These New California Laws Take Effect July 2023

LOS ANGELES - As we pass the halfway mark of the 2023 calendar year, California Governor Gavin Newsom will sign about a dozen new bills.

The new laws will kick in Saturday. Included in the list are old convictions on criminal records being sealed, penalties for contractors without worker's comp insurance and a gun lawsuit bill.

Here is a look at some of the new laws that will impact your life beginning July 1, 2023.

Criminal Records Seals (SB-731)

SB-731 was signed into law last fall by Newsom, making California the first state in the nation to allow almost all old convictions on a person's criminal record to be permanently sealed.

The bill will automatically seal conviction and arrest records for most ex-offenders who are not convicted of another felony for four years after completing their sentences and any parole or probation. Records of arrests that don’t bring convictions also would be sealed.

The bill would apply to offenses like domestic violence. It excludes those convicted of serious and violent felonies and felonies requiring sex offender registration.

Workers Compensation (SB-216)

A contractor that doesn’t carry worker’s compensation insurance could lose their license as a result of this bill.

Worker’s compensation was already required, but starting July 1 this new penalty will be added.

Remote Court Appearances (SB-241)

SB-241 gave Californians the option to use video conferencing as an alternative to in-person court appearances. This bill expires Saturday, July 1.

Gun Lawsuits (SB-1327)

Private citizens can sue companies that make and sell firearms if they sell assault weapons or ghost gun products, which are already illegal in the state.

The bill carries a minimum bounty of $10,000 for violators.

 
Bounty Hunter Licensing (AB-2043)

This law mandates the licensing, education and registration of bounty hunters.

It was inspired by a Palm Springs family whose child was killed in Palm Springs in 2021 by an illegal bounty hunter.

Filing Restraining Orders Online (AB-2960)

This bill gives Californians the option to request and file for restraining orders related to domestic violence or gun violence electronically instead of having to show up to court in-person. The bill also requires the Department of Child Support Services or the local child support agency to issue a notice to change a payee on an issued support order.

Under this bill, a restraining order pertaining to domestic abuse or gun control may be requested or petitioned online.

ZEV Conversion Rebate (SB-301)

"High-volume third-party" merchants will have to supply data starting July 1 including contact details and bank account numbers.

Teacher Overpayments (AB-1667)

Under this bill, teachers cannot be asked to repay overpayments found in audit reports by CalSTRS, the state teachers’ pension.

In the past, payments paid to retired teachers had to be repaid when audits revealed that they had been calculated incorrectly.

Housing Laws (AB-2011) / (SB-6)

Construction of affordable multi-family housing on land that is zoned for commercial, retail or parking use is streamlined under AB-2011 and SB-6. It also strengthens wage laws and health benefits rules for construction contractors.

Firearms Civil Suits (AB-1594)

This bill establishes a firearm industry standard of conduct, which would require a firearm industry member to establish, implement and enforce reasonable controls. Members of the firearm industry must take reasonable precautions to ensure they don't sell, distribute or provide a firearm-related product to a downstream distributor. Those in the industry may not manufacture, market, import provide wholesale sales of "abnormally dangerous" products.

Juneteenth (AB-1655)

Juneteenth will now be added to the list of state holidays. This will mean community colleges and public schools will close schools in addition to state employees being given time off with pay on June 19.

----------------FOX NEWS

Governor Newsom Announces Appointments

Governor Gavin Newsom

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the following appointments:

Ilkay Altintas, of San Diego, has been appointed to the Wildfire Technology Research and Development Review Advisory Board. Altintas has been a Research Scientist at the University of California, San Diego since 2001. She has been Division Director of Cyberinfrastructure and Convergence Research and Education at the San Diego Supercomputer Center since 2021, where she has held several positions since 2014, including Chief of Staff, Director, Division Director and Deputy Coordinator. Altintas earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Computational Science from the University of Amsterdam and a Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Middle East Technical University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Altintas is registered without party preference.

Kristi Pawlowski, of Mather, has been appointed to the Veterinary Medical Board. Pawlowski has been Chief Insight Director for the Insight Veterinary Wellness Center since 2020. She has been Executive Director at the Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association since 1991. She was Owner and Hospital Manager of Banfield Pet Hospital of Lincoln from 2007 to 2016 and of Banfield Pet Hospital of Folsom from 2002 to 2016. Pawlowski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Pawlowski is a Democrat.

Nick Boyd, of El Cajon, has been appointed to the State Board of Behavioral Sciences. Boyd has been Director of Clinical Training for Counseling and Lead Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor at VA San Diego Health Care since 2020. He has been a Staff Therapist for the Cognitive Therapy Institute since 2019. He was a Study Therapist for VA San Diego Health Care from 2018 to 2020, a Consultant for the eScreening program there from 2017 to 2022 and an Assessment Therapist there from 2017 to 2018. He was a Psychological Health Consultant at the Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control at Leidos from 2015 to 2016. He was a Resiliency Trainer at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior from 2016 to 2017 and a Sex Offender Treatment Specialist at the Counseling and Psychotherapy Center from 2014 to 2016. He was Founder, Clinical Director and Lead Therapist at e3 Civic High from 2014 to 2015. He was a Clinical Counseling Trainee at North County Lifeline from 2013 to 2014 and a Clinical Counseling Trainee at Springall Academy from 2012 to 2013. Boyd is a member of the American Counseling Association, American Mental Health Counselors Association, California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, American Psychological Association and the American Academy on the Advancement of Science. Boyd earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Portland State University, a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of San Diego and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Counseling Education and Supervision from the University of the Cumberlands. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Boyd is a Democrat.

Devon Glazer, of Laguna Niguel, has been appointed to the Podiatric Medical Board of California. Glazer has been CEO and Podiatrist at Artisan Foot and Ankle Specialist since 2009. Glazer is a member of the California Podiatric Medical Association, American Podiatric Medical Association and the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Glazer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of North Texas and a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Glazer is registered without party preference.

Sumer Patel, of Santa Clara, has been appointed to the Podiatric Medical Board of California. Patel has been Chair of Foot and Ankle Surgery Chiefs at the Permanente Medical Group since 2016. He has been Assistant Physician in Chief at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center since 2022 and Physician Operating Room Director there since 2013. He has been a Foot and Ankle Surgeon at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center since 2000. Patel is a member of the American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons. Patel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Florida State University and a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degree from the California College of Podiatric Medicine. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Patel is a Democrat.

