Gavin Newsom taps Trump critic Tom Steyer to jumpstart California’s economy

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was blunt during his Friday press conference.

“We are now in a pandemic-induced recession here in the state of California,” he said.

To that end, Newsom announced that his is appointing former Democratic presidential candidate and billionaire Tom Steyer to co-chair the a new state Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery.

Newsom said that Steyer, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, has the capacity to see the world “not just nationally, but internationally.”

“We felt he was an ideal candidate to lead the charge and introduce the broader purpose behind this advisory committee,” Newsom said.

Steyer will not be compensated for his role, Newsom’s office said.

Newsom said that he first met Steyer through the efforts of he and his wife, Kat, to open the Beneficial State Bank in Oakland in 2007, which offers loans “to the underserved in California and along the West Coast,” according to the bank’s website.

Steyer, who is co-chairing the task force alongside Newsom’s chief of staff, Ann O’Leary, said that public health and safety will be “paramount” to to the task force’s concern, but that the task force will be dedicated to helping resource-starved communities to recover from the coronavirus-fueled recession.

“This is an unprecedented situation, but the idea of shared prosperity is not one that’s new to me,” Steyer said.

Before mounting his 2020 presidential campaign, Steyer was an active proponent of impeaching Donald Trump, spending $75 million on his Need To Impeach advertising campaign, according to CNBC.

Other members of the task force include all four living former California governors – Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown – as well as former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Disney Chairman Bob Iger, International Longshore Workers Union President Willie Adams, President and CEO of the California Community Foundation Antonia Hernandez, former head of the Small Business Association Aida Alvarez and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Gavin Newsom taps Trump critic Tom Steyer to jumpstart California’s economy."