Speaker Rivas' Full Remarks at Organizational Session

For immediate release:

Monday, December 2, 2024

Renew the California Dream

Colleagues - Thank you for your trust and faith in me.

Last year - it was my deep honor to undertake the responsibilities of Speaker of the California Assembly.

Now - as then - I am filled with great pride.

I'm proud to lead an Assembly that is the most diverse Legislative body in America.

We're diverse in our ideas, in our priorities, and in our lived experiences.

I'm proud that this Legislative class boasts the greatest number of women legislators in our history as a State.

And I'm proud to see so many familiar faces here today.

To all our incumbents, welcome back. It's an honor to work with you all again.

And joining us this session, there are twenty-three new Assemblymembers. Please join me in giving them a very, very warm welcome.

I also want to acknowledge our wonderful families, children, and loved ones here today.

Thank you, every one of you, including to my own family, my wife, mom, and kids.

Every Assemblymember owes a great debt to our families for their care, their patience, and their unwavering support.

Again, thank you - we couldn't do this job without you.

Colleagues - our constituents told us two very important things in November.

First - They continue to believe deeply in California's values of tolerance, of equality, and of human rights by enshrining abortion rights in our last election and same-sex marriage in this one.

But, second - our constituents don't feel that the state of California is working for them.

That's their lived experience in this moment.

Californians are deeply anxious about our state's cost of living. They're anxious about the challenges of doing business here.

And they're anxious because they feel it.

They feel it at the grocery store and when they pay their bills.

They feel it - every time - they fill up their gas tanks for long commutes between work and home.

And they absolutely feel it when trying to imagine owning a home here in the state that they love.

Our task this session is urgent, and it's clear:

We must chart a new path forward and renew the California Dream by focusing on affordability.

Let's not forget California is unlike anywhere else.

We are - and always will be - America's destination for dreams and opportunities. It's in California where we embody the spirit of possibility, of resiliency and of innovation.

That's why 1 in 8 Americans calls California home.

That's why we have one of the world's largest and strongest economies.

That's why the greatest talents and the biggest thinkers make their homes - and build their businesses - here.

And that's why my family is writing our story here, too.

Most of you know that I grew up in farmworker housing raised by a single mom and my grandparents who worked in the fields and in a cannery to make ends meet.

The anxiety that many Californians are feeling right now asking themselves:

Can I pay my rent next month?
Do I have to cut back on groceries?

Can I afford to pay my electric bill?

I know that anxious feeling - because I can remember it in the pit of my stomach from my own childhood in Paicines.

And there are others in this room who I know remember that feeling as well.

California will always be a place of opportunity.

But that opportunity must shine equally for everyone in every corner of this great state.
And for Californians like Jonathan Lam who runs Pegasus Bakery in South Sacramento with his wife, Cynthia, that opportunity can feel out of reach.

They work tirelessly to keep prices affordable for their customers even as the cost of doing business and essential ingredients continues to rise.

Small business owners like Jonathan and Cynthia need our support.

And then there are Californians like Salvador and Ofelia Sanchez, farmworkers from the Central Coast who spent decades in the fields before becoming school janitors.

Now in their 70s, they find themselves unable to afford the cost of housing.

To make ends meet, Salvador has returned to work at a local Jack in the Box.

Jonathan and Cynthia. Salvador and Ofelia.

They represent millions of Californians in every one of our communities - people who work hard, who give back, and who dream of a better future in this state.

And that's why I am calling on us to consider every bill this session through their lens.

Does it lower day-to-day costs for families?

Does it build more housing quickly?

Does it improve public services in ways people can see and feel?

Does it help small businesses start and thrive?

Everyone in this room has good and important ideas. You are passionate and committed, and I have the greatest respect for you.

But our time and energy here are limited.

So, this session we are lowering the number of bills legislators can introduce from 50 to 35.

Because we want every leader in this room to have the greatest possible bandwidth to focus on laws that uplift affordability and prosperity.

Now, make no mistake - this will not prevent us from standing up for California's values.

If LGBTQ people come under attack, if hard-working immigrants are targeted, if women's reproductive freedom is threatened, we will fight back with everything we have.

The country looks to California for leadership, and we will continue to lead.

But our ability to protect these essential California values of equality, diversity, and opportunity depends on delivering for constituents in practical concrete ways.

Practical solutions like building more housing for lower- and middle-class families.

Affordable decent housing isn't just a policy challenge - It's the civil rights struggle of our time.

Every worker has the right to live near their jobs in the communities they help build, serve, and enrich.

And we have a responsibility to make that a reality.

So, to every school teacher, landscaper, firefighter, and housekeeper, I say this:

Whether you work in Pebble Beach or Davis, in Oceanside or San Jose, you should be able to live where you work so that you can spend more time with your families, not on the road commuting.

And I will do everything - EVERYTHING - in my power to make that possible.

We must do more to lower energy costs.

High energy prices hit low-income Californians the hardest.

Look - California has always led the way on climate. And we will continue to lead on climate.

But not on the backs of poor and working people, not with taxes or fees for programs that don't work, and not by blocking housing and critical infrastructure projects.

It's why we must be outcome driven. We can't blindly defend the institutions contributing to these issues.

This session, I want our Assembly Utilities & Energy and Budget Committees to double down on investigating energy costs.

And for our Housing and Budget Committees to investigate and review every state agency that has oversight of our housing supply.

Let's understand what's working - and what's obstructing - real progress here in California.

And finally, we must also ensure that existing state programs are working full speed ahead.

As I've said before, our job is not just making new laws. It's looking in the rearview mirror.

For example, for CalWORKS, roughly 60% of the families eligible for this important assistance program are enrolled.

And then, there's CalFRESH; about 70% of eligible families are enrolled.

That means millions of eligible families and children are missing out on critical financial support and nutritious food.

These programs are already built - We've done this good work - Now let's make sure they're delivering for Californians.

To my Republican colleagues, I am always open to every good idea that will improve life for Californians. Let's work together.

To my Democratic colleagues, this election was a clarifying moment.

But I don't feel discouraged - and I hope you don't either.

Clarity gives us a unique opportunity to do more.

And I want to stress something important: affordability solutions are social justice solutions.

And to this point, I think of my own story.

I grew up with eight family members living in a two-room house right next to rows of vineyards.

My grandfather often worked eighteen-hour days. Hard work that broke his body down.

My mother and grandmother did everything they could to save a little money.

They did everything they could to make sure that I made it to school on time each day and that I made it to the doctor when I was sick.

They made sure that I made it to college and that I made it here to the California State Capitol.

All of these adults just wanted me to have a better life.

They worked, they saved, they worried, and they did it for my future.

We are all here because the people who came before us opened a door.

Now we are the adults in the room. Now, that is our job.

It's our job to open the door for millions of people who fear it may be closing.

This task is an urgent one because Californians have told us so.

This task is urgent because the new Administration in Washington will claim that you can only lift people up by tearing others down.

We know that there's a better way. It's called the California Dream.

Over the next two years, we must do everything in our power - collectively - to renew it.

Millions of Californians have put their faith in us.

Let's get it done.

Let's get to work.