Governor Newsom will deliver his state of the state speech later today.
The theme of the speech remains a mystery as Governor Newsom has already unveiled large parts of his spending priorities for the next fiscal year. Just last week, he revealed a new plan to use the courts to mandate care for some homeless people. ”There is going to be an explicit call out on inequality, and the stakes,” said an aide to Cal Matters, who spoke only if not named because they were not authorized to give a preview of the speech. “One of the themes of the speech is going to be democracy, and tying that to how unchecked inequality undermines democracy.” Historically, the speech has been the major political show of the year but has fallen into lower regard in recent years. There is also no word exactly where the virtual speech will be held, only that it will be somewhere in Sacramento according to Newsom's office. Newsom is set to speak at 5 p.m. with live coverage from KFBK. The event can also be livestreamed on the governor’s Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages. Senate Republican Leader Scott Wilk and Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher will be giving a response following the speech - a livestream will be available on the Facebook page of the Senate Republican Caucus.
Following the address, KFBK's non-partisan political analyst Gary Dietrich joins Kitty O'Neal with a breakdown of the speech and we will have the Republican response from California GOP Chairman Jessica Milan Patterson.