After nearly three years, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is ending the COVID State of Emergency in early 2023.
QUICK FACTS:
- Gov. Gavin Newsom is ending California’s COVID State of Emergency in February 2023, nearly three years after it started.
- “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been guided by the science and data – moving quickly and strategically to save lives. The State of Emergency was an effective and necessary tool that we utilized to protect our state, and we wouldn’t have gotten to this point without it,” Newsom said in a press release. “With the operational preparedness that we’ve built up and the measures that we’ll continue to employ moving forward, California is ready to phase out this tool.”
- California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said in the release that “While the threat of this virus is still real, our preparedness and collective work have helped turn this once crisis emergency into a manageable situation.”
REPUBLICAN STATE ASSEMBLYMAN KEVIN KILEY ON NEWSOM’S DECISION:
“We finally got Newsom to end the State of Emergency. Oddly, he’s scheduled its termination for February,” Kiley said.
BACKGROUND:
- In June 2021, Newsom backtracked on his promise to surrender his emergency COVID powers, claiming that “uncertainty in the future” was reason enough for him to maintain his power to enforce mask mandates and business restrictions.
- “Newsom’s flip-flopping on COVID restrictions and his unwillingness to forfeit his pandemic emergency authority comes as a recall movement to remove him as governor has gained widespread support from over a million petitioners. The effort was largely inspired by Newsom’s coronavirus policies, which have included some of the strictest lockdown measures in the U.S.,” National Review reported at the time.
- The recall campaign began in June 2020 as a result of Newsom’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to concerns about high taxes and crime.