Anita Battle, of Alameda, has been appointed to the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services’ Private Security Disciplinary Review Committee, Northern California. Battle has been Senior Manager of Equity Programs at Equinox since 2020 and Senior Enablement Manager there since 2018. She was a Manager of Sales Training & Enablement at Visa CyberSource from 2017 to 2018 and a Strategic Relationships Manager at HireRight in 2015. She was a Senior Managerial Consultant of Sales & Account Management Strategy Execution for Kaiser Permanente from 2011 to 2014. Battle was a Senior Business Consultant on Information Technology for Kaiser Permanente from 2011 to 2014. She was a Senior Enterprise Sales Manager at Verizon from 1994 to 2011 and held several positions there from 1982 to 1994. Battle earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Battle is a Democrat.

Donald Kuehner, of Santa Clarita, has been appointed to the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services’ Private Security Disciplinary Review Committee, Southern California. Kuehner has been Institution Director at Pacific West Academy since 2018. He has been an Executive Protection Agent for Advanced Security Concepts Inc. since 2012. He was a Sales Associate at Bullet Barn Guns from 2014 to 2016. Kuehner served in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2012 and was honorably discharged at the rank of Staff Sergeant. Kuehner earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Operations and Supply Chain Management from California State University, Fullerton. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Kuehner is registered without party preference.

Claudia Sandino, of Lake Forest, has been appointed to the Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Sandino has been a Health and Safety Operations Manager for the Walt Disney Company since 2021 and was a Health and Safety Manager for the company from 2020 to 2021. She was a Production Payroll Accountant for ABC, FOX. Entertainment One and 4D Printing Inc. from 2018 to 2020. She was Director at Brain Balance Achievement Centers from 2013 to 2016. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Master of Science degree in Clinical Neuroscience from the Carrick Institute and a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life Chiropractic College West. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Sandino is a Republican.

Inside The Deepening Rivalry Between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis And California Gov. Gavin Newsom

FILE - This combination of photos shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaking in Sacramento, Calif., on June 24, 2022, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023, right. (AP Photo, File)

BY STEVE PEOPLES AND MICHAEL R. BLOOD

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom says there’s no chance “on God’s green earth” he’s running for president in 2024, but he wants to make clear that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running, is “weak” and “undisciplined” and “will be crushed by Donald Trump.”

DeSantis, meanwhile, likes to mock Newsom’s apparent “fixation” on Florida while insisting that the Democratic governor’s “leftist government” is destroying California.

Welcome to one of the fiercest rivalries in U.S. politics, featuring dueling term-limited governors who represent opposite ends of the ideological spectrum and lead two of the nation’s largest and most influential states. Newsom and DeSantis will not face each other on any ballot in 2024, but in many ways, they are defining the debate from their corners of America as the presidential primary season gets underway.

Newsom addressed his contempt for DeSantis and his loyalty to President Joe Biden in a recent interview just as the Florida governor launched a two-day fundraising trek spanning at least five stops across California. The Golden State has become one of DeSantis’ favorite punching bags as he tries to avoid a direct confrontation with his chief Republican presidential rival, Trump, and the former president’s escalating legal challenges.

“He’s taking his eye off the ball,” Newsom said of DeSantis’ escalating attacks against him. “And that’s not inconsistent with my own assessment of him, which is he is a weak candidate, and he is undisciplined and will be crushed by Donald Trump, and will soon be in third or fourth in national polls.”

Representatives for DeSantis did not make the governor available for an interview. Beneath the war of words, however, strategists in both parties suggest there may be a mutually beneficial dynamic at play. As they jab at each other’s policies and personalities through comments in the press and on social media, the governors are scoring points with their respective political bases, raising money and expanding their national brands.

Both men issued fundraising appeals Monday going after the other by name.

But it’s not all helpful.

Newsom, in particular, is facing nagging questions about his presidential ambitions less than a week after DeSantis dared him to “stop pussyfooting around” and launch a primary challenge against Biden.

The California governor, whose second and final term concludes at the end of 2026, has seen his national profile grow since he easily beat back a recall attempt in 2021 and cruised to reelection last fall. He finished the midterm campaign with roughly $16 million in the bank. And in March, he channeled $10 million to a new political action committee he’s calling the Campaign for Democracy.

All the while, Newsom’s team has been moving deliberately to avoid the perception that he’s running a shadow presidential campaign just as Biden ramps up his political activities.

For example, Newsom’s new PAC is initially focusing on challenging Republican leaders in deep-red states that are largely irrelevant in the 2024 presidential race. He campaigned in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi in April on his first trip associated with the PAC.

Newsom is expected to avoid battleground states or key presidential primary states for the foreseeable future, his allies say.

At the same time, the California governor and his team have been in regular contact with Biden and his top aides, including Jen O’Malley Dillon, who managed the president’s 2020 campaign and serves as deputy White House chief of staff. A Biden campaign official said the president’s team coordinates closely with Newsom.

“Newsom is not going to run against Joe Biden and never would. But life is long, and Newsom is one of the prominent national Democrats. It’s part of that role to have these big national battles,” longtime Newsom adviser and friend Nathan Ballard said of the feud with DeSantis.

“There is the 2024 election, and then there is a 2028 election,” Ballard added.

Indeed, veteran Democratic consultant Roy Behr, whose clients included former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, said the two governors are engaged in what could become an early preview of the 2028 presidential contest.

“It’s not inconceivable that four years from now, these two guys could be their respective parties’ nominees,” he said. In tangling with DeSantis, who is 44, the 55-year-old Newsom is building his national brand and visibility and is “certainly trying to create opportunities for himself.”

Sacramento-based Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta said he expected the ongoing rivalry to continue given that it’s beneficial for both politicians with their core supporters. He described Newsom and DeSantis as “frenemies.”

“They both get points off it,” Acosta said. “There is a hard core of voters on both sides who think this is great.”

