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Column: A rare win for Republicans, triumph for labor and dilemma for Newsom

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Column: A rare win for Republicans, triumph for labor and dilemma for Newsom

The lopsidedly Democratic California Legislature was turned on its head. The most dramatic event of this year’s just-concluded session was a bizarre, unanimous Republican victory.

The rare GOP triumph was led by a tenacious Bakersfield conservative, Sen. Shannon Grove, whose cause was right. In the end, it proved irresistible even for liberal lawmakers whose ideology was antithetical to her bill.

Grove’s cause was longer prison sentences for sex traffickers of children. Her bill, SB 14, classified the pimping of kids under 18 as a “serious” crime. Duh! What’s to argue?

Nothing, the Senate figured. It voted 40-0 without debate just before the Memorial Day weekend to send her bill to the Assembly.

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But categorizing sex trafficking of children as a serious felony subjects repeat offenders to California’s “three-strikes” law that liberals have been on a crusade to scuttle because it can mean life sentences and overcrowded prisons.

So in July, Grove’s bill was shelved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee chaired by Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles). This panel has long been a deathbed for sentence-stiffening bills.

“The media got hold of it,” Grove told me. “Californians wouldn’t have known about it if you guys weren’t engaged. Then the governor definitely got engaged. And the speaker engaged.”

There was public outrage — and intervention by the two powerful Democrats: Gov. Gavin Newsom and new Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister). Their arm-twisting saved the bill. The Assembly Public Safety Committee briefly reconvened and Democrats meekly resurrected the measure.

SB 14 finally reached the Assembly floor Sept. 11 and passed 80-0, but only after Republicans rubbed the Democrats’ noses in it.

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“People commit crimes and nothing happens,” Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City asserted, echoing a much-repeated GOP line that may be gaining more public traction. “Finally we’re taking a stand today.”

Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli of Corona contended that stiffer sentences for sex traffickers went against the liberals’ “empty-the-prisons agenda.”

Democratic Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi of Rolling Hills Estates, a former prosecutor, cautioned party colleagues: “We need to restore balance — continue to invest in programs like mental health and education, but do more to keep our neighborhoods safe … making sure those committing the most heinous crimes are locked up where they’re not hurting more people.”

The Senate later agreed to Assembly amendments that protected trafficked victims from being targeted by prosecutors, a stated liberal fear. And the measure was sent to Newsom on a unanimous vote.

It was a major triumph not only for Grove and Republicans, but for two Democrats: the rookie speaker and the nationally ambitious governor.

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Newsom’s biggest victory, however, was bipartisan passage just before legislative adjournment Thursday night of the governor’s sorely needed overhaul of mental health laws and funding. It represented his latest attempt — mostly failed — to solve California’s persistent problem of homelessness.

The Legislature passed three bills, two whose author was Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), who grew up watching her aunt Barbara suffer from mental illness. Her aunt never received adequate treatment and struggled on and off the street, then was gang-raped and soon died of AIDs.

Much of today’s homeless dilemma stems from Gov. Ronald Reagan and the Legislature closing state mental health hospitals 56 years ago. Sacramento turned over patients’ care to counties. But little money was supplied for treatment. Many former patients self-medicated with drugs and alcohol and wound up on the street.

One Eggman bill, SB 43, would make it easier for homeless people with severe substance abuse and mental disorders to be detained against their will for treatment.

The other Eggman bill, SB 326, would redirect $1 billion annually from the so-called millionaires’ tax — roughly 30% of the fund — to operate new mental health housing and treatment facilities for 10,000 additional people with serious behavioral health or substance-abuse problems.

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Voters in the March presidential primary will need to approve the reconfiguration of millionaires’ tax spending. And they’ll also be asked to authorize a $6.4-billion bond issue to build the new housing and treatment units.

That Newsom bond proposal — jockeyed through the Legislature by Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) — expanded quietly and unexpectedly by $1.7 billion in the final three harried days of the legislative session. A little bait and switch? What’s another billion or two?

But the session’s grand winner was labor, the state Capitol’s most powerful special interest these days.

It achieved legislation to increase the number of employees’ paid sick days, raise the minimum wage for healthcare and fast-food workers and even permit legislative staffers to unionize.

The biggest eye-opener, however, was legislation to allow striking workers to collect state unemployment insurance after two weeks.

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“When someone goes on strike, it’s not a romantic thing. It’s hard on that family,” declared Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank) during heated debate on his bill, SB 799.

“This is the craziest thing I’ve seen,” countered Sen. Brian Dahle (R-Bieber), who runs a seed farming business. “Someone who has a job? Goes on strike and gets [state] benefits?”

Dahle made sense and so did Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta), who argued: “Going on strike is a voluntary thing. And that’s not what unemployment insurance is set up for.”

Both houses sent the bill to the governor on a party-line vote.

Newsom expressed concerns about the measure last week — torn between his loyalty to labor and realization that the state’s unemployment insurance fund is already roughly $20 billion in debt.

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“One has to be cautious,” the governor said noncommittally when asked whether he’d sign the bill.

Cautious fiscally and politically.

By contrast, the only need for caution regarding the child sex-trafficking bill is to make sure the unconscionable bad guys are locked up for a very long time.

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Judge orders deportation of 'migrant influencer' who bragged about handouts, encouraged squatting: report

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Judge orders deportation of 'migrant influencer' who bragged about handouts, encouraged squatting: report

The illegal migrant from Venezuela who went viral on social media for mocking America and encouraging squatting has been ordered to leave the U.S., according to an exclusive report by the New York Post.

Homeland Security sources told the Post that an Ohio-based judge ordered Leonel Moreno, 27, to be deported from the country on September 9.

Moreno was initially arrested in March for not showing up to required check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He had illegally crossed into Eagle Pass, Texas, on April 23, 2022.

Whether or not Moreno will actually be deported is up in the air, according to the Post. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s administration recently stopped accepting flights of migrants, complicating the deportation process.

VENEZUELAN ‘MIGRANT INFLUENCER’ WHO ENCOURAGED SQUATTING UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR GUN CHARGES: REPORT

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Leonel Moreno was reportedly ordered to be deported earlier in September. (@Leitooficial_26/Instagram / iStock)

Moreno became infamous earlier in 2024 because of his inflammatory TikTok videos. In one clip, he flaunted a stack of cash and bragged about not working. He also also made fun of migrants who work in landscaping, construction and cleaning.

“I didn’t cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave,” Moreno reportedly said in Spanish. “I came to the U.S. to mark my territory.”

Moreno also claimed that he made $1,000 a week on TikTok, in addition to his family being given $350 a week in government handouts. He also encouraged fellow migrants to squat in abandoned homes, according to TikTok screenshots.

ILLEGAL MIGRANT ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF RAPE AFTER BEING RELEASED BY MASSACHUSETTS COURT: ICE

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Split images of Moreno's TikTok

Leonel Moreno speaks to his followers in a combination of still images taken from video. (@Leitooficial_26/Instagram)

After his TikTok account – which amassed over half a million followers – was removed earlier this year, Moreno bragged about the amount of money he earned on Facebook and Instagram.

“Yes, they closed my TikTok account, but I keep earning on Facebook and on Instagram,” the migrant reportedly said in Spanish. “I won’t earn the same, but I am going to get my TikTok account back. I am going to keep earning money.”

Moreno speaking to camera

Venezuelan TikToker Leonel Moreno urged illegal immigrants to take over abandoned homes and invoke squatters’ rights. (TikTok/Screenshot/Leonel Moreno)

Fox News Digital reached out to ICE for additional information.

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

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Video: Video Shows Arrest of Suspect in Trump Assassination Attempt

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Video: Video Shows Arrest of Suspect in Trump Assassination Attempt

new video loaded: Video Shows Arrest of Suspect in Trump Assassination Attempt

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Video Shows Arrest of Suspect in Trump Assassination Attempt

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage of the arrest of Ryan Wesley Routh, the man suspected of trying to kill the former president at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“Driver, take two steps to your right. Take two steps to your right.” “Come back.” “Driver — walk straight back. Keep walking.”

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Michigan Republicans continue to spar with Dems over deal with Chinese EV company in key House race

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Michigan Republicans continue to spar with Dems over deal with Chinese EV company in key House race

The race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District is generating national attention as Republicans attempt to tie their Democratic opponent to a controversial deal with a Chinese Communist Party-backed company.

Michigan Republicans are calling on former Democratic State Sen. Curtis Hertel, who is currently running to represent Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, to break his silence on a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) he signed in order to obtain details on controversial plans to use taxpayer funds to help build an electric vehicle battery plant in west Michigan owned by a company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The plant, which was announced by Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in October 2022, was set to get millions in incentives as part of a deal with Michigan lawmakers and Green Charter Township, with promises of bringing over 2,000 jobs to the area.

But the project quickly drew the ire of local voters, in large part due to the company behind the plant, Gotion Inc., being a subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech, which has strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 

CCP-BACKED TECH COMPANIES ARE POISED TO CASH IN ON BIDEN’S CLIMATE BILL, NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERTS WARN

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Two former Michigan state Senators: Republican Tom Barrett, left, and Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr., right, are running to represent Michigans 7th Congressional District. (AP Photo/File)

Last fall, local voters ousted five of the seven township board members over their support of the project, while the other two members resigned.

That controversy has now bled over into the race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, one of the few true toss-up House races in the state, thanks to Hertel being one of several lawmakers from both parties to sign the NDA with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation that allowed them to learn about and negotiate details on the proposed plans for the plant.

Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is vacating her seat in Michigan’s 7th District to pursue a run for U.S. Senate, recently spoke out against the Gotion deal, further intensifying calls on Hertel to do the same.

“To me, until there’s a national security vetting, I don’t love the idea of moving forward on any project or any sale of farmland” to a Chinese entity, Slotkin told reporters at a campaign event earlier this month. “I believe that we need to not just think about economic [aspects], but also about the national security implications of Chinese-affiliated companies.”

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Michigan congresswoman Elissa Slotkin

Rep. Elissa Slotkin. (Getty Images)

BIDEN ADMIN GREEN-LIGHTS CHINESE EV BATTERY FACTORY IN MICHIGAN, DESPITE LOCAL OPPOSITION

“Hertel must answer whether or not he agrees with his comrade pal Elissa Slotkin, and if he regrets signing the NDA to sell out Michigan taxpayers to the CCP,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella.

The controversy over the plant has also garnered attention in the presidential race, with former President Donald Trump saying on Truth social last month that he is “100% OPPOSED” to the plant, adding that Gotion “would put Michiganders under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.”

Meanwhile, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, highlighted the controversy during a campaign stop in Michigan last week.

“I think the most important thing is we have to stop paying Chinese manufacturers to manufacture, whether it’s here or overseas,” Vance told reporters in Michigan after his speech. “We want to build an American manufacturing industry and an American middle class. If we want to pursue these policies, let’s do them for Americans and American businesses.”

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FEWER AMERICANS WANT TO BUY AN EV — EVEN AS BIDEN PUSHES FOR STRONGEST-EVER CLIMATE CHANGE RULES

JD Vance closeup photo at podium

Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks at NMC-Wollard Inc. / Wollard International on August 07, 2024 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

But questions over Hertel’s involvement in the project continue to be the focus of Michigan Republicans, most notably after it was reported last year that Hertel was on of several Democratic lawmakers in the state to receive funds from a Political Action Committee (PAC) linked to the law office of Warner Norcross + Judd, a firm acting as a foreign agent to represent Gotion.

According to a Fox News report last September, the firm’s PAC donated $2,400 to the state campaign for Hertel, who represented Michigan’s 23rd State Senate district from 2015 until January.

One lawmaker who did not sign an NDA related to the project is former Republican State Sen. Tom Barrett, Hertel’s opponent in the race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Barrett has also seized on the controversy, arguing Hertel owes people an explanation for his involvement with the project.

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“Curtis Hertel, a 22-year career politician, owes the people of Mid-Michigan an explanation as to why he signed a secret NDA to give $175 million of their tax dollars to a CCP-backed company,” Barrett told Fox News Digital. “The fact that he took money from foreign agents on behalf of Gotion should disqualify him from Congress.”

Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Hertel campaign communications director Sam Kwait-Spitzer dismissed the claims by Republicans as a “false attack.”

“Curtis signed no NDA with Gotion, and Tom Barrett is trying to cover for his own record of voting against 5,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs here in Mid-Michigan and trying to cede the future of the auto industry to China,” he said.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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