Good morning CalMatters reader,

Assemblymember James Ramos (D-San Bernardino) wants to roll back what he says is an ongoing infringement of Native American culture. 

“Respect towards Indian people now, and past, has not risen to respect of other cultural groups in this nation,” Ramos said.

So this legislative year, he authored bills that give more authority to students to wear tribal regalia, set up a policy to repatriate Native American remains held in universities, and given more power to tribal police.

His other accomplishments this legislative year are a tax credit to veterans, continued enforcement of elections in San Bernardino County and the working of suicide prevention into the state’s bridges and overpasses.

Assembly Bill 53 exempts up to $20,000 of payments from the United States governments’ survivor benefit plan from taxes. The exemption is set to expire by 2030, but Ramos intends to make it permanent before he is termed out of office.

“In California now, this is the first time they are honoring veterans,” Ramos said. 

Assembly Bill 1369 is the third one he’s brought to allow Native American graduation regalia. The first was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017. Ramos said he listened to Brown’s veto message, which explained that students already have the right to free expression. 

In 2021, he authored AB 945, which directed the state to clarify students’ rights. Still, multiple schools threw up roadblocks, as CalMatters has reported. One student was told to cut his eagle feather, an action Ramos calls inappropriate. Another was told not to wear red beads, because it’s a gang color, Ramos said.

Now, under Ramos’ recently signed bill, the tribes have the authority to decide what regalia is appropriate for their members to wear, not the school districts.

Assembly Bill 977 requires the state’s higher education systems to come up with a policy for the return of the 1.4 million fragments of Native American remains they hold. 

Ramos said some of the remains come from attacks against Native Americans, such as the 300 remains found in Playa Vista that Ramos said are likely to be the result of a massacre by the Spanish.

He is bothered by the bones being stored on shelves, and by the photo posted by former San Jose State Professor Elizabeth Weiss. She posted a photo on Twitter of her holding a Native American skull, with the caption, “So happy to be back with some old friends.

Assembly Bill 31 creates a pilot program for some tribal officers to be given the authority of California peace officers. The increased authority would better allow the prevention of abuse against Native Americans on reservations. People currently go to reservations with the expectations that the crimes they commit there would not be as well investigated, he said. 

California is the fifth in the nation for not investigating crimes against Native Americans, but has the highest Native American population in the nation, he said. 

Assembly Bill 359 continues the contract San Bernardino County has with the California Fair Political Practices Commission to ensure political candidates follow ethical rules. The contract was set to expire on Jan. 1. The law repealed the commission’s duty to report to the state legislature, a practice that Ramos said did not make sense considering the contract was with the county.

Assembly Bill 221 streamlines the process for tribes to apply to the Tribal Nation Grant Fund. The fund receives money from tribes that operate casinos, and redirects it to other tribes. Ramos said there was a backlog on getting the funding through, and this bill is intended to get the money to tribes in a more timely manner.

Assembly Bill 440 requires the Department of Transportation to identify best practices for suicide countermeasures on bridges and overpasses. It’s a return to Ramos’ origins, he said. As a county supervisor, he was told he had no power to change the overpass, it was CalTrans property, and administered by the legislature. So, he ran for assembly.

After serving 38 years in Congress, former Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), will not seek a 21st term in 2026. In the IE, following the redistricting approved last year, Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) announced his candidacy for District 40, a seat currently held by Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills) that covers Menifee, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore. 

“I have decided to run for Congress again because I have a proven record of delivering results for our region,” Calvert wrote in a Nov. 9 letter published in the Press-Enterprise.

Calvert’s letter cites his legislative work exempting the construction of the southern border wall from lawsuits, bringing in transportation and flood control funding and fundraising for other Republicans as reasons to vote for him. He has been in office since 1993. 

In the 48th Congressional District, which includes Hemet and Winchester, incumbent Darrell Issa was challenged by Democrat and Navy veteran Marc Iannarino, the Times of San Diego reported this week. 

Yucca Valley business owner Paul Chakalian announced his candidacy against Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear) back in April, the Daily Press reported.

The results of the Proposition 50 election, following the 2023 resignation of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, leaves the California Republican party isolated, CalMatters reported Nov. 7.

“Doug LaMalfa and Kevin Kiley and Ken Calvert go to bed at night knowing that Donald Trump just doesn’t care about them and is more than happy to trade them in for a Texan,” Rob Stutzman, a California Republican political strategist said. “I don’t think that would’ve happened if McCarthy was still speaker.”

The passing of Prop 50 also propelled Gov. Gavin Newsom to the top of potential presidential candidates.

“He’s the only one driving his own news,” Democratic strategist Matt Rodriguez told CalMatters. “Everyone else is like a moth to flame.”

In state news, Sen. Alex Padilla announced he will not run for governor next year, CalMatters reported Nov. 4.

“It is with a full heart and even more commitment than ever that I am choosing to not be running for governor of California next year,” Padilla told reporters in the U.S. Capitol. 

While you are here, please sign up for the Inland Empire newsletter and let me know what kinds of stories you’d love to read, and please add my email to your contacts:  inlandempire@calmatters.org.

Thanks for reading,