More tax payers’ money to buy illegal votes.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in his revised state budget, proposes a record $213.5 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year — that’s a 2% increase over his January budget.
- But the Democratic governor cautions about an inevitable recession and estimates the next downturn could result in a $70 billion hit to California’s coffers.
- Newsom’s budget for fiscal 2019-20 retains funding to expand health care for undocumented immigrants up to age 26.
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom, in his revised state budgetreleased Thursday, proposed a record-$213.5 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year — a 2% increase over his January budget.
The budget includes money to fund health care for undocumented immigrants, as well as $1.75 billion to help boost housing production statewide and $1 billion to fight homelessness. The proposal also includes an additional $1.2 billion deposit into the state’s so-called rainy day fund, bringing the reserve to $16.5 billion in fiscal 2019-20.
However, the Democratic governor said the state must still prepare for an inevitable recession. He estimated the next downturn could result in a $70 billion, three-year hit in revenues.
“What we all need to remind folks of, that we’re modeling in the future prospects of a recession — a recession that’s more modest than 2007, but a little bit more intense than the 2001 recession,” Newsom told reporters.
Back in January, Newsom unveiled his first state budget as governor and expressed similar concern about the economic outlook. His predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, took office in 2011 when the Golden State was still recovering from a recession and faced a deficit of about $27 billion.
Newsom said the revised budget sets aside $15 billion for “building budgetary resiliency” as well as to pay down the state’s unfunded liabilities, or $1.4 billion higher than was proposed in January. It includes $4.5 billion to eliminate budgetary debts and $4.8 billion to pay down unfunded retirement liabilities.
Meantime, the budget for the fiscal year starting in July also retains funding proposed in January to expand the state’s Medi-Cal coverage program for 19- to 25-year-olds, regardless of immigration status. The governor’s January plan estimated the cost of expanding health care to cover undocumented immigrants would run about $260 million.