Tag: gavin newsom

Gavin Newsom Blames Climate Change “Weather Events” for California’s Massive Financial Deficit

At a press conference, California Governor Gavin Newsom blamed climate change “weather events” for the significant shortfall in the state’s public finances.

A reporter asked Newsom the following question: “Can we explain to Californians how we moved from $100 billion surplus to such a significant deficit in just a few years?”

After blaming volatility and saying the shortfall was anticipated, Newsom then spoke about unanticipated “rain bombs” that prevented the collection of taxes on time.

“Therein lied [sic] this blackout period that beguiled all of us,” Newsom explained, clearly struggling for words.

“If there was any indication that climate change has impacts well beyond those that are often promoted, I would consider our financial delays as just another example of why we need to tackle them.”

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Gov. Newsom’s Revised Budget Still Doesn’t Add Up

Gov. Gavin Newsom raised his estimate of the state’s budget deficit from $38 billion in his January budget proposal to $44.9 billion in his May Revision released May 10. The plan would spend $187 billion from the general fund for fiscal year 2024–25, which begins on July 1. The California Constitution mandates the budget must be passed by lawmakers by June 15.

But the $44.9 billion immediately is reduced by $17.3 billion, the revised budget explains, thanks to a deal he made a month ago with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg).

That leaves $27.6 billion. We’ll have to wait until the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office releases its own analysis next week to get a more accurate picture. In February, the analyst’s office pegged the deficit at $73 billion. Whatever the actual enormity of the deficit, it’s a shocking flip from the $97 trillion surplus two years ago.

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Gavin Newsom Applauds Rollout Of AI Surveillance Network In California

If you’re not a criminal then you have nothing to hide, right?  This is the perpetual argument used in favor of state mass surveillance throughout history.  It’s the underlying justification at the birth of every surveillance agency from the Soviet Cheka to the German Stasi and beyond.  Don’t commit crimes and “you have nothing to worry about.”

Of course, this argument requires the public to overlook a simple and universal truth – That which is legal today can be made illegal tomorrow, and the people who make these decisions are often not good people.  With the ability to track and trace the behavior and movements of the citizenry in real time, the temptation to abuse that technology to increase government power is exponential.  That is to say, mass surveillance tends to inspire governments to abuse their authority and treat people like criminals even when they are innocent.

As we witnessed around the world during the pandemic lockdowns, authoritarianism can rear its ugly head without much warning and with incredible speed.  Some western countries (and even a few American states) aggressively sought to make resistance to covid restrictions criminal, to the point that authorities were legislating and even building “camps” designed to lock up covid offenders.  These plans were of course denied by political leaders even as they were putting the pieces in place to implement them. 

All of this was done in the name of a virus with a 99.8% survival rate.  What might they do when a legitimate crisis comes along?

We have seen how far our governments are willing to go to go to secure greater power over the populace; they have proven they’re not trustworthy enough to handle unilateral oversight. With real-time AI based surveillance in place the dangers are far greater.  Across the country there has been a quiet rollout of a new algorithm driven camera network from a company called Flock Safety.  

Flock offers AI integrated cameras with off-grid options (solar) that they say are meant primarily for license plate reading and vehicle identification.  California Governor Gavin Newsom recently applauded the creation of a new 480 camera network from Flock that will ostensibly focus on the Oakland metro area.

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Newsom Sued Over Transgender Policy, Teachers Claim They Are Forced To Lie To Parents

Teachers are suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta in federal court over policies they say force them to conceal the transgender status of young students from parents.

The lawsuit comes after the governor signed several laws in September 2023 that expanded California’s protections for LGBT individuals.

One law establishes timelines for required so-called cultural competency training for public school teachers and staff. Another law creates an advisory body to determine the needs of LGBT students. A further law requires families to demonstrate willingness to meet the needs of a child in foster care, regardless of the child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. There is also a law requiring elementary and secondary schools to have gender-neutral bathrooms for students.

“California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community, and we’re committed to the ongoing work to create safer, more inclusive spaces for all Californians,” Mr. Newsom said at the time.

“These measures will help protect vulnerable youth, promote acceptance, and create more supportive environments in our schools and communities.”

