It’s another glorious day in the Twilight Zone state in which I live.
Earlier this year, California nearly had a major catastrophe when it was feared the Oroville Dam would breach. More recently, our major cities have had to power-wash streets with disinfectant in an effort to stem infectious disease outbreaks that occur via fecal matter transmission.
But instead of focusing funds on needed infrastructure repairs or public health projects, Sacramento had decided to spend millions of dollars on illegal immigrants.
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced a plan Tuesday to set aside $30 million to help immigrants affected by President Trump’s decision to rescind a program that shields thousands of them from deportation.The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program allows immigrants who came to the United States as children to apply for temporary protections from deportation and to receive work permits.The plan is expected to be discussed by a legislative committee on Tuesday night. It would set aside $20 million for immigration legal services and send $10 million to public colleges and universities to provide financial aid to DACA students, also known as “Dreamers.” Of the $10 million, $7 million would go to community colleges, $2 million to California State University and $1 million to the University of California.
California State Senate Leader Kevin de Leon was particularly thrilled at the proposal, directing his ire at President Donald Trump in his statement:
“We will not let one man with xenophobic tendencies undercut years of progress we have made in California to integrate these young adults into our society and economy,” state Senator President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement. “California is their home and they are our future.”
Meanwhile, the investigation of the Oroville Dam fracture has led to some disturbing conclusions about the other dams in this state:
A team of independent experts charged Tuesday that the state and federal officials who inspected Oroville Dam relied too heavily on visual inspections, ignoring blueprints, construction records and other documented clues that could have warned them about the dam’s troubled flood-control spillway long before it fractured in February. The fracture led to near-catastrophe and the evacuation of thousands of residents.The team of forensic investigators, commissioned by the state Department of Water Resources to study the cause of the February crisis, said similar problems could be lurking at other dams in California and around the country because of an over-reliance on visual inspections.
So, we don’t have enough professional and funds for vital infrastructure inspections, but our state can direct millions of dollars so that 20-year olds who are not even citizens can attend Trump-hating educational institutions.
Priorities!
Needless to say, not every California is a member of de Leon’s #Resist army.
For the most part, the comments about this measure are predominately negative because just about everyone thinks there are better uses for this money.
Additionally, California is overdue for a major earthquake along a particularly active fault. As the recent spate of hurricanes show, a natural disaster can hit any state’s budget hard.
But, in the Twilight Zone, budget priorities are directed at manufacturing legislative weapons to use against our President.
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