We don't want to see service reductions while we're trying to run a campaign to pass a measure talking about how important transit is.' Wiener and Arreguín's SB 63, the state legislation that serves as the primary vehicle for building consensus around the BART-funding measure, recognizes the precarious politics. The bill raises the possibility that the tax might fare better if it reaches the ballot via citizen signatures, rather than sent there by the regional transit commission, thereby requiring only a simple majority to pass.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Climate activists miss East Bay state senator with Easter Sunday protest
The Brief Protesters gathered outside State Senator Jesse Arreguín's office on Easter Sunday to urge him to vote yes on the Climate Superfund Bill. Arreguín's office was vacant for the weekend and the protesters' messages were washed away by custodial staff. The Climate Superfund Bill, which would hold polluters accountable for greenhouse gas emissions, is expected to be heard by legislators in the near future. OAKLAND, Calif. - Protesters marched to State Senator Jesse Arreguín's office on Sunday, demanding he vote yes on an environmentally-focused piece of legislation. Unfortunately, the senator and his staff did not receive the message. The protest was organized by the Bay Area chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a political action organization, who wanted Arreguín to vote yes on the Climate Superfund Bill (SB684), which would force fossil fuel polluters to pay for the damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Attendees of the event carried signs, left chalk drawings, and hid plastic Easter eggs containing statements about holding polluters responsible for their actions around the premises. Arreguín's Oakland office is only staffed Monday through Friday. A staffer said they were unaware of the protest until KTVU called for comment, and added that the office's janitorial staff had reported picking up "litter" and washing away chalk drawings prior to Monday morning. The backstory The protesters were motivated by Arreguín abstaining from another climate-focused bill, the Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act, earlier this month. That item, SB 222, only received five of the seven necessary votes at an April 8 hearing. Arreguín, who made climate action a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign for state senate, was one of five representatives who abstained from the vote. Even if Arreguín had been present for the Easter Sunday protest, the action may have been for naught — the April 22 hearing for the Climate Superfund Bill was canceled at the request of its author, Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando) on April 10. A spokesperson for Menjivar's office said the bill's hearing will be rescheduled, but a date has not yet been set. "I am committed to supporting clean, healthy communities and proud to continue the East Bay's strong tradition of protecting our environment, parks, and public health. I appreciate the advocates' passion and look forward to meaningful conversations once this bill is formally back before us," Arreguín said in a statement to KTVU. "As an advocate for environmental causes, I was proud to vote for multiple bills this week that advance our climate action goals. I respect the right to advocate and always encourage folks to reach out to my office directly — we welcome those conversations." Big picture view California is one of several states that have proposed or passed Climate Superfund legislation. New York and Vermont both passed their own versions in 2024, and four other states — Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oregon — have introduced similar bills. The bill, which was introduced in the state assembly by Dawn Addis (D-San Luis Obispo), would require fossil fuel polluters to pay for their share of the damage caused by greenhouse gases released into the covered period, which the bill defines as between the 1990 and 2024 calendar years. That damage is defined as stemming from the extraction, production, refinement, sale or combustion of fossil fuels or petroleum products, to help relieve the state's current and future taxpayers of the burden. If passed, the bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency to determine and publish, within 90 days, a list of responsible parties, which the bill defines as an entity with a major ownership interest in a business engaged in extracting or refining fossil fuels that operated in the state during the covered period. That entity would also have to be determined to be responsible for more than 1 billion metric tons of covered fossil fuel emissions. "The Central Coast has faced the devastating impacts of climate change, from floods and wildfires to coastal erosion. This year's fires in Los Angeles serve as a stark reminder that collective inaction has catastrophic consequences for all Californians," Addis said in a press release. "We can't deny that climate change is real, and we must take action now to prepare and rebuild after these devastating events."
Politico
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Meet the freshman lawmaker skipping a grade
Presented by This is part of a Playbook series featuring conversations with California's new class of state lawmakers. CHRONIC OVERACHIEVER: California state Sen. Jesse Arreguín may be taking on the most work of any freshman lawmaker. The former Berkeley mayor is chairing not one, but two committees — Senate Public Safety and Human Services — a rare feat for a legislative newbie. And Arreguín has big shoes to fill: He took over a seat previously held by longtime progressive state Sen. Nancy Skinner. She served as the powerful chair of the Senate Budget Committee and was widely respected for her deep knowledge on everything from the criminal justice system to how to wield her authority to help the poor and neediest Californians. Arreguín shared that when Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire called him to relay his assignments, he stressed how rare it was for a member, especially a new one, to chair two committees. 'I really think it's a sign of his confidence in my ability to lead these two committees, and I think alignment with his priorities and the caucus' priorities on these issues,' the senator said. Both the Senate and Assembly now have new faces helming their Public Safety committees, which are traditionally political hot potatoes given the controversial nature of the bills they handle. The committees often pit Republicans and moderate Democrats interested in more stringent sentencing against progressives who advocate for second chances and tend to focus on programs aimed at crime prevention. Arreguín opposed tough-on-crime ballot initiative Proposition 36 last fall, like fellow freshman Democrat Nick Schultz, who is the senator's Public Safety committee counterpart in the Assembly. Even so, Arreguín acknowledged he'll likely be charged with helping put in place pieces of the voter-approved measure. He also spoke passionately about how California can better address homelessness, saying the state needs to play a role in aligning city and county governments on the issue. Playbook sat down with the senator for his take on his new roles. