The Brief

Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Corona who is running for state Senate, missed about two-thirds of her votes this year — 1,647 of 2,510 voting opportunities she had— based on her committee assignments and floor sessions.

In most cases, the missed votes came from two “excused” absences during busy times of the year — once for a death in her family, and once due to illness after attending the Democratic National Convention in August, according to her staff.

Six other legislators missed more than a quarter of their votes this year, most involving excused absences for illness or family matters, according to an analysis of voting data from CalMatters’ Digital Democracy.

When it comes to voting on bills, however, the California Legislature does not distinguish between a lawmaker who is absent — excused or not — and a legislator who is present but does not vote. They all count the same as a legislator who casts a “no” vote, but they are categorized as: “No Vote Recorded” or NVR.

Sean McMorris, a program manager for California Common Cause, said the lack of transparency around absences versus abstentions can feed distrust.

“I think people are naturally skeptical about politics and politicians, so when you have things like this … it just reinforces that narrative,” he said. “Unfortunately, whether there’s ill intent or not, that’s probably what the public is going to assume.”

In a Legislature with a supermajority of Democrats who almost always vote “yes,” there are few close votes where an individual will sway the outcome. But Digital Democracy data shows 45 bills that died in the current two-year legislative session because NVRs were counted as “no.” And at certain times, such as during the Democratic National Convention when 21 legislators missed votes during a busy week, legislators say it can make a difference.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire both declined interviews with CalMatters to discuss concerns about the way absences or abstentions are recorded and counted. But others suggested the rules might be changed.

“Anything that can be part of a conversation that helps with transparency and boldness of disclosure for the viewing public, I think is certainly appropriate,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden, a Democrat from Pasadena.

Lorena Gonzalez, a former Assemblymember who now heads the California Labor Federation, said the lack of clarity around why people didn’t vote can make it difficult for her group to rank legislators based on its priorities.

Cervantes, for instance, earned a 100% score from the federation in 2023, but missed eight votes on 12 of the group’s priority bills this year. Gonzalez said she has no doubt about Cervantes’ support of labor.

But for others, Gonzalez said the uncertainty can require going to each legislator to confirm where they stand: “Abstain, absent, truly absent, excused absence, unexcused absence, and just sitting at your frickin’ desk and choosing not to vote …. I don’t think there’s any transparency for constituents.”

Legislative policies for votes and absences in other states are not tracked, but there are some with differences.

In Colorado, for example, absent members’ votes are recorded separately from those abstaining, but they still count as “no” votes. And in Hawaii, there’s an option to vote as “yes with reservations,” which counts as a yes vote.

Behind the no-vote rates

While California’s Legislature is in session for about seven months each year, most important votes on bills happen around a few key deadlines: the “house of origin” deadline in late spring, when a bill must pass from the chamber where it was introduced, and the last week of the session before the Legislature adjourns in August or September. During those times, legislators can be asked to cast more than 200 votes in a single day.

It explains why Cervantes missed more votes than any other legislator, but she ranked fourth in the number of days she was absent. Assemblymember Megan Dahle, a Republican from Redding, was absent for 88 days due to a stroke she suffered in January, more than twice as many absences as Cervantes. But Cervantes missed 441 more votes than Dahle.

This year, there were seven legislators who missed more than a quarter of their opportunities to vote, a number that depends on their committee assignments. Most were absent for medical reasons. The seven legislators — four Democrats and three Republicans — all serve in the Assembly:

• Dahle was out from January to early June recovering from her stroke. She missed 1,206 votes, or 54% of voting opportunities. 
• Visalia Republican Devon Mathis was out 55 days from April to July due to a “severe” hand injury for which he was briefly hospitalized, according to his office. But he did do some work in his district during the absence. He missed 1,389 votes, or 56%. 
• Hayward Democrat Liz Ortega was out for 10 days during the last two weeks of the session due to gallbladder surgery. She missed 893 votes, or 36%.
• Holden missed 529 votes when he was excused for four days in May due to the illness of a family member. He missed a total of 704 votes this year, or 28%. 
• Arleta Democrat Luz Rivas missed 367 votes when she was out due to COVID for four days in May. She missed a total of 661 votes this year, or 29%.
• Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Republican from Corona, missed 777 voting opportunities, or 30%. 

