Steyer Kicks Off Closing Argument in Burbank

At a union hall last night, Steyer drew a sharp contrast: he’s fighting for working people, while Xavier Becerra fights for the billionaires and corporate interests backing him.

BURBANK — Last night, Tom Steyer brought his statewide “A California You Can Afford” bus tour to IATSE Local 80 in Burbank last night, where more than 600 Californians packed the hall — and the overflow room — to hear directly from Tom about his plans to take on special interests and lower costs for working Californians.

IATSE Vice President Mike Miller kicked off the program, making clear why workers across the state are all in for Steyer. 

“The affordability crisis is hurting,” Miller said. “People are trying to find ways to put gas in their cars, to go to work, find a way to pay for housing, pay the rent… Entertainment jobs are leaving the state, costs are rising… That's why the IATSE is proud to endorse Tom Steyer. He understands what it takes to keep production jobs in California, and he's willing to fight for policies that strengthen union work in California.”

Read excerpts from Steyer’s remarks below:

Tom with moderators Malakhi Simmons, Vice President of Studio Lighting Technicians, IATSE Local 728 and Allison Smart, Organizer for the Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839

On corporate special interests — including utility monopolies, Big Tech, and Big Oil — spending millions to defeat him and prop up Xavier Becerra:

“I'm the only candidate in this race who has no conflicts about supporting the people of California, and I believe I'm the only person in this race who has said publicly that he will take on the corporate special interests that are driving up our costs, and you don't have to take my word for that. Those corporations are spending tens of millions of dollars against me and not one penny against any other candidate, and they honestly are supporting Xavier Becerra."

On why billionaires skirting their taxes pisses him off:

“Billionaires are spending a lot of money to stop me, and they're supporting every other candidate because [the billionaires] don't want to pay taxes. That's all this is about. And let me say, they are terrified about that, and they are terrified about not being able to hang on to every single penny and control this. 

“Okay, why am I pissed about that? Besides the obvious injustice of it, it's more than that to me. Working people built this system. Working people make this system work. They are not going to come here and rip us off. They can come here and start companies. I'm fine with that. They can't come here and rip off the working people who built this system and made their success possible. We're the richest state with the highest poverty rate.”

On being the only candidate with a revenue plan and how that is central to building more affordable housing:

“I'm going to do it fast… Permitting, we got to make it shorter, simpler, and less expensive. Zoning, we got to make it dense around public transportation. …We're going to work that balance sheet. We are going to make sure we have very low cost loans, and we have down payment assistance… Young people have got to be able to buy houses in this state again, and… I'm going to get the ball rolling on split roll… so we can build a million houses, that's a down payment on what we need to do… that's not the goal… We're going to have to drive down the cost of housing in multiple ways, so the people of this state are not living in their cars.”

On protecting California’s workforce and kids from AI:

“AI has to be a tool for workers, not a replacement of workers. We cannot, and I will not, allow AI to produce 12 trillionaires and put millions of Californians out of work. That is not going to happen on my watch, and so what does that look like? …We have to test AI before it's put out. Yes, we have to protect kids from AI. We're going to have to protect workers. 

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