As Founder and Publisher of the Latino Times, I believe that we as individuals have a responsibility to our community where we live and work. Our community thrives as we thrive because we care about it and each other. I am committed to making our community the best place in which to live, work and raise a family and this is why I am reaching out to you today, endorsing Proposition 30.
Having grown up here in Stockton, I am proud to say that Latino Times is now in its 22nd year. I am grateful for the support of our community and I know that our success would not have been possible without our dedicated readership. As an organization, we have always prided ourselves in leadership and dedication to the community to make a difference.
I have been fortunate to have been involved in many different organizations over the last 22 years, including past President for the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and past President of the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to becoming a founding member of the Cesar Chavez Library here in Stockton. Having worked in the community to champion many causes for Latinos, I understand the issues that relate to the Latino community.
As a leader in the Latino Community, I am committed to focusing on the most critical needs in our community. I believe that a “Yes” vote for Proposition 30 would make a positive impact by improving lives and strengthening our community. You can make a difference by standing with me and voting “Yes” for Proposition 30.
Proposition 30, the so-called Clean Cars and Clean Air Act, which aims for those residents who earn more than $2 million a year to pay a tax increase of 1.75%, and the funds thus obtained to finance programs to combat the effects of climate change on our population.
What Proposition 30 will do is increase the ability to put electric vehicles on our roads by funding help for their buyers. The money raised, according to the text, “will be used to fund rebates, loans, grants and other financial incentives and for public education necessary to ensure that California residents are informed and educated on how to use those programs.”
It will also pay for further expansion of existing and projected state government road infrastructure (especially charging stations) that will keep those electric cars moving. And it will also finance the fight against wildfires, one of the most tragic and destructive consequences of global warming in California.
That way, California is more likely to meet Governor Newsom’s ambitious goal of no new gasoline vehicle sales in the state by 2035.
And these measures will contribute to the fight against environmental pollution, which especially harms our Latino and African American communities, whose homes are concentrated along the county highways, high-pollution corridors that cause serious respiratory diseases.
If approved by voters, Proposition 30 will raise an estimated $100 billion over the next two decades. Of these, 45 percent will go to subsidies to buy electric vehicles (EV) and zero emission vehicles (ZEV); 35 percent to expand the network of electric charging stations, and 20 percent to fight and prevent forest fires.
For activists from Latino community organizations who support Proposition 30, it is especially important that the funds thus raised help develop a network of chargers in their communities, which today is almost non-existent. Precisely, the language specifies that allocations will be “prioritized for projects in low-income communities, near multi-family housing properties that cannot be served by on-site charging infrastructure.”
This will help the general popularization of electric cars and will facilitate the abandonment of vehicles that use gasoline. To make sure of that, Proposition 30 commits to dedicating at least half of transportation revenues to benefit low-income communities.
Finally, regarding the administration of the funds, the legal language stipulates that the California Energy Commission will administer the construction of the charger network; the California Air Resources Board, incentives on the purchase of new cars; and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, fighting fires. All three are state government institutions.
For all this, we recommend that on November 8, you vote Yes on Proposition 30!
Our community is what we make it or fail to make it. The choice is ours.
Thank you for standing with me as we send our message with a “Yes” Vote on Proposition 30!
Gracias,
Andrew Ysiano, Publisher and CEO Latino Times.
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