Tag: Governor Jerry Brown

‘Not Here, Not Now’: Gov. Brown Signs Bill Blocking Trump’s Offshore Drilling Plan

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Jerry Brown

by Chris White   Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Saturday effectively prohibiting new federal offshore oil drilling along California’s coast, and announced that he opposes plans to expand crude exploration on public lands in the state. The legislation he signed blocks the Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore oil drilling through the prohibition on new leases for new construction of oil and gas-related infrastructure, such as oil pipelines. Brown has worked to cultivate a status as one of President Donald Trump’s chief opponents. “Today, California’s message to the Trump administration is simple: Not here, not now,” the Democratic governor noted in a press statement announcing the move. “We will not let the federal government pillage public lands and destroy our treasured coast.” Brown also submitted formal opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to open new public land and mineral estates for oil and gas lease sales. His move comes nearly six months after officials on the California Coastal Commission urged the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to rescind plans allowing companies to drill for oil off the coast. “It has been more than twenty years since the Bureau of Land Management last expanded the availability of federal public lands and mineral…

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California Voters Prepare To Square Off Against Gov. Jerry Brown Over Gas Tax Repeal

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Jerry Brown

by Chris White   Gov. Jerry Brown is leaving office after the midterms, but the California Democrat plans on engaging in one last brutal campaign to defend an extremely unpopular gas tax he approved in 2017. Brown is pledging to raise $25 million in a campaign to fight the repeal effort. He is also soliciting help from business and labor leaders, who view the gas tax as an instrument to build up California’s roads. Supporters of the repeal are eager to knock it around with the 80-year-old governor. “This has nothing to do with taxes,” Brown said of Prop 6, which seeks to repeal a gas tax the governor passed in April 2017. “This is engineered by the Republican congressional delegation to prop up their vulnerable Republicans,” he said in a June 6 interview with The New York Times. The Road Repair and Accountability Act imposes a 12-cents-a-gallon increase on Californians and raises the tax on diesel fuel by 20 cents a gallon. It also implements an additional charge to annual vehicle license fees ranging from $25 to $175 depending on the car’s value. The measure gained has become a hot-button issue in the Golden State. California currently ranks seventh highest in the country when it…

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California Becomes First State To Legally Recognize A ‘Third Gender’

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California became the first state in America to legally recognize a third gender after Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown signed the legislation Sunday. State drivers’ licenses, birth certificates, and other identity documents will now allow residents to check “non-binary” rather than just male or female, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday. The Gender Recognition Act is one of…

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Incensed Californians Working to Recall State Assemblyman Who Supported Gas Tax Hike

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Gas up the car

  Earlier this year, the Democrat super-majority in the California legislature passed a substantial gas tax hike. Though wildly unpopular with the relative few who took notice, Governor Jerry Brown signed it quickly, and put into motion an uptick in fuel costs to consumers estimated to raise a staggering $5 billion in new recurring revenues to help underwrite the Golden State’s bloated budget. Republicans, fueled by the outrage of every day Californians at the imminent tax increase, responded by launching a recall effort against newly-elected Assemblyman Josh Newman, whom they say was key to the passage of the tax hike. The Washington Free Beacon reports the effort, led by San Diego radio talker Carl DeMaio, is garnering vast support amongst California voters. The first step to recall a sitting elected official is to gather petitions signed by voters. The Beacon reports, “Republicans opposed to the most recent gas tax hike Newman backed submitted 84,988 signatures for the recall effort on Tuesday, nearly 20,000 more than the 63,592 the law requires.” DeMaio told The Beacon, “The overwhelming number of signatures we collected in just six weeks demonstrates a real rebellion is brewing in California against the out-of-control tax raisers in the state legislature.” He continued, “This recall…

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