Tom Steyer to speak at House Democrats’ retreat

Reporting from Washington —  San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer will have the ear of House Democrats on Friday to speak about climate change and the environment at the annual House Democratic Caucus retreat in Baltimore.

Steyer, an influential political donor, has used his political action committee, NextGen Climate Action, to bring climate issues to the forefront of policy discussions. He has urged CNN to make the topic a focus of Monday night’s Democratic forum and could be considering a bid to run for governor of California.

House Democrats also will hear from California education entrepreneur and Khan Academy founder Salman Khan and Daily Show host Trevor Noah during the three-day policy meeting.

House Democratic Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) said in a statement that the more than 2 feet of snow that blanketed Washington and Baltimore over the weekend wouldn’t delay the meeting. The House canceled all votes this week and the Senate delayed votes until Wednesday.

“The weather will not get in the way of our caucus coming together,” Becerra said.

With the exception of speeches from President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and news conferences with Democratic leaders, much of the conference is closed to the public and the media.

Also addressing the 188 House Democratic members are strategists and players in the political consulting world: Project New America President Jill Hanauer (a former staffer for California Sen. Barbara Boxer), Demos President Heather McGhee and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Twitter: @sarahdwire

Read more about the 55 members of California’s delegation at latimes.com/politics.

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