Gavin Newsom decided to try and pick a fight with Ron DeSantis.
Now he is regretting that he made that ill-fated decision.
And that is because a DeSantis official dropped one fact about California that left Gavin Newsom seething.
California scrambling to solve its massive budget crisis
California Governor Gavin Newsom is scrambling to solve his state’s massive budget deficit of $50 billion.
The Golden State was riding high from federal stimulus money from the pandemic, but the gravy train has run dry.
Newsom went from boasting about a $100 surplus three years ago to now having to explain why the state is going broke.
California has one of the highest tax burdens in the country, but the Democrat politicians there still cannot balance the books.
Newsom announced his plan to plug that budget deficit which ended up sounding like a Republican proposal.
He vowed to create a “leaner, more efficient” government by not filling about 10,000 open jobs in state government and a series of one-time spending cuts.
“Without raising taxes on Californians, we’re delivering a balanced budget over two years that continues the progress we’ve fought so hard to achieve, from getting folks off the streets to addressing the climate crisis to keeping our communities safe,” Newsom said.
Newsom wilted under pressure when a reporter asked him about the state’s budget problems.
“Can we explain to Californians how we moved from a $100 billion surplus to such a significant deficit in just a few years?” a reporter asked.
The California Governor proceeded to blame it on climate change.
He said that the IRS filing deadline for “most California taxpayers in 2023” was pushed back until October because of natural disasters in the state.
Newsom also blamed people carrying losses from a down stock market for writing them.
“While the market bounced back by late 2023, the state continued to collect less tax revenue than projected in part due to something called ‘capital loss carryover,’ which allows losses from previous years to reduce how much an individual is taxed,” Newsom’s office said.
Newsom claimed without evidence that “climate change” had an “impact” on California because of the natural disasters it caused.
DeSantis official compares and contrasts Florida and California
DeSantis communications director Bryan Griffin compared Florida’s fiscal situation to California’s on social media.
“Watch below as [Gavin Newsom] struggles to explain away California’s budget problems even with an enormous state income tax. (He’s clearly spending a lot of the state’s money on radical climate agenda items),” Griffin wrote.
Griffin noted that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced record tax relief after the state had a budget surplus.
“Compare this to [Ron DeSantis’] discussion of Florida’s budget (made at a press conference announcing record tax relief) which is in outstanding shape without any state income tax!” Griffin added.
DeSantis announced that Florida is running big budget surpluses and that since he became Governor over 20% of the state’s debt has been paid off.
Florida is once against getting the upper hand against California.
Failure vs. Success
Watch below as @GavinNewsom struggles to explain away California's budget problems even with an enormous state income tax. (He's clearly spending a lot of the state's money on radical climate agenda items).
Compare this to @GovRonDeSantis' discussion of… https://t.co/OXwIF9viAc pic.twitter.com/wmSSuiDCAS
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) May 14, 2024
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
