It turns out that Gavin Newsom has decided not to throw away any future chance at running for president. On Friday, the California governor vetoed a plan by his party to give illegal immigrants state-funded loans for down payments on homes.
The Washington Examiner writes that Newsom noted the lack of funding for the program in his letter announcing the veto to the California State Assembly.
Democrats in both state chambers will now have the option to override Newsom’s veto with a two-thirds majority vote. Democrats own majorities in the State Assembly, 62-17, and Senate, 31-9. It originally passed 53-18 in the lower chamber and 25-14 in the upper chamber.
“Given the finite funding available for CalHFA programs, expanding program eligibility must be carefully considered within the broader context of the annual state budget to ensure we manage our resources effectively,” the letter says. “For this reason, I am unable to sign this bill.”
Democratic Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula of Fresno introduced the bill, called the “California Dream for All” loan program. Arambula pitched the bill as a response to federal law, which does not allow illegal immigrants to receive state benefits without a state law that makes them eligible.
“We simply wanted to be as inclusive as possible within our policies so that all who are paying taxes here in our state were able to qualify,” Arambula told Politico.
Politico noted that it was a rare instance where Newsom agreed with Donald Trump, writing that “the Democratic governor’s veto comes a day after former President Donald Trump said he would ban undocumented immigrants from receiving home mortgages if he returns to the White House. It also takes the issue off the table ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ first scheduled debate against Trump next week. Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, described the California bill last month as ‘fundamentally unfair but typical Democrat policy.’
Newsom has repeatedly warned fellow Democrats in Sacramento not to provide cannonfire for Republicans in an election year, issuing pleas for them to tamp down the raging culture wars rather than provoke them with hot-button issues ranging from banning youth tackle football to reparations. On other proposals that were unlikely to become law, he pushed state Democrats to subordinate their virtue signaling so conservative media outlets couldn’t paint the state as wildly out of touch with America.
Newsom’s concerns have only grown since the elevation of Harris as the party’s nominee, since she hails from California. At a briefing Friday on an unrelated topic, the governor denied that he was trying to send a message to lawmakers in his party, saying he vetoed the bill on its merits.”
Has done nothing for CA day 1