Did Gavin Newsom Actually Block a Bill to Criminalize Parents for Speaking out at School Board Meetings?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his hair gel blocked a measure that would have criminalized parents and others who “disrupt” school board meetings. After years of protests at these events against efforts to infuse far-leftist ideology into government-run schools, the authoritarians on the left tried to fight back in California. If it wasn’t for Newsom, they might have succeeded.

Senate Bill 596 sought to make a misdemeanor of misconduct that affects school employees. The Portantino School Employee Protection Bill applies anywhere within the purview of a school employee’s place of work – any "disruptions" of classroom work or extracurricular activities and other facilities, including any meeting of a school board, a charter school, a county board of education, or the State Board of Education.

Such behavior "is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $500, nor more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both imprisonment and the fine."

After vetoing the proposed measure, Newsom stressed that there is a “need to be cautious” about imposing such a law and pointed out that actual threats of violence, regardless of their target, “can already be prosecuted as crimes,” which means “creating a new crime is unnecessary.”

So, why would Newsom veto a bill that was popular among progressives in the state legislature? Both chambers passed it with very few voting against it -- it sailed through the State Assembly with a 65-8 vote and the State Senate with a 30-8 vote. Perhaps he believes existing laws will be enough to ensure that parents are punished for exercising their First Amendment rights.

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Julie Su's Nomination to Secretary of Labor Sent Back to Biden's Desk

Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley is flying the "W" for himself and for independent professionals and small businesses across the nation. After 281 days of inaction, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su's nomination to Secretary of Labor did not reach the Senate floor for a vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer finally sent Su's nomination back to President Joe Biden.

Acting labor secretary Julie Su’s nomination was returned to the White House on Wednesday as the Senate gaveled out the first session of the 118th Congress, forcing President Biden to re-nominate her in the new year.

As Chairman of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, Kiley led the charge to ensure Su's nomination would indeed fail. Kiley was supported by his former California Assembly colleagues, who experienced Su's incompetence firsthand when she was California's Secretary of Labor and oversaw the Employment Development Department's descent into billions of fraudulent claims during the pandemic.

Kiley was also backed by groups like the California Business and Industrial Alliance (CABIA), OOIDA Truckers Association, and the International Franchise Association, who all demanded that Su's nomination be withdrawn.

Despite 2024 being an election year and Biden's unfavorable and flagging poll numbers, the president still plans to double down on failure and resubmit Su's nomination to Secretary of Labor. As we have stated before, cabinet appointees being incompetent is a feature, not a bug.

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