Assemblymembers at the State Capitol in Sacramento in 2023. This week, California lawmakers delayed funding for legal action against President Donald Trump’s policies. The holdup raises questions about potential conflicts and disagreements within the Legislature. (Semantha Norris/CalMatters)
California Assembly members who have been calling for the state’s leadership in the legal fight against President Donald Trump are taking another look at legislation to strengthen the Justice Department’s war chest after postponing a vote this week.
Ahead of a last-minute caucus meeting Thursday, assembly Democrats appeared set to vote on two bills allocating $50 million in legal aid to oppose Trump-administration policies. But following the closed-door discussion, no vote was held.
A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said that Democrats chose to revisit the bills before bringing them to the floor for a vote but did not say what, if any, changes would be made.
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“The actions by Republicans in Washington this week jeopardize the programs and services Californians rely on most, from senior care to funding for veterans programs,” Rivas’s spokesperson said. “In the Assembly, we are going to look closely at the special session legal defense bills to ensure they are airtight and protect all Californians from these threats, and we will pass them soon.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener, who introduced the legislation, told reporters Friday that he was confident the assembly would move the bills forward.
“I am confident everything is going to go by,” he said at a press conference opposing Trump’s most recent attack on public schools supporting trans and gender non-conforming students. He said he wouldn’t speak for the assembly but that the agreement between the legislature and governor has “a lot of support in the assembly to make sure that we’re stepping up for California.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener on the Senate Floor at the state Capitol in Sacramento on April 29, 2024. (Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / CalMatters)
The bills — designed to fund contracts with legal service providers and support the department’s efforts to counter the impact of federal actions — stem from a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom days after Trump’s election in November. Newsom said the state was ready to challenge the president’s policies and had pushed to secure the additional funding before Trump’s inauguration last week.
“We are prepared, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive,” he said in a statement at the time.
The effort was delayed as attention shifted to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this month. The state Senate, however, passed the two bills last week, and they now await Assembly approval before heading to Newsom’s desk.
Since taking office, Trump has given directives to federal agents to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, rolled back rules barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in schools and churches, and most recently, signed an executive order blocking federal funding from schools that allow trans students to use bathrooms or play on sports teams that match their gender identities.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has already joined two federal suits against the administration, one to stop Trump’s birthright citizenship ban and, days later, another challenging his freeze on nearly all federal funding. Federal judges have temporarily blocked both executive actions, and the Office of Management and Budget rescinded the call for a blanket pause of federal payments.
Each of the special session bills would allot up to $25 million — one to the department directly “to mitigate the impacts of actions taken by the federal government,” while the other would fund grants or contracts for organizations providing legal services to individuals, including for immigration-related cases.
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-East Nicholas) told reporters after the vote was called off on Thursday that Republicans had planned to propose amendments to the bills that would ensure funds couldn’t be used to prevent deportations of people convicted of felonies.
“Shutting down today’s vote is a big victory for Republicans,” he said in a statement, adding that the state should be focused on funding recovery efforts for the recent wildfires instead.
Last week, the legislature passed a $2.5 billion relief package to support emergency response to the Palisades and Eaton fires.
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