Google, union spend big to shape California Legislature

Between July and October last year, Google spent $120,000 on lobbying California’s government. In those same three months this year, the tech giant put in a lot more — $10.7 million.

The big difference? The Legislature was debating a major bill with direct impact on Google’s bottom line — a media funding proposal — explain CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff and data reporter Jeremia Kimelman.

The measure would have required large online platforms that scrape or link to news stories to pay an annual fee with the media outlets that produce that content. The bill’s author, Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks of Oakland, ended up shelving the proposal, and in August announced a deal that involved Google providing $55 million for five years to help fund local newsrooms. 

According to lobbying disclosure reports, the tech giant funneled roughly $9.75 million to two industry groups that ran TV and social media ads opposing Wick’s bill and another journalism funding measure carried by state Sen. Steve Glazer. 

• Glazer, an Orinda Democrat: “Their spending was a reflection of the cheaper alternative.”

Google’s spending far exceeded other tech companies that would have also been covered by the Wicks bill. Meta, for example, spent nearly $366,000 on lobbying during the same time period. Campaign finance disclosures also show Google giving a total of $107,500 to 39 lawmakers, including Wicks, plus Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis on one day in September.

Learn more about Google’s lobbying expenses in Alexei and Jeremia’s story.

Labor spending spree: The union representing University of California service and patient care workers spent $1.2 million opposing a vulnerable Democratic incumbent, drawing ire from leaders of a party closely allied with labor.

As CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow explains, state Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton is in a tight race with Republican Steven Choi, a former Assemblymember and Irvine Mayor. As of Tuesday evening, Newman was trailing by 2.2 percentage points.

In the March primary and November election campaigns, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 opposed Newman — donating to his challengers and funding TV ads and campaign fliers. 

Newman says it’s because last year he helped kill a bill, sponsored by the union, that would have amended the state constitution to require the university system to comply with basic labor standards. (The local, as it also happens, plans to go on strike next week.) Newman called the union’s campaign spending “a disservice to their members and to the labor movement,” but his Senate colleagues were more vocal in their criticism.

• Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire of Santa Rosa: “Instead of spending time, effort and energy helping Democrats win congressional races, they supported a supporter of Donald Trump. … It’s unconscionable what they did.”

Read more about Newman’s race and the union in Ryan’s story.

President-elect Trump campaigned on bringing back “beautiful” tariffs from his first term. So how would they impact California?

As CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay explains, businesses that import goods are the ones who pay tariffs, but they typically pass the costs onto customers. During the campaign, Trump pledged to impose tariffs of 10% to 20% on all imports. For goods from China and Mexico — two countries that made up 40% of California’s imports last year — Trump vowed higher tariffs: 60% on Chinese goods and as much as 200% on imported cars from Mexico, such as the Toyota Tacoma.

Though traffic at California ports could pick up in the short term, most economists say the country would be worse off. In California, prices for electronics, produce and petroleum could go up. And retaliatory tariffs from other countries could hurt California’s top exports, such as almonds, wine and dairy products.

• Lance Hastings, chief executive of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association: “California is the gateway to Asia, the state would feel the impact of more tariffs first and more than everybody else.”

Learn more about Trump’s tariffs and California in Levi’s story.

Newsom in D.C.: With only two months before Trump returns to the White House, Gov. Gavin Newsom spent Tuesday in the nation’s capital meeting with President Joe Biden and senior administration officials about securing disaster funds for wildfires, expanding health care access and obtaining waivers for air quality. Newsom and other Democratic leaders are seeking to “Trump-proof” California and are already vowing to take the Trump administration to court.

California’s sluggish vote counting is getting more national criticism, from the likes of election predictor Nate Silver, who called it “ridiculous.” The Secretary of State’s office didn’t do itself any favors: It didn’t update its count of unprocessed ballots all weekend, though it did post new vote totals in various contests. (In Tuesday afternoon’s update, the office estimated fewer than 2.5 million uncounted ballots, down from nearly 5 million on Friday.) 

Counties have until Dec. 5 to certify their results, and the Secretary of State plans to issue statewide certified returns by Dec. 13. 

California GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson didn’t pile on the criticism, instead posting a video Monday about the party’s “election integrity” operation. And the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation’s close count tracker has expanded to include 11 congressional and six legislative contests.

Of six key toss-up U.S. House races, three have been decided, including two on Tuesday night. And two of the 10 statewide propositions — on the minimum wage and health care campaign spending — are also still up in the air.

A side note: While the GOP is vastly outnumbered among registered voters by the Democratic Party, so far it’s doing a little better in how voters are deciding the propositions. Most notably, voters went along with the Republican Party recommendations, and against the Democratic endorsements, on Prop. 33 on rent control and Prop. 36 on criminal penalties.