Xavier Becerra's gubernatorial agenda for California
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Xavier Becerra. Photo: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
It's time to vote for governor in California.
The big picture: Democrat Xavier Becerra is squaring off against Republican Steve Hilton to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
State of play: Becerra, a former California attorney general and U.S. health and human services secretary, is pitching his decades of government experience as an asset while making affordability, housing and health care central to his campaign.
- Go here to read how Hilton plans to govern California.
While Becerra's team did not respond to Axios interview requests, here's where he stands on some of California's biggest issues.
💰 Cost of living: Becerra has framed affordability as a threat to what he calls the "California Dream," while rejecting Hilton's sweeping tax cut proposals. He is calling for lowering household costs, expanding child care support and cracking down on price gouging, among other proposals.
- He also opposes Proposition 40, the proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on California billionaires. He argued during last week's CNN debate that while the wealthy should pay their fair share, a one-time tax isn't a predictable or sustainable way to fund government.
🏠 Housing and homelessness: Becerra says California needs to accelerate construction and has proposed declaring a housing state of emergency on his first day in office, cutting permitting delays and more aggressively enforcing state housing requirements.
- On homelessness, Becerra has called for clearing encampments and holding local governments accountable while investing in mental health and substance use treatment.
- He's also emphasized prevention, arguing it's cheaper to help Californians remain housed after a job loss or medical emergency than to help them once they're on the streets.
🩺 Health care: Becerra has leaned heavily on his experience leading HHS and pledged to protect Californians from losing coverage as federal Medicaid cuts take effect.
- He's warned that the changes could threaten hospitals and community health centers and said he wouldn't allow eligible Californians to be unjustly pushed off Medi-Cal.
🛂 Immigration: As the son of Mexican immigrants, Becerra supports regulating the border while arguing immigration enforcement must respect constitutional rights.
- He's sharply criticized the Trump administration's immigration raids and defended his own record overseeing the care of unaccompanied migrant children at HHS.
📚 Education: Becerra says California's education system isn't well coordinated and supports earlier intervention and tutoring for students who fall behind.
- He also opposes directing public education dollars toward private schools and says teachers should be paid and treated like professionals.
The bottom line: Becerra is making the case that his experience in Congress, Sacramento and Washington makes him best equipped to tackle the state's problems.
📬 What's next: Check your mailbox. Mail-in ballots started heading to voters this week.