Affirmative action heads to the Senate floor + Tobacco ban's cost revisited + NARAL endorses

Jun. 24--Good morning and welcome to your Wednesday! It's a big day in the Senate. Let's get into it, shall we?

ACA 5 MAKES IT TO THE SENATE FLOOR

The constitutional amendment to undo Proposition 209 and restore affirmative action in California is going to the Senate floor after winning passage in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

If ACA 5 clears the Senate, it will go before voters in the November general election.

Eva Paterson and Vincent Pan, co-chairs of the Opportunity for All Coalition that supports the amendment, issued a statement lauding the Appropriations Committee for its vote.

"We are thrilled that our bill is headed to the Senate floor for a full vote. Every Senator deserves to have their say on this critical measure -- just as every Californian deserves to have their say on equal opportunity programs. As our state envisions a more equitable future where Black Lives Matter and California's women and communities of color are not left vulnerable to any public health or economic crises, we all deserve to have a voice," they said.

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ACA 5 also picked up a slew of federal endorsements on Tuesday. Both California senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris (she of the rumored Joe Biden vice presidential pick) have endorsed the amendment, as has Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, and 22 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

SB 793 REVENUE LOSS

Speaking of bills that are set to go before the Senate, SB 793, which bans the sale of flavored tobacco in California, is also set to make an appearance soon on the Senate floor.

As previously reported in this newsletter, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration predicts that, if passed, SB 793 could cost the state revenue "potentially in the high tens of millions to low hundreds of millions."

One company that would be affected by the ban, Swedish Match, is projecting even higher: Up to $600 million in lost revenue in the first year alone.

Swedish Match, which bills itself as a non-cigarette, non-vapor company that is the first and only tobacco company to ever receive a "Modified Risk Tobacco Product" designation from the federal Food and Drug Administration, arrived at that number from a data it received in a Public Records Act request from CDTFA, as well as assumptions made in the fiscal note for SB 38, SB 793's predecessor bill.

The company has a stake in the legislation: Their smokeless tobacco and tobacco-free nicotine products would be pulled off the shelves if SB 793 becomes law. Swedish Match argues that their product can be used to help cigarette smokers stop smoking cigarettes.

Bill author Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, takes a dim view of that argument.

"The product Swedish Match is trying to have exempted from the bill is not a cessation device. Swedish Match is a $14 billion company. The firm has the resources and expertise to apply to the FDA to have its products designated as a cessation device," Hill said. "The fact that the firm hasn't is telling. If the product is as safe and helpful as the firm claims, it could apply to the FDA to get authorization as a cessation product and would not be impacted by SB 793. It has not."

Hill said that companies like Swedish Match, JUUL and Phillip Morris downplay the dangers and addictive nature of their products.

Hill said that 80 percent of young people who have ever used a tobacco product started with a flavored tobacco product, such as menthol cigarettes, sweet cigars or candy-flavored vapes.

As for Swedish Match's projections, Hill said he questions their calculations and said that there are pitfalls when it comes to attempting to estimate costs. Even so, Hill said it's ultimately not about the money.

"I am not willing to put a price tag on people's lives -- especially those of children and other vulnerable populations. To suggest that we weigh the loss of human life against a feared loss of revenue from the very products that threaten human health is contemptible," Hill said.

NARAL BACKS MIN AGAINST MOORLACH

California Senate candidate Dave Min has secured the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice California in his campaign to unseat Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa.

Min is an attorney, policy expert and law professor who "has spent over a decade working in financial regulatory law and policy, advocating for progressive values at the Center for American Progress and as counsel to Sen. Chuck Schumer. He has pledged to safeguard Californians' reproductive freedom and stand strong against Republican attacks on abortion access," according to a NARAL statement.

"I'm honored to have earned the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice California," Min said. "NARAL continues to be a strong voice in the fight for women's reproductive rights, and I am humbled by their trust and support."

Min and Moorlach will face off in the November general election.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It's difficult to say this as someone who generally believes in govt's ability to help, but (the California Employment Development Department) is failing CA. I have done just about everything I know how to do as a public official to make things work, but my colleagues, my staff, my constituents & I are at our wits' end."

-Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, in a blistering critique of EDD via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

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A spending deal announced Monday relies on more optimistic projections of revenue and expenses than Gov. Gavin Newsom assumed when he proposed a budget plan in May. But that doesn't mean there won't be pain, via Sophia Bollag and Hannah Wiley.

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CalPERS board member Margaret Brown is suing board president Henry Jones, saying he improperly disciplined her over allegations that she misused the CalPERS name and logo for campaign purpose, via Wes Venteicher.

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Will California rename Negro Bar? State park in Folsom confronts its racist history once more, via Mara Hoplamazian and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks.

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