Calif. governor: ‘Dream of brighter days ahead’
Newsom vows fight against recall effort
LOS ANGELES — California
Gov. Gavin Newsom was set to give perhaps the most important speech of his political life Tuesday, and he spent weeks laying the groundwork for an upbeat address.
Speaking to a state exhausted after a year of lockdowns, wildfires, disease and death, Newsom on Tuesday urged residents of the nation’s most populous state to “dream of brighter days ahead” while acknowledging mistakes that have put his political future on the line.
“People are alive today because of the public health decisions we made — lives saved because of your sacrifice,” Newsom said in his third State of the State address. “Even so, I acknowledge it’s made life hard and unpredictable, and you’re exhausted with all of it.”
The speech normally is presented to a joint session of the Legislature in Sacramento. This year, Newsom delivered it from center field in an empty Dodger Stadium, which has served as a coronavirus testing and vaccination center.
He made no new major policy announcements, instead focusing the majority of his roughly 30-minute speech on actions that he believes will position the state for a robust recovery.
He also issued a subtle warning to Republican critics aiming to take him out in a recall election this year, vowing that “the state of our state remains determined” and “I remain determined.”
“To the California critics, who are promoting partisan power grabs and outdated prejudices, and rejecting everything that makes California great, we say this: We will not be distracted from getting shots in arms and our economy booming again,” he said.
Newsom was the first governor to impose a statewide stay-at-home order last year. But the state’s strict rules limiting which businesses could open and discouraging school districts from having in-person learning frustrated many in the state.
Newsom fanned those flames last fall when he attended a private dinner with lobbyists at a fancy restaurant and was photographed without a mask. He apologized after the outing was reported in the media. He made no direct reference to the incident Tuesday but acknowledged: “I have made mistakes. But we own them, learn from them, and we never stop trying.”
Newsom highlighted what he and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature have done to address the economic fallout from the pandemic. That includes signing a $7.6 billion stimulus package that will send $600 payments to many low-to moderate-income Californians.
He also highlighted a recent
$6.6 billion spending package aimed at enticing public school districts to get students back into classrooms by month’s end. But districts must meet strict requirements to get their full share of the spending, and it’s unclear how many will be able to do that by March 31.
The backdrop for Newsom’s speech was 56,000 empty seats that represent roughly the number of Californians who have died from the coronavirus, the most in the country.
While Newsom has faced criticism throughout the pandemic from some Democratic lawmakers and local officials who felt he wasn’t including them in decision-making, in recent weeks Democrats have lined up behind him.
Even Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won California’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary, stepped in Monday.
“Right-wing Republicans in CA are trying to recall Gavin Newsom for the crime of telling people to wear masks and for listening to scientists during COVID,” he tweeted. “We must all unite to oppose the recall in California.”