On Tuesday, 26 of the 28 current Republican lawmakers to 鈥渋mmediately鈥� reconvene the state Legislature 鈥� which 鈥� for a session focused on those three topics.
鈥淭hese are urgent matters that cannot wait until next year for the Legislature to take action,鈥� the GOP lawmakers wrote. Republicans oppose 鈥� the same day the new Legislature will be sworn into office 鈥� to consider a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry, which Newsom has said will help bring down gas prices.
- Speaking of gas prices: California recently began sending to millions of residents to help cover the rising cost of living. And it turns out 鈥� y鈥檃ll have a lot of questions! .
Back to reconvening the Legislature: , Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon have 10 days to decide whether to grant the Republicans鈥� request. If they don鈥檛, a group of at least 10 lawmakers can then ask their colleagues to override the rejection, which would require the approval of two-thirds of legislators in both the Assembly and Senate.
- A spokesperson for Atkins said she was unavailable for comment. Rendon鈥檚 press office did not respond to a request for comment.
- Newsom spokesperson Alex Stack told me in a statement: 鈥淚n addition to the actions that Governor Newsom has already taken to lower gas prices, he looks forward to working with the legislature on additional measures to hold the big polluters accountable for gas price hikes, increase transparency, and put big oil鈥檚 record profits in the pockets of Californians. We don鈥檛 comment on hypothetical legislation.鈥�
Given that Republicans are a superminority in the Legislature 鈥� meaning Democrats don鈥檛 need their votes to pass legislation or the state budget 鈥� it seems highly unlikely that Democrats would greenlight their proposal to return early to Sacramento, especially with .
But in an exclusive interview at the California Republican Party鈥檚 Sacramento offices on Tuesday, Assembly GOP Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City said that even if the Legislature doesn鈥檛 immediately reconvene, he鈥檚 hopeful the policy proposals themselves will gain momentum.
- Gallagher told me: 鈥淚 think what we could see even more so, even in this next legislative session, is those moderate Democrats really pushing and actually joining with us on many of these measures to bring about change. That鈥檚 the thing that I think I鈥檓 more excited by.鈥�
Gallagher pointed out that some Democrats already support the proposals outlined in the Tuesday letter, including:
- Suspending the state gas tax. Indeed, Newsom himself , which . A bipartisan group of lawmakers also and requiring gas companies pass 100% of the savings on to consumers, but their colleagues . 鈥淲e鈥檙e ready to work on these real solutions that will actually bring down the price of gas,鈥� Gallagher said. 鈥淭he governor wants to talk about a windfall tax 鈥� I mean, does anybody seriously believe that a new tax is going to bring down your costs?鈥�
- Expanding the number of crimes considered 鈥渧iolent鈥� felonies under California penal code. Gallagher noted that he thinks certain crimes currently defined as 鈥渘onviolent鈥� 鈥� including domestic violence, human trafficking and rape of an unconscious person 鈥� should potentially be considered 鈥渧iolent.鈥� And he pointed out that other Democrats, including , have supported reclassifying certain crimes as violent felonies. 鈥淚 think there is majority support for these kinds of changes,鈥� Gallagher said. 鈥淩ape of an unconscious person 鈥� really? Why isn鈥檛 that a felony? We shouldn鈥檛 even have to really debate that.鈥�
- Declaring a homelessness state of emergency and banning encampments within 1,000 feet of sensitive areas. Gallagher cited Los Angeles, whose Democratic-led city council recently approved a controversial policy . And although Gallagher has long been a vocal opponent of California鈥檚 鈥� even suing Newsom over the constitutionality of one of his pandemic executive orders 鈥� he said he鈥檚 鈥渘ot opposed to emergencies 鈥� what I鈥檓 opposed to is abusing your power during those emergencies.鈥� California, he added, needs to treat homelessness 鈥渓ike the emergency that it really is. You know, COVID-19 is not an emergency anymore. But this is definitely an emergency.鈥�
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