THE BUZZ— YIMBY, NIMBY, SCHMIMBY: Today, San Franciscans on the east side of town will decide between two Democratic Assembly candidates with competing philosophies and records on affordable housing in one of the nation’s thorniest and most expensive real estate markets.

David Campos and Matt Haney are facing off to take over the Assembly District 17, left vacant by David Chiu when he was appointed to serve as San Francisco city attorney last year. Haney and Campos were the top two vote-getters in the February primary, nearly tied with 36.4 percent and 35.7 percent of the vote, respectively.

Housing is a crucial issue in the race for this seat, which covers the Mission and the Financial District, where residents have long complained about housing costs. The concerns in San Francisco mirror statewide issues around affordability and the slow pace of construction, and both Haney and Campos have vowed to bring solutions to Sacramento.

Campos, who served on the Board of Supervisors until 2016 and is currently vice chair of the California Democratic Party, has caught some flak for opposing certain housing projects during his time in San Francisco City Hall. One Berkeley political science professor, David Broockman, recently authored a report on Campos’ alleged NIMBY (“not in my back yard”) tendencies, pointing out his district’s low rate of new housing construction (157 units per year) and that Campos has frequently repeated NIMBY talking points. Campos told The San Francisco Chronicle that the report was poorly done and biased, and that it failed to highlight his focus on keeping people in their homes and preventing no-fault evictions.

Haney, on the other hand, was praised by the same professor for a faster rate of housing construction in his city district (2,255 per year). Though Haney now gets the mark of approval from California YIMBY, too, he has opposed certain housing measures in the past, like Senate Bill 35, which streamlined housing construction in cities that couldn’t meet the stand-mandated minimum. Both Campos and Haney want more tenant protections and support greasing the construction tracks at the state level to get more houses built faster. Both want to extend the state’s eviction moratorium. And both want to overturn the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act, which allows landlords to raise the rent on rent-controlled units when they become vacant.

Haney also has the backing of Mayor London Breed, who will get to appoint his successor on the Board of Supervisors if he wins. Interest groups have bombarded voters with more than $1.8 million worth of outside spending since January, the bulk of it on Haney’s behalf, as organized labor and real estate interests spent heavily to promote Haney or diminish Campos — bolstering the perception, as does Breed’s nod, that Haney is the establishment pick. As the campaign unfolded, Haney’s fellow supervisors have beefed with him in public view.

Polls close at 8 p.m. tonight — though with turnout expected to be low, we likely won’t have to wait long for a clear victor to emerge. Whoever it is will have to turn around and defend their seat in the newly-drawn District 17 on June 7.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. Closely-watched legislation to place guardrails around kids’ social media use gets its first hearing today in the Assembly Privacy Committee — California’s contribution to a wider-ranging debate about protecting young people online.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up [email protected] and [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Yes, she’s a longtime friend, a proud public servant and someone he has long enjoyed serving with and working with.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki on whether President Joe Biden has trust in California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

TWEET OF THE DAY: Associated Press reporter Kathleen Ronayne @kronayne asks: “Is Tuolumne one of the most difficult words to spell in the world of California water? Or is that just for me?”

BONUS TOTD: Rufus Jeffris @rufe3 answers: “The most difficult word in the world of CA Water? Compromise”

WHERE’S GAVIN? In Butte County to highlight the state’s climate and drought response.

CHECK THIS OUT: Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, POLITICO predicted how every single midterm race will go — and things are looking good for the GOP. One of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents in the country is Rep. Mike Garcia in California’s 27th Congressional District. His district, north of Los Angeles, voted for President Joe Biden by 13 points.

Want to see more on how California is looking? Use our Election Forecast to see which races you need to watch this year — and who we think will win each one.

Later this week: Join us for a live discussion on California midterm races to watch. Tune into our Twitter Space on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. PT/ 2:30 p.m. ET as our reporters Lara Korte and Jeremy White break down the California midterm contests to keep an eye on this year. You can read their breakdown here.

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Throughout the pandemic, in California and communities across the country, CVS Health has been there. We’ve opened more than 4,800 COVID-19 test sites, administered 41 million tests and given 67 million vaccines. We’ve expanded access to prenatal and postpartum care via telemedicine, increased remote access to mental health services and invested in affordable housing to help build healthier communities. We’ve been on the frontlines, making health care easier to access and afford. Learn more.

