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California transgender notification bill to head to Gov. Newsom's desk amid battle over parental, trans rights

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California transgender notification bill to head to Gov. Newsom's desk amid battle over parental, trans rights

The issue over parental rights and the privacy of trans students in California is brewing as lawmakers seek to limit the authority of public schools in the state. 

Legislators in Sacramento have sent a bill, AB 1955, to Gov. Gavin Newsom, which would bar school districts from notifying parents if their child uses different pronouns or identifies as a gender that’s different from what’s on school records.  

The bill is currently in the enrollment process, but Newsom will have 12 days to sign it into law once he receives it, his office told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

During an emotional June 27 hearing on the state Democratic-led Assembly floor, Assemblyman Bill Essayli, a Republican, vehemently opposed the legislation. Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood, a Democrat, repeatedly chastised Essayli for speaking off-topic and had his microphone cut off several times. 

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Office of the Governor shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom signing a bill into law.  (AP)

The bill passed by a 60-15 vote. 

“California is leading the nation in assaulting parental rights,” Essayli told Fox News Digital in a statement. “AB 1955 is dangerous and defies common sense by stripping parents of their constitutional and God-given right to raise their children.”

“It’s now up to Governor Gavin Newsom to decide whether he will sign this policy and make the erosion of parental rights one of the central issues in his presidential ambitions,” he added. 

Newsom has appeared to play to a national audience as speculations about a possible presidential bid refuse to go away. Last year, he vetoed a bill that would have required courts to consider whether a parent affirms their child’s gender identity when making rulings on custody and visitation.

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A bill Essayli proposed last year, AB 1314, would have done the opposite of AB 1955 by requiring schools to notify parents of changes in their child’s gender identity. The proposal failed to advance from the education committee.

During last week’s debate, things almost got out of hand when Assemblyman Corey Jackson, who is part of the LGBTQ community, had to be restrained as he tried to move toward Essayli following his remarks. 

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California Assemblyman Bill Essayli

California Assemblyman Bill Essayli seen speaking against a bill that would require schools to not tell parents when their child changes their gender identity. (California state Assembly)

There are things young people have a right to decide for themselves when it’s appropriate, Jackson said. 

“What we’ve seen is that we’re neglecting that right that they have,” he told Fox News Digital. “It’s a parent’s responsibility to build the type of relationship for a student to be willing to confide in them. We are not an extension of their parenting.” 

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Before the vote, Assemblyman Chris Ward, author of AB 1955, said the bill will strengthen families and will allow people to have the “dignity of deciding when they are ready to share some of the most private information about themselves.”

“When you have a policy that requires teachers to do things that they know are not in the best interest of the kids, it causes trauma and damage that experts across the board tell us is true,” he said. 

Corey said he was confident that Newsom will sign AB 1955, while blaming Republicans for instilling “fear and hate.”

“This is politically driven,” he said. “These are not just parents out of nowhere saying this is an issue.”

James Gallagher, the California Assembly Republican Leader, said he has issues with the assumption that telling parents about their child’s gender identity puts students at risk. 

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“One of the concerns that I’ve had from the beginning of this legislation is that I feel like it draws almost a default of: ‘School officials and teachers and counselors, they’re always safe and parents are not safe’,” he said last week. “I think we would probably agree on both sides that’s not true.”

A parents rights supporter holds up a sign.

A parents’ rights supporter holds up a sign during a Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting at Don Lugo High School in Chino on Thursday night, July 20, 2023. (Getty Images)

The bill came as school districts across California have enacted parent notification policies. Many of the policies have been tweaked after the state sued the Chino Valley Unified School District to halt the enforcement of its mandatory gender identity disclosure policy. 

In March, the district amended the policy and will only mention that a child has requested a change to their student records.

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Phony rabbi prankster fishes in 'empty suit antisemite' Squad member

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Phony rabbi prankster fishes in 'empty suit antisemite' Squad member

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A parody social media account named the “Chief Rabbi of Gaza” claimed another victim from the progressive “Squad,” duping Rep. Cori Bush’s, D-Mo., team into boasting about a potential event with the fake rabbi.

Bush’s re-election campaign was considering a possible fundraiser with “Fabbi Linda Goldstein,” a parody X account that posts anti-Israel rhetoric in an attempt to catfish progressives, according to a report from the New York Post.

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The parody account reached out to Bush’s team on June 23 with the idea of partnering on a fundraiser, with the account telling the lawmaker’s office that their “congregation was displaced from Gaza after Israel’s invasion on October 7.”

THIS HOUSE DEMOCRAT BECOMES THE FIRST SQUAD MEMBER DEFEATED IN A PRIMARY

Rep. Cori Bush. (Getty Images)

“Also – would [Bush] travel to the Gaza border for the fundraiser? The optics could be incredible,” the account told Ronika Moody, Bush’s finance and engagement director, according to emails reviewed by the Post.

“Cori is interested in hosting in Gaza, and it’s something she has been trying to plan. Unfortunately, we have not been successful with that opportunity as of yet,” Moody responded four days later, asking whether the “theme” of the fundraiser would be Gaza.

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Goldstein responded with a suggestion that the fundraiser’s theme could be “the morality” of intifada, according to the report.

“The topics are built around finding a final solution to the problem of Zionism,” Goldstein said in the email, garnering no response from Bush’s team.

Cori Bush at DC protest

Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO). (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Communications Workers of America (CWA))

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Bush, who is in a tight primary battle to keep her seat, has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel and the war in Congress.

The account, which has in the past made claims that it had dug terror tunnels into American universities, has previously fooled another member of the so-called Squad, duping Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. and his campaign with a similar exchange in April.

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Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). (Joy Malone/Getty Images)

“Cori Bush is the perfect example of an ’empty suit’ antisemite – completely clueless about how the Israel-Palestine conflict works, but eager to speak up, because it gives her cover to publicly hate Jews,” said Michael, the man behind the account, who declined to give his last name to the New York Post.

Bowman would later lose his primary race against Westchester County Executive George Latimer.

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Meanwhile, the exchange didn’t go unnoticed by a genuine rabbi in Bush’s district, who told the New York Post that the Democratic lawmaker should know better.

“Cori has not done her homework about anything to do with Israel and Palestine, and it’s very sad,” Rabbi Susan Talve, the founding rabbi of the Central Reform Congregation, told the New York Post.

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The Bush campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

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Your guide to Proposition 34: Effort to limit major healthcare group's non-patient spending

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Your guide to Proposition 34: Effort to limit major healthcare group's non-patient spending

The measure is sponsored by the California Apartment Assn., which has tangled with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation for years over its efforts to enable stricter rent control laws through ballot initiatives.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation takes in $2 billion a year, mostly from its chain of pharmacies and clinics. It’s foray into housing has drawn criticism that it has strayed from its mission of helping those living with HIV or AIDS.

In recent years, the healthcare foundation has spent more than $300 million to fund rent control initiatives and buy apartment buildings across the country, including in and around Skid Row, saying it could address chronic homelessness where others failed.

The foundation says it’s taken nearly 1,000 people off the streets and put them into permanent housing at its Skid Row-area properties, but those buildings have also been beset with heating, plumbing, elevator and electricity failures and vermin infestations, The Times found in an investigation published last fall.

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Other supporters of Proposition 34 include health organizations like the ALS Assn. and the California Chronic Care Coalition.

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House Republicans say they aren't sweating Kamala as possible Biden replacement

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House Republicans say they aren't sweating Kamala as possible Biden replacement

House Republicans are already sharpening their attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris as public discussions swell over whether she will replace President Biden at the top of Democrats’ 2024 ticket.

GOP lawmakers — in both safe red seats and swing districts being targeted by the left — dismissed Harris as a political threat to their chances in November, arguing she’s still tied to the same progressive Biden policies they believe are unpopular with voters.

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., who served as longtime chair of the New York Republican Party before coming to Congress, told Fox News Digital, “Kamala Harris is just as responsible for this administration’s failures, but she’s more incompetent.”

“She will make no difference to the outcome. President Trump will be our 47th,” he said.

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Republicans like Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., are brushing off Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible threat if she takes over for President Biden. (Getty Images)

A swing-seat Republican who asked not to be named told Fox News Digital they were skeptical Harris would do better on the debate stage than Biden. 

“I would say she’s the weakest part of the ticket right now, as bad as Biden is,” that GOP lawmaker said.

“Whether it’s Joe Biden or [Harris] at the top of the ticket, they’ll have to defend their abysmal, tax-and-spend record,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla. “We’re already seeing significant Republican advantages across the board in swing states, especially increase in support from Hispanic voters.”

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., a Trump ally from a deep red district, told Fox News Digital that Biden and Harris “both own the same disastrous policies.”

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It comes as conversations swirl around Harris as one of the most likely successors to Biden if he chooses to withdraw from the race ahead of his November rematch with former President Trump. 

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President Biden and Vice President Harris join hands

Vice President Harris would stand to inherit the Biden-Harris campaign’s massive war chest if President Biden withdraws from the race.  (Tierney L. Cross)

Biden and his campaign have insisted he will not bow out of the race, but his weak performance in last month’s presidential debate has left many on the left wondering if he’s the best positioned candidate to beat Trump. Multiple polls have shown Biden modestly trailing Trump since the debate aired.

Harris has maintained that she is standing by Biden on multiple occasions when asked about the speculation by reporters.

But if she were to take over, Harris would be the only Democratic candidate who could inherit the $240 million Biden-Harris campaign war chest.

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The House GOP campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), is also aiming its fire at Harris as well, in a telling sign that it sees her as the next top Democratic target.

A new advertisement released by the NRCC this week cast Harris as Biden’s “enabler-in-chief” and hits her for her role as Biden’s “border czar.” 

HOLLYWOOD MEGADONOR CALLS ON DEMS TO ‘STOP GIVING’ MONEY UNTIL BIDEN DROPS OUT

A spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) told Axios of the ad, “Republicans are fooling themselves if they think the American public will blame anyone besides Donald Trump and his feckless band of Republican extremists and phony moderates who killed a bipartisan border deal.”

trump and biden at debate

Questions about President Biden’s viability as a candidate grew after the debate with former President Trump. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

 

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A recent CNN/SSRS poll shows Harris performing slightly better than Biden in a matchup against Trump.

But when asked about her impact on the November races, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. — a past NRCC chair — would not speak to the vice president specifically, though he was confident in the GOP’s chances to secure the White House.

“It doesn’t matter which incompetent failure Democrats have on the ballot in November — voters are ready to abandon the sinking ship that is the Biden-Harris administration,” Emmer said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and to Harris’ office for comment.

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