POLITICO California Playbook: No-frills STATE OF STATE -- OSCAR TROUBLES, continued -- BILL CLINTON CANCELS Presented by Facebook

By Carla Marinucci ([email protected]; @cmarinucci) with Manuela Tobias ([email protected]; @manuelatobiasm)

Buenos dias and good Friday morning, Golden State!


WHAT CALIFORNIA IS TALKING ABOUT: Was Gov. Jerry Brown joking when he (jokingly, it seemed) mentioned a fifth term in office? "Gavin Newsom paled,'' laughed one political junkie last night at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, where a crowd turned out to discuss Jerry Brown, Donald Trump and more with me and host Lenny Mendoca. (The good news: there are still plenty of political junkies out there.)

-- No, Newsom didn't really pale -- in fact, he gave Jerry the rhetorical thumbs-up. After all, California's the only place only where a governor can stick around long enough to deliver his 14th -- count 'em -- State of the State speech. But Republicans weren't completely enamored with mentions of taxes and fees.

POLITICO POSTAGE STAMP REVIEW: "No frills" State of the State from the economy-class-flier governor. Just 19 minutes long, no new programs proposed; it was "how we pay for the commitments we've already proposed."

-- BROWN'S BOTTOM LINE: "The challenge is to solve today's problems without making those of tomorrow even worse."

-- "Jerry Brown urges fiscal restraint in State of the State address," by SacBee's David Siders: "Gov. Jerry Brown, warning of a future economic downturn despite California’s brimming budget, urged financial restraint in his State of the State address on Thursday, while offering no new policy proposals. http://bit.ly/1ZPvf2c

-- "Gov. Brown warns of "profoundly uncertain" world in State of the State,'' by LATimes' John Myers: http://lat.ms/1Wyv6ed

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Three more years to go. That is, unless I take my surplus campaign funds and put a ballot initiative on the November ballot to allow four-term governors to seek a final, fifth term."

-- MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Come on, no trademark Latin? On the other hand: "Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur" (the man is wise who talks little).

-- Luis Alvarado @latinostrategy -- "@JerryBrownGov One flat joke, telling we are swimming in money one minute then saying will raise fees & taxes the next #CASOTS"

-- Carson JF Bruno @CarsonJFBruno -- "Brown goes hard on water. Smart. 77% of likely voters consider dealing with water problems as top priority for Sacramento. #CASOTS"

"Governor Brown delivers 2016 State of the State Address," Office of the Governor: " Full text: '"http://bit.ly/1JZTOSE

-- MUST-READ ANALYSIS -- "From ideology to pragmatism: the political twists of Jerry Brown" by LATimes Cathleen Decker: "To watch Jerry Brown is to marvel at just how many political lives he can squeeze into his years on stage." http://lat.ms/23iiLPI

REACTION FROM THE DOME:

-- Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco: “Today we heard from an experienced leader who reminded us that government is about making choices and that we can’t do everything we want to do. Fiscal discipline and saving for a rainy day are important, and so are the efforts we’re making to smartly invest in the success of all Californians.

-- Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley: “The Governor is betting the ranch on high-speed rail and higher gas taxes – we seek comprehensive long term solutions that rely on reform.”

-- Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon: “Lacking from his remarks was recognition that spending reform and accountability is essential to how we fund transportation needs. We should not simply take more out of Californians’ pockets when over $6 billion a year can be spent better. Business as usual in transportation spending must end."

US SENATE #2016:

-- THE STORY IN TWEETS: Coverage of Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris' town hall event as a #2016 candidate for US Senate in Sacramento Thursday, as reported via live tweets from @ccadelago:

-- "@KamalaHarris' line on the environment -- that she has no interest in hugging tree, but wants to hug healthy baby -- dropped from speech"

--"Paid family leave, universal pre-k, higher minimum wage, among policies in @KamalaHarris' Senate stump speech".

-- "@GavinNewsom says @KamalaHarris "easy choice" for #USSenate"'

-- "Asked how to overturn Citizens United, @KamalaHarris gives a brief answer: elect Hillary Clinton."

-- FULL STORY: "Kamala Harris touches Democratic themes on statewide tour,'' by SacBee's Christopher Cadelago: http://bit.ly/20ilyGi

CALIFORNIA MIXTAPE:

-- IT'S OFF WITH BILL: Sources tell POLITICO that former President Bill Clinton's "Hillary for America" fundraising swing to Silicon Valley and San Francisco next week is off; with polls showing Iowa's too close for comfort, he'll be staying there instead to help Hillary Clinton fend off the Bernie Sanders challenge....

-- As we reported earlier this month, the former President was scheduled for a January 25 event in the nation's Democratic ATM of Silicon Valley hosted by attorney Joe Cotchett, and a Jan. 26 event in San Francisco, with tickets ranging from $1,000 to $2,700. Rescheduling is expected.

-- "New L.A. stadium may need stealthy design to evade airport radar,'' by Bloomberg Business' Alan Levin: "The $1.9 billion facility planned for the Rams and possibly another team by 2019 could interfere with Los Angeles International Airport’s radar, creating a hazard for aircraft landing at the fourth busiest airstrip in the U.S." http://bloom.bg/1SBkYSD

THE FAKERS ARE COMING-- "The NFL’s High-Tech Race Against Super Bowl Ticket Counterfeiters," KQED Radio's Beth Willon: "The big game is less than three weeks away at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a picture of a Super Bowl 50 ticket anywhere. At least a real one. The financial stakes are just too high. 'We aren’t releasing the artwork yet,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said by email. “We do not want to give the bad guys the opportunity to start trying to design counterfeit tickets.' http://bit.ly/23htOZq

--"California's pro-vaccination law may be working,'' by Joanna Pearlstein in Wired: http://bit.ly/1RCcwT0

-- Transit agency won't say when, or where it will get the money, but -- "BART Says It Will Install Surveillance Cameras on Every Car," by KQED's Dan Brekke: 'We just want to make sure everyone knows that we are already working on it and the decision’s been made,” BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said Wednesday....The use of fake cameras came to light following a Jan. 9 attack in which one passenger shot and killed another aboard a train at the West Oakland station. " http://bit.ly/1UeFy8Y

FPPC LOOPHOLE FOR LOBBYISTS? Release from Consumer Watchdog: "The Fair Political Practices Commission today approved a new regulation requiring more disclosure of shadow payments by the state’s biggest lobbyists on advertising and other spending to influence lawmakers. Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog: "The FPPC's failure to close a loophole could make the rules moot by allowing companies to funnel those funds through a middle-man and continue keeping most of their spending in the dark."

-- "Defense attorneys drag Gary Condit back into Chandra Levy case," by SacBee's Michael Doyle: "Defense attorneys are aggressively investigating former California Congressman Gary Condit as they prepare for a retrial in the Chandra Levy murder case. ...They are seeking everything from FBI interview notes to a photograph of Condit that Levy allegedly kept on her desk at work. 'We would love to know that we had the entire Gary Condit file,' defense attorney Eugene Ohm said.” http://bit.ly/23htRo8

--"Coalition launches petition to take tobacco tax to November ballot," by SacBee's Taryn Luna: "Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and Democratic Sen. Richard Pan spoke about the evils of cigarettes and vaporizers Tuesday at C.K. McClatchy High School as they joined a coalition of medical and labor groups to launch a petition for a ballot measure that would levy a $2 tax on tobacco sales. 'My mother smoked three packs a day of non-filtered cigarettes and died of lung cancer, so I have a personal interest in preventing smoking and preventing young people from starting smoking,' Steyer said to a room of teenagers. http://bit.ly/1ZF3xja

-- "The Rams receive 45,000 season ticket deposits in two days," KPCC: “The Rams started taking $100 refundable deposits on Monday. Those who place a deposit get priority to buy tickets for the 2016 season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as well as a spot on the waitlist for the Inglewood Stadium opening in 2019. ." http://bit.ly/1PrjTWR

-- "Busted! Breast Cancer, Money and the Media,'' by Peter Byrne, Point Reyes Light: "For nearly three decades, affluent white women in Marin have lived with the fear that they are more at risk of breast cancer than are less socially advantaged women elsewhere. The media regularly stokes their anxiety.