GOING ON STRIKE — “Fed-up nurses walk out at Sutter Health and prepare to strike at Stanford hospitals,” by S.F. Chronicle’s Nanette Asimov: “Hospital nurses across California say they’ve reached a boiling point two years into the pandemic. Despite being hailed as health care heroes, they say they are exhausted from understaffing and overwork, and angered by offers of raises they consider puny.”

ABORTION — “Why I’m telling my abortion story now,” writes Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California President Jodi Hicks in the LA Times:  “The United States is facing the most consequential year for abortion rights since Roe vs. Wade was decided in 1973. And it isn’t just a matter of the pending Supreme Court decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Mississippi case that is likely to overturn Roe.”

NO MASKS REQUIRED — “TSA won’t enforce mask mandate for travel, following Florida ruling,” by POLITICO’s Alex Daugherty and Erin Banco.

 SEPARATION & SCANDAL — “Sonoma State president announces separation from husband amid sexual harassment claims,” by the Press Democrat’s Martin Espinoza. 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE — “California man exonerated after 32 years in prison,” by the AP: “A California man who spent more than three decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit was exonerated of the crime Monday, clearing the way for his release from prison, officials said.”

SPOTTY RECORD — “Rick Caruso missed nearly 40% of meetings as LAPD commissioner,” by the LA Times’ James Rainey: “Businessman Rick Caruso missed nearly 40% of Los Angeles Police Commission meetings when he served on the volunteer panel two decades ago, an attendance record far worse than his fellow commissioners.”

WHAT BASS CAN DO — “‘A metastasizing ​​crisis’: can Karen Bass end street encampments in LA?” by The Guardian’s Sam Levin: “Unveiling her homelessness platform in January, Bass made bold commitments: if elected, she would “end all street encampments”. She would provide housing to 15,000 unhoused people by the end of year one; rapidly get people off the street; convert empty properties into shelter; and build more permanent supportive housing.”

CA-38 — “Elections 2022: Get to know Rep. Linda Sánchez, two more candidates in 38th District race,” by the OC Register’s Brooke Staggs: “Sánchez is the heavy favorite to win an eleventh term in Congress this year, representing a solidly blue district.”

DAHLE’S HOPES — “What would Brian Dahle do as California governor?” by CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff: “After a decade in the GOP’s (super)minority in Sacramento, Dahle said he knows how to build relationships across the aisle and pass bipartisan legislation — inviting colleagues to his seed farm in Lassen County, bringing them fresh peaches from a neighbor and annually gifting them See’s candies, purchased through a fundraiser to help a local eighth grade class visit the state Capitol.”

AHEAD OF THE PACK — “Mullin pulls ahead in money race in Peninsula congressional contest,” by SF Chronicle’s Tal Kopan: “Assembly Member Kevin Mullin significantly outpaced his competition in fundraising for the open congressional seat in the Peninsula in the first quarter this year, turning around what was an initially disappointing showing in the opening weeks of the race.”

— “He spent 30 years in prison on a wrongful murder conviction. A Chesa Boudin campaign promise will free him,” by the SF Chronicle’s Joshua Sharpe. 

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PUBLIC PAIN — “A Rising Tally of Lonely Deaths on the Streets,” by NYT’s Thomas Fuller: “Across Los Angeles County last year, the unsheltered died in record numbers, an average of five homeless deaths a day, most in plain view of the world around them.”

DROUGHT SEASON — “Sonoma County proposes first-ever fees for well water pumping,” by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s Guy Kovner: “In a dramatic shift from California’s history of allowing landowners to freely pump and consume water from their own wells, Sonoma County’s rural residents and many others will soon begin paying for the water drawn from beneath their feet.”

PADILLA’S TAKE — “Column: ‘It’s not as bad as it looks.’ Alex Padilla on life in the Senate, and spicing up Capitol Hill,” by LA Times’ Mark Z. Barabak: “Padilla will be on the ballot twice in June, seeking to finish Harris’ term, which ends in January, and, separately, to obtain his own six-year lease on the Senate seat through 2028. He’s strongly favored to win.”

