“This is a COVID-19 program that should have been shut down years ago, but it continues because it becomes the window dressing for the transfer of state taxpayer money to political-leaning groups,” Assemblyman Carl DeMaio said.
At the September 10, 2025, California State Assembly meeting, debate over SB-578 quickly became heated. For context, the bill protects a COVID-19 era allocation of taxpayer dollars to fund organizations that “promote awareness of, and compliance with, workplace protections that affect workers.” Assembly Republicans, however, raised concerns that the legislation amounts to a money-laundering scheme to subsidize left-wing activist groups.
On the Assembly floor, Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) pointed to groups such as the Coalition for Immigrant Humane Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a recipient of state funds which allegedly organized violent riots against law enforcement in Los Angeles earlier this year. DeMaio is, of course, not the first to point this out. The House Judiciary Committee is currently investigating CHIRLA—which has documented ties to both the Democrat Party and the Chinese Communist Party—used any of its $34 million in California state grants to foment anti-ICE activity.
“This is a COVID-19 program that should have been shut down years ago,” DeMaio argued. “But it continues because it becomes the window dressing for the transfer of state taxpayer money to political-leaning groups.”
Instead of addressing these concerns, Assemblyman Mark Gonzalez (D-Los Angeles) interrupted DeMaio on the floor to condone his remarks as “racist” and “xenophobic.”
“I find it quite offensive that someone would say it’s xenophobic…racist and xenophobic. The same scurrilous remarks made about Charlie Kirk, simply because he may have different views, are now being made against me because I oppose the waste of taxpayer funds,” said DeMaio.
For what it’s worth, this elicited groans from the Democrats’ side of the room—though one cannot tell from the video who exactly is groaning. Kirk was murdered in cold blood earlier that day at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.
“Have you no shame on this day?” DeMaio asked Gonzalez. The interaction can now be found on the Assemblyman’s Twitter/X account.
The clash over this funding is not new—especially for DeMaio. Back in February, during a Budget Committee hearing, DeMaio released a detailed report naming 73 nonprofit organizations he said were set to benefit from similar budget earmarks. The list included groups with openly partisan agendas, ranging from labor-aligned advocacy groups to immigration activists, many of whom have little to do with workplace compliance and everything to do with bolstering the Democratic Party’s political infrastructure.
Instead of investigating the claims, Democratic leadership chose to remove DeMaio from the Budget Committee entirely, silencing one of the only voices raising concerns about misuse of taxpayer dollars.
State agencies are also working overtime to obfuscate which groups are being funded, DeMaio alleges.
“We’re seeing taxpayer money go to groups funding pro-Hamas protests on college campuses, radical race-based activism, and even Planned Parenthood advocacy programs targeting elementary school students,” DeMaio wrote back in February.
“These are political groups, and I have nothing against political groups doing what they do with their own money and their own first amendment rights. But not with a government program,” he said during last week’s Assembly meeting.
DeMaio has also criticized Democrats for using hundreds of millions of dollars to bankroll NGO’s while also claiming they do not have resources to fund Prop 36—a ballot measure to strengthen public safety and crack down on crime, which voters approved last cycle by landslide margins. Republicans petitioned for a $400 million annual allocation, but the Democrat supermajority instead opted for a paltry one-time payment of $100 million. Senate Republicans like Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) called the move “a slap in the face” to California voters.
“Now what would we be able to do if we got rid of $400 million for left wing groups, many of which are attacking law enforcement and organizing protests? We could actually fulfill the commitment voters made to public safety by fully funding Prop 36,” DeMaio argued during a June State Assembly meeting.
Regardless of where one stands politically, the truth is that California residents voted in favor of Prop 36. They did not get a vote on whether or not CHIRLA should be funded with their tax dollars. Democrats approved funds for the latter while fighting Republicans on the former. There are credible allegations that the NGO’s that received tens of millions of dollars to facilitate unruly, violent protests that have caused millions more in property damage and put law enforcement officers’ lives in danger.
And, most importantly, there is nothing “xenophobic” or “racist” about pointing this out.
“California Democrat politicians, you need to stop inciting and funding violence, and you need to do your job,” DeMaio said. “The voters gave you their priority in November: fund fully Prop 36.”
Despite DeMaio’s concerns, Democrats approved SB-578 mere minutes later.
