Many Californians are understandably baffled by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2023-24 proposed budget and the debate surrounding the projected $22.5 billion state budget deficit. Not long ago, California lawmakers were creating a record-setting budget and spending a $100 billion budget surplus.
But last October, Fitch Ratings warned that “tax revenues from July through September 2022 grew at a median rate of 7.6%” year-over-year in other states, “with only California reporting a [year-over-year] decline” in tax revenues. In other words, all 49 other states saw tax revenues increase. Then, in November, California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office predicted a massive state budget shortfall this