DEPP DRAMA — “Johnny Depp To Take The Stand Tomorrow In $50M Defamation Trial,” by Deadline’s  Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson: “The already harsh and often explicit court clash between Depp and Heard, who divorced in 2016 amidst restraining orders and competing media narratives, started when the actor sued his Rum Diary co-star in March 2019 in Virginia for a late 2018 Washington Post op-ed about domestic abuse and the potential fallout for victims.”

RAISING FEARS — “Silicon Valley’s COVID windfall raises alarms about region’s economy,” by The Mercury News’ Ethan Baron: “An unprecedented flow of riches is concentrating wealth among Silicon Valley companies that capitalized on the world’s locked-down lives amid the pandemic, raising fears that a dramatically lopsided recovery will warp the economic future for the Bay Area.”

— “California cannabis mega-factory eyes federal legalization of weed,” by Reuters’ Phil Lavelle: “The company behind a cannabis mega-factory in California is hoping federal legalization of the substance will allow it to expand distribution of joints, oils and edibles beyond the borders of the most populous U.S. state.”

INTERSTATE BUSINESS — “California bill would allow for interstate cannabis sales,” by POLITICO’s Alexander Nieves: California cannabis businesses would be authorized to sell and transport products across state lines under a bill that cleared its first state policy committee hearing Monday.MEDIA MATTERS:

EEK — “Man, 56, dies after getting trapped in Southern California car wash, police say,” by NBC’s David K. Li.COVID CONFUSION

— “Why do some people never get COVID while others get it several times, even if vaccinated?” by the SF Chronicle’s Danielle Echeverria.

— “Sherri Papini pleads guilty in faked kidnapping, awaits sentencing in Sacramento court,” by Sac Bee’s Sam Stanton.

BBQ TIME — “In West Oakland, Barbecue Is Back — With a Side of Fried Chicken,” by NYT’s Tejal Rao.

LOST IN TRANSLATION — “The quest to save Cantonese in a world dominated by Mandarin,” by the LA Times’ Anh Do.

William Carter … Jonathan Levy of EVgo

A message from CVS Health:

At CVS Health, we’re more than 300,000 caring employees ensuring Californians and millions of Americans can access health care services.

We have been offering COVID-19 vaccines at more than 9,600 CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide.

Nothing should stand in the way of mental health and well-being, so we have been increasing remote access to mental health services.

We have been supporting safer pregnancies and expanding access to prenatal and postpartum care via telemedicine.

Recognizing the strong connection between housing and health, we have been investing in affordable housing to support underserved populations and build healthier communities.

Every day, CVS Health works to bring quality, affordable health care into neighborhoods, homes and hands—so it’s never out of reach for anyone.

Healthier Happens Together.

Learn more.

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The post Campos and Haney’s San Francisco showdown- POLITICO appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

With Megan Messerly, Lauren Gardner, Sarah Owermohle, Alice Miranda Ollstein, Victoria Colliver, Megan Wilson and Darius Tahir

Editor’s Note: POLITICO Pulse is a free version of POLITICO Pro Health Care’s morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 am The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories . Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.

— Democratic governors are increasingly dropping Covid-19 mitigation measures.

— Eric Lander’s late-night resignation hung over Tuesday’s House hearing on the Biden administration’s proposed Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.

— Beth Cameron is leaving her global health security and biodefense role at the National Security Council.

It’s Wednesday. Welcome back to Pulse. Your pinch hitter normally resides over at FDA-focused Prescription Pulse. Send tips and feedback to David Lim ([email protected] or @davidalim).

A message from PhRMA:

Washington is talking about price setting of medicines, but it won’t stop insurers from shifting costs to you. And it will risk access to medicines and future cures. Instead, let’s cap your out-of-pocket costs, stop middlemen from pocketing your discounts and make insurance work for you. Let’s protect patients. It’s the right choice. learn more

LEARN TO LIVE WITH COVID — While Republican governors have long been eager to put the pandemic behind them, their Democratic counterparts are now following suit, Megan Messerly reports. On Monday, five states in the Northeast and West announced they would soon be loosening mask policies, and three more signaled they’re not far behind.