CalMatters contacted all seven legislative offices, but all except Essayli declined interviews and additional details for this story.

Legislators are not allowed to vote remotely — a policy that garnered national attention in 2020 when Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland, brought her then-newborn to the Capitol after being denied a remote option. Absent legislators are also not permitted to have a staff member or another legislator vote on their behalf.

The rules also say there is no difference between an absence or an “excused” absence when it comes to legislation and how that legislator’s non-vote is recorded. If an Assemblymember requests an “excused” absence from the speaker’s office, however, they can continue to collect their per diem of $214 per day. The per diem, provided in addition to each legislator’s $128,215 annual salary, is intended to pay for travel and lodging expenses in Sacramento when the Legislature is in session – which is usually Monday to Thursday.

The only public record of an excused absence is recorded in the “Daily Journal” published in print and PDF by the clerk’s office in each chamber. The Senate and Assembly clerk’s offices declined to provide a complete record of this year’s excused absences, so CalMatters examined all of the daily journals for 2024.

If legislators are out for personal business or fail to request an excused absence, they waive their right to a per diem.

Personal business this year included a trip to Chicago for 21 lawmakers to attend the Democratic National Convention — seven senators, and 14 Assemblymembers — which fell during the second-to-last-week of the session. Members skipped the first couple of days of the convention, arriving ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech Thursday so they would only miss two days of voting.

Still, on those two days, each senator missed 68 votes, and each Assemblymember 53.

Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell, said those absences may have made a difference for a controversial bill about criminal sentences that he was struggling to pass after it was rejected earlier in the year. If the missing legislators were present, he said there might have been more consideration given to amendments he added to resolve the concerns.

No-votes as political tools

Not all of the legislators who missed the most votes were absent. Essayli missed 30% of his vote opportunities because, in some cases, he said he declines to vote even when he’s present “as a form of social politeness” to avoid upsetting a bill author.

In general, though, he said he also doesn’t think every bill merits a “yes” or “no” vote.

“It’s not practical to sit there and record a vote on necessarily every single bill when most of them are not of consequence,” he said.

McMorris, from Common Cause, said not voting is understandable if a member doesn’t agree with a bill, but wants to stay in good standing with colleagues — “because they’re going to be voting on your bills, too,” he said. Some lawmakers may also abstain because they are waiting to see amendments to a bill.

“But if you’re looking at it purely from a constituent’s perspective, members of the public are probably wondering, why don’t you just vote based on your principles, your values and the wants and needs of your constituents? Because that’s what we put you in there to do.”

Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Democrat from Moreno Valley, agrees.

Jackson, who abstained in about 2.5% of his votes, said a clear “yes” or “no” vote is needed to solve the challenges California faces on homelessness, gas prices and cost of living issues — regardless of whether that might upset lobbyists or colleagues.

“The reason why many times that these issues aren’t being addressed is because we’re afraid to make people upset,” he said. “In order to solve the toughest issues, you’re going to make people be upset, whether you vote for it or against it. But we have to solve these issues.”

Lineage has said it is racing to meet Mayor Karen Bass’ 45-day deadline to remove millions of pounds of spoiled food waste from the burned warehouse in Boyle Heights. That date is fast approaching on Aug 14. Here’s where things stand as we’re more than halfway through. 

Cleanup progress

• As of July 20, Lineage has removed approximately 3,520 tons or 7 million pounds of food and building debris. 
• An estimated 3,195 tons or 6.4 million pounds of that total is food waste that has been removed from inside the building. (Before the fire, the warehouse stored approximately 44,000 tons, aka 88 million pounds, of food inside.)
• To date, 56% percent of the damaged roof has been removed, according to L.A. County Public Works.
• This week, Lineage said it increased the number of trucks removing debris from the site.

What’s left to clean up? 

