State governments are modeled after the federal government. According to the U.S. Constitution, they must uphold a “republican form” of government. Typically, that means having three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judicial.
The state of California is responsible for upholding federal laws and functions, for instance overseeing public assistance programs such as CalWORKs and Medi-Cal.
Because of our federal system, the state sets its own rules, too. The state Legislature passes laws specific to California — subject to vetoes by the governor — while state officers and agencies carry out those laws and regulations to implement them.
The state oversees:
But much of the budgeting and day-to-day operations fall to counties and cities.
The exception to the separation of powers: In times of emergency — as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed the lives of nearly 98,000 Californians — the governor can use executive powers to overrule some of that local authority, such as reopening businesses and requiring masks. (The COVID state of emergency isn’t scheduled to officially end until Feb. 28, nearly three years after it started.)