Today Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) and Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) arrived at the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee hearing to question witnesses regarding the legislation to re-draw Congressional district lines. However, Committee Chair Sabrina Cervantes (D – Riverside) denied both Senators the right to sit on the committee, the doors that allow Senators access to the dais were locked, and Sergeants were instructed to deny their entry.
Customarily, Senators are given the right to participate in informational hearings, even when they do not serve on the committee. It should be noted that there is only one Republican voice on the committee: Vice Chair Sen. Steven Choi (R-Irvine).
Following the rejection by Democrats, Senate Elections Vice Chair Steven Choi (R-Irvine) requested these duly elected representatives be able to ask questions on behalf of Californians.
“I’m extremely disappointed by the actions of my colleagues this morning. As the lone Republican on the committee, this should have been an opportunity to provide balance and accountability,” said Senator Steven Choi, Vice Chair of the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee. “But instead of allowing open discussion, they chose to shut down dissenting voices, and by extension, the voices of Californians themselves. This is not how democracy is supposed to work.”
Choi, as the only member of the minority party allowed to speak today, grilled supporters of the measure, called for more transparency and demanded answers on behalf of all Californians. The Senate hearing, held just one day after the bill was made public, lasted just under three hours.
“This is just further proof of the lack of transparency in this unprecedented power grab,” said Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita). “These lines were drawn behind closed doors, in a matter of days, with no input from voters. The Governor and the Super Majority in the Legislature don’t want to talk about which Members participated in line drawing, which communities of interest were protected and which were not, or how the truncated process limits voter input and oversight. Make no mistake, this is not a transparent process. It is a power grab meant to cement Democrat control at the expense of our communities.”
“Today’s incident was another example of shutting out participation in the democratic process – essentially disenfranchising the voices of nearly 2 million Californians that Senator Valladares and I represent. We were denied the opportunity to ask important questions such as – ‘What did they know and when did they know it? Which lawmakers saw these maps in advance and had an influence on their creation? Who paid for these maps?’ The lack of transparency and fairness undermines the integrity of the legislative process,” said Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach)
While the committee is voting on AB 604 today, they are first hearing ACA 8 and SB 280 in an informational hearing. The bills went into print yesterday, and the Governor and Legislature intend to pass the legislation this week
If passed and upheld by the courts, the special election would be held in just 11 weeks.