Latest news with #Bains
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to prevent California school defunding amid immigration raids passes Assembly
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The proposed bill that seeks to prevent the defunding of schools in California caused by low attendance rates due to immigration enforcement cleared the California State Assembly on Monday. Assembly Bill 1348, introduced by Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains, was approved by the California State Assembly. Ahead of the approval, Bains mentioned the case of the 4-year-old girl from Bakersfield who was facing possible deportation despite needing essential medical care, according to a press release from Bains' office. 'Her family came here legally; they have followed all of the rules, and yet they are still being targeted for deportation,' Bains said in her Floor testimony. 'The only purpose of allowing ICE to operate around schools is to instill fear and send a message that nowhere is safe.' Another 2026 congressional candidate? Breaking down Asm. Dr. Jasmeet Bains' healthcare ad After Bains' speech, Assemblymember Carl DeMaio spoke in opposition of the bill, calling it and the rhetoric surrounding the bill 'dangerous.' 'When a member who's elected stands in support of a bill and says that nowhere is safe because of these agents that the agents are engaging in quote, 'psychological warfare' against immigrants, it is outrageous,' DeMaio said. 'You know what's outrageous? It's trying to deport a 4-year-old child that came here legally and could die within days,' Bains replied. 'Instead of putting words and adding more rhetoric, please do the right thing and vote yes to protect our children and protect funding for our schools.' Late Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security granted humanitarian parole to the 4-year-old girl. Bakersfield high school students stage walkouts over immigration enforcement The bill is meant to protect California school districts from risks of defunding as immigration raids at schools discourage some children from attending school. If passed, the amended bill would include immigration enforcement activity to the list of conditions outside of the school's control that would make the school district eligible for funding protection until July 1, 2029. The list of conditions previously included natural disasters, safety threats and other issues that would pose challenges for a large number of students to attend schools. Never miss a story: Make your homepage The funding designated to a school district by the state of California depends on its Average Daily Attendance, which is calculated by dividing the total number of days of student attendance by the total number of school days. A decrease in a school district's ADA can cause the state to also decrease the funding for that school district. 'Twenty percent of California's school children live in mixed-status homes, meaning they are undocumented or living with someone who is undocumented,' EdTrust-West wrote in a letter of support to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, according to the release. 'Several LEAs (Local Education Agencies) have reported a decrease in attendance because immigrant parents are afraid federal immigration officials will detain children to screen for residency status or question the children about others in their household.' The California State Senate will now consider the bill, according to the release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Politico
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Politico
The other climate rule Trump's attacks are boosting
Presented by the Stop the Oil Shakedown Coalition. With help from Camille von Kaenel, Marie J. French and Caitlin Oprysko THE OTHER CLEAN-CAR LAW: New York lawmakers reeling from Congress' vote to kill California's electric vehicle mandate are eyeballing another Golden State rule to pick up the slack: the low-carbon fuel standard. Fair warning to Democrats considering this route: Things could get bumpy. A yearslong push in Albany to establish New York's version of the controversial program that sets emissions limits for transportation fuels is regaining steam in the wake of Senate votes last month to revoke a trio of EPA waivers that let California — and a dozen states that follow its lead — enforce stricter vehicle emissions standards. We're still waiting for President Donald Trump to sign the resolutions and kick off a court battle that Attorney General Rob Bonta has promised to wage, but New York enviros are already using the moment to lobby for LCFS standards, as POLITICO's Marie J. French reports. 'New York has to lead,' said Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, at a press conference last week. 