What California needs to move forward economically – it doesn’t start with austerity

Californians recently learned of alarming estimates of the state’s budget shortfall as a result of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state faces a $54 billion budget shortfall for the current and next fiscal years – a 37% decrease from the current state funding level. This stark news comes just ahead of his revised 2020-21 budget proposal. We can’t ignore how quickly COVID-19 has changed California’s fiscal outlook. Nor can we look away from the high price Californians are paying as they shoulder the economic impact of this crisis.

The COVID-19 public health crisis has upended the lives of Californians. So far, a relatively small but rapidly increasing number of Californians have gotten sick, some with severe consequences – while millions more people have experienced serious disruptions to their jobs, schools, child care settings, and services as a result of the public health measures required to “flatten the curve” of infections. The potential health effects and economic effects may be severe – and Californians with low incomes will be especially hard hit.