While polling shows that many Democrats don’t want the 80-year-old Biden to seek a second term, Newsom said there are no circumstances in which he would challenge the sitting president of his own party.

“Not on God’s green earth, as the phrase goes,” Newsom said in the weekend interview, adding that he would be with Biden on Monday and hosting a fundraiser for him Tuesday. “I have been pretty consistently — including recently on Fox News — making the case for his candidacy.”

DeSantis did not plan to make any public appearances during his California fundraising tour, which included stops in Sacramento and the Bay Area on Monday and continues Tuesday with events planned for San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles.

Over the weekend in Nevada, DeSantis noted that he’s seen a surge of “disgruntled Californians” moving to Florida.

“Why would you leave like a San Diego to come to say, Jacksonville, Florida? I see people doing that,” DeSantis told thousands of conservative activists at a weekend gathering close to the California border. “It’s because leftist government is destroying that state. Leftist government is destroying cities all over our country. It’s destroying other states.”

Former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt, who hosted the weekend event and leads the pro-DeSantis super PAC, said the policy contrast between the leaders of Florida and California is “a debate that our whole country needs to have.”

“California has been the model for many leftist policies. I would take the contrast between Florida’s policies and its results led by Gov. DeSantis and the California policies, any day of the week,” Laxalt said in an interview. “We can already see what leftist policies do.”

Both DeSantis and Newsom took office in 2019 and won reelection for their second and final terms in 2022. While in office, both have been buoyed by multiple billion-dollar budget surpluses and the help of statehouses controlled by their own party that supercharged their agendas.

In California, Newsom expanded the state’s Medicaid program to cover all eligible adults, regardless of their immigration status. He signed a raft of legislation to make it easier to get an abortion, including authorizing $20 million in state spending to help people from other states travel to California. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to strike down an abortion law in Texas that was enforced by private lawsuits, Newsom signed a similar law in California — only he made it about guns.

And earlier this month, he proposed amending the U.S. Constitution to institute what he called a “reasonable” waiting period for all gun purchases, a ban on so-called assault rifles, universal background checks and raising the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21.

“I think Gavin Newsom is a very useful foil for Ron DeSantis, quite frankly,” said Lanhee Chen, a California Republican who attended one of DeSantis’ five California fundraisers this week. “The more kinds of crazy things that Newsom does — at least, crazy in the in the eyes of Republican voters — the more I think Ron DeSantis frankly benefits as somebody who seen as a counterweight to that.”

In Florida, DeSantis has leaned into cultural conservative issues in what he calls his “war on woke.”

Earlier this month, his administration flew groups of migrants from Texas to Sacramento to draw attention to the influx of Latin American immigrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. He did the same last fall, sending dozens of immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, which he often highlights during his stump speeches.

DeSantis also signed and then expanded the Parental Rights in Education bill — known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in Florida public schools for all grades. He seized control of Disney World’s governing body after the company publicly opposed the law.

The Florida governor this year also signed a law banning abortions at six weeks, which is before most women realize they’re pregnant. And he took control of a liberal arts college that he believed was indoctrinating students with leftist ideology.

While DeSantis does not have the legal entanglements that Trump faces, Newsom said Democrats may be wrong to assume the former president would be an easier candidate to defeat in the 2024 general election.

“I see deep weakness — I refer to it often — weakness with DeSantis masquerading as strength,” Newsom said. “I think he’d be a more favored candidate. But I’ll leave that judgment to more objective minds.”

Associated Press writers Adam Beam in Sacramento and Michelle Price in New York contributed.

DeSantis Ratchets Up Feud With Newsom And Dares California Governor To Take On Biden In 2024

This combination of photos shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaking in Sacramento, Calif., on June 24, 2022, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023, right. (AP Photo)

BY STEVE PEOPLES

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida escalated his feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, daring the West Coast Democrat to “stop pussyfooting around” and launch a primary challenge against President Joe Biden.

DeSantis, who announced his presidential campaign late last month, took on Newsom during a news conference in Florida in which he was asked about Newsom’s recent comments to Fox News agreeing to a hypothetical debate with DeSantis hosted by Sean Hannity.

“He’s got huge problems in his state –- I mean, like, huge problems in his state,” DeSantis said. “Yet with all those problems, he has a real serious fixation on the state of Florida. I think it’s just bizarre.”

DeSantis then turned to the Democrats’ 2024 primary election, in which Biden is facing only token opposition.

“You know what? Stop pussyfooting around,” DeSantis said. “Are you gonna throw your hat in the ring and challenge Joe? Are you going to get in and do it? Or are you just gonna sit on the sidelines and chirp?”

DeSantis’ jab comes as he shies away from confrontation with his chief rival in the GOP’s White House primary, former President Donald Trump. Newsom has previously said he would not challenge Biden in 2024 but has taken steps to boost his national profile in recent months.

While several of Trump’s Republican rivals have raised concerns about his federal indictment, DeSantis has largely avoided the subject. The governor made only a brief mention of the charges in a weekend speech to the North Carolina GOP during which he focused his censure on the Justice Department and the Biden administration.

DeSantis has been much more willing to lean into fights against Democrats and the media.

For example, a pro-DeSantis super political action committee released a video Thursday titled “Punching Back” that highlights DeSantis’ frequent confrontations with the media.

A Newsom spokesperson did not respond directly to DeSantis’ latest comments, but did note that Newsom attended Disneyland’s Pride night this week with company CEO Bob Iger. Disney has sued DeSantis, alleging the governor undertook a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a Florida law that critics call “ Don’t Say Gay.”

Ace Smith, a senior Newsom adviser, responded to DeSantis’ new broadside on Twitter: “Your whining is very unpresidential!”

CALIFORNIA’S NEWSOM PUSHES CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO TIGHTEN GUN ACCESS AMID 2024 CAMPAIGN

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom answers questions at a press conference in Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 1, 2023. Newsom announced Thursday, June 8, 2023, that he is proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that would enshrine into law gun regulations including universal background checks and raising the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21, his latest foray into national politics. (Renée C. Byer/The Sacramento Bee via AP, File) 

BY MICHAEL R. BLOOD

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (AP)--Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Thursday amending the U.S. Constitution to harden federal gun laws amid a surge of mass killings across the nation, his latest step onto the national stage amid the unfolding 2024 White House campaign.

