GOP lawmakers want a special session even sooner + An extreme heat symposium

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LEGISLATIVE REPUBLICANS CALL FOR A SPECIAL SESSION

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for a special session of the Legislature to convene on Dec. 5. Republicans would like to get back to work even sooner.

In a letter to the Assembly’s chief clerk and the secretary of the Senate, GOP lawmakers said legislators should return to work as soon as possible to discuss three key topics.

First, Republicans are still keen on their proposal to suspend the state gas tax. Their last attempt to do so was transformed by legislative Democrats into a proposed windfall tax on oil and gas company profits. That’s what Newsom wants lawmakers to pursue when they reconvene.

Republicans have been critical of the proposed windfall tax, and they argue that the best way to put money in California residents’ pockets is by suspending the tax temporarily.

“Policy decisions made at the State Capitol are the reason why drivers here are paying $2.00+ more for a gallon of gas than the rest of the nation. We cannot wait any longer for the Legislature to take action to bring down gas prices,” the letter reads in part.

Next up, Republicans want to take California Attorney General Rob Bonta up on his proposal to re-classify certain felony offenses — such as domestic violence, human trafficking and rape of an unconscious person — as violent crimes, as Bonta suggested in a recent CalMatters interview.

“Regarding the increase in violent crime, as was demonstrated in the release by the Department ofJustice’s annual crime report, crime is up in nearly every category, including violent crimes. The Attorney General recently proposed adjustments to the definition of ‘nonviolent’ felonies and we believe urgent action is warranted,” according to the letter.

While it’s true that there has been an increase in crime in California recently, it’s worth noting that both violent and property crimes remain at historic lows, particularly when compared to past decades, as illustrated in a recent Public Policy Institute of California blog post.

Finally, Republicans want the Legislature to follow the Los Angeles City Council’s lead and crack down on homeless encampments near schools and child care facilities.

The letter states that “despite California taxpayer money being poured into various programs designed to address the homelessness crisis, the human suffering on our streets has increased by nearly 70% in the last two years in our capitol city alone.”

According to Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, the Democrat-controlled Legislature now has 10 days to decide whether to reconvene.

You can read the letter here.

CALIFORNIA HOSTS EXTREME HEAT SYMPOSIUM

For the first time, Sacramento played host to a “whole-of-government” symposium on extreme heat. It comes less than a month after much of California endured a sweltering heat wave that threatened to overwhelm the state’s power grid.

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and the California Natural Resources Agency played host to the symposium, which saw community leaders, state policymakers, scientists and members of the public come together to find solutions to extreme heat.

“The extreme heat we’re facing is extraordinary and puts our communities at risk,” Newsom said in a statement. “Just last month, the West Coast broke nearly 1,000 temperature records in a 10-day heat wave — and experts tell us to expect more heat waves like this one in the coming years and decades.”

The September heat wave was the hottest ever recorded in California.

Newsom recently signed a collection of extreme heat-related bills, including one to create the nation’s first extreme heat advance warning and ranking system, akin to the system used to track and rank hurricanes.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The @GOP love to campaign on being ‘tough on crime.’ But here’s the truth — their policies don’t work. 8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates are red. Murder rates were 40% higher in red states than blue. Gun deaths are almost 2x as high in red states.”

- California Gov. Gavin Newsom, via Twitter.

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