California Budget

State workers say their lower than private sector salaries were offset by pensions, better benefits, job security. Is the tradeoff still worth it?

Gov. Gavin Newsom cannot just invoke the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy without finishing his march against poverty. Newsom can take significant steps toward that goal by expanding the safety net for vulnerable farmworkers.

As California Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders work on a new state budget, they face a multibillion-dollar deficit, but don't really know how big it will become.

Residents in the flood-ravaged Central Valley town Planada are struggling to recover from the January storms. A UC Merced report estimated the predominantly Latino farmworker community needs $20.3 million in state relief. A 58-year resident is calling on state leaders to honor the promises they made after surveying the damage.

From CalMatters’ state Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal and climate policy reporter Alejandro Lazo: The budget agreement that legislative Democrats plan to pass Thursday partly addresses the major concerns facing some public transit agencies in California, which have pleaded for state assistance as they continue to deal with a statewide $6 billion deficit due in large […]

Democratic leaders in the Legislature unveiled their California budget agreement, but Gov. Newsom must sign off for a final deal. There are some significant differences with what Newsom proposed in May.

When budget season arrived in 2022, state lawmakers enjoyed the excitement and possibilities over how to spend a record $97.5 billion budget surplus, a shocking figure coming at the end of a bruising COVID-19 pandemic. But the two ensuing years have played out like a mirror universe as the state stares down a budget deficit […]

The state’s 2023-24 budget has been subject to a lot of political wrangling this year as California faces a $31.5 billion spending gap. The constant push and pull of balancing the budget means that if one program, agency or proposal receives funding, something else could lose out.  The Legislature plans to pass its budget by […]

The money will go to infrastructure, parking, and other investments city leaders say would lure residential developers to downtown.

California's public transit systems say they are facing a "fiscal cliff" and are pleading for state aid, but so far haven't gained much traction in the Capitol.