July 6, 2022
-National Review
California governor Gavin Newsom’s admitted that the Democrat was vacationing in Montana on Tuesday, despite having banned state-funded travel to the red state on account of its “anti-LGBTQ” policies.
Newsom is set to vacation in Montana for the week and will return to the office next Monday, CalMatters reporter Emily Hoeven said on Twitter. The family of Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, own a ranch in Montana and the pair held their wedding there in 2008, noted Hoeven.
California currently bans state-funded travel to 20 states, including Montana, to “avoid supporting or financing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.”
The ban extends to “state agencies, departments, boards, authorities, and commissions, including an agency, department, board, authority, or commission of the University of California, the Board of Regents of the University of California, and the California State University.”
California is not paying for Newsom’s trip and the state does not legislate where people take private vacations, Newsom’s spokesperson, Anthony York, told Hoeven. York declined to comment when asked if the state is paying for Newsom’s security while he vacations in Montana.
Newsom spokesperson Anthony York says CA doesn’t legislate where people vacation & the travel ban only applies to spending state funds. He says CA is not paying for Newsom’s travel.
Asked if the state is paying for his security, York says the office doesn’t comment on security.
— Emily Hoeven (@emily_hoeven) July 6, 2022
California added Montana to a list of states banned from state-funded travel in June of 2021, after the red state passed a law requiring public schools’ athletic teams to be based on biological sex.
Newsom has also criticized Montana’s abortion policies and claimed the state will “likely” have “bans” on abortion “soon” after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, ending the federal right to abortion.
Abortion is legal in Montana, and has been interpreted to be protected by the state’s constitution. That interpretation is currently being challenged after the state legislature recently passed several laws restricting abortions, including a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of gestational age due to “medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain” after that point. The laws are currently blocked by a preliminary injunction ordered by Judge Michael Moses.
“We will not cooperate with any states that attempt to prosecute women or doctors for receiving or providing reproductive care,” Newsom said following the ruling.
Newsom has pledged to make California an abortion “safe haven” for women seeking abortions. He has proposed a $125 million Reproductive Health Package to pay for out-of-state women’s travel costs seeking an abortion in California, and signed an executive order prohibiting other states and out-of-state individuals from seeking medical information on women having abortions in the state.
