With days five days remaining in the Legislative session, Assemblyman Adam Gray (D–Merced) took an aggressive step in opposing marquee legislation for California’s legislative Democrats.
In a Op-Ed published in CalMatters Monday, Gray chided liberal colleagues for pushing Senate Bill 1, a bill that would tie the state’s environmental laws to Federal standards in place during the final day of the Obama administration.
“California has made a sport of disagreeing with President Trump,” Gray started. “So it was somewhat surprising when legislative leaders decided to use the President’s worst habit—ignoring real science and concrete facts—as a model for priority legislation.”
Later, Gray calls the proposal led by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D–San Diego) “not just dumb, it’s dangerous.”
Gray joins a growing chorus of Democrats, including Reps. Jim Costa (D–Fresno), TJ Cox (D–Fresno), Josh Harder (D–Turlock), and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, calling for major changes to the bill.
One change includes removing language that would require the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation follow California’s Endangered Species Act mandates rather than its Federal equivalent.
In a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic group said the passage would create “significant legal uncertainty over whether the State can modify the application of Federal law.”
“[This] provision would generate years of litigation and uncertainty over which environmental standards apply to the federal Central Valley Project,” they added.
