California Democrats Plan To Take Measured Approach During Trump's Second Term | KQED

Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, December 16, 2024…

• The first time Donald Trump was elected president, blue state Democrats — particularly those from California — asserted themselves as the frontline of the resistance. Eight years later, they say they’re making an intentional decision to stay calm, at least for now.
• It’s official. California regulators are enforcing an agreement with the state’s largest insurance companies that they hope will stem the insurance crisis.
• Crews have been working around the clock in the community of Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains after a rare tornado touched down in the city on Saturday. At least five people were injured.

The first time Donald Trump was elected president, blue state Democrats — particularly those from California — asserted themselves as the frontline of the resistance. Eight years later, they say their best strategy for confronting a second Trump presidency is to stay calm.

Take California’s newly sworn-in U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff: The former House member garnered national attention during Trump’s first term. Schiff led the first impeachment of the president-elect, served on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, and regularly appeared on TV news as a spokesperson for a defiant Democratic party. However, as he begins his first term as senator, Schiff said his primary focus is on what he can get done for his home state. “We have a lot of serious challenges that people talk to me up and down the state as I traveled to California during the campaign,” he said, going on to cite the state’s high cost of living, water and air quality, and wildfires. “My first priority is solving those problems, meeting the needs of Californians.”

Schiff isn’t alone. As blue state Democrats brace for the president-elect to be sworn in again, even those he’s named as political enemies, like Schiff and others on the Jan. 6 committee, say they won’t be the ones picking a fight.

California Issues New Rules For Home Insurers

The state’s insurance department is requiring companies to write more policies in risky wildfire areas. In exchange it will let them use forward-looking risk models to set rates.