California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has a plan to fix California’s broken governance system, and it begins with government investment in the future and innovation from Californians all over the state.
Almost 300 leaders from the Inland Empire gave Newsom a standing ovation at the Riverside Convention Center Tuesday, where he served as the keynote speaker for the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce 2011 Legislative Summit and discussed his Economic Growth And Competitiveness Agenda For California.
Newsom acknowledged the economic issues faced by the Inland Empire, including the high unemployment rate, and stressed the urgent need for fiscal reforms at the state level.
He said California has gotten off track in the past few decades, and discussed our need to become innovators again, invest in education, and look into global markets to find out how people are doing things better and who might be a worthy competitor.
We need to evolve and adapt to new global economic realities, Newsom said. We can no longer afford to sit on our laurels and be the “42 year-old quarterback” reliving his high school glory days from his couch. “It’s no longer good enough to be average”.
Area lawmakers have lamented the problems facing the Inland Empire such as the lack of funding for UCR’s Medical School. It was slated to open next year, but received no funding because of the budget crisis. “The medical school is crucial for Riverside’s economic recovery as well as assisting in our state’s severe shortage of medical professionals,” said one attendee.
Newsom stressed that California has the opportunity to be exceptional again. But we need comprehensive reforms to get there.
