Steyer Calls Out Mahan, Swalwell for Having No Plans to Raise Revenue Amid SFUSD Strike

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, amid the first teachers’ strike in San Francisco in nearly 50 years, California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer called out Matt Mahan and Eric Swalwell for having no plan to provide the stable revenue needed to address the demands of educators — fair pay, stable working conditions, fully funded health care, strong special education support, living wages, and housing security. Steyer is the only leading candidate for governor with concrete plans to raise the revenue California needs to fund public education and pay teachers what they deserve. 

“Matt Mahan is saying that we don’t need to raise taxes on anybody — least of all the rich — indulging the Republican fantasy that we can generate all the revenue California needs simply by cutting out ‘fraud and waste.’ I’m sure that’s exactly what the tech CEOs paying for his campaign ads want to hear, but it’s not a real plan. 

“Eric Swalwell, meanwhile, has so far run a campaign that’s all style and no substance, absent when it comes to details on how he’s going to deliver revenue. He owes our teachers more than that. I think we all enjoy watching him on TV, but being entertaining isn’t going to fund our schools.”  

Steyer, who joined striking educators yesterday in San Francisco, has a long history of standing with working people, recently winning the endorsements of California Nurses Association and California School Employees Association. He has called for the rich to pay their fair share and for closing tax loopholes for large corporations to deliver $15 to $20 billion annually for critical programs like education.