Newsroom
BY ALON EINHORN - Jerusalem Post
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed new formal budget additions on Thursday, designating $15 million to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), three months after one person was killed and a rabbi maimed in a shooting attack in Poway...
“With the stark rise in hate-motivated violence, we must do more to secure gathering places to prevent future attacks, and educate people on the dangers of antisemitism and hate of all forms," Senator Ben Allen, Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus said following Newsom's announcement. Allen commented once again after signing the budget additions, saying that “This has been a successful year for the Jewish Caucus and its work improving quality of life in the Jewish community and for all Californians.”
Other than the money transferred to the NSGP, Newsom also added to the budget $6 million designated to expand the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.
Sacramento, CA – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a $214.8 billion budget that includes five budget priorities of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus:
BY RYAN TOROK - Jewish Journal
Following advocacy efforts by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign a budget deal allocating $23.5 million in state funding to three California Jewish summer camps destroyed in the 2018 Woolsey and the 2017 Tubbs fires...
During a June 14 interview at Federation’s offices, CEO and President Jay Sanderson said his organization coordinated the efforts to secure state funding for the camps, working with Jewish California lawmakers including State Sens. Ben Allen, chairman of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, Henry Stern and Bob Hertzberg, and Assembly members Richard Bloom and Jesse Gabriel, vice chairman of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus...
Gabriel told the Journal the aim was to have the money distributed equitably among the camps. “We felt these are such important institutions for the community, both in Southern California and Northern California, and so we went to bat … [and] made it clear to our colleagues and to the legislature that this is important to the Jewish community and broader community, as well.”
BY RON KAMPEAS - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
In the wake of a lethal attack on a San Diego-area synagogue, California Gov. Gavin Newsom added $15 million to his budget to help secure nonprofits...
Newsom announced the added funding at a news conference called to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations at the California capitol in Sacramento. Among those in attendance were members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, whose members are backing a bill that would codify security funding for nonprofits...
“In light of the senseless act of anti-Semitic violence at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue, a strong response was necessary by the government of California to ensure that people of all faiths feel safe in their community institutions,” said Orthodox Union Executive Vice President Allen Fagin. “Today, the Jewish Caucus and Governor Newsom have shown their commitment to the safety and security of all Californians, including those most at risk of bias or hate crimes.”
The Jewish caucus organizes testimony from survivors to be heard annually in the state capitol on Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom Hashoah. Ten survivors spoke this year, and one alluded to the Poway attack.
BY RYAN TOROK - Jewish Journal
Gathering April 28 to commemorate the Holocaust, elected officials, rabbis and community leaders spoke of how the anti-Semitism of the Shoah reared its head at Chabad of Poway last Shabbat on the final day of Passover...
State Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, recalled visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau two decades ago as a college student. The “hallowed, ghost-filled grounds” of the concentration camp continues to haunt communities, from Charlottesville to Poway, he said. “I can’t quite believe the dark fire that led our people down those train tracks into those chambers still has a flicker in some of our most beautiful cities.”
BY ARI FELDMAN - Forward
California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing to earmark $15 million in his next budget to supporting security efforts at places of worship...
On Monday, Newsom said he plans to set aside the money for California’s “State Nonprofit Security Grant Program.” The program funds security updates for non-profit organizations that are the potential targets of hate crimes, such as religious institutions, community centers, LGBT institutions and advocacy groups. The program has been funded at much lower levels in previous years.
Newsom announced the boosted funding after the California Legislature’s Jewish Caucus requested the $15 million amount. Last year the program was allocated $500,000. If approved, this level of funding will be the largest in the program’s history, the Times said.
BY CHRONICLE EDITORIAL BOARD - San Francisco Chronicle
Gov. Gavin Newsom promised on Monday to spend an additional $15 million on increasing security for synagogues, mosques, women’s health organizations, LGBTQ service organizations and other institutions vulnerable to violent attacks from disgruntled bigots and other attackers...
The state Legislature’s Jewish Caucus had requested the increase, and for good reason.
Hate crimes in California involving a religion increased by 21 percent in 2017 (the most recent year for which data are available). In fact, hate crimes for nearly every vulnerable group in California increased in 2017.
It’s encouraging to see Newsom take seriously the matter of protection for all Californians. His announcement certainly draws a welcome contrast with President Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.
BY PATRICK MCGREEVY, PHIL WILLON - Los Angeles Times
Shocked by Saturday's mass shooting at the Chabad of Poway, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Monday to significantly increase funds for security at synagogues, mosques and other religious institutions in California that face threats of hate-motivated violence.
Newsom announced his support after the 14-member California Legislative Jewish Caucus made an urgent request for $15 million to be budgeted this year for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which only provided $500,000 last year...
“With the stark rise in hate-motivated violence, we must do more to secure gathering places to prevent future attacks, and educate people on the dangers of anti-Semitism and hate of all forms,” said Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), chairman of the caucus.
BY SOPHIA BOLLAG - Sacramento Bee
Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senator Ben Allen and Assemblyman Jessie Gabriel are adding $15 million to a proposed budget to fund security at places of worship and nonprofit organizations at risk of hate-based violence...
The deadly shooting on the last day of the Jewish holiday Passover “shattered the illusion of safety” for religious people in the United States, said state Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat who chairs of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus...
“We need more than thoughts and prayers to keep us safe from hate-motivated violence,” said Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, a Los Angeles Democrat who authored a bill to fund security at nonprofits like synagogues.
BY ADAM BEAM, DON THOMPSON - Associated Press
California’s Democratic governor vowed on Monday to spend $15 million for increased security at “soft targets” like the synagogue where a gunman opened fire over the weekend, killing one worshipper...
The California Legislative Jewish Caucus had requested it, calling for a 30-fold increase in a state program that last year spent $500,000 on grants to nonprofits organizations vulnerable to hate crimes...
California’s Jewish lawmakers want the state to spend much more on security guards, reinforced doors and gates, high-intensity lighting and alarms, and other security for vulnerable institutions. Those include Muslim, Sikh and other minority institutions, women’s health groups and LGBTQ organizations.
“The unfortunate reality is that even in houses of worship, thoughts and prayers won’t keep us safe,” said Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from Encino and vice chairman of the caucus. “We need more than thoughts and prayers. We need real security and we need the state to step up and play a role in that.”...
“I think it is the most basic and fundamental obligation of government, to protect its citizens,” Gabriel said. “And after what we saw in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life and after what we saw in New Zealand, we looked at that $500,000 and said, ‘This is insufficient.’”