The Budget: Winners and Losers, with Chris Hoene

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Facing the first deficit in a decade, legislators finished hammering out a Budget deal with the governor last week. While the final document (as it stands now, trailer bills and tweaks notwithstanding) does not feature the catastrophic cuts some had feared, funding for some of Gov. Newsom’s high priority projects did see reductions, including funds aimed at reducing homelessness and supporting the transition to clean energy.

In a win for the administration, legislators agreed to include some of the governor’s CEQA reform proposals – reversing the Sen. Budget Committee’s earlier rejection of the proposals. The Delta Tunnel project was not included in the deal, a setback for Central and Southern Water Districts and agriculture interests, who have seen a series of defeats on the issue since the end of the Brown Administration.

But, what does it all mean?

Our guest today is Chris Hoene, Executive Director of the California Budget & Policy Center, a nonpartisan research and analysis nonprofit committed to “advancing public policies that improve the lives of Californians who are denied opportunities to share in the state’s wealth and deserve the dignity and support to lead thriving lives in our communities.” Hoene has been a Budget-watcher for decades, and helps us dig into the new Budget Deal.

And, he joins hosts Rich Ehisen and Tim Foster to look at Who Had the Worst Week in California Politics.

1:02 Let’s talk about the Budget

2:48 CEQA and the Delta Tunnel

4:17 Winners

6:36 Losers

8:52 “A budget for the future”

10:35 Rainy Day Fund

11:47 The Speakership Transition

14:38 What issues remain unresolved?

17:56 Reviving the Industrial Relations Board

20:17 CA’s Budget compared to other states

23:39 #WWCA