Thousands Sign Petition Demanding End to Political Games that Threaten Public Safety

“Californians can see right through Newsom’s political games and are fighting back.”

SACRAMENTO – Today, Assembly Republicans announced they have gathered more than 6,500 signatures on their petition demanding Democrats stop playing politics with public safety.

While the petition succeeded in pressuring Democrats to remove the poison pill amendments from their public safety legislation, the overall message does not seem to have sunk in for Gov. Newsom and his allies.

After insisting for months that voters should not consider changes to Prop. 47, Newsom unveiled his own soft-on-crime competing ballot measure yesterday. This sneaky maneuver is meant to confuse voters and kill the citizen-led initiative, undermining the will of the people and putting their safety at risk.

“Californians can see right through Newsom’s political games and are fighting back against efforts to mislead and disenfranchise them,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). “Democrats know their constituents want an opportunity to vote on the initiative without interference. Direct democracy scares them-and so they’re going to try their best to thwart voters and preserve the status quo.”

As Newsom comes up with increasingly creative (and cynical) maneuvers to sabotage the initiative and put Californians at risk, Assembly Republicans will continue to oppose efforts to mislead voters and prevent them from voting on this qualified initiative.

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