Published at the Orange County Register
As one of the first states impacted by the coronavirus, California and its citizens have led by example and provided an unprecedented response.
As our state continues to navigate these uncharted times, we need to develop an urgent recovery plan to ensure California can be open for business again and individuals can return to work. Make no mistake, the recovery phase is incredibly important to the long-term success of California’s employers, families, and communities.
California’s decisive, unified response was a result of potentially catastrophic modeling projections from public health experts which gave both Republican and Democrat legislative caucuses a better understanding of the serious challenges this virus could create for our state. This enabled the legislature to proactively pass emergency funding to support a California response effort.
Thankfully, Republican efforts in recent years to fill the rainy day fund were successful and our governor and legislature had significant resources to utilize in our time of need. This fund allowed for immediate assistance to hospitals, local and state health agencies and first responders.
The state’s response following dire modeling was necessary, however, it would be shortsighted not to prepare a plan for our long term economic recovery. The golden state must begin preparing to reopen our economy in the same urgency and collaboration that we demonstrated at the onset of this crisis.
Senate Republicans are ready to continue this successful collaboration into the recovery phase of this emergency. We have heard the pleas from our small business owners and hardworking Californians that have lost their jobs and have requested decisive action from the governor.
Senator John Moorlach, Senator Ling Ling Chang, Senator Patricia Bates and I have called for the Governor to initiate the development of a plan detailing how California will prevent businesses from permanently closing their doors and get more than 2.5 million citizens back to work.
We have also asked for his administration to provide transparency to business owners on what resources and tools they can realistically expect will be available following this crisis.
Although the governor announced a roadmap to modify the stay-at-home order and has begun to focus on our economy, we have requested that any conversation surrounding such have equal representation between private job creators and their workforce and again stress the urgency in prioritizing this crucial dialogue.
Preparing a plan for recovery will have a dramatic effect on Californians, help address the significant disruption this crisis has brought to their lives, and invest in both the current and future economic well-being of our state.
Despite differences in our political views, California’s leadership has come together to work through the first phase of this crisis. We must also work to ensure the long term viability of our state through economic recovery and the re-opening of the economy.
While there is still more work to be done to ensure the health and safety of Californians in the immediate future, we must also provide a commitment to ensure the recovery phase of the state’s response to COVID-19 is underway.
I look forward to the day when we can tell all Californians, and the world, that our state is back and open for business.