California activists are worried the movement to ferret out sexual abusers and harassers from public service could potentially make it more difficult to pass environmental proposals in the state.
The so-called “#MeToo” movement ensnared a handful of congressional Democrats in California. Environmentalists relied on one of those lawmakers to do the heavy lifting on the extension of the state’s cap-and-trade legislation — others were pivotal to securing the party’s supermajority.
“She put environmental justice on the map in the legislature,” Democratic strategist Steve Maviglio said of Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia shortly after the California Democrat took a leave of absence on Feb. 9 over sexual harassment allegations. “Her leadership on that is going to be missed.”
Daniel Fierro, a former legislative staff member, accused Garcia of drunkenly trying to grope his genitalia, stroking his back and squeezing his butt in 2014, according to a Feb. 8 report from The Sacramento Bee. Fierro did not make an official complaint to his former boss, Assemblyman Ian Calderon, until January 2018.
The allegations against Garcia come as a movement exploded to determine how widespread sexual harassment is in the workplace. But the budding movement could cause a ripple effect for environmentalists.
Garcia chaired the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and played a crucial role in the battle to extend California’s cap-and-trade program. She pushed for the passage of a bill requiring the state to create an air monitoring program, which was designed to fix elements of the cap-and-trade extension.
“She recognized it was, as she referred to it, a down payment on getting cleaner air,” Sierra Club California Director Kathryn Phillips told E&E News of Garcia’s push for the air monitoring bill. “So, she isn’t there to serve that role, that watchdog role.”
Garcia is not the only Democrat in California to get dinged.
Special elections were held Tuesday to replace Democratic Assembly members Raul Bocanegra and Matt Dababneh, both of whom resigned in November 2017 over similar allegations. California Democratic Sen. Tony Mendoza is running for his old seat again in the June primary after being forced to resign.
Democrats are losing their two-thirds edge, Maviglio said shortly after Garcia’s decision to temporarily step down. The majority party has been without its supermajority since December 2017, hurting its ability to pass taxes and fees.
“There’s all kinds of things that it’s difficult on a good day to muster 41 votes for, and when you have five people gone, it makes the hurdle that much higher,” Maviglio said. “Something with a two-thirds vote, people are almost on the verge of saying, ‘Forget it.'”
Senate Democrats relied on a supermajority to pass a law in April 2017 dramatically increasing California’s already sky-high gas tax. The so-called Road Repair and Accountability Act ratchets up the state’s gas tax by 12 cents a gallon and raises the tax on diesel fuel by 20 cents a gallon.
The Senate passed the bill, 27-11, on Thursday. Republicans did not support the measure. Democrats will now need more support from the opposition party for future proposals tackling environmental issues.
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