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<\/p>\nSacramento, CA…Members of Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery sent a letter to congressional leaders asking them pass $1 trillion in direct relief for state and local governments \u2013 funding that is critical to reopening our economies.\u00a0 \u201cState, local and tribal governments are critical to our recovery. In the short-term, they must be able to scale-up necessary programs, like contact tracing and testing,\u201d the signers said. \u201cGiven budget shortfalls, they are also soon facing impossible decisions \u2013 like whether to fund additional safety measures related to COVID-19 that will help businesses reopen more quickly or prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other first responders.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The letter, signed by\u00a091 California leaders\u00a0\u2013 including business leaders like Bob Iger and Marc Benioff \u2014\u00a0outlines the budgetary challenges facing state, local and tribal governments\u00a0caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the country, massive and sudden losses in revenue are making it nearly impossible for state and local governments to fund critical health\u00a0infrastructure\u00a0like contact tracing and testing,\u00a0while still providing critical services like public education and public safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cCOVID-19 has fundamentally changed how we will manage our businesses and organizations going forward, with the worst of the economic impact likely still to come,\u201d the letter continues. \u201cReopening our economies is a welcome step forward, but the success of our efforts ultimately relies on building greater confidence among consumers that it is safe to shop and greater certainty for workers that the services they rely on to do their jobs will remain in place. Without that, we will be a re-opened economy in name only.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Governor\u00a0last month\u00a0convened<\/a>\u00a0the Task Force,\u00a0co-chaired by Governor Newsom\u2019s Chief of Staff Ann O\u2019Leary and philanthropist, environmentalist and businessman Tom Steyer,\u00a0to chart a path forward on recovery in the wake of COVID-19.<\/p>\n