Keeping Politics Nonviolent, Other News from Sen. Blakespear

Greetings!

What a tumultuous time! Of the many things on my mind, I want to focus today on political violence.

It’s critical to reinforce that the political process is our collective commitment to avoid societal violence. We settle our policy and political differences in the marketplace of ideas with voting, not by killing each other. Thankfully this has been a nearly unanimous sentiment expressed on all sides, no matter someone’s politics. I strongly condemn, and was horrified by, the attack on former President Trump.

As more information has emerged about the would-be assassin, it’s clear that the shooter was an isolated, disaffected young man with few meaningful connections to people, family or civic structures. While he appeared not to have friends, what he did have was access to an AR-15 style rifle that the shooter’s father purchased in 2013. While I agree that we need more focus on youth and mental health, the most obvious way to prevent acts of violence like this assassination attempt is to outlaw the tool that made it so easy. Given the apparent absence of an expressed political ideology online or with others, he presented no signs indicating he could be a threat. There is virtually no way that someone like him who wanted to do harm could have been detected in advance.

But when assault weapons are commonplace in America, no one is safe from gun violence. Not even a former United States President.

Every day, 120 people in the U.S. are killed with guns, and twice as many are shot and wounded, according to the organization Everytown for Gun Safety. Nearly 50,000 Americans died from gun injuries in 2021. Assault weapons are the weapon of choice for mass shootings, including the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, where 14 people were killed and another 22 injured.

Palmetto State Armory states that its “mission is to maximize freedom, not profits. We want to sell as many AR-15 and AK-47 rifles as we can and put them into common use in America today.” The question we should ask ourselves is: what kind of world do we want to live in?

Right now, it’s a world in which an isolated, disturbed young man, who evidently feels he has nothing to live for, has access to weapons to pursue whatever crazy violence he has in his head. We had a national assault weapons ban from 1994-2004 and we could have one again. We should demand it.

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The San Diego County Superior Courthouse is a modern building in downtown San Diego. Under my legislation just signed, the court will have to take breaks for anyone required to be at court who needs to pump breast milk or breastfeed. This bill idea came from an attorney who was a new mother dealing with the realities of practicing law and presenting in court.

I am happy to report that two of my bills this year have already been signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom!

The first one is SB 949, which ensures that anyone who needs to breastfeed or pump breast milk while in court will be given breaks to do so.

Present law requires the superior court to provide employees with the use of a lactation room and beginning July 1, 2026, to have a lactation room available to the public. My legislation goes a step further and requires courts to provide courtroom breaks for a non-employee, such as a lawyer or witness, who needs to pump breast milk or feed a baby.

Ensuring that any mother at court can breastfeed or express milk when necessary is essential for the health and well-being of both mothers and their babies. This law is important for the thousands of women not employed by the courts who are required to attend court each day and may have recently given birth to a baby.

The new law takes effect July 1, 2026.

The second bill signed by the Governor was a statutory change for San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency.

SB 1257 modernizes San Diego County’s Medi-Cal advisory board program so it can better administer the California Advancing Improvements in Medi-Cal (Cal-AIM) demonstration project. This new Medi-Cal program is designed to improve health outcomes of vulnerable people and reduce Medi-Cal system costs.

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More than 60 women leaders from across Senate District 38 joined me for a reception at the beautiful Oceanside Museum of Art.

For the second year, I held a reception to highlight the incredible work being done by women leaders throughout my Senate district. In my remarks I focused on the importance of having women in decision making positions because women’s lived experiences are unique. And I also focused on the important role men play in seeing women as partners in all aspects of our lives.

I honored the organization Leap to Success as my women’s issues organization of the year and as a result, it will receive a Women in California Leadership Foundation award of $5,000 to support its programs.

Leap to Success empowers women who are striving to overcome domestic violence, homelessness and other major life challenges by providing them with tools, skills and support systems to build self-confidence and self-reliance. It provides invaluable assistance to women who need it.

Thank you to all the wonderful women who joined us – and thank you for all the inspiration you provide.

I presented a Senate Certificate of Recognition to Dana Bristol Smith (on left, in first photo), the founder and executive director of Leap to Success, and to the organization after talking about (photo on right) the importance of women being in positions of power, across the private and public sectors.

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I joined fellow San Diego County legislators for San Diego’s Pride Parade thanks to the generous invitation of Assemblymember Chris Ward, pictured to my right. On the far left is Assemblymember Akilah Weber and on the far right Assemblymember Tasha Boerner.

The San Diego Pride Parade is a wonderful and fantastic celebration of inclusivity, joy and love. I was delighted to take part this year in the 50th annual Pride Parade, along with approximately 250,000 other people!

The dancing, the colors, the music, the outfits — it’s all so much fun. I am glad that San Diego can so strongly and exuberantly support the LGBTQIA+ community.

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Dr. Richard Buttery, Director of General Atomics’ DIII-D National Fusion Facility, explains what they do to research and develop nuclear fusion.

Thermonuclear fusion is exciting science that has profound implications for the future of energy on our planet. To get a better understanding, I recently took a tour of General Atomics D-III D National Fusion Facility in San Diego.

General Atomics is a major private sector partner in fusion research being pursued by the U.S. Department of Energy. Nuclear fusion occurs when two elements are brought together so closely their atomic nuclei fuse, thereby releasing energy.

This could one day become a safe, clean and large-scare energy source, replacing our reliance on climate change-inducing fossil fuels. Although in the last two years scientists have been able to create fusion that releases more energy than is required to trigger it, there is still much to research and learn in order to make it a viable energy source.

California has the highest number of public and private stakeholders in the nation leading the way in fusion research.

Thank you General Atomics for hosting me, and generously answering my questions and explaining how this all works. It was exciting to see!

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Tanay Nunna on the Senate floor.

I could not do my job without a team of dedicated staff helping me, both in my district offices and in the state Capitol.

In my Sacramento office, I have two policy analysts who are responsible for making sure I do everything needed to get my bills through the Legislature and on to the Governor’s desk for his consideration. That is no easy task, as there are many hurdles in the legislative process for bills to clear in order to advance and be approved.

Tanay Nunna focuses on the topics of homelessness, health care, land use, and energy policy. Before joining Team Blakespear, he completed his undergraduate degree at Brown University and worked in public policy jobs in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. A native of the Sacramento area, Tanay spends his free time kayaking, playing volleyball, and listening to live music, among other activities.

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Nadia Mahallati is passionate about women’s rights, among other issues, and has worked to get more women elected to office.

Nadia Mahallati, who describes herself as a “policy nerd,” focuses on the issues of transportation, the environment, the judiciary, public safety, human services and women’s rights and health. She has extensive political and policy experience, including teaching college courses in political science and public administration, and advocating for legislation that improves the lives of women.

Nadia received a law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento and is nearing completion of a PhD in political science from the University of Utah. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out at home with her two dogs, Remedy (“Remy”) and Stare Decisis (“Starry”), and kitten, Vox Populi.

Both Tanay and Nadia have worked very hard on my bill package this year, and I am grateful for their help!

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Thank you for your support. I am honored to serve you.

In partnership‚

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Email me at Senator.Blakespear@Senate.ca.gov

Call my Encinitas district office at (760) 642-0809
Call my Laguna Hills district office at (949) 598-5850
Call my Capitol office in Sacramento at (916) 651-4038