Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that California continues to lead the nation economically and is looking forward to another budget surplus.
"We are world-beating in terms of our economic growth," Newsom said during the California Economic Summit.
The governor said California has created the most jobs in the nation since the beginning of the year.
"Dominating in every category," Newsom said. "Fastest growing companies, the most influential companies in the world."
Newsom said combined that with an almost $80 billion budget surplus, for the current year, and California is well-positioned to fully recover from the pandemic. The outlook is bright with new budget proposals on the horizon, he said.
"You’re going to have good news coming soon on next year’s budget surplus as well," Newsome said. "That allows us to do things unprecedented in California’s history and that is: invest in you."
This year’s surplus allowed for higher tax rebates, money for child care and rounds of pandemic relief dollars including stimulus checks. But Newsom said there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of housing affordability, homelessness, wildfires, equity and addressing climate change.
"We are at a point of real abundance across the spectrum," he said. "Our ability to invest unprecedented amounts of money in infrastructure and in human capital."
Locally, San Diego County Board of Supervisors chairman Nathan Fletcher is looking forward to potentially seeing more dollars coming to the region.
"You've got a lot of working families that can't find childcare — that can’t find affordable housing and so I think we have to look at how we invest those funds in real ways that impact working-class folks that are out there that are not seeing the benefits of this roaring economy," Fletcher said Tuesday. "We know this recession was one of the most uneven in history, billionaires did great — working-class folks did not."
Something that could threaten to slow the economy’s growth: As we approach the holidays Newsom is warning of increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases and he’s asking people to remain vigilant.
"Winter is coming," he said. "And COVID is not taking the winter off."
