GOP bills stall in committee + Former CAGOP chair wants to prevent embarrassing endorsements

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REPUBLICAN BILLS FAIL IN PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE HEARING

The Assembly Public Safety Committee met Tuesday, and among the bills for consideration were a trio of Republican offerings.

First up was AB 15, by Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, R-Huntington Beach, which would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to place records of inmate release dates and early release credits under the California Public Records Act.

Then there was AB 257, by Assemblyman Josh Hoover, R-Folsom, which would block homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools and daycares.

AB 328, by Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, would prohibit judges from dismissing firearms-related sentencing enhancements which can add years to a prison sentence.

One by one, the Democratic-controlled committee voted each one down.

“I think many of us believe there should be more oversight of the criminal justice system, this is not the kind of oversight that I think that I would support,” said Rick Chavez Zbur, D-West Hollywood, of AB 15.

“That to me is absolutely inhumane. The way to solve homelessness is not to criminalize poverty,” said Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, of AB 257.

“It looks like it is a solution to a problem that isn’t actually happening in our justice system,” said Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, of AB 328.

The Twitter account for the Assembly Republican Caucus took Democrats to task for their votes.

“Dems unanimously supported keeping secret the process that let mass killer Smiley Martin out of prison after serving just a fraction of his sentence,” the account tweeted after AB 15 was voted down, referencing one of the suspected gunmen in an April 2022 gang shootout in downtown Sacramento that left six dead and 12 injured.

After Democrats defeated AB 257, the Assembly Republicans tweeted, “Our communities will continue to deteriorate until Dems stand up for clean, safe streets.”

And when AB 328 failed to advance in committee, the account tweeted, “Apparently guns are bad, unless you use them to commit crimes.”

FORMER CAGOP CHAIR ANNOUNCES MEASURE TO BLOCK ‘SOME CRACKPOT’ FROM GETTING PARTY ENDORSEMENT

Last year, the California Republican Party endorsed a Holocaust denier for Congress. It was later was pulled, but Ron Nehring, former California GOP chair, is looking to prevent future embarrassments to the party.

Nehring took to Twitter Tuesday to announce that next fall, he intends to introduce a bylaw amendment to require a vote from the party’s board, executive committee or state committee in order to endorse a candidate in the “top two” general election.

“The @CAGOP has unintentionally endorsed anti-Semitic or otherwise unacceptable candidates in general elections because of a rule making such endorsements automatic when there is only one ‘Republican’ in the top two (general) election,” Nehring wrote.

This rule allows “some crackpot” to get a party endorsement just because they’re the lone Republican to run in a heavily Democratic district, Nehring wrote.

Nehring said that his previous attempt to introduce the amendment resulted in it being “watered down into ineffectiveness.”

“This fall is our last shot before 2024 to ensure the @CAGOP does not endorse candidates whose anti-Semitic views run counter to our values,” he wrote.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We will never be able to criminalize our way out of homelessness or poverty.”

- Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:

• Gov. Gavin Newsom won’t be giving a formal State of the State speech this year. Instead, it will be more like a road show, via Maggie Angst.

• California has experienced significant population loss in recent years — but is a decline in residents to blame for the state’s budget deficit? Via Lindsey Holden.

• Last year, opponents deployed what one lawmaker called “a virtual armada” of lobbyists to successfully fend off a bill that would have held social media companies liable for addicting children to their content. With the recent introduction of a similar bill, SB 287, the armada is again on the horizon, gearing for another fight, via Stephen Hobbs.

• What we know about the abortion pill at the center of California and Walgreens split, via Brianna Taylor.