Garvey and Schiff go after one another in U.S. Senate face-off

California’s three U.S. Senate debates earlier than the March major had been largely staid affairs. Not Tuesday’s typically spicy face-off between Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank and Republican Steve Garvey — their first and solely one-on-one debate scheduled earlier than the Nov. 5 election.

As CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu explains, they clashed over abortion, weapons, immigration and different points. They usually didn’t shy from some name-calling, both.

• Schiff on Garvey: “Californians aren’t looking for some MAGA Mini-Me in a baseball uniform.”

Schiff mentioned that former President Donald Trump can be a dictator if he’s reelected, and that as a result of Garvey has voted for Trump, he would by no means take his “oath of office seriously as I do.” Schiff additionally criticized Garvey for supporting the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s overturning of federal abortion protections.

In return, Garvey bashed Schiff for not getting extra accomplished in 20 years in Congress (apart from main the primary impeachment of Trump), blamed him for “Schifflation” and predicted that if Schiff is elected, it is going to be probably the most “toxic” Senate ever.

• Garvey on Schiff: “In 24 years you’ve only been known for one thing — and that’s been impeaching somebody else. That’s unconscionable.”

Although Schiff is polling approach forward of Garvey and no Republican has received statewide in California since 2006, the previous Los Angeles Dodgers star is making a concerted effort to woo Latino voters and outraised Schiff between April and June (whereas being in a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} in debt).

Learn extra on the controversy in Stella’s story.

In different marketing campaign information:

As a Jan. 19 deadline for a potential nationwide ban looms, the favored social media platform TikTok is going through one other authorized battle: California is becoming a member of 12 states and the District of Columbia in suing the corporate, accusing it of harming younger youngsters and deceiving the general public about its risks.

• California Lawyer Normal Rob Bonta, in a press release: “TikTok must be held accountable for the harms it created in taking away the time — and childhoods — of American children.”

The lawsuitsintroduced Tuesday, allege that TikTok makes use of quite a few manipulative techniques to maintain younger customers hooked on its content material, together with autoplaying movies, infinite scroll and pretend notifications that trick customers into opening its app. TikTok’s information harvesting and sweetness filter — which promote “unrealistic beauty standards” that may result in physique picture points, in accordance with Bonta — had been additionally referred to as out.

The states’ complaints won’t be consolidated right into a single case, since every depends on the completely different client safety legal guidelines of every state, experiences NPR. One among TikTok’s international headquarters is in Los Angeles and in accordance with California’s lawsuit, “16 million people and 890,000 businesses in California actively use TikTok” as of March 2024. Bonta alleges TikTok violated California’s legal guidelines regulating unfair competitors and false commercial.

A TikTok spokesperson mentioned the claims are “inaccurate and misleading,” and that the app has security options for underage customers, together with screentime limits.

In September Gov. Newsom signed two legal guidelines to curb social media use amongst youths: One authorizes colleges to ban using social media and the opposite prohibits social media websites from sending notifications throughout college hours and late at night time.

When main corporations transfer their headquarters or workers out of California, information headlines and a few politicians typically label such strikes as additional proof of a “mass business exodus.” However as CalMatters financial system reporter Levi Sumagaysay explains, company exits aren’t precisely a “snub” to California.

It’s true that the state funds depends on taxing California firms and the revenue of their workers. Company departures, or threats to go away, also can shake the arrogance of customers and companies. They usually can affect state coverage: Just lately, opponents argued in opposition to payments that will have regulated synthetic know-how and enacted a wealth taxsaying they might drive companies out of California.

However some corporations that moved their headquarters out of state additionally stored most staff in California, and even added extra. The tech firm Oracle, for instance, introduced in 2020 that it might relocate its headquarters from Redwood Metropolis to Austin, Texas. However as of this previous spring, Oracle tripled its variety of California workplace staff.

Transferring a headquarters additionally doesn’t essentially imply an organization stops paying California’s company revenue taxes, because it should nonetheless pay on income from in-state gross sales.

Study extra about what company exits imply for California in Levi’s story.

A state audit discovered that just one in 5 group faculty college students switch to a four-year college. CalMatters group faculty reporter Adam Echelman and video technique director Robert Meeks have a video section on Adam’s story on the obstacles college students face as a part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it right here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.