Gov. Gavin Newsom met with Los Angeles County leaders on Tuesday, July 13, to tout the California Comeback Plan – a set of initiatives totaling $100 billion that will provide pandemic relief and help others who need aid – and to ceremonially sign California’s $262 billion budget for next year. Governor Newsom officially signed the budget late Monday.
Local politicians, including Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and L.A. City Councilman Kevin de León, attended the event alongside an array of labor leaders. The event took place in a gymnasium run by the Barrio Action Youth and Family Center, an organization that serves at-risk youth, young adults and their families. According to Newsom, every attendee would benefit from the budget in some way.
The spending plan is fueled in part by the $75.7 billion surplus the state amassed over the past year as well as $26 billion dollars in federal funds. At the event, Newsom noted that another $4 billion dollars of cash had been collected by the state in the past few weeks.
“That allows us to do things that we couldn’t have imagined doing,” Newsom said. “Six years ago, I couldn’t have imagined doing them, let along six months ago.”
Newsom said Californians will receive the largest tax rebate by a state in the country’s history — $12 billion. The budget also includes $12 billion over the next two years to fight homelessness, including $2.75 billion to pay for hotel and motel rooms for individuals experiencing homelessness through Project Homekey. There is also a provision allotting $8.1 billion for Californians making under $75,000 years who will each receive $600 stimulus checks.
The governor also thanked businessfolks for their resilience during the coronavirus outbreak, detailing a grant program that will direct $4.1 billion dollars to businesses.
“This program was designed with you in mind, not folks on Wall Street, but with you in mind,” Newsom said. “Because we recognize the real picture of entrepreneurialism is not the one you see in the ‘Wall Street Journal.’ That picture is painted by you.”
Newsom also said that the state will pay 100% of the rent, dating back to April of last year, for people who were unable to pay their own rent because of the pandemic. An application process will become available on the state’s COVID-19 website in the coming weeks and months, he said. Newsom noted that the application wasn’t easy to fill out in the past, but his staff has tried to reduce the time it takes to fill it out.
“The application process was cumbersome and laborious in the first round,” Newsom said. “We reduced average timeline to roughly an hour now. Still not short because there is federal rules and regulations because this is federal dollars and there is a lot of fraud.”
As for Angelenos, more than $50 million will go directly to the City of L.A. to expand youth summer employment opportunities. A number of smaller allocations will also be made to city institutions, such as $10 million to the Museum of Tolerance and $3.25 million to revitalize the Canoga Park Arts District.
Mayor Garcetti, who was recently nominated to serve as ambassador to India by President Joe Biden, praised Newsom for his handling of the pandemic and for his budget.
“In this moment, where people seek to divide us, this is a man who has united us and who is bringing this state back,” Garcetti said. “That California comeback is here.”
Hours before the Newsom appearance, Garcetti celebrated the budget plan, saying billions of dollars would go toward helping Angelenos.
“These funds — and many more — will help us expand and implement programs that will have lasting, positive impacts on our city and our communities,” Garcetti said.
“Thanks to our Los Angeles legislative delegation, our city secured some big wins. I want to thank our delegation and Governor Newsom for the important resources that will be coming to our community to address homelessness, housing, economic recovery, climate change and more,” he added.
According to the mayor’s office, the state plan includes:
— $2 billion for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers who are behind on their electric and water bills due to the COVID-19 pandemic;
— $54.4 million to expand summer youth employment opportunities;
— $2 million to support Los Angeles’ Gang Reduction and Youth Development program;
— $11 million for the Potrero Canyon Pacific Coast Highway Pedestrian Bridge;
— $4.4 million for the Southeast San Fernando Valley Roller and Skateboard Rink in Sun Valley;
— $3.25 million to revitalize the Canoga Park Arts District;
— $6.5 million to advance Destination Crenshaw in South Los Angeles through infrastructure and public art improvements;
— $2 million to renovate Salazar Park in East Los Angeles;
— $2.3 million to upgrade pedestrian access and finalize a complete streets project at the Louise Avenue 101 Freeway overcross in Encino;
— $14.9 million for restoration of the Breed Street Shul;
— $5 million for the Colorado Bridge Undercrossing East Bank River Way Project; and
— $10 million to support the Museum of Tolerance, which aims to help residents understand the Holocaust and the history of bigotry and discrimination.
In a letter to constituents sent Tuesday, Garcetti also noted statewide funding that will benefit Angelenos, including:
— $12 billion over the next two years that will go directly to California cities to help them tackle homelessness;
— $2.75 billion for the statewide Project Homekey initiative to purchase hotel and motel rooms to provide housing for the homeless;
— $8.1 billion to send $600 to Californians who make under $75,000;
— a Medi-Cal expansion to include undocumented residents who are age 50 and over;
— $1.5 billion in small business assistance grants;
— $35 million for Universal Basic Income pilot programs; and
— $120 million over three years to provide legal services to renters and homeowners at risk of eviction and foreclosure.
All of this spending comes as Newsom readies himself for a Sept. 14 recall election. He has made multiple appearances across the state over the last few weeks including surrounding himself with students while he signed the $123.9 billion education budget and picking up trash at locations up and down the state including under the I-110 freeway in L.A.
Newsom’s foes in the recall scramble got in some salvos at the governor on Tuesday:
— Conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder officially entered the recall election on Tuesday, showing up to sign his paperwork at the Norwalk office of the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters on Tuesday and found a group of supporters there to cheer him. “I think this is a race between Gavin Newsom and me. I don’t think about the other candidates,” Elder said, arguing that his name recognition, outsider status and communication skills separate him from the crowd.
–In Sacramento, Republican Kevin Faulconer says he’d declare a state of emergency over California wildfires on his first day in office as he works to put the state on “war footing” to prevent worsening blazes. The former mayor of San Diego released his one-page wildfire plan Tuesday amid days of scorching temperatures and fires across the U.S. West.
–Republican businessman John Cox called the state’s homeless scenario a “national disgrace” during an appearance in Palm Springs, according to The Desert Sun.
The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.
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