No love lost between Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has not exactly been a huge help to Gov. Jerry Brown lately, as Brown tries to persuade voters to approve $6 billion in temporary tax hikes on next week's ballot.

In at least two different interviews with the news media, Newsom has chided Brown, a fellow Democrat, for leaving state university students the impression that their tuition will not go up if Proposition 30 passes. Newsom says that is a promise Brown cannot make.

Newsom says he speaks from inside knowledge. He is a regent for the University of California system.

Newsom, of course, had been a contender for Brown’s job before backing out of the race during the 2010 primary. His comments of late are fueling speculation that he is gearing up to run for governor against Brown in 2014 if Proposition 30 fails next week, throwing Brown’s policy agenda and the state budget into disarray.

A top strategist for Newsom in the last campaign, Garry South, probably didn’t put Brown at ease when he explained to a Sacramento Bee columnist all the reasons the governor could be vulnerable in the next gubernatorial election.

Brown made clear at a campaign event at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club on Thursday that he is not pleased by Newsom’s recent public musings.

Fielding questions from the audience, Brown was asked why he hadn’t requested that Newsom take on more of a role in the campaign. His response was blunt:  “That's one of those questions that answers itself.”

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-- Anthony York in San Francisco

PHOTO: Former President Bill Clinton, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Jerry Brown, when Brown and Newsom were running for their posts. CREDIT: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times.

Jerry Brown, other elected pols had seats for Giants' wins in S.F.

The Giants' World Series games against the Detroit Tigers last week in San Francisco were the hottest tickets in town, but while most Californians couldn’t get seats unless they were willing to pay brokers highly inflated prices,  the state’s elected officials were given special access to buy premium tickets from the ballclub.

That explained why Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom was sitting in the premium field club seats for Game 1 on Wednesday, where he got to see Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs. The special arrangement for elected officials allowed him to buy two tickets for $535 each, which an aide said was face value.

Gov. Jerry Brown and state Attorney Gen. Kamala Harris attended Game 2 on Thursday night, with Brown tweeting a picture from his seat with the message "Great Night in San Francisco."

"The governor attended Game 2 of the World Series with the first lady,'' said spokesman Evan Westrup in an email. "The two tickets were purchased at full face value from the Giants.''

Ditto for Harris, an aide said. On Sunday, after the Giants won the 4th and deciding game in Detroit, Brown tweeted from California, "Congratulations to California's San Francisco Giants!''

No doubt several elected officials will be in San Francisco on Wednesday. That is when the city celebrates the title with a ticker-tape parade down Market Street for the world champions.

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-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Photo: Members of the Giants celebrate their victory over the Tigers in Game 4 of the World Series in Detroit on Sunday. Credit: Paul Kitagaki Jr/Sacramento Bee/MCT

California politicians praise Obama's support for same-sex marriage

Top California politicians hailed President Obama's statement of support for same-sex marriage on Wednesday.

Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles), the first openly gay person to hold that position, said he was "very proud" of the president's statement, made in an interview with ABC News.

"As with many Americans, his views on this issue have evolved toward an embrace of dignity, respect and justice for every American," Perez said in a statement.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has pushed the Democratic Party to include the issue in its national platform, said on Twitter that "love doesn't care if you're gay or straight. Love doesn't discriminate."

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) issued his own statement saying, "I have never been more proud of our President than I am today." He added, "Denying the right for any two people to marry is discrimination."

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, another outspoken supporter of same-sex marriage, called Obama's comments a "historic moment" on Twitter. "So proud to see our President come out in support of marriage equality and full equal rights for ALL Americans," he wrote.

Same-sex marriage was briefly legal in California, thanks to a state Supreme Court decision in 2008, but voters passed Proposition 8 later that year, banning it with a constitutional amendment.

[Updated 5:10 p.m.: Gov. Jerry Brown refused to defend Proposition 8 in court when he was attorney general. He posted on Twitter that, "Equality before the law is a pillar of American democracy. I applaud President Obama's support for the right of same-sex couples to marry."]

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-- Chris Megerian in Sacramento

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to host new talk show on Current TV

It looks like Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has found time to do a little moonlighting.

Newsom will have his own show on Current TV, the left-leaning cable network founded by former Vice President Al Gore. "The Gavin Newsom Show" will begin airing next month.