With the U.S. bitterly divided over gun rights and the 2nd Amendment, the chances of recasting the Constitution to enshrine universal background checks, a waiting period to buy firearms and other restrictions into law appeared remote. A new amendment has not been added since 1992.

Newsom has denied any interest in a presidential run and is supporting President Joe Biden’s reelection bid. But his proposal marked his latest maneuver in what has taken on the look of a shadow campaign as he injects himself into the national discussion on guns, abortion, immigration and other contentious issues.

He’s been in a running dispute with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, and traveled to Florida in April to criticize what he said are GOP efforts to tread on LGBTQ+ rights, weaken civil and voting rights, ban abortion and marginalize people of color. They’ve recently clashed after Florida picked up asylum-seekers on the Texas border and took them by private jet to California — Newsom called DeSantis a “small, pathetic man.”

Newsom — positioning himself as a liberal counterweight to national Republicans — has argued that Democrats have been too passive in the country’s culture wars and warned that the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority could unravel decades of court rulings that could redefine what it means to live in America.

Indeed, Newsom told NBC’s “The Today Show” in an interview that his proposal was crafted in response to federal courts rolling back several gun safety laws. In 2022, for example, the Supreme Court rejected a century-old New York law that made it difficult to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun.

“The gun lobby says we can’t stop the carnage America now experiences every day without violating the 2nd Amendment — that thoughts and prayers are the best we can do ... that’s a lie,” Newsom said in a statement. “In this country, we do have the power to change things. That power is written into the Constitution, and today we’re using it to end America’s gun violence crisis.”

During a walkover re-election last year in the heavily Democratic state and into 2023, Newsom has appeared eager to test the traditional role of a governor. He’s been seeking out the national spotlight, formed a political action committee with surplus campaign money to support Democratic candidates in Republican-led states and traveled the country to criticize GOP policies and promote California as a haven for what he calls fundamental rights, including same-sex marriage, freedom of speech and abortion.

During his re-election campaign, he spent money on ads in Florida and Texas to poke at the policies of two of his political foils, DeSantis and Gov. Greg Abbott.

Speaking in Austin, Texas, in September, he warned that Democrats needed a more aggressive strategy with critical rights on the line, saying of Republicans, “These guys are ruthless on the other side.”

Veteran Democratic consultant Roger Salazar said Newsom was “going on offense” in hopes of influencing federal policies that impact California and the nation. But it also has the benefit of elevating his national profile and potentially increasing his fundraising clout, with speculation about his political ambitions.

Should he decide to seek national office in the future, “this is a great way to set himself up for it,” Salazar said. “All these activities and actions are ones he can put in his political piggy bank, so to speak, and use them down the road.”

“Five years is not that long,” he added, referring to the 2028 presidential campaign.

Newsom’s proposed 28th Amendment has four prongs: It would institute what he called a “reasonable” waiting period for all gun purchases, ban so-called assault rifles throughout the country, require universal background checks and raise the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21.

Amending the Constitution requires support from two-thirds of the members of both chambers of Congress, or for 33 states to support the effort and call for holding a constitutional convention. A proposed amendment then must be ratified by three-fourths of state Legislatures or ratifying conventions.

As of early May, the U.S. was on a record pace for mass killings, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in a partnership with Northeastern University. The database counts killings involving four or more fatalities, not including the perpetrator, the same standard as the FBI, and tracks a number of variables for each.

There have been 26 mass killing incidents so far this year, the most in any year so far during the period for which data has been compiled. Those incidents left 131 people dead.

“There’s not a parent out there, not one parent, you included, that doesn’t think about these things when you send your kids to school,” Newsom told NBC.

Newsom said he will work with supporters, elected and civic leaders and diverse coalitions to push for resolutions on the amendment to be passed in other state legislatures. He said he believes he can be successful because a majority of Americans say they want stricter gun laws.

Newsom said he will run his efforts through his new political committee, Campaign for Democracy. He ended his last campaign with more than $16 million left in his political account, some of which will be spent on his new effort.

Associated Press writer Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.

California Gov. Newsom spars with Fox News host Hannity over Biden, immigration and the economy

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference in Paramount Calif., Monday, May 1, 2023. Late Monday, June 12, 2023, Newsom sparred with Fox News host Sean Hannity, insisting President Joe Biden is physically fit for a second term as president while refusing to say whether supporters have urged him to replace Biden on the 2024 ballot. (Hans Gutknecht/The Orange County Register via AP, File)

BY ADAM BEAM

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom sparred with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday night, insisting President Joe Biden is physically fit for a second term as president while refusing to say whether supporters have urged him to run against Biden on the 2024 ballot.

Asked if he believes Biden is “cognitively strong enough to be president,” Newsom said yes, adding that he talks with the president “all the time” and has traveled with him aboard Air Force One.

’You never answered my question directly,” Hannity responded. “How many times does your phone ping a day, people saying you need to get in this race because they agree with me that he’s not up to the job.”

Newsom stammered somewhat before responding: “I’m not answering.”

Newsom has repeatedly said he has no interest in running for president, saying he completely supports Biden’s reelection campaign. In April, Newsom raised money for Biden during a fundraiser in Washington shortly after the president announced his reelection campaign

But Newsom has continued to raise his national profile, fueling more speculation that he is laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign beyond 2024. After coasting to reelection as governor in 2022, Newsom took the millions of dollars left over in his campaign account to start a new political action committee.

Newsom said he plans to use the money to support Democrats running for office in Republican-dominated states like Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. Last week, Newsom said the committee would campaign for a 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution to harden federal gun laws.

Fox News said Monday was Newsom’s first interview on the network since 2010, back when Newsom was the mayor of San Francisco. Since then, Newsom has often joined the chorus of criticism against the conservative news outlet from Democrats who object to its coverage of guns and how some of the network’s hosts have embraced former President Donald Trump.

Last year, Newsom conceded that Republicans were “winning right now” in part because he said Democrats were too timid, giving conservatives the most compelling narrative over the airwaves. He has since opted for a more confrontational style — which includes Fox News. Newsom has said he is a regular viewer of the network. Last year, his campaign paid for an ad on Fox News in Florida and urging residents there to “join us in California.”