'We cannot let four years go by without taking real action to transition away from fossil fuels, and Washington, D.C., is not going to help.' New York lawmakers don't need to look particularly hard to find out what sort of headaches they could be in store for if a bill from state Sen. Kevin Parker that would establish the state's clean fuel standard crosses the finish line. (That proposal is awaiting a hearing in New York's Senate Finance Committee and still faces an uphill battle to reach Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk.) Case in point: the bare-knuckled sparring on Friday between moderate Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, a Bakersfield Democrat and potential 2026 challenger to Republican Rep. David Valadao, and the California Air Resources Board, which approved amendments last year (still pending approval by the state's Office of Administrative Law) to tighten the stringency of the program — and potentially raise gas prices. Bains called on CARB Chair Liane Randolph to resign after she said at a hearing last week on transportation fuels that the agency doesn't extrapolate on how much consumers pay at the pump because 'in many instances, that would be speculative.' 'It is outrageous the director would pursue such policies without even trying to analyze the impact on prices,' Bains said. The incident is part of the continued fallout from last year's messy reauthorization of the nearly 15-year-old program. The heated debate largely centered on concerns about the rule's potential to raise gas prices, and CARB did itself no favors by initially estimating a 47-cent per gallon hike, before walking that figure back. The backlash against Bains was swift, as Gov. Gavin Newsom and environmental groups rushed to Randolph's defense. 'What's outrageous is the Assemblymember's stunt as she gears up to run for Congress,' Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor said in a statement. Equally important, though, is who was missing from the defense. Business groups that oppose LCFS over affordability concerns, and environmental justice advocates who argue the state should focus on electrification rather than alternative fuels, were nowhere to be found. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas — who established an oversight committee last month, headed by Assembly Transportation Chair Lori Wilson and Assemblymember David Alvarez, to study the LCFS' impact on prices — also stayed out of the squabble, and his spokespeople didn't respond to requests for comment. Those political dynamics are already shaping up in New York, where the state Senate passed an LCFS bill in 2022 that couldn't clear the Assembly. EJ groups came out against the bill last week, writing in a letter that New York can't 'invest in half-measures and failed solutions that burden environmental justice communities.' But New York businesses are backing Parker's bill. The Business Council of New York State, an Albany-based chamber of commerce with over 3,000 members, announced its support in April, arguing that an LCFS rule would allow the state to 'keep open all fuel and technology options' as it attempts to slash greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. — AN Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! SPEAKING OF GAS PRICES: Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton unveiled a plan Monday to lower energy and fuel prices based on dismantling California's climate programs. Hilton, a GOP television personality, released his energy platform the day before he's hosting a forum on fuel prices with former Democratic Majority Leader Gloria Romero, who registered as a Republican last year over issues like gas stove bans. Hilton's to-do list includes his party's top asks: ending the state's 2045 net-zero emissions goal, repealing LCFS and lowering the state gas tax. He's also advocating for nixing the cap-and-trade program Newsom and lawmakers are currently negotiating an extension of. — AN WATER TRUCE: San Diego and Los Angeles are ending 15 years of courtroom fights over the cost of water transfers, citing the need for greater flexibility and collaboration to handle unpredictable supplies caused by climate change. Under a settlement agreement announced Monday, the San Diego County Water Authority will pay the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California a fixed price for water transfers instead of a fluctuating one, which San Diego had repeatedly sued over. The settlement ends an acrimonious chapter in Southern California's water wars that had cost the two agencies tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and driven political battles across regional water boards. It also frees the San Diego County Water Authority — which is currently facing an existential threat because of lower-than-expected water sales — to cut deals with other water agencies to offload some of its unneeded water. San Diego has spent heavily in the past two decades on both importing and desalinating water. Other Southern California communities don't have that same luxury of abundant supplies, with both the Sierra Nevada snowpack and the Colorado River under strain. MWD Board chair Adán Ortega said at a press conference Monday that the settlement agreement would usher in 'a new era of regionalism' that the entire Southwest should recognize. — CvK EAST COAST FOIL: Florida's longtime cautionary tale on property insurance is changing — maybe. After years of massive losses, Florida insurers made a $207 million profit in 2024, Thomas Frank of POLITICO's E&E News reports. Private Florida-based insurers are returning, and the state-run insurer of last-resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., is shrinking. The AM Best credit ratings firm credits the turn-around to rate hikes that doubled the average premium between 2021 and 2023 and legal reforms that limited lawsuits by policyholders. California, meanwhile, still hasn't shrunk its own insurer of last-resort or brought back private insurers in any big way, despite setting the stage for increased rate hikes. A STEP TOO FAR: Senate Majority Leader John Thune sidestepped Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to revoke California's vehicle emissions waivers, but he's not willing to do the same for Republicans' budget 'megabill.' 