Teachers Unions ‘Biggest Budget Winner’ in California’s Record-setting $98 Billion Surplus

Teachers unions are the “biggest budget winner” in California’s projected $98 billion budget surplus, the Wall Street Journal reports, seeing funding for public schools rise even as enrollment has plummeted thanks to closures during the pandemic.

Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a record-breaking surplus, the result of unexpectedly high tax revenues and federal bailout funds from President Joe Biden’s America Rescue Plan, sold as an urgent rescue for blue states.

The Journal noted:

Mr. Newsom revealed the giant surplus in his updated $301 billion budget plan. State coffers have swelled by 40% during the pandemic thanks to Congress’s Covid spending and a capital-gains revenue gusher from surging asset prices. California’s surplus alone is bigger than the budget of every state besides Texas, Florida and New York.

…

The biggest budget winner as usual is the teachers unions. Public schools will get $128 billion, a 25% increase over pre-pandemic levels, though student enrollment has shrunk by 270,000. School shutdowns and California’s woke curriculum have spurred many parents to seek alternatives.

The governor’s May revised budget includes the $128 billion figure for K-12 schools, up from $119 billion in January.

In 2020, before the pandemic, Newsom proposed $84 billion for K-12 education spending.

The new budget also includes a proposal for $400 rebate checks to households that own cars, one of several initiatives to spend more money to help local residents afford inflation costs.

Skeptics note that Newsom’s proposal adds to inflation by injecting more money into the economy.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.