California’s Budget Proposal
On Jan. 10, 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his 2025-2026 budget proposal. The budget proposes a total spending of $322.2 billion in state funds – it consists of approximately $228.9 billion from the General Fund, $86.8 billion from special funds, and $6.5 billion from bond funds.
Newsom notes that California begins 2025 in a stronger fiscal position than previous years. Last year, the governor proposed a multi-year approach that closed not only the estimated shortfall for the 2024-25 fiscal year, but for the 2025-26 fiscal year as well.
However, he notes that while this framework represents significant progress, the state should continue to remain vigilant of spending so that it can strengthen fiscal stability further for upcoming years. The budget now is in the hands of the state legislature, where it will be negotiated in both houses between now and May.
The legislature’s budget committees have already called for hearings this week – and these hearings will continue throughout the legislative session. Additionally, the legislature introduced over 100 bills for the budget that serve as the vehicles for the final 2025-2026 budget language.
You can find the governor’s budget summary here. For more information on exact spending proposals, you can use this link.
For more information on the legislature’s review of the governor’s budget proposals, please see the following links:
Assembly Budget Committee Summary
Senate Budget Committee Summary
California Wildfires
Right now, there are multiple fires burning in Southern California. This includes the Palisades fire, Eaton fire and Hurst fire. All three fires began on Jan. 7, and were quickly accelerated by high winds and dry conditions in the region. According to CalFire, the Hurst fire has burned nearly 800 acres and is 97% contained. The Eaton fire has burned 14,000 acres and is 35% contained. The largest and most devasting fire – the Palisades fire – has burned over 23,000 acres and is currently at 17% containment. As of Jan. 13, nearly 90,000 residents are still under evacuation orders, thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed, and 24 individuals have been confirmed dead. Officials anticipate that strong winds will continue to confront the state’s firefighting response.
Not surprisingly, the legislature will focus a large part of its time on the fire preparedness, response, and mitigation measures at the start of this session – with both budget committees stating that initial discussions on the budget will be focused on the fire recovery efforts. In fact, Newsom called for an expansion of the special session focused on “Trump proofing California” to include recovery measures for Los Angeles wildfire recovery efforts. He also proposed $2.5 billion in new funding. Additionally, Newsom announced an investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power due to a loss of water supply and pressure in fire hydrants near the fire zones – he specifically is asking for incident reports and comprehensive review of the department’s emergency response preparation.
Important Date
Friday, Feb. 21, is the last day for bills to be introduced.
The entire California 2025 legislative calendar can be found here.
