California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is calling the legislature into session next month to prepare the state for a battle with the incoming Trump administration over a host of policies Newsom says are under threat.
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said in a statement. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”
The special session is scheduled to begin Dec. 2 and will focus on bolstering California’s legal resources to protect civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action and immigrant families.
Newsom said this is the first of several actions he intends for his administration to take to shore up California’s defenses against “an incoming federal administration that has threatened the state on multiple fronts.”
Trump and Newsom have numerous policy disagreements, including on climate change, which the former president has called a hoax. During the campaign, Trump sought to insult the governor by calling him New-scum.
California has been at the forefront of states passing legislation and enacting rules to tackle climate change. The state was the first to pass legislation to phase out the sale of gas cars by 2035.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must still approve those policies. Under the federal Clean Air Act, California has the authority to set standards for motor vehicle emissions, as long as they are as stringent as federal regulations and the state receives EPA approval.
The state has seven other rules pending before the EPA, including banning gas-powered yard equipment, banning fossil-fuel-powered cargo trucks from state roads, and requiring ferry boats and excursion vessels to be zero-emission where feasible.