SACRAMENTO – Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-Arleta), member of the Assembly Budget Committee, has issued the following statement on Governor Newsom’s revised budget proposal:
“I applaud Governor Gavin Newsom’s efforts to uphold his promise to his ‘California for All’ state budget proposal; his commitment to tackle the state’s debt, bolster our Rainy Day Fund to safeguard the state from potential future fiscal uncertainty, without foregoing investment in the state’s most critical needs.
Due to the lack of affordable housing, constituents like mine are one paycheck away from having their families, and children become homeless. It is unfathomable to expect our homeless students to focus and perform in schools, when they do not have a place to live. After years of an exacerbated homeless and housing crisis, the Governor has allocated $1 billion to boost the states’ effort to combat homelessness, and $1.75 billion to increase housing production. My focus remains on the state’s homeless and housing crisis.
The Governor and I can both agree that every student in California deserves to succeed. I agree with the Governor’s dedicated funding on enrollment slots for our low-income preschool students, provide resources to train and retain our K-12 classroom educators, make college affordable through free tuition to full-time students at community colleges and prevent tuition increases at our UCs and CSUs. I am also particularly pleased to see that the Governor recognized and provided funds to our computer science education and STEM programs. I believe that is a fantastic early investment opportunity to cultivate our next generation’s work force. There is still much to do, but this is a good start.
The Governor has proven himself to be a champion of working families through his relief efforts in providing more paid time off for parents to bond with their newborns, and provide tax exemptions for feminine hygiene products and diapers.
I fully support the Governor’s action to allocate $9.6 million ongoing funds for the continuation of language access and interpreter services in the Judicial System. This eliminates barriers and provides relief for non-English speakers and English as a second language learner to have equal protection rights in the court systems.
Lastly, I commend the Governor’s efforts to tripling the state’s earned income tax credit to $1.2 billion, to eliminate additional burdens on low-income families by allowing Californians to keep what they have earned.
I look forward to continue working with the Governor, and my colleagues to carry the, ‘California for All’ momentum.”
The Governor’s proposed budget can be found here: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2019-20/pdf/Revised/BudgetSummary/FullBudgetSummary.pdf
Assemblywoman Rivas proudly represents the 39th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Arleta, Lake View Terrace, Granada Hills, Mission Hills, North Hollywood, Pacoima, Sun Valley, Sunland-Tujunga, Sylmar, and San Fernando.
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