State budget analysts are predicting a $68 billion deficit next year, putting legislative leaders and Gov. Gavin Newsom in the unenviable position of having to slash costs and reject most proposals for new funding in 2024.

It’s bad for the nonprofits, advocates and special interest groups, but it’s also not great for Democratic lawmakers, who in recent years have enjoyed the kind of surpluses that allow them to dole out money — and grow political capital — in abundance. …

On top of it all, you’ve got a Democratic governor who is trying to keep a steady ship at home while growing his national profile. Newsom has been telegraphing fiscal prudence for more than a year, but a $68 billion shortfall would force him to make unpopular decisions and perhaps even scale back some of his signature initiatives.

[Maybe this should be called “a $68 billion-so-far bummer.” It was $58 billion a few days ago, and seems to be growing still. That’s in large part because Democrats both overspent and overtaxed, the latter of which they calculated using static rather than dynamic scoring. The tax hikes and regulatory growth has resulted in predictable shortfalls on revenue projections, massively so in this case. That’s not “fiscal prudence” no matter how much of the Newsom Kool-Aid Politico drinks. — Ed]