'We're not going there,' Thune said Monday when asked by reporters if overruling MacDonough is under consideration as the Senate crafts its own budget proposal. MacDonough will play the crucial role of deciding what polices can stay in the bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer predicted that House GOP proposals, like a plan to place limits on the ability of federal judges to enforce contempt citations, will be booted. The parliamentarian question is going to follow Thune, who gave the thumbs-up for the unprecedented move to ignore MacDonough's opinion that Congress can't overturn EPA's waivers empowering California to enforce nation-leading emissions standards. — AN ON HIS OWN: Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is launching his own firm, he told POLITICO's Caitlin Oprysko. Bernhardt was also a longtime Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck lobbyist, including for Westlands Water District. The new Bernhardt Group will primarily provide strategic advice, but may do some lobbying work on an as-needed basis. Bernhardt declined to name any of the new firm's clients. But he said its work won't be limited to natural resources policy and could encompass a number of issues the firm's staff have been involved in, from telecom and privacy to financial services and appropriations. Read more from the interview as well as the full list of people joining him in POLITICO Influence. — The Trump administration is reversing course and keeping eight of the nine USDA field offices it planned to close in California open instead. — Analytics firm First Street forecasts Sacramento will experience some of the country's largest out-migration because of climate risks. — California Democrats want the Trump administration to restaff National Weather Service offices in Sacramento and Hanford that lost the ability to operate 24 hours a day.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
SAD, Cong, BJP, AAP: Kamaljit Karwal jumps ship again ahead of Ludhiana West bypoll
Kamaljit Singh Karwal from Ludhiana has perhaps made the term 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram' seem feeble, if his political career is anything to go by. Ahead of the June 19 Ludhiana West bypoll, Karwal once again jumped ship Sunday and re-joined the Congress. This is Karwal's sixth switch — from SAD, Congress, BJP, AAP and now back to the Congress — all in a little over a decade. Joining the party in the presence of Congress' bypoll candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh, Karwal said, 'Outraged by the anti-people policies of the AAP government, and their indifference towards Punjabis, I have done aghar waapsi today.' Elected an independent councillor in 2007 and then on SAD symbol in 2012, Karwal was once the right hand man of two-time former Atam Nagar MLA and SAD rebel Simarjeet Singh Bains. He left SAD along with Bains after they formed their own political group. However, Karwal's relations with Bains soured and he was again back to SAD in January 2015 in the presence of then deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal. In December 2016, ahead of the 2017 Punjab assembly elections, Karwal joined Congress in the presence of former CM Captain Amarinder Singh. He then contested assembly elections from Atam Nagar twice on Congress ticket — in 2017 and 2022— and lost both. In both contests, he was pitted against his bete noire Simarjeet Singh Bains. While in 2017 Bains won, in 2022 both Bains and Karwal lost to AAP's Kulwant Singh Sidhu. Later, in the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Karwal quit Congress and switched to BJP. He joined BJP in the presence of state president Sunil Jakhar in Chandigarh in December 2023, and said that he left Congress due ' to poor leadership at all levels, policies and highhandedness in the party'. Karwal then moved to the AAP in December 2024, and was 'welcomed' into the party by state president Aman Arora at Chandigarh. Now when he is back to Congress, the 'Bains brothers' — Simarjeet and his elder brother (also an ex-MLA) Balwinder Singh Bains — are also in Congress. Last year, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, they had merged their Lok Insaaf Party with the Congress. However, when Karwal 're-joined' Congress in the presence of Ashu, both Bains brothers were missing from the event, and so was Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana Lok Sabha MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring who had inducted Bains brothers into the party last year. Asked why he keeps switching parties, Karwal said: 'Congress is like a family for me and fights keep happening in a family. I had joined BJP but realized that it doesn't have any future in Punjab. No matter how hard they try, they can never form government in Punjab. I have no issues with Bains brothers being in Congress. We all will work for the party as per assigned duties.' Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on 'Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers' had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: Karwal calls Congress his home once again
