Dan Walters: How long will Newsom govern by decree?

Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom extended two of his pandemic decrees until March 31, indicating that he has no present intention of withdrawing the emergency declaration he issued 20 months ago.

It calls to mind David’s plaintive question in Psalm 13, “How long, O Lord?”

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Under that emergency declaration, Newsom has suspended or altered more than 400 laws and regulations and, in effect, issued dozens of his own laws without going through the legislative process.

While many are relatively mundane, some have had profound impacts, particularly mandatory shutdowns of countless small businesses and vaccination and mask-wearing orders.

The closures triggered a severe recession as more than 2 million jobs were erased, quadrupling the state’s unemployment rate. Subsequently, Newsom repeatedly eased his shutdown orders, then reimposed them as COVID-19 waxed and waned.

Newsom has defended recent mandatory vaccination orders for teachers and state employees by citing a new uptick in infection rates, also the rationale for last week’s action affecting the employment of health care workers..

https://napavalleyregister.com/opinion/columnists/dan-walters-how-long-will-newsom-govern-by-decree/article_acedfb83-102d-5e9d-8f6b-da65bcc6e779.html