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Democrats have rejected a proposal reigning in the Governor Newsom's ability to issue executive orders.
Failing along party lines, SRC5 once again will not be moving forward, allowing Governor Newsom to keep in place his state of emergency declaration. The Senate Governmental Organization Committee on Tuesday rejected the resolution, proposed by Republican Senator Melissa Melendez, that would have terminated Governor Newsom’s emergency declaration that has been in place from March 2020.
From the vote, eight Democrats on the committee voted against the resolution while four Republicans voted in support. There were a number of senators who abstained from the vote entirely.
The COVID emergency declaration allows for Governor Newsom to access federal funding, as well as to override state laws while carrying out the state’s pandemic response during COVID19. However, Melendez and other California Republican leaders say continuing the emergency over a long period of time is unnecessary and gives the governor too much power. “The governor has slowly began to peel back mandates, indicating that the need for his emergency powers is no longer necessary,” Melendez said. “If California is truly in a better place to handle future events like COVID, than it should allow emergency assistance to be determined at the local level, just like we do for every other emergency.”
On February 25, Governor Newsom announced he’d end, or let expire, a number of executive orders he’s issued during the pandemic emergency, although maintaining needing to keep the overall declaration in place to implement his latest plan.