The tricks Gavin Newsom used to make his last budget look balanced

Gavin Newsom released a revised budget last week — the last of his governorship — and boasted that it is “balanced” for the next two years.Based on what he is proposing, he appears to be using some uniquely hallucinatory drugs.Newsom “balanced” the budget by drawing on some $20 billion in the state’s reserve funds — even as revenues rose more than projected, due to spending.It’s like pulling out your retirement savings when what you really need is to stop using your credit card.The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says California has a long-term, “structural” deficit.Newsom’s budget does nothing about that — quite the opposite.Newsom’s proposal comes after the 2022 fiscal year established a surplus of $97.5 billion from President Joe Biden’s coronavirus spending (which was also borrowed money).  That surplus evaporated into permanent expenditures, and an admitted revenue error of $165 billion, causing the following four years to have a collective deficit of $125 billion.  Those deficits somehow disappeared amongst the perpetual “smoke and mirrors” to satisfy the requirement that the state maintain an annual fiscal balanced budget.Despite that, Newsom wants us to believe that he is leaving California in good fiscal shape as he goes out the gubernatorial door. There are many facets of the budget, but the main one is the general fund.  The expenditure in his budget rises by 7.5%, even though inflation is much lower than that, and the state’s population is contracting.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story One would think that to balance the budget he would have some significant expenditure reductions. If he does, they are hard to find.  The only mentioned proposed cut is in health care for illegal immigrants ...