Lawmakers hope for miracle over budget cutting

Unable to stomach even the modest cuts proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature instead passed — in time for the June 15 deadline — a $325-billion budget that relies on borrowing to close a $12-billion budget deficit. The budget was a dereliction of duty, as progressive lawmakers seem incapable of breaking their addiction to spending.

As CalMatters reported, lawmakers passed it based on “hope” and expectation of a coming economic “miracle”—even though most prognosticators see a rocky economic road ahead. Speaking to the publication, Assembly member Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, encapsulated the predominant view: “The worst outcome here … would be to make cuts that we ultimately realize we didn’t need to make.”

That’s not how the real world works. If a family is overspending, the worst thing it can do is to keep spending. It’s prudent to make cuts when the numbers don’t add up—and perhaps start spending again once you’re in the black. Instead, the Legislature accepted some of Newsom’s proposed limits on the state’s recently expanded healthcare plan for the poor, Medi-Cal, but rejected others.

It’s almost unfathomable, but in 2024 California offered Medi-Cal benefits to illegal immigrants. To almost no one’s surprise, “costs and enrollment have ballooned far more than originally projected, wreaking havoc on the state’s budget,” The Daily Caller noted. The Legislature agreed to freeze enrollment—but lawmakers still want to lower the premium from Newsom’s proposed $100 to $30.

Democratic lawmakers ought to get out more and talk to constituents, many of whom are struggling with rising inflation, high taxes and economic uncertainty—and ask them whether providing taxpayer-subsidized healthcare for people living here illegally is their top priority. The Legislature also rejected Newsom’s proposed funding cuts for family planning clinics and bailouts for underused local transit systems. So much for living within our means.

Most appalling, the Sacramento Bee reported that the Legislature included “a flat out rejection of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to freeze state workers’ salaries.” That comes even as state workers and their unions are throwing a hissy fit over the governor’s perfectly reasonable plan to require most state employees to return to their offices on a hybrid schedule. It’s bizarre that two years after the end of COVID, state workers still don’t have to get back to work.

For a little perspective, The Center Square’s Kenneth Schrupp points out the following: “Over the past decade, state spending has doubled while the population has remained largely flat. Officials say employees of the state now earn an average of $177,000, up 42% from 2019.” State employees also receive generous defined-benefit pension that dwarf those earned by private-sector workers. It seems odd that a wage freeze is too much to bear during a downturn.

In late May, the Legislative Analyst’s Office found that the state “is likely to face persistent future deficits. These deficits range from $10 billion to $20 billion through 2028-29.” It concluded that the Legislature will have to cut spending or increase revenues and consider “the most difficult and consequential trade-offs.” It’s worth remembering that California enjoyed a record $97.5-billion surplus three years ago and then squandered it on more spending.

Responsible lawmakers don’t wait for miracles, but make hard choices. But such responsibility is in short supply in Sacramento.