Inside California’s New Budget of Nearly $300 Billion

Over the weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom approved a budget for California that will close a state deficit estimated at $46.8 billion.

The $297.9 billion budget, for the fiscal year that begins today, covers that shortfall by cutting state spending, drawing from reserves and suspending some tax breaks for businesses, among other measures.

“This is a responsible budget that prepares for the future while investing in foundational programs that benefit millions of Californians every day,” Newsom said in a statement on Saturday.

My colleague Shawn Hubler explains exactly which jobs and programs were trimmed to balance the budget, as well as why California’s finances can fluctuate so widely from year to year. Perhaps you remember that two years ago, the state had a record surplus.

Despite the overall tightness of the state’s finances, this year’s budget includes a new line item: funds for reparations for Black residents.

The state created a task force in 2020 to look into possible reparations for its 2.5 million Black residents. Though California joined the union as a free state, Black people were still enslaved here, and experts say that for generations, discriminatory housing, voting and criminal justice policies made it harder for Black Californians to accumulate wealth.

Last year, the task force recommended more than 100 policy changes in education, housing and other areas; a formal apology from the state to Black residents; and, most notably, billions of dollars in direct cash payments.

The new state budget includes $12 million for reparations measures, but not for cash payments; it is meant to cover the cost of legislative changes now being considered to help Black Californians. They include giving people from historically redlined communities priority for certain educational grants; establishing a fund to help reduce violence in predominantly Black communities; and a formal apology from the state, memorialized in a plaque at the State Capitol, for the harm done by racism.

Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, a Democrat who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus and represents a district northeast of San Francisco, said on Saturday that the state’s financial straits made the budgeting of funds for reparations more poignant.

“I thought it was a win,” Wilson told my colleague Alan Blinder. “To see it in the budget means that we were listened to.”

Read more from Alan on reparations funds being set aside in the state budget.

And before you go, some good news

The campers at the Sandy Feet Beach camp in San Clemente are all from families that also have children with special needs at home, The LAist reports. The campers have daily chats centered on how to go about life with a sibling who has special needs, but they also have fun experiences at the camp.

Mo Langley, who founded the camp in 2017, used to volunteer at surf camps for people with disabilities. At Sandy Feet Beach, the idea is to help the children who attend “feel like they’re part of a community,” Langley said.

About 500 children have attended over the years.