With the inauguration of Governor Gavin Newsom’s second term to take place this morning, the California Senate Republican Caucus shares a list of the governor’s top 10 failures that have impacted families under his dismal leadership.
Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) released the following statement:
“The governor of a state with the most homeless people living out on the streets sure has a high opinion of himself. While he flaunts so-called accomplishments, families are suffering because he is failing to lead. This state has broken under his watch. My caucus and I are working to hold government accountable and fix California.”
Countdown to Newsom’s Top 10 Leadership Failures:
10. Homelessness – The latest data shows California is home to America’s most homeless despite spending more than $20 billion of taxpayer dollars under Newsom’s leadership. The homeless crisis continues to spiral out of control.
9. Drought – California is being pummeled by several atmospheric river storms, yet we lack the water storage to capture it. Newsom has not delivered one extra drop of water to farmworkers and farmers in the state as California crops are being devastated because of the drought.
8. High Gas Prices - As a benefactor of the Getty oil money fortune, our dear governor has proposed a so-called “Windfall Profits Tax” on the state’s gasoline industry in the name of lowering gas prices. In fact, Newsom’s proposal would only hike up the cost of gasoline at the pump.
7. Early Release of Convicted Felons – Through an Executive Order, the governor’s California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation made it easier for thousands of convicted felons to be eligible for early release with little transparency.
6. Education Failures – According to statewide test scores released by the California Department of Education, 2/3 of California students failed to meet Math standards and more than half of California students did not meet the state’s English standards.
5. Businesses Fleeing California – Stanford University Hoover Institution Study reveals that businesses are leaving the state twice as fast as years prior. Businesses forced to flee are taking revenue, jobs, and opportunities with them.
4. EDD – Newsom ordered California’s businesses to shut down leaving hundreds of thousands of Californians unemployed. In a disorganized scramble to get out unemployment benefits, Newsom’s Employment Development Department sent out $33 billion in unemployment fraud. The number may be higher.
3. French Laundry Scandal/NFL Luxury Suite Scandal – During the coronavirus surge, Newsom attended a swanky dinner at the expensive French Laundry even though he discouraged Californians from traveling during the holidays and partied maskless in an NFL Luxury Suite despite state masking orders. Rules for thee but not for me, right governor?
2. Wildfire Prevention Efforts - An investigation from CapRadio and NPR’s California Newsroom found the governor overstated, by an astounding 690%, the number of acres treated with fuel breaks and prescribed burns. Newsom claimed that 35 “priority projects” were carried out as a result of his executive order which resulted in 90,000 acres being treated. But the state’s own data shows the actual number was only 11,399 acres.
1. High-Speed Rail - In his first State of the State remarks in 2019, Newsom declared his intentions to pull the plug on the massive public works failure known as the High-Speed Rail. Since then, he has flip-flopped and has been pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into this money pit.