Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon faces recall effort

SACRAMENTO - Democrats control every lever of power in California state government, and free from worrying about major losses to Republicans, they’re training fire instead on each other.

The latest example is a recall effort against Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a strong progressive now targeted by party activists upset that he derailed a bill seeking government-funded health care for all.

The Rendon recall comes as the California Democratic Party contends with a protracted leadership battle that is as much about donors and messaging as it is about ideals. It follows a contentious battle among environmentalists over the state’s cap-and-trade law to fight climate change, which some thought was too deferential to oil companies.

While Democrats in California feud with Washington and proudly cast themselves as a foil to Republican President Donald Trump, they’re far from united at home.

For Rendon, the backlash began after he sidelined the bill, SB562, which looked to eliminate insurance companies in California and make state government the “single-payer” for health care services.

An image quickly made the rounds on social media showing an altered version of California’s flag: Instead of a grizzly bear walking on all fours, it showed the beast standing on its hind legs, a knife in its back, with “Rendon” printed on the blade.

A few days later, hundreds of activists filled the Capitol rotunda outside Rendon’s office, their chants echoing throughout the building.

Rendon said he supports single-payer health care in concept, but that SB562 was “woefully incomplete.” The measure lacked key details about how a single-payer system would function, including a plan to raise the estimated ?$400 billion it would cost.

“We’re going to continue to hold him and all other politicians accountable for their actions,” said Don Nielsen, government relations director for the California Nurses Association. “This is too important an issue.”

The nursing union, which made the altered flag image, was the driving force behind the single-payer bill and its ascendance as a rallying cry for progressive activists, but Nielsen said the group is not working on the Rendon recall effort. The union’s focus is on urging Democratic lawmakers to pressure Rendon to move the bill forward, he said.