SACRAMENTO – Yesterday evening, Governor Gavin Newsom delivered the 2021 State of the State Address and Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) issued the following statement:
“A true leader is measured by how well they empower those around them. As Senate President pro Tem Atkins stated, we cannot return to the old normal — the one built on inequities and racism. The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a magnifying glass on the extraordinary gaps women and minorities face in healthcare, education, business, housing, and justice. I agree with Governor Newsom, ‘it is not what we preach, but what we do.’ I am proud to be a member of a legislative body that invested $7.6 billion in hardworking small businesses and $6.6 billion to get kids back to school safely. The problems we faced a year ago haven’t changed, their impact on communities of color have just become more obvious. We have taken serious steps forward on the path to recovery for our diverse businesses and community members, but more needs to be done on criminal justice reform and equitable economic assistance to correct the failures of past policy. We must emerge from this pandemic as the Governor has promised, with equity embedded in everything.”
