Is California Gov. Gavin Newsom a bully that Democrats need to fight Trump? | Opinion
On June 30, the state Senate and Assembly had a very difficult task before them: approve the contentious Senate Bill 131 that amended the California’s premiere environmental law, the Environmental Quality Act, or risk not having a state budget plan before the next fiscal year.
The California Environmental Quality Act requires state and local governments to evaluate and publicize the environmental impact of construction projects. It also stipulates that any individual or group can sue a development project if they can argue the environmental study wasn’t accurate or extensive enough.
As a result, CEQA has earned a reputation as the “third rail” of California politics, impeding efforts to construct new housing in a state that is suffering a major housing shortage and skyrocketing housing costs.
Yet even knowing this was controversial legislation, Gov. Gavin Newsom anchored his bill to the budget. So rather than delaying the state budget, SB 131 and its attempt to jump-start housing construction in California was signed into law by its most avid supporter: Newsom.
“I have not seen that kind of bullying in policy making in the entire time I’ve been here,” said state Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks.
The bill might not even make much of a difference in the state’s worsening housing crisis, but more than the legislation itself, what’s worth noting is Newsom’s willingness to put pressure on the Senate to get it passed.
At the public comment hearing, there was a long line of environmentalists, Indigenous tribe members, and ordinary citizens expressing concerns about the bill. Especially because final language about the bill wasn’t made public until very late in the process, objectors appeared flabbergasted as they urged the Senate not to sign SB 131.
Newsom’s move was a petty attempt to curb opposition, as if taking a page from the autocratic book of President Donald Trump.
Many have called Trump a king, taking issue with his executive overreach. The recent “No Kings” protests were held to oppose exactly this behavior.
But in a political moment where nearly all branches of government (including the courts) are submitting to Trump’s whims, the Democratic party is in desperate need of a bully that can meet Trump where he is — and Newsom might just be the bully to do it.
A bureaucratic battle with CEQA
CEQA was signed into law in 1970 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. The law requires state and local governments to evaluate and publicize the environmental impact of construction projects — it also stipulates that any individual or group can sue a development project if they argue the required environmental study isn’t accurate or expansive enough.
In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown tried to reform CEQA but ultimately failed as a coalition of labor groups, environmentalists and local governments banded to stop the bill. This kind of dogpiling is likely the reason Newsom held the state Senate hostage to sign the bill.
SB 131 will exempt urban housing built in and around existing development, or “infill” housing, from CEQA.
In the long run, the bill will clear the way for housing projects that have been weighed down by pending litigation to move forward — but CEQA was not the biggest obstacle standing in the way of development to begin with.
There are a plethora of reasons why it is hard to build housing in California, including rising labor costs and high interest rates. Ultimately, CEQA was one roadblock in a very long line getting in the way of development.
Newsom, the bully
The past decade has witnessed the Republican Party pivot drastically to the right, especially under Trump’s stewardship — meanwhile, the Democratic party has been mired in over-complicated strategizing and an ultimate failure to act.
The Democrats have refused to take risks in the candidates they nominate or the legislation they pass, opting to play it safe. This has cost them dearly in the polls — a Quinnipiac poll found Democrats have hit an all-time low on congressional job approval.
It’s also why they lost working class voters, young voters of color and ultimately the presidential election.
With a Republican majority in Congress, and a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, the president has been able to pass a disastrous economic bill that many Republicans were opposed to but voted for anyway, and managed to get the Supreme Court to relinquish its power in checking the executive branch’s actions via its birthright citizenship ruling.
In such a political environment, the Democratic Party is in desperate need of leadership that is willing to stand its ground and hold fast to its convictions. This is evident in the landslide victory of New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, whose uncompromising stance on billionaires and his commitment to socialism only earned him points among voters.
In his willingness to stand up to Trump — who usurped control of the California National Guard and sent in the Marines while threatening to cut off federal aid to the state — and his deft maneuvering with SB 131, Newsom is clearly done playing nice.
