Newsom’s state budget plan comes with a Trump-sized asterisk

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• Newsom previews his proposed 2025-2026 state budget.
• “Life-threatening” winds are set to batter Southern California: Here’s the forecast.
• Sitting hurts. Train for your desk job with these five easy exercises for your head and neck.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper.

Newsom previews his proposed budget for California (but gives few details)

Gov. Gavin Newsom took an unconventional approach Monday to his annual unveiling of his ideal state budget, providing some topline figures but skipping the details of the proposal he’ll send to state lawmakers later this week.

The governor teased a balanced budget that includes a “modest surplus” and $322.2 billion in proposed spending for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Newsom characterized the budget as an effort at “maintaining fiscal discipline in a time of deep uncertainty,” referring to the incoming Trump administration and how its expected policy changes could affect life in the Golden State and beyond.

“The proposal kicks off the annual six-month process in which the governor and lawmakers negotiate a final spending plan to be approved in late June,” my colleague Taryn Luna reported. “Newsom’s presentation at a college campus in the Central Valley town of Turlock was an unusual twist on the ritual, driven by Newsom’s decision to travel to Washington, D.C., later this week for the funeral of former President Carter.”

A view of Newsom’s news conference on Monday.

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

One notable omission: the usual document of the governor’s budget proposal that provides details about how he would like the state to prioritize in the upcoming fiscal year.

Those details won’t come until Friday when Newsom’s budget is formally submitted (when he’ll be out of town). Here’s what he did share Monday.

Under Newsom’s plan, he says there would be no deficit next fiscal year

That’s a stark change from last year, when the state faced a $46.8 billion shortfall and made cuts, pulled from reserves and declared a “fiscal emergency” to solve it.

What’s different this year? In part, according to Newsom: State revenues are projected to increase by $16.5 billion. He did note that those projections could change by May.

But despite that expected increase in revenue, Luna reports that Newsom will recommend the state pull $7.1 billion from the state’s rainy day fund.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers a briefing of his proposed 2025-26 state budget at Cal State Stanislaus on Monday.

(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

“The cost of providing Medi-Cal coverage to seniors and more undocumented immigrants, offering pre-kindergarten to all 4-year-olds, creating a new $420-million tax break for Hollywood film studios and funding other signature Newsom policies leaves California with a spending problem,” she wrote this week.

A nonpartisan government agency had a different prediction on California’s budget deficit

Newsom’s deficit picture clashes with what was predicted in November by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, which predicted a $2 billion shortfall next year, followed by about $20 billion in 2026-27 and roughly $30 billion by 2028-29.

Newsom did not look that far ahead in his presentation or comments to the media, but did acknowledge the LAO’s deficit projection for next year differs from his own.

“[They] had a number. We have our number,” he said.

Newsom faced criticism from the state’s Republican lawmakers who called him negligent and said he’s failing to help regular Californians.

“Gavin Newsom is in over his head and hopes that no one notices — but no amount of Enron-style accounting will change the alarming reality that Gavin Newsom has created a fiscal crisis,” Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) said in a statement.

Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ could change things

There was a Trump-sized asterisk in Newsom’s presentation.

President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House will almost certainly be followed by a number of major policy shifts in the form of tariffs, mass deportations and federal budget cuts. That includes threats to withhold disaster funding in fire-prone California.

The potential effects of those policies on the labor market and inflation “would radically change our outlook,” Newsom said. “We really have to see what fire and fury comes from Trump in the next few weeks.”

Newsom also mentioned the proposed Department of Government Efficiency, led by two people: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

“[They] are talking about $2 trillion in cuts. You can’t cut $2 trillion without literally gutting entitlements,” Newsom said during his presentation. “That’s next-level uncertainty.”

Today’s top stories

Construction continues on the field at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Jan. 6, 2025, as harsh Santa Ana weather conditions are predicted this week.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

A “life-threatening” windstorm is expected to batter Southern California this week, forecasters warn

• The windstorm could last several days and affect a massive swath of Southern California beginning early Tuesday, according to forecasters.
• Officials are concerned that if a fire sparks during the windstorm, the blaze could quickly spread into an erratic, fast-moving wildfire as the region swings toward a drought.