“We’re not going to manage Covid to zero,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democratic governor who on Monday announced he would lift the state’s school mask mandate. “We have to learn how to live with Covid as we move from a pandemic to the endemic phase of this virus.”

At the same time, health departments from Oregon to Maine have ended almost all of their government-run Covid-19 contact-tracing operations and shifted the responsibility to the public over the last few weeks.

What does it mean? Some health officials view the changes as a prelude to what managing Covid after the pandemic might look like, with individuals bearing the most responsibility for stopping the virus from spreading on day to day and health departments playing a supporting role in vaccinating, educating the public and stopping outbreaks in high-risk settings.

What do public health experts say? While politicians are eager to declare the pandemic is behind us as case counts continue to drop, public health experts are urging caution, noting warm weather and declining case counts have lulled Americans into a false sense of security before.

CAMERON LEAVING NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL — Beth Cameron, the National Security Council senior director for global health security and biodefense, is leaving her post this month after a year working in the Biden administration, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Cameron helped formulate President Joe Biden’s international strategy for fighting Covid-19 and worked intensively on the administration’s vaccine distribution across the world, POLITICO’s Erin Banco reports.

BIDEN TO TALK DRUG PRICES IN VIRGINIA — President Joe Biden will travel to Virginia on Thursday to discuss efforts by the government to lower prescription drug costs.

ARPA-H HEARING CLOUDED WITH LANDER COMPLAINTS — House lawmakers kicked off a Tuesday hearing on the president’s research agency proposal with talk of their missing guest — and what, if anything, it could mean for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, Sarah reports.

Former White House science adviser Eric Lander’s late-night resignation following POLITICO reports of staff bullying meant the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee hearing went forward without the president’s biggest champion for the proposed $6.5 billion agency. While ARPA-H still has broad bipartisan backing, other witnesses — fielded questions about where the new health initiative should reside and how to measure its success.

The NIH battle continues. A growing number of lawmakers don’t want to see the agency housed at the National Institutes of Health despite many people thinking it was a foregone conclusion last year. That includes Republicans like Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), who used Lander’s resignation as evidence of bigger problems.

“I’m not convinced that a brand-new agency is the answer to or would be able to overcome the institutional, cultural and bureaucratic barriers that are present at our federal scientific agencies,” McMorris Rodgers said.

… POLITICO also reported Tuesday night that Lander publicly promoted Covid-19 vaccination efforts while having a significant financial investment in one of the vaccine makers, according to financial disclosures.

COUNTING CALIFF COMMITMENTS — FDA commissioner nominee Robert Califf continues to make the rounds to Senate offices, but Democrats’ hopes for scheduling a vote before the next recess seem to be fading, your morning host and Lauren report. Conversations with more than 30 senators Tuesday indicated not much has changed on the cardiologist’s prospects in the chamber: many Republicans and Democrats remain undecided.

Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said she hopes to line up the vote during this work period, but that ends next week ahead of Presidents’ Day.

Meanwhile, some Republicans who previously backed Califf in 2016 continue to wrestle with their positions on the former FDA commissioner who backed agency staff decision-making on abortion pill mifepristone during his December confirmation hearing.

“It’s difficult when you vote for someone not to vote for him again, but there’s a lot of new information [that has] come up,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said. “I’ve got to consider that because I’m pro-life, you can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth.”

Senate GOP Whip John Thune said abortion remains a problem for him but added he hasn’t made up his mind. “I also know he’s going to be a lot better than some of the others they might nominate for that position, and that’s an argument that some of our pro-Califf members are making,” he said.

GOP LAWMAKERS ASK HHS, CMS TO JUSTIFY ALZHEIMER’S NCD — Seventy-eight House Republicans, including E&C ranking member McMorris Rodgers, sent a laundry list of questions to top Biden health officials Tuesday about a recent proposal that effectively limits Medicare coverage of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm to those in a clinical trial cleared by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“We are concerned that finalizing a decision to prohibit Medicare coverage for FDA approved [Alzheimer’s disease] treatments outside of government sanctioned randomized controlled trials could unnecessarily deny to patients and their families the hope of breakthrough AD treatments and further eroding Americans’ trust in their public health institutions,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.

