Newsom’s Plan to Fill California Gap Ditches Pay-as-You-Go Plan

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to fill a $22.5 billion deficit, the first for the state since 2018, mostly involves pulling back on promises he made when the state was flush, including paying with cash for projects instead of bonds.

“We were able to shift to cash a lot of the bonds,” Newsom said Tuesday in unveiling his $223.6 billion budget for the coming fiscal year. “We didn’t have to do it but it was a nice thing to do. It was a smart thing to do. It was wisdom.”