Anatomy of Failure: How CA Governor Newsom Turned a Huge Budget Surplus into a Devastating DeficitBy Bob Hoge
February 22, 2023
The state of California raked in a historic $102 billion budget surplus in the last two fiscal years due to COVID relief funds and strong capital gains revenue, so the treasury was looking golden.
What’s a radical blue-state governor to do with such good fortune? Why spend it all, of course—or actually, as Governor Gavin Newsom did, spend even more than that and leave the coffers with a crushing deficit of at least $22.5 billion (it will probably come in higher due to plunging tax revenues).
Newsom seems to be emulating the man he dreams about replacing, President Joe Biden. They certainly have profligate spending habits in common.
https://twitter.com/houmanhemmati/status/1627554899805503489After enjoying several years of strong revenues despite the pandemic, the state suddenly finds itself seeing much less money coming in, as the Wall Street Journal reports:
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Even so, revenue is not actually the main issue—Newsom’s wanton spending is. Where’d all that money go? You guessed it: entitlement programs and climate change. The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) reported, “while revenues are moderating from the recent peak, they are still above average historical levels” and “even after adjusting for inflation, anticipated revenues for 2023-24 remain about 20 percent higher than before the pandemic.”
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Source:
https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2023/02/22/anatomy-of-failure-how-ca-governor-newsom-turned-a-huge-budget-surplus-into-a-devastating-deficit-n706914
