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Agreement includes $1,050 in ‘inflation relief’ COURTESY PHOTOGov. Gavin Newsom
By TOM JOYCETHE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
(The Center Square) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed the state budget, which will see 23 million residents receiving a four-digit check from the state.
The budget enactment came after Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, sent Gov. Newsom the framework of the 2022-23 budget.
The lawmakers say there will be a $17 billion “inflation relief package” in the budget, which Gov. 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.
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