SACRAMENTO — Hello, dear readers. Anita Chhabria will be replaced by Laurel Rosenhall, the Times’ California political editor. There are 48 days left until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and today we take a look at how California’s leaders are preparing for his second term.

In short, it’s complicated.

That was evident Monday as lawmakers gathered in Sacramento to take the oath of office and begin a special session dedicated to preparing for a legal battle with the incoming Trump administration.

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to call a special session less than 36 hours after President Trump won the election puts him in a fight with the Republican president, who he has long denounced as a threat to California’s liberal policies. It was a signal that the Democratic Party’s circle would jump in again.

Democratic lawmakers have followed Newsom’s lead and introduced a bill that would set aside $25 million for the state to spend on federal lawsuits, anticipating legal battles over environmental policy, abortion access, immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. . Trump is expected to approve the funding before he takes office on January 20th.

“What we’re doing now in this special session is not waiting for President Trump to respond to the attack on California,” Newsom told reporters in the hallways of the Capitol. “We are preparing for it in a more sober way.”

But other issues in California could soften the fight

Meanwhile, the tone of legislative leaders on Monday was much calmer than it was eight years ago. When Trump won the presidency in 2016, the most powerful Democrats in Congress issued a courageous statement vowing to “lead the resistance” against Trump. That year’s Congress opened with numerous bills to protect immigrants and a speech denouncing the president’s appointees as “white supremacists and anti-Semites.”

There was no talk of resistance this time. California Democrats appear to have gotten the memo that voters’ main concern in this election is the cost of living, and the party is failing to address it. The need for lawmakers to adopt policies that reduce costs for Californians was the theme of opening day speeches by House Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate Majority Leader Mike McGuire.

“Are we going to fight to protect the people, policies, and progress that make California great? Of course we’re going to go to the mat for them. But there’s a lot to fix in this state, too. And let’s not forget that,” McGuire said.

“The Senate must redouble its efforts to make life more affordable and livable and make the economy work for everyone, not just the privileged few.”

Rivas spoke of a couple running a bakery struggling to keep prices down as food prices soar, and of a school janitor who takes a second job to help pay for housing.

“Our task this session is urgent and that is clear,” Rivas said. “We must chart a new course and renew the California Dream with a focus on affordability.”

It’s not just the message from the top that has changed since President Trump last entered the White House. Most of the members are also new.

A large freshman class was sworn in Monday, making up about a third of the chamber. Some interesting facts:

• Women (finally) made up half of Congress. When Trump was last elected, women made up about 22% of Sacramento’s representatives. Now, for the first time in the state’s history, the number of women in Congress is nearly equal to the number of men, with women holding 49% of seats.
• Congress is gaining Republicans. Although the close race has not yet been officially called, Republicans are on track to flip the three seats previously held by Democrats. It’s still not enough to prevent Democrats from using their supermajority to pass tax increases, change political ethics laws, or vote on constitutional amendments without Republican support. But the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento is slowly shrinking.
• The Republican caucus is becoming more diverse. Some of the newly elected Republicans are Latinos and Asian Americans. They include Reps. Jeff Gonzalez of Indio and Leticia Castillo of Corona, and Sens. Suzette Martinez-Validares of Santa Clarita and Stephen Choi of Irvine. “That’s big. It means realignment,” Congressional Republican Leader James Gallagher told my colleague Annabel Sosa. “Increasingly, Latino voters who have been loyal Democrats are starting to break away from that.”

So what changes will Trump 2.0 bring for California?

I asked that question of Newsom and several other Californians who were at the Capitol for Monday’s swearing-in ceremony.

In a brief scrum with reporters, Newsom said he expected Trump to bring “a little more intensity and ferocity” to the battle with California. “Yes, we need to work hard to focus on what happened in the past, but we also need to prepare for Trump 2.0, where his rhetoric will only increase and his calls for retaliation and revenge will be clear. ”

Dolores Huerta, a leader in the farmworkers’ rights movement, said she thinks California is better prepared this time, but that progressives “need to do more work.” We need to do more education and organizing than we did before. ”

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said there are more Trump-appointed judges in federal courts than at the beginning of his first term, and that Trump’s allies are learning from their mistakes. He said the term will be “more intense and challenging” for California. during his first term.

“And third,” Chiu told me. That means if the lawsuit is successful, Congress will take action and the president will know if he can sign it. Therefore, we will have to become smarter and fight harder. ”

What else should I read?

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LA Times Feature: Newsom seeks to redefine California vs. Trump narrative
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