Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers State of the State address
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered his final State of the State address on Thursday, Jan. 15, in the California state Capitol building. During the address, Newsom spoke about a range of topics, including the Trump administration, economic issues, housing, education, sustainability, and mental health.
Newsom began his address by criticizing the current political framework of the federal government and the Trump administration.
“The federal government is unrecognizable, protecting the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable,” he said. “Their credo is fear — fear of the future, fear of the stranger, fear of change. In Washington, the president believes that might makes right, that the courts are simply speed bumps, not stop signs, that democracy is a nuisance to be circumvented.”
Newsom then highlighted the variety of economic plans he has enacted in the state over the past year. He talked about the California Jobs First initiative that began in 2025, which aims to increase California-based jobs and business startups. Newsom also discussed the California Competes Tax Credit, which is a tax break for California-based businesses that stay and grow in the state.
Newsom then spoke on his administration’s other successes during the last year of his term. He specifically cited a 9% decrease in homelessness in California in 2025, compared to an 18% increase in homelessness across the nation in the same timeframe. He also highlighted the CalRx program, which offers drugs like insulin at a lower cost to consumers under a state brand.
Newsom concluded his address by looking forward to the future of the state.
“We’re home to more Americans than any other state,” he said. “Culture, food, music, movies, AI, biotech, quantum computing, agriculture — it all happens here first. We don’t run from change; we drive it.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom releases proposed California state budget
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Jan. 9, Gov. Gavin Newsom released California’s state budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. The proposed budget spans healthcare, housing and homelessness, economic security, education, and the justice system.
The governor’s office is projected to have $348.9 billion in total expenditures. The current proposal will increase the state’s budget reserve to $23 billion, compared to $17 billion in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The budget proposal has a projected $2.9 billion deficit. In December 2025, the governor’s office projected this deficit to stand at $12 billion. However, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office projected an $18 billion deficit through the fiscal year.
The plan does not include any new state funding for affordable housing.
California will pay an additional $1.1 billion in Medi-Cal expenses to compensate for losses created by the Trump administration’s H.R.1 bill, leading to a total budget of $196.7 billion for the program. The state’s total expenditure for the program will increase by $2 billion from the 2025-26 fiscal year.
In response to federal cuts that threatened a variety of state programs, Newsom’s budget proposal allocates an additional $382.9 million to CalFresh, compared to last fiscal year’s budget; California counties will pay an additional $149.5 million in administrative costs to make up for this shift in the general fund. The budget also proposes modifying the California Food Assistance Program to offer coverage for adults age 55 and older who lack permanent legal status, starting in October. New enrollment to CalFresh for adult immigrants without permanent legal status remains frozen due to a state policy enacted in 2025.
The final budget will be approved in May, after the State Budget Committee convenes to review the governor’s proposal. The state Legislature must pass the budget by no later than midnight on June 15.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors appoints chairs
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors reelected Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer as chairperson, following a 4-0 vote during its organizational meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Lawson-Remer will serve her second one-year term as the board’s chairperson. She was first elected in July 2025 after former Chair Nora Vargas resigned due to “personal safety and security concerns.” Lawson-Remer was previously the board’s vice chair.
According to the County News Center, the board’s chairperson acts as the “official voice for the board.” They preside over meetings and finalize supervisors’ nominations to other committees.
During the meeting, the board also reelected Supervisor Monica Montgomery as the vice chair and Supervisor Paloma Aguirre as the chair pro tempore.
Supervisor Jim Desmond was absent during the Jan. 13 meeting and did not participate in either election. Desmond expressed opposition to the appointments of Lawson-Remer, Aguirre, and Montgomery after their initial elections in 2025.
Per Rule 5 in the Board of Supervisors’ Rules of Procedure, there is no limit on the number of terms that a supervisor may serve as chairperson.
However, following the vote, Supervisor Joel Anderson called on the board to revert to their prepandemic policy of limiting these positions to one one-year term. Anderson nevertheless voted in favor of all three appointments.
US Supreme Court hears transgender athlete ban arguments
WASHINGTON — After hearing oral arguments for over three hours on Tuesday, Jan. 13, the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court appears ready to rule in favor of upholding state laws banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. The two cases heard by the court, Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., will be officially decided in June.
The court reviewed bans in Idaho and West Virginia, which assert that participation in school sports must be based on “biological sex.” These state laws specify that “students of the male sex” are barred from participating on female athletic teams.
Attorneys for the athletes involved in the suits argue that these bans discriminate against the athletes based on their status as transgender individuals. This, therefore, would violate the equal protection guaranteed to them by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The athletes’ attorneys also argue that the laws violate Title IX protections that ban discrimination in educational programs and activities “on the basis of sex.”
“School athletics are fundamentally educational programs, but West Virginia’s law completely excluded [an athlete] from her school’s entire athletic program even when there is no connection to alleged concerns about fairness or safety,” said Joshua Block, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union defending an athlete involved in the West Virginia case.
In a press release two days after the Supreme Court hearing, the Department of Education announced that it would begin an investigation into the “Transgender Participation Policy” of the California Community College Athletic Association, also known as the 3C2A. The Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Justice, created a Title IX Special Investigations Team in April 2025 to “protect students … from the pernicious effects of gender ideology in school programs and activities.” This team will be responsible for investigating complaints regarding alleged discrimination that resulted from the 3C2A’s policy.
After the oral arguments at the Supreme Court, Linda McMahon, secretary of education and creator of the Title IX Special Investigations Team, commented on the cases in a press release.
“A year ago, who could have predicted this outcome?” she said. “This is the Trump effect in action.”
