State of CaliforniaCandidate for Governor

We have the lowest percentage of homeowners of any state in the country. We have the oldest children living at home with their parents. Roughly 33% of renters spend half their income on housing. Not only is this costing our economy billions, Delaine understands that it is just plain wrong to force so many families into poverty when it is a fixable solution. We must: 1. Provide housing for the homeless & affordable housing for ALL. Inequality is growing, with one in four children living in poverty. Our high poverty rate is partially caused by the high cost of housing in California. It will take years for us to build our way out of this situation, which means we need to take immediate steps to build more housing to curb the loss of our current affordable housing stock, including rental housing, while we look to build a million or more affordable units in eight years. a. There needs to be an emergency moratorium on large rent increases and no cause evictions. We must repeal Costa Hawkins and implement emergency legislation to create and build more affordable housing as well as to restrict rent increases and condominium conversions while we deal with the severe housing shortage. We cannot afford to let the problem get worse while we seek long term solutions. b. Rapid re-housing for our homeless: Our homeless crisis affects us all. From deadly outbreaks of hepatitis to massive increases in sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence, the situation is dire and needs focused coordination between agencies so that people can secure shelter while we build our way out of this crisis. This includes a large expansion of housing vouchers, eliminating housing discrimination, and using hotels, motels, tiny houses and cooperative housing to help people get immediate shelter. c. Build one million affordable homes in five years with a concentration near transit hubs -- We need a statewide housing plan that links housing, jobs and transit with both carrots and sticks to ensure implementation. Cities that haven’t met their obligations to provide workforce housing should be forced to supplement the costs for transit in the short run, to improve mass transit accessibility, and to expand affordable workforce housing for people who work in that community or that region. We must focus attention on building more affordable housing near transportation hubs.

 

 There used to be an old adage, an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay (at least if you were a white male.) When Delaine was young, 30% of the country was unionized, including her own as her father was a machinist, and the middle class thrived. Over the past several decades, productivity has skyrocketed and corporations have made billions, but more and more is being hoarded at the top as union membership has fallen to historic lows. Today, only 10% of the country is in a union, and Janus vs. AFSME threatens to lower this even further.

 

 

Over the decades, workers have seen reduced or stagnated compensation, all while living costs such as housing, healthcare, childcare and education have skyrocketed. This is unsustainable. California must have a full court press on the issues of income inequality.

This means working to lift wages, pay equity for women, helping families secure affordable housing, childcare and preschool that doesn’t cost the same as a mortgage, healthcare for all, providing excellent k-12 education and free college tuition again.

Whether you’re a machinist in Modesto, a teacher in Tulare, a laborer in Los Angeles or a techie in Silicon Valley, California needs to be a place where you can buy a home, send your kids to college, and live a comfortable retirement. 

 

 

 

 

There used to be an old adage, an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay (at least if you were a white male.) When Delaine was young, 30% of the country was unionized, including her own as her father was a machinist, and the middle class thrived. Over the past several decades, productivity has skyrocketed and corporations have made billions, but more and more is being hoarded at the top as union membership has fallen to historic lows. Today, only 10% of the country is in a union, and Janus vs. AFSME threatens to lower this even further.

Over the decades, workers have seen reduced or stagnated compensation, all while living costs such as housing, healthcare, childcare and education have skyrocketed. This is unsustainable. California must have a full court press on the issues of income inequality.

This means working to lift wages, pay equity for women, helping families secure affordable housing, childcare and preschool that doesn’t cost the same as a mortgage, healthcare for all, providing excellent k-12 education and free college tuition again.

Whether you’re a machinist in Modesto, a teacher in Tulare, a laborer in Los Angeles or a techie in Silicon Valley, California needs to be a place where you can buy a home, send your kids to college, and live a comfortable retirement. 

Last year I joined the NAACP in calling for a moratorium, and I am the only candidate that I know to do so. I am also not taking charter school developer or charter school PAC money (I am also the only candidate not taking corporate money). Here is the article: https://medium.com/@delaineeastin_13262/california-needs-a-moratorium-on-charter-schools-b9bab2f44add

 

When I was in the Assembly I authored one of the first charter school bills as charters were being proposed. My bill had more oversight, including requiring teachers to be credentialed and greater accountability.  Unfortunately, the Republican governor signed a colleague’s bill which had little accountability and is in part responsible for the problems we have today. Some charters cherry pick high achievers and do not accept special needs students, while others find excuses to expel or turn away low achieving children. Because of lax accounting requirements, some charters have redirected taxpayer dollars to charters that are not following the auditing standards regular public schools are held to. The fact that one-third have gone out of business is telling. We must have a moratorium on new charter schools and tighten up the oversight and ensure they are not allowed to buy public lands or public buildings, buy the principal a convertible, as did happen, or to charge children from another country $30,000 a year to attend a charter high school while guaranteeing the families there would be guaranteed admission to UC Berkeley upon graduation, as happened in Livermore.

 

 

"Our Dreamers and our DACA Californians are as American as I am. And I am proud California became a sanctuary state." Delaine Eastin

Delaine's father was born in Kentucky and he was fond of saying that "Californians are people born somewhere else who came to their senses." In 2015, the most current year of data, 27% of California's population was indeed, born somewhere else. California is home to more than 10 million immigrants with half of California’s children having at least one immigrant parent.

California is the second most diverse state in the country, and Delaine considers it our greatest strength. Immigrants are the most entrepreneurial people in our country. They dream and do and sacrifice to give their children the American dream. 

Delaine strongly supports California’s status as a Sanctuary State. She believes we must provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients that includes granting protected status to their parents, and that the very idea that the government would betray these amazing young people by targeting their parents is anti-American. Family is everything.

Regarding workplaces, our state Attorney General has said the state will fine any business that voluntarily cooperates with ICE. As Governor, Delaine would certainly support this to make sure that our undocumented (and documented) workers are protected from the predatory behaviors we have witnessed the federal government take.

Under the Constitution, state and local governments have every right to refuse to help enforce federal law. In cases like Printz v. United States (1997) and New York v. United States (1992), the Supreme Court has ruled that the Tenth Amendment forbids federal “commandeering” of state governments to help enforce federal law. Most of the support for this anti-commandeering principle came from conservative justices such as the late Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion in Printz.

Few if any federal grants to state and local governments are conditioned on cooperation with federal deportation efforts. The Supreme Court has long ruled that conditions on federal grants to state and local governments are not enforceable unless they are “unambiguously” stated in the text of the law “so that the States can knowingly decide whether or not to accept those funds.”

Throughout Delaine's career she has stood up for all Californians to live with dignity and to be treated with respect. As State Superintendent she stood strong against Governor Pete Wilson after the passage of Prop 187. He ordered Delaine to have teachers act as immigration agents. When Delaine said no he threatened to have her recalled. She joined the lawsuit against Prop 187 and they won. Delaine also opposed Propositions 209 and 227. In her race to serve a second term as Superintendent, she was specifically attacked for being a strong supporter of bilingual education.