Newsom signs law limiting utilities’ political spending, following Bee investigation
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NEW LAW FOLLOWS BEE REPORTING
A bill regulating how major utility companies can spend their money on advertising and lobbying was recently signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The measure followed reporting from The Sacramento Bee, which showed that SoCalGas was using ratepayer dollars to undermine policies meant to combat climate change.
Assembly Bill 1167 will generally prohibit utilities from using money collected from ratepayers for certain lobbying activities and promotional advertising. It also will require the electric and gas companies to disclose whether they are using money from ratepayers and shareholders for advertising or other public messaging.
It goes into effect Jan. 1.
Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, who introduced the measure, said in a statement that it was unacceptable that major utility companies “would use funds from hardworking Californians for anything other than providing safe and reliable service to their customers.”
The California Public Utilities Commission is required to issue civil penalties for companies that violate the new law.
Newsom vetoed another measure, Senate Bill 24, which also followed The Bee’s reporting on SoCalGas spending. It aimed to largely prohibit utilities from using money from ratepayers to oppose efforts by local governments to take over utility services. The governor said the bill had contradictory provisions that made it “unimplementable.”
– Stephen Hobbs
NEWSOM DEFENDS SF AMID BENIOFF’S CALLS FOR NATIONAL GUARD
California Highway Patrol is sending more officers to San Francisco to help local police crack down on crime and increase patrols outside Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce conference, days after the company’s chief executive Marc Benioff said President Donald Trump should send the National Guard to the city.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that CHP would dispatch 200 officers to Dreamforce this week, while also touting that San Francisco has seen historic drops in crime across the board, including a 45% drop in homicides since 2019, and a 22% drop in violent crimes including aggravated assault, rape and robbery since last year.
Benioff (and later Elon Musk) told the New York Times that he wanted Trump to send the National Guard to San Francisco to “clean it up” and complained that Democrats had “defunded” the police, forcing him to hire extra off-duty cops to staff Dreamforce. Local leaders immediately criticized him for inviting another federal incursion into a California city.
Trump on Wednesday recommended San Francisco as one of the next cities the National Guard deploys to.
Newsom touted his hometown’s recent improvements without mentioning Benioff, who is his older daughter’s godfather and a longtime friend.
“Through meaningful and significant funding investments and partnerships with local law enforcement and community groups – our crime is down,” the governor said in a statement. “Although good enough never is, we will keep working together to help keep Californians safe.”
– Lia Russell
NEWSOM TO FEDS: INVESTIGATE YOUNG R’S
Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking Congress to investigate after Politico reported that members of the Young Republicans in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont sent racist, homophobic and antisemitic texts to each other, saying the Department of Justice and other federal agencies are too untrustworthy to intervene.
Newsom sent a letter Wednesday to House Oversight committee chair James Comer, R-Kentucky, asking the committee to investigate Young Republican groups in those states, pointing to remarks they reportedly made like “I love Hitler” and using racist slurs, that he said “create a hostile and discriminatory environment that violates civil rights laws.”
None of the members whose messages were leaked are from California, but Newsom is asking Comer and the House Oversight committee to investigate on the grounds that Young Republican groups actively recruit members on college campuses. Newsom said he went to Congress because the U.S. Department of Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “couldn’t be trusted” to properly investigate, citing Vice President JD Vance’s dismissal of the texts as “pearl clutching” and “college group chat chatter.”
The Young Republicans who sent the texts are college graduates, and a handful have been fired from their jobs since Politico published its report Tuesday. One member, Peter Giunta, was fired from New York Assemblymember Mike Reilly’s office, and Kansas chair William Hendrix left his job with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office.
– Lia Russell
CANDIDATES SHORE UP WAR CHESTS AHEAD OF 2026
Rep. Kevin Kiley, who could face a serious challenge next year for his congressional seat, has $1.85 million in campaign cash on hand at the end of September, according to his latest Federal Election Commission report.
Kiley, R-Roseville, won in 2024 by 11 percentage points. But Proposition 50 would redraw the lines of his sprawling district, which now stretches from the Sacramento eastern suburbs to Death Valley, to make it far more difficult for him to win a third term.
Kiley spent $3.8 million in his 2024 campaign. Asked how much he would needto win a district with the new lines, Kiley campaign consultant Dave Gilliard told The Bee Wednesday the congressman’s fundraising “is very strong and ahead of schedule. He will have the resources needed to run another successful reelection campaign.”
One possible challenger is Democratic Rep. Ami Bera, who now represents another Sacramento area district. Bera reported $1.94 million on hand at the end of September.
Among Democrats who have announced bids to topple Kiley, Nevada County Supervisor Heidi Hall’s report showed her with $137,896 on hand and $20,000 as debt.
Marine Corps veteran Tyler Vandenberg filed his statement of candidacy in July and no FEC report was available Wednesday. Dr. Richard Pan, a former Sacramento lawmaker, announced his candidacy earlier this week.
– David Lightman
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Stay the hell out of San Francisco.”
– Sen. Scott Wiener on President Trump’s recommendation that the National Guard deploy to the city.
Best of The Bee:
- Undocumented woman sues ICE contractor for sexual harassment in Sacramento via Marcos Breton
- As Washington cuts back, California’s rural hospitals worry about their future via Nicole Nixon & David Lightman
- California joins bicoastal governors’ alliance to shore up public health via Lia Russell
- Katie Porter breaks silence on damaging viral videos: ‘Not going to back down’ via Nicole Nixon
- TSA video of Noem blaming shutdown on Democrats isn’t playing at Sacramento airport via Ariane Lange
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 4:55 AM with the headline "Newsom signs law limiting utilities’ political spending, following Bee investigation."
