DOLLARS AND CENTS: California Democrats kicked off their Donald Trump-proofing special session today, but leaders also took a page from the president-elect’s playbook. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire opened the legislative year with a call to uphold “California values,” such as abortion rights and protections for the LGBTQ community. But they sent a concurrent message about the economic issues that have plagued the state since before Trump won in November. It’s a version of the “we feel your pain” populist messaging Trump and down-ballot Republicans used nationwide to secure a powerful trifecta in Washington.
“Our constituents, they don’t feel that the state of California is working for them,” Rivas said. “That's their lived experience in this moment. Californians are deeply anxious about our state's cost of living. They're anxious about the challenges of doing business here. They're anxious because they feel it.” McGuire hit a similar note.
“This Senate must double down on our efforts to make life more affordable and livable,” McGuire said. “Make our economy work for all, and not just a privileged few.” The leaders’ message comes as Assembly Democrats are about to lose two open Southern California seats, and Senate Republicans have reclaimed a hard-fought Orange County seat. Although Democrats still maintain a legislative supermajority in Sacramento, that’s not a great look for Rivas and McGuire. Especially for two fairly new leaders trying to assert themselves against Gov. Gavin Newsom, who typically sets the agenda in the Capitol. McGuire knows this particularly well after his failed power play during the governor’s last special session. Newsom has also reached out to voters struggling to make it in California — recently traveling to Fresno and other inland parts of the state that are considered Trump strongholds to play up jobs and economic programs. So just as Rivas and McGuire talked up safeguarding immigrants and climate progress, they also focused on cost-of-living issues. Rivas, in particular, doubled down on the subject while tailoring it to a blue-state audience. He called affordable housing “the civil rights struggle of our time” and said “every worker has the right to live near their jobs in the communities that they help build, serve and enrich.”
He requested the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee probe energy costs and asked the Housing and Budget committees “to investigate and review every state agency that has oversight over California's housing supply.” As Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration looms, Rivas and McGuire may actually see embracing economic concerns as equally important to their anti-Trump efforts, rather than pushing them to the background. — with help from Eric He IT’S MONDAY 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@politico.com.
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