{"id":484087,"date":"2026-01-08T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?p=484087"},"modified":"2026-01-09T06:38:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T14:38:21","slug":"newsom-successes-swipes-state-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_es\/commentary\/2026\/01\/newsom-successes-swipes-state-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsom touts his successes, swipes at Trump in final State of the State speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

California\u2019s constitution requires the governor to \u201creport to the Legislature each calendar year on the condition of the state and may make recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past seven years, Gavin Newsom has reluctantly and minimally honored that command, usually eschewing the traditional January address to a joint legislative session in the Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But today, entering the final year of his governorship, he delivered a 64-minute, no-script paean<\/a> to legislators that catalogued his achievements and portrayed the state as a model for the world, while interspersing harsh criticism of President Donald Trump as an autocrat who is undermining democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus it was not only a celebratory swan song but a platform of sorts for Newsom\u2019s all-but-certain campaign to succeed Trump in 2028 \u2014 implying that a prosperous, inclusive and generous California could become a model for the nation should he occupy the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom only mentioned Trump by name twice, once while denouncing cutbacks in federal child care funds and near the end, excoriating his refusal to send billions of dollars in relief for the deadly wildfires that swept through Los Angeles County exactly a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom termed it \u201ca complete failure to act\u201d and added, \u201cIt\u2019s time for the president of the United States to act like the president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the speech, Newsom also dropped a few hints about what he wants to happen during his final year as governor \u2014 particularly about putting the state\u2019s finances in order. Ever since Newsom erroneously proclaimed in 2022 that the state had a $97.5 billion surplus and he and the Legislature ramped up spending, the budget has been plagued with multibillion-dollar deficits that have been papered over with accounting gimmicks, off-the-books loans and transfers from emergency reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Legislature\u2019s budget advisor, Gabe Petek, has projected another $18 billion deficit for 2026-27, perhaps growing to $35 billion thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tREAD NEXT<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"California’s\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\tComentario<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

California’s urgent issues loom over Newsom campaign and his would-be successors<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Dan Walters<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n

Newsom told legislators that his proposed budget, which will be unveiled Friday, anticipates an additional $42.3 billion in revenues, based on recent increases in tax payments. It will, he said, close the gap and provide money to restore reserves, pay down the state\u2019s pension debt and finance increases in some programs, including a jump in education support. The $42.3 billion is expected over three years, a spokesman from his finance department later clarified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were the Legislature to embrace Newsom\u2019s rosy fiscal scenario, it would allow him to end his governorship a year hence with a budget that, at least on paper, would be in the black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, recent history implies that Newsom\u2019s projected revenue windfall should be viewed with skepticism. His Department of Finance quietly acknowledged later that his 2022 claim of a $97.5 billion surplus was based on a $165 billion overstatement of revenues over four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, it was arguably the most cogent address that Newsom has delivered as governor, even if it ignored, downplayed or rationalized some of California\u2019s most vexing issues, such as the nation\u2019s highest rates of homelessness, unemployment, poverty and living costs, not to mention the budget deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was clearly aimed, Newsom suggested, at refuting a \u201cCalifornia derangement syndrome\u201d that sees the state as a hellhole of crime and squalor, with taxes and regulations that suffocate business and drive people to other states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a clever play on the \u201cTrump derangement syndrome\u201d that those on the political right often tout. Wordplay notwithstanding, if and when Newsom makes his presidential ambitions official his most daunting factor will be simply that he\u2019s from California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reality lies somewhere between the exalted view of California that Newsom peddles, claiming \u201cwe simply have no peer,\u201d and the dystopian image that dominates right wing media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone once observed that truth is the first casualty of war. By the same token, reality only rarely drives political campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tREAD NEXT<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Newsom\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\tPol\u00edtica<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

Newsom casts California as a foil to the Trump agenda in his final State of the State<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Newsom’s\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\tComentario<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

Newsom’s $18 billion budget gap has roots in pandemic aid ending<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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