Dan Walters

Commentary

Newsom shuns tax increases yet his budget contains billions in new levies on businesses

Gov. Gavin Newsom has publicly shunned tax increases to cover California's multibillion-dollar deficit, yet his budget proposal contains billions of dollars of indirect tax increases on businesses.

By

Dan Walters

• May 22, 2024

Commentary

California’s budget deficit revives state’s everlasting battle over school funding

Public school funding is the largest chunk of California's state budget. It's also the most contentious, as a new squabble over Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal indicates.

By

Dan Walters

• May 21, 2024

Construction workers on site of a tiny homes village in Goshen on June 2, 2023. Poverty rose to 14% among construction workers this spring. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Commentary

California’s lagging economy hinders efforts to close state budget deficit

As California Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators contend with a deficit-ridden state budget, they can't count on a booming economy.

By

Dan Walters

• May 17, 2024

The state Capitol in Sacramento on Nov. 17, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Commentary

How California’s bursting budget morphed into a $45 billion deficit in just two years

A massive miscalculation in revenue forecasting allowed California Gov. Gavin Newsom to boast of a $97.5 budget surplus that ultimately never materialized. It has since become a $44.9 billion deficit.

By

Dan Walters

• May 16, 2024

A consumer's PG&E bill from October, 2023. Photo by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters

Commentary

How California’s new fixed utility charge got its sneaky start in the Legislature

California's Public Utilities Commission has approved a new electric power billing plan based on incomes. Its controversial mostly because of the sneaky way in which the Legislature authorized it.

By

Dan Walters

• May 15, 2024

Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the media during a press conference unveiling his revised 2024-25 budget proposal at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on May 10, 2024. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

Commentary

Newsom’s proposed spending cuts spur backlash from affected California groups

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing nearly $34 billion in spending cuts over a two-year span to close a massive budget deficit. Those affected are unhappy.

By

Dan Walters

• May 14, 2024

Commentary

Newsom finally aligns with Legislature’s gloomier budget outlook, blaming ‘massive volatility’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a revised state budget that increases the projected deficit by billions of dollars and contained real cuts, something his initial version mostly lacked.

By

Dan Walters

• May 10, 2024

$The San Francisco Unified School District Building in San Francisco on Dec. 2, 2021. Nina Riggio for CalMatters$

Commentary

San Francisco’s school system flirts with insolvency. It’s not the only one in California

State education officials are intervening to address San Francisco Unified's chronic budget problems and stave off insolvency. But it's not the only example of fiscal mismanagement in California K-12 system.

By

Dan Walters

• May 10, 2024

Commentary

Will California Supreme Court knock anti-tax measure off the November ballot?

Contending factions have waged political war over California taxes for nearly a half-century. It could reach a climax under a ballot measure this fall, but opponents are asking the state Supreme Court to remove it from the ballot.

By

Dan Walters

• May 9, 2024

A homeless encampment in Los Angeles on June 20, 2023. Photo by Julie A Hotz for CalMatters

Commentary

Politicians keep shifting blame as California’s homelessness crisis worsens

As California's homelessness crisis worsens, politicians have shifted from promising to solve the issue to shifting blame for their failure.

By

Dan Walters

• May 8, 2024