CA Sen. Laphonza Butler’s financial disclosure shows $700,000 EMILYs List salary

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Sen. Laphonza Butler earned $700,000 as president of EMILYs List, according to her financial disclosure, which all members of Congress are required to provide. It was first reported by Punchbowl

Butler, California’s first openly LGBTQ senator, served as president of the the organization that supports Democratic women running for office from 2021-2023.

Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed her to replace late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in October. Butler will serve as California Senator until next January, when a newly elected senator can take office. A few weeks after her appointment, Butler announced that she will not run for the Senate seat, leaving Reps. Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee, and Katie Porter to vie for it, as well as Republicans Steve Garvey

WELCOME BACK, LAWMAKERS! NOW, ABOUT THAT DEFICIT...

Via Lindsey Holden....

California lawmakers face a tough balancing act this year, as they attempt to remedy the state’s precarious financial situation while also advancing policy priorities and potentially running for re-election.

Legislators return to the Capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday for their first floor sessions of 2024. Assembly members and senators returned to a $68 billion budget gap, which they must tackle while pushing bill packages and making themselves look as attractive as possible to voters ahead of the March 5 primary election.

Democrats, especially those in purple districts, must fend off Republican attacks around crime, drugs and cost of living issues. And Gov. Gavin Newsom’s priorities and what many see as a shifting political philosophy will, of course, undergird everything.

REP. KEVIN KILEY GOT MARRIED. WHO IS CHELSEE GARDNER?

Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, got married in Auburn on Dec. 30 to Chelsee Gardner, a former children’s pastor at Rocklin’s controversial Destiny Church.

Gardner, 28, currently works as the Communications and Content Manager for Agape International Missions, a Roseville-based Christian organization whose vision is to join “God’s global movement to rescue, heal, and transform those impacted by sex trafficking.”

Gardner is the sister of Tiffany Saathoff, president of the Rocklin Unified School District who was also a Destiny Church pastor before stepping down to become Republican Assemblyman Joe Patterson’s Chief of Staff. Destiny is known for its political, conservative-leaning sermons and pastors.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Add professionals with advanced degrees to the CA Exodus. This is not going well.”

- Assemblyman James Gallagher, Republican Minority Leader, via X.

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