California Governor Gavin Newsom discusses the 2020 presidential election and family life.
“One of the biggest stories that hasn’t gotten full media attention is the assault by the president on the American people who happen to be residents of the largest state of our union,” Newsom says in an exclusive year-end interview with USA TODAY. “But California is thriving despite him.”
Housing costs are driving away the middle class; the median home price in California is $550,000, twice the national average, according to Zillow. More than Some state lawmakers are concerned about Newsom's slow pace of progress on the traditional parts of his job. These include releasing $650 million to municipalities to address homelessness, fining cities that push back against affordable housing initiatives, and signing 22 wildfire-related bills while increasing oversight over bankrupt utility PG&E, whose aging and faulty lines have sparked some of the deadly fires.
“The housing issue, which is so key to that California dream, we have to hit that one head-on,” Newsom says.in the form of land for affordable housing, first-time homebuyer assistance and more, he says. "We put in $1.75 billion in state money. We’re suing cities. We also putting up money to help cities plan for housing. We’re looking at land-use policies. I hope in the next year or so we’ll see movement, but there’s no silver bullet. Nothing happens overnight.
Instead, Peterson says, Newsom “should worry more about infrastructure and education, which are falling apart, and let’s make California business-friendly again. If you have jobs, people can afford the houses.” "But I'm not sure he can snap his fingers and fix that," Stone says."They’re longstanding systemic issues.”
Both the bust of John F. Kennedy that sits on his desk as well as the photo of his smiling late father William Newsom, a state appeals court judge, with former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, seem to draw an invisible line between the photogenic governor and Camelot. But Newsom consistently shoots down the speculation that he is preparing for a White House run later this decade.Indeed, with its 40 million residents — one in eight U.S.
Whether it was watching Harris soar then nosedive, or simply tacitly acknowledging success in his first term as governor is key to any presidential run, he says California has all his attention. But those who know him best suggest the governor relishes negotiating California’s many vexing issues. Newsom, a self-confessed policy wonk, says he plans to get results over the coming years by learning everything he can about as many thorny California issues as possible.
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