In Gov. Newsom's 3 years in office, he has pushed through initiatives like expanding Medi-Cal coverage to include undocumented people through age 26 and after 50 and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit & the Young Child Tax Credit. Is this enough?
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the California Chamber of Commerce on May 23, 2019. Newsom said housing and inequality are two of the biggest issues facing state government and California businesses. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP PhotoGavin Newsom took office promising to tackle poverty, and he’ll talk about it in his State of the State speech today. His administration has made progress on a number of fronts, but advocates say the state needs to do more to reduce inequality.
Those inequalities persisted and were laid bare by two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a tumultuous time that saw the governor overcome a Republican-led effort to recall him from office last September. Some experts and advocates say Newsom’s efforts to close the economic divide may determine his legacy – and help set him apart from his predecessor and fellow Democrat, Jerry Brown, who insisted state government could only go so far“If the comparison is past governors in California, he’s trying to do a lot,” said Chris Hoene, director of the, a nonprofit that researches policy affecting low-income Californians.