CAPITOL DAYBOOK NEWS
Top Stories
Justice Department subpoenas California election workers in noncitizen voting probe
Federal grand jury subpoenas have landed at the Los Angeles County registrar's office, ordering election workers to appear the day after the election, Nov. 4, as the Justice Department pursues a criminal investigation into alleged noncitizen voting. The subpoenas follow a federal judge's rejection of the department's bid to set aside some 20,000 ballots, a ruling the department is appealing.
Newsom sends election lawyers and observers to watch the federal monitors
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Democratic Party are fielding 134 election law attorneys, more than 800 trained observers and a multilingual voter hotline for Election Day, concentrated in five Prop 50 congressional districts. Newsom also reminded federal officials that a new state law makes it a felony to illegally seize ballots or election records.
Becerra leads Hilton 61 to 34 in the final Berkeley IGS poll of the governor's race
Xavier Becerra would become California's first elected Latino governor, and the last Berkeley IGS poll before Election Day puts him well ahead of Steve Hilton, 61 percent to 34 percent among likely voters. Challenging the Trump administration has overtaken the cost of living as voters' top concern since September.
Tech money floods legislative races as total spending tops $128 million
Google, Meta and other tech interests account for at least a fifth of the money flowing to outside groups in this year's legislative races, a CalMatters analysis of campaign finance reports found. Total spending on Assembly and Senate races passed $128 million by Oct. 29, up from $74.2 million in the last midterm cycle.
Courts
Ninth Circuit keeps California's captive audience meeting law blocked
A unanimous Ninth Circuit panel upheld the injunction against SB 399, the state law barring employers from punishing workers who skip meetings about politics, religion or union organizing. The court held that the law turns on the content of the employer's speech and so runs into the First Amendment.
Judge bars immigration stops based on racial stereotyping in Southern California
U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a preliminary injunction after finding what she called a mountain of evidence that agents stop people for appearing Latino and working class. The order covers seven Southern California counties and requires individualized suspicion for a stop; the administration has appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
Campaigns and Ballot Measures
Prop 45's fine print could reshape California's fight over data centers
Proposition 45, the Chamber of Commerce measure billed as a fast track for essential projects, would streamline environmental review for broad categories of development. Four environmental law scholars told CalMatters its broadband and ancillary-project language could sweep in data centers and override the state's new data center safeguards, an interpretation the measure's proponent disputes.
Water
Water board adopts new Bay-Delta plan in a 4 to 1 vote
The State Water Resources Control Board voted 4 to 1 to adopt an updated Bay-Delta plan that lets water agencies choose voluntary agreements, promising river flows and habitat funding in place of mandatory pumping limits. Environmental groups, tribes and fishing advocates opposed the plan through two days of hearings, and the Trump administration has threatened to walk away from the agreement.
Health
Sutter Health scraps its $1 billion Emeryville hospital, citing CEQA uncertainty
Sutter Health abandoned the hospital at the center of its $1 billion East Bay expansion, saying two years of effort failed to produce a predictable path through environmental review and litigation risk. The Emeryville site will get outpatient services instead while Sutter looks for another hospital site and seeks legislation to keep Berkeley's Alta Bates campus open past its planned 2030 closure.
Education
Nearly 500 incarcerated students are now pursuing bachelor's degrees in California
California's prison bachelor's degree programs have grown to 13, with enrollment more than doubling in three years to 495 students. Cal State LA has opened the newest program at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, where 34 men are studying for liberal studies degrees.
Governor
Newsom creates a strike team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
An executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom sets up a delivery and coordination strike team spanning more than a dozen state agencies for the LA28 Games, led by Jamie Callahan, his deputy chief of staff and senior counselor on infrastructure. The team is charged with aligning permitting, transportation and public safety work with local governments, federal partners and LA28 organizers.