Legislative Analyst Confirms Newsom’s Budget Still Spending Too Much

Commentary My recent assessment in The Epoch Times, “Gov. Newsom’s Revised Budget Still Doesn’t Add Up,” has been affirmed by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). “The 2024‑25 Budget: Initial Comments on the Governor’s May Revision,” published May 17, clocked the state’s general-fund “budget problem”—Sacramento parlance for “deficit”—at $55 billion. That’s more than twice Gov. Gavin Newsom’s projected $27 billion. “The difference is attributable to what our offices consider to be current law, particularly for school and community college spending,” the LAO found. “While we would maintain that our approach more accurately reflects current law, these scoring differences do not reflect substantive differences in our views of the state’s fiscal position.”...