Steyer Kicked Off His “Shared Prosperity” Town Hall Tour Listening to Californians
OAKLAND — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer kicked off his statewide “Shared Prosperity” town hall tour in Oakland last night, drawing a strong crowd as President Donald Trump continued his assault on the working class, immigrants, and democracy during his State of the Union address. Steyer met with Californians and listened as they shared how state government can deliver real results — lowering costs, expanding affordability, and working better for the people it serves.
On his pledge to build 1 million homes in four years to address the housing crisis:
“We are on a different timetable,” Steyer said. “Time is money. And we need a government who's going to understand that building houses is about getting things done on time, cheaper, and delivering them to people.”
On whether we need a billionaire running the state:
"We don't," Steyer said. "But do we need someone who will get results for us and who will be truly progressive, will not have any conflicts, and has a vision of actually getting it done for working people consistently? We do need that."
On AI and Big Tech:
“The idea that data centers run by the richest corporations in the world are going to be allowed to raise the electricity rates for working Californians? No way. That's ridiculous. We need to protect working people and young people,” Steyer said. “The big tech companies are trying to control democracy. They're trying to control the information that we get and to edit it for the reasons that they want.”
On lowering costs and addressing climate change through “cheaper, faster, better” technologies:
“The world is deteriorating fast, but the actual tech is incredible,” said Steyer. “Trump is trying to put us in a gated community where we don't allow anything that he doesn't want. But the technology is there. A lot of it comes out of California, and we are building great companies and great jobs around those technologies…. The tech is here… We've just got to take on the money interests.”
Steyer answered questions on a range of issues, including housing and abolishing ICE, and reiterated his campaign pledge to tackle the number one problem facing residents: they can’t afford to live in California. This event marked the beginning of a series of town halls aimed at engaging Californians in all parts of the state.
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