At the same time, the governor vetoed legislation that would have compelled judges making custody and visitation orders to consider whether a parent accepts a child’s professed gender identity.

In the lawsuit, San Diego-area teachers Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West, who are devout Christians, filed suit to object to policies they say mandate dishonesty.

The legal complaint in the case, Mirabelli v. Olson, was originally filed in April 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against the Escondido Union School District (EUSD), in San Diego County, and officials with the California State Board of Education.

The lawsuit was prompted by the K–8 school district’s recent policies affecting transgender students.

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Terrorists Win: Gavin Newsom Cancels Public Christmas Tree Lighting to Avoid Pro-Hamas Protesters, Plans “Pre-Recorded Virtual” Lighting Instead

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) canceled Tuesday’s scheduled annual public lighting of a Christmas tree on the grounds of the state Capitol in Sacramento in the face of a permitted 300 person pro-Hamas demonstration planned for the event. Newsom announced he will instead hold a “pre-recorded virtual ceremony” lighting of the Christmas tree on Wednesday.

Pro-Hamas demonstrators have disrupted Christmas tree lighting ceremonies around the country in the past two weeks, most famously in Nantucket, Massachusetts, with Joe Biden in attendance and at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

KCRA-TV reporter Ashley Zavala reported from the Capitol on the cancellation of the lighting and a planned holiday market. Zavala said a spokesperson for the governor said the public lighting was canceled for the “safety and security of all participating members and guests, including children and families” because of the protests that have occurred at other recent events.

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LA gangster who shot and paralyzed a 16-year-old girl now works for  California’s Department of Public Safety after Gavin Newsom slashed his 162 year sentence to just eight years

A former gangster who was sentenced to 162 years in prison for shooting and paralyzing a 16-year-old girl in 2012 is now working in the California capitol.

Jarad Nava, now 28, works as an assistant in the Department of Public Safety and is an advocate of prison reform. He was featured in a Los Angeles Times profile Thursday and credits California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom for his early release.

In 2012, while drunk and high, he shot into a car carrying the relatives of a rival gang member. One of the victims was 16-year-old Yesenia Castro, who was shot in the back. 

The bullet severed her spinal chord and she was paralyzed from the waist down. 

Nava, who was 17 at the time, rejected a plea deal that would have sentenced him to 30 years in prison. 

After trial, he was sentenced to 162 years in prison on four counts of attempted murder. 

In the years that followed, he was featured in a prison reform documentary that highlighted his case and the plight of young offenders who the filmmakers felt had been unfairly represented. 

Yesenia, his victim, was interviewed for the film and said she wanted him to spend 50 years in prison. 

‘When they arrested him, I felt relieved. I don’t want him to be dead or anything, I just want him to pay a price,’ she said.  

Despite that, his sentence was commuted to 10 years by Gavin Newsom. He eventually walked free in 2020, eight years after the shooting.

Film maker Scott Budnick then introduced him to Erika Contreras, the secretary of the State Senate who encouraged him to apply for an internship. 

Now, he works as an assistant on a committee deciding on prison reform initiatives. 

Newsom, gushing over how he has turned his life around, told The L.A. Times that he ‘cried’ when he saw him ‘dressed up’ in his suit working at the state capitol.

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Gov. Newsom says California to track residents from ‘cradle to career’ after China trip

After a trip to China, which uses a social credit score system, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the next phase of the state’s “Cradle to Career” system that uses more than one billion data points.

“By leveraging billions of data points, California’s Cradle-to-Career data system will be a game-changer for improving the quality of life for millions of Californians and highlighting ways to improve opportunity in the classroom and access to the workforce.”

The system is designed to “illuminate gaps and identify opportunities throughout students’ education experiences so they can ultimately reach their goals for life and careers” through data that includes “race, gender, ability, and geography to illuminate and address areas of strength and needed growth, and any inequities.”

“This milestone represents a significant step forward in our mission to establish a robust, comprehensive data system that provides a nuanced understanding of Californians’ educational and professional journeys,” said Mary Ann Bates, Executive Director of the California Cradle-to-Career Data System. “I want to thank our data partners for their unwavering commitment to ensuring that Californians will have validated, reliable data available to inform decisions. This collective effort will equip our state with the data and tools necessary to ensure that every Californian has the opportunity to succeed.”

