THAT IS a LOT of Money……
Actually there are other states that have extra money in their coffers….
State Tax rebates are in order?
Californians could receive billions in tax rebates later this year as the state’s budget surplus continues to explode.
State Senate leaders on Thursday released an extensive wish list for spending the windfall — now estimated to be as high as $68 billion. That staggering figure is the high end of a projection from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, which in January put the number far lower, at $29 billion.
California’s swelling coffers mark a sharp reversal from early in the pandemic, when unemployment spiked and officials braced for steep budget cuts. Instead, a booming stock market and tech sector have brought in record revenues, even as Californians with lower incomes contended with job losses and sky-high housing costs.
Other states are also awash in cash.
Atop the spending list is a proposal to send $8 billion in payments to taxpayers, a move that Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) pitched as a way to combat rising costs of energy and consumer goods. The plan would also include rebates to small businesses and nonprofits to help repay federal unemployment debt, along with grants that could be used to offset new costs from the state’s supplemental Covid-19 sick leave program.
The rebate proposal is reminiscent of the Golden State Stimulus checks the state mailed out last year. Meanwhile Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed an $11 billion relief package to offset rising gas prices. The governor is expected to reveal an updated state spending plan next month.
The largest chunk of the surplus — around $43 billion — would go to bolster the state’s budget reserves under the Senate proposal, which the LAO in November estimated to be north of $21 billion for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The Senate proposal also calls for large increases in education spending….