From CalMatters politics and campaign reporter Yue Stella Yu:
California’s campaign ethics watchdog has opened two investigations into Dana Williamson, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff indicted last November on bank and wire fraud charges, and her co-conspirators in the criminal probe.
To catch you up: Federal prosecutors last year accused Williamson of falsifying tax records, interfering in a state lawsuit against a former client, lying to federal investigators, and working with four others — including Sacramento lobbyist Greg Campbell, former Deputy Attorney General Sean McCluskie and his spouse, and Democratic consultant Alexis Podesta — to steal money from a dormant campaign account belonging to Xavier Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary who’s running for governor.
Now, the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces the state’s campaign laws, is investigating Williamson for conflict of interest.
The case, opened Feb. 10, follows an anonymous complaint filed days after the indictment, which said that Williamson used her position as chief of staff to help settle a lawsuit between the state and the video game company Activision Blizzard, a former client of hers.
Federal prosecutors said Williamson had received income from the company within the year before joining Newsom’s office, which should have disqualified her from involvement in any decisions about the company, the complaint said.
The commission also launched another case — also on Feb. 10 — into Williamson and her co-conspirators regarding “potential violations of the campaign finance and aiding and abetting provisions of the Political Reform Act,” according to a letter from the agency.
Williamson, whose court appearance has been postponed due to a liver transplant, is awaiting a court date next month.
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Other Stories You Should Know
UC students regularly lack nutritious food
From CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn:
Nearly half of undergraduates were food insecure — a range that means lacking balanced meals to skipping meals outright — as were more than a third of graduate students in 2024. That’s according to a new system report published this month that the University of California’s leaders discussed publicly last week.
In 2020, the UC’s Board of Regents set a goal to reduce UC student food and housing insecurity by 50% by 2025. Instead, both metrics have climbed up, not down. Back then, many students returned home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, where access to food and shelter was easier. The latest data shows a return to pre-pandemic levels.
Student housing insecurity — which can mean rent anxiety, couch surfing or homelessness — has ranged from 3% to 8% in the past half-decade. Students with children reported higher levels of food and housing insecurity.
Campuses receive $19.5 million annually in state support to pay for student basic needs interventions, such as housing vouchers and free food.
The report warns more money may be needed as federal dollars for food stamps are projected to nosedive under a law backed by Republicans in Congress last year.
Lake Tahoe utility’s upcoming search of electricity
A utility company serving tens of thousands of residents in Lake Tahoe is sounding the alarm to state regulators that its longtime power supplier plans to end their agreement next year, writes CalMatters’ Malena Carollo.
In a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, Liberty Utilities said that Nevada-based NV Energy, which supplies Liberty with roughly 75% of its power, won’t continue their arrangement after May 2027, due to its “own resource needs.” After the deadline, Liberty must find a new source of power for its 49,000 Lake Tahoe customers.
During a September regional business event, NV Energy’s director of business development said that data centers have driven requests to triple the company’s peak capacity.
A commission spokesperson told CalMatters that Liberty’s next steps include bidding out its contract to other energy providers, choosing a new supplier and seeking approval from the commission on the final contract.
And lastly: Could Wiener YIMBY-fy Congress if elected?
Since being elected to the state Senate nearly a decade ago, Sen. Scott Wiener has helped California’s Legislature embrace the idea that the state should be more proactive in promoting housing construction. But how will that notion land in Washington if the San Francisco Democrat gets elected to Congress? Read more from CalMatters’ Ben Christopher.
California Voices
Most of California’s recent laws regulating artificial intelligence have been watered down or pushed to distant effective dates, making it difficult to prevent AI from inflicting harm, writes Alberto Rocha, who leads policy development at the Algorithmic Consistency Initiative.
To help break the pipeline from youth to adult homelessness, California lawmakers must pass a bill that would create a funding source for transitional housing for young unhoused people, writes Jevon Wilkes, executive director of the California Coalition for Youth.
Other things worth your time:
More than half a million ballots seized by top GOP candidate in CA governor’s race // Los Angeles Times
Prediction markets are seeing a political boom. Here’s what they might mean for CA’s governor race // The Mercury News
How a rural GOP group got flush with CA campaign cash // The Sacramento Bee
Changes to CA’s cap-and-invest program are freaking out refiners … and a few Democrats // The San Diego Union-Tribune
CA bets on an obscure tool to replace clean air authority Trump revoked // Grist
Legislative Analyst sees merit in Newsom’s plan for realigning CA’s school bureaucracy // EdSource
West Portal struggles with the sentence for a family’s killer // The San Francisco Standard
An 11-year-old was named in a fatal CA e-bike crash lawsuit. When can a child be sued? // San Francisco Chronicle
As mosquitoes go year-round in LA, a promising fix hits a snag // Los Angeles Times
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