Biden ventures to California bearing gifts — and to raise cash for his reelection campaign

SACRAMENTO —  When Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida stopped by California this week to raise cash for his 2024 presidential campaign, he set aside time to film a campaign spot in San Francisco — complete with a graffiti-strewn, dystopian street scene as a backdrop — bashing the “leftist policies” he says are forcing people to flee the state.

While it’s certainly true that California’s population has shrunk a bit, driven primarily by high housing costs, it remains a very popular destination for a certain class of American: politicians.

Along with DeSantis’ visit, his second since early March, President Biden spent a few days in Northern California this week pocketing campaign donations and bearing gifts for combating climate change and Vice President Kamala Harris, who has a home in Brentwood, flew in for a Juneteenth celebration at the Greek Theatre. First Lady Jill Biden also dropped by a week ago.

The Golden State has been particularly popular with Republican presidential hopefuls over the past few months, welcoming former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

So at least California has that going for it.

Greetings everyone! It’s Phil Willon filling in while Sacramento Bureau Chief Laurel Rosenhall is on special assignment. I’m the assistant editor in the L.A. Times Sacramento bureau and fled California once myself — including to Florida of all places — only to triumphantly return. Here’s a look at what’s been happening in California politics the past week:

Biden visits California, addresses climate change and specter of artificial intelligence

Biden spent the beginning of the week in the Bay Area for a mix of official policy announcements and briefings as well as the serious business of convincing Silicon Valley millionaires to support his 2024 reelection campaign. It was Biden’s first trip to voter-and-donor-rich California since he officially announced he was running for a second term — and odds are high that he’ll be back.

As Times reporter Taryn Luna reported on Monday, the president announced $600 million in federal funding to fight the effects of climate change after he spent some time tour a Northern California nature reserve with Gov. Gavin Newsom. Protecting the environment is a winning issue for Biden among Democrats and, especially, in liberal California.

The Biden administration funding to combat climate change will help coastal and Great Lakes communities susceptible to storm surge, sea level rise and flooding and support innovative solutions to boost climate resilience. Biden highlighted $2.3 billion to modernize the electric grid under the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including $67.4 million to California.

As Luna reported:

“I’ve toured many sites across the country that clearly show climate change is a genuine existential — the existential threat to humanity,” Biden said as he stood near a salt marsh at the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center in the San Francisco Bay.

Newsom used the high-profile confab with Biden to advocate for his administration’s plans to streamline the process of building infrastructure in California, a proposal he’s negotiating with Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento. The governor’s office has contended that making it easier to build is critical to the state’s ability to meet its ambitious climate goals.

Biden’s visit to California included a slate of fundraisers hosted by former EBay executive and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, among others.

Newsom co-hosted a fundraiser for Biden in Marin County on Tuesday. That same day, Biden met in San Francisco with artificial intelligence experts, researchers and advocates, to discuss the technology’s “enormous promise” and the risks such as fueling disinformation and job losses.

Times reporter Queenie Wong, who covered the event, reported that Biden met with AI entrepreneurs and some of Big Tech’s loudest critics:

“In seizing this moment, we need to manage the risks to our society, to our economy and our national security,” Biden said to reporters before the closed-door meeting with AI experts at the Fairmont Hotel.

Biden’s meetings with AI researchers and tech executives underscore how the president is engaging both sides as his campaign tries to attract wealthy donors while his administration examines the risks of the fast-growing technology. While Biden has been critical of tech giants, executives and workers from companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta contributed millions of dollars to his 2020 presidential campaign.

McCarthy makes appearance in OC, hammers away on immigration and crime

GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy discussed home-invasion burglaries allegedly committed by Chilean crime rings before attending a political fundraiser Friday in Orange County.

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ventured outside his hometown in Bakersfield during a trip back to his home state last week to meet with officials about recent home invasions in Orange County.

The official reason for the visit was to discuss a rash of robberies by Chileans entering the United States through a loophole in the immigration system who are breaking in homes and making off with cash, jewelry and other high-value goods.

But, as Times reporters Seema Mehta and Hannah Fry reported, the visit also gave McCarthy a platform to hammer away on the importance of controlling the border and cracking down on crime, two critical issues for a Republican Party trying to appeal to affluent suburbanites in traditional conservative strongholds like Orange County that have grown more moderate and are critical to their path to victory. That’s especially critical for McCarthy, who is fighting to hold on to the GOP’s narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the 2024 election.

Appearing alongside McCarthy were GOP Reps. Michelle Steel of Seal Beach, Young Kim of Anaheim Hills and Ken Calvert of Corona, all of whom face competitive races in 2024 to hang on to Southern California swing seats that will help determine control of Congress.

California lawmakers push back on conservative book bans in schools

California’s Department of Education and Democratic members of the state Legislature this week called on publishers to commit to producing materials that are “free from discrimination and inclusive of the diverse narratives that reflect the student body of California,” a not-too-subtle pushback against plans in Florida, Texas and other conservative states removing books from schools.

Mackenzie Mays reports that a new task force that includes Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and legislators made that clear when they met this week in Sacramento. Members of the task force said that includes instruction about the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities, as well as Black, Native American, Latino and Asian American and Pacific Islander histories.

California pays textbook publishers nearly $500 million a year, Thurmond said. Representatives from companies that produce school materials including the College Board and the Benchmark Education Company testified in the state Capitol on Wednesday that they are committed to diversity and inclusion:

“If you’re going to strip out the history of people in another state, you shouldn’t expect to do business in the State of California,” Thurmond said, in reference to some textbook publishers who have kowtowed to Republican concerns.

The hearing comes after DeSantis signed legislation to limit teachings about sexual orientation, known by critics as the “don’t say gay” bill. Florida districts are now facing lawsuits from students and publishers, including a case over the removal of a children’s book about a penguin with two fathers.

Keeping up with California Politics

After police photo release, L.A. city attorney tries to weaken public records law
Prompted by the release of information about thousands of Los Angeles police officers that activists posted to a public online database, City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto is trying to convince California lawmakers to weaken the state’s public records law. While Feldstein Soto describes her proposal as a minor tweak to the California Public Records Act, civil rights advocates say it would severely diminish the power of the bedrock state law that allows access to information held by local governments and state agencies.

‘All we received was abandonment’: Migrants sent to Sacramento by DeSantis speak out
Four migrants recently flown to Sacramento by the state of Florida said they were duped and that, while they are grateful to be in America, their plans have been disrupted, with immigration hearings now spread across the country and job opportunities stalled.

House Republicans censured Adam Schiff. He couldn’t be happier.
The censure was a victory for Donald Trump, who had called for primary challenges to any Republicans who voted against it, and an indication of the former president’s continued hold on the GOP. But Schiff, a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by Dianne Feinstein, didn’t fight particularly hard against the effort to formally chastise him. He’s called the censure a “badge of honor” and has already begun using the free publicity to fuel his Senate campaign.

L.A. voters could clamp down on pay for hospital executives
Los Angeles voters will decide next spring whether to clamp down on pay for hospital executives, capping their total wages and other compensation at $450,000 annually, after the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to put the proposed measure on the March 2024 ballot.

Skelton: Sacramento lawmakers aren’t fooling anyone with California’s budget charade
The California Legislature has passed another so-called on-time state budget. Wink, wink. It’s barely a half-baked budget.