California Legislature starts special session Monday to 'Trump-proof' the state
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A special session of the state Legislature starts Monday, called by Gov. Gavin Newsom in a bid to "Trump-proof" California on issues such as the environment and immigration.
The president-elect has made it clear he has no plans to allow California to serve as the resistance state during his second term.
Trump posted on his site Truth Social "Governor Gavin Newscum is trying to kill our nation's beautiful California."
He added "he is using the term "Trump-Proof" as a way of stopping all of the great things that can be done to 'make California great again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the election. People are being forced to leave due to his, & other's, insane policy decisions."
Newsom, Bonta prepare to take on Trump Administration on environmental issues
Actions taken by the special session would take effect in the new year shortly before Trump is sworn in. One of the goals is to secure millions of dollars in funding to pay for lawsuits against the Trump administration. During Trump's first term, California filed more than 120 such suits.
"California has built up a strategy based on what happened the first time around which provides an educated guess, a blueprint for how to react, but the factors are different this time around," said Alexei Koseff, state Capitol reporter with CalMatters.
Republicans control the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Although Trump lost California to Vice President Kamala Harris by 20 points, that performance was an improvement over his 29 point loss to Joe Biden in 2020. In 2024, almost every California county shifted closer toward Trump.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta says his office has been preparing for a second Trump term for months. If the new administration breaks the law, the AG's office will take legal action. For example on immigration, SB-54 prevents the federal government from using local and state law enforcement for immigration raids.
"If it's going to get done, they need to do it themselves. So local law enforcement and state law enforcement cannot, they're prohibited under state law from cooperating with federal authorities when it comes to immigration enforcement in the state of California. That's the law," Bonta said.
But former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tells Eyewitness News refusing to assist doesn't mean California will be able to stop everything the federal government tries to do.
"How do we separate the ones that were here to harm versus the ones who came here looking for a better life?" Villanueva said. "And that's something the Trump administration is going to have to do and it's not going to be easy. Here at the local level, if they come with criminal warrants all the local law enforcement has to cooperate with criminal warrants. There's no exception to that."
Besides immigration, California is also preparing to defend its policies on reproductive rights and environmental regulations.
Over the past 30 years, there have been 35 special sessions of the state Legislature. Two of them have taken place since Newsom took office in 2020.