• It’s unclear how much food waste and debris are still left to clean up, but an aerial image of the building from Lineage shows that almost half of the building has been torn down and cleared. 
• At Tuesday’s L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting, Leslie Luke, deputy director for the county’s Office of Emergency Management, said Lineage is now working to tear down a concrete wall that separates “Freezer 1,” which burned in the fire, and “Freezer 2.”
  
  • “… by doing so they’ll be able to get to Freezer 2 and rows of product in there. Each one of the rows is about the size of two football fields, and there are about 28 rows in that second freezer,” Luke said.

Odor mitigation

• Residents continue to report strong odors emanating from the warehouse. 
• On Friday, July 17, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) issued a formal demand letter requiring Lineage to strengthen its Odor Management Plan after receiving over 900 odor complaints.
• This week, Lineage responded to the letter and said:
  
  • They have implemented misting systems to mitigate odor around the building.
  • Food waste is being sprayed down with odor control, bleach and water.
  • Food waste from Building 2 will be sprayed down with a Posi-Lock odor containment system, but the contents of Building 1 are too wet to do so.  
  • They have wrapped the entire building in plastic sheeting and will repair or replace any that becomes damaged or worn within 72 hours.
  • They are unable to wrap the food being removed from Building 1, as it would add months to the cleanup process.
  • The full response from Lineage is available here.
• To report the odor call 1-800-CUT-SMOG, file a report online at aqmd.gov/complaints or download the free South Coast AQMD mobile app to submit complaints from your phone.

LA Documenter Julania Marechal-Raymond contributed reporting for this story. LA Documenters trains and pays LA residents to take notes at local government meetings around Los Angeles. You can find meeting notes and audio at losangeles.documenters.org

This story appeared first on LA Local.

The Los Angeles Metro Board voted unanimously Thursday to move forward with a plan that would create the first-ever seat for a regular transit rider on the agency’s governing board. Such a plan would need state approval before it becomes final.

Janice Hahn, an L.A. County supervisor and Metro Board member, introduced the motion.

Another motion put forward by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass passed on a 12-1 vote. That motion would also reserve a seat — one of the L.A. mayor’s three appointees — for a rider or rider advocate. Both rider seats would have voting power. The make up of the rest of the board would largely remain the same, although members asked Metro staff to further study adding a labor representative.

The L.A. Metro Board has an annual budget of nearly $10 billion and facilitates countywide transportation projects.

Earlier this year, a Metro committee began debating the future composition of its board. The discussion was prompted by Measure G, the voter-approved initiative that will expand the county Board of Supervisors from five to nine members, and add a position for an elected countywide executive.

Five of the Metro Board’s 13 voting seats are reserved for county supervisors. Bass’ motion maintains the five county seats and will leave it up to the Board of Supervisors to decide who, including the county executive, will have a seat on the Metro Board.

Lindsey Horvath, an L.A. County supervisor and Metro board member, cast the lone dissenting vote Thursday on Bass’ motion. Horvath said she supports the inclusion of a rider voice on the board, but had campaigned for a designated seat for the county executive.

“ The county executive will be the only elected seat to represent the entire county of Los Angeles,” Horvath told LAist before Thursday’s vote. “For that position to not be at the decision-making table on something as critical as transit solutions for the region ... makes absolutely no sense.”

The make up of the Metro Board is codified in the state’s public utilities code, so any proposed changes approved on Thursday will need another vote by legislators in Sacramento before they become official.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump feted Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Thursday, calling the team “one of the great brands anywhere in the world” during a Rose Garden event celebrating its second title in as many years.

Trump said the Dodgers edging the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 last fall capped “a hell of a series.” He indicated he was surprised to learn that the Dodgers had never before won consecutive titles but also mused about a third in a row.

“I’m thrilled to say welcome back to the White House,” he said. “And maybe I’ll see you again next year.”

The president saluted the team in the East Room in April 2025 to mark their 2024 World Series championship over the New York Yankees. He said before the latest event that he was most excited about meeting Ohtani, whom he compared at length to the legendary Babe Ruth — even saying the Dodgers star was arguably the best hitter and pitcher in baseball.

