In a new joint letter to the federal government, the Western States Pact — signed by officials in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado — is requesting funding in the range of $1 trillion to provide financial relief for impacts of the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during his daily press conference.
"This is the requirement of this moment. This gives you a sense of the thrust of the needs that we are all feeling — as states, as regions, as cities — that are required to get through this pandemic," he said.
This comes one week after state officials estimated that California's budget would see a more than $54 billion budget shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's not just states asking for a bailout. Quite the contrary, it's requesting that we support those that we need the most at this time — our public safety officials, our public health officials and make sure we do justice to our public education system," Newsom explained.
On the subject of regional variances — which allow some counties to more quickly enter a full rollout of the second stage of the state's shelter-in-place order — Newsom said 19 counties have provided their plans to state officials, and meetings are scheduled with nine additional counties.