California moves to aid undocumented students as deportation fears surge

• California officials are moving quickly to protect undocumented immigrant students amid President-elect Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportations.
• Meanwhile, here’s a look at how legal immigration helped end the great California exodus.

A new report links fluoridated drinking water to lower IQ scores in children

• The report published this week in JAMA Pediatrics concluded that the more fluoride a child is exposed to, the lower he or she tends to score on intelligence tests.
• Critics say the study is based on data from places outside the U.S. where fluoride levels are far higher than the concentration recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has said he wants to stop adding fluoride to drinking water.

A part-time actor claimed he created a COVID-19 cure. Now he’s going to prison

• Keith Lawrence Middlebrook was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for soliciting investors in companies that prosecutors said marketed a bogus cure and treatment for COVID-19.
• Middlebrook, who was convicted in May of 11 counts of wire fraud, claimed he had consulted with seven attorneys and eight doctors “from the very beginning, for a product of this magnitude.”

What else is going on

• Newsom and other state leaders stressed progress in the high-speed rail project as it faces new challenges.
• A catalytic converter thief shouted “No!” before an accomplice shot actor Johnny Wactor, a detective testified.
• The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a confrontation between the driver of a Mercedez-Benz and a group of cyclists in Los Angeles.
• A small plane crashed outside a home in the Temple City neighborhood.
• A pro soccer team in Orange County has 1,463 shareholders.

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Commentary and opinions

• The richest Americans finished paying their Social Security taxes last week. Most of us will pay all year, business columnist Michael Hiltzik writes.
• Here’s what anti-abortion activists want next, writes Mary Ziegler, a law professor at UC Davis.
• Trump wants to rekindle his Kim Jong Un bromance, but North Korea has other suitors now, writes Daniel R. DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs commentator for the Spectator.
• If “Baby Shark” represents the worst of children’s music, this is the genre’s best, writes Cornelia Powers in a guest opinion.

This morning’s must read

(Maggie Chiang / For The Times)

Constantly anxious? Bestselling author Martha Beck argues that discovering your creative calling is the antidote to an anxious existence.

“It was really one of those a-ha moments,” Beck, who is also Oprah Winfrey’s go-to life coach, said in an interview. “And I just walked around my room going, ‘I don’t have to be anxious anymore. I know how to shut it down.’”

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].

For your downtime

The Times consulted doctors, personal trainers and others to devise short, easy exercises for your head and neck, so you can work more comfortably.

(Patrick Hruby / Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 🧑‍💼 Train for your desk job with these easy, equipment free exercises for your head and neck.
• 🍴 Start 2025 off strong with new restaurants serving Tuscan specialties, Uzbek cuisine and Spanish tapas.
• 🌅 Here are 12 California experiences to add to your bucket list for 2025.
• 🎭 L.A.’s most intimate theater experience? You’re the only guest at this thrilling show.

Staying in

• 💍 Zendaya and Tom Holland are reportedly engaged amid those Golden Globes rumors.
• 🎥 A documentary about Melania Trump will be released later this year in theaters and on Amazon Prime Video.
• 🏈 Sports streaming service FuboTV Inc. is set to be merged with Walt Disney Co.’s Hulu live TV service.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for salt-and-pepper pork chops with vinegared scallions.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What’s something you’re looking forward to in 2025?

Judy Cunningham writes: “Meeting a 70+ year-old single gentleman, in or near zip code 92692, who likes to dance. Any style of dance will work and he can rest any time he needs to. I drive day and night, so any location works.”

Email us at [email protected], and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... your photo of the day

A view of a beach in La Jolla during high tide last month.

(Stephen Blakesley )

Today’s great photo is from Stephen Blakesley of San Diego: the beaches of La Jolla.

Stephen writes: “The years come and go quickly in my old age. Similar to the renewing tides that ebb and flow along our coast. Few cities in California can provide tidal beauty just steps from downtown. La Jolla is a coastal jewel.”

Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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