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Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) released the following statement in response to the governor’s May Revise presentation:
“When I left the legislature in 2012, the state budget was $98 billion for everything, yet Governor Newsom’s proposed budget today is more than three times that amount.
“California does not have a revenue problem; it has a wasteful spending problem. A good example of this governor’s poor performance is the missing $27 billion that he has spent on homelessness, with no statewide metrics to show for it.
“Californians are sensitive to government waste, and a budget is a blueprint of priorities. Here again, Newsom is out of step with Californians by not fully funding Prop. 36, which passed by nearly 70% and in all 58 counties, yet he insists on throwing good money after bad to the high-speed rail, which needs more than just a Newsom’s lifeline.”
Senator Strickland outlined a list of California’s budgetary waste:
- $7 billion for the High Speed Rail (source: KCRA)
- $9.5 billion for undocumented immigrant healthcare (source: Los Angeles Times)
- $240 million for Governor Newsom’s San Quentin Transformation (source: San Francisco Chronicle)
- $5 million in one-time General Fund to launch a Belonging Campaign by January 2026. (Source: Legislative Analyst’s Office)
- $50 million for Governor Newsom’s Slush Fund for Attorney General Bonta to ‘Trump-proof’ California (source: Politico)
$57 million for Governor Newsom’s Outreach Support Funds Proposal for community engagement and awareness campaigns (Source: Legislative Analyst’s Office)