The system is designed to be used by students, families, politicians, researchers, and policymakers, providing insights from a granular, individual level to the state as a whole.

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California Governor Newsom Vetoes Psychedelics Legalization, But Calls For New Bill On Therapeutic Access Next Year

The governor of California has vetoed a bill to legalize certain psychedelics and create a pathway to regulated access—a move that comes at a time when two states have already enacted comprehensive psychedelics policy reform and as two campaigns are working to put the issue on California’s 2024 ballot.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)—who was one of the most prominent and earliest lawmakers to call for an end to the war on drugs as mayor of San Francisco and later push for the legalization of cannabis as lieutenant governor of California—vetoed the bill, SB 58, from Sen. Scott Wiener (D) on Saturday.

In a veto message, the governor caveated that he wants the legislature to send him a new bill next year establishing guidelines for regulated therapeutic access to psychedelics and also consider a “potential” framework for broader decriminalization in the future. But at this stage, he’s unwilling to let the reform be enacted with his signature.

“Both peer-reviewed science and powerful personal anecdotes lead me to support new opportunities to address mental health through psychedelic medicines like those addressed in this bill,” Newsom said in a veto message on Saturday. “Psychedelics have proven to relieve people suffering from certain conditions such as depression, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and other addictive personality traits. This is an exciting frontier and California will be on the front-end of leading it.”

“California should immediately begin work to set up regulated treatment guidelines—replete with dosing information, therapeutic guidelines, rules to prevent against exploitation during guided treatments, and medical clearance of no underlying psychoses,” he continued.  “Unfortunately, this bill would decriminalize possession prior to these guidelines going into place, and I cannot sign it.”

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California Governor Signs Bills To Let Doctors Prescribe Psilocybin And MDMA If They’re Federally Rescheduled And To Change Marijuana Testing Rules

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has signed a bill that would allow doctors to immediately start prescribing certain currently illicit drugs like psilocybin and MDMA if they’re federally rescheduled, and he also approved separate legislation to amend THC variance testing requirements for marijuana.

The governor signed off on the measures—which are just two of more than a dozen cannabis and drug policy reform proposals on his desk—on Saturday.

AB 1021, sponsored by Assemblymembers Buffy Wicks (D), Isaac Bryan (D) and Corey Jackson (D), says that, if the federal government reschedules any Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), California health professionals will automatically be able to legally prescribe and dispense it.

This could be especially relevant to the psychedelics psilocybin and MDMA, which have been designated as breakthrough therapies by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are expected to be approved for medical use as early as next year.

Following a recent Phase 3 clinical trial, a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature last month found that treatment with MDMA reduced symptoms in patients with moderate to severe PTSD. The findings mean federal regulators could consider approving the drug for wider use as soon as next year.

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Illegal Chinese Bio-Lab Discovered in Fresno, California Was Subsidized by Gavin Newsom

The secret and illegal Chinese bio-lab that was recently discovered in Fresno, California, which was allegedly full of mice that were engineered to carry COVID-19, was subsidized by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Newsom is in the news constantly these days because he is basically the back-up plan for Democrats in 2024 if Biden can’t run. Do you think anyone in media will ask him about this?

Don’t count on it.

The California Globe reported:

Reedley Chinese COVID Lab Received Tax Credit of $360,000 From Gov. Newsom’s ‘GO-Biz’

At the epicenter of current controversy, an illegal California lab run by a Chinese biotech firm, Prestige Biotech, was recently discovered in a warehouse in Reedley, California. The lab contained mice which were genetically engineered to spread COVID-19.

According to National Review, “court documents further showed that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conducted tests on the more than 800 chemicals found at the site and that over 20 infectious agents were found present, including Hepatitis B and C, streptococcus pneumonia, chlamydia, rubella, and Herpes 1 and 5.” As a federal investigation is underway, where will the money trail lead us?…

A document released on March 24, 2019 by Governor Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development, a California Competes tax credit allocation agreement of $360,000 was cemented with UMI.

This seems kind of newsworthy, doesn’t it?

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