Sacramento just handed Steve Hilton a campaign ad and called it a budget. This is the California Governor's Race. The legislature passed a placeholder deal Monday — now they're at the table with Newsom, and the clock's running toward July 1. And the question everybody's about to fight over: does this deal force the first real tax position in the general? Stick around. One tap on follow, and we'll be back in your ears before you know it. From GV Wire:
The vote was only a formality, because lawmakers are constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget by June 15 each year to continue collecting their pay. They have until the end of the month to strike a deal with Newsom before the new fiscal year starts July 1.
Okay, the placeholder budget passed Monday — $356 billion — and everybody's gonna file this as a Sacramento process story and move on. I'd slow down. These talks between now and July 1 are the first real governing test of this whole cycle. And it was a formality vote, to be clear — they have to pass something by June 15 or they stop getting paid. CalMatters is blunt on that. The real fight with Newsom starts now. Right, and here's why it matters for the governor's race — Newsom's now across the table from his own legislature. Hilton's whole pitch is that Newsom is the face of everything broken in that room. And the timing just put him physically in the room. The sticking point's real, too — lawmakers want $2.7 billion more for TK-12 and community colleges than Newsom floated in May. That's a live disagreement, not a rubber stamp. And lawmakers signed on to Newsom's software tax, the business-credit trims, and extending the health-provider tax. That's a fiscal package Hilton and Becerra are gonna have to take positions on, out loud, before November. Receipts moment. If California politics is your lane, check out Los Angeles Politics and Urbanism Daily. It covers City Hall, housing abundance, homelessness response, Metro, public safety, and small-business permitting — a great local companion to the governor's race, wherever you listen to podcasts.
Next up, we're watching whether Governor Newsom and state legislators settle a final budget by the end of June, before the new fiscal year starts July 1.
We've put links to every story from today's briefing in the show notes, so if one caught your ear, you can dig into the original reporting there. That's California Governor's Race for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.