California lawmaker wants larger security budgets to protect legislators

Following the shooting death of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker in June, Assemblymember Mia Bonta wants to beef up a state law that would allow elected officials and candidates to spend an unlimited amount of campaign funds toward private security.

The Oakland Democrat is introducing legislation today that would temporarily remove through 2028 the $10,000 lifetime cap California lawmakers can currently spend of campaign money on security expenses for themselves, staff and family members. On Jan. 1, 2029, the limit would be reimplemented as a $10,000 annual cap. The bill makes no mention of restricting personal funds for security.

• Bonta, in a statement: “Everyone should feel safe running for office and representing their community. However, local and state candidates in California face a significant cap on security spending compared to those running for federal offices. This (bill) comes at a time when we’re seeing an increase in threats and harassment…”

The existing cap was set last year, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed another bill by Bonta that doubled the amount of money legislators were allowed to use for security expenses. Besides Bonta, Democratic lawmakers at the time including Assemblymember Isaac Bryan of Culver City and Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco also reported receiving death threats.

Bonta’s latest proposal is backed by the influential Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Salinas Democrat and the bill’s co-author. Because the measure would amend the voter-approved Political Reform Act of 1974, it requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate and Assembly to pass.

Threats of violence against political candidates have reportedly persisted after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, disproportionately affecting officials and candidates who are women, people of color or LGBTQ+. 

In addition to the killings of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were seriously wounded. Last year a bullet struck President Donald Trump’s ear during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. And in 2022 a man wielding a hammer attacked the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco home.

Last month the Trump administration touted that federal immigration enforcement agents captured some of “the worst illegal alien criminals in Los Angeles,” and accused California officials and protestors in L.A. of “fighting to keep … violent criminals loose.”

But state records and an analysis by CalMatters’ Wendy Fry and Byrhonda Lyons reveal that the state had coordinated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in an attempt to hand over the agency’s top targets in L.A. — undermining the administration’s justification for carrying out widespread immigration raids in the city.

In May, for example, state prison officials gave a heads up to ICE about the upcoming release of one of the federal agency’s top targets. Federal agents did not pick up the convicted sex offender, and so he was released. Two weeks later, ICE publicized his arrest in L.A.

California’s so-called sanctuary law does not shield unauthorized immigrants convicted of serious crimes. Since Newsom took office in 2019, state prisons have handed over more than 9,000 people with those backgrounds to ICE.

Read more here.

California regulators must devise new methods to clean up the state’s air now that the Trump administration has limited their ability to enforce rules intended to combat air pollution, writes CalMatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde.

Before the start of Trump’s second term, the state abandoned its rules for zero-emission trucks due to likely opposition from the incoming federal administration. Trump and Congress also eliminated tax credits for electric car buyers, and blocked three critical rules that would have banned the sale of new gas-powered cars in California and phased out diesel trucks.

But Californians still experience some of the worst air quality in the country — particularly Black and brown communities located near ports and highways — and the California Air Resources Board is struggling to come up with effective methods to solve the issue.

The state must now rely on voluntary agreements by companies to reduce emissions, and it lacks funds for a consumer incentive program to expand its electric vehicle market. The board’s updated fuel standards also faced strong opposition from the public, industry groups and some legislators, who’ve argued that regulations are driving up California’s cost of living.

Read more here.

Speaking of air pollution: As part of our partnership with PBS SoCal, Alejandra and CalMatters’ video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment about how air regulators in Southern California rejected proposed rules that would have reduced smog by phasing out gas-powered water heaters. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.

As part of a congressional probe investigating antisemitism in higher education, California Polytechnic State University’s president in May laid out actions the campus was taking in response to reports of antisemitism. On Wednesday, another high-profile California university president is expected to testify before a congressional committee. Find out which school from Jeremy Garza of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network.