“It’s truly a great — when you talk about a brand — it’s one of the great brands anywhere in the world,” Trump said of the Dodgers. He spoke in front of a table with two World Series trophies and a Trump 47 jersey, which the team presented to him.

The Dodgers also gave Trump what looked like a replica of a World Series ring. That prompted Trump to exclaim: “Wow. Do I have to report this? I don’t want to report this” before slipping the ring into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

Trump says Iran war has kept him from following baseball closely

Those in the crowd wore blue Dodgers caps to guard against bright overhead sun, and the band played a jazzy instrumental version of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” before Trump took the stage.

Trump described last year’s World Series’ epic Game 3 during which the Dodgers won 6-5 in 18 innings. Trump said he stayed up until around 3 a.m. to watch, noting that “it was a long one, but it was amazing.”

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani.

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Alex Brandon

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AP

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“I thought it was a game that you were going to lose about four or five times, and you ended up winning,” he said, adding, “Luck is OK, too, right?” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts agreed: “Luck is OK.”

“But with talent you get a lot of luck,” Trump continued.

The president said he spoke briefly with Roberts before the event and learned that his team currently has the best record in baseball, noting, “I’ve been a little busy with Iran and some other things.”

That was his only reference during the event to fighting in the Middle East, which has escalated on both sides in recent days.

Roberts also spoke briefly, saying, “We’re going for a three-peat.”

Championship baseball teams have been coming to the White House since 1869, when President Ulysses S. Grant hosted the Cincinnati Red Stockings. They were the first fully professional team to visit the White House and went undefeated that season, though the World Series wasn’t established in its modern form until 1903.

Sports teams’ visits to the Trump White House have sometimes been a source of controversy. In 2018, the president rescinded an invitation to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after many players suggested they might skip such a trip.

Dodgers star right fielder Mookie Betts wasn’t at Thursday’s Rose Garden event, though he did make the 2025 visit. He said he prefers to spend the team’s scheduled days off with his family.

The Dodgers originally considered coming to the White House this past April during a series with the Washington Nationals, but a crowded early season schedule didn’t permit that. Instead, they’re in the nation’s capital during the off-day between a just-completed series against the Philadelphia Phillies and Friday’s opener against the New York Mets in Queens.

The White House has changed since the Dodgers’ last visit

Over the past year, Trump has revamped the Rose Garden and added a patio area reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. At Thursday’s event for the Dodgers, he referenced the “ Walk of Fame ” installed on the colonnade, which features plaques of past presidents along with partisan insults against Joe Biden and other Democrats.

“I could put some of the great Dodgers on the wall,” Trump joked, “but I figured maybe it’s more appropriate that we put the presidents.”

Trump, a baseball fan and New York native, has for years been closely associated with the Yankees, whose late, longtime owner George Steinbrenner was a close friend. Trump referenced Steinbrenner on Thursday, saying, “He would do anything to win” before telling the Dodgers’ team owners, “But you’re doing the same thing.”

The president isn’t always so complimentary of teams, though. During a rally in Georgia on Wednesday, he praised the ownership of the local Atlanta Braves and slammed the Mets for their sky-high payroll and losing record.

Trump was joined on stage during that event by former Braves manager Brian Snitker, and Mike Plant, president and CEO of the Braves Development Company.

”You know, the Mets have the highest salary in baseball, and they lose all the time,” Trump said then. "And I’m like, maybe we can steal this guy.”

“There are teams like that, where they never go down,” Trump said. “Then you have other teams — ‘We’re rebuilding.’ They’ve been rebuilding for years. I don’t want to mention teams ’cause I know all the owners. They’re all friends of mine.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republican Steve Hilton launched his general election campaign for California governor Wednesday with a gambit to win over left-leaning voters who dominate the state: Even if they loathe President Donald Trump, he said, they should consider voting for him.

