Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started Wayne Winegarden May 2026 With the release of the May Revise, budget negotiations between the Governor, Assembly, and Senate will now kick into high gear. Tax revenues for the current fiscal year are better than expected. Still, fiscal discipline is required, and when it comes to fiscal responsibility, Gov. Newsom talks a good talk, but even a cursory review demonstrates ...

A new study released today by the Pacific Research Institute finds that California’s economic performance has fallen sharply behind the rest of the nation, with job growth since the COVID-19 pandemic at less than half the national rate, while the state’s high cost of living is erasing its income advantage. Click here to download the study. The report, “California at a Crossroads: How Bad Policy Cost California Its Economic Edge – and How to Win ...

Stock Market Volatility Is a Growing Threat to California’s Upcoming Budget Wayne Winegarden March 2026 Warren Buffett famously noted that “when the tide goes out, you discover who’s been swimming naked.” Heeding Buffet’s wisdom, we will soon discover whether Governor Newsom and state legislative leaders are in need of some swimwear. California’s personal income tax system is excessively progressive. The top 1 percent of income tax filers typically fund between 40 percent and 50 percent ...

Californians Will Pay a High Price for Tom Steyer’s “Split-Role” Proposal Wayne Winegarden March 2026 Gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer supports “a special election to raise corporate taxes in his first year as governor.” Specifically, he favors removing the Proposition 13 tax limitations for commercial properties – an idea referred to as “spit-roll”. If implemented, split-roll will further worsen California’s business environment to the detriment of state residents. Proposition 13, passed in 1978, is one of ...