SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a budget that closes an estimated $54.3 billion deficit.
The $202.1 billion spending plan temporarily raises taxes on businesses, pulls heavily from the state's primary savings account and cuts more than $11 billion from state programs.
But the budget mostly avoids permanent cuts to public education and health care programs, instead delaying payments to future years and borrowing from internal funds.
Newsom said the budget is responsible in the face of a pandemic. But Republican legislative leaders say the plan will only make it more difficult to balance budgets in the future.