California
Laws combating California campus antisemitism receive wide support, despite JVP criticism
New laws targeting campus antisemitism and ensuring K-12 education on the Holocaust and genocide will be signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom, his office announced this week.
The policies, authored by Assembly members Laura Friedman and Josh Lowenthal, Senator Steve Glazer, and Senator Henry Stern respectfully, will see increased education on the Holocaust in K-12 classrooms and antisemitism training included in California colleges’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The three new legislations were rated the highest priority by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California in light of growing antisemitism. JPAC is also supporting several dozen other bills. To date, 16 have been signed into law.
The new legislation
The deadline to submit or veto bills is September 30, meaning the legislation may still be turned down. Should bill AB 2925 pass, then, from January 1, Californian college campuses will be required to teach on antisemitism, and staff will be trained on how to combat discrimination against the five most targeted groups. This would likely see antisemitism training added to existing DEI policies.
Under SB 1287, the second of the three bills up for consideration, college campuses could be required to enforce and update student codes to prevent intimidation, harassment, and violence. Students would be given training on appropriate channels of civil discourse, allowing room for debates and discussions.
Finally, under SB 1277, the California Teachers Collaborative on Holocaust and Genocide Education would become an official state program. This is led by the JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco, which brings together 14 genocide education institutions across the state to create curriculum and training materials for K-12 teachers. If implemented, the educational materials would reach one million students by 2027.
Campus life
The legislation comes in the wake of campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Some American universities saw pro-Palestinian groups set up illegal encampments on campus, preventing the free movement of students paying to attend the institutes.
In one such instance, at the California-based University of Berkeley, anti-Israel protesters allegedly firebombed buildings. In another, a pro-Palestinian group interrupted a private dinner being held at the home of a Jewish professor. Other incidents have seen students physically assaulted for supporting Israel.
Wide support for bills
All three of these bills faced fierce opposition from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Jewish Voice for Peace, the governor’s office said. However, the bills have maintained strong bipartisan support – thanks in part to the advocacy efforts made by JPAC and a coalition of over 40 Jewish organizations. Additionally, over 3,500 letters of support for the bill were sent to the governor.
However, they passed out the legislature with overwhelming, bipartisan majorities in both houses. JPAC led advocacy efforts throughout the legislative process – building a coalition of over 40 Jewish organizations – and organized over 3,500 letters to the Governor. These bills were also top priorities for the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.
“In a post-October 7th world, our school and campus leaders need more tools to keep students safe and provide accessible educational opportunities for all,” said David Bocarsly, JPAC Executive Director. “This is true for both Jewish students and other targeted students. These bills meaningfully counter antisemitism and hate by creating greater empathy and understanding and ensuring all students feel safe on their campus. We are incredibly grateful to our partners and champions in the Legislative Jewish Caucus, led by Assemblymember Gabriel and Senator Wiener, and we thank Governor Newsom for signing these bills into law.”
It’s been quite the unexpected slog through a field of candidates so numerous that all of their names don’t even fit on a single page of the ballot. Democrats in California have held the governor’s mansion, state House, and state Senate for almost two decades and unrest about that trifecta out West is real. The traditional political alliances are frayed, at best, with socialists backing a billionaire and Trump supporting an immigrant. A sex scandal tanked the hopes of a leading candidate, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and Trump’s endorsement of Hilton all but sidelined tough-on-crime Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco. It’s why Hilton, who moved to California in 2012, is in the mix in a race that is set to test assumptions about party loyalty, candidate partisanship, and money’s power. And it carries massive consequences about who will be the de facto CEO of the fourth-largest economy on the planet, between Germany and Japan, and a major player on the national political stage. This is not some backwater local election.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
California air regulators on Friday approved a contentious overhaul of the state’s carbon market, creating a program that could steer billions of dollars in free pollution permits to oil refineries and other major polluters over the objections of environmental groups, key lawmakers and three of the board’s own members.
