California Governor Gavin Newsom presented hisfinal state budget revisionon 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).
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 economygrew 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 hecomplained about Trump’s tariffs.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
