A couple of years ago, California’s left-leaning interest groups – those seeking a more expansive array of social and medical services to benefit workers and the state’s large population of low-income residents – seemed to be making a breakthrough after decades of frustration.
With Gov. Gavin Newsom bragging about a nearly $100 billion state budget surplus, progressive coalitions gained footholds on some long-sought priorities, such as medical coverage for undocumented immigrants, income supports for the working poor and more expansive care and education for preschool children.
That was then and this is now.
The state now faces a monumental budget deficit, in part because the state committed portions of a supposed surplus that never materialized. While Newsom so far has pegged the deficit at $38 billion, state revenues continue to lag behind forecasts and the Legislature’s budget analyst, Gabe Petek, says it could top $70 billion.