Former California State Controller Betty Yee has spent more than four decades shaping fiscal policy and public finance in the Golden State. Now a candidate in the 2026 race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, Yee spoke with California Black Media about her campaign, which she says is rooted in restoring opportunity for working families and ensuring state government delivers for communities that have long been left behind.
Our organization has written extensively about the Stop the Hate program, which is currently set to lose funding in 2026. What would you do to continue or expand that work?
I believe we need a permanent funding source for this work. Hate crimes affect many communities, and unfortunately this problem isn’t going away. The divisions we’re seeing in national politics may even worsen it.
But one positive outcome of programs like Stop the Hate has been the way they bring communities together. Communities of color, immigrant communities and others have been able to build alliances and support each other.
Going forward, we should not only track and report hate crimes but also focus on long-term institutional change. That means addressing disparities in education, health care access and other basic services that many communities still struggle to obtain.