TRUMP tax return clock ticking for NEWSOM — FBI searches LA WATER AND POWER — TECH execs talk HUAWEI at WHITE HOUSE — PELOSI blesses budget deal Presented by Facebook

THE BUZZ: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s back in California after a brief vacation, and he’s got a major decision to make.

Among the big motifs of Newsom’s nascent governorship have been Newsom The Anti-Trump and He’s Not Jerry Brown. The two strands tie directly into legislation , currently sitting on Newsom’s desk, that would compel presidential candidates to release their tax returns if they want to appear on California ballots.

State law gives Newsom a week from today to decide what to do. He could sign the bill — putting an exclamation point on his open-ended feud with Donald Trump, who is transparently the target of SB 27 — or he could opt for the cautious approach of Brown, who cited legal uncertainty and political fallout in vetoing the measure last year.

Signing would instantly win Newsom more national attention as a face of the resistance to Trump. For what it’s worth, in his pre-governor days, Newsom was quite explicit on what Trump should do with his tax returns and on the possibility that Trump was hiding something.

But there’s both the constitutional question cited by Brown and the fact that, for all his antagonism toward the White House, Newsom has tried to have a functional relationship with the Trump administration given its work with California on trade, wildfires and a myriad of other issues. This bill is the type of direct shot at Trump that could imperil that work.

And don’t forget the millions of Republicans in California, many of whom have sent money to the Trump re-election campaign, who might take issue with their Democratic governor booting the president off the ballot. Virtually every Democrat in the Legislature voted to send this bill to Newsom, but there’s a difference between representing your district and governing the state.

BUENOS DIAS, good Tuesday morning. The California Supreme Court will again take up the issue of worker classification as it considers whether its landmark Dynamex ruling can extend into the past.

— QUOTE OF THE DAY: “What we’re seeing is a sustained attack on immigrants. Considering our country’s history as a bastion of freedom and a beacon of safety, it’s a shame that the president feels the need to go after immigrants in this manner.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Trump’s latest immigration crackdown. More on that below.

— TWEET OF THE DAY: CNN reporter @JeffZeleny: “Speaker Pelosi was negotiating the fine print of this budget deal from her aisle seat of a delayed Delta flight from Detroit. She’s had the phone pressed to her ear for much of the last three hours. For those wondering, she’s in coach.” With pic

— WHERE’S GAVIN? Announcing new DMV leadership in Sacramento.

— RIP: California electeds offered tribute yesterday to Darren Parker, a former chair of the California Democratic Party’s African American caucus, who died of cancer. Sen. Kamala Harris and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon were among those honoring Parker’s legacy.

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TOP TALKERS

— “FBI raids DWP, L.A. City Hall, serving search warrants,” by Dakota Smith, David Zahniser, Alene Tchekmedyian and Laura J. Nelson in the LA Times: “The footage of FBI agents striding into the offices of the city’s water and electrical utility could deal a serious blow politically to [Mayor Eric] Garcetti, who selects the DWP’s top executive and appoints five citizen commissioners to oversee the agency.”

— PILFERING PRIEST: “Diocese: Santa Rosa priest found with bags of stolen cash totaling $97,000 after car crash,” by Alexandria Bordas in the Press Democrat: “A Santa Rosa priest involved in a car crash was also discovered to be stealing thousands of dollars from the parishes where he served, according to a statement by the Diocese of Santa Rosa.”

THE TRUMP ERA

— “Trump and congressional leaders reach sweeping budget agreement,” by POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris, John Bresnahan and Heather Caygle: “The agreement, negotiated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is expected to clear both chambers before the August recess — alleviating pressure ahead of a slew of high-stakes fiscal deadlines this fall.”

— “Trump administration expands scope of rapid deportations,” by POLITICO’s Ted Hesson: “The Trump administration has finalized a plan to bypass immigration courts and deport undocumented immigrants who cannot prove they’ve been present continuously in the U.S. for two years or more, according to an announcement Monday.”

— “Is it police work or racial profiling? U.S. crackdown puts Chinese scholars on edge,” by Teresa Watanabe in the LA Times: “With three patents and more than 300 research papers to his name, Xiaoxing Xi was the respected chairman of Temple University’s physics department. That is until May 2015, when FBI agents burst into his home outside Philadelphia with guns drawn and accused him of being a spy.”

PRESIDENTIAL PURSUIT

— KAMALA’S PACKED CA SCHEDULE: She’s been campaigning hard in swing states and announcing new policies on big issues like water safety infrastructure, but Sen. Kamala Harris has been returning to her home state a lot this month to pick up campaign cash. Among the campaign fundraisers she hit last weekend alone were five in Southern California in Brentwood, Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, Santa Monica and in Los Angeles. Upcoming fundraisers in the region: Sunday, Aug. 4 in San Diego and Monday, Aug. 5 in West Los Angeles, according to sources.

