SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — After touring across the state for months touting his blueprint for a jaw-dropping surplus, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a flurry of budget bills late Monday.
The last-minute deal between Newsom and the Legislature includes $600 stimulus checks for millions of low and middle income residents, billions to boost salaries of child care workers and create more subsidized child care slots, $5 billion to cover growing unpaid rent and $12 billion over the next two years toward fighting homelessness.
The $262.6 billion spending plan is buoyed by a $75 billion surplus and boosts K-12 education funding to a record $93.7 billion.
“Harnessing the largest surplus in state history, we’re making transformative investments across the board that will help bring all our communities roaring back from the pandemic — and pay dividends for generations to come,” said Newsom in a statement. “The state is taking on the inequities laid bare by the pandemic, expanding our support for Californians facing the greatest hardships, increasing opportunity for every child, confronting homelessness head-on and doubling down on our work to build resilience against the climate change impacts that threaten California’s future.”
Unlike past years, Newsom declined to hold a signing ceremony and instead announced the budget signing just before midnight in a press release.
The bill Newsom signed Monday, Senate Bill 129, is being referred to as the “Budget Bill Junior” with companion legislation still pending in the state Senate. Newsom inked the so-called “Main Budget Act of 2021” on June 28.
Budget negotiations have taken a peculiar route this year as Newsom and state Democrats have struggled to figure out how to best allocate the billions of federal pandemic and state income tax receipts that continue to shatter expectations. The parties have been able to technically comply with constitutional deadlines largely by agreeing to placeholder legislation, allowing talks to continue nearly two weeks after the 2021-2022 fiscal year began on July 1.
Meanwhile Newsom, who faces a statewide recall in two months, has been parading the various deals in press conferences over the last several months.
The unusual process has drawn criticism from Republicans who say the multi-layered budget has been tough to follow even for those working in the state Capitol. Though the main budget framework has been approved, lawmakers and Newsom will continue to tack on spending in the coming weeks through various “trailer bills.”
“A lack of transparency and an ever changing budget process going on behind closed doors. What could go wrong?” asked Republican Assemblyman James Gallagher on Twitter.
But state Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers and are in firm control of budget negotiations, counter they are proud of the new budget following a disastrous 2020 that featured major cuts to education, social services and the judiciary.
“With these smart investments and the highest level of reserves in state history, this is a budget that reflects California’s shared values and priorities — and it does so in a sound and fiscally-sustainable manner,” said state Senate President Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.
Newsom signed a budget that includes $1.2 billion in new funding for the judicial branch, including restoring $200 million in previous cuts and making major investments in judicial branch programs improving access to justice.
Said Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye:
"Courts at all levels have made unprecedented efforts to keep our doors open for Californians amid a global health crisis, and this budget represents a much-needed investment in the judicial branch. It restores previous funding cuts and invests in Judicial Council programs that aid the most vulnerable Californians, many of whom were hit hardest by the pandemic."
Key areas to receive major funding include the Chief Justice’s Early Disposition Readiness Conference Program; the Judicial Council’s Ability to Pay tool; Covid-19 related backlogs in trial courts; new courthouse construction; pretrial services; and legal aid.
The record $262.6 billion budget includes $196.4 billion in general fund spending and directs $25 billion to the state’s Rainy Day Fund and other reserves. It also calls for expanding health care coverage to undocumented residents, $1 billion to remove trash from streets and freeways and $2 billion toward wildfire prevention efforts.
Newsom touted the “transformational budget” in Los Angeles Tuesday during a signing ceremony that quickly morphed into a campaign rally.
Local labor union heads and elected officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., saluted both the budget and Newsom’s handling of the pandemic. They credited Newsom for issuing the nation’s first lockdown order in March 2020 and fighting to secure billions in federal pandemic relief. One speaker promised Los Angeles voters would turn out in waves to defeat the recall.
Following the 20-minute introduction, the Democratic governor took the stage to applause.
“This is one hell of a budget signing!,” Newsom admitted.
Newsom capped the event by highlighting a list of economic achievements and with a message for California’s critics: “For those that have counted California out, eat your heart out.”
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