How many big Newsom ideas will CA Legislature fund?

Lynn La | CALMattersAs a new legislative session gets underway in Sacramento next week, officials are sending mixed signals about the state of the state budget and just how ambitious California can afford to be in the coming year.A mere week ago, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal adviser released its annual outlook, projecting a small deficit that could soon grow into much larger deficits and warning that the state has no capacity for new spending commitments. Legislative leaders endorsed that message, urging restraint and a focus on protecting existing services.But Gov. Gavin Newsom still has big, expensive ideas — especially as California gears up for another Trump administration in which the state& may play captain of the resistance.He announced on Monday that if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on plans to eliminate a federal tax credit for electric vehicles, Newsom will propose reviving an expired state rebate program. The governor previously floated creating a backup disaster relief fund& in case Trump denies emergency aid to California and, unrelated to the president, doubling the state’s film and television production tax credit.That’s potentially billions of dollars in additional spending — before we even get Newsom’s full budget pitch in January.Funding for the electric...