Alameda, CA — With the support of grassroots leaders, former State Controller, Board of Equalization member, and California budget director, Betty Yee, today, officially launched her campaign for governor. Citing her experience bringing accountability to government as an asset and her outsider mindset as a strength, Yee pledged to put the state back-on-track for all Californians.
As State Controller, Yee took on big corporations, righted discrimination in the state’s tax code, giving more rights to LGBTQ+ partners, and discovered over $7 billion in improper spending, translating into real impact for California’s working families. While traveling the state, Yee was encouraged by many to use her expertise to tackle California’s affordability crisis, to lift millions of Californians and their families into the middle class. Yee could no longer ignore the need for her proven leadership and experience of knowing how to get the most out of every state budget dollar to ensure California truly adds up for everyone.
“Things in California just don’t add up anymore. Families are working harder than ever, but the cost of housing, food, college, childcare, elder care, and more is moving out of our reach,” said former State Controller and member of the Board of Equalization Betty Yee. “Together we have the grit and the power to make California add up for all of us again.”
“I believe in Betty because she is an inclusive leader with a steady hand at the wheel. Everyday she demonstrates the drive to do the right thing––to lift up all Californians,” said Jefferson Coombs, community leader, social justice organizer, and education advocate. “Betty’s authenticity, intersectional leadership, and vision inspires and empowers ordinary people to do extraordinary things in their communities.”
Yee’s story begins with pursuing the California Dream. Yee was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents who built a laundry and dry cleaning business from scratch in the Parkside District of San Francisco. The second oldest of six children, Betty grew up speaking no English in the home. Her family lived in a one-room apartment behind the family’s laundry, where she shared a sofa bed with her four sisters. Throughout her primary education, Yee attended the city’s public schools wearing clothes her mother sewed to save on the cost of store-bought clothes.
Like many first-generation Californians, Yee’s parents didn’t speak English, and therefore at age eight, Yee began managing the books for the family’s laundry. Early on, Betty learned how numbers add up, but also what the numbers meant for her family–if weekly earnings came up short, that was one less carton of milk or loaf of bread for her family. She learned when things are out of balance, too many communities are left to fend for themselves, and sometimes get left behind.
With support from her family and community, Betty went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, where she returned decades later to serve on the Cal Alumni Association board to help raise funds for much-needed scholarships. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Golden Gate University.
She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party.
Visit www.BettyYee.com to learn more about Betty.
1 comment
Oh!!! Rob Bonta won’t like this.
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