‘Governor Newsom Fails to Protect Californians against Bird Flu’

Recently elected Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) represents the largest agricultural region in the state – the Central Valley.

The Globe spoke with Assemblywoman Macedo Friday about Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent State of Emergency declaration over the Bird Flu.

When the governor received pushback on X questioning whether his declaration is even legal, Newsom and his office admitted:

This isn’t COVID-19.

Risk is very low.

This is proactive to protect public health + Ag industry.

Bird flu isn’t spreading person-to-person.

No public mask mandates or restrictions.

Avoid raw milk & unnecessary contact with livestock.

That, and with no animal-to-human transmission, it’s not that serious. California law states that there must be “conditions of disaster or of extreme peril” for a State of Emergency, as Globe contributor Chris Micheli reported in 2020.

California attorney Laura Powell said on X, “If the risk is very low, the emergency declaration is unlawful.”

Assemblywoman Macedo, who is also an attorney, was critical of the timing of Newsom’s State of Emergency after the state did very little to prevent the Bird Flu from making it into the state:

“The Governor has failed Californians once again. The Newsom Administration failed to enforce and fund basic standards to properly secure our borders at the state’s highways.

“Had the Newsom administration adequately funded inspection checkpoints for testing verification, vaccination records and branding paperwork – this Bird Flu may have been prevented.

“The Governor chooses to fund special interest projects rather than protecting our farmers and farm workers.

“Farmers and their workers have suffered enough. The price of milk, dairy products and eggs have skyrocketed for consumers because of his inaction.”

Macedo is the fourth generation in her family’s livestock market, Tulare Sales Yard,  in her family since 1939.

She said the state has added new permit requirements to move cattle on and off site. When cattle go to slaughter, it doesn’t impact the meat, she said. “It’s like putting tents outside of the restaurant during Covid – the virus was only inside, not outside?” she rhetorically asked.

She said the state is taking out market competitiveness in the dairy market – the government took away the free market and made it a set market.”

Macedo said the agriculture industry told the governor they were doing the wrong thing – especially since they still don’t know how it is spread.

Notably, Macedo said this has been crippling the Central Valley for months. “It wasn’t until it hit Southern California that it is getting any attention,” she said.

“Newsom pretends to care, but he is taking our water away..”

“This is a fatal mistake – the emergency order on the dairy industry. It’s a political play – and not executed correctly,” she continued.

When Bird Flu was detected in other states, California failed to fund the things to protect the industry, Macedo said. “We’ve seen this before with non-native species infecting native species.”

“In the Central Valley, we produce most of the state’s commerce and feed the world – they [Newsom and Democrats] forget this happens in their backyard,” Macedo said.

She warns that any ground taken out of agricultural production will never come back. If this continues in the Central Valley, “we will have lost our power as a state, and we will lose our export power.”

Macedo calls those in the ag industry “the ultimate minimalists,” as they always adapt to conditions. “But Democrats ignore how food is produced and what it takes to gets it to market” – and how all of that happens ASAP – food can’t sit in a warehouse for months like iPhones or computer equipment, she said.

“Newsom fails to fund things to protect the public – regardless of their party registration. He has used California as a giant science experiment.”

Read more about the governor’s declaration and questions about where strain of bird flu originated: Suspicious Minds: Gov. Newsom’s Fishy ‘Bird Flu’ State of Emergency