The hourlong talk program "will have a decidedly California touch as the state's lieutenant governor and former San Francisco mayor interviews notables from Silicon Valley, Hollywood and beyond,” according to Current’s website.

A Current spokesman told the New York Times that Newsom would be paid a salary, but refused to say how much it would be. Newsom’s state salary is $130,490. Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the lieutenant governor, said Newsom would donate the money he receives from Current to charity.

"Gavin Newsom is a courageous leader who has boldly seized every opportunity to create positive social change," Gore said in a statement. "Newsom touches many worlds -- business, politics, entertainment and activism. We are honored that Current TV will be bringing his curiosity, intelligence, insights and enthusiasm to television."

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-- Anthony York in Sacramento

Photo: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Credit: Jason Merritt / Getty Images

Fish and Game president blasts critics, says he ate mountain lion

The head of the California Fish and Game Commission, under fire for killing a mountain lion during a hunting trip in Idaho, blasted his critics Thursday as “environmental terrorists" and dismissed demands by Democratic state lawmakers for him to resign.

Commission President Daniel W. Richards of Upland, appearing on KFI’s John and Ken Show, focused the brunt of his criticism on the Humane Society of the United States and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who have called for his ouster.

Richards accused the Humane Society of having an agenda to outlaw hunting and fishing nationwide, and also of trying to infiltrate the Department of Fish and Game to in order to influence “the direction of the department without conflict or without debate."

Lt. Gov. Newsom opens fire on Cal Grant cuts

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking aim at the governor’s proposed cuts to higher education, calling on lawmakers to reject them as unfair and shortsighted.

Newsom, who has consistently staked out political territory to the left of Gov. Jerry Brown, said in a letter Wednesday that reducing financial aid by $308.4 million would place the “burden of our fiscal problems on the very students who will help lead California out of this morass.”

In particular, Newsom criticized the proposal to raise the minimum grade-point average needed to receive a Cal Grant. Brown’s administration says an estimated 26,600 students wouldn’t make the cut, saving $131 million and focusing “limited financial aid resources on those students who are most likely to complete their degrees.”

Newsom said that will only further handicap disadvantaged students.

“If we keep cutting higher education funding and increasing the cost of getting a degree, that student is guaranteed not to complete a degree because we have priced them out of public education and told them they are not worth our support,” he wrote.

The Legislative Analyst's Office, in a report released Wednesday, also said Brown's proposal is too drastic.

The lieutenant governor has praised Brown’s efforts to tackle the state’s financial problems but has criticized his decisions on a few occasions, most recently in a radio interview with KQED last week.

Newsom said he discussed proposed cuts in Cal Grants with Brown’s administration. Asked what he would cut from the budget instead, Newsom said he replied, “You give me your finance team, give me the controller, give me your department heads, and give me 48 hours, I’ll come up with them.”

Earlier in the interview, Newsom said he was opposed to cuts to childcare programs, which would lose $446.9 million under Brown’s proposal.

“It’s very disappointing,” he said. “What’s equally disappointing, perhaps more so, is that we have a Democratic governor proposing to cut welfare support."

In a television interview the next day on KGO-TV, Newsom pointed out how former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez pumped more money into higher education despite the deficit in 2007.

"They added $750 million to the budget deficit," he said, adding: "If you value something, invest in it."

Gil Duran, a spokesman for Brown, said Newsom was advocating the wrong approach.

"Bigger deficits are not the answer,” Duran said. “That kind of thinking is what got us into this mess.”

H.D. Palmer, spokesman for Brown's Department of Finance, pointed out the governor wants to increase overall high education spending by 4% a year for three years.

Photo: Gavin Newsom campaigning for lieutenant governor in 2010 in East Los Angeles. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

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-- Chris Megerian in Sacramento

Twitter: @chrismegerian

 

Gavin Newsom, who initiated California gay marriage, hails ruling

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling striking down Proposition 8 was cheered by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who kicked off the gay marriage debate eight years ago as mayor of San Francisco by allowing same-sex couples there to get marriage licenses.

"We put a human face on that issue," Newsom said at a press conference in his office in the state Capitol. "You can talk about discrimination in the abstract. You can read about it. But when you see it, it has a different impact, a different richness."

