Written by Urvi Sakurikar
There seems to be no end to Governor Newsom’s shameless grab for power, as shown in his newest proposed budget.
If approved, this plan would give the governor unchecked power over COVID-19 related spending.
Some of the provisions of the budget include an extension of the Newsom administration’s authority to grant emergency money with little to no legislative notification and giving the administration the ability to spend new funds without approval or even notifying the legislature.
According to The Legislative Analyst, a nonpartisan advisor of the state Legislature, the issue goes deeper than the budget proposal. The larger problem may be the laws and policy that make it possible for Newsom to pitch such “a significant expansion of already fairly broad authority.”
In addition to concerns about the budget, Governor Newsom is also facing a lawsuit from Republican Assemblymembers Kevin Kiley and James Gallagher, which aims to place constraints on the Governor’s emergency authority.
The outrageous overreaches of authority detailed in the budget should not come as a surprise, as Governor Newsom has shown over and over again that power matters more to him than doing his job competently.
It is now up to lawmakers to stop Newsom in his tracks and not approve this budget.
In addition, the problem should be addressed at the root. The Legislature should look into reforming the emergency spending laws that allow for Governor Newsom to allocate this much control to himself without any significant checks and balances.
Allowing any elected official to do whatever they want without any sense of accountability, especially someone as power-hungry as Governor Newsom, will only result in the suffering of hard-working Americans.
