Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) is inconvenienced but he isn’t surprised after having been removed from the Assembly Education Committee where he has served as vice-chair for five years.
“This is just the way our capital is that the ruling party and the special interests that control them and this governor, in particular, are dead set on silencing alternative voices and on consolidating power and as part of that they seek to punish anyone who goes against the grain and who doesn't cooperate with their corrupt plans,” Kiley told the Southern California Record.
Kiley posted about the Dec. 28 cancellation on his Facebook page where he vowed to fight back.
“I've been speaking out on the Education Committee the entire time I've been vice-chair and in particular over the course of the last two years that we've seen these horrible school policies,” he said.
Although the former teacher has been replaced by Assemblywoman Megan Dahle (R-Bieber), according to media reports, he still has a vote on education-related and all other matters as an Assemblymember.
“They're trying to take away my ability to vote and impact policy in terms of being on the Education Committee and that's incredibly disappointing,” Kiley said. “I know a lot about education and I know all about what's wrong with education in California. It's one of the reasons I ran for the legislature but they can't take away my seat in the Assembly, which is given to me by my constituents, not by them and I'm going to continue to fight for my constituents and there's nothing that they could do that will stop that.”
Kiley, who was among the candidates who tried to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom during last year’s recall election, says that his removal from the education committee is retaliatory in nature.
“It shows that they are very concerned and that they can see the movement growing for change in California and they know I've been one of the leaders in that movement so they are seeking to use whatever tools they can to maintain their grip on power but I don't think it’s going to be successful,” he said.
As previously reported by KBFK radio, Gov. Newsom’s office released a statement saying that he ‘played no role in this change’ and that Kiley needs a basic refresher course on how the legislature and a separate branch of government works.
Kiley found humor in Gov. Newsom’s statement.
“It's hilarious given that this governor has actually turned our state into an autocracy, according to his own definition,” he said. “He says that as long as there's a state of emergency, he gets all the powers of the legislature for himself. So, he's not exactly anyone to be lecturing about the separation of powers. The reality is that both he and the legislature answer to the same boss, which are special interest groups, the lobbyists, the massive unions and they are the ones that really run the show at our capitol. Whether directly or indirectly, this is certainly a move that they and Newsom probably approved of even though it was directly carried out by the Speaker of the Assembly.”
The Speaker of the Assembly, Anthony Rendon, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.