Why Democrats need Nancy Pelosi

DRIVING THE DAY— It’s court day for the Feinstein-Blum clan. The family feud over the fortune left by Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s late husband is expected to get its first hearing today in downtown San Francisco before a visiting judge from San Luis Obispo County.

Plus — Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines over the weekend for his conversation with Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” More below on highlights from that conversation, including discussion of a Feinstein successor.

THE BUZZ — Democrats might be willing to let go of Nancy Pelosi if they thought they could risk it.

The speaker emerita’s decision Friday to run for another term frustrated those who want her to step aside for the next generation. But it’s clear the Democratic Party is eager to keep her – their most formidable fundraiser – with control of the House on the line and the prospect of another Donald Trump presidency on the horizon.

“The timing — it’s tough to walk away for her, it seems to me, given where we’re at,” retired California Sen. Barbara Boxer told Playbook. “People are rewriting history. And when you’ve lived through that history, like the Civil Rights movement, you’re going to fight like hell to make sure that history isn’t rewritten.”

Pelosi has long hinted that she might be ready to retire. Time and time again, she has found herself pulled back into the fray, unable to sit back as Democrats battle what they see as existential threats.

She made that clear in a conversation with our colleague Jonathan Martin last week, when she brought up Trump: “My decisions in life are not predicated on his insanity,” she said, but added that she still believes “it’s important to make sure that our flag is still there.”

Pelosi has enjoyed the freedom that comes with less responsibility while still acting as a mentor to the new class of Democratic powerbrokers — led by her replacement as House Democratic leader, New York’s Hakeem Jeffries. But even out of the spotlight, her fundraising and networking prowess can’t be overstated.

“She’s golden in the Democratic Party,” said retired California Rep. Jackie Speier.

It isn’t the first time that Pelosi has chosen to stay in Congress due to exceptional circumstances. She has spoken about how she held on after losing the majority in 2010 so she could protect the Affordable Care Act from Republicans. A decade later, she ran again to help defeat Trump in the 2020 election.

Still, following Pelosi’s announcement Friday, Republicans — and even some progressives — were quick to question if the octogenarian had missed her cue to exit stage left.

Another note on the age question: Forget about the glass ceiling, Boxer told us she thinks Pelosi is now shattering “the age ceiling,” and showing the world that age is just a number.

“Some people are idiots at 50. … And some people are fabulous at 60, 70 and 80,” Boxer told us. “And some are terrible the whole time.”

HAPPY MONDAY. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. And welcome to the final days of the legislative session.

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SENATORIAL SHUFFLE — If there’s one thing that Newsom wants to avoid, it’s meddling in a politically fraught situation.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, the governor said he would appoint a caretaker to Feinstein’s seat, should she leave before her term is up. He intends to honor past statements about appointing a Black woman, he said, — but appeared to rule out Rep. Barbara Lee, who is running for the seat alongside Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.

“I don’t want to get involved in the primary,” Newsom told Todd. “It would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don’t want to tip the balance of that.”

Lee has continued to trail her fellow congressmembers in the polls. A Berkeley IGS survey released last week put Schiff at 20 percent, Porter at 17 percent, and Lee at 7 percent.

In statement Sunday, Lee called Newsom’s desire to appoint a caretaker “insulting to countless Black women.”

“The perspective of Black women in the U.S. Senate is sorely needed — and needed for more than a few months,” she said. “Governor Newsom knows this, which is why he made the pledge in the first place.”

On the subject of Feinstein’s health — Newsom, who has known the senior senator since childhood, said he’s staying out of it. He did acknowledge that Feinstein might have lost a bit of speed recently, (“Not that long ago, she would call me up, read me the riot act,” he said),but her staff is staying “extraordinarily active” and that he wishes her the best.

On the pandemic — After facing a recall effort, in part, for the way he responded to Covid-19, Newsom told “Meet the Press” that, in hindsight, he would have done “everything differently.” More on that here.

