USA TODAY International Edition
California governor counters White House
Newsom confirms he’ll pull troops from border
SAN FRANCISCO – Newly minted California Gov. Gavin Newsom doubled down Tuesday on his mission to resist White House policies that he says run counter to the interests of his state – and in his view, the nation.
“The answer to the White House is, no more division and no more xenophobia,” Newsom, 51, told lawmakers during his first State of the State address in Sacramento.
During his speech, Newsom confirmed news that he was ordering National Guard troops off border patrol detail and redeploying most of the 360 personnel to wildfire and drug-gang duty.
The withdrawal echoes the move by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who a week ago cut roughly 90 percent of the 118 National Guardsmen assigned to the border.
Newsom’s decision to take a similar stand is a rebuke to both President Donald Trump, who has warned about caravans of migrants heading to the border, and former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who issued the order. National Guard troops are paid with federal funds but are under state control.
Newsom derided Trump’s recent State of the Union speech as rife with “fear-mongering” about a “so-called border emergency.”
“This border emergency is a manufactured crisis,” Newsom said to a standing ovation. “California will not be part of this political theater.”
Newsom also took issue with a number of other White House positions, including an effort to kill the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.
“California must act where Washington has failed,” Newsom said, adding that he aims to increase subsidies and reimbursement rates, as well as extend healthcare coverage for anyone up to 26 years old “regardless of their immigration status.”
At one point, Newsom thanked Trump. The governor was alluding to Trump’s State of the Union comments about the need to bring down the cost of prescription drugs.
“I hope (Trump) takes the lead of California in the process,” Newsom said, a reference to his executive order of a month ago proposing that the state be able to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers on behalf of some 13 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries, as well as state agencies that regularly buy drugs.
California, home to some of the world’s top tech companies, set a precedent by establishing a new state privacy act that requires companies such as Google and Facebook to divulge to residents how and where their data is being used.
The other big topics on Newsom’s agenda Tuesday were California’s long-derided high-speed rail (Newsom doesn’t want a Los Angeles to San Francisco run but supports developing such a train in the Central Valley); education spending (the state currently ranks near the bottom nationally on spending per student); and the state’s newly bankrupt utility, Pacific Gas & Electric.