Contributed

For millions of renters who remain unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the recently finalized fiscal stimulus package is desperately needed relief. The additional payments will bring their typical rent burdens from more than 80% of their income to less than half, a new Zillow® analysis shows.

Over the next few weeks, millions of people worldwide will be getting their first shots of a vaccine to protect them against COVID-19, including many people in your audience.

A new era, a new beginning is coming on January 20th, 2021. It would seem that a poem by Catherine Pulsifer was written within the past few days but it was written long before our Capitol building was attacked by seditious right-wing thugs whose intention was to overthrow the will of the people and their votes.

Governor Gavin Newsom submitted his 2021-22 State Budget proposal to the Legislature – a $227.2 billion fiscal blueprint that provides funding for immediate COVID-19 response and relief efforts where Californians need it most while making investments for an equitable, inclusive and broad-based economic recovery.

Like all of you, I have reflected on the past year and how the invisible enemy, Covid-19, swept across our beautiful country. All Nations have experienced the loss of loved ones, economic pain, and the negative impacts of isolation.