Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced his proposed $288 billion state budget, which would cut thousands of vacant state jobs and funding to more than 200 state programs in order to close the state’s $27.6 billion deficit.
Newsom revealed his budget proposal on Friday for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which starts on July 1, citing the importance of accountability and responsibility, according to ABC7 News.
This comes a month after state officials agreed to reduce California’s deficit by $17.3 billion after Newsom announced in January that the state’s deficit was $37.9 billion. The state deficit ended up being closer to $45 billion, which was $7 billion more than Newsom and state officials had estimated.
“These are programs, propositions that I’ve long advanced — many of them,” Newsom explained. “But you’ve got to do it. We have to be responsible. We have to be accountable.”
Under Newsom’s proposal, 260 state programs would also have their funding slashed. Cuts consist of $2 billion to broadband that would have helped to expand high-speed internet connections, $500 million that was going to be used to improve the state’s water storage system, and $272 million that would have gone to improving employment services for California’s welfare system, among other things.
Other cuts consist of closing housing units with more than 4,000 beds throughout 13 prisons in the state, saving almost $81 million. Additionally, $300 million that was helping to provide state and local health departments with COVID-19 pandemic-related help would be slashed, according to ABC7.
As the state faces an estimated deficit of $28.4 billion for next year, Gov. Newsom added that it is important for the state to solve the deficit not only for the current year but for the following year as well.
“We know what we know, but we don’t know what we don’t know,” Newsom said. “This is I believe why we need to have a two-year mindset going forward.”
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