Coronavirus: Newsom announces economic task force with four former California governors
Former presidential candidate and entrepreneur Tom Steyer will lead a new advisory committee announced Friday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that will be tasked with steering the state back toward economic growth and recovery amid the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 80-member task force includes the four living former California governors — Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown — and other business people, “social-justice warriors” and tribal leaders who will help inform new policies bent on both growth and inclusion.
“We are guided in our recovery with those considerations at heart,” he said. “This is not a partisan endeavor. This is about California.”
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A record 3.1 million people have filed for unemployment insurance since March 12, Newsom said, devastating California’s stretch of 119 consecutive months of job growth.
Newsom said while his top priority is continuing to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus, the state is preparing to “focus more robustly and comprehensively on economic growth and economic recovery.”
“Today I stand before you sobered by the reality of the last four weeks,” Newsom said, sharing that California saw its third consecutive day of reaching a record-high death toll, with 95 lives lost to the virus on Thursday night, and that the numbers of hospitalizations has continued to grow.
Adding that the worst mistake he could make would be to prematurely open the economy, he said the new committee would begin working on how to address the economic toll of this crisis.
“The consequences of our actions will be felt all across the United States,” he said, highlighting that 15% of the jobs created in the U.S. since the Great Recession were based in the state.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Gabrielle Canon is a California Reporter for the USA Today Network. You can reach her at gcanon@gannett.com or on Twitter @GabrielleCanon.