“We need more of these kinds of conversations, and we need to not just accuse each other of misleading the American people, but I think confront each other in the context of providing opportunities to address some of the facts that are often omitted in terms of the conversations and topics we choose to pick up,” Newsom said.

Monday’s interview had plenty of confrontation, with Hannity and Newsom often talking over each other. Hannity noted California lost population for the first time in its history as a state while Newsom was in office, offering that as evidence that the policies of Newsom and his fellow Democrats have failed. That includes California’s income taxes, with a top rate of 13.3% that is the highest in the nation.

Newsom pushed back that only the wealthy pay that 13.3% income tax rate. He said that top tax rate was established before he was governor, emphasizing that he has opposed new tax increases on the wealthy, including campaigning against a proposal on the 2022 ballot that would have raised taxes on the wealthy to pay for more zero-emission vehicles and to help fight wildfires.

“I’ve never been a profligate Democrat. I’ve balanced budgets. We make the hard choices. I’m a business guy,” Newsom said.

The interview was recorded previously in Sacramento before airing on Monday night. Hannity defended Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ use of taxpayer funds to fly migrants to California.

“You are an open sanctuary state! Why don’t you embrace them,” Hannity asked

“We embrace everybody here,” Newsom said. “I sat down with these migrants. I talked to every single one of them. They were lied to, they were misled.”

But it wasn’t all criticism from Newsom. The governor said he had a good relationship with former Republican President Donald Trump during the coronavirus pandemic, saying Trump “played no politics during COVID with California.”

“I’ve got a lot of critique from the left by saying that,” Newsom said.

While the interview took up the full hour of Hannity’s show on Monday, the two men still had more to talk about. Hannity said the rest of the interview will air later this week.

California To Keep Paying Walgreens Despite Abortion Dispute

FILE - A palm tree is reflected in the window of a Walgreens pharmacy in Los Angeles, Friday, March 10, 2023. California's Medicaid program will continue to pay Walgreens about $1.5 billion each year. That's despite Gov. Gavin Newsom declaring last month that the state would no longer do business with the pharmacy giant. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (AP) — California’s Medicaid program will continue to pay Walgreens about $1.5 billion each year despite Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom declaring last month the state was done doing business with the pharmacy giant after it indicated it would not sell abortion pills by mail in some states.

“California won’t be doing business with @Walgreens -- or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk. We’re done,” Newsom tweeted March 6.

He then ordered his administration not to renew a $54 million contract with the company to provide prescription medication to the state’s prison system.

But cutting ties with Walgreens wasn’t as clear cut as the governor first indicated. Walgreens has a much more lucrative connection to California’s Medicaid program — the joint federal and state health insurance program for people who are disabled or have low incomes. Federal law says Medicaid patients have the right to fill prescriptions from any willing and qualified provider.

That includes Walgreens.

Last year, California’s Medicaid program paid the company more than $1.5 billion. The California Department of Health Care Services said California will continue to comply with that law, Kaiser Health News reported.

“California has no intention of taking any action that would violate federal Medicaid requirements, or that could undermine access for low-income individuals,” said Tony Cava, spokesman for the California Department of Health Care Services.

Anthony York, spokesman for the governor, also told Kaiser Health News that the Newsom administration had invited Walgreens to apply again for the $54 million contract the state chose not to renew last month.

“Tweeting is not policy,” York told the news outlet.

This is not the first time Newsom has made a splashy announcement without first working out all of the details behind it. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Newsom administration quickly signed a contract to purchase masks and other personal protective equipment, frustrating some lawmakers who did not know the details.

Newsom’s spat with Walgreens began after the company indicated it would not distribute abortion pills by mail in some conservative states. That pill, mifepristone, when combined with another pill, will end a pregnancy. It’s been approved since 2000 in the U.S. for use up to the 10th week of pregnancy. Today, more than half of all abortions in the U.S. are done this way, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Several states have taken steps to restrict mifepristone, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections last year. Earlier this year, attorneys general in 20 states, mostly with Republican governors, warned Walgreens it could face legal consequences if it distributed mifepristone in their states. Walgreens responded by saying it would not distribute mifepristone in states where it is not legal to do so.

On Friday, Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman referred questions to Newsom’s office. But Engerman reiterated the company’s position about abortion pills.

“Walgreens plans to dispense mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so,” Engerman said. “Once we are certified by the FDA, we will dispense this medication consistent with federal and state laws. Providing legally approved medications to patients is what pharmacies do, and is rooted in our commitment to the communities in which we operate.”

Newsom’s former chief of staff, Ann O’Leary, represented Walgreens in discussions with the Newsom administration over the issue last month, Politico reported.

Gavin Newsom Moved To Close 4 California Prisons. How Many More Can He Shut?

Governor Gavin Newsom
 

BY NIGEL DUARA

California spends more than $15 billion a year on its prison system. Now, with the number of people behind bars plummeting, the Newsom administration is moving to shut down more institutions.

California used to need lots and lots of prisons. Big prisons, little prisons, prisons with special cells for gang leaders and prisons for those convicted of nonviolent financial chicanery. There were so many prisoners packed into so many prisons that federal courts intervened, mandating that the state find a way to alleviate the overcrowding.

At the inmate population’s peak in 2006, California incarcerated 165,000 people in state prisons.

Today — after a decade of sentencing reforms and a surge of releases tied to COVID-19 — California prisons house a little more than 95,000 people.

So how many prisons does California actually need?

“Difficult decisions have to be made, but if we don’t make those decisions, the alternative is paying hundreds of millions for prison beds we don’t need to be paying for,” said Caitlin O’Neil, an analyst at the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

O’Neil is the co-author of a new report that lays out how the state can close up to nine of its 33 prisons and eight yards within operating prisons while still complying with a federal court order that caps the system’s capacity.

The potential closures signal a seachange in California criminal justice, representing the wind-down of the tough-on-crime policies that packed prisons in the 1990s and offering one of the few ways the state can cut costs in its $18 billion prison system.

California prisons held about 120,000 inmates as recently as 2019. That year, newly elected Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a goal to close a single prison during his tenure.

