SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Shocked by Saturday's mass shooting at the Chabad of Poway, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed Monday to significantly increase funds for security at synagogues, mosques and other religious institutions in California that face threats of hate-motivated violence.
Newsom announced his support after the 14-member California Legislative Jewish Caucus made an urgent request for $15 million to be budgeted this year for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which only provided $500,000 last year.
The money would go to nonprofit organizations including religious congregations, private and nonprofit schools, LGBTQ organizations and women's health groups to pay for reinforced doors and gates, high intensity lighting and alarms, security guards and other protective measures.
"We all must call out hate _ against any and all communities _ and act to defend those targeted for their religious beliefs, who they love or how they identify," Newsom said Monday. "An attack against any community is an attack against our entire state _ who we are and what we stand for."
The governor said he will include the $15 million in his revised spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1 that will be unveiled next month.
If approved by the Legislature, the funding would be the largest ever under the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The money was first proposed by lawmakers earlier this month, but they said Monday that it has taken on new urgency since a gunman entered a synagogue Saturday and shot four people, including a 60-year-old woman who died in the attack.
Hundreds of applications for security grants have gone unfunded, including requests last year for $7.5 million.
The money has been provided during the last four years in competitive grants of up to $75,000 each to nonprofit institutions. The lawmakers said Monday that they want the grants to be increased to up to $200,000.
The state has provided $4.5 million since 2015 _ including $2 million that first year _ while a related federal program has provided $12 million in security grants in California.
The increase is justified, lawmakers said, because of an increase in violent hate crimes including the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and a mass shooting this year at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The Anti-Defamation League identified 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents in the US in 2017, a 57 percent increase over the previous year, caucus members said in an April 4 letter to budget officials.
California had the second-highest number of incidents after New York, the letter said.
The budget request endorsed by Newsom is not the only pending proposal to address hate crimes.
Newsom noted that the budget he released in January also included $10 million for the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and $2 million for the California Museum in Sacramento, which houses the Unity Center, to help increase educational efforts to reduce anti-Semitism.
Newsom also said Monday that he will work with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to make sure training is up to date in dealing with hate crimes.
The Jewish Caucus welcomed the governor's commitments.
"With the stark rise in hate-motivated violence, we must do more to secure gathering places to prevent future attacks, and educate people on the dangers of anti-Semitism and hate of all forms," said Democratic state Sen. Ben Allen of Santa Monica, chairman of the caucus.
The news conference was held just hours after the state Legislature marked a day of remembrance for victims of the World War II Holocaust.
"We are all one humanity, and the fact that we forget that is part of the reason we need to remember it today," Democratic state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson of Santa Barbara said during the memorial ceremony on the Senate floor, noting she had relatives who died in the Holocaust.
Because the Legislature marked Holocaust Memorial Day during its session Monday, some Holocaust survivors and family members were at the Capitol and voiced support for the increase in funding for security measures.
Newsom was scheduled to attend a private event with the Holocaust survivors later Monday.
"Another tragic shooting has hit home," said Senate Leader Toni Atkins, A San Diego Democrat, adding that there is "no place in our community for hate. I believe San Diego is better than this. Our hearts are with the Chabad of Poway Synagogue families and our larger Jewish community."
