Another minimum wage hike?
‘By the Risin’ of the Sea’
Over 1 million signatures gathered in bid to raise minimum wage to $18 per hour - A2
Local TV writer and producer turns to seas shanties to address environmental issues - B1
Our 166th Year
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S AT U R DA Y, M A Y 14 , 2 0 2 2
GOP and young people Former Wisconsin governor says Republicans should do more outreach during Santa Barbara speech
Newsom proposes $300.7B budget in May revision By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
It’s that time of year: Gov. Gavin Newsom presented his revised budget proposal Friday, presenting a proposal totaling $300.7 million. The proposal includes about $37.1 billion in reserves, encompassing $23.3 billion for a rainy day fund, $9.5 billion for a school stabilization reserve and $900 million for a safety net reserve. Gov. Newsom’s budget is underscored by a $97.5 billion projected operating surplus. The revision includes funding for public safety, education, housing, gas tax relief and initiatives to combat homelessness. “Backed by a robust surplus and grounded in our unshakable values, we’re paving the California Way forward to prosperity and progress for all,” Gov. Newsom, who is up for reelection this year, said. “With historic investments, we’re doubling down on our formula for success and making sure no one is left behind — supporting working families and businesses, tackling climate change, expanding health care access, making our communities safer and more.” Included in Gov. Newsom’s budget proposal is an $18.1 billion package for “inflation relief.” That package includes $11.5 billion
Gov. Gavin Newsom
COURTESY PHOTO
in tax refunds, $2.7 billion for emergency rental assistance and $1.4 billion for utility bill aid. It also includes funding for three months of free public transit and checks for hospital and nursing home staff. Gov. Newsom included $660 million in public safety initiatives with nearly half of that earmarked for efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. Other funds were proposed to help tribes locate and identify missing and murdered indigenous people and protect child victims of sex trafficking. “Safety has to be broadly defined right now,” Gov. Newsom Please see BUDGET on A3
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Scott Walker, the Young America’s Foundation president and a former Wisconsin governor, addresses an audience Friday at the The Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara.
By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was in Santa Barbara Friday to give a speech about “winning the long game” — or
reaching younger people with conservative messages. Mr. Walker, now the president of Young America’s Foundation, addressed a roomful of supporters Friday at the nonprofit’s Reagan Ranch Center
in Santa Barbara, decrying what he perceived as the state of education across the country. The former Republican governor recalled an anecdote of elementary schools learning about communism and an Iowa
school district partnering with Black Lives Matter on a project. “Winning the long game requires more, younger and better. We’ve got to get to more Please see WALKER on A6
Michigan baby formula plant closure squeezes supply By SCOTT MCCLALLEN THE CENTER SQUARE
“Winning the long game requires more, younger and better. We’ve got to get to more students,” Scott Walker told the audience.
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(The Center Square) – Michigan moms and babies relying on a steady supply of baby formula are joining families nationwide stymied by supply chain issues, product recalls, and record 40year high inflation that’s left many baby formula shelves bare. Lynn Sutfin, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman, said the problem affected about 85% of the more than 200,000 people in the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program that gives recipients about $30 to $112 or more per month. The state will prioritize “meeting our families’ most critical and immediate needs,” Ms. Sutfin said in a statement. WIC is a federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program of the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture that serves low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women and children up to age five. Datasembly, a company that tracks real-time product pricing, says the baby formula stockpile is 43% of the regular supply. “This issue has been
compounded by supply chain challenges, product recalls and historic inflation,” Datasembly CEO Ben Reich said in a statement. “The category started to see stocking challenges beginning in July 2021, and the situation has continued to worsen into 2022.” On February 17, the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to use certain powder infant formula from Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis plant. The FDA said Abbott recalled the products after the common environmental bacterium Cronobacter sakazakii was alleged to have killed two infants and sickened others. “We recognize that many consumers have been unable to access infant formula and critical medical foods they are accustomed to using and are frustrated by their inability to do so,” FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a statement. “We are doing everything in our power to ensure there is adequate product available where and when they need it.” U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, a Holland Republican, tweeted a picture of nearly bare shelves in Grandville. “This was the scene yesterday Please see FORMULA on A3
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Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 8-34-37-44-45 Mega: 3
Friday’s DAILY 4: 6-5-3-8
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 11-41-43-44-65 Mega: 13
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 2-10-13-21-27
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 07-08-09 Time: 1:47.04
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 5-7-61-63-69 Meganumber: 18
Friday’s DAILY 3: 0-0-3 / Midday 0-5-5