CA Senate Honors Harvey Milk — But Ignores His Relationship with a 16-Year-Old? Final Vote Tally: ✅ AYES (29): Allen, Archuleta, Arreguín, Ashby, Becker, Blakespear, Cabaldon, Caballero, Cortese, Durazo, Gonzalez, Grayson, Hurtado, Laird, Limón, McGuire, McNerney, Menjivar, Padilla, Pérez, Richardson, Rubio, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Valladares (only Republican), Wahab, Weber, Pierson, Wiener ❌ NOES (0) 🚫 No Votes Recorded (11): Alvarado-Gil, Cervantes, Choi, Dahle, Grove, Jones, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Reyes, Seyarto, Strickland (fb)

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to expand the state’s ability to stockpile brand-name drugs to safeguard against potential federal intervention and shortages. The governor said Tuesday that he will propose expanding the California Department of Health Services’ ability to buy brand-name and generic drugs, citing the need to “maintain uninterrupted access to medications at risk of shortage or political interference.” The effort will be part of his revised budget message, which will be delivered Wednesday morning and is expected to project at least a $10 billion state deficit due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Medi-Cal shortfalls and cuts in federal spending driven by Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. Newsom said he plans to strengthen CalRx’s ability to buy drugs to protect reproductive health care, specifically citing mifepristone, a pill that can be used to end pregnancies that has been approved for use in the United States since 2000. CalRx is a generic state drug label Newsom signed into law in 2020. In 2023, he ordered the state to stock up on another abortion drug, misoprostol, that is slightly less effective than when it is taken in combination with mifopristone. His deputy legal affairs secretary said at the time that the governor opted for misoprostol over mifepristone because it was “not in the crosshairs” of the anti-abortion movement since misoprostol can also be used to treat stomach ulcer Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article306315296.html#storylink=cpy (fb)