Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered his final State of the State address as Governor of California.
It was a moment that invited reflection — not just on policy, but on values.
Over the past eight years, California has confronted overlapping crises at scales few states have ever experienced: spiraling housing prices, widening inequality, a pandemic, intensifying climate impacts, drastic reductions in federal support, and back-to-back natural disasters.
Through it all, Governor Newsom has consistently asked the same question:
Who do we stand for?
Do we stand with the institutions and interests that benefit from the status quo?
Or with the Californians working every day to make ends meet — the educators, farmworkers, caregivers, firefighters, transit riders, and small-business owners who are the backbone of our state?
Today, the Governor made clear:
California stands with people and communities.
Affordability: A Crisis We Can’t Look Away From
The Governor spoke plainly — affordability is not one challenge, but a stack of them.
Housing costs, health care, wages, transportation, climate risk — each one pushes families closer to the edge. When they compound, they threaten the very idea of shared opportunity.
But instead of looking away, this administration acted.
- Raising wages for millions of Californians.
- Lowering the cost of life-saving drugs — insulin at $11 per pen through CalRx.
- Protecting access to emergency health and social services.
- Taking on predatory corporate ownership of starter homes.
- Two-thirds of state energy from clean sources (solar, hydro, wind, geothermal, and nuclear power).
These steps embody the belief the Governor repeated today:
Structural problems require structural solutions.
Wildfire Recovery: A Different Kind of Test
In the Governor’s words, “Los Angeles just completed the fastest debris removal in American history.”
The 2025 L.A. firestorms were devastating — 31 deaths, thousands of families displaced, community anchors destroyed, neighborhoods forever changed. And yet, in partnership with local leaders, the state moved swiftly:
- Accelerating debris removal.
- Issuing thousands of rebuilding permits.
- Providing mortgage and tax relief.
- Cutting red tape to get survivors home faster.
- Working toward a new fund to close the gap between insurance payouts and rebuilding costs.
In those first days after the firestorms, I joined our teams in Los Angeles.
We were there to listen.
Residents, local leaders, county staff, small-business owners — people rebuilding their lives, not just their homes — told us what they needed most.
That listening shaped the work that followed:
Recovery Needs Assessments, support strategies, coordination structures, and now the long road of rebuilding systems, not just structures.
It reminded me again:
Resilience is not abstract.
It lives in relationships, trust, and the belief that government can show up when it matters.
A Legacy of “California for All” and the Work Ahead
At LCI — and alongside our partners at the California Strategic Growth Council and the California Racial Equity Commission — we are proud to build on the foundation the Governor highlighted. When he said that California is proving an inclusive democracy works, he not only gave voice to the role the Commission is playing — opening doors for communities historically pushed out of public decision-making, but to all our programs and their dedication to our state’s diverse communities.
Work and programs such as:
- Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities
- Transformative Climate Communities
- Community Resilience Centers
- Judicial Streamlining to expedite permitting for housing and climate infrastructure in areas that need it most
- Regional Resilience Grant Program
- Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program
- Conservation and land stewardship
all of these help deliver on the Governor’s core promise:
Communities should shape their own future — and government should stand with them, not in their way.
A Final Reflection
The Governor closed with a challenge — and an invitation:
“It comes down to a simple question. Who do you stand for?”
At LCI, we know our answer.
We stand with:
- Families rebuilding after wildfire.
- Tribes exercising sovereignty and stewarding land.
- Rural towns navigating resource scarcity.
- Urban neighborhoods living the climate crisis first.
- Youth organizing for a future they deserve.
- Local governments doing more with less.
- Frontline communities facing harm they did not create.
And we stand with every Californian working to build a home, a life, and a future here.
Gov. Newsom helped shape a blueprint, and our office is honored to carry forward that work — listening first, collaborating always, and ensuring communities have the power, resources, and voice to thrive.
The tools are here. The vision is here. And now, more than ever, California needs to keep building — together.