Guest Op-Ed in the Mercury News
Bay Area News Group
By Josh Becker
In California we have historic need and a historic opportunity.
Many of our neighbors have suffered tremendously during the pandemic and struggled to meet basic needs, like rent and food. At the same time, our innovation economy, California companies and their employees have benefited tremendously. With their success, they powered our state budget from a projected $50 billion deficit to a $75 billion surplus.
This provides a historic opportunity to come together and use our surplus to meet these needs. We should use it not only to immediately aid those who have been suffering, but also to create a springboard to economic mobility that will bridge the gaps that have caused the growing economic inequality in our country...
As we respond to this crucial moment, let’s also be visionary. Let’s use this opportunity to lay the foundation for more Californians to become higher wage-earners permanently and to increase their own financial security through hard work and determination, just as the American Dream has always promised.