Press Statement: Governor Newsom's Proposed 2022- 23 Budget Must Go Beyond Returning to Normal; Ensure an Equitable Recovery for Those Most Impacted by the Pandemic

Press Contacts
Ronald Simms Jr., Advancement Project California, Communications Manager, 202-270-0936

LOS ANGELES, CA — Today, Governor Gavin Newsom released his proposed 2022-2023 budget as California grapples with a surge in the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus that has targeted low-income communities of color with near-surgical precision. We applaud the Governor for his vision. However, while the proposed budget calls for historic investments in total per-pupil funding, concrete investments in strengthening California’s approach to racial equity, and investments to equitably fight climate change, we must do more to support communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and California’s history of discriminatory policies and practices.

“We commend the Governor for proposing a budget that expands health care coverage, advances equity, and takes a whole-child approach to California’s youngest learners,” said Khydeeja Alam, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at Advancement Project California. “Yet as California enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must ensure that our communities are as resilient as our state coffers. We want to see the 2022-23 state budget surplus invested in our children, families, and communities. We look forward to working with the Governor and the legislature on a sustainable, more equitable budget that prioritizes our state’s hardest-hit communities.”  

Governor Newsom’s budget takes important strides in supporting children across the Birth to 12th-grade system and their families by leading with a whole-child framework and a multi-year approach that supports pandemic recovery, continues increases for childcare rates and slots, promotes health and mental health, builds a child care data system, expands access to early childhood programs and boosts K-12 funding. We welcome investments focused on equity, such as addressing childcare deserts, eliminating bias, and supporting dual language learners, and call on the state to double down on equity for California’s most vulnerable children by leveraging data and tools to prioritize our highest-need communities most impacted by the pandemic and the workforce the serves them.

The budget also includes funding to create an Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications to support outreach and messaging to communities experiencing disparities by working with community-based organizations (CBOs) as trusted messengers. This Office would institutionalize the critical role government and CBOs play in reaching underserved communities, as evidenced in the most recent Census and COVID outreach campaigns – but does not include direct funding to allow CBOs to do their work.

“The Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications would be a critical piece of racial equity infrastructure for connecting organizers working in low-income communities of color with state initiatives and programs,” said Michael Russo, Managing Director of Policy and Programs at Advancement Project California. “But with half of the state’s CBOs having slashed their budgets and programs due to COVID-19, the Office should be created with additional funding to allow it to give grants to organizations to actually do the work of engaging their communities.”

The budget also includes a historic proposal to offer MediCal to all who are eligible for it, regardless of immigration status. This victory is a testament to the tireless work of organizers, advocates, and legislators, who have called on the state to prioritize the health of all its residents. As the state weathers yet another wave of the pandemic, there is no better time to act on this proposal.

However, the Governor’s budget can go further to ensure that those most impacted by COVID-19 – low-income communities and communities of color – not only recover from the pandemic but thrive in a post-pandemic future. More must be done to meaningfully live into racial equity by increasing community decision-making in the state’s investments, including those related to the federal infrastructure bill as well as climate change dollars. This is most evident in the Salton Sea, where a focus on lithium extraction has led to little funding dedicated to the human health impacts of industrial activity and the community’s ongoing exposure to the Salton Sea’s environmental hazards. And while the Governor is focused on the very real issue of organized retail theft, much more should be done to support violence prevention and intervention in Black and Brown communities where homicide rates have been on the rise.

In addition, we urge the Administration to commit to creating and fully funding SB 17 (Pan), the statewide Office of Racial Equity, which would identify and eliminate racism in state policy and address inequities in state programs. It would also identify when California falls short on achieving racial justice and provide data to hold officials accountable.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every community and every walk of life, it has not affected all communities equally. Rather, it has taken an uneven and shifting toll on California’s Black and Brown communities,” said John Kim, Executive Director of Advancement Project California. “Elected leaders, public health officials, community-based organizations, and residents everywhere must come together to ensure an equitable recovery for those most impacted by the pandemic because the promise of the Golden State belongs to all Californians.”

Our policy experts are available for comment:

• Khydeeja Alam, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy
• John Dobard, Managing Director of Policy and Programs
• Michael Russo, Managing Director of Policy and Programs
• Vickie Ramos Harris, Director of Educational Equity

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Advancement Project California is a multi-racial, multi-generational racial justice organization with expertise in research, advocacy, and policy. We work with partners and communities to expand educational opportunities for California’s children, create healthy and safe neighborhoods, ensure communities of color have a voice in our democracy, strengthen movement-building, and shift public investments toward programs that benefit all Californians—not just the privileged few.

For more information, visit www.advancementprojectca.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.