California lawmakers will bring the gavel special session Monday in Sacramento after being tasked last month by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to “protect California values” amid former President Donald Trump’s reelection.
In a proclamation issued a day after the Nov. 5 election, Newsom said “extraordinary circumstances” necessitated calling the Legislature into special session, arguing that “the record of the first Trump administration , combined with statements from President-elect Trump on the campaign trail…indicates that the consequences of his presidency for California could be significant and immediate.”
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack, and we will not sit idle,” Newsom said in a statement.
In the weeks since the election, Newsom has spent time discussing economic initiatives in Trump voting districts across the state and traveling to Washington, D.C., where he met with California’s congressional delegation. President Joe Biden and other officials in an effort to prepare for the incoming administration.
While there, Newsom said he worked to secure disaster relief funding and discussed state climate and health care programs, among other priorities on his policy agenda.
“Act quickly and invest in our legal defense”
Lawmakers are already set to return Monday for swearing-in ceremonies and other activities to kick off the new Legislature, which reconvenes Jan. 6. The special session will run concurrently with the regular session, with working and committee hearings beginning next month.
Lawmakers are expected to focus on funding the Justice Department, which Attorney General Rob Bonta has said will take an aggressive stance in filing lawsuits against the Trump administration to defend state policies.
“We are prepared in detail with a process strategy,” Bonta said last month. “We have a legislative strategy. We have put detailed thought into where and when we file suit and on what grounds. And we are working with our partners across the state.”
Democratic leaders in the state Legislature have echoed Newsom and Bonta.
“California has come too far and accomplished too much to simply surrender and accept its dystopian vision for America,” Senate President Pro-Tempore Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) said in a statement. “This is why we are acting quickly and investing in our legal defense.”
A promise to make California’s laws on climate, abortion and immigration ‘Trump-proof’
Newsom has stated that he wants to “Trump-proof” the California laws of the incoming Republican administration, including policies on issues such as climate change, reproductive rights and immigration.
On the climate front, Newsom laid out a plan late last month to restart the state’s electric vehicle rebate program if Trump’s promise to eliminate the current federal tax credit comes to fruition.
The governor and Democratic lawmakers have also taken steps in recent years to strengthen reproductive rights in California, an issue that is also popular with voters in the state. In 2022, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 1, 66.9% to 33.1%, enshrining the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution and granting the right to abortion and contraception.
In response to Trump’s pledge to carry out mass deportations upon taking office, Newsom also directed state lawmakers during the special session to strengthen California’s protections for immigrants.
In 2017, during Trump’s first term, California lawmakers approved the proposal. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 54, also known as the “Sanctuary State” bill, which limited local government agencies’ cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Bonta said his Justice Department will “do everything in our power and use the full authority of our office to defend you” as he addressed immigrants in the country illegally.
What Trump has said about Newsom and California
Trump hit back at Newsom in a post on his Truth Social account after the governor announced the special session in early November.
“He uses the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way to shut down all the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just won the election overwhelmingly,” Trump wrote.
Trump also said he would require voter ID and proof of citizenship to be part of the voting process, repeating baseless claims that immigrants in the US illegally were engaging in widespread voter fraud. California is one of the states that does not require identification before voting.
Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) also criticized Newsom for calling for the special session, saying in a Nov. 7 statement that the move was a “blatant political stunt.”
“There will be no policies implemented during this special session that cannot be addressed when the Legislature reconvenes in January,” Gallagher said.
This isn’t the first time this year that Newsom has called for a special legislative session. In September, Newsom called on lawmakers to find ways to lower gas prices.