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. Chairing the Public Safety Committee is an interesting gig. Some lawmakers try to steer clear of it because of the controversial legislation that comes through. How do you feel about taking it on and what will your philosophy be? These issues are really important to our constituents in the East Bay, and so that's why I'm really excited to chair this committee. My vision is, we need to create safer neighborhoods, and that means that we need more police. We do need to enforce our laws. But we also need to focus on prevention, and it's that delicate balance that we have to achieve. I think that's the perspective of my constituents in Oakland and the East Bay. Thousands of people I talked to when I ran for Senate — people were obviously very concerned around public safety, but they don't want to see more people filling our prisons. They want to make sure that we're investing in prevention programs that are addressing gun violence, that are making sure that people have a strong social service safety net, that people have access to jobs, that we're addressing the root causes that lead to public safety. Did you vote for Proposition 36? I opposed Prop 36 … I felt that it was duplicative of the work the Legislature had already done, and it was actually going to roll back the progress that we've made in helping expand access to treatment and services for people who have serious drug and mental health conditions who are in our criminal justice system. This is going to mean more people going into our jails. And I think we're going backwards. But the voters have spoken, and so our responsibility now is to work with [Gov. Gavin Newsom's] administration to budget and implement that law and to make sure that we have the treatment programs in place so that is a viable path for people, or else we're just going to see more people just crowding our jails, and I don't think that's the right direction. In light of Fremont's recent camping ban, what do you think of that decision and the issue of camping bans, in general? I frankly thought that the aspect of Fremont's ban where people that aid or abet people [living] in an encampment [could face criminal penalties] — I thought that was unnecessary. Because there are individuals who provide meals or first aid to people who are living in encampments. We should be encouraging people to help people who are poor and need water and need food and need access to resources. So to criminalize people who do that, I think is wrong. But I do understand Fremont's need to try to have some sort of encampment policy. I think the bigger issue is … each city is kind of on its own to figure out what to do. The governor has urged cities to adopt encampment policies … but there's no guidance from the state about what is an effective framework for how to deal with encampments. As the Legislature is having this conversation with the administration on the budget, we need to put in place some guidelines for how can we effectively address the issue of encampments, looking at best practices. … There's a disconnect often between what the cities are doing, what the counties are doing. And there's a lot of money, there's a lot of resources that the state has to address homelessness. But we're not spending that money effectively, and it's not having the outcomes that we want to achieve. The system is very fragmented, and we have to find a way to put the pieces together. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan have both recently said they think it's become more cost-effective for cities to focus on building shelters over affordable housing. What do you think about that situation? We need to do both. But I do agree that building interim housing, non-congregate shelter, is more cost effective. The cost of building an affordable unit in the Bay Area is anywhere between [$800,000] to $1 million a door. That's just crazy. That's not sustainable. We need to continue to find ways to bring down the cost of building housing. Interim housing or non-congregate shelter, it's been very effective in getting people off the streets, and I think we do need to double down and invest in that. IT'S TUESDAY 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 lholden@ WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY BILL-PALOOZA: Lawmakers' bill introduction deadline is coming up on Friday, which means we're expecting a flurry of potential legislation this week — even with their self-imposed 35-bill limit. We're also well aware this is a bit of a faux milestone. Lawmakers frequently introduce placeholder, or 'spot,' bills they fill in later. And there's always good old gut-and-amend, in which lawmakers co-opt an unrelated bill and replace the language with new legislation. But lawmakers, like journalists, need deadlines. So we'll be watching for new policy priorities to drop throughout this short week. IN OTHER NEWS... PARTY ON: State Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie want to bring more drinking establishments to the city in an effort to attract visitors to downtown areas. The two announced a bill today that would allow the city to get around a state liquor license cap and provide 20 new permits in a downtown hospitality zone. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lurie wants the zone to include blocks around Union Square, Moscone Center and the Yerba Buena area, although the Board of Supervisors would select its boundaries. 'A truly spectacular array of street fairs, special events, and new small businesses have breathed life back into our downtown over the past year,' Wiener said in a statement. 'Supporting our nightlife scene — including our bars and restaurants — is critical to continuing that strong recovery.' PASS THE TORCH: California could carry on a piece of former President Joe Biden's AI legacy that President Donald Trump trashed on his first day in office, if state Sen. Steve Padilla gets his way. The San Diego Democrat today introduced a spot bill that proposes an 'AI Bill of Rights' for California to ensure AI systems 'respect human rights' and promote 'fairness, transparency [and] accountability.' His proposal is modeled off Biden's 'Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights,' introduced in 2022 as part of his administration's broader push for AI safety testing. Trump repealed Biden's AI strategy in January and has since advocated for reduced regulations on the technology to bolster America's standing in the global race for AI innovation. Padilla in a statement today said Trump's 'mismanagement has left the public vulnerable to the dangers AI poses,' and that it's up to California to 'provide guiderails that create common sense consumer protections' for the technology. — Tyler Katzenberger WHAT WE'RE READING TODAY — A member of the San Juan Capistrano City Council will run to represent the state's 74th Assembly in 2026. (Orange County Register) — California Republicans sent a letter to Trump in support of a probe into the state's high-speed rail project. (San Francisco Chronicle) — Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld announced that Fresno County will get rid of all DEI language in job descriptions. (San Joaquin Valley Sun) AROUND THE STATE — A group is suing the San Diego Board of Supervisors over the return of American Airlines to the McClellan-Palomar Airport, saying the board violated the California Environmental Quality Act. (San Diego Union-Tribune) — Four new resource centers opened in Los Angeles to assist people who lost income due to the fires. (Los Angeles Times) — compiled by Nicole Norman
