California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has a major weapon as he attempts to fend off a recall election: a $75.7 billion budget surplus. Earlier this week, Newsom said he wants to use those funds to issue $600 stimulus checks to eleven million low- and middle-income state residents. That’s on top of money both California and the federal government has already distributed to help citizens weather the pandemic.
On NPR, Newsom claimed his proposal is “the largest tax relief year-over-year in U.S. history as well, not just California history.”
“We believe people are better suited than we are to make determinations for themselves on how best to use these dollars,” Newsom said, echoing a common conservative sentiment.
Newsom has other ideas for the money, too, including childcare subsidies, rental assistance, wildfire mitigation, and programs for the homeless.
The California legislature would need to approve any actions.
California’s windfall is attributed to Silicon Valley’s stellar year. While many industries floundered during the pandemic, technology boomed and the Golden State was able to dig itself out of massive debt. The New York Times provides more detail:
In less than a year, the state’s financial picture has swung from bust to boom, thanks largely to California’s tax system, which relies heavily on the kind of higher-income workers who were able to work from home and thus keep their jobs during the pandemic.
The state cashed in not only on income taxes but on taxes on capital gains from the booming stock market as investments made affluent Californians wealthier and as a number of California-based start-ups went public.
Republicans pointed to California’s rosy economic picture as proof that President Biden’s spending proposals are unnecessary.
“This is one more reason why borrowing and sending tens of billions to California was a crying shame — and why every Republican in Congress opposed it,” tweeted Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
State Sen. Scott Wilk used the hashtag #RecallRebate in a tweet critical of Newsom’s plan.
Earlier this week, The Los Angeles Times reported that the recall effort is losing steam, as top contender Caitlyn Jenner has garnered single-digit support:
The campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom has failed to gain momentum in recent months as significantly more California voters favor keeping him in office, and only anemic support has surfaced for reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner while other Republican candidates hoping to take the governor’s place have little backing, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll that was co-sponsored by the L.A. Times.