SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom began his tour of the state on Thursday. He is forgoing the typical State of the State address and is instead using the four-day trip to focus on critical issues.

Thursday’s event was hosted at Cal Expo, a fairground in Sacramento. Homelessness was the chief topic as the governor unveiled 1,200 tiny homes that will be distributed across the state.

He also promised more funding for cities and counties to help get people off the street.

Newsom traveled to the Bay Area to visit San Quentin State Prison on Friday. While there, the governor detailed his plan to transform the oldest prison in the state into a rehabilitation center.

Over the weekend, Newsom will travel to Southern California, with stops planned in Los Angeles and San Diego to discuss health care and mental health reform, respectively.

Political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe joined “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen to go over the governor’s tour and what it could me for the future of political addresses.

In the past, the governor gives the State of the State address at the California State Capitol in the Assembly Chamber.

Newsom has broken away from the traditional speech setting, opting to hold it at different locations. Most notably, in 2021, he delivered the address at an empty Dodger’s Stadium during the pandemic.

“[Newsom] has sort of tweaked what the State of the State does,” Jeffe said.

Jeffe sees the upside of Newsom going on a tour as opposed to staying in Sacramento, is it will allow him to connect with Californians on a more personal level. Though she sees an area of concern with the planned stops.

“The four areas that he is going to do not include either the Central Valley or the Inland Empire. He’s cutting off two areas,” Jeffe said.

Even though he’s going on this tour instead of delivering a speech, Newsom will still provide a written State of the State address to the state legislature, as is required by the California constitution.

The tour of California, which is generating more interest throughout the state than a typical speech, also allows the governor to give more free-flowing remarks as opposed to having to deliver a more formal address by using a teleprompter, something he struggles with because of his dyslexia.

“He seems to be more at eased around people, outside the pomp and ceremony of the capitol [sic] and that’s a positive thing for him politically and in terms of being able to relate,” Jeffe said.

Though she sees the tour as a positive, Jeffe doesn’t believe we’ll see any future presidents opting for a tour instead of delivering the State of the Union.

“[The SOTU] is an ingrained tradition of well over 200 years. That’s a little different. I don’t think people want too much of a tweaking of the State of the Union,” Jeffe said.

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