CALIFORNIA: WHERE WE PROGRESSIVELY FALL ON OUR FACE

Good morning!

This was a very busy week in the Golden State. Amidst all the Sacramento dealmaking and Trump’s visit to California, it was easy to get lost in the news cycle. But don’t be blue, California Policy Center’s newsletter is here for you.

Last Friday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that he would be barring public employees and college students from traveling to Iowa on the taxpayers’ dime as of October 4. The Hawkeye State, which passed legislation in May to block Medicaid from paying for gender-reassignment surgeries in the state, was condemned by AG Becerra for rolling back protections for LGBT citizens. The following states are currently subject to California’s ban on state-funded and state-sponsored travel: Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. That led to the Babylon Bee’s satirical response: “The states were disappointed to learn that the ban didn't include all Californians, but they said banning just the politicians was a good start, since they're the ones who ruined the state to begin with.”

That same day, the California state legislature passed SB 24. If signed by Gov. Newsom, SB 24 would require every public university in the state to offer abortion pills to students. Gov. Brown vetoed a version of SB 24 last September. He said that bill was  unnecessary “because the services required by this bill are widely available off-campus, this bill is not necessary.” Gov. Newsom has indicatred he’ll approve the bill.

On Tuesday, CPC president Will Swaim was cited in the Real Clear Investigations story, “Woke History Is Making Big Inroads in America's High Schools.” Speaking about California’s determination to indoctrinate public school students, Will said the state’s new curriculum “comes dangerously close to turning American exceptionalism on its head: Yes, we're exceptional, they say – exceptionally evil. It is remindful of re-education camps in Vietnam or China. It is indoctrination rather than education.” That story was picked up by the Wall Street Journal.

Donald Trump is trolling California. On Wednesday, the president announced that the EPA would revoke a waiver that has allowed California to impose emissions standards that are more restrictive than federal standards. The result: Since 2009, California, with its immense market, has been able to effectively create a de facto national standard – and that has made cars and trucks more expensive everywhere in the U.S. Gov. Newsom declared the Trump administration’s plan a “political vendetta” against the Golden State. AG Xavier Becerra said his office would examine legal options once the official EPA directive is released.

At the same time, the President declared California’s homeless crisis an opportunity for federal intervention, and is threatening to use the EPA to clean up San Francisco.

In October, the state of California will defend itself in court against a lawsuit filed on behalf of 10 students who allege they’re  public education is inadequate. CPC contributor Larry Sand writes that “the lawsuit accurately describes the problems” but “its prescribed fixes are pretty much right out of the teacher union playbook and that there are much more simple, direct and less expensive solutions to what ails education in the Golden State.” Click here to read the full article.

Throughout California, voters are gearing up for the 2020 presidential race. With President Trump facing off against the still  unknown Democratic nominee, people on both sides are mobilizing to take advantage of what will likely be a high-turnout election. However, the most consequential part of 2020 may not be the national elections. As CPC fellow Edward Ring points out, state and local ballot initiatives will have a greater impact on California’s citizens in 2020 and beyond. Click here to read more. 

California needs your help! This is your final chance to vote in our Prop 65 contest for the Grand Prize winner! Voting closes on Sunday, September 22 at midnight. To exercise your voting rights, click here. (We will not be ballot harvesting.)

Upcoming Events:

Faith in the Halls of Power
Timothy Goeglein, former special assistant to U.S. President George W. Bush, speaks at Pepperdine University’s Calabasas campus on Monday, September 23 at 5 pm. He will discuss his new book, American Restoration: How Faith, Family, and Personal Sacrifice Can Heal Our Nation. For more information, and to register for the event, click here.

The (Transformative) Power of Women
Pepperdine University hosts AEI fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Tuesday, October 1 at 6 pm in Malibu, California. Charity Wallace, founder and principal at Wallace Global Impact and board member at Pepperdine School of Public Policy, will moderate a conversation on women's rights from a global perspective. To purchase tickets for the event, click here.

Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Permission? 
The Pepperdine University School of Public Policy hosts a half-day conference on Wednesday, October 16 in Costa Mesa. Timothy Sandefur, VP for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute, will explore the growing reach of the administrative state—from local government regulations to federal—that are inhibiting (if not preventing) basic American freedoms. Seating is limited. To register, click here.

Rand Paul at the Reagan Library
U.S. Senator Rand Paul will speak at the Reagan Presidential Library on October 18, about his new book, The Case Against Socialism. There is no cost to attend the event. For more information, and to reserve your spot, click here.

A Reagan Forum and Book Signing with Dr. Wilfred McClay
Dr. Wilfred McClay, the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine, will visit the Reagan Presidential Library to discuss “Recovering the American Story: Consciousness and the American Past” on November 15. The event is free and begins at 11 am. For more information, and to reserve your spot, click here.


As always, if you’d like to join our movement to save California, we invite you to support us. Click here to donate to CPC.