Four ways Gavin Newsom plans to spend billions on liberal policies in California
Rachel Schilke
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Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is narrowing down his top spending priorities as California Democrats gear up to try to persuade voters to approve a $26 million borrowing spree despite a looming budget deficit.
Newsom will have to rely on shifting funding sources and internal borrowing as California is expected to be hit with a $31.5 billion budget deficit, up $9 billion since it was originally estimated in January. However, Newsom is at a crossroads with the bond requests, particularly looking ahead to 2024. The governor must juggle several bond requests from Democratic lawmakers on everything from mental health to affordable housing.
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The Democrats’ bond bills total around $100 billion, with Newsom estimating he’ll set a limit at around $26 billion. Here are four major liberal policies that Newsom is considering ahead of the October deadline.
Mental health and homelessness
The epitome of Newsom’s agenda as governor is wrapped up in a $4.68 billion bond that aims to fund up to 10,000 housing placements for veterans and those with severe mental illnesses.
The goal behind the proposal is to alleviate homelessness in the state and funnel money into treatments for those who experience substance abuse and serious mental health disorders.
The governor himself proposed the measure, with lawmakers and California Professional Firefighters rallying behind an additional bill that will rewrite how the Mental Services Act, passed by voters in 2004, will allocate funds.
Under Newsom’s proposal, the act would earmark $1 billion in revenue from the tax for housing and residential services each year. Newsom said in March that the initial act did not account for California’s housing shortage or how drug addiction can play a role in homelessness and mental health.
The governor has indicated that he will place focus on mental health bond proposals before moving on to the others.
Housing
Tying into the mental health proposals are measures from state lawmakers hoping to address the state’s housing shortfall.
Democratic Assembly Housing Chairwoman Buffy Wicks proposed a $10 billion bond to funnel money into the state’s Multifamily Housing Program to construct and renovate low-income housing.
Another lawmaker, Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino, is seeking a $25 billion mortgage and construction bond that seeks to make homeownership attainable for low- and middle-income Californians.
Newsom has called a potential housing measure “a big part” of bond negotiations, so it is likely that lawmakers will work to present voters with one large housing initiative to “avoid housing fatigue on the ballot,” Wicks said.
Climate change
Newsom has championed several green policies over the years, including zero-emission vehicles and reduced state oil consumption. With a significant budget deficit, eyes will be on the state to see if it can fulfill its goal to achieve 90% clean energy by 2035 and carbon neutrality no later than 2045.
The significant budget deficit forced Newsom to keep a $6 billion cut to climate spending in his budget revision. The budget will reduce investments in areas such as zero-emission vehicles and climate change programs, among others.
Democratic Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia and Democratic state Sen. Ben Allen have both proposed bills with a total cost of $15 billion to $16 billion to address the state’s resiliency to climate change, targeting areas such as water supplies, clean energy, and flood prevention. Both call for projects to thin forests to prevent wildfires and plant trees in cities to help with extreme heat, as well.
If the attempt to combine the two bills is successful, it will be the largest climate bond measure ever to be placed on a California ballot.
Education
California has historically faced pushback from voters who see the need for action in one area but do not support more funding for that issue, particularly when it comes to education. The last school bond measure to build and maintain schools passed in 2016.
In 2020, voters killed Newsom’s $15 billion education bond measure called Proposition 13 by a margin of 6 percentage points — the first failed school bond in over two decades.
While some credit the bond’s failure to some confusion over its name, others said the price tag (which would have made it the most expensive education bond measure to go before California voters) was offputting as well, particularly in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Democratic Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi is confident, however, that his $14 billion education bond measure to provide funding for K-12 schools and community colleges will prevail. State Sen. Steve Glazer’s proposed bond, worth $15 billion, would cover four-year colleges.
Glazer’s bond has the support of the University of California and California State University, while Muratsuchi has built a large coalition of school boards, administrators, and construction groups to support his proposal.