FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2024
Contact: Maya Polon, maya@paschalroth.com
Sacramento, CA – The Building the California Dream Alliance today responded to Governor’s May Revision budget proposal for FY 2024-25. The coalition of nearly 60 organizations represents a diverse group of California interests, united by a common goal: ensuring all of the state’s systems and investments focus on the needs of our state’s most vulnerable populations.
David Green, Executive Board Member of SEIU California and President of SEIU Local 721
“SEIU members commit to working with the Governor and the legislature to create a fair, balanced budget now, a budget that upholds our values, protects our communities, supports workers, and ensures a fair contribution from those who can most afford to pay. And, to ensure that we do not find ourselves fighting a more significant budget deficit in future years, we are committed to working with lawmakers, the Governor and our partners across labor and beyond to build a broad and powerful movement to defeat the corporate effort to rewrite our Constitution through the Taxpayer Deception Act.”
Contact: Maya Polon, maya@paschalroth.com
Regina Banks, Lutheran Office of Public Policy-California
“We offer our concerns in the spirit of audacious hope that our legislature can act to ensure the economic, environmental, and physical well-being of the most vulnerable Californians.”
Contact: Regina Banks, Lutheran Office of Public Policy-California, 916-208-5334
Angela Johnson Meszaros, Senior Attorney, Community Partnerships Program, Earthjustice
“The Governor must ensure that the state completes urgently needed rules meant to protect people from the cumulative impacts of pollution and from facilities that repeatedly violate hazardous waste laws,” said Angela Johnson Meszaros, senior attorney in the Community Partnerships Program at Earthjustice. “It is time to align promises to front line communities with action in the budget.”
Contact: Angela Johnson Meszaros, Earthjustice, 213 766-1062
Sandra Fluke, President, Voices for Progress
“Voices for Progress members applaud the Governor’s action to include implementation funding for SB 253 (Wiener) the Climate Corporate Accountability Act and SB 261 (Becker) the Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Act in the May Revise. These laws, passed last year, are critical in combating the climate crisis. As business owners and employers, Voices for Progress members know these laws empower businesses to embrace sustainability, adapt to evolving norms, and drive innovation in a dynamic economic landscape influenced by climate change.”
Contact: Evan Minton, Voices for Progress, 925-872-2250
Mary Creasman, Chief Executive Officer, California Environmental Voters
“While we wait for more details next week on the revised state budget proposal, we thank the Governor for including funding for Senate Bills 253 and 261, as well as other new laws, in this outline. We won’t be able to protect communities now or in the future without sustainable and ongoing funding to transition to clean energy and create resilient communities and landscapes. The Governor and Legislature have a tough road ahead in the next month. Cutting corporate handouts and committing to a climate bond should be a given right now. We appreciate the thoughtfulness and diligence of our leaders during this time, and look forward to partnering with them to finalize a courageous budget and climate bond by the end of June.”
Contact: Erika Guzman Cornejo, erika@envirovoters.org, (310) 755-1615
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights Co-Director of Programs Emily Harris
“Governor Newsom’s announcement of prison housing closures is good news — but it doesn’t go far enough in significantly reducing the budget deficit or our state’s investment in a punitive and racist carceral system. The Governor has often said that California is in the business of homecoming, yet his cuts to core lifelines for families and those reentering society say otherwise. Our lawmakers now have an important opportunity to prioritize vulnerable communities over incarceration, and we urge investments that directly support victim services, reentry, restorative justice, and education and job development for our young people.”
Contact: Joshua Stickney, joshua@ellabakercenter.org, 405-315-4151
Antoinette Ratcliffe, Executive Director, Initiate Justice
“Initiate Justice shares in the frustrations among our communities as Governor Newsom proposes state budget cuts that further harm some of the state’s most vulnerable communities, including a proposed reduction to in-person visiting for our incarcerated loved ones across the state. The Governor’s proposal fails to prioritize investments in people and families, while the state continues to sustain funding for empty prison beds. Supporting healthy families for all California communities is best for our state, and that must include our families impacted by California’s costly prison system.”
Contact: Michelle Cárdenas, Communications Manager, Michelle@InitiateJustice.org (818) 818-3654
Masih Fouladi, Executive Director of the California Immigrant Policy Center:
“While we are pleased that the governor is maintaining his commitment to Medi-Cal for undocumented Californians and proposing some support to organizations welcoming individuals and families seeking asylum at the border, this budget proposal falls short. Cutting or stalling funding for programs, such as food access and immigration legal services, does little to minimize the budget shortfall but would have a significant negative impact on immigrant communities. As the governor and the legislature work to reconcile the budget deficit, we call on them to prioritize the wellbeing of Californians and use every tool necessary to avoid cuts to core services that disproportionately and immediately impact immigrant Californians and communities of color.”
