Exclusive | Gavin Newsoms vanity project dropped from California budget after backlash

California Democrats have quietly scrapped Gov.Gavin Newsom’s controversial $20 million plan to honor the state’s living former governors from the budget – abandoning a proposal that sparked rare bipartisan backlash and led critics to ridicule the taxpayer-funded vanity project.The so call “Governors’ Legacies” fund was first revealed by The Post as being part of Newsom’s May budget revision would have authorized taxpayer funds to be spent on projects recognizing former governors’ public service and policy achievements.But the funding request vanished from a tentative budget agreement shaped and approved this week by Democratic legislators.

The governor’s office declined comment Thursday on the legacy proposal being removed, deferring comment to the Department of Finance. State Sen.Tony Strickland, a Republican from Huntington Beach, told The Post that Newsom’s proposal was “laughable.”“A legacy fund is just totally tone deaf in terms of the affordability crisis and what’s going on here in California.

He probably saw that it was totally tone deaf, and probably one of his advisors said, ‘Is that smart to move forward on? You’re going to actually hurt yourself.’”It’s unclear if the scrapped idea is a rebuke of retreat for Newsom in the final months of his administration, which has continued to commit to record spending while structural budget deficits loom in the near future.Newsom’s proposal generated immediate backlash because it could have eventually funded tributes to Newsom himself after he leaves office in January, even though the administration insisted no money would be spent honoring the current governor.Democratic Sen.Caroline Menjivar called the proposal “absurd,” saying lawmakers should prioritize health care and other pressing needs over honoring former governors.“I do not care to recognize the legacy of governors past or present,” Menjivar said during a hearing.

“I care about seniors having health ins...