Local politician Kamaljit Singh Karwal returned to the Congress party for the second time, after hopping between six different political platforms in the last 16 years. His latest homecoming was made official on Sunday in the presence of former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and senior Congress leaders including Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Rana Gurjeet Singh. Karwal, who last held affiliation with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), declared his return to Congress as an emotional 'ghar wapsi' (homecoming), saying the Congress is where he truly belongs. He claimed his decision was fuelled by frustration with AAP's alleged 'anti-people policies' and disregard for Punjabi interests. His political journey, however, paints a picture of a restless career marked by frequent realignments. Karwal's six-party trajectory includes stints with Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AAP, and now again Congress. He was elected a councillor in 2007 as an independent and in 2012 on the SAD ticket. Initially a close aide of SAD rebel Simarjeet Singh Bains. Karwal and Bains left SAD and formed LIP, but he parted ways and rejoined SAD in 2015, only to switch to Congress in 2016 before the 2017 Assembly polls. Karwal contested twice from Atam Nagar as a Congress candidate—both times unsuccessfully. In 2017, he lost to Bains, and in 2022, both Bains and Karwal lost to AAP's Kulwant Singh Sidhu. In December 2023, ahead of the 2024 general elections, Karwal exited Congress, citing internal mismanagement and leadership issues, and joined BJP. Within a year, he left BJP for AAP, welcomed by state AAP president Aman Arora. His latest return to Congress makes it his sixth political shift. Divided welcome exposes factions Interestingly, Karwal's old rival former MLAs Simarjeet Singh Bains and his brother Balwinder Singh Bains had also joined Congress, merging their LIP into the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, the Bains brothers were conspicuously absent at Karwal's re-induction event, as was Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who had welcomed Bains brothers into the party fold last year. This absence signals lingering tensions beneath the surface, though Karwal tried to downplay them. 'Congress is like a family to me. Fights happen in every family. I'm ready to work with everyone for the growth of the party,' he said, when asked about working alongside the Bains brothers. He also remarked that BJP has 'no future in Punjab' and despite aggressive campaigning, 'can never form a government in the state'. He admitted he made a mistake joining the saffron party and quickly corrected the course.
Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: District toppers meet SSP, visit control room
Under the state government's initiative 'Ek Din, DC/SSP De Sang', top students from the district had an opportunity to shadow senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khanna, Jyoti Yadav Bains, on Wednesday. Amandeep Kaur, Taranveer Singh, and Niharika Gujral, the top scorers from their respective schools, got a behind-the-scenes look at the day-to-day operations of the Punjab police. Amandeep from Residential Senior Secondary School for Meritorious Students and Niharika, from Shaheed-e-Azam Sukhdev Thapar Girls School of Eminence, both secured 98.40% in their Class 12 board exams, while Taranveer from SOE Sekhewal, achieved 98%. The day kicked off with Bains sharing her own journey to becoming an IPS officer and urged the students to believe in their dreams, work hard, and serve society with integrity. This was followed by a tour of the Khanna Police's modern infrastructure. The students had a chance to witness the high-tech integrated command and control centre as well as the traffic cell. They were briefed on the Mahila Mitra initiative, aimed at women's empowerment, and were introduced to the Khanna Digital Map, a powerful tool for tracking and crime prevention. Inside the control room, they observed real-time police operations and learnt management of emergency situations. The students were also briefed on how complaints are registered and addressed. Throughout the day, SSP Bains and her team explained the functions of different wings of the police force and the interaction concluded over a lunch hosted by Bains, where the students asked questions and listened to personal stories from her career. She also honoured the students for their academic brilliance and encouraged them to dream big, stay grounded, and never lose their desire to make a difference. 'This experience has motivated me to work harder and give back to society,' said Amandeep. 'It was a privilege to see how the police protect us,' added Taranveer, while Niharika called it 'an eye-opener that changed how I see law enforcement.'