“I would like to see, in my lifetime and hopefully my tenure, that we shut down a state prison,” he said that year in an interview with The Fresno Bee editorial board.

Since then, he has already effectively closed two and his administration has plans underway to shut at least two more.

In September 2021, the state closed Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy. The California Correctional Center in Susanville is scheduled to close in June, along with yards at six other prisons.

Two other prisons, in Blythe and in California City, are scheduled to close by March 2025.

Even after those shutdowns, according to the LAO analysis, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has the space to close five more entire prisons by 2027. Today, the corrections department operates 15,000 empty beds, according to the LAO. That number is expected to reach 20,000 empty beds by 2027.

“The state pays for empty beds, and that number hasn’t been justified at this point, “O’Neil said. “It’s really just math, simple arithmetic.”

Some of the communities are rallying to fight the closures. Susanville unsuccessfully sued the state to halt the shutdown of California Correctional Center. Officials in Blythe are making their own plan to lobby for local jobs.

“You’re going to lose prison families and their children,” said Blythe Vice Mayor Johnny Rodriguez. “If they do close this, all these families have to go somewhere else.”

Which California prisons should close?

The state is committed to reducing its inmate population, a process that began in earnest with new laws in 2011 that diverted more convicted people from prison to local jails.

California now spends about $106,000 each year to keep a person incarcerated for a year, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Political support for those expenses has been dropping, particularly among Democrats.

The goal, O’Neil wrote in the LAO report, should be for the state to avoid spending on major capital improvement projects at a prison, then deciding to shut it down, like the audio-visual surveillance system installed at the prison in Blythe, or the $31 million health care facility built at the California City prison in 2021 – just months before the state announced its closure.

But deciding which facilities to close based on their infrastructure needs has proven to be a frustrating analysis for legislators.

Assembly Budget Committee chairman Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat, said the report is “significant,” but wonders how to implement the closures when he has had trouble parsing just how the prison system chooses which facilities it plans to mothball.

“We appreciate and we understand how difficult the job is that they are doing, but it has been difficult getting the most basic information,” Ting said. “Like for example, we asked for information on capital planning, so instead of actually giving us a plan, they just told us all the deferred maintenance for every single facility across all the prisons.

“Uh, well, that’s fine, but they didn’t tell us what’s the schedule, which ones are taken first, which ones they’re doing last. And then when they present the report to us, with their budget requests, they don’t really give us any sense of how they were prioritized.”

CDCR did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment. Neither did the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the union representing prison guards.
Some advocates want fewer prisons.

For prison abolitionists like Woods Ervin, co-director of the anti-prison activist group Critical Resistance, the LAO report’s conclusions were “super exciting” and come close to their group’s goals of closing ten prisons, and announcing the closures by 2025.

“This is big,” Ervin said.

Once the prisons close, Ervin said, prison abolitionists are also watching what becomes of the facilities themselves.

“We clearly don’t want public facilities to become privatized and then reused for immigration detention,” Ervin said. ”Nor do we want it to be used for any kind of extractive industry.”

The closures, they said, should be followed by the state directing money to both the communities that lose a prison and to the home communities of the people who were incarcerated.

What happened in Susanville

The question of what becomes of a town that once relied on a prison played out in Susanville last year, where the 1,600-bed, minimum-security California Correctional Center was scheduled for closure before the city sued in state court, claiming the shutdown violated environmental laws and failed to follow the prison system’s own rules for choosing which facilities to close.

A judge dismissed the case when the Legislature passed a bill that exempted all prison closures from environmental review.

City officials in Blythe watched what happened in Susanville and worried. Their facility, the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, is scheduled to close by March 2025.

Blythe is a rural community dependent on its prison not just for jobs, but the ripple effects of a big employer, said Rodriguez, the city’s vice mayor. The prisoners who cannot be treated in prison come to the community hospital, which means more medical jobs in town. The schools will shrink, he said, and teachers will lose their jobs. The inmate program at Palo Verde College would disappear, costing the institution about 250 students each semester.

Rodriguez, a former Riverside County sheriff’s deputy, said more prisons mean fewer people breaking the law.

“With all the crime in California, you see the benefits of not having criminals in the community,” Rodriguez said.

(While certain crimes have risen somewhat during the pandemic, crime and the homicide rate in California is far down from its peaks in the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

If anything, said Mallory Crecelius, Blythe’s interim city manager, a prison in a nearby community makes more sense to close – the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, an older facility that’s closer to a population center which isn’t as economically reliant on the prison.

It’s apparently a sentiment with which Norco agrees: “The City of Norco’s official position is, if the state is going to close a prison, the right prison to close is the California Rehabilitation Center,” said Norco city spokesperson Kelli Newton.

Rodriguez and Crecelius said they will be lobbying the state to ask for the change, trying to keep their facility open while public sentiment shifts away from them and the case for public dollars just took a big hit.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

Governor Newsom And President Biden Visit Communities Impacted By Winter Storms

OFFICE OF GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM

Governor Newsom welcomes President Biden as he arrived in California to visit communities impacted by recent storms and meet with first responders leading recovery efforts

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY – Governor Gavin Newsom today welcomed President Joe Biden as he arrived in California to visit communities impacted by recent storms and meet with first responders leading recovery efforts.

“Over the past weeks, Californians have endured some of the deadliest and most destructive storms in recent memory, but our strength, resilience, and instinct to help in times of crisis has never faltered,” said Governor Newsom. “And President Biden and his Administration have been supporting us every step of the way – and I am grateful for the President’s commitment to helping California recover.”

President Biden’s visit began with an aerial tour led by Governor Newsom on Marine One, surveying damage across Santa Clara County and Santa Cruz County. Following the tour, they visited businesses in Capitola that were impacted by the recent winter storms and met with first responders at Seacliff State Beach.

Yesterday, the Governor announced that the White House added the counties of Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara to the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration – with San Joaquin being added today. FEMA and the President also announced a 100% federal cost share for Categories A (debris removal) and B (emergency protective measures). Last week, President Biden also approved the Governor’s request for a Presidential Emergency Declaration to bolster state, local and tribal government storm response efforts.

