A statewide coalition of advocacy groups called the California Partnership staged news conferences in five cities, calling upon Brown to do more to break down what it called the state’s “wall of poverty.” The United Ways of California chimed in, as did the online activist group the Courage Campaign, the association representing human services directors from the 58 counties and several others. Reporters attending Brown’s news conference actually asked questions about funding for programs for the poor, questions that put Brown somewhat on the defensive. He talked of stagnant wages that are a function of the global economy and how he doesn’t “have all the answers for that.”
