Former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates Caleb Hanna, member of the California State Assembly Bill Essayli, member of the Virginia House of Delegates Nick Freitas, and former Acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker discussed the constitutional role of Congress and what state legislatures can do to make up for Congress’ failures on a panel at CPAC in DC 2024.
While Congress remains ineffective and crosses constitutional lines, state legislatures in red states are picking up the slack and taking initiative to assert and defend the constitutional rights of the American people.
Freitas and his colleagues in the Virginia House of Delegates, for example, took action on border security and supported border patrol and law enforcement in the area by sending National Guard troops to Texas. Hanna and his former colleagues in the West Virgnia legislature, similarly, have passed legislation and employed policies that protect women’s sports, respond to the fentanyl epidemic, harness the state’s natural resources, and altogether keep the state red.
“That’s what you’re going to see more of: states actually pushing back and assuming their authority under the constitution, their authority, and ensuring that the federal government stays within their proper boundaries,” observed Freitas.
Meanwhile, in the deep blue state of California, Essayli is fighting an uphill battle against the outrageous and dangerous policies of Democrats. In efforts to do so, he is creating contrast between Republicans and Democrats by introducing bills of real impact that Democrats will inevitably vote down and rallying Republicans in the state around a single issue that will resonate far and wide in the upcoming elections.
“We’ve got to have full differences from the Democrat Party. Just last week, I introduced three public safety bills. Public safety in California is a nightmare. I did three very simple bills. We’re going to get Democrats on record,” explained Essayli. “Since they love gun laws, I’m going to restore the firearm enhancement. When you use a gun in the commission of a felony, you get twenty years added to your sentence. They will vote against it. They will vote against it.”
He introduced a second bill that would require a police officer on every school campus as a measure in response to school shootings.
“Let them vote against that, and then we have a record we can stand on and we can show when something, God forbid, happens we can point and say ‘You had the opportunity to vote on this and you failed. You need to go,’” stated Essayli.
Watch Essayli, Freitas, and Hanna’s full commentary on the role of state legislators on Rumble @CPAC, and make plans to see more great panels in person at CPAC in DC 2025 at CPAC.org/2025.