Speaking of Newsom — We’re going to get the chance to ask him our own questions on Tuesday, in a conversation between the governor and our own Christopher Cadelago. Lawmakers, he might even ask about one of your bills on Newsom’s desk.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — NICHOLS CLAPS BACK: One of the state’s most influential former air-quality regulators is wading into the fight over a measure that would require corporations to disclose their planet-warming emissions. Mary Nichols, past chair of the California Air Resources Board, sent a letter to legislative leaders over the weekend urging them not to kill Senate Bill 253, state Sen. Scott Wiener’s measure to create a first-in-the-nation system of corporate emissions reporting.

The timing of Nichols’ letter — a rare move for a former agency head — is no coincidence: Corporate lobbyists and the powerful California Chamber of Commerce have been trying to kill SB 253. Wiener amended it last week to weaken its penalties for misreporting emissions. And recently, a handful of CARB staffers have raised concerns that implementing the law could be costly and time-consuming for regulators, as The Wall Street Journal reported.

Nichols’ letter, exclusively obtained by Playbook, pushes back against the notion that CARB can’t handle the job and implores lawmakers to consider the broader impacts of tracking emissions. “California is being called to lead in action,” Nichols wrote. The letter was co-signed by Fran Pavley, a former state lawmaker who carried several bills that greatly expanded CARB’s authority.

GENDER IN THE COURTS — A bill requiring California courts to consider a minor’s gender identity or gender expression when determining the best interest of the child is now on the governor’s desk.

On Friday, the Assembly approved Lori Wilson’s bill, once again getting into the emotionally fraught issues around transgender children that we’ve seen play out this summer at school board meetings across the state. Wilson, whose own child is transgender, wiped away tears as she presented the bill on the floor.

Despite opposition from several Republicans — including Assemblymembers Bill Essayli, Joe Patterson and Minority Leader James Gallagher — Wilson’s bill passed and went to Newsom for approval.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who seems to be paying more attention to Sacramento these days, decried Wilson’s bill as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Musk, the world’s richest man, has recently come forward about his estrangement from his own transgender daughter.

We’re watching to see whether Newsom signs this one. The governor has kept his comments on transgender minors to a minimum this year, even as Attorney General Rob Bonta battles school districts in court for their mandatory parent-notification policies.

A $25 WAGE — AND A DIALYSIS TRUCE? — A push to raise wages for health care workers could mean the end of a perennial ballot measure related to kidney dialysis. As Jeremy reported last week, the parties involved are close to making a deal on Senate Bill 525, which would bump the pay floor for health care workers up to $25.

REFERENDUM REFORM — Newsom on Friday signed into law the most significant changes to California’s referendum system in decades, our colleague Jeremy B. White tells us.

In signing AB 421, from Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, the governor delivered a victory to unions and environmental groups who had escalated a power struggle over the state’s century-old direct democracy system. And, as Jeremy reports, that could fuel high-stakes negotiations around the oil and fast food laws that inspired the legislation in the first place.

INLAND UPSCALE: Central Valley communities have long had a reputation as being far more affordable than the coast. That’s still true, but housing in inland communities like Modesto, Bakersfield and Stockton is quickly becoming less affordable than the rest of the country, as the Los Angeles Times reports. That’s due, in large part, to L.A. and Bay Area refugees who fled bigger cities during the pandemic in search of cheaper housing.

IT’S ELECTRIC: California is winding down its largest rebate program for electric car buyers. The program will end when it runs out of money this year, as CalMatters reports. The state will instead beef up its incentives to help low-income buyers go electric. Since the rebate program started in 2010, California has paid out more than $1.2 billion to drivers. But some environmentalists criticize the program because the vast majority of recipients have been people with household incomes above $100,000.

TRANSITIONS — Kent Robertson is now managing partner at DrivePath Advisors. He had been general manager for public affairs at Chevron, where he spent almost 17 years.

BIRTHDAYS — WAS SUNDAY: Corinne Hoare

WAS SATURDAY: The state of California … Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) … former Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) … Greg Maxson … Amazon’s Michael Greenwald

WAS FRIDAY: Adam Sandler … Carla Hashley

WAS THURSDAY: Efim Zelmanov … Alex Kurtzman … Barry Siegel

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