Natural State News

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has added five more states, including Arkansas, to a list of 17 where California state-funded travel is banned, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Bonta justified his decision by arguing that these states had enacted discriminatory legislation against LGBTQ people, citing Arkansas' law banning minors from receiving irreversible hormone therapy, surgery and puberty blockers as the reason for adding the state to the list.

"Make no mistake, we’re in the midst of an unprecedented wave of bigotry and discrimination in this country — and the state of California is not going to support it,” Bonta said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. 

The other 16 states are Texas, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, which were the subject of a 2016 ban, as well as Montana, Florida, West Virginia and North Dakota, which joined Arkansas as new states added to the ban.

“[Lawmakers] would rather demonize trans youth than focus on solving real issues like tackling gun violence beating back this pandemic and rebuilding our economy,” Bonta said, as reported by the Associated Press.

Travel to conferences or out-of-state training for California state employees are examples of trips that could be prohibited under the attorney general's announcement; exceptions for this ban include travel necessary to enforce California law or honoring contracts negotiated prior to the ban.

“While state employees may be barred from traveling here, Californians are fleeing by the thousands to places like Arkansas for our lower taxes, lower cost of living and abundant opportunities," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said, according to Newsweek. "The lure of our state parks and quality of life will overcome any edict from the California attorney general.”

Approximately 9,061 California residents have moved to the five recently added states between 2018 and 2019, taking with them an estimated $1.4 billion in yearly income, according to IRS data cited in a Forbes report.

Additionally, the Forbes report states that Californians are migrating to Arkansas for the lower tax burden, right to work legislation and the lower cost of living the state provides.

Bonta did not clarify how the prohibition has affected travel to the states where travel was limited in 2016, or whether state agencies have stopped sending staff to those states completely, according to the Associated Press.