Will Gaza protests spoil the party for Kamala Harris?

Day one of the Democratic National Convention focused on President Joe Biden’s legacy and smoothly passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who made a surprise appearance Monday night on stage to rapturous applause.

But that script isn’t being followed by everyone. 

As CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal reports from Chicago, protesters outside the convention hall and some delegates from California and other states want the Democratic Party to go on record supporting an arms embargo against Israel, in addition to a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

The arms embargo, however, isn’t in the party platform that delegates approved Monday on a voice vote. Instead, it currently states that Democrats “commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad.”

That’s not enough for Joseph Salas, a delegate from California, who said he wants Harris to take a stronger stand on the Gaza issue, and the party platform to acknowledge Palestinians’ loss of land. 

• Salas: “We need to hold our elected officials accountable to the platform we write.”

A letter asking Harris to “turn the page on President Biden’s policy on Gaza” has also been circulating among delegates. One delegate who signed the letter Sunday said there were about 150 signatures so far. 

The Gaza war, which began after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, has deeply divided California Democrats. As more Palestinian civilians were killed, protests over the war grew louder — particularly on California college campuses — and pressure increased on Democratic leaders to support a ceasefire resolution.

During the primary election in March, California leaders with the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Democratic voters to leave the presidential race blank. The state’s leading Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate also split on whether they supported an immediate ceasefire.

Read more about the protests and platform fight in Sameea’s story.

In other California convention news Monday:

• Pelosi speaks: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco urged California delegates to help win more congressional seats so that Harris has a Democratic majority to work with in the White House. And Pelosi said they should thank Biden for his “selflessness for taking us to this place.” She told reporters she doesn’t have any regrets in helping push Biden off the ticket, but again said she didn’t orchestrate the pressure campaign.

• Newsom role: Gov. Gavin Newsom will speak from the convention floor this evening and deliver California’s votes to put Harris over the top in the ceremonial roll call. Read more on the role the state’s delegates will play.

• Stage time: Sen. Laphonza Butler, Reps. Maxine Waters and Robert Garcia, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass were among those who addressed delegates from the podium of the United Center. Steve Kerr — coach of the Golden State Warriors and Team USA — snagged a more prominent prime-time speaking slot.

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff:

Jeff Burum waited two years for vindication.

Frustrated by what he believes is California’s underinvestment in fast-growing San Bernardino County, the Rancho Cucamonga real estate developer persuaded local politicians and voters in 2022 to study whether the region was getting its fair share of resources, and if not, to fight for more — or leave California and start a new state.

Now that report, which has been delayed since March without explanation, is finally complete and is scheduled to be presented to the county Board of Supervisors today. 

But vindication is not what it offers, and Burum doesn’t plan to be there.

San Bernardino County actually receives about $66 more in state funding per person than the statewide average, according to a preview summary of the report presented at a meeting last week. It does mention mental health services, homelessness assistance, affordable housing funding and judgeships as areas where the county does not get what it is owed.

The full version of the report also concludes that secession would be challenging and have severe fiscal implications.

Burum is undeterred. He has sharp criticisms of the study, which he said focused on the wrong questions. He told CalMatters that he doesn’t understand why it took so long to complete when investigators appeared to use only readily available data from state-mandated programs, rather than digging into why California has not provided more discretionary funding to help San Bernardino County build out its infrastructure as the population exploded in recent decades.

• Burum: “Fair share means intent. Fair share means needs. AI could have given them those answers that they gave us.”

He’s still figuring out how to continue his advocacy for San Bernardino County, which taps into the same vein of resistance against California’s liberal governance that is increasingly cropping up in more conservative pockets of the state.

“As long as I’m on this bright green earth, there’s always a path forward,” Burum said. “That report is clear that the job’s not done.”

As the Legislature heads into its final two weeks before adjournment on Aug. 31, it’s time to catch up on some bills I told you about:

• America’s semiquincentennial: Sen. Janet Nguyen’s third attempt to create a state commission to help plan celebrations for the 250th anniversary of America’s founding has failed. Last week, the Assembly Appropriations Committee held the Huntington Beach Republican’s proposal, estimating a cost “in the low millions of dollars.” It also questioned whether sufficient private or federal funds to bankroll the project (which the bill anticipated) would materialize.

• Daylight saving: Sen. Roger Niello plans to shelve a bill initially intended to get rid of daylight saving time permanently. The bill, which made it out of the suspense file, was later revised to require the state to study the impacts of establishing standard time year-round. A spokesperson for the Roseville Republican said the amendment “hampers the ability to implement the policy in a timely manner” and Niello plans to “pursue the issue further next year.”

• Homework: The Senate appropriations committee advanced Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo’s bill to urge school districts to develop more intentional policies about homework that considers students’ mental and physical health. Though key parts of the bill by the Santa Clarita Valley Democrat have been amended from “requiring” schools to update their homework policy to now “encouraging” schools, Schiavo’s office said it is still ironing out the final amendments before it heads to the Senate floor.

In other legislative news:

• New laws: Newsom also signed into law a string of bills Monday, including ones to require the state’s department of education to consider in 2025 school programs that support students’ emotional and mindfulness skills; extend a recycling pilot program for drink containers until 2034; and allow county health officials to go into privately run immigration detention centers.

• And one veto: The governor blocked a bill that would have expanded air monitoring standards for refineries, including tracking for additional pollutants and providing a notification process for endangered communities. In his veto message, Newsom cited budget concerns and argued that “local air quality management districts are already carrying out the necessary action” to monitor air pollution. But California Environmental Voters said the bill “would have held industry accountable for the price of their own pollution and prevented healthcare and safety costs that will now fall on the backs of taxpayers.”

• McGuire in charge: With Newsom and Kounalakis both in Chicago, Senate Democratic leader Mike McGuire is acting governor again, reprising his role from just before July Fourth. He said he’s in close contact with Cal Fire and the Office of Emergency Services in case wildfires flare up again.

Gov. Newsom recently urged school districts to restrict student smartphone usage during school hours, and the Legislature is considering a bill to prohibit student phone use statewide. But a handful of California schools already have smartphone bans in place. Find out what lessons they learned from CalMatters tech reporter Khari Johnson and K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones.