Xavier Becerra explains why he should be California’s next governor | California Politics 360
The former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden is running as a Democrat in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out at the end of 2026.
Javier Becerra, thank you so much for making time for us. Ashley, thank you. This is *** hard job at *** really hard time. Why do you wanna be California governor now? Because it’s *** hard job and you need someone who’s gone through these tough times and knows what it’s like to have to balance *** big budget, someone who knows what it’s like to deal with. Emergencies, crises, uh, and knows how to get out of them. Someone who knows how to fight and someone who knows how to win. Uh, I’m getting to do what my parents didn’t have *** chance to do and that is live *** life based on your dream. And I’m getting to do it with people who Also want to see California thrive, so why not? California though is facing multi-year money problems if you know whoever the next governor is is really gonna have to deal with that according to our state’s legislative analysts, budget experts, um, in, in really every side of the aisle at this point. The options that have been laid out are to either cut spending, cut state programs, or raise taxes. Which option do you see yourself choosing? Both You gotta do *** little bit of both. I had to do that when I was secretary at HHS, uh, in the midst of the worst pandemic any of us had ever seen. I had to save lives, manage *** budget. And do it without making cuts to the most essential programs. We were able to do that. We got uh the economy and the country out of COVID, uh, it took *** lot of work. But you have to do it with *** mix of measures, and I think in the case of California. We’ll, we’ll need new, new revenue, and there are people who aren’t paying their fair share who have to pay *** little bit more at the same time we have to take *** look at programs as I had to look at programs when I was at HHS and we had to make decisions on where to cut to make sure that we balanced our books. So you mentioned people needing to pay their fair share. So what does that look like? You’re, you’re essentially saying you’d raise taxes on the wealthy in the state for the most part, yeah, I think of it this way, um. Not sure what bracket you’re in, what tax bracket and all I know is that there are people who are paying. Doctors Nurses, teachers, firefighters, police officers, folks who you think of in the middle. If you’re making way more money than any of those professionals. And you’re paying at *** tax rate lower than them, you’re not paying your fair share. So I think it’ll be pretty quick, uh, and pretty easy to calculate if you’re gonna have to pay *** little bit more because if you’re paying less in taxes and make you’re *** billionaire and you’re paying less than that teacher in your effective tax rate, you’re likely gonna have to pay more. How exactly would that happen under uh Governor Becerra? So we would try to have *** policy on revenue that is predictable. And consistent, that’s one thing I’ve learned that when I was on the Ways and Means Committee in the Congress, uh, Ways and Means Committee is *** tax writing committee, so I did tax policy for about 20 years. What you need to do is give people predictability. You want people to pay their taxes, they gotta know more or less what they’re gonna owe at the end of the year. You want *** business to be able to invest in your state, they gotta know what they’re facing in terms of taxes and regulations, uh, give them predictability and so I would make sure that we are, uh. Developing *** tax code that gives people predictability that means if you know you’re paying an effective tax rate lower than that teacher or firefighter, you, you should expect you’re gonna be paying more at the end of the year. But I mean California’s budget does rely heavily on the state’s top earners. I mean the top 1% account for like almost half of the income tax that the state collects. Do you risk, I mean. Potentially driving them out of state and putting us in an even worse revenue situation than we could be. No, no, because think of it, most of those doctors. Lawyers, *** lot of those professionals who are making 345. 100,000 89 $100,000 *** million dollars. I’m not looking to go after them because they already are paying *** sizable tax to the state of California for their income. I’m talking about folks who don’t have that wealth because of their income. They have it because of their investments and investments in this country are taxed at lower rates than the effective tax rate of that firefighter and that teacher. And it’s because so many billionaires have their wealth in those investments that they get off without paying *** fair share of taxes to the state where they make their living, where they love to enjoy and uh you know, most of the folks that I’ve encountered who are fairly wealthy don’t mind paying their fair share and they’re willing so long as they can understand why they’re being taxed, so long as it’s predictable. Everyone, everyone understands we pay *** premium to live in, in this great state of California. Go take *** look at the price of the gas pump today. We’re paying *** premium mostly because Donald Trump got us into this reckless foreign war, but I will tell you we like California. We wanna stay in California, but it’s gotta be affordable. You mentioned you’d also cut programs. Is there anything like immediately on the docket that you see that you’d wanna cut right now? I would take *** real close look at these homeless programs. Uh, we have not had accountability. I I believe that every dollar that we invest in homelessness is gonna be *** very precious dollar, and I’d like to make sure that it leads to results, and results for most of us are when I look at those streets, I don’t see people lying there in the morning having slept there. I wanna see results. I wanna have accountability. I’m willing to invest in in having uh assistance for those who are homeless, but we have to have results. And if you can’t produce the the results in that accountability. Then you shouldn’t get the money. And so, so because I mean cities and counties might watch this right now and think, oh my gosh, are you talking about HAP, the homelessness housing assistance prevention grant program? It’s the main way the state provides dollars to these local governments. I mean, is that something that would be on the table for you to potentially cut? I, I would certainly make sure that they are delivering results and if they can’t deliver results, I’ll take that dollar to someone who is delivering. Results and so we have to make the best use of that dollar because there are always programs that have to deal with something like homelessness. I only have so many of those dollars. If I have to make *** decision, I’m gonna put that $1 into that one organization that’s delivering accountable results. Another expensive program right now and we have yet to really see the effectiveness of this one is providing healthcare to undocumented people through the state’s MediH program. Um, would you keep that in place as governor? Absolutely. Right now, I mean new adults can’t sign up under changes that the governor and legislature had to make last year because of the financial um situation with it. Is that, would you look at trying to allow new adults to sign on? I understand what the thinking was. I think that’s shortsighted and it’s not cost effective. And Ashley, it’s, that one’s an easy one. You’ve got *** family, you’ve got *** child, your child’s hurting. You don’t have money. You don’t have insurance. You’re gonna think of everything you can from going to get the aspirin to trying the massage in the curandera if you’re in *** from *** Mexican home, whatever you can that’s not gonna cost you an arm and *** leg. But if your child’s still hurting, at some point you’re going to the hospital, and if you don’t have insurance and if you’re not *** wealthy person, that bill. will drive you out of your house. Whatever nest egg you had has just gone, so if you were looking to use that to buy *** house in the future or to get help pay for your kids’ tuition in college, gone. But you’re gonna take your your child to that hospital. Why should we wait till you have to take your child to the hospital, which means you’re probably entering through the emergency room. The most expensive door to walk through in healthcare is the ER door. Why should we wait because you didn’t have insurance that you let the situation get so bad that now you have no choice but to save your child, you go to the hospital to the emergency room. I’m saying no, no, you’re gonna have access to that pediatrician, that family doc, that OBGYN now early up front because it costs me so much less to do it up front than wait till it gets really expensive at the back end. So tell me someone you don’t have insurance condemns them to have to use the back end, the most expensive care. I’m not going there and I tell you this from my own experience being secretary at HHS from defending the Affordable Care Act as AG all the way to the Supreme Court. But I’ll tell you where I learned it most from two great Americans, my mom, who said, Mijoes mejoor prevenir que remedial. It is always better to prevent than to try to remediate. And Frederick Douglass, who said it about 160 years ago, it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. We wait till they go to the emergency room to repair broken men and women. If we had built them strong and healthy at the beginning, we’d be spending *** lot less money. I’m not gonna wait till they’re broken, and we spend *** ton of money. I’m gonna build them strong and smart from the beginning. And that means giving them access to health care. I think *** lot of people who supported this program see it as *** righteous issue, um, as you have laid out. I think the, the question is though, is that this program became *** lot more expensive than state officials braced. I mean, so if that, I mean in that vein it’ll cost maybe *** lot more, I mean, or is, or is it just ***, *** matter of managing the state’s budget better than it had been? Well, who’s pay if the if that family is not on Medi-Cal. When they do use the health services at the hospital, who’s paying? Not Medi-Cal, so the state may not be paying, but you’re putting that now on the county or you’re putting it on the back of that doctor or that clinic or that hospital that doesn’t get paid. And at some point they’re gonna say I can only do business this way so long before I have to close my doors. I don’t want clinics, doctors and hospitals to close their doors. Go to rural California. They’re already closing hospitals. We can’t afford that and I’m not gonna let it happen because as much as I think it’s morally right, health care should be *** right, not *** privilege economically it is not smart to wait for them to use the most expensive care walking in through an emergency room. It is economically smarter to give people access early so they maintain their health. We, our system in health care unfortunately, and I kept saying this when I was secretary of HHS, our health care system is based on treating illness. Our system of health should be based on promoting wellness. So we avoid the expensive care. That’s why the US, California, we have the most expensive healthcare in the world, bar none, and we still leave people without insurance. I want to switch gears to another big part of the budget, which is education. I mean, almost half of the state’s budget goes toward our public school system, but right now with statewide teacher strikes coupled with these classroom performance issues, students struggling to just do basic science, reading, and math, how would you manage that situation as governor? Well, I see two issues there, and let me start with the first, which I’ll piggyback off of what I just finished saying about healthcare. You can’t wait till *** child is entering kindergarten and now we have transitional kindergarten, uh, when they’re 4 or 5 years of age to expect them to just launch if their life from 0 to 4 or 5. Has not been one that’s equipped them to learn. They’re not gonna, they’re not gonna succeed and we’re setting ourselves up and them for failure and so it should not surprise us that so many of our children by the time they’re in 6th grade, by the time they get to middle school and high school, they’re not at grade level. Mejoor prevenique remedial better to start early, build *** strong child, and so I think we make *** major mistake that costs us less money to provide early care. Education, so not just when they’re 4 or 5. Think of all those parents who are struggling to find good daycare for their kids, and I don’t mean just daycare where it’s just you’re watching that child during the day, someone who can also provide them some basic education when they’re 2 or 3 years old, so that when they get into pre, pre, uh, K, they’re ready to learn *** little bit in pre-K so that then we get into the 1st grade they’re ready to start learning. I would front load *** lot of education so we make. Uh, pre-K and, uh, early care affordable. Most families can’t afford to pay tuition, college tuition for *** 3 year old so they can go and work, and that’s unfortunately what daycare has become. Child care has become essentially paying college tuition for your 2 and 3 year old while you go work. That’s that’s incredibly hard, difficult to absorb. So early upfront education first. Secondly, How is it that we expect *** teacher. To take those children and make them the next doctor, scientist. You name it. Major professional engineer. We want them to become, we want them to be able to teach our child to become that doctor, scientist or engineer. But how much do we pay them? Way less than *** doctor, *** scientist, or engineer. Are you surprised then that there is massive turnover among our teachers’ ranks that after 3 to 5 years. They’re out of there because they’re just not making *** good living and they can go make more money doing something else we need the best and the brightest teachers to make that their career. Let’s compensate them right let’s focus our money we do put most of our money in our state budget into education. So let’s put it where it counts. Getting the best teachers and equipping the best classrooms so those kids who have had some pre-K education are ready to learn. But from your assessment, how is this not happening now? I mean, California is spending more money than ever per student on education and the budget is bigger than ever on education. How, how is it not happening? Because we have to spend *** lot of money in doing remediation because so many of our children are in their grade but not at grade level and so we’re doing *** lot of work to help, help them catch up. That costs *** ton of money. We’re also spending too much money. On things that have nothing to do with the classroom, too much bureaucracy, and I would cut some of that out as well, uh, and then focus the money where it counts. Same thing as with healthcare. I’d rather put my dollar into that doctor instead of that pencil pusher, that money cruncher, that accountant who’s trying to figure out the best way to game the system when it comes to charging or paying for that healthcare service. Give it to the doctor, give it to the nurse, give it to that, uh, uh. Hospital technician who’s helping the doctor and nurse rather than give it to the accountant who’s trying to figure out how to scheme and game the system to get the best reimbursement or to avoid paying more than necessary. This is *** good segue into my next question. I mean, you, you sort of mentioned *** couple of ways with health care and education, but just with this national conversation about government waste, spending, potential fraud and abuse, how would you protect California’s taxpayer dollars? The way I had to do it when I was Attorney General, uh, we had to one. Enforce laws. Sometimes people weren’t happy. We, we, we tell them they have to do certain things. We’d say you should have read the law before you decided to do that business because the law is very pretty clear. All we’re doing is having you follow the law. So if you. Said you were gonna pay someone minimum wage by law you must pay them minimum wage. You can’t steal their money. That’s called wage theft. So we enforced the law and said you hired somebody, you had them work, they provided you labor, now you owe them the money and you can’t say that oh woe is me. I didn’t realize I was underpaying. Follow the law and so we have to enforce the law. We also have to make sure we do constant oversight. Delivery, as I said in my earlier answer to the homelessness question, there’s gotta be accountability. These are taxpayer dollars. They don’t belong to me or anyone else in government. They belong to the taxpayers. I have to show that I’ve spent their money well. I can demand accountability. Oversight, accountability, and enforcement are the ways you drive this. I had to do that when I was AG all the time. I had to do it when I was Secretary of Health and Human Services because when you’re in the midst of ***. Monumental pandemic like COVID was. And I had 50 states screaming at me saying we need more vaccines, we need more Paxlovid and treatment, we need more ventilators. I had to figure out how I was gonna distribute all of those items to save lives to 50 different health authorities, 50 different governors all demanding what they needed, and we, we didn’t have everything that they wanted at every minute of time, so we had to distribute. We needed to know how to do that. The way you do that is by having oversight. The way we’re able to know when to send vaccines to certain hot spots is because we demanded the data. We were able to spot the hot spots and then be able to direct the resources where they were needed most. We have to do *** much better job in government to make sure that we are enforcing accountability, oversight, uh, and, and we’ll get some things done. Speaking of following the law, I mean you were *** victim of *** crime that really, I mean shook Sacramento this past late, late last fall. Um, *** couple of people who are close to you are now facing prison time for it, for stealing nearly *** quarter of *** million dollars in your campaign funds. I just, I, I know you’ve said it was *** gut punch, um, to see that Dana Williamson, who’s *** well-known political consultant, your former chief of staff, had this scheme essentially to funnel money from your campaign account to this longtime chief of staff of yours. I mean, I just wanna confirm on the record here like you were really truly misled there. Yeah, as I said, gut punch, uh, you put your trust in people, but what you also have to remember is as much as you’ve had *** working relationship over years, as much as you’ve done things together and succeeded in so many ways, at the end of the day we’re all accountable. The law is the law and no one is above the law and so when accountability accountability comes knocking your way. You gotta show up and so I, I don’t think anyone will challenge what the law is and we all have to face up to it. Uh, but it was *** good, *** real gut punch. The scheme, I mean, involved taking $10,000 *** month up to from this dormant state campaign account of yours and I just, I mean, looking through your congressional campaigns, I mean dating back to the 90s, like never once did you pay that amount um for this kind of maintenance for legal services for nothing. I mean. Like, did you really not, that wasn’t, that didn’t raise any flags for you that those payments, so we were paying for, uh, management of *** dormant account, making sure that nothing was no laws were violated because I was Secretary of Health and Human Services as *** cabinet member. I had to distance myself from anything that looked political or campaign related. I had ethics, uh, rules that. In place that required me to distance myself and so I depended on people that I trusted to to be able to manage that the right way. We were gonna pay for the management. You always pay for someone to oversee to file the right documents and the rest, uh, and I was willing to pay the price to make sure that I didn’t have to worry about it. Lo and behold, uh, I, while I was willing to pay *** price, and by the way, the attorneys of the campaign account. Signed off on all those payments as well. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t someone who was checking. The attorneys were checking and they were saying, you know, everything seemed kosher. What happened was after the payments. The way the money was used is where the violation occurred. There was no violation in terms of the payment. That’s why I and my campaign were not implicated in the actual activities. I mean, the people involved, I mean *** really well known lobbyist and consultant, I mean two of them, Dana Williamson. And um uh 11 is escaping me right now um but I mean they just these are powerful people in Sacramento I mean uh like just not to speak for you but it sounds like you were swindled or misled as you mentioned I mean do you wish you would have gotten *** second opinion because there are consultants up and down the state who I’ve talked to in the months since who said like that is an outrageous amount of money to pay. So, uh, I, I was getting uh an opinion whether 2nd or not, 1st or second opinion every time because I had campaign attorneys who were watching over the account as well who I also paid and so never once did they flag that there was anything going on with the payment. The payment was uh substantial, but it wasn’t by itself something that was illegal and so when we made the payments, my attorney said. They never objected to the payments. The, the name just came to me, Greg Campbell, and *** lot of his clients are major ones, or at least they were. Dana Williamson was chief of staff to Governor Newsom and Jerry Brown. Um, I, I, I ask you to just ask just broadly for taxpayers who are watching this. How can they be sure that you won’t be swindled or misled by powerful forces as governor when it comes to the use of taxpayer money? I just look at my record when it came time to COVID. Uh, take *** look at how we were able to get those vaccines, some 700 million vaccines by the time we had finished our, uh, 4 years in, in tenure. Uh, some 700 million vaccines went into the arms of Americans. But perhaps the most, uh, uh, important fact there is that. Never once do we have to ask Americans to pay one penny to get that life saving treatment because we knew that people who were uninsured or were low income would probably pass and say I’ll take my chances. I’ll try to be safe, which of course meant if they were not safe, none of us were safe and so the work that we did there, I I I would tell people, take *** look at my record as Attorney general. If you wanna see how I’ll do my work, if I can be accountable, take *** look at the work I did to protect our state at *** time when Donald Trump was president the first time and was coming at our, our state trying to assault us in, in so many different ways, very similar to what he’s doing now. We stood up, we protected our state, whether it was healthcare, where I took the Affordable Care Act all the way up to the Supreme Court against Donald Trump and beat him, whether it was the DACA program for Dreamers where he tried to eliminate it in the wrong way. We took him to the Supreme Court, we beat him. Whether it was protecting our clean car standards, whether it was protecting the right to choose and have reproductive health care services, over and over we proved what we could do if people wanna see what I do, how I do it, and whether I can be accountable, I’d say take *** look at that record. OK, I wanna switch gears to probably what really everyone wants to know, which is how *** governor Becerra would lower costs for Californians. Housing Get to building. You’re talking to *** former construction worker. Uh, my dad was, uh, for decades *** construction worker. I knew how to, uh, wield *** hammer before I knew how to throw *** baseball and so we’re gonna build. We’re going to do it right That means, and everyone I think every one of the candidates will talk about how we’re gonna trim back on some of the regulations that make it tough to move forward. We’re gonna try to make sure we’re working with local governments we, we try to eliminate some of the fees that make it very difficult to make, uh, ***, *** project pencil out. We’re gonna try to make sure that we look at the projects that are almost ready to go. There are thousands of units of housing that are essentially shovel ready except something is missing. About 40,000 units of affordable housing are essentially shovel ready, most, in most cases they’re just missing that last tranche of funding. Let’s kick that into gear and let’s get to building because it’s not just *** matter of building like the state is providing that tranche of funding or who’s providing it? Well, the state does have some resources that I would uh pull on to try to help, but we’re gonna need some other resources as well. It shouldn’t be just on the state. Local governments need to have that housing as well, and we could look at the industry and and find out if they have ways that they can help us do this as well. So what we can do is kick those into gear because they’re, they’ve. Checked all the boxes. They’ve got most of their financing. There’s just one thing missing to kick those into gear. Let’s get the shovel in the ground and start building those units that we need. I would make sure that within my 1st 1000 days I have moved to freeze property insurance rates which have gone sky high and utility rates which continue to increase, so these private investor utility companies. are making *** profit, an automatic profit, guaranteed profit. Well, we’re paying higher and higher bills, and we’re, we don’t understand why we have to continue to pay so much. So whether it’s on property insurance or utilities, I would, I would declare *** state of emergency. On housing, be able to then freeze those rates on property insurance, do the same on utilities, give myself about 3 or 4 months working with the legislature, local government, and the industries to figure out what’s going on. Let’s pull the curtain open and find out what’s behind those property insurance increases. Let’s find out what’s behind the curtain of those utility rate increases. If they can explain themselves. I think most Californians say that’s OK. I got it. They might say that we have regulations piled onto us every single year and in the same vein, I mean, would should California, um, rethink its climate goals or change them at all? So first if they’re gonna say that I say, OK, show me. And show the, show the public what those regulations are and if it’s true, and then we’ll hear from the public as well and maybe that those are some of the rates we have to trim, but show me, show me. I, I don’t know about you, Ashley, but last year. My property insurance rates more than doubled. I don’t live in fire hazard area. I’m in Sacramento area, uh, I’m not in brush country. Just doubled, more than doubled overnight. My mom, who had, I won’t name the company, had been for more than 3 decades paying property insurance. I don’t know if she’d ever filed *** claim. She got dropped. Never an explanation When she finally was able to get new insurance, more than double. I think we just want an explanation. Pull the curtain back, show me. If there’s something going on that it’s our fault, OK, then we’ll deal with that. But show me on the climate goals though, do they need to be changed? Uh, we have to have goals that are achievable. I had to do that with COVID. I had to constantly tell people we have to, we have to complete this. If we’re gonna save lives, we have to deliver results and so, uh, uh, anything having to do with climate change, uh, cleaner energy, uh, uh, when we have goals they have to be achievable. Is carbon neutral by 2045 achievable? It’s looking harder and harder to get there. We should strive to get there, but it’s looking harder and harder. And what’s, what’s the measure? How do you measure that? Could my parents meet that goal? My parents were working class family. Could my parents meet that goal? If my parents couldn’t meet that goal and they were working everyday hard and hard to just make *** living and scratch out the best for their kids, if they could meet them, then it’s not *** good goal. But if they could, let’s, let’s keep striving. Let’s keep pushing. *** sooner goal is, uh, no more sale of new gas powered vehicles in 2035. Is that achievable? So my dad, all the, all the years I knew him, drove *** pickup. Uh, and not *** new one Would my dad have been able to switch out his pickup for uh an electric vehicle? I’d say chances are no, not right now. But if he could Then we should. So goals that are achievable, not goals that are pie in the sky. I think when these goals were first initiated, there was this belief that we could get there. Things have become very difficult, uh, and we should not be shackled by goals because our families can’t be driven day to day by things that are not achievable because they have to achieve. They have to make sure their kids can go to school. They have to make sure they’ve paid that mortgage or that rent. There’s nothing, no striving in paying your rent. You need to pay your rent. You’ve got to have hard and fast, measurable results. As *** family, But as *** state government as well. You mentioned Donald Trump *** lot. I know you stand on your record as the former AG that sued him dozens of times, but for those who do support him and other Californians who aren’t Democrats, how will you represent them? How will you let them know that you’re also *** governor for them? Because I want their families to succeed, uh, that we don’t agree on Donald Trump. That’s the beauty of America and free speech and the First Amendment, uh, but I want them to succeed. If they’re working hard, then I wanna fight for them. If they’re trying to get their kids to college or the military or an apprenticeship program, I wanna see it happen. If they wanna buy *** house, I’m gonna try to help them if they’re tired of paying high utility costs. I’m gonna try to find out behind that curtain what’s going on, uh. You know, it’s governing, you realize real quickly is not red or blue. Governing is about me and you and getting it done and if you don’t get it done you could be red or blue, but you won’t be in office very long and so it’s just *** matter of getting it done uh I’m not looking to to be the, uh, have my portrait uh uh uh above every mantle in every home in California. I want everyone to have *** mantle and *** home. OK, so 2 last quick questions. Speaking of getting it done. What grade would you give Governor Gavin Newsom for his last two terms as governor? Oh. So you’re talking to someone who’s had *** balance *** budget bigger than the budget that Governor Newsom had to balance. You’re talking to someone who had to deal with *** crisis bigger than perhaps any crisis that the governor of California had to deal with when we had to save lives across the country with COVID. You’re talking to someone who took on. Uh, *** rogue menacing federal government the way Governor Newsom has had to do that. I did that when I was AG. You are gonna grade him. Are you gonna grade him? I am gonna grade him, but I’m trying to put it in context, so it is important to recognize when you grade someone, understand the shoes they’re filling. It’s not easy to be *** governor of the biggest state, the 4th largest economy. So what I would tell you is this, um. We became the 4th largest economy under Gavin Newsom. Check, um, we have expanded healthcare to more Californians. Check. Uh, there are many things that he has done well. The other things, public safety, I think he could have been more ambitious. Homelessness could have been more ambitious, more have people be more accountable. If I were grading, I’d say Gavin Newsom is gonna go on to college because he’s gonna graduate from my high school. Uh, what grade, what’s the threshold for that? What’s the threshold that he’s left us in *** place where. Well, I mean, you could go to college with *** C. It’s *** lot more difficult, uh, but I think he has done many of the things that we have asked him to do, uh, and in some areas, well, when I become governor, I’ll make sure, but what’s the grade? I don’t know if I can give him *** grade. Um, I thought you were gonna grade him. Well, I was gonna try, but what I’m telling you, I wasn’t in his shoes. I, I do, I, you know, I know *** lot of folks who gave me *** grade on COVID and say, oh, that guy was terrible. But they’re still alive. They get to go out and not have to wear *** mask. I mean, You can grade anybody the way you want. It’s, it’s whether you left the place better than you saw it and you started. I would absolutely say he has, he’s tried and knowing how tough it is to manage an enterprise the size of the state of California as as the Department of Health and Human Services, the largest public health agency in the world with *** budget, as I said, bigger than the state of California, I know what it’s like and it’s easy to grade. It’s tough to accomplish, uh, so not *** through F. You won’t give me an *** through F. No, I mean, I’m not, that’s not for me to say, OK, um, so the last question, what, what are three words that you would use to describe California under Governor Becerra? Mm. Bold Focused Decisive. Javier ever ceto thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Ashley.
Xavier Becerra explains why he should be California’s next governor | California Politics 360
The former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden is running as a Democrat in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out at the end of 2026.
Updated: 8:25 AM PDT Apr 26, 2026
Xavier Becerra sat down for an interview with California Politics 360 for a wide-ranging conversation on his run to be the state’s next governor. The former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden is running as a Democrat in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out at the end of 2026.When asked how he’d handle the state’s finances, he pointed to his time as health secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic. “You need someone who has gone through these tough times and knows what it’s like to have to balance a big budget, someone who knows what it’s like to deal with emergencies, crises and knows how to get out of them,” he said. Becerra said he is prepared to cut spending and raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy if elected governor. “You’ve got to do a little bit of both. I had to do that when I was at HHS in the midst of the worst pandemic any of us had ever seen. I had to save lives, manage a budget and do that without making cuts to the most essential programs,” he said. He added, “In the case of California, we’ll need new revenue and there are people who aren’t paying their fair share who need to pay a little more.” Becerra said he would continue providing health care to lower-income, undocumented immigrants and expand the program to allow new immigrant adults to sign on. “The most expensive door to walk through is the ER, why should we wait? Because you didn’t have insurance, now you have no choice but to save your child. I’m saying no, no, you’re going to have access now early, up front because it costs so much less,” he said. Addressing concerns about the program’s cost, Becerra explained, “Well who’s paying? If that family is not Medi-Cal, when they do use health services at the hospital, who’s paying? So, the state may not be paying. But you’re putting that now on the county, or you’re putting it on the back of that doctor or that clinic or that hospital that doesn’t get paid.” On education, Becerra said he would push for affordable early education in daycares for 2- and 3-year-olds and change teacher compensation to pay the best and most experienced teachers more. To address housing and affordability, Becerra said he would declare a state of emergency on housing and freeze property insurance and utility rates within his first 100 days as governor. He also said he would rethink the state’s environmental goals to reduce the use of oil and gas. When asked about California’s goal to end the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, Becerra said, “My dad in all my years drove a pickup and not a new one, would my dad have been able to switch out his vehicle for an EV? Chances are no. But if he could, then we should. Goals that are achievable, not goals that are pie in the sky.” Becerra also emphasized the importance of accountability in government spending. “There’s got to be accountability, these are taxpayer dollars. They don’t belong to me or anyone else in government, I have to show that I’ve spent their money well. Oversight, accountability and enforcement are the ways you drive this,” he said. However, Becerra’s own campaign funds have been at the center of a federal investigation. Three California-based political operatives allegedly organized an illegal scheme, stealing nearly $250,000 from one of his inactive campaign accounts. His former chief of staff, Sean McCluskie, pleaded guilty to funneling up to $10,000 a month from Becerra’s account. Dana Williamson, Becerra’s former campaign manager and adviser, is facing possible prison time. Another political consultant and lobbyist, Greg Campbell, has also pleaded guilty for his role in helping. Court documents show McCluskie had to take a pay cut to continue working for Becerra in Washington, D.C. When asked if he was truly misled, Becerra said, “Yeah, as I said it was a gut punch. You put your trust in people but you have to remember, at the end of the day we’re accountable, the law is the law.” Regarding the payments, Becerra explained, “We were paying for management of a dormant account because I had to distance myself from looking political or campaign related. I had ethics rules that were in place, so I depended on people I trusted to be able to manage that the right way.” Asked how taxpayers can trust him with their money, Becerra pointed to his record. “Just look at my record. Take a look at COVID. Some 700 million vaccines went into the arms. Never once did we have to ask Americans to pay one penny because we knew people who were uninsured. So the work we did there, I would tell people, take a look at my record as attorney general, when Donald Trump was coming at our state and assault us in so many different ways,” he said. Throughout the interview, Becerra highlighted his time as California’s attorney general, where he filed more than 120 lawsuits against former President Donald Trump. When asked how he would represent those who don’t support him, Becerra said, “Because I want their families to succeed. We don’t agree on Donald Trump? That’s the beauty of America, free speech and the First Amendment. But I want them to succeed.” He added, “Governing is not red or blue, governing is about me and you and getting it done.” When asked to grade Gov. Gavin Newsom’s performance, Becerra said, “There are many things I think he could’ve done well. Public safety I think he could’ve been more ambitious, homelessness could have been more ambitious. If I were grading, I’d say he’s going to go onto college because he’s graduating my high school.” Pressed further, Becerra said, “I think he’s done many of the things we’ve asked him to do. I don’t know if I can give him a grade.” Asked to describe California under his leadership in three words, Becerra said, “Bold, focused, decisive.”See more interviews with California governor candidates here.KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Xavier Becerra sat down for an interview with California Politics 360 for a wide-ranging conversation on his run to be the state’s next governor.
The former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary under President Joe Biden is running as a Democrat in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out at the end of 2026.
When asked how he’d handle the state’s finances, he pointed to his time as health secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You need someone who has gone through these tough times and knows what it’s like to have to balance a big budget, someone who knows what it’s like to deal with emergencies, crises and knows how to get out of them,” he said.
Becerra said he is prepared to cut spending and raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy if elected governor.
“You’ve got to do a little bit of both. I had to do that when I was at HHS in the midst of the worst pandemic any of us had ever seen. I had to save lives, manage a budget and do that without making cuts to the most essential programs,” he said. He added, “In the case of California, we’ll need new revenue and there are people who aren’t paying their fair share who need to pay a little more.”
Becerra said he would continue providing health care to lower-income, undocumented immigrants and expand the program to allow new immigrant adults to sign on.
“The most expensive door to walk through is the ER, why should we wait? Because you didn’t have insurance, now you have no choice but to save your child. I’m saying no, no, you’re going to have access now early, up front because it costs so much less,” he said.
Addressing concerns about the program’s cost, Becerra explained, “Well who’s paying? If that family is not Medi-Cal, when they do use health services at the hospital, who’s paying? So, the state may not be paying. But you’re putting that now on the county, or you’re putting it on the back of that doctor or that clinic or that hospital that doesn’t get paid.”
On education, Becerra said he would push for affordable early education in daycares for 2- and 3-year-olds and change teacher compensation to pay the best and most experienced teachers more.
To address housing and affordability, Becerra said he would declare a state of emergency on housing and freeze property insurance and utility rates within his first 100 days as governor. He also said he would rethink the state’s environmental goals to reduce the use of oil and gas.
When asked about California’s goal to end the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, Becerra said, “My dad in all my years drove a pickup and not a new one, would my dad have been able to switch out his vehicle for an EV? Chances are no. But if he could, then we should. Goals that are achievable, not goals that are pie in the sky.”
Becerra also emphasized the importance of accountability in government spending. “There’s got to be accountability, these are taxpayer dollars. They don’t belong to me or anyone else in government, I have to show that I’ve spent their money well. Oversight, accountability and enforcement are the ways you drive this,” he said.
However, Becerra’s own campaign funds have been at the center of a federal investigation. Three California-based political operatives allegedly organized an illegal scheme, stealing nearly $250,000 from one of his inactive campaign accounts.
His former chief of staff, Sean McCluskie, pleaded guilty to funneling up to $10,000 a month from Becerra’s account. Dana Williamson, Becerra’s former campaign manager and adviser, is facing possible prison time. Another political consultant and lobbyist, Greg Campbell, has also pleaded guilty for his role in helping.
Court documents show McCluskie had to take a pay cut to continue working for Becerra in Washington, D.C.
When asked if he was truly misled, Becerra said, “Yeah, as I said it was a gut punch. You put your trust in people but you have to remember, at the end of the day we’re accountable, the law is the law.”
Regarding the payments, Becerra explained, “We were paying for management of a dormant account because I had to distance myself from looking political or campaign related. I had ethics rules that were in place, so I depended on people I trusted to be able to manage that the right way.”
Asked how taxpayers can trust him with their money, Becerra pointed to his record. “Just look at my record. Take a look at COVID. Some 700 million vaccines went into the arms. Never once did we have to ask Americans to pay one penny because we knew people who were uninsured. So the work we did there, I would tell people, take a look at my record as attorney general, when Donald Trump was coming at our state and assault us in so many different ways,” he said.
Throughout the interview, Becerra highlighted his time as California’s attorney general, where he filed more than 120 lawsuits against former President Donald Trump.
When asked how he would represent those who don’t support him, Becerra said, “Because I want their families to succeed. We don’t agree on Donald Trump? That’s the beauty of America, free speech and the First Amendment. But I want them to succeed.”
He added, “Governing is not red or blue, governing is about me and you and getting it done.”
When asked to grade Gov. Gavin Newsom’s performance, Becerra said, “There are many things I think he could’ve done well. Public safety I think he could’ve been more ambitious, homelessness could have been more ambitious. If I were grading, I’d say he’s going to go onto college because he’s graduating my high school.”
Pressed further, Becerra said, “I think he’s done many of the things we’ve asked him to do. I don’t know if I can give him a grade.”
Asked to describe California under his leadership in three words, Becerra said, “Bold, focused, decisive.”
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.