Editorial: Newsom has proven more government spending isn’t the answer

When Gov. Gavin Newsom first took office in 2019, his first budget proposal called for $144 billion in general fund expenditures.

Now, his final state budget proposal, released Friday, is calling for $248 billion in general fund expenditures.

Even after accounting for inflation, does it seem like Californians are getting their money’s worth from all of this state government spending?

Newsom, of course, says Californians are better off: “Because of what we have built and protected in past state budgets, millions of Californians are better off today.”

He cites as examples: “Children can get through the school day with full stomachs and stronger foundations for learning. Young people have greater access to college at all levels and are prepared for good-paying jobs through apprenticeships. We have confronted climate change as a call to invent, build, and lead with new technologies. We have cut drug costs, expanded tax credits for businesses and families, and put unprecedented efforts into tackling the mental health and housing crises that have gripped this country for too long.”

Now, we’re glad as anyone that kids aren’t going hungry, but he leaves out that California still has the highest rate of poverty in the country when considering the cost of living.

According to the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California using its own poverty measure, while 16.4% of Californians were impoverished in 2019, this rose to 16.9% by 2023, even after all the massive COVID spending.

Meanwhile the U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2025 that California’s poverty rate stood at 17.7% in 2024 when using the bureau’s supplemental poverty measure. “California’s rate, 17.7%, means that nearly 7 million of its residents are impoverished, 5 percentage points higher than the national rate and tied with Louisiana. The lowest rate is 6.7% in Maine,” noted CalMatters’ Dan Walters.

And while he touts that providing food to kids builds a “stronger foundation for learning,” his education policy has still left them behind. In 2018-19, 51.1% of California’s K-12 students met or exceeded state standards in reading and 39.73% in mathematics. After all these years of Newsom, both are down to 48.82% and 37.3%, respectively.

Newsom’s other boasts of climate change, tax credits and housing spending all sound nice. He likewise leaves out that on his watch energy prices, housing prices and homelessness have all gone up, not down. And with all the wildfires, he certainly hasn’t made a dent in the trajectory of global climate change.

Yes, Newsom has overseen the further bloating of state government spending, but he’s done little to put the state on a sustainable trajectory or improve the effectiveness of government spending.

Californians see this for themselves. That’s why, over this past summer, the PPIC reported, “On the issue of size of government, a majority of Californians (55%) would rather pay lower taxes and have a state government that provides fewer services, while fewer (44%) would rather pay higher taxes and have a state government that provides more services.”

Newsom has effectively proven as governor that more spending isn’t necessarily the answer. It buys a lot of political support, sure, but that doesn’t mean it buys better government.

And as a cherry on top, Newsom acknowledges that for all this money the state has, he will be leaving a structural budget deficit to whoever succeeds him.

“While the Budget is balanced in the 2026-27 fiscal year, with a discretionary reserve of $4.5 billion, it projects a deficit of roughly $22 billion in the 2027-28 fiscal year and shortfalls in the two years following,” his budget message explains.

The only thing Californians can hope for is that Newsom doesn’t do more damage on his way out.