California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facingaccusations of corruptionfor paying $20 million in taxpayer money to a nonprofit led by an executive who also sits on the board of his wife’s organization that promotesgender equity.
It all comes down to diapers — as the initiative, “Golden State Start,” was rolled out ahead of Mother’s Day, billed as a partnership between the state and Los Angeles-based Baby2Baby.
The program aims to provide free diapers to newborns through hospitals statewide, but the deal has triggered a wave of scrutiny over how the nonprofit was chosen, and its proximity to Newsom’s political and personal network.
“If you take the number of diapers they’re planning to send out and the amount of money that he’s spending on it, it’s 50 cents for each one, which is like 100 times more expensive if you just bought them in Costco,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said Saturday.
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“But where’s the money coming from? Us.”
Siebel Newsom co-founded the California Partners Project, which helped facilitate the partnership.
Her non-profit works to increase women’s representation in leadership, and Norah Weinstein sits on the board.
Weinstein is also the co-CEO of Baby2Baby. Shehas run the organization since 2011alongside co-CEO Kelly Sawyer Patricof.
That detail is what critics point to as evidence of overlapping influence between state-funded programs and affiliated nonprofit networks.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
