Newsom Faces Questions Over Panera Amid Fast Food Wage Law Exemption

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has increasingly been a national presence, flying to Washington to meet with President Biden, appearing on Sunday news shows and targeting conservative states with ads for reproductive rights.This week, however, a more local concern abruptly drew his attention to Sacramento: allegations that the Democratic governor favored a campaign donor who owns two dozen Panera Bread franchises by pushing for a carve-out in a new minimum wage law.The controversy, triggered by a report in Bloomberg, has unleashed a flurry of charges and countercharges. The State…