California has reached a point where it is, on a fundamental level, fiscally unsound. The budget deficit — which by one estimate amounts to $73 billion — is not the result of an off year that happened to generate lower revenues. No, this is a structural problem. The disparity between tax revenues and spending is so vast that the entire system — celebrated by liberals as a model of progressive governance — is a house of cards. And it was all built by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who chose extravagant progressive policies over maintaining a sustainable budget.
The insane overspending began the day Newsom took office on Jan. 7, 2019. At the time, radicals at the state Capitol were eager to create the progressive utopia they had long envisioned but had been unable to achieve under former Gov. Jerry Brown, who prioritized fiscal restraint. In his inaugural address, Newsom made it clear that he would depart from Brown’s approach and pursue the realization of the progressive vision. “We will be prudent stewards of taxpayer dollars, pay down debts, and meet our future obligations,” he said. “But let me be clear: We will be bold. We will aim high, and we will work like hell to get there.” (READ MORE: Newsom Believes the Globe Is Getting Hotter Even as California Freezes)
As his governorship began, Newsom revealed just how bold he would be. Leading up to his inaugural address, Newsom promised that he would provide all Californians with two free years of college and toss a couple billion extra toward early childhood programs. Then, in his first policy move, Newsom announced that he would extend free healthcare coverage to illegal immigrants until they reached the age of 26. (In a sign of how far to the left Democrats were on the issue of immigration at that time, Newsom pledged in his address to make California a “sanctuary to all who seek it.” Later, Newsom would extend free healthcare coverage to all illegal immigrants.)
Lavish spending might have initially pleased Newsom’s constituencies and endeared him to radical California Democrats, but it has led him to a day of reckoning. Those who once loved him because he rained money on them are now turning against him as he implements cuts to their programs. (READ MORE: Newsom Picks Pontificating Over Governing)
The rift was made evident in May when the California Teachers Association, a stalwart Newsom ally that has benefited handsomely from its tight relationship with the governor, released an advertisement that bordered on an attack against him. “Tell lawmakers and Governor Newsom to pass a state budget that protects public schools for our students and communities,” said the ad. The union invested an unknown amount to broadcast these ads on television in California. Additionally, the group’s president, David Goldberg, publicly opposed Newsom’s plan to use an accounting maneuver to maintain school budgets, a tactic that would nullify Newsom’s guarantees on education funding in future years. It was a shocking turn of events, as the union has donated hundreds of thousands to Newsom. In this case, the harsh tactics proved successful. Politico reported last week that Newsom and the California Teachers Association had come to an agreement that would guarantee additional billions in education spending increases in coming years.
🧵Planned Parenthood in CA is deeply disappointed by the proposal in @CAgovernor’s May Revise that will jeopardize access to not just sexual and reproductive care but quality, affordable health care across the board for the nearly 15 million Californians who rely on Medi-Cal.
— Jodi Hicks (@jodihicks) May 10, 2024
In a perhaps even more surprising falling out, Planned Parenthood — which has also benefited enormously under Newsom’s governorship — has also turned against him. The president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Jodi Hicks, blasted Newsom in a series of posts on X last month over healthcare funding decreases the governor announced in his May revisal of the state budget. “Planned Parenthood in CA is deeply disappointed by the proposal in @CAgovernor’s May Revise that will jeopardize access to not just sexual and reproductive care but quality, affordable health care across the board for the nearly 15 million Californians who rely on Medi-Cal,” said Hicks. Such comments are far removed from the tight relationship the abortion group previously had with Newsom, who in 2019 doubled the state’s spending on “reproductive health” from $50 million to $100 million, a significant amount of which went to Planned Parenthood.
In another example of progressive discontent, a number of healthcare groups held a press conference last week to criticize the governor over his decision to cut home care for elderly illegal immigrants. The group, the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, said it was “unconscionable to eliminate In-Home Supportive Services for undocumented Californians.” It additionally accused Newsom of balancing the budget “on the backs of poor people of color.”
More anger has emerged over Newsom’s proposal to cut $300 million from public health services. And yet more infuriation has come from the University of California and California State University, which are facing a combined $200 million cut — even though Newsom promised them funding increases. Hundreds of millions in cuts to addressing homelessness have others up in arms; one homelessness nonprofit executive said those cuts affect “funding sources that the most vulnerable Californians rely upon.” In short, one constituency after another is erupting in anger upon learning that funding the state never really could afford will no longer be doled out to them.
The constitutional deadline for passing a new state budget, June 15, rapidly approaches. In the meantime, Newsom will continue to face this barrage of anger.
This discontent will be how California liberals will remember Newsom’s governorship. Instead of fulfilling their idealistic dreams, it has amounted to broken promises and a broken system.
READ MORE:
The Problem for Newsom’s Aspirations: California’s Impending $73 Billion Fiscal Disaster
