California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially declined to provide financial assistance to the city of Los Angeles, which faces a staggering $1 billion deficit, citing the state’s own $12 billion budget shortfall. Despite repeated pleas from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, Newsom’s latest budget proposal offers no relief.
“The state’s not in a position to write a check,” Newsom stated bluntly at a Wednesday press conference. “That’s a nonstarter.”
The refusal comes as Los Angeles grapples with ballooning personnel costs, mounting lawsuit payouts, and tax revenues falling far short of expectations. City officials have already warned of cuts to critical services, including the fire department — an issue spotlighted by the destructive Palisades Fire earlier this year. While L.A. increased spending on homeless services, critics point out the irony that many of the city’s fires are caused by the very homeless encampments those funds support.
Despite multiple trips to Sacramento by Bass to secure funding, Newsom stood firm. His administration emphasized that any city requests not directly tied to disaster recovery would be denied.
Meanwhile, San Francisco, Newsom’s political launching pad, is in similar straits, also facing a $1 billion deficit. All three entities — Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the state of California — received large amounts of federal funding under President Joe Biden but quickly returned to fiscal instability before the end of his term.
Newsom, known for his combative stance toward conservatives, has blamed former President Donald Trump for California’s financial woes. But many observers say the crisis is rooted in decades of Democrat-led mismanagement, skyrocketing social program costs, and hostile business policies that have driven tax revenue and middle-class residents out of the state.
