SACRAMENTO, California — California’s Democratic-controlled Assembly approved up to $50 million on Monday to protect the state’s progressive policies from attacks by the Trump administration.
The law allocates $25 million for the state Department of Justice to handle legal disputes with the federal government, and another $25 million for legal groups to help foreigners at risk of deportation.
The proposals were approved by votes that followed party lines after Assembly Democrats postponed a vote that was due last week. They are now going to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s office.
“We don’t trust President Donald Trump,” said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas before the votes. He called Trump’s government “out of control” and a danger to our constitutional rights.
Republican leader James Gallagher said the plan was just a publicity stunt that wasted time when they should be focusing on wildfires and high living costs in the state. Instead of preparing to argue with Trump, he said, “We could be discussing ways to make things cheaper.”
At a recent meeting about the proposed funding, Democratic Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur emphasized the importance of ensuring that the California government protects the rights of families, regardless of what happens at the federal level, which is still uncertain.
In November, Newsom asked lawmakers to meet for a special session to approve the plans. A longtime opponent of Trump said that California’s freedoms were at risk because of the Republican president’s election and that the state wouldn’t just stand by as he tried to get back into power.
After wildfires caused damage in January near Los Angeles, Newsom extended the special session to include funds for fire relief. The decision was made after Republican lawmakers claimed that concentrating on Trump was not the right priority while the fires continued to burn.
Newsom received support from both political parties for his fire plans in the Legislature, and he signed a $2.5 billion package into law. The money is for the state to respond to disasters. It will help with evacuating people, providing housing for survivors, and cleaning up dangerous waste from homes. The laws included $4 million for local governments to speed up the process of approving home rebuilding, and $1 million to help school districts rebuild their buildings.
On January 24, Newsom greeted Trump in Los Angeles with a message of unity as the president visited to see the damage. The state will need government assistance to recover from the disaster. Trump has hinted that he might withdraw this aid if the state doesn’t change its water policies. California’s Republican lawmakers have opposed that idea.
Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli, who represents part of Southern California’s Inland Empire, recently said at a committee meeting that continuing to fund cases was “very insensitive.”
“We are dealing with fires and mudslides, and we need to focus on recovering from wildfires, providing relief, and preventing them in the future,” he said.
Republicans have said that the funding was too early, pointing out that the plans were revealed before Trump got back to office.
The Legislature allowed around $6.5 million a year for the Department of Justice to protect the state from the federal government during Trump’s first term as president. However, the government spent much more than that over four years.
California filed over 120 lawsuits against the Trump government during his first term, according to the attorney general’s office. The state spent about $42 million on legal fights with the federal government, with yearly costs running from about $2 million to nearly $13 million. The lawsuits mainly focused on immigration and environmental policies.
Assemblymember Mia Bonta from Oakland and other Democrats say that the new funding will help families in California who are scared because of Trump’s plans for mass immigration.
In 2022, about 1.8 million immigrants were living illegally in California, according to an estimate from the Pew Research Center.
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