Ten members of the California Air Resources Board voted to adopt the changes to its cap-and-invest program after two days of lengthy hearings, including a full day dedicated to hundreds of public comments.
The overhaul followed intensive lobbying by the oil industry as well as pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to help keep refineries operating in the state amid rising gas prices.
The approval sets up a potential budget fight in Sacramento. The Legislative Analyst’s Office projects that quarterly auction revenue for state climate programs will drop from roughly $4 billion a year to about $2 billion under the new overhaul.
Such a shortfall would effectively zero out programs lawmakers spent last year fighting to fund: affordable housing, public transit, drinking water in low-income communities and pollution monitoring in California’s most polluted neighborhoods.
The governor’s office praised the measure as a compromise that balanced economic uncertainty with the state’s climate goals. Refinery closures and the Iran-Israel war have driven average California gas prices above $6 a gallon.
Newsom, in a statement, used the moment to draw a contrast with President Donald Trump.
“While Trump sows ongoing chaos and uncertainty, California is staying focused by protecting our economy, safeguarding public health, and doubling down on the clean energy future all Californians deserve,” he said.
Environmentalists warned the changes to the program amount to a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry that weakens California’s only program setting a firm cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California senior director for the Environmental Defense Fund, called the decision “deeply misguided” for prioritizing polluters over communities.
“Newsom’s air regulators are handing billions to oil executives at the expense of our climate, health, and affordability for working families in a rushed process that has shortchanged meaningful public participation,” said Bahram Fazeli, policy director at Communities for a Better Environment.
How the program works — and what changes
California’s 13-year-old carbon market forces major polluters to buy permits while the state lowers the overall cap each year. Friday’s vote will reduce those permits – and creates a new subsidy program carved out of the market.
The program, which may still see changes, could make available a new pool of free pollution permits available to industry valued at as much as $4 billion. Companies that pledge to invest in clean energy and efficiency may qualify for the permits in exchange for investments in clean energy.
The pool will be capped at 118.3 million permits — the same number the air board has said must come off the market for California to hit its 2030 climate target. Environmentalists say the proposal risks wiping out those reductions.
Half are reserved for the fossil fuel sector. A recent Berkeley analysis, by the chair of an independent committee that oversees the carbon market, found refineries could end up with more free permits than they need to cover their emissions.
The air board has defended the design. Officials say the credits will go only to companies undertaking decarbonization projects, will be limited and temporary and can be clawed back if companies misuse them. The plan, they say, is meant to keep California refineries operating at a time of mounting closures and global market pressure. According to air regulators, the amended program will spur clean-energy investment as Trump cuts federal support.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
A 40-year-old Los Angeles man was charged with murder after allegedly killing his girlfriend and kidnapping their young child before fleeing to Mexico, according to authorities.
Ruben Fregosojuarez has been charged one count of murder and one misdemeanor count of child abuse under circumstance or conditions other than great bodily injury or death, according to a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office news release. Authorities first identified him as Ruben Fregoso but Los Angeles County prosecutors listed him as Ruben Fregosojuarez.
On Monday around 12:39 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department conducted a welfare check in the 2600 block of South Alsace Avenue in West Adams, police said in a news release.
Officers found a woman dead inside the home “as a result of violence” and the woman’s daughter missing, police said. On Monday night, the California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert for the child, Daleza.
Photos obtained by NBC4 appear to show Fregosojuarez in a parking garage in San Ysidro with the girl on Sunday. The California Highway Patrol has listed her age as 4 years old but Los Angeles police say the girl is 5. She is also described as the suspect’s daughter.
The alert said that the girl was last seen with Fregosojuarez, who allegedly abducted her in a 2019 Land Rover Discovery, on Sunday at about 4 a.m.
The CHP posted in an update that the vehicle was found but that the child and man were still missing. The girl is described as 3 feet tall, 45 pounds, and having black hair and brown eyes.
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