Next year, California will have a state budget deficit of $68 billion, according to the California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office. As Cal Matters observes, “This projected deficit would be a record for California. But officials noted that it is partly because the budget has grown so much in recent years — the most recent was more than $300 billion — and that the state has closed similar or worse spending gaps, by percentage, in the past.”

California’s state budget has skyrocketed since 2021, when state spending per resident was already about 60% higher than in the typical state. “Newsom and legislative Democrats have increased spending by more than 60%,” laments a Republican legislator.

One way to reduce the deficit would be “a paring down of the minimum wage increase for healthcare workers that starts in January and eventually reaches $25 an hour. Newsom signed the deal between unions and hospitals last month without a clear estimate of how much it would cost. It turns out the wage increase could drive up the cost of providing care for government agencies by at least $4 billion in 2024-25. Now, Newsom wants unspecified ‘major reforms’ to the law and is talking to Democratic leaders in the Legislature, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.”