Over the past two weeks, Governor Newsom has met with evacuated residents in Merced County, assisted storm preparedness work in Santa Barbara County and surveyed storm damage in Santa Cruz County and Sacramento County with state and local officials. The Governor has proclaimed a state of emergency statewide and issued an executive order to further assist the emergency response and support impacted communities across the state.

Governor Newsom to Californians: “Be Hyper-Vigilant”

Federal emergency declaration gets California more funding, equipment, and personnel

SACRAMENTO – As California enters the third week of severe winter storms, Governor Gavin Newsom is urging people to keep their guard up as strong winds and heavy rains continue to threaten communities across the state.

Last night, President Biden approved Governor Newsom’s request for a federal emergency declaration, activating the full weight of the federal government to support California’s storm response and recovery efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is making federal disaster assistance available to supplement local and state resources, including funding, equipment and personnel.

Earlier today, Governor Newsom was briefed by state emergency officials on the latest conditions and response efforts, and the Governor continues to actively monitor storm impacts.

Also today, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) brought together more than 400 community-based organizations throughout the state in a first-of-its-kind effort to mobilize resources with a special emphasis on delivering help to vulnerable communities – unsheltered individuals, those with disabilities and older Californians.

As of Monday afternoon, winter storms have claimed the lives of 14 Californians – more lives than wildfires in the past two years combined.

“Our message to Californians is simple: be hyper-vigilant,” said Governor Newsom. “There are still several days of severe winter weather ahead and we need all Californians to be alert and heed the advice of emergency officials. Thanks to the President signing off on our request for emergency declaration, we are mobilizing all available resources at every level of government to protect lives and limit storm damage. Today marks five years since the deadly Montecito mudslides that claimed 23 lives – as Montecito faces evacuations today, it’s a solemn reminder of how quickly conditions can change.”

On Sunday, the Governor announced $202 million in new investments for long-term flood prevention proposed in the upcoming state budget. Also yesterday, Governor Newsom visited two sites along Deer Creek in Sacramento County to highlight the state’s work to repair damage from earlier storms and prepare for incoming severe weather.

The state is working to support the most vulnerable Californians with 11 shelters statewide along with an additional 20 shelters that are prestaged and on standby. Temporary shelter, food and additional resources are available at these sites and all are welcome. No ID is required.

Weather Forecast

Heavy rainfall is forecasted throughout the state Tuesday and northern California on Wednesday, increasing the potential for flooding given saturated soils from the previous two weeks of precipitation. According to the National Weather Service, rainfall levels are 400-600% above average across California.

Emergency Alerts

Californians are reminded to dial 2-1-1 or 3-1-1 to get help or ask questions. If you have a critical emergency, call 911.

Staying informed by signing up for emergency alerts including warnings and evacuation notices. Go to CalAlerts.org to sign up to receive alerts from your county officials.

Download the Caltrans QuickMap app to receive real-time notifications for road closures, emergencies, and other traffic updates. You can download the app here.

You can also view real-time information on anticipated river floodings here.

CALIFORNIA: Jaywalking To Be Decriminalized Starting Jan. 1

CBS LOS ANGELES

As of January 1, jaywalking will be decriminalized in California thanks to a new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

For nearly a century, the Golden State has had one of the strictest jaywalking laws in the nation, with many pedestrians being placed under arrest and fined for the infraction, sometimes worth up to $200.

Now, Assembly Bill 2147, or the "Freedom to Walk" act, is designed to give pedestrians more flexibility while exhibiting careful judgment when crossing streets, as long as there's no immediate danger and the pedestrian isn't creating a hazard.

The bill will prohibit officers from "stopping a pedestrian for specified traffic infractions unless a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of collision with a moving vehicle or other device moving exclusively by human power."

Lawmakers believe that the prior jurisdiction unfairly targeted minorities, and are glad that a step is being taken in the right direction. Jaywalking will still be illegal, but the decriminalization of the act helps people prevent unnecessary fines and interactions with law enforcement.

"We're glad there's a greater recognition of the importance of being able to walk without being harassed, especially if you're an Angeleno of color," said John Yi, the Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks. "We know just by data alone, tells us how jaywalking laws have over-penalized us in communities of color."

Once the law is in effect Jan. 1, officials have five years to evaluate the outcomes of relaxing jaywalking laws. Evaluations will be made of pedestrian-related incidents to see if the amended law has curbed or increased such accidents, and how it has affected walker safety.

"Time will tell if this law actually reduces ticketing and whether it does decriminalize certain communities who have been over-impacted," said Yi.

Even with decriminalization on the way, the act is raising some concerns over what will be considered a "safe" jaywalking, which will ultimately be up to police to decide, especially if a pedestrian gets hit while crossing.

"I think there will be a bit of gray area, but a lot of these cases, in terms of negligence and people being struck whether it's in a vehicle or as a pedestrian, really do go to the case-by-case basis or the facts of the case in which they're struck," said Oscar Gutierrez, an attorney specializing in personal injury. He expects to see the amount of cases increase shortly after the law takes effect.

He believes that law enforcement will take a number of factors into account, like if they're intoxicated or distracted at the time of the incident, to determine whether or not they're found liable.

Newsom Signs Bill To Limit Use Of Hip-Hop Lyrics In Criminal Trials

THE HILL

Gavin Newsom

BY JARED GANS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill Friday to limit the use of hip-hop lyrics as evidence in criminal trials amid multiple high-profile cases of lyrics being used against rappers who have been arrested.

The law, which Newson signed alongside rappers, record producers and record industry executives who were present virtually, is the first in the country to ensure someone’s “creative expression” is not used to “introduce stereotypes or active bias” against a defendant or be used as evidence in a trial against them.

It also requires courts to determine if song lyrics are admissible as evidence and whether content should be linked to an alleged crime.

This comes after Atlanta-based rappers Young Thug and Gunna were among two dozen people arrested earlier this year on charges of racketeering. The indictments against them reference lyrics from their hip-hop songs, and prosecutors allege Young Thug formed a street gang and promoted it through his music.

The legislation passed without opposition in the state Senate and state Assembly in August.

The law states that rap lyrics and other forms of creative expression can only create circumstantial evidence of motive or intent behind an alleged crime and introducing them into evidence creates a significant risk of unfair prejudice against a defendant.

