Gavin Newsom calls Kevin McCarthy a ‘challenge’ to progress, touts California economy
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who revealed the state’s projected $31.5 billion deficit last week, spoke in Sacramento Thursday about “a lack of confidence” he “hears in so many Californians,” and how he wants its citizens to “focus on what’s right” in the Golden State.
Newsom made his comments at the annual Sacramento Host Breakfast put on by the California Chamber of Commerce. In a sit-down with the CalChamber President and CEO, Jennifer Barrera, he touted the accomplishments of the legislature and the progress he says the state is making in water, energy, climate and transportation, as well as education and business. His commitment to not increasing taxes drew a round of applause from the hundreds of CalChamber members in attendance.
“I’m a proud Democrat,” he said. “But you don’t need to be profligate to be progressive.”
He celebrated the state’s “historic (cash) reserves” and growing economy, despite what he calls “a bias” propagated by California Republicans that the state is in a downward spiral due to Newsom’s leadership.
Critics on the right routinely cite the rate at which people are leaving California (which is declining), rising crime in major cities like his hometown San Francisco, worsening homelessness, and still-raw resentment of public health shutdowns he imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“California is a remarkable state, on our way to be the fourth largest economy in the world,” Newsom said. “Eat your heart out, Germany.”
The governor saved some time for his usual nemeses: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the state of Florida.
When asked by Barrera about the biggest obstacles to “bold climate goals,” he named McCarthy, specifically his attempts to gut the Inflation Reduction Act’s green energy incentives.
“If Kevin McCarthy has his way, that’s going to set us back,” Newsom said. “What he’s promoting would have devastating impact on our progress. McCarthy is a challenge to forward progress in California. We’ve got to push that through that.”
Newsom said there were other challenges, particularly where permitting is concerned. He said he plans to announce significant reforms to the infrastructure permitting process on Friday afternoon.
In his defense of the state of the state, Newsom compared its successes to Florida’s shortcomings. “Not to emphasize the state of Florida in an offensive posturing sense,” he said. “But to emphasize a bias that I think is starting to form, and a lack of confidence that I hear from so many Californians.”
He celebrated the “health, wealth, and education” of California compared to Florida. Education is a particular point of pride, for the Governor who proudly invested hundreds of billions of dollars in pre-kindergarten programs and college saving accounts.
“I was down at New College in Florida the other day, and I’ve been seeing a dismantling of the higher education process,” he said. Newsom visited the college during a brief stop in Florida for his Campaign for Democracy tour.
“I see people out there promoting education reform that says, ‘You can’t say this, you can’t say that.’ Criminalizing teachers, banning books. That’s not reform,” he said.
Newsom, thought to be priming himself for a future presidential bid, didn’t reference Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis by name, as he has in the past, calling him “chief bully.”
But he certainly alluded to him.
“We make it a deep point of pride that we believe in inclusivity,” he said Thursday.
“We don’t believe in bullying people, we don’t believe in threatening free speech, we don’t believe in criminalizing those who disagree with us.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Gavin Newsom calls Kevin McCarthy a ‘challenge’ to progress, touts California economy."
