A California state senator plans to introduce a bill next week that would prevent the state from doing business with any company — or person — that works on President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.

State Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, said the amended Senate Bill 30 will prohibit the state from contracting with any person or organization that provides any goods or services for the wall.

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“It’s clear that President Trump intends to stick taxpayers with the cost of a border wall that will hurt California’s economy, environment and people,” Lara said in a statement. “I introduced Senate Bill 30 to give our state a louder voice to say that building a wasteful and unnecessary wall would be a huge mistake.”


Other lawmakers across the nation have introduced anti-wall legislation, but nothing so expansive.

Two San Francisco supervisors introduced legislation that would bar the city from contracting with companies that bid on the wall, regardless if they actually win, said the San Francisco Chronicle. And some state Assembly members have introduced Assembly Bill 946 that would divest pension fund holdings in companies that win contracts to build the wall, reported Bloomberg.

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Lara sent a letter Thursday to the California Chamber of Commerce seeking support for his bill. In it, he argued that movement between the nations benefits California because of the money Mexican shoppers spend in the state, and Mexico is California’s largest export market.


“Another wall will delay cargo delivery, slow down business and take away valuable jobs,” he wrote.

He said the border wall, a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign, would threaten endangered species and sensitive habitats. One of the companies company’s that bid on the wall, Black Security Products of Austin, Texas, added a 4-inch space below the bottom of its design to allow animals to pass through, as well as a loose stone system to let water and some small species traverse the wall.

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Rod Hadrian, owner of Tridipanel in Carlsbad, submitted a bid for the wall this week and said Lara’s bill was misguided.


“Somebody that close-minded shouldn’t be in office,” he said. “It’s insane.”

Hadrian proposed a zigzag style of wall that uses several layers of wire mesh welded together and attached to polystyrene foam, a type of plastic, which is then covered in cement.

U.S. Homeland Security said up to 20 companies would be selected in June to build prototypes somewhere in San Diego County. Funding is another issue.

John Kelly, the homeland security secretary, told senators on the Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday it was unlikely that Trump’s wall would extend the full length of the Mexican border.


The previous version of Lara’s bill required California voter approval of any wall construction along the border. The amended version, without the vote clause, will be heard April 25 by the state Senate’s Governmental Organization Committee.

Business


phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar

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