ANS -- California posts record budget surplus of nearly $100 billion

This very short article is about government surpluses and what they might do with them.  

Find it here: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2022/05/13/california-posts-record-budget-surplus-of-nearly-usd100-billion?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew 

--Kim

GOVERNMENT

California posts record budget surplus of nearly $100 billion

$49.2 billion of it can be spent for literally any purpose.

Rocket Power/Viacom International via Giphy

ByNeal Freyman

May 13, 2022

· less than 3 min read

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Rich Californians are paying boatloads in taxes, and it's helping the state build up a Redwood-sized piggy bank.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced yesterday that his state had a budget surplus of $97.5 billion, a record for California and, according to Newsom, anywhere else in the US…ever. "No other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this," he said at a press conference in Sacramento.

A chunk of that money has already been allotted to sectors like education, but $49.2 billion of it can be spent for literally any purpose. Some spending priorities include…

• Relief for Californians suffering from the nation's highest gas prices. Newsom has proposed sending residents $400 per vehicle.
• Expanding abortion care.
• A bonus payment to health care employees for their work during Covid.

And what's left over could be used to buy fans for the Chargers.

Big picture: California's historically groovy fiscal situation is being matched in states across the country, and at the federal level. Thanks to booming tax collections and lower spending, the US government posted a $308 billion surplus in April, the most of any month on record.—NF