Xavier Becerra says California needs to build more housing by reducing permitting times and making affordable housing funding easier to access, but he doesn’t want to say how many new homes he would deliver as governor. To address inequality, he’s considering whether the public should own shares of artificial intelligence companies, but he won’t commit to pursuing that policy.
If the Democratic candidate’s promises remain vague to Californians who, polls show, widely favor him for governor this November, he has an explanation — in the form of a regret dating back to 1993.
After campaigning against the North American Free Trade Agreement, the first-term Los Angeles-area congressmember was persuaded to vote for it, believing that adding some labor protections and a domestic lending program would shield American workers and small businesses from foreign competition. It only took a few years, Becerra recalled in an interview with CalMatters, to see American jobs displaced anyway.
For the young politician, it was a “pivotal lesson” with an enduring takeaway: Don’t back anything until you’re sure.
“No one gets my vote unless I know what I’m voting for completely,” he said… (more)