As California deals with major wildfires wreaking havoc around the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed another crisis affecting Californians: unemployment benefits.
On Thursday, KTLA sister station KTXL caught up with the governor at an evacuation center in Vacaville, where he provided a new update about unemployment benefits.
“In regards to unemployment, do we have any further clarity from the administration regarding the extra $300?” KTXL asked Newsom.
“I just got clarity this morning. You’re the first to learn this,” he said.
The governor spoke about President Donald Trump‘s Aug. 8 executive order boosting unemployment benefits by $300, which will become a reality for Californians.
“I have confidence we’ll be able to get that out early next month,” Newsom said. “So hopefully, today, the latest tomorrow, I’ll put up at the date that we expect those dollars to be made available to millions of Californians.”
That still leaves those Californians $300 short of previous pandemic padded benefits, since Congress has not been able to come to an agreement. Trump’s plan allows states to provide an additional $100 in unemployment help, bringing the potential total to $400.
But Newsom says California can’t afford it.
“The state does not have $2.8 billion of money that it hasn’t appropriated on a monthly basis to absorb that. I don’t know a state in the country that can do an additional hundred,” he told KTXL.
The governor said he was stopping by the center to get a sense of how sheltering processes are working.
California is trying to balance the needs of tens of thousands fleeing spreading wildfires while trying to stop COVID-19 from doing the same.
Add that to Flex Alerts and record temperatures, and the governor initially said speaking at the final night of the Democratic National Convention was off the table.
“My responsibilities are here and not in a political fray,” Newsom said.
Ultimately, however, he did deliver brief remarks from outside an evacuation center.
As for a Californian who took the stage Wednesday night, Newsom said he texted Sen. Kamala Harris “even before she got off the stage” as she accepted the vice presidential nomination and told her how “proud I was.”
For now, his focus is on the immediate dangers to Californians and not the future of the U.S. Senate seat.
“We get through the election then I can worry about those things,” he said. “Right now, we’re dealing with Mother Nature’s fury. We got to keep people safe and healthy. That’s my immediate focus.”
