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Aroner says poor needed to be included
Gov. Gray Davis’ State of the State message was a mixed bag for Assemblymember Dion Aroner.
While she appreciated Davis’ call for the state to take a greater role in decision-making on questions of energy, Aroner said he left out the people she directs much of her energy to – “poor people.”
Though Aroner would like the state to take over its power supply – “people like me say electricity is public,” she said – she acknowledged that was not going to happen. Davis’ call for restructuring the system operators’ boards would help the state gain some of the control it needs, she said.
While failing to talk about upgrading building standards so that buildings are more energy efficient, the governor did talk about giving incentives for energy conservation, she said. She applauded the incentives Davis proposed for people to get rid of their old refrigerators “Refrigerators use up 20 percent of the electricity in a home,” she said, noting that the old refrigerators ought not to be recycled.
The governor said nothing about housing, Aroner said critically. “We’ve got this work force that can’t afford to live here.”
The governor’s proposal to keep kids in school an additional thirty days still needs to be worked out, Aroner said, noting that “every other industrialized country in the world is on a longer-year schedule.” There’s also a logistics issue, she said, pointing to the 120,000 children who are on year-round schedules.
What Aroner would want, above all, is for the governor to augment school allocations and allow local school districts to spend the money as they see fit, including raising teacher salaries. “He didn’t talk about this,” she said.
Aroner commended the governor’s move to try to get parents of poor children government-supported health insurance, but chastised him for otherwise ignoring the needs of the poor. For example, she said she would have wanted Davis to address the mental health needs of low income people.
Still, Aroner said she appreciated Davis’ silence. When former Gov. Pete Wilson used to talk about poor people, it was to take programs away from them, she said. “I appreciate the Governor not saying anything. That’s good news.”