— ELIZABETH V KAMALA? “Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren are on a 2020 collision course,” by McClatchy’s Alex Roarty and Ben Wieder: “As they rise to the top of 2020 Democratic presidential field, Harris and Warren are increasingly in direct competition for many of the same voters and donors, according to polls and fundraising data, with each drawing support from the party’s more affluent, college-educated wing — particularly women.”

— “Indian Americans, a rising political force, give $3 million to 2020 presidential campaigns,” by Seema Mehta and Maloy Moore in the LA Times: “On the Democratic side, they are largely split among three candidates who have ties to their community: Sen. Kamala Harris of California, whose mother was born in India; Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a practicing Hindu; and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who counts a large Indian American population among his constituents.”

— KAMALA ON CANNABIS: “Harris and Nadler team up on bill to decriminalize marijuana,” by POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago.

— STEYE-ROLL: “‘Another white guy in the race’: Dems perplexed by Tom Steyer’s run,” by POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle: “Tom Steyer’s eleventh-hour presidential bid is confounding Democrats. And some party officials are ready for him to butt out.”

CAMPAIGN MODE

— “Bold measures fall off SF ballot after supervisors pullback rushed proposals,” by Trisha Thadani in the SF Chronicle: “The latest casualty from the November ballot? Supervisor Gordon Mar’s so-called ‘IPO-tax,’ a plan to tax stock-based compensation.”

— “‘We’re not ready’ for foreign election interference in 2020, says Rep. Adam Schiff,” in which Recode’s Kara Swisher interviews the top House Intelligence Dem.

GAVINLAND

— “Gavin Newsom’s death penalty moratorium isn’t saving California money. Here’s why,” by Sophia Bollag in the Sac Bee: “Newsom’s moratorium granted temporary reprieves for death row inmates, closed the state’s execution chamber and withdrew the state’s lethal injection protocol. It doesn’t stop capital cases from proceeding.”

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

— BIG FOR BUSINESS: “California Supreme Court to decide on Dynamex retroactivity,” by POLITICO Pro’s Jeremy B. White.

— "As Chevron Gets Ready to Appeal State Order, Kern County Spill Continues to Grow," by KQED's Ted Goldberg: "The company now says says 974,400 gallons of fluid has flowed to the surface in the Cymric oil field, near the town of McKittrick and about 35 miles west of Bakersfield, since the incident was first detected in May."

— BECERRA HITS EQUIFAX: “Equifax to pay $700M for 2017 breach,” by POLITICO’s Zachary Warmbrodt: “Credit reporting company Equifax will pay up to $700 million to resolve investigations into a 2017 data breach that affected about 147 million consumers, according to a settlement that federal regulators and state officials unveiled today.” (Pro link)

— "With more than 80,000 quakes since July 4, Ridgecrest sees a particularly energetic aftershock sequence," by Rong-Gong Ling II in the LATimes.

— “UC admits largest and most diverse class ever of Californian freshmen,” by Teresa Watanabe in the LA Times: “The system’s nine undergraduate campuses offered seats to 71,655 California freshmen, about 900 more students than last year.”

JERRY'S RETIREMENT: "Panel of national leaders aims for bipartisan justice reform," by the AP's Don Thompson and Adam Beam: "Culled by veteran criminal justice policy expert Adam Gelb, the Council on Criminal Justice includes former California Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin," along with California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

— “Child Drowning Rates Drop As Communities Adopt Stricter Building Codes,” by Phillip Reese for California Healthline.

— “Politicians Tackle Surprise Bills, but Not the Biggest Source of Them: Ambulances,” by Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz in NYT: “Five states have passed laws this year to restrict surprise billing in hospitals and doctor’s offices… [But] ordinary ambulances that travel on roads have been left out of every bill.”

— DIGGING DEEPER: “State oil agency has history of regulators owning industry stock,” by POLITICO’s Debra Kahn and Colby Bermel: “The fact that at least seven employees own stock in oil and gas companies while overseeing the industry may not violate DOC's conflict-of-interest rules, which only require that officials disclose such holdings.” (Pro link)

— “California, Wary of More Wildfires, Is Paying for Them Already,” by Thomas Fuller and Ivan Penn in NYT: “At every level, people are scrambling to prepare, from top politicians and officials to ordinary residents of Lake County, a community of 64,000 people with incomes around half the California average.”

