Gov. Gavin Newsom is appealing a temporary restraining order (TRO) that two assemblymen obtained against him regarding an executive order governing elections.
“It is so ordered that the defendant Governor's executive order N-67-20 is hereby suspended as an impermissible use of legislative powers in violation of the California Constitution and the laws of the state of California,” wrote Sutter County Superior Court Judge Perry Parker in his June 12 order.
Gov. Newsom's executive order N-67-20 mandated a host of rules related to upcoming elections in November, such as number of precincts, planning the election and how many days polls must open prior to the election.
“It involved changing a whole bunch of laws and creating new rules, which is well beyond anything that Gov. Newsom is empowered to do,” said Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Roseville)
Assemblyman Kiley and Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Sacramento) sued Gov. Newsom requesting a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief.
“Without an injunction, confusion over the rules governing the November 3, 2020 General Election are likely to ensue,” wrote Gallagher in the complaint. “Monetary or traditional forms of damages cannot possibly compensate for the violation of fundamental constitutional rights and the usurpation of constitutionally separated powers.”
In filing an application for the TRO, Kiley said he and Assemblyman Gallagher were only seeking to rein in the governor and not necessarily objecting to a particular facet of the policy.
“The governor has now issued 45 to 46 executive orders and changed well over 200 California laws,” Kiley told the Southern California Record. “Our system of checks and balances and separation of powers has collapsed into this one-man rule, which is very unhealthy for our democracy.”
The application states that creating new laws is the domain of the legislature, not Gov. Newsom.
“Our system of constitutional checks and balances is very clear about that and yet the governor has been creating laws on all manner of topics, which aren't even directly related to the public health emergency that he's declared,” said Kiley.
A hearing scheduled for June 26 was postponed due to the appeal.
“The restraining order is also on hold while the appeal moves forward but the judge did enjoin the governor from issuing any further orders that exercise legislative powers improperly, which could impact future orders that the governor issues," Kiley said.
Gov. Newsom’s executive powers expanded after a state of emergency was declared on March 4 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The state of emergency has not been terminated and is still in effect.
Since that time, 222,917 Californians have contracted the coronavirus and 5,980 have died, according to the Department of Public Health.
While the governor does in fact have expanded powers during a state of emergency, the plaintiffs maintain that he doesn't have unlimited powers.
“People understand that there might be some added level of authority that's needed to meet a public health threat but that doesn't mean the governor can just create new laws in any way, shape or form across the entire California code,” said Kiley.