California could drop mask mandate after June 15

Newsom confirms change in policy and announces new education spending plan

MONTEREY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Gov. Gavin Newsom, (D-Calif.), says the state will not require people to wear masks in many situations after mid-June. Newsom on Wednesday confirmed the change while promoting his new public education plan in Monterey.

Newsom says he expects the state to reach all its vaccination and infection thresholds by the June 15th target date. The governor says, at that time, he fully anticipates lifting all outdoor mask mandates, although indoor requirements will likely remain in place for a while.

"June 15th, a number of weeks away, we will move beyond the blueprint and will be in a completely different space. Now, I want to clarify in that context that we will be updating our mask guidelines. Outdoor masking, if we reach that threshold where we hope to be will be substantially higher, in fact, will be eliminated." said Newsom. "Those mandates will be guidelines and recommendations. But for indoor activities, we will still have likely some mask guidelines and mandates, but we hope sooner than later that those will be lifted as well. But the bottom line is we'll go back to most broad strokes, semblance of normalcy if we continue down this path in the next five weeks. And I'm confident, based on all the good work that's been done all throughout the state, that will reach those goals."

Gov. Newsom also announced Wednesday he plans to use a portion of California's $76 billion budget surplus to increase spending on public schools. He said the goal is to improve technology in underserved communities, as well as to ensure schools meet larger community needs, beyond offering lessons.

"We've talked a lot about community schools over the years, but we haven't followed up with real resources. We put in 10 million here, 20 million here, and we put one hundred million over a few years there. But we've never made a commitment like this." said Newsom. "Three billion dollars for community schools and wraparound services all up and down the state of California to build on many of these models of success."

Newsom's proposal calls for an initial $2.7 billion investment, and lays out a five-year blue print for full implementation.