The scandal surrounding the Chinese bioengineering lab operating secretly in California continues to grow. It turns out the lab – which was oozing with COVID, E. Coli, malaria, and other pathogens – was kept from the public for nine months after its discovery.

An official with Fresno County Public Health said state and federal agencies made “it very clear, we cannot speak on this.” The local city manager said the Chinese-owned company was “kicked out of Canada, got kicked out of Texas, and came to California.”

We need answers as to why the Newsom Administration offered $360,000 in funding to the lab then tried to conceal its discovery. I’ve called for an investigation and am preparing a formal request for an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, it appears the Supermajority is planning to again kill the bill to make child sex trafficking a serious felony. Last month, the “Public Safety Committee” initially voted down the bill – but after we spoke out and fought back, they held a redo hearing and reversed course.

However, the bill has now been placed on the notorious “Suspense File” where it can be summarily killed without discussion on September 1. I’m encouraging all Californians to call your legislator and demand immediate passage of SB 14.

Finally, new reports show California spent $20 billion on homelessness only to see the situation get much worse. And we’ve further learned that “Project Roomkey,” a Newsom initiative to put the homeless in hotels, wrecked total havoc. One hotel suffered $11.5 million in damage.

In the Legislature, I proposed an audit of all state homelessness spending. Newsom intervened to kill it by one vote, but my successor Josh Hoover re-introduced the audit and it was recently approved. In the coming months, we’ll finally get the results – and perhaps some accountability.

Kevin Kiley