California faces a daunting budget deficit of $54 billion, which could force painful cuts to schools, social programs, health care and road building. And the state was the first to borrow from the federal government to finance its $13 billion in unemployment claims.

California has a hugely diversified economy, and many of the industries that have made it so strong are also the ones getting hit the hardest. By many measures California, which has the nation’s largest tourism industry, public university system, entertainment industry and port system and produces far more food than any other state, stands to lose more in the coronavirus-induced recession than anywhere else…

Mr. Steyer points to the technology sector as one of the most resilient industries in the state and a source of future strength, but adds tech growth might not be enough to offset the sharp declines in all these other areas of California’s economy.

With a gross domestic product larger than 25 states combined, California’s pace of recovery has stark implications for America’s future. After 2008, California helped lead the nation in economic growth and job creation, powered by Silicon Valley, which remains relatively resilient. But this time the pain is being shared across a much broader area of the economy, including rotted strawberries in fields along the Pacific Coast, the empty wine-tasting rooms of Napa Valley and the deserted campuses of the nation’s largest public university system.