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Flutist Brittany Trotter: When the Music Takes You Places
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANN ISHII PHOTOGRAPHY, NADINE PHOTOGRAPHY AND UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC Flutist Dr. Brittany Trotter has played music all over the country, but her love of the vibrant San Joaquin V...
Boys and Girls Clubs of Manteca/Lathrop
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Assembly GOP Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City addresses the media during a press conference calling for a suspension of the state's gas tax on March 14, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
By EMILY HOEVEN, CalMatters
California Republicans are zeroing in on the three issues on which they say Democrats may be most vulnerable heading into the Nov. 8 election: The rising cost of living, crime and homelessness.
On Tuesday, 26 of the 28 current Republican lawmakers asked the Democratic leaders of the state Assembly and Senate to “immediately” reconvene the state Legislature — which adjourned at the end of August — for a session focused on those three topics.
“These are urgent matters that cannot wait until next year for the Legislature to take action,” the GOP lawmakers wrote. Republicans oppose Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to call a special legislative session on Dec. 5 — the same day the new Legislature will be sworn into office — to consider a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry, which Newsom has said will help bring down gas prices.
Back to reconvening the Legislature: According to veteran Sacramento lobbyist Chris Micheli, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon have 10 days to decide whether to grant the Republicans’ request. If they don’t, a group of at least 10 lawmakers can then ask their colleagues to override the rejection, which would require the approval of two-thirds of legislators in both the Assembly and Senate.
Given that Republicans are a superminority in the Legislature — meaning Democrats don’t need their votes to pass legislation or the state budget — it seems highly unlikely that Democrats would greenlight their proposal to return early to Sacramento, especially with an election just three weeks away.
But in an exclusive interview at the California Republican Party’s Sacramento offices on Tuesday, Assembly GOP Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City said that even if the Legislature doesn’t immediately reconvene, he’s hopeful the policy proposals themselves will gain momentum.
Gallagher pointed out that some Democrats already support the proposals outlined in the Tuesday letter, including:
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
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