An emergency, special session of the Legislature, called by Gov. Newsom to "Trump-proof California," is not a partisan political exercise, but a rational, "evidence-based" policy response, state Senator Monique Limón says in a new interview.
"People aren't taking this from thin air," the Santa Barbara Democrat told Newsmakers this week. "It's important to recognize that the conversations about fear, about concern (of Trump) is evidence-based. And that evidence is what an incoming president has said."
Re-elected on the same night Donald Trump won a second presidential term, Limón joined her colleagues in Sacramento earlier this month, to begin formally preparing state government's response to what is expected to be a White House assault on California over policies including climate, disaster relief, health care and immigration. among others.
In promising an Administration based on "retribution," Trump during the campaign vowed to round up and deport millions of immigrants, many now working in agriculture and other industries in California; seek to cancel the state's tougher-than-national auto emissions standards; stop some federal health care payments for poor people, and override state water policy. Most chillingly, he threatened to block federal emergency aid for victims of wildfires and other natural disasters if California officials tried to oppose his actions.
The special session, which will reconvene in January as lawmakers begin the regular two-year term, has focused on approving additional money for the state Department of Justice for an extraordinary agenda of litigation expected to proceed as Trump officials seek to carry out his radical right-wing promises. During his first term, California was involved in 122 lawsuits defending state laws and polices against incursions by Trump.
"It's certainly a philosophy that is hard for me to understand," Limón said of Trump's menacing comments about disaster aid. "When we take that oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States and, in my case, the state of California as well, we make that oath to help our community. In a moment of crisis and emergency, we all help everybody."
In the second of our "Standing Up to Trump" series, the second-term senator discussed specific state concerns on a batch of issues including.
Immigration. "We don't know if we're talking about 10 million people, two million people, because those terms haven't yet been defined. I think for our state, what we do know is that our immigrant community plays a role including being prominent in some of our labor sectors. And so certainly when it comes to agriculture that has been in the top 10 sectors of our state for decades, that is going to be an area that we're watching closely."
Disaster relief. "To withdraw completely from being able to help our communities during a natural disaster, I think is really problematic. The state alone cannot pick up that type of assistance to our communities, Remember that we are a 'donor state' -- for every dollar that we send to the federal government, we don't get that full dollar back. We get cents back."
Climate and clean air. "Automakers want to sell cars here in the state of California and want to be partners. So the desire and interest isn't just from a body of elected officials to move in this direction. It's from our constituents, it's from automakers, it's from the market and business folks as well that see that this is the direction that the world is going in...California leads the way in these conversations. They see that sales do well in California and that matters to them."
.Women's health. "California has been working on this and hasn't stopped reinforcing the access to care, our funding even since 2016....And Assembly member Maggie Krell actually introduced a bill related to the (federal anti-abortion) Comstock Act on December 2nd. And so.. we are on it and we are making sure that any protections that we need to put in place that we're able to do it. "
Low-income health care regardless of immigration status. "We absolutely know that it is cheaper to provide ongoing care than to rely on emergency care. And so for the economics of it, it makes sense. A healthier community overall is a community that prospers in a very different way for us. We have moral reasons, we have economic reasons...but we know that it will still be challenged and we are prepared to defend it."
Limón said that within 48 hours of the election, her office began responding to concerns, particularly among Latino and LGBTQ constituents, arising from fear and foreboding triggered, cruelly and intentionally, by Trump's vicious, dehumanizing and hateful rhetoric.
"At the state, we've gone from acceptance mode to preparation mode and we'll go to action mode as we know more," she said. "Our action has to be tailored to what comes down. But we're prepared. "
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Check out our interview with state Senator Monqiue Limón via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. The podcast is here, or on Spotify, Apple, and other platforms, TVSB, Channel 17, airs the program every weeknight at 8 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the show at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
Further Reading
"Monique Limon," Digital Democracy, Calmatters.
"Special Session Jumpstarts Effort to Safeguard Californians from Potential Federal Overreach" -- Governor's office.
"Newsom Calls Special Session to 'Trump-Proof' California" -- Calmatters.
"Trump Team Eyes Funding Showdown with 'Sanctuary Cities" Over Immigration" --Washington Post.
-- California Department of Justice.