Governor Newsom says his party needs to change. Fine. Start here.
Democrat leaders in the Assembly just stripped out the part of a bill that would have made it a felony to buy sex from 16- and 17-year-olds. Not even legal adults, and they decided the predators don’t deserve real consequences.
They didn’t cave to logic or evidence. They caved to fringe activists. They watered down the bill and left teenagers exposed.
This is where the Democratic Party is now. More worried about upsetting political allies than protecting kids from predators.
And the Governor? Not a word.
Grown adults are buying children. His party responded by making it easier for them to get away with it. That’s not leadership. That’s a failure of basic decency.
Governor Newsom needs to do more than talk about change. He needs to get control of his party and tell them this is over the line. Fix the bill. Put the felony penalties back. Protect these kids.
We will use every legislative tool we have to make sure these children are protected. This matters. We’re not walking away from it.
If the Governor keeps hiding from this, then he owns it. And so does every Democrat who let it happen.
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Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher represents California’s 3rd Assembly District, which includes Butte, Glenn, Sutter, Tehama, Yuba, and parts of Placer County.