California is confronting a dire financial situation, having recently turned a state budget producing a healthy annual surplus into a staggering $68 billion deficit this year at the hand of  Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The state has also defaulted on a $20 billion federal loan. The crisis, unprecedented in California’s prosperous history, points to the deep-seated failures of leftist government that is hammering the world’s fifth-largest economy.

The Newsom administration has responded to the immediate situation with a stringent spending freeze across state agencies, the first such measures since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pauses in spending aim to staunch the financial hemorrhage, with the state Department of Finance mandating limits on expenditures on everything from office supplies to non-essential travel.

Gavin Newsom's California drowns in $68 BILLION deficit, defaults on $20 billion loan from fedhttps://t.co/piegy7n3Gy

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 16, 2023

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) is a House freshman who represents California’s 3rd congressional district in the eastern part of the state. This week, he slammed the deficit and claimed that the crisis is the result of profound financial mismanagement.

“California is now facing a $68 billion deficit. It has also defaulted on a $20 billion loan from the federal government. The situation is so dire the state is telling agencies not to replace broken printers or re-stock office supplies. Workers are being stripped of benefits and could face furloughs,” Kiley said.

Many other Republican critics of the regime in control of the state attribute the crisis to runaway spending and mismanagement, particularly citing billions spent on initiatives like High-Speed Rail and expanding Medi-Cal state health benefits to illegal aliens. The extravagant spending, coupled with major tax revenue losses due to a mass exodus of residents fleeing for more economically and socially free states, has exacerbated the deficit. Over 300,000 residents departed California in 2022.  

The default on a $20 billion federal loan shows the severity of the situation. The failure to meet ongoing debt obligations will surely make California’s negotiations for federal aid or support in the future much more difficult. The default will adversely affect the state bond market, investor confidence and the state’s credit rating.

California’s budget crisis serves as a crucial moment of reckoning, demanding robust fiscal management and strategic policy reforms to steer the state back toward financial stability. It remains to be seen whether the voters who remain in the Golden State will seek true change or more of the same disastrous policy decisions.