Digital Democracy ramps up accountability of CA Legislature

For those in the Legislature’s Democratic supermajority, voting “yes” on a colleague’s bill may come easily. Voting “no,” however, isn’t as straightforward — and that may be why so few Democrats actually do so.

In an analysis of more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators since 2017, CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow and CBS Sacramento reporter Julie Watts found that Democrats vote “no” less than 1% of the time on average. Monterey Park Assemblymember Mike Fong, for example, has voted more than 6,000 times since being elected in 2022, and never once voted “no.” 

As the opposition party, Republicans unsurprisingly vote “no” more often — an average 21% of the time. 

In lieu of voting against a bill, legislators will often decline to cast a vote. Last year, at least 15 bills died because of a lack of votes.

Why don’t lawmakers go on record with their objections? 

While the Democratic legislators contacted by CalMatters wouldn’t talk about it, not voting is a common tactic for lawmakers. They may want to avoid drawing the ire of their colleagues or activists, or may want to stop a bill’s momentum without directly voting against it. 

This can leave advocates infuriated. Regina Chavez, who has pushed for fentanyl-related legislation after her 15-year-old daughter died from the drug in 2022, said she was “personally” insulted when Democrats last year refused to vote on the bills.

• Chavez: “I think everything should be on the record when you hold a state title. That is what they signed up for to represent us.”

To learn more about the power of never having to say “no,” read Ryan and Julie’s story.

Many legislators don’t say no to gifts and free travel, however. As CalMatters data reporter Jeremia Kimelman explains, gifts to lawmakers last year totaled more than $330,000 — more than double compared to 2022.

According to their analysis, about $24,000, or nearly 20%, came from Democratic leaders, mostly in the form of food and drinks at policy retreats. Former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, for example, was the third most generous, doling out $16,000 worth of food and jackets to 19 lawmakers.

Sponsored travel is also on the rise. In 2023, more than 100 groups spent about $1.1 million to fly lawmakers around the globe, compared to 85 groups and $950,000 in travel the year before. The largest trip sponsor was the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, which spent about $375,000 on “study tours,” where legislators and state officials learn about policy from other government leaders or businesses. And while one 2015 law seeks to make lawmakers’ trips more transparent, it has largely been ignored.

Read more about gifts and travel received by legislators in Jeremia’s story.

These two stories are part of a groundbreaking new initiative: Today, CalMatters is launching Digital Democracy, a project using the latest technologies to help Californians understand their state government and create more accountability for politicians. 

The website introduces each of the state’s 120 legislators and explains this year’s policy agenda. In our unprecedented database, you can instantly find any word uttered in a public hearing, every vote cast, every bill introduced and every dollar donated. Finally, artificial intelligence will generate story ideas for reporters throughout the state. “This has the possibility of transforming how newsrooms cover state government,” said Dean Baquet, former editor of The New York Times and a board member at CalMatters. For more details, see our about and methodology pages and read more from our engagement team.

Do Californians have a right to breathe clean air and drink clean water? 

According to Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, they should. His proposal to amend the state constitution to enshrine the right to live in a healthy environment cleared its first hurdle Monday, passing the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.

The Culver City Democrat, who also serves as chairperson of the committee, told CalMatters that California has fallen behind a handful of other states, such as Pennsylvania and New York, to prioritize environmental health and safety in its constitution.

• Bryan: “A lot of progress that we’ve made in California around environmental protections and combating climate change are leading across the country and the world. But the people in this state still don’t have a fundamental right to clean air, water and a healthy environment.”

So what impact could an amendment have?

It can help a state push back against federal policies. For example, Pennsylvania pointed to its “green amendment” when it sued the Trump administration in 2017 for rolling back protections against smog. Similarly, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, Californians voted to guarantee reproductive rights with a constitutional amendment.

Writing a policy into the constitution could also have more power than a mere state law. In 2012, the state passed a law declaring that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption.” But many Californians still do not have safe drinking water. 

• Bryan, in the interview: We have a framework for clean air, water and a healthy environment. We just haven’t done the necessary work to take those values and codify them as rights for our people in the same way other states have.”

He says he has the support of Democrats in both the Assembly and Senate and several advocacy groups for his proposal.

The California Chamber of Commerce opposes the measure, labeling it a “job killer” and saying that “wealthy, white NIMBYs” stand to benefit the most from the amendment by “weaponizing” it in lawsuits to push against housing, clean energy and infrastructure projects. 

More constitution tinkering: Already, California voters will decide four other proposed constitutional amendments in November, unless the Legislature pulls them off. One would enshrine gay marriage, while another would lift the requirement that local voters approve low-income housing. A third would lower the 55% approval required for local government housing and infrastructure taxes and borrowing, and the fourth would require ballot measures that increase voter approval requirements to also pass by that same threshold.

It was a busy Monday at the state Capitol for events promoting bills, on a wide range of issues:

Protecting LGBTQ+ residents: Equality California held a rally at the Capitol as part of its annual day of advocacy to meet with lawmakers about LGBTQ+ rights. Joined by members of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, the group also released its 2023 legislative scorecard, which gave Gov. Gavin Newsom a score of 78%. This is the lowest score he received from the group since becoming governor in 2018, according to The Bay Area Reporter.

Expanding health care: Sen. María Elena Durazo of Los Angeles and Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula of Fresno mobilized with health and immigrant advocacy groups outside the Capitol to push for expanding access to Covered California for undocumented immigrants. Under a banner that read #Health4All, Durazo said that there are more than 500,000 Californians who lack health care coverage due to their immigration status: “These are people that we count on to do our landscaping, take care of our elderly, pick our fruits and vegetables… and they are still denied healthcare for no just reason.”

Reviving downtowns: The mayors of Long Beach, Riverside, Sacramento and San Francisco convened for the first of several hearings held by the Select Committee on Downtown Recovery. The local officials spoke about the various challenges their downtown areas have faced after the pandemic, including crime, homelessness and a lack of businesses and tourists. Describing their struggle as a “crisis” that impacts the entire state, Assemblymember Matt Haney, a San Francisco Democrat and chairperson of the committee, said that California faces “unique and significant challenges,” but that “help is on the way.”

Reselling tickets: Oakland Assemblymember Buffy Wicks drummed up support for her bill to make it easier to resell tickets. The measure seeks to combat Ticketmaster’s stranglehold on ticket sales, which Wicks argues “hurts consumers” and has resulted in average prices increasing by 140% since 2010, when the company merged with Live Nation. Opponents of the measure, which include the Music Artists Coalition and the Black Music Action Coalition, argue that the proposal would benefit scalpers and is “bad for artists and consumers.”

Medical residents are seeking to form a union at eight Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California. Find out why from CalMatters health reporter Kristen Hwang.