With a massive structural budget deficit to deal with, Gov. Gavin Newsom is still taking the time to keep his name in national headlines. Last month, the governor introduced legislation to allow abortion doctors in Arizona to provide abortions in California to women from Arizona through November 30th of this year. It has since raced through the Legislature and has now been approved by the state Assembly and Senate.
The proposal, Senate Bill 233, was ostensibly introduced in response to an Arizona Supreme Court ruling allowing a law from 1864 effectively banning abortion in the state to go into effect. The Arizona Legislature has since voted to repeal the law and Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the repeal effort earlier this month.
Newsom has long sought to present himself as a national figure defending abortion rights.
Two years ago, amid the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, Newsom sought to present California as a sanctuary state for abortions, purchasing ads in Republican-led states reading, “Need an abortion? California is ready to help.”
This trend has continued. Earlier this year, Newsom unveiled television ads in Republican-led states attacking Republicans on abortion policy.
Newsom is certainly not the only Democratic governor who believes what he does about abortion rights. But he clearly has aspirations to be president of the United States and no doubt is building his case to be the Democratic choice for president should the opportunity present itself.
This editorial board has long argued that Newsom should focus on improving government in California instead of perpetually posturing for a national audience.
The least we’d ask of the governor and the supermajority Democratic Legislature is that if they are going to take the time to ram through an occupational licensing carve-out for abortion providers from Arizona, they might consider occupational licensing reforms more broadly.
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The California Legislature has, for example, repeatedly ignored legislation that would allow California to join the Nurse Licensure Compact, which most states are a part of and which allows licensed nurses to easily work across state lines. Assembly Bill 3232, introduced by Assemblymember Megan Dahle, R-Redding, would do a lot more good for a lot more people than Newsom’s stunt legislation. But the Legislature isn’t interested because it won’t boost Newsom’s presidential prospects.
Research from the Institute for Justice has shown that California’s occupational licensing schemes are among the most extensive, onerous and unjustified in the country. They often serve little-to-no public interest and merely exist to protect the economic advantage of existing, licensed businesses and workers. This comes at great cost to both workers and consumers, as the state’s own Little Hoover Commission has observed.
But, why care about good policy when you just want to be president?
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