Walters: How Newsom's presidential ambitions complicate his last budget as governor

"His initial budget proposal, released last week, basically adopts the current spending plan, with a few tweaks that continue his ideological drift to the right. In hopes of producing a balanced budget, at least on paper, Newsom is cutting back on spending for social welfare and health care services and college scholarships. Those steps alone are drawing criticism from many advocacy groups, but resistance is also heightened by his apparent unwillingness to fill in gaps caused by President Donald Trump's cutbacks in federal support."

"As Gavin Newsom moves ever-closer to declaring his presidential candidacy, everything he does in his last year as governor is rightfully being viewed through that political prism. Newsom knows that being portrayed as a left-leaning cultural warrior from deeply blue California a factor in sinking Kamala Harris's White House bid is potentially fatal. Thus, Newsom's final state budget takes on a new political meaning, and makes the always-difficult process of weighing competing interests within the state even trickier than usual."

Gavin Newsom is moving closer to a presidential run, and his actions in the final year as governor are being interpreted politically. His initial budget proposal largely sustains the current spending plan while incorporating tweaks that shift policy to the right. The proposal reduces spending for social welfare, health care services, and college scholarships and does not fully replace federal cuts under President Donald Trump. Those moves have provoked criticism from left-leaning advocacy groups. That syndrome previously affected Jerry Brown after Proposition 13, when he adjusted tax and spending positions in pursuit of national ambitions.

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