Senate R’s to lay out their 2023 agenda + Bonta, Garland take Google to court

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

SENATE REPUBLICANS TO OUTLINE THEIR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

They may be in the minority, but the California Senate Republicans are set to outline big priorities Wednesday for this legislative session.

Homelessness, crime, the high cost of living, water storage, wildfires and schools will be part of the discussion, according to a caucus statement. Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, and Minority Caucus Chair Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, are expected to be joined by Sens. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber; Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks; Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Yucaipa, Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta and others.

“Life hasn’t been easy for the average Californian under one-party rule,” Jones said in a statement to The Bee. “Our caucus is prepared to fix the problems plaguing families up and down this state. Gavin Newsom’s ‘California way or the highway’ has people literally fleeing because of the high cost of living, worsening homelessness crisis, and failing schools.”

The press conference begins at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, at 914 Capitol Mall, the south side of the traffic circle. You can watch the presser here.

BONTA JOINS US DOJ IN SUING GOOGLE

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and eight other state attorneys general sued Google Tuesday, alleging that the tech giant has operated an unfair monopoly scheme in markets for advertising.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges that Google — which is headquartered in California — used its power to leverage control over the technologies that determine which web display ads were bought and sold, disproportionately impacting advertisers, small businesses, website creators and consumers.

“In many cases, a business’s online presence can make or break its success, and advertising is a key component in that equation,” Bonta said in a statement. “Google’s anticompetitive practices and obsessive need for control of ad tech markets has not only controlled pricing, but has stifled creativity in a space where innovation is crucial.”

According to Bonta’s office, web publishers currently sell more than 40 billion digital ads in the U.S. each day, generating more than $36 billion in annual revenue.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The weird thing about the ‘dress code’ on the floor of the California Legislature is that it’s really only for men. Female legislators have been able to wear pretty much whatever they want, whenever they want at least for the last 10 years.”

- Lorenda Gonzalez Fletcher of the California Labor Federation, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• Katie Porter, the feisty congresswoman from Orange County, is running for Senate. But does anyone north of the Los Angeles area know who she is? Does she have a chance? And will the incumbent, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, run again? Via David Lightman.

• Raising taxes on the super wealthy is a hurdle that even the nation’s most left-leaning states have yet to overcome. But that hasn’t discouraged a coalition of Democratic California lawmakers from trying again, via Maya Miller.

• A federal judge said Monday that he couldn’t make sense of a critical provision in a new law that punishes doctors for spreading false information about COVID-19 to their patients, via Stephen Hobbs.