During an event in Los Angeles, against the backdrop of a stinking, scorched food warehouse he described as a symbol of the state’s political incompetence, Hilton rolled out a list of campaign promises clearly aimed at residents buckling under California’s notoriously high cost of living. He vowed to bring the price of gasoline down to $3 a gallon, about half the current cost, cut residents’ utility bills in half, now among the nation’s highest, and eliminate state income taxes on the first $150,000 in earnings.

He blamed the state’s problems — from homelessness to low student test scores — squarely on Democrats, who hold every statewide office and supermajorities in the Legislature. He called Democrats a “rotten regime that has abandoned the working class.”

In his campaign remarks and ads he took out in leading newspapers throughout the state, Hilton addressed his relationship with Trump, who has endorsed him in the race.

“This is not about who you hate in Washington. It’s about what we love about California and what we can do to make California once again the best place anywhere in the country to start and raise a family, to start and run a business,” he said before a small group of supporters. “That’s what this election is about.”

Hilton’s maneuver is meant to create a sliver of distance from Trump without breaking from him. It’s a tacit nod to the political math in California, one of the nation’s most solidly Democratic states. Registered Republicans are outnumbered nearly 2-to-1 by Democratic voters, and a GOP candidate hasn’t won a statewide election since 2006.

Trump is widely unpopular in California outside his loyal conservative base. In 2016, Trump lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by 30 points; in 2020, he lost to Joe Biden by 29 points; and in 2024, he lost to Kamala Harris by 20 points.

California is regarded as the home of the so-called Trump resistance, where Democrats have effectively used Trump as a foil in campaigns to motivate voters. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom essentially nationalized the state’s fight over Proposition 50, which recast U.S. House districts to favor Democrats, by framing it as a confrontation with Trump. The measure notched a 29-point win.

The campaign of Hilton’s Democratic opponent, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, scoffed at the notion of Hilton being a change agent.

“Californians already know who Steve Hilton is: Trump’s puppet in California. His campaign is a promise to run our state the way Trump runs the country and we’re not buying it,” campaign spokesman Jonathan Underland said in a statement.

As for Hilton’s pitch that voters who dislike Trump should feel free to consider him in November, Underland said, “Steve Hilton cheers on a president whose illegal war has sent gas prices soaring and illegal tariffs have cost California families more than $2,500 this year alone. You can’t fix the affordability crisis while carrying water for the man causing it.”

In a heavily Democratic state, Hilton’s campaign is hoping his appeal to Democrats and independents will “give voters a permission slip” to look past the letter next to a candidate’s name, even in a nation deeply divided by partisanship.

“You do have a choice if you think that this state is going in the wrong direction,” he told supporters at a kickoff event in Boyle Heights, a Los Angeles neighborhood where residents have been complaining about the stench of rotting food, flies and rodents that followed a fire last month at a cold storage warehouse.

He was accompanied by Gloria Romero, a former Democratic state lawmaker who switched parties in 2024 and is this year’s Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. She delivered her own address in both English and Spanish, with supporters holding “Hilton-Romero” signs in the background.

Becerra, a former state lawmaker, congressman and state attorney general, is heavily favored to win the seat now held by Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate who is barred by law from seeking a third term. Hilton and Becerra emerged from a chaotic primary election in June that had more than 50 candidates on the ballot.

The race is unfolding at a time when California is facing multiple crises. Despite billions in spending, homelessness remains widespread, especially in larger cities. Multibillion-dollar budget gaps are projected into the future. Home prices remain out of reach for many residents. The home insurance market is in disarray, businesses and residents have been fleeing the state, and residents contend with some of the nation’s highest gas prices, taxes and utility bills.

Making good on his campaign promises won’t be an easy task for Hilton, a former adviser to ex-United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron who has never held elective office. The governor doesn’t control the oil or utility markets, but Hilton says he will get rid of mandates, taxes and fees that drive those prices higher. He also would likely need the consent of a Legislature controlled by Democrats to change the state’s income tax structure.

Hilton crowned his campaign kickoff with a 30-second TV ad underscoring the financial challenges for many families.

“Life here has become impossible for anyone who isn’t already rich,” he says. “Let’s fix California.”