As mayor, Newsom announced in February 2004 that San Francisco would grant same-sex couples the same marriage documents that it gave opposite-sex pairs. The lines of gay and lesbian couples that quickly flocked to City Hall were swiftly broadcast on national television, and Newsom became an instant political celebrity.

The San Francisco nuptials were eventually barred by the state Supreme Court. But in 2008, the court ruled that prior bans on gay marriage violated California's Constitution. It was that second ruling that triggered the campaign for Proposition 8, which once again banned same-sex marriage in the state.

Now Newsom occupies a fairly low-profile post in state government. But, moments after the ruling striking down Proposition 8 was announced, he issued a five-paragraph statement. It began: "Today’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stands as a victory for the fundamental American principle that all people are equal, and deserve equal rights and treatment under the law.  "

At his press conference he was more personal, noting that his own father had initially opposed same-sex marriage in 2004 but has since changed his mind. The public, Newsom said, is doing the same.

"This is the one last big piece of the civil rights movement," he said, "and it's happening in our time."

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Proposition 8 ruled unconstitutional

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-- Nicholas Riccardi in Sacramento 

Photo: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated at the 2004 wedding of octogenarians Del Martin, left, and Phyllis Lyon, right, a ceremony that kicked off the same-sex marriage debate in California. Photo credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez / AFP/Getty Images

Democrats rally around Janice Hahn for congressional runoff

Mustering a show of party unity, many of California's most prominent Democratic officeholders on Tuesday announced their backing of Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn as she headed toward a July 12 runoff with Republican businessman Craig Huey.

Huey stunned politics-watchers by edging past Secretary of State Debra Bowen, a Democrat, in last week's special primary to replace former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice).  Hahn finished first, as anticipated, in the heavily Democratic 36th Congressional District, but Huey placed second with his "spend-less/grow-jobs" message. 

Although Democrats hold a nearly 18-point registration edge over Republicans, Huey strategists believe they can rally not only GOP voters but also independents, "tea party" members and conservative Democrats fed up with government spending.

Hahn welcomed backing from Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who beat her for his post in last year's Democratic primary, and a long list of other prominent Democrats.

"Janice Hahn is a fighter with a track record of helping Californians and getting things done," Brown said in a statement. "I want Janice to continue that work in Congress."

-- Jean Merl

California lawmakers look to Texas for salvation

Texas Gov. Rick Perry couldn't have written the script better himself. After months of public boasting by the Republican governor about his "hunting trips" to California, in which his prey is companies ready to export their jobs to his state, a delegation of California lawmakers is heading to Texas on a "fact-finding" mission to see how the governor works his magic.

The trip is predictably heavy on GOP lawmakers, who have long been lobbying for less taxes, less regulation and less government -- like they have in Texas. But Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a San Francisco liberal, will also tag along, as will at least one moderate Democrat in the Legislature and a representative from the California Teachers Assn.

The Times went on its own fact-finding mission to Austin not long ago. What we learned is that more than a few experts are skeptical of the premise that Texas has a more dynamic economy than California. The Lone Star State is also struggling with a colossal budget crisis, much like California's. A study by UCLA published soon after our report poked considerable holes in the theory that Texas was stealing California jobs. And the Austin American-Statesman reported that Perry's claims about the number of companies that have closed shop in California to start anew in Texas are way overblown.

But the organizer of the trip, Assemblyman Dan Logue (R-Chico), says the evidence that Texas is growing jobs much faster than California is indisputable. Between 2008 and 2010 Texas gained 165,386 jobs. California? It lost more than 1 million jobs.

"We want to sit down with these businesses that could not stand our state and find out why they left," Logue said.

-- Evan Halper in Sacramento

Obama comes to California, but Jerry Brown takes a pass

When word went out that President Obama was coming to Silicon Valley on Thursday, a number of Democratic politicians rushed to the scene.

Among them were Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom – both newly elected statewide officials with larger political ambitions. But absent was Gov. Jerry Brown who chose to stay in Sacramento rather than vie for a photo op with the president, who flew in on Air Force One to meet with business leaders.

Brown, who once sought the presidency himself, clearly has other priorities these days. His spokesman Gil Duran said that the governor was busy with meetings in Sacramento, and his absence was in no way intended as a snub.

--Anthony York in Sacramento