San Mateo Daily Journal
By Julia Lee
State Sen. Josh Becker held a town hall on California’s budget of $262.6 billion with state Sen. Nancy Skinner to discuss how increased budget funding to many areas including housing, education and response to wildfires will benefit San Mateo County and the state.
“When I think about budget priorities and policies, I personally think about three things. One, are they going to enable equality of opportunity,” Becker said. “Secondly, will they increase quality of life for my constituents and their families and people across California. And third, are we being responsible with the money entrusted to us.”
Bay Area organizations Becker was able to directly benefit include $5 million toward the Job Training Center for Economic Mobility in East Palo Alto, $1 million toward The Big Lift, a San Mateo County program focusing on getting every kid to grade level by third grade, $8 Million for Mountain View’s “Lot 12” affordable housing development, and $500,000 for the Pacifica Pier Repair project.
“I’m proud about so many things about this budget, but the ways that we’ve expanded pathways for education, which can then be an opportunity for every Californian,” said Skinner, D-Berkeley, also chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.
California is in the top 10% of all states with this budget in per pupil funding. Providing two meals a day for all kids in schools, having child savings accounts for low-income kids in the K-12 system, bettering broadband to provide digital equity, and creating more spaces for students in the UCs and CSUs were among the investments in education, Becker said.
“When I talk about quality of life for the Peninsula and our families across California, major investments in affordable housing and especially homelessness, we now have to spend that money wisely,” he said.