New revenues and investments needed to advance a more equitable California

PASADENA, CA, UNITED STATES, January 10, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE & End Child Poverty California (ECPCA):

End Child Poverty California, powered by GRACE, envisions a California where every child is valued and free from poverty.

Gratefully, Governor Newsom’s 2025-2026 State Budget upholds his Northstar vision of ending child poverty by safeguarding key anti-poverty programs on which families rely and making key new investments that align with ECPCA IMAGINE priorities, including:

• School Meals for All: we celebrate the Governor’s leadership in California’s first-in-the-nation universal school meals serving 1 billion meals, with $106M for children’s increased meal participation and $150M for kitchen infrastructure grants.
• CalWORKs Fiscal Responsibility Act Pilots: we applaud the Governor’s vision to maximize this opportunity and center family engagement, remove administrative barriers, and support robust local implementation. This is a critical moment to deliver a CalWORKs program that is anti-racist, trauma-informed, and creates durable pathways out of poverty.
• Diaper Initiative: $19.9M over two years to provide a three-month supply of diapers at no cost to California families with newborn babies via hospital systems to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes.
• Regional Coordination for Career Education and Training: $4M to evaluate higher education and workforce regional coordination models, which aligns with our priority to protect and strengthen proven Promise Neighborhood and regional convening organizations coordinating efforts to move children from poverty to prosperity.

“We applaud last year’s historic budget agreement that created a new standard by rejecting failed austerity and refusing to balance the budget by cutting the lifesaving anti-poverty safety net. But California has the responsibility and the wealth to build upon that foundation. Too many Californians, especially Black, Brown, immigrant, and Indigenous families, face daily challenges to afford their basic needs and help their children pursue their dreams. We know, and policymakers have proven that poverty is a policy choice, full stop. As the fifth largest economy in the world, we have the collective resources to deliver on our shared vision to create a future where no child in California lives in poverty.”

The new investments in families and the Governor’s modest proposals to raise needed revenues are to be applauded. Yet our children and families still face the highest poverty rate in the nation and widening racial wealth and income gaps, underscoring the urgency of sustaining and enhancing programs that address racial and economic inequities.

Governor Newsom and the Legislature must take bold action to raise revenues so wealthy corporations and individuals contribute their fair share, as they disproportionately benefit from state tax expenditures. This is vital to expand investments in proven anti-poverty programs and reversing systemic inequities. We further urge budget leaders to responsibly restore critical reserves like the Safety Net Reserve, and ensure that reforms to safeguard future budgets still protect resources for investments that children and families experiencing poverty need now.

Our hearts are still with the Californians suffering from the fire emergencies that have taken lives and threaten to worsen poverty and racial injustice in many communities. There is a direct through line between racist redlining and why so many Black and Brown families live near the wildland-urban interface and are on the front lines of climate crises like the devastating Eaton Fire.

We are grateful for the President’s and Governor’s responsiveness so federal supports are flowing into impacted communities, and call on federal and state policymakers to prioritize recovery until our communities fully rebound. We call on Congress and the incoming federal administration to strengthen proven safety net programs and abandon efforts to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest at the expense of people experiencing poverty.

We look forward to continued collaboration with Governor Newsom, the Administration, the Legislature, and communities to ensure that the final 2025-26 budget makes maximum progress toward our mission to end child poverty.

Linda Swank
GRACE & End Child Poverty CA
+16512464738 ext.
email us here
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