Governor Gavin Newsom delivered his State of the State address in Los Angeles Tuesday evening. Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama), Vice Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement:

“It is unfortunate that more isn’t being done to open public schools full time – five days a week. Children in public schools are entitled to an education too. Private schools have been opened for months.

“Zoom School has deepened racial and class divides.

“Current plans only have students returning about two days a week, which totals 12-20 days for the remainder of the year.

“The fight to reopen schools full time is driven by the California Teachers Association’s demands, not children’s needs. The focus must be about the children, their health and their learning. Period.

“Minutes before the Governor’s speech, EDD computers crashed. Yet, another example of California’s failure to get it right. How many Californians are adversely affected by this catastrophe? Unemployment has affected millions this past year. Not a word about fixing EDD in his speech.

“It is disappointing the Governor did not address EDD’s disaster. California taxpayers deserve to hear about his plans to implement permanent fixes so real Californians can receive unemployment benefits, not international crime rings and prisoners.

“California taxpayers lost between $11 - $31 billion in fraud due to EDD’s mismanagement and inaction, while hundreds of thousands of Californians have not received their legitimate claim to pay bills.

“The Governor and the Legislature must implement all of the State Auditor’s recommendations to fight fraud and bring efficiency to EDD.”