California Gov. Gavin Newsom has loudly announced his intention to “Trump proof” the state ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. Some of the things he wants to do will be extremely unpopular with the state’s residents, and legislators who watched their districts vote for Trump (or saw big leaps in that direction) will be wary of publicly signing on to his radical agenda. He’s in a bit of a conundrum. He’s probably been longing for the unchecked power he had from March 2020 through February 28, 2023, when Californians lived under a State of Emergency for the COVID pandemic.
Enter Avian influenza A (H5N1), commonly known as “Bird Flu.”
Newsom declared a new State of Emergency on Wednesday ostensibly aimed at being “proactive” in dealing with an outbreak of bird flu in dairy cattle herds in the state, even though the outbreak started in August. In the five-page declaration, Newsom gives state and local authorities broad authority to ignore various rules, regulations, and laws to “address the effects of bird flu,” to “prevent the spread of this virus,” and to “protect [people’s] safety” even though in a statement accompanying the declaration he admitted the risk to the public is low:
“This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak. Building on California’s testing and monitoring system — the largest in the nation — we are committed to further protecting public health, supporting our agriculture industry, and ensuring that Californians have access to accurate, up-to-date information. While the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this virus.”
Even if Californians weren’t already highly skeptical of Newsom’s use of State of Emergency powers because of his tyranny during COVID, this SOE declaration is dubious at this moment in time. All in all, there are 34 reported human cases of bird flu in the state, and 33 of them are in farm workers. Although Newsom’s declaration comes on the same day it’s being reported that a person in Louisiana is hospitalized in critical condition due to bird flu, the virus genotype in that case is linked to wild birds, not cattle.
In the declaration and his comments, Newsom specifies that any additional authority or spending, or suspension of provisions of the Government Code, are only applicable to efforts to address the bird flu emergency. However, Newsom used the COVID state of emergency to enact full mail-in voting and restrict liberty in all sorts of ways unrelated to the spread of COVID-19 and to set DEI-like standards for when various communities would be allowed to regain their rights – and bragged that he was going to use emergency powers to usher in a progressive era in the state:
Newsom has adopted Trump’s strategy of giving daily updates on what’s going on in the fight against the virus. In one such update, a Bloomberg reporter asked him if he was going to use the crisis to make California even more progressive than it already is….
Newsom takes the scenic route to get to the answer, but when he does get there he admits fully that, yes, this crisis is an opportunity to fundamentally change America.
“There is opportunity for reimagining a progressive era as it pertains to capitalism,” Gov. Newsom said. “So yes, absolutely we see this as an opportunity to reshape the way we do business and how we govern.”
Newsom goes on to talk about how this “shouldn’t send shivers up the spines” of either party, but that it’s necessary to “meet this moment.”
So, Californians are rightly highly skeptical of this declaration; they’re justifiably wondering if he’s going back to a tactic that worked so well in the past.
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Reading through the provisions of his order, it’s not difficult to see how Newsom can justify actions that are more related to his Trump-proofing goals (emphasis added):
All agencies of the state government utilize and employ state personnel, equipment, and facilities for the performance of any and all activities consistent with the direction of the Office of Emergency Services and the State Emergency Plan. Also, all residents are to obey the direction of emergency officials with regard to this emergency in order to protect their safety.
Whether they’re legal or illegal immigrants, the vast majority of people working on dairy farms in California are Latinos. It’s not difficult to imagine Newsom telling federal immigration officials they can’t enter farms or even the hardest-hit counties to “stop the spread” even though an action like that wouldn’t be scientifically justified. Nearly 100 percent of the actions his administration took during the COVID pandemic had no basis in science, so there’s no reason for them to start caring about that now.
Thinking much larger, who’s to say Newsom wouldn’t attempt to shut down vast swaths of California’s dairy industry as a way of both addressing the outbreak and achieving some of his “climate change” goals? It would only hurt all those conservatives in the Central Valley, so what does he care?
Ah, and then we get to the part about suspending competitive bidding requirements:
As necessary to assist local governments and for the protection of public health and the environment, state agencies shall enter into contracts to arrange for the procurement of materials, goods, and services necessary to quickly assist with the response to and recovery from the impacts of this emergency. Applicable provisions of the Government Code and the Public Contract Code, including but not limited to travel, advertising, and competitive bidding requirements, are suspended to the extent necessary to address promptly the effects of Bird Flu.
Newsom’s got to have buddies who own companies in industries related to addressing the outbreak, whether they’re laboratories, PPE manufacturers, and more. Remember that $1 billion no-bid contract Newsom awarded to Chinese “green energy” company BYD – whose vice president donated to Newsom’s campaign – for KN95 masks? The first shipment of masks failed NIOSH certification and Newsom could have canceled the contract, but he didn’t. (And, oh yeah, BYD is the same electric vehicle manufacturer Newsom touted during his trip to China last year. Definitely nothing shady going on there.)
This section can also be cited to justify no-bid contracts of dubious economic value to companies that might help Newsom enact large-scale changes he might come up with, such as the “kill California’s dairy industry” example above.
But Newsom can’t fully Trump-proof the state without help from his friends in local governments, so he gave them a pass from complying with personnel statutes.
Adequate state staffing during this emergency is necessary for all state agencies and departments with an assigned response and/or recovery role. Consistent with applicable federal law, work hour limitations for retired annuitants, permanent and intermittent personnel, and state management and senior supervisors, are suspended. Furthermore, reinstatement and work hour limitations in Government Code …are suspended.
. . .
The suspension of statutes identified in this Paragraph shall also apply to local governments, as applicable, to ensure adequate staffing to appropriately respond to Bird Flu. Local governmental agencies shall notify the California Public Employees’ Retirement System or any other retirement system in which they participate, as applicable, of any individual employed by an agency pursuant to this Paragraph.
Here’s how this section played out in Los Angeles County during COVID. Since work hour limitations were suspended in state and local agencies tasked with some kind of role in responding to the pandemic, LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer subjected employees to forced overtime to do things like harass business owners and the public. Of course, employees who weren’t fully down with the plan were the first ones forced to work overtime and on holidays. The agencies also received extra dollars for COVID-related tasks, incentivizing the ongoing harassment. I covered all of this in an exclusive report in July, 2022:
EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower Claims LA County’s Ferrer Is Using State of Emergency to Abuse and Retaliate Against Employees, Shakedown Businesses
And what’s a state of emergency without the ability to give out plum jobs to your allies?
The limitation for the period of employment for State Personnel Board emergency appointments, as provided in Government Code section 19888.1, is suspended for positions required for emergency response and/or recovery operations related to the spread of Bird Flu. The requirements and period of employment for such appointments will be determined by the Office of Emergency Services, but shall not extend beyond the termination date of the State of Emergency.
Gavin will undoubtedly need highly paid advisors to guide his “emergency response and/or recovery” efforts. Just how many acres of farmland need to be eliminated? Who will lead efforts to keep federal immigration officials away from farm workers? Who will lead the propaganda efforts to the public to tell them all of this is a good thing?
Newsom and his pals can surely come up with several additional ways to utilize this “emergency” to advance their progressive efforts, but one variable he hasn’t factored in is that 2024 California isn’t the same as 2020 California. We loudly protested his tyranny then, and since that time a large number of Californians have joined “Team Reality.” We know your tricks, Gavin, and we’ll meet you with lawfare every step of the way.
UPDATE 10:55 PM EDT: A prominent California civil rights attorney, Laura Powell, says the emergency declaration might be illegal if it’s simply proactive and there’s low risk to the public. Full coverage here.