FIRST IN PULSE: SENATORS PRESS FDA TO MAINTAIN OTC HEARING AID PROPOSAL — A bipartisan group of 11 senators are urging the FDA to stick to its guns and maintain core components of its proposal to establish an over-the-counter hearing aid market in the US in its final rule .

The letter urges the agency to maintain federal preemption of state laws governing OTC products and its proposed maximum sound pressure level for the new hearing aid category. The hearing aid industry is lobbying the FDA to adopt a lower amplification level than it initially proposed.

“To ensure the final regulation is consistent with congressional intent, we urge the FDA to exclude any unnecessary restrictions that prevent access to OTC devices or limit their effectiveness for Americans with mild or moderate hearing loss,” the senators — which include Edge Paul (R-Ky.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) — wrote to acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock.

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MERCK: 3.1M MOLNUPIRAVIR COURSES DELIVERED TO US GOVT — Pharmaceutical companies Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced Tuesday they fulfilled an agreement to deliver about 3.1 million courses of the oral Covid antiviral molnupiravir — which received emergency use authorization from the FDA in December — to the US government.

HOSPITALS AGAIN ASK CONGRESS FOR MORE MONEY — In a letter sent to congressional leadership on Tuesday, more than a half-dozen hospital and allied groups, including America’s Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, are pressing Congress again for more resources to help offset the costs of the pandemic, Megan Wilson reports.

FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS BIDEN’S FAMILY PLANNING RULE — A 3-judge panel at the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments on Tuesday by 11 GOP-controlled states that sought to block HHS’ rules for the Title X family planning program and reinstate Trump-era regulations banning abortion referrals.

Alice reports that the decision means, for now, the Biden administration can move forward on unwinding the conservative changes the Trump administration made to the Title X program, which provides free and subsidized contraception, STI tests and other services to millions of low-income people nationwide.

The new policy Biden unveiled last year is an attempt to return hundreds of Planned Parenthood clinics and other abortion providers to federal Title X network — providers that chose to leave rather than comply with Trump-era restrictions they considered a “gag rule.”

The federal judges that heard the case said they were not convinced that the states would suffer “irreparable harm” if Biden’s undoing of the Trump policy were allowed to proceed, and noted that several of the states had applied for family planning funding under the same Biden rules they were challenging in court.

What’s next: The group of red states, led by Ohio, is expected to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING — Do-over jury selection is slated to begin Wednesday in a federal class-action antitrust lawsuit against Sutter Health over accusations that the Sacramento-based hospital network abused its considerable market share, with opening statements set to start Thursday, POLITICO’s Victoria Colliver reports. Sutter Health officials have rejected the claims.

The Omicron surge delayed the Jan. 6 trial in the Northern District of California in San Francisco after a jury had been selected in December. The case, Sidibe v. Sutter Health, involves more than 3 million businesses and individuals who bought health insurance between 2006 and 2020. Damages could be as much as $1 billion.

In a separate antitrust case, the hospital network agreed to pay $575 million and adhere to a list of terms as part of a settlement finalized in August. The case was brought by a group representing self-funded employers and unions and California.

Phil Bongiorno is now senior vice president for advocacy and government relations for the American Academy of Physician Associates. He was most recently vice president for policy and government relations for the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.

Mohammed Sohail Chaudhry will be the FDA’s permanent chief technology officer. Chaudhry served at the agency in various capacities since 2015, most recently as acting CTO.

Johnson & Johnson temporarily paused production of its Covid-19 vaccine at a Dutch factory to manufacture a different vaccine, The New York Times’ Rebecca Robbins, Stephanie Nolen, Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland report.

Travel nurses are earning more than double what they did before the Covid-19 pandemic due to gaps in hospital workforces, The Wall Street Journal’s Stephanie Armor and Robbie Whelan report.

Amazon’s telehealth service is rolling out nationwide, CNBC’s Annie Palmer and Bertha Coombs report. The conglomerate plans to expand its in-person Amazon Care offerings to more than 20 cities later this year.

A message from PhRMA:

Washington is talking about price setting of medicines, but it won’t stop insurers from shifting costs to you. And it will risk access to medicines and future cures. Instead, let’s cap your out-of-pocket costs, stop middlemen from pocketing your discounts and make insurance work for you. Let’s protect patients. It’s the right choice. learn more

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