California Governor Gavin Newsom presented his final state budget revision on Thursday as if it were the opening ad of his presidential campaign.
The highlight: a balanced budget by 2028, he said — which would be the first time California had avoided a deficit after four straight years in the red.
Revenues came in stronger than projected in January, he said, erasing what he once said would be a $3 billion deficit, and which analysts warned could be even higher.
The overall tab: $349 billion, without cuts to major social programs, he said.
“California dominates,” he said, repeating his favorite claim about the size of the California economy (never mind all the businesses it has lost to other states on his watch).
Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal Thursday came off like an ad for his presidential campaign. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu The first number he presented was a comparison between the size of the state’s economy when he took office in 2019 ($3.07 trillion) versus today ($4.25 trillion).
That’s less impressive when you take inflation into account, and inflation was very high during the Biden years.
In fact, $3.07 trillion in 2019 is $4.00 trillion in today’s dollars. According to the Fed, California’s economy grew about 16% over Newsom’s two terms in office, not 38.4%, as he claimed.
(None of the reporters in the room challenged him.)
Next, before describing his own plans, Newsom attacked President Donald Trump. He slammed Trump for the war in Iran; he criticized him for federal spending cuts; and he complained about Trump’s tariffs.
Only then did Newsom delve into the details — which, as in many of his speeches, were overwhelming.
The budget includes $300 million to shore up Obamacare in the state, after the end of federal subsidies. It also includes a new $100 million fund to rebuild after wildfires. There’s even a 50% cut in fees for some new small businesses.
And while spending will grow by about $25 billion overall, Newsom said he is spending $1.8 billion less from the General Fund
He didn’t say much about fighting fraud, which the Trump administration says is rampant in California. But he did say he was cutting vacant positions and streamlining bureaucracy.
“We were DOGE before DOGE,” Newsom said, repeating another favorite line. “I just didn’t do it with a chainsaw.”
This is the budget Newsom wants Californians to remember — and the one he wants to show Democratic presidential primary voters.
It’s a budget that keeps growing, in keeping with the trendy “abundance” philosophy some Democrats have embraced: bigger government is better, as long as it’s ambitious.
One major ambition was missing from Newsom’s budget: universal health care, paid for by the state government. Democrats call that “single-payer,” though it’s really the taxpayer who foots the bill.
Single-payer “will be inevitable in this country,” Newsom said, suggesting he might move in that direction when he inevitably runs for president.
Just not yet. He has a budget to balance: Deficits make bad campaign ads.
Whether Newsom’s new budget actually balances is someone else’s problem: by the time 2028 arrives, he’ll be on the campaign trail.
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