”According to a 2013 Marin Magazine article, the county has long been known as “the breast cancer capital of the world.”..The problem with all this reporting is that there never was an epidemic of breast cancer targeting affluent white women in Marin." http://bit.ly/1PmedE3

-- "Long Beach moves forward on minimum wage hike,'' by Orange County Register's Margot Roosevelt: "Long Beach is poised to hike workers’ minimum wage to $10.50 an hour next year, 50 cents over the state floor, and gradually raise it to $13 by 2019." http://bit.ly/1Ps8O85

-- Lawmakers, Porter Ranch residents challenge state regulators to step up oversight of aging gas wells,'' by LA Daily News' Susan Abram: http://bit.ly/1ndrSQI

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT DIVISION:

-- "California death penalty: New execution method under scrutiny," by San Jose Mercury News' Howard Mintz: "As California moves forward Friday with a crucial public hearing to air its new lethal injection procedures, death penalty foes are taking aim at the details in a plan that could lead to the resumption of executions after a 10-year hiatus." http://bayareane.ws/1Pl9ja4

-- "California prisons defend $3 billion budget drop from pledge," by AP's Don Thompson: "Federal judicial orders are mostly to blame for a $3 billion drop in the budget savings that California prison officials promised four years ago, corrections officials said Wednesday." http://bit.ly/1WyFJgZ

GRACIAS, EL NINO:

--"Water-starved Lake Oroville rises dramatic 20 feet in 6 days,'' via SFGate.com: http://sfg.ly/1P8PMrI

-- "Ski resort seeks prosecution of snowboarder they say triggered avalanche,'' via LATimes: http://lat.ms/1Qhvjjf

-- Link to YouTube of viral video of the incident: https://youtu.be/mjCZXwPdypE

HOLLYWOODLAND:

DISNEY UNDER FIRE: "Group Releases Ad Slamming Replacement of U.S. Workers with Foreign Labor," by Free Beacon's Ali Mayer: "A native-born employee at Disney who was fired spoke out against abuse in the H-1B visa program, explaining how he was replaced by cheap foreign labor, in a new ad campaign produced by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.'" http://bit.ly/1nAdYIW

-- Mark Ruffalo @markruffalo -- "To clear up any confusion. I will be going to the Oscars in support of the victims of clergy Sexual Abuse and good journalism. #Spotlight"

-- "Here's what the Academy may do about the #OscarsSoWhite boycot," by LA Times' Rebecca Keegan: "The academy's 51-member Board of Governors has added the diversity issue to the agenda for its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night in response to an outcry over an all-white slate of acting nominees for the second year in a row, according to a person briefed on the matter. Among the options the board could choose are expanding the number of films in the best picture category to 10 every year." http://lat.ms/20gfIoQ

-- "Will Smith Joins Wife in Not Attending the Oscars," ABC News: "Actor Will Smith, the blockbuster movie star who many thought would receive an Academy Award nomination this year for his role in "Concussion," says he will not be attending the Oscars next month. ….We're part of this community but at this current time, we're uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is OK.' ...Smith says he was out of the country when his wife announced on social media that she would be skipping this year's Oscars but supports her all the way.” http://abcn.ws/1nbmNZb

-- "Mexico investigates Sean Penn's $32,854 flight to meet El Chapo,'' via Fusion: "Someone shelled out $32,854 in cash for the charter flight that Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo took to meet Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, according to a flight itinerary obtained by Fusion. And Mexico’s attorney general wants to know who picked up the bill.” http://fus.in/1RC1E7x

VALLEYLAND:

-- "Google paid Apple $1 billion to keep search bar on IPhone,'' via Bloomberg Business: http://bloom.bg/1PmY2Gz

--"Google's Android generates $31 billion in revenue, Oracle says,'' via Bloomberg Business: http://mklnd.com/1S8b9dp

-- "Tech job market improves with fewer layoffs in 2015: report," by Silicon Beat's George Avalos: "The technology sector’s growing sturdiness helped produce a big decline in the number of job cuts for the industry last year, according to a new report by employment sector researcher Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Technology industry employers announced a total of 79,315 job cuts during 2015. That’s down 21.3 percent from the 100,757 tech job cuts announced in 2014, Challenger, Gray reported." http://bayareane.ws/1SAc6wB

