What’s at stake:
After advocates noted that there had been no indication of whether Gov. Gavin Newsom would sign the bill as of last week, he vetoed it late Monday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed California’s second attempt at a transnational repression bill late Monday, according to a letter he sent to members of the state Senate.
The letter was shared with Fresnoland by Elisa Rivera, communications director for state Sen. Anna M. Caballero (D-Merced).
“While I appreciate the author’s intent to enhance the state’s ability to identify and respond to transnational repression, this issue is best addressed through administrative action in coordination with federal agencies,” Newsom wrote in the letter. “By codifying definitions related to this training, this bill would remove the state’s flexibility and ability to avoid future inconsistencies related to this work, especially since no unified federal definition exists.”
In his letter, Newsom noted that the California Office of Emergency Services has already created a training course to help law enforcement identify and respond to incidents of transnational repression.
He continues the letter by explaining that the “Transnational Repression Awareness class,” offered through Cal OES’s California Specialized Training Institute, was developed in collaboration with POST and federal partners to ensure consistency with national standards and provide local agencies with the tools needed to confront this threat.
According to the Cal OES website, the class is listed as “coming soon,” and will be a one-day course covering the definition and scope of transnational repression in the U.S., with a focus on California, along with the tactics used by major repressive nations, threat actors active in the state, and strategies for identifying and reporting on transnational repression to the proper authorities.
Fresnoland requested comment from Caballero and Fresno advocates late Monday.
This is a developing story.
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