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KPBS Midday Edition

What should California do with the budget surplus?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pictured in an April 2020 photograph.
Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pictured in an April 2020 photograph.

What should California do with its estimated $20.6 billion budget surplus? In 2021 a portion of the state's budget surplus was returned in the form of stimulus checks for some Californians. But the second year of an enormous budget surplus makes us wonder, should California cut taxes?

That’s the question posed in The San Diego Union-Tribune’s regular Econometer column, which asks questions of a panel made up of local economists, business leaders and academics and is written by business reporter Philip Molnar.

Of the 13 panelists who responded to the question, "With a second year in a row of a projected budget surplus, should California consider cutting taxes?," all but two answered "yes."

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Molnar joined Midday Edition on Monday to talk about what local economists and others suggest could be done with California's tax system and budget surplus.