Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) released the following statement today after legislative Democrats passed an unsustainable budget, at a record-high level of spending, projecting to leave annual structural budget deficits in double digits. General Fund spending is approximately $5 billion higher than the governor’s proposed May Revision, bringing total spending from all state funds to $352 billion.
“The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has warned that this increased spending is not sustainable. Yet legislative Democrats threw that caution out the door. They have an addiction to spending.
“This budget includes $200 million in handouts for Democrats’ low-priority pet projects yet provides only $50 million in new funding for Proposition 36. The law was approved by voters in all 58 counties in 2024 with nearly 70% of the vote.
“At a time when law-abiding Californians are struggling with the high cost of living, their basic needs are being ignored. Instead, legislative Democrats continue to expand government programs, pass more than $14 billion in tax increases, and approve billions in borrowing, while directing funding toward political allies and pet projects.”
Legislative Democrats’ wasteful spending priorities:
$12 billion for Medi-Cal for undocumented immigrants.
$1.5 billion for the High-Speed Rail Authority for 2026-27.
$225 million to help the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) achieve the goal of becoming the greenest fleet in the nation.
$100 million in new funding to bring a total of $175 million for immigration legal services.
$12.5 million for a public contract code exemption for Newsom’s Diaper Access Initiative. It has been reported that the state is paying $0.50 per diaper when a box at Target works out to $0.16 each.
$10 million to existing funds from now through 2028-29 for a total of $81 million for the California Attorney General to sue the federal government.
$10 million for gender transition provider network, covering transitions for the uninsured.
$10 million to the City and County of San Francisco for street surfacing
$10 million to existing funds from now through 2028-29 for a total of $81 million for the California Attorney General to sue the federal government.
$5 million for the Voting Rights project at UCLA to sue states for voting laws.
$5 million one-time General Fund for Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) for immigration legal resources.
$1.9 million to expand 8 new positions in the California Energy Commission, a bureaucracy that exists for Democrats and the governor to appoint political appointees.