As state budget negotiations heat up, join the California Green New Deal Coalition in advocating for its two state budget priorities: funding for community resilience hubs and for creating a state Office of Racial Equity.
Community Resilience Centers
Governor Newsom’s current budget proposal allocates $150 million toward “community resilience centers,” but most of these funds are now going to upgrades for California’s fairgrounds.
Vulnerable communities are facing increasing threats from climate disasters, including the coming wildfire season.
Frontline community leaders have been meeting with legislators and calling on them to invest $1 billion in resilience centers where communities can access resources, charge their devices, refrigerate food and medicine, and connect with each other.
Tell your legislators to support this key investment.
Office of Racial Equity
The joint Assembly/Senate budget plan includes $588,000 to establish a Chief Equity Officer to create a more inclusive, respectful, and equitable state workplace, and $10 million to establish the Office of Racial Equity.
California has taken some important steps to address racial injustice, but, writes Alvaro Sanchez of the Greenlining Institute, “developing a strong, cross-agency equity framework and strategy is essential to put California on a meaningful and effective path for success.”
Tell Governor Newsom to include funding for this critical racial justice initiative.
For more on the California Green New Deal current priorities, see this recent oped by Miya Yoshitani is executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), one of the community-based groups that make up the Coalition for a California Green New Deal.