This past Monday, as blog readers also will know, he "previewed" the budget briefly, but didn't provide the usual documentation. Yesterday, the documentation was provided, but with the current fire situation in the LA area there was no presentation of any kind. The governor instead was showing himself dealing with the fires.
The governor has said the budget was balanced. But it isn't in the common English usage of that term - as opposed to California budget-speak. At best you could say that there is still money in the till even though we are drawing down state reserves, both in the current fiscal year and in the proposal for next year.
Note: The figures in italics are based on last year's budget document and may be out of date. But they are approximate indicators.
Sources: https://ebudget.ca.gov/2025-26/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf; https://ebudget.ca.gov/2024-25/pdf/Enacted/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf.
When we talk about the budget as being in surplus, balance, or deficit, we usually refer to the general fund (GF) which can be thought of as the state's checking account for ongoing expenses. Associated with the general fund are various alternative savings accounts: Public School, Safety Net, and Budget Stabilization Account (often termed the rainy day fund). You have to sum up the alternative accounts with the general fund and see if in a particular year, the total in them is rising (surplus), staying the same (balance), or falling (deficit). As can be seen above, the total is in deficit in the current year and in the proposed fiscal year.
If you are wondering about the UC portion of the budget, it is basically flat at $5 billion this year and in the proposal for next year. So if inflation-adjusted, it is a cut.*
===
*https://ebudget.ca.gov/2025-26/pdf/GovernorsBudget/6000/6440RWA.pdf.
No comments:
Post a Comment