Contact: Edward Sifuentes, esifuentes@caimmigrant.org, (760) 936-2632
Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO of GRACE/End Child Poverty California
“This may not be the year to create new programs and close loopholes in our safety net, which is disappointing given the high levels of child poverty across California. But this is the year in which California can and must put our values to the test, prioritizing above all else the most vulnerable children and families. The budget released today would make deep cuts to the core safety net. We look forward to working with the Legislature and Governor to achieve a budget with no cuts to children and families experiencing poverty.”
Contact: Andrew Cheyne, Andrewcheyne@grace-inc.org 651.246.4738
NextGen California Executive Director, Arnold Sowell Jr
“Despite this negative fiscal outlook, NextGen California remains committed to our policy, program delivery, and advocacy work and will remain unwavering in our fight to address environmental, social, racial, gender, and economic inequities that impact California’s frontline communities. We look forward to making the most of this year’s tight budget and will proceed with our advocacy and programmatic work in partnership with the Legislature and the Newsom Administration in the months ahead.”
Contact: Tyler Bushnell, tyler.bushnell@nextgenpolicy.org
Catalyst California’s President and CEO, John Kim
“In times of economic trouble, California’s leaders have been quick to cut programs that would ensure communities of color thrive. It doesn’t have to be this way. Our choices have led us here, but we as a state can make different decisions so that we have access to a quality education, affordable housing, safer communities, and more so all Californians can thrive.“
Contact: Ronald Simms Jr, rsimms@catalystcalifornia.org
Linda Nguy, Associate Director of Policy Advocacy, Western Center on Law and Poverty
“Western Center on Law and Poverty opposes the Governor’s approach to address the budget shortfall through cuts to critical safety net programs. Although we appreciate the Governor maintaining previous expansions and grants, his approach balances the budget on the backs of low-income Californians through over $3 billion in cuts. Instead of considering additional revenue solutions, the Governor proposes to cut In-Home Supportive Services for people who were previously excluded from Medi-Cal due to their immigration status, deeper CalWORKs cuts, and continued cuts to housing and homelessness prevention programs.”
Contact: Linda Nguy, lnguy@wclp.org, 916-833-5956
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ABOUT THE BUILDING THE CALIFORNIA DREAM ALLIANCE:
We are united in our commitment to the equal worth and dignity of every Californian, inclusive of race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, disability, health status, or age.
Together, we will fight for our communities – for broadly shared prosperity and economic security, educational and job opportunities, a clean environment and a healthy planet, quality and comprehensive healthcare for all, reproductive rights, responsive and democratic government, a strong safety net and justice for all.
California must do a better job of putting our communities and people first – ahead of profit or political gain, and we are working together in order to realize that goal.
THE BUILDING THE CA DREAM ALLIANCE INCLUDES:
The Building the California Dream Alliance includes: ACCE, Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, ACLU California Action, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Southern California, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN),Black Women for Wellness Action Project , Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, California Attorneys For Criminal Justice (CACJ), California Calls,California Coalition for Worker Power, California Low-Income Consumer Coalition (CLICC),California Donor Table, California Domestic Workers Coalition, California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), California Environmental Justice Alliance, California Environmental Voters, California Food & Farming Network , Californians for Safety and Justice, California Labor Federation, California Immigrant Policy Center, California NOW, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Catalyst California, Center for Responsible Lending, Child Care Law Center, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Consumer Attorneys of California, California Chapter (CAIR-CA), Courage California, Disability Rights California, Drug Policy Alliance, Earthjustice , Economic Security Project Action (ESPA), Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, End Poverty in California, Equality California, Equal Rights Advocates, Fossil Free California, Friends Committee on Legislation of California, GRACE/End Child Poverty CA, Harm Reduction Coalition, Health Access, Housing California, Housing Now!,Indivisible: State Strong, Initiate Justice, Latino Coalition For A Healthy California , Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the Bay Area, Legal Aid at Work, Lutheran Office of Public Policy,NextGen California , PICO California, PolicyLink, Public Advocates, Reproductive Freedom for All California, Rise Economy, SEIU California, Sierra Club California, Smart Justice,TechEquity Collaborative, UFCW, UnCommon Law, Voices for Progress, Western Center on Law & Poverty, Worker-Owned Recovery California Coalition
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