Newsom Signs Budget Agreement With $1,050 In 'Inflation Relief'

By Tom Joyce | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square California

June 28, 2022

(The Center Square) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom has enacted the state's budget that will see 23 million residents receiving a four-digit check from the state.

The enactment comes after Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, sent Newsom the framework of the state's 2022-23 state budget.

The lawmakers say there will be a $17 billion "inflation relief package" in the budget, which Newsom's office indicated he signed Monday. In addition to the payouts, the budget will suspend the state sales tax on diesel and provide funding for both rent and utility assistance.

"California's budget addresses the state's most pressing needs and prioritizes getting dollars back into the pockets of millions of Californians who are grappling with global inflation and rising prices of everything from gas to groceries," the statement from the lawmakers said.

The budget will increase environmental spending. It will secure "additional power-generating capacity for the summer, accelerating our clean energy future," the lawmakers say. They say it will also help them prepare for and respond to severe wildfires, extreme heat, and drought conditions.

Although the lawmakers say they'll provide additional funding for "reproductive health care services," including abortion, they tout the budget as a "pro-life agenda."

"This budget builds on our unprecedented commitment to transform the resources available in our state, from a $47 billion multi-year infrastructure and transportation package to education and health care, showing the nation what a true pro-life agenda looks like," they write.

The lawmakers say that this budget will make California the first state to achieve "universal access to health care coverage." They also say it will provide an extra $200 million for "reproductive health care services."

Other provisions the lawmakers say are in the budget include funding for homeownership programs, billions in additional education funding, universal preschool, free school meals, and investments in children's mental health.

"In the face of growing economic uncertainty, this budget invests in California's values while further filling the state's budget reserves and building in triggers for future state spending to ensure budget stability for years to come," they wrote.

The focus of the work of The Center Square California is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.