— “Bay Area killings rise this year but remain near historic lows,” by Ashley McBride in the SF Chronicle: “Experts caution against drawing conclusions from a single data point and instead point to trends showing decades-long declines in violent crime.”

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— WHICH WAY HUAWEI? “Trump huddles with tech CEOs as White House vacillates on Huawei,” by POLITICO’s Steven Overly: “Trump huddled with the chief executives of seven technology companies, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, at the White House Monday as his administration delivers wildly mixed messages on Chinese telecom company Huawei amid preparations for the next round of trade talks with China.”

— LOBBYING SHIFTS: “Facebook adds financial services lobbyist amid push into cryptocurrency,” by POLITICO Pro’s Zachary Warmbrodt

— “Google sheds more D.C. lobbying firms,” by POLITICO Pro’s Steven Overly.

— FACEBOOK V THE FEDS: “The inside story of a multi-billion dollar tech giant’s privacy war with Washington,” by Tony Romm in WaPo: “The package of penalties for Facebook’s past privacy scandals includes a record-breaking $5 billion fine and unprecedented government oversight of its business practices. But a Washington Post review of the 16-month investigation — described by 10 people familiar with the matter — shows that the FTC stopped short of some even tougher punishments it initially had in mind.”

— “'It's a crisis': Facebook kitchen staff work multiple jobs to get by,” by Vivian Ho for the Guardian: “[T]he issues they are calling out are echoed throughout San Francisco’s food scene: service workers cannot afford to live in the city where they work.”

— LONG READ: “My Frantic Life as a Cab-Dodging, Tip-Chasing Food App Deliveryman,” by Andy Newman in NYT: “I learned up close how the high-tech era of on-demand everything is transforming some of the lowest-tech, lowest-status, low-wage occupations — creating both new opportunities and new forms of exploitation.”

— “When You Need Money for Prescription Psychedelics, Burning Man Is Your Destination,” by Sarah McBride and Kristen V. Brown for Bloomberg: “One evening last August, Rick Doblin pedaled a borrowed bicycle across the baked earth playa of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, site of the annual Burning Man festival...Doblin was on a mission: to track down Sergey Brin and talk about drugs.”

CANNABIS COUNTRY

— “After-school programs still waiting on cannabis tax money,” by Brooke Staggs in the OC Register: “When Prop. 64 was approved by voters, officials projected more than $1 billion a year would come to the state in new cannabis-related revenue, and at least some of that would be directed for after-school programs for lower-income families. Now, 19 months later, the numbers are very different.”

— UNDERGROUND: “How Legal Marijuana Is Helping the Black Market,” by Natalie Fertig in POLITICO Magazine: “Though each state has its own issues, the problems have similar outlines: Underfunded law enforcement officers and slow-moving regulators are having trouble building a legal regime fast enough to contain a high-demand product that already has a large existing criminal network to supply it.”

— “California seizes $30 million in black market cannabis from illegal pot shops,” by Patrick McGreevy in the LA Times: “During the first six months of this year, the bureau served 19 search warrants on unlicensed sellers, confiscating more than 2,500 pounds of illegal marijuana products with a retail value of $16.5 million, according to data released last week.”

— “How dangerous is stoned driving?” by Alex Halperin in the Guardian.

MIXTAPE

— "Oakland homelessness surges 47% — per-capita number now higher than SF and Berkeley," by the SF Chronicle's Sarah Ravani.

— “BART: Nesting Pigeons Got in the Way of S.F. Escalator Repair Project,” by KQED’s Dan Brekke.

— “Four deputies injured, horse punched during large fight at Stanislaus County Fair,” by Erin Tracy in the Modesto Bee.

— “Utah man pleads not guilty in slayings of deputy at Jack in the Box and Russian snowboard champ in L.A.,” by James Queally in the LA Times.

— “San Bruno seeks housing, then rejects it: ‘I don’t know what you can get passed,’” by J.K. Dineen in the SF Chronicle.

— “Magnitude 3.7 earthquake strikes off the coast of Northern California,” via the SF Chronicle.

— “Watch as Ridgecrest earthquake shatters desert floor in stunning before-and-after images,” by Rong-Gong Lin II in the LA Times.

TRANSITIONS

— Mark Torres is joining digital advertising firm DSPolitical as west coast business development director in the company's Oakland office. Torres formerly worked for Rep. Jim Costa, the University of California, Merced and several Silicon Valley start-ups.

— Jonathan Lee is now director of global public policy at WhatsApp. He most recently worked at McKinsey and is a DHS, NSC and DOD alum.

BIRTHDAYS

Caleb Zigas ... Joel Stein

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