-- "Self-Driving Cars May Get Here Before We’re Ready," by NY Times' Rachel Abramsjan: "Sometime in the future – although no one quite knows when – your morning commute may look something like this: Open an app, summon a car and wait for the arrival of a driverless vehicle that will whisk you to work like a ghost chauffeur. http://nyti.ms/1QnJJjH

-- "Apple's land grab a clue to its future," by SFChron's Wendy Lee: "The world's most valuable tech company, Apple now owns or leases more than 8 million square feet of office space in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and San Jose, according to CoStar Realty Information Inc. Nearly 30 percent of the square footage has been snapped up in the past year." Hard paywall http://sfchron.cl/1Vd9Itz

#CD17 DEVELOPMENTS:

-- PROMPTING HEAD-SHAKING IN SILICON VALLEY: The latest fundraising letter from eight-term Democratic Rep. Mike Honda -- found this week in the inboxes of some leading tech CEOs -- announces his opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, one of the Valley's tech policy priorities.

-- Honda's fundraising letter: "Although I recognize the TPP has the potential to open doors for new opportunities for US businesses, I remain deeply troubled by the potential for loss of American jobs to nations with poor working conditions, the possibility for price increases for medication, the threat of a negative environmental impact, and the inaction towards preventing gross human rights abuses, including LGBTQ intolerance and human trafficking. There are some who believe that the benefits outweigh the costs. I am not one of them. I will not gamble with our environment, working families, or human rights."

--"It's either chutzpah -- or cluelessness,'' one Valley bigwig told POLITICO regarding the most recent appeal from Honda. While the pitch may be a smart one to labor households, it had a far different effect on the tech execs who also got it, our source said. Industry leaders in the region are strongly supportive of President Obama's signature trade deal.

-- Honda, the Democratic incumbent, 74, is in the fight of his political life in a 2016 rematch with Democratic challenger Ro Khanna, 39, a former Obama trade official. (Khanna has also stated his opposition to TPP -- but has not pitched to tech CEOs to raise money with that stance.)

MORE TROUBLES? Add two more names to the list of Bay Area politicos who sat out the 2014 Silicon Valley House race, and have now endorsed Khanna in his 2016 rematch with Honda.

-- San Jose Councilmembers Manh Nguyen and Tam Nguyen Thursday announced endorsements for Khanna, marking what Khanna campaign says that the latest endorsements "follow a string of prominent area Democratic leaders who either supported Honda or remained neutral in 2014.''

SERIOUSLY? DEPT:

-- "Schwarzenegger's biking error nearly gets him hit,'' via SFGate: riding wrong side of the road? http://sfg.ly/1lA7o3L

EVENTS:

GOOD GOV'T IDEA -- East Bay Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon and Senator Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, get the innovation award for a reach across the aisle -- they're holding a joint town hall Saturday, January 23 at 10:00AM to discuss issues of concern to the Bay Area, including transit. The event will be at the Orinda Community Center Auditorium, located at 28 Orinda Way, in Orinda.

-- The Fair Shake Commission on Income Inequality and Middle Class Opportunity in California, a joint project of NextGen Climate and the Center for American Progress, will meet in Oakland Friday "to discuss the lack of affordable housing and the implications of tax policy on education, jobs, and neighborhoods." Event details: Friday, 8:30 a.m., PolicyLink, 1438 Webster St., #303, Oakland.

Expected: Moderator Ana Matosantos, Budget and Policy Expert, Former State Finance Director; Tom Steyer, President and Founder, NextGen Climate; Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO, PolicyLink: Van Ton-Quinlivan, Vice Chancellor, California Community Colleges; Lenny Goldberg, Executive Director, California Tax Reform Association: Hon. George Miller, U.S. Congress (ret.): Brandi Wolf, California Policy Director, SEIU Local 2015

Details: Friday, January 22, 8:30 AM, PolicyLink, 1438 Webster St. #303, Oakland, CA 94612

COMING UP -- I'm off next week on vacation, and my excellent POLITICO colleague Andrew Weber will be taking the California Playbook helm. Email him at [email protected], Back Feb. 1!

Welcome to the POLITICO California Playbook. GOT A TIP? FEEDBACK? EVENTS? NEWS TO SHARE? LET us know: [email protected]or @cmarinucci

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Follow us on Twitter Carla Marinucci @cmarinucci



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