California Governor's 'Homelessness Tour' Seeks Money, Solutions To Crisis On Streets

In this Monday, July 1, 2019 file photo, homeless people move their belongings from a street along side of Los Angeles City Hall as crews prepared to clean the area. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, file)

BY DAN WHITCOMB

SACRAMENTO (REUTERS) - California's governor began a week-long "homelessness tour" on Monday seeking $750 million to address growing numbers of people living on the streets, stopping first in a rural community to show his state's problems extend beyond the big cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom last week asked state lawmakers to create the $750 million fund as part of his 2020-21 budget and plans to petition the federal government for additional money to help California's Medicaid program improve services for the homeless.

"Homelessness isn't just a concern in our cities, it's a suburban issue and a rural issue, too. No Californian can say that homelessness is someone else's problem," Newsom, 52, said in kicking off his tour in Grass Valley, a town of about 12,000 in the Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Sacramento.

"Every corner of our state has too many people living on the streets. And the crisis puts stress on public resources, from emergency rooms to jails to public works departments. It takes an unprecedented level of partnership between local, state, and federal government," Newsom said in a prepared statement.

An estimated 130,000 people are homeless somewhere in California on any given day, more than any other state, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). California, home to about 39.6 million people, is the most populous state in the United States.

Newsom and other California officials have traded barbs with U.S. President Donald Trump over the issue, with Trump blaming state and local leaders for failing to solve the problem.

On a visit to San Francisco and Los Angeles in September, Trump said conditions on their streets including trash, feces, and hypodermic needles left by homeless people were hurting their prestige.

That same month HUD Secretary Ben Carson rejected requests for more federal money.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti formally asked the Trump administration for federal assistance on Monday in a letter that indicated the two sides had had productive negotiations on the matter.

Newsom, who last week called for the emergency deployment of state-owned travel trailers and tents, was joined by state and local lawmakers on a visit to two homeless shelters in Grass Valley on Monday.

The first-term governor's tour will also take him to Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay area and the Central Valley. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Culver City, California Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Newsom Proposes $20,000 Stipends For High School Teachers

Gov. Gavey Newsom. Image: Wiki

BY ADAM BEAM, DON THOMPSON

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Friday to provide $20,000 stipends for teachers who teach at a high needs school for four years, eating up $100 million of the state’s budget for the next fiscal year.

His budget proposal also includes health care for 27,000 older low-income immigrants who are in the country illegally.

When it comes to encouraging more teachers, “It’s not that complicated. Train your teachers, make them the best, the brightest, incentivize,” the Democratic governor said.

“It’s incredibly important that we have a diverse teaching workforce,” he said, “not only have stable, prepared, professional teachers, but also having a teacher that looks like you. That’s incredibly important, particularly when it comes to African American achievement.”

Under his immigration proposal the immigrants would have to be Medicaid-eligible to get the money under his proposed budget that has a $5.6 billion surplus and includes $21 billion in reserves for an inevitable economic downturn.

California last year became the first state to offer full health benefits to low-income adults 25 and younger living in the country illegally.

Lawmakers had pushed the Democratic governor to offer benefits to people 65 and older living in the country illegally. Newsom’s proposal continues to California at odds with the federal government’s immigration policies.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will announce his state spending plan on Friday, flush with a multi-billion surplus that state lawmakers expect he will use to give full health benefits to more low-income adults living in the country illegally.

The deep-blue state of nearly 40 million people has about 3 million people left who don’t have health insurance. About 30% of those are living in the country illegally, according to the California Health Care Foundation.

Democratic leaders have been aiming to get the uninsured population down to zero, one piece at a time. In 2016, California offered full health benefits to children 18 and younger regardless of immigration status.

Last year, California became the first state to offer full health benefits to low-income adults 25 and younger living in the country illegally. They also began taxing people who refused to buy health insurance, using the money to help pay health insurance premiums for middle-income families.

This year, lawmakers are aiming to offer benefits to people 65 and older living in the country illegally. Democratic state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo said Newsom promised her he would include the health care proposal for seniors in this year’s budget.

“We don’t have any reason to think it won’t be in there,” she said. “We can’t solve the health care crisis if we don’t include t hem as part of the many Californians who are uninsured.”

The plan, if included in the budget, would continue to put California at odds with the federal government’s immigration policies. It would also likely influence the Democratic presidential nomination. California voters will vote on a Democratic presidential nominee in March.

It cost the state about $98 million to cover full health benefits for low-income adults ages 25 and younger living in the country illegally. State officials about 90,000 people will get coverage.

The proposal for seniors would cover fewer people, about 25,000, but would cost more: About $100 million for a full year, according to estimates of similar proposals last year. That’s because health care for older people is generally more expensive.

Low-income adults living in the country illegally are already eligible for government-funded health benefits. But the benefits are “limited scope,” in that they only cover things like pregnancies, emergencies and breast and cervical cancer treatment. About 950,000 adults living in the U.S. illegally already receive these benefits in California as of July 2018.

Newsom’s budget introduction is the first step in approving a spending plan for California. In May, Newsom will revise his plan once state officials have a better estimate of how much money the state will collect in taxes this year. State lawmakers have until June 15 to vote on the budget proposal and send it to the governor for his approval. Lawmakers forfeit their pay if they miss the deadline.

Newsom already provided details on key areas of his budget in recent days, outlining steps to curb homelessness, wildfires and the cost of prescription drugs.

He signed an executive order Wednesday creating what he proposes to be a $750 million fund that providers could use to pay rents, fund affordable housing or help board and care homes. He’s seeking another $695 million in state and federal matching funds for preventive health care, but some of the money could also go to helping people find housing. And he ordered state agencies to free vacant state property to house homeless people.

On Thursday he proposed having California become the first state to make its own prescription drugs, to “take the power out of the hands of greedy pharmaceutical companies.” California would contract with generic drug companies on behalf of its nearly 40 million residents and create a single market for drug pricing in California.

He separately proposed hiring 555 firefighters over five years and spending $100 million to make homes more resistant to wildfires as part of a $2 billion emergency services budget that also includes flood protection and high-tech mapping including areas prone to wildfires, floods, tsunamis and mudslides.