Newson Reveals Astonishing $75.7B Budget Surplus

California’s $75.7 billion budget surplus reportedly first in state history

Facing a potential recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom this week announced what no other governor in California history — possibly American history — has done. He announced a staggering $75.7 billion budget surplus.

Some 275,000 jobs have been created in the past two months, Newsom said. That’s 41% of American jobs,

“California is not just back,” Newsom said. “California is roaring back.”

The overflowing state coffers are due in large part to the successful Silicon Valley, surging stock market and a large share of professionals who were able to continue working remotely during Covid-19. The state has a progressive income tax structure that leans heavily on top earners, allowing the state to enjoy record revenues despite widespread job losses in the travel and service industries that have kept California’s unemployment rate among the nation’s highest.

The surplus prompted Newsom to propose $600 checks for middle-income residents along with $500 payments to families with dependents. California in February enacted an initial round of payments for its lowest-income residents, supplementing two rounds of similar checks from the federal government. All told, the state would give back nearly $12 billion this year if state lawmakers approve Newsom’s plan.

“We believe people are better suited than we are to make determinations for themselves on how best to use these dollars,” Newsom said.

Congressional Republicans, who argued for a smaller federal stimulus package this winter and pointed to California as a poster child for why some states don’t need assistance, immediately pounced. California is due to receive $26 billion in direct federal aid, and Newsom has included that amount in a $100 billion package he’s dubbing the “California Comeback Plan” as he campaigns against the recall.

“This is one more reason why borrowing and sending tens of billions to California was a crying shame — and why every Republican in Congress opposed it,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said on Twitter.

Newsom officials said they are not using any of their $26 billion in federal dollars to provide tax rebates, according to Politico. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 generally forbid states from cutting taxes, but the Biden administration on Monday cleared the way for California to do so with new guidance that said states could as long as they could prove they were relying on their own revenues driven by economic growth.

Newsom is touring the state ahead of his May budget revision, which will set in motion negotiations with state lawmakers before a June 15 deadline. The governor’s budget will show a $75.7 billion general fund surplus across two fiscal years — the current one plus the year that starts July 1. That’s equal to nearly half of the $164.5 billion general fund budget that Newsom proposed in January.

The governor said nearly $27 billion of the surplus will go to K-12 schools and community colleges under state requirements, while $11 billion will go toward reserves and debt payments. He is proposing that the remaining $38 billion boost other programs. Legislative Democrats are calling for Newsom to provide Medicaid for all undocumented immigrants, increase support for homeless residents, expand child care and bolster social services that were cut in the Great Recession.