Will Su’s damage to California economy be extended to US?

Are you ready for another D.C. nomination battle? Apparently, Joe Biden is.

The president selected Julie Su to replace Marty Walsh as the secretary of Labor. That position isn’t usually controversial, but a stark dividing line is taking shape in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

When the body confirmed Su as deputy Labor secretary two years ago, what should have been a slam dunk turned into a partisan battle. She slipped across the finish line after a party-line 50-47 vote.

The Wisconsin-born, Harvard-educated attorney worked for a few civil rights organizations before leading the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

It sounds like a standard warmup to a federal appointment, at least if you don’t consider the problems she caused for the formerly Golden State.

Serving in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Cabinet, Su allowed more than $11 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims during the pandemic.

“There is no sugarcoating the reality,” Su said when announcing the massive scam in 2021. “California did not have sufficient security measures in place to prevent this level of fraud, and criminals took advantage of the situation.”

As Labor secretary, she would oversee the nation’s unemployment insurance program. Over the COVID-19 era, that agency pumped $888 billion into job relief programs.

About one-eighth of that total was spent in California.

Worse still, Su supported passage of California’s Assembly Bill 5, a law that essentially abolished independent contractors in the state as a shot at tech companies such as Uber and Lyft.

A court affirmed tech companies being able to exempt themselves via the ballot this week, and other politically powerful groups like doctors and lawyers were able to score themselves exemptions. (Even freelance journalists had to lobby to get themselves exempted from the law.)

AB 5 has wrecked California’s trucking industry, and the industry is currently mired in a legal fight while it’s already exacerbating the nation’s supply-chain woes.

Biden sought to bring AB 5 to the nation with the PRO Act last Congress. Since that stalled, the president is likely to push Su to execute it via administrative action.

Longtime locals often tell incoming refugees, “Don’t California my Arizona.” Seeing Su’s money-wasting, job-killing track record, taxpayers should expand that to “Don’t California my America.”

From our vantage point next-door, Arizona knows all too well what Sacramento’s policies have wrought on their state.

California’s population has shrunk each year since 2019, while Arizona’s has increased.

More of Arizona’s new residents come from California than from any other state. They aren’t here for our seaside views, but for the strong economy, low cost of living and quality of life.

The last thing the shaky national economy needs is an infusion of radical Californian policies.

Thankfully, Arizona has a say in this. Julie Su’s confirmation fight will hinge on two votes in the Senate. Who better to stop it than two Arizonans familiar with Sacramento’s dismal failures?

Both Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly campaigned as independent pragmatists willing to buck the Democratic caucus for commonsense policies.

There’s no better way to prove their maverick bona fides than to oppose this train wreck of a nomination. Sinema will demonstrate her bipartisan spirit. Kelly, paradoxically, will help his party’s chances in 2024.

Having Julie Su burn taxpayer money on fraudulent schemes and throw a straitjacket on the labor force would be wildly unpopular with voters in both parties. If we are to avoid a recession, America needs every job it can get – union or non-union.

Their votes might be unpopular with Chuck Schumer and Gavin Newsom, but that would make it even more successful among Arizona’s contrarian voters.

Su allowed more than $11 billion in fraudulent unemployment claims during the pandemic.