Outgoing lawmakers bid farewell

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Hello and welcome back to Capitol Confidential!

Business is just getting going in the Senate and Assembly now, after Monday and Tuesday sessions were dominated by housekeeping and administrative duties. We can expect the next week and a half to be a bill bonanza, as over 1,000 pieces of legislation are up for final debates and votes. A handful have already made it out to the governor’s desk, but the bulk remain in progress.

Who says bipartisanship is dead? Certainly not Sens. John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, and Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, whose unlikely cross-aisle friendship took center stage on the Senate floor on Tuesday morning. 

In both the Senate and Assembly on Tuesday, members whose terms end in December were recognized in what turned into hours of personal speeches and testimonies. The (often emotional) farewells offered a peek behind the curtain, as lawmakers recounted their experiences with their outgoing colleagues. After the bruising appropriations process last week, the speeches injected a much-appreciated moment of levity for the two chambers. That was certainly the mood during Laird’s touching sendoff for Grove, highlighting a friendship between the two veteran lawmakers who occupy dramatically different perches on the political spectrum. 

Laird, a progressive Democrat known for his environmental protection policies, spoke fondly of his years working alongside Grove, one of the Republican caucus’ most stalwart conservative leaders. 

Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, recounted arriving to the Legislature with Grove, riding the wave of Tea Party candidate enthusiasm in 2010. 

“Those of you that may remember, when she stood up to speak in the Assembly, that first and second term, people literally rolled their eyes,” Jones said. “And there would be a bunch of clatter in the gallery or in the back. Today, when she stands to speak, people hush and pay attention.” 

Grove’s term ends in December 2026, and she is running for a seat on the State Board of Equalization. She is facing Democrat Nelson Esparza, a Fresno City Council member, in the November election.

Grove is among a handful of lawmakers who count this end-of-session August as their last, alongside Sens. Mike McGuire, D-Geyserville, Aisha Wahab, D-Hawyard, Marie Alvarado-Gil, R-Jackson, and Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana. 

We’ll run through where all the retiring members are headed in future newsletters. By the end of the week, we might know exactly where Wahab is off to next – dependent on Tuesday’s special election results in the East Bay race to fill former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s empty congressional seat. 

In the Assembly, a dozen outgoing members were honored on the floor this week. They are: 

As the Chronicle’s Sophia Bollag reported, interest and advocacy groups are reaching far beyond Sacramento to affect policy. So far, in fact, that they’re following the governor across the country, hoping to sway his position on California policy by following him to critical swing states. 

Though Gov. Gavin Newsom has not formally declared his candidacy for president, his political activity mirrors that of someone who has the White House in mind. He’s been expanding his presence across social media platforms, building a nationwide digital fundraising network and traveling to swing states. 

As Bollag reported, groups with business before his office are using his national ambitions to influence him – and showing up on his quasi campaign trail stops. 

Earlier this month, a group seeking to persuade Newsom and lawmakers to reverse funding cuts to public transit ran newspaper ads in South Carolina and Nevada, seeking to influence his decision by appealing to the state’s critical voters. 

The approach is not a new one. 

Earlier this year, Bollag writes, a group that primarily advocates for legal reform to shield businesses from lawsuits called the California Business and Industrial Alliance ran a billboard ad in New York’s Times Square criticizing Newsom’s record.

And in February, California Labor Federation President Lorena Gonzalez hosted a news conference in Sacramento with labor leaders from early primary and swing states. 

They urged Newsom to negotiate with California labor unions on bills to regulate AI and protect workers. If he didn’t, they said, he would have to face their members when he came to campaign in their states.

Questions? Thoughts? Interesting tidbits to share? Reach out at [email protected], and follow me on X, @KathrynPlmr.