Tennessee Legislature Responds to California’s Travel Ban in Epic Official Fashion

26 Jun, 2017 by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

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Thank God for Tennessee! California decided last week to ban travel to a number of states that take a stand against LGBT laws. For California to actively punish other states because their observance of LGBT laws is too conservative is un-American and unconstitutional. Despite what California seems to think, they may be a state, but more than that, they are part of our Union. What makes California think that affected states won’t strike back in kind? This could have a chilling effect on law enforcement and security by the way.

I wonder how long before other states impose sanctions on California? We should already be pulling all federal funding as they act as a de facto sanctuary state for illegal aliens. I believe that will happen, but it looks like it could take some time. One part of Tennessee’s official response read, “California’s attempt to influence public policy in our state is akin to Tennessee expressing its disapproval of California’s exorbitant taxes, spiraling budget deficits, runaway social welfare programs, and rampant illegal immigration.” Boom! Nicely said.

From the Independent Journal Review:

As we noted when California inaugurated this policy, American federalism is based on the agreement that different states can pursue different policies (within Constitutional bounds) while retaining equal status within the union. California’s decision to escalate the culture war with “sanctions” against states with different political orientations represents a direct challenge to America’s federal structure.

This new order could have a major symbolic impact—for example, by making it difficult or impossible for University of California sports teams to compete against the University of Texas. And could lead to retaliatory measures by the targeted red states: They could, for example, up the ante not only by enacting reciprocal travel bans but also by refusing to cooperate with California’s government in criminal investigations, declining to share tax data, or prohibiting companies from selling products to California’s state government. How long before a coalition of liberal states begins to collectively and systematically impose sanctions on conservative ones, or vice versa?

Tennessee’s response came after California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced on Friday that the state would no longer fund travel to four states that enacted LGBT laws that Becerra deemed “discriminatory.” Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota and Texas were the latest states to join four other states that were blacklisted by California’s government under Assembly Bill 1887, which authorizes Becerra to add to the list of states with conservative laws. Becerra singled out laws pertaining to adoption and student-run organizations.

“While the California DOJ works to protect the rights of all our people, discriminatory laws in any part of our country send all of us several steps back. That’s why when California said we would not tolerate discrimination against LGBTQ members of our community, we meant it,” Becerra said in a statement. Mississippi, Tennessee, Kansas and North Carolina were already on the ‘banned’ list. Tennessee put their objections in writing and did a fantastic job of it.

California has gone rogue. They treat fellow states as hostile regimes while making unauthorized deals with Communist China. It sure is easy to see where their priorities lie.