THE BUZZ: TAKING A BREATH — Gavin Newsom says he’s grateful lawmakers have taken to heart his push to start trimming the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit now — months before the budget deadline. But Assembly Democrats told Playbook on Thursday that they weren’t about to be rushed. That underlying tension between the lower chamber and the governor’s office — discussed diplomatically in public but more apparent in the frank conversations with lawmakers — surfaced this week when Newsom and legislative leaders announced they had an agreement to trim the budget deficit by $12 billion to $18 billion, without specifying the details. The challenge for Speaker Robert Rivas is that the other major players at the budget negotiation table — Newsom and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire — have already agreed on some cuts and want to move at breakneck speed while the Assembly is nowhere close on the specifics. Unlike Newsom, who can act unilaterally, and McGuire, who has a more cohesive and smaller caucus (and a tighter grip on his members), Rivas is trying to telegraph to his sprawling caucus that each and every one of them will be heard. Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel said he and Rivas have been clear from the outset that they wanted to ensure a more “transparent and inclusive” budget process for lawmakers. Part of doing that, he said, is taking the time to keep their fellow Dems in the loop. The Assembly is still aiming to pass an early budget package in April, months ahead of their usual schedule. “We have a big, diverse caucus with a lot of people who … want to be at the table,” Gabriel told Playbook Thursday, as lawmakers left the chamber for their weeklong spring recess. “Speed is important in certain situations. But the balance there is to do things in the right way.” Lawmakers don’t need to take any budget action until June, but Newsom has been especially eager to begin slashing the deficit. It’s not hard to understand why: The governor hates the rolling negative headlines about California’s projected $38 billion to $73 billion deficit and wants to erase the red ink ASAP. The speaker’s allies say he’s trying to break away from a prior Assembly era under former Speaker Anthony Rendon, when budget deals were often cobbled together with Newsom while most members were in the dark (especially during the pandemic years). But to do that, the new speaker has to wrangle a fractured, 62-member caucus, forging agreement among a large and opinionated group of lawmakers. The early proposal in question — the one the Senate released this month — includes relatively uncontentious cuts and spending delays. Unless there’s a windfall, Rivas’ task will only get harder as June approaches. GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Now you can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment