State Budget
Blog
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's state budget plan
Governor Newsom’s Budget Message to Crime Victims – Like it or lump it.
For those who may have forgotten, Prop 36’s passage in November 2024 was historic. Despite opposition from Gov. Newsom, the majority of the state legislature, and a host of criminal rights groups, it passed in every county and won passage with over 68 percent of the vote statewide. One would ...
Steve Smith
May 19, 2025
California
PRI On NPR: California Created Its Budget Woes
Winegarden joins Insight with his perspective on the state’s fiscal priorities and budget challenges. Listen to the entire interview here.
Wayne H Winegarden
May 15, 2025
California
From bloated budgets, to wasteful spending: Why California needs its own DOGE
If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency has become famous — and certainly infamous in some minds — for its efforts to ...
Kerry Jackson
May 1, 2025
Blog
Newsom Gets One Right on State Return to Office Order
Virtually every other state and most private sector employers in California and nationally returned to normal employment arrangements years ago. A February Bay Area Council survey showed 84 percent of private sector employers have already implemented long-term in-person work policies, and just 6 person of employers do not require employees ...
Tim Anaya
April 30, 2025
Blog
Newsom’s Diaper Plan Stinks
Why a new program when the old one is working ok? The state argues that there are gaps in the existing program, which targets low-income parents. Instead of simply filling the gaps, the state wants to impose some elaborate scheme that is akin to killing a gnat with a shotgun. ...
Matthew Fleming
April 25, 2025
Blog
Read the latest on the Southern California wildfires
State Budget Watch: Lawmakers Should Heavily Scrutinize LA’s Wildfire Funding Ask
Included in the city’s requests are expected relief items, such as a $291 million state loan to help the city pay for debris removal and repairs to damaged city property pending FEMA repayment. But some of LA’s funding list shows city leaders haven’t yet learned their lessons from decades of ...
Tim Anaya
April 1, 2025
California
Read the latest about California's ineffective government homelessness programs
A Website About Being Transparent That Isn’t
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has launched a new initiative – accountability.ca.gov – which it characterizes as “bring(ing) together thousands of locally reported data points to provide a clear picture of local communities’ work on California’s most pressing issues, including homelessness.” In case your stomach is full after eating that word ...
Tim Anaya
February 26, 2025
Blog
State Budget Week - Learn How the Newsom Education Budget Will Impact You
The Newsom Education Budget: No Bang for the Buck
In the 2019-20 budget–Newsom’s first enacted budget–California spent $103 billion in state, local, and federal funds for education, which translated to $17,423 per pupil. In the governor’s new proposed budget, total education spending comes in at a whopping $137 billion, which pencils out to $24,764 per pupil. All this added ...
Lance Izumi
January 22, 2025
Commentary
State Budget Week - Learn How the Newsom Public Safety Budget Will Impact You
The Newsom Public Safety Budget: Budgets are a Reflection of Values
Governor Gavin Newsom spoke recently at Cal State Stanislaus highlighting his workforce initiatives and used the opportunity to introduce his 2025-2026 budget… State budgets are exceptionally complex documents full of granular data but a birds-eye view of spending places our tax dollars in a number of buckets of broad spending ...
Steve Smith
January 22, 2025
Blog
State Budget Week - Learn how the Newsom Budget Will Impact California's Tax Burden
The Newsom Budget on Taxes: Yes, Governor, California Is a High Tax State
California imposes the highest top marginal state income tax rate and one of the highest state and local sales tax rates in the country. It is simply illogical to claim that a state with the highest income tax rate and a very high state and local sales tax rates is ...
Nikhil Agarwal
January 21, 2025
Read the latest on Gov. Newsom's state budget plan
Governor Newsom’s Budget Message to Crime Victims – Like it or lump it.
For those who may have forgotten, Prop 36’s passage in November 2024 was historic. Despite opposition from Gov. Newsom, the majority of the state legislature, and a host of criminal rights groups, it passed in every county and won passage with over 68 percent of the vote statewide. One would ...
PRI On NPR: California Created Its Budget Woes
Winegarden joins Insight with his perspective on the state’s fiscal priorities and budget challenges. Listen to the entire interview here.
From bloated budgets, to wasteful spending: Why California needs its own DOGE
If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency has become famous — and certainly infamous in some minds — for its efforts to ...
Newsom Gets One Right on State Return to Office Order
Virtually every other state and most private sector employers in California and nationally returned to normal employment arrangements years ago. A February Bay Area Council survey showed 84 percent of private sector employers have already implemented long-term in-person work policies, and just 6 person of employers do not require employees ...
Newsom’s Diaper Plan Stinks
Why a new program when the old one is working ok? The state argues that there are gaps in the existing program, which targets low-income parents. Instead of simply filling the gaps, the state wants to impose some elaborate scheme that is akin to killing a gnat with a shotgun. ...
Read the latest on the Southern California wildfires
State Budget Watch: Lawmakers Should Heavily Scrutinize LA’s Wildfire Funding Ask
Included in the city’s requests are expected relief items, such as a $291 million state loan to help the city pay for debris removal and repairs to damaged city property pending FEMA repayment. But some of LA’s funding list shows city leaders haven’t yet learned their lessons from decades of ...
Read the latest about California's ineffective government homelessness programs
A Website About Being Transparent That Isn’t
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has launched a new initiative – accountability.ca.gov – which it characterizes as “bring(ing) together thousands of locally reported data points to provide a clear picture of local communities’ work on California’s most pressing issues, including homelessness.” In case your stomach is full after eating that word ...
State Budget Week - Learn How the Newsom Education Budget Will Impact You
The Newsom Education Budget: No Bang for the Buck
In the 2019-20 budget–Newsom’s first enacted budget–California spent $103 billion in state, local, and federal funds for education, which translated to $17,423 per pupil. In the governor’s new proposed budget, total education spending comes in at a whopping $137 billion, which pencils out to $24,764 per pupil. All this added ...
State Budget Week - Learn How the Newsom Public Safety Budget Will Impact You
The Newsom Public Safety Budget: Budgets are a Reflection of Values
Governor Gavin Newsom spoke recently at Cal State Stanislaus highlighting his workforce initiatives and used the opportunity to introduce his 2025-2026 budget… State budgets are exceptionally complex documents full of granular data but a birds-eye view of spending places our tax dollars in a number of buckets of broad spending ...
State Budget Week - Learn how the Newsom Budget Will Impact California's Tax Burden
The Newsom Budget on Taxes: Yes, Governor, California Is a High Tax State
California imposes the highest top marginal state income tax rate and one of the highest state and local sales tax rates in the country. It is simply illogical to claim that a state with the highest income tax rate and a very high state and local sales tax rates is ...