For starters, the governor’s proposed budget grew, from $286.4 billion in January to $300.6 billion as released on Friday – an increase aided by a projected surplus that rose from $45.7 billion in January to $97.5 billion. What’s in the document could well change somewhat; per the state constitution, lawmakers have until June 15 to approve the budget, which Newsom must then sign. FY 2022-2023 starts July 1. Among the takeaways:
- Full budget detail for the California Department of Technology (CDT) hasn’t yet been released, as is the case for many state entities, and Industry Insider will likely have more when it is. But for now, know that CDT’s proposed budget would grow by more than $63.6 million, from $508.4 million to nearly $572.1 million. The department would also add 1,050 positions with rounding. That’s up 27 positions, or about 2.6 percent, from the 1,023 proposed in January.
- Notably, Newsom’s revised budget includes an additional $1.1 billion for broadband, according to the summary. This would appear to be on top of the $6 billion the governor and lawmakers approved spending on broadband infrastructure across three fiscal years that began in FY 2021-2022 – nearly $4.4 billion of that appropriated in FY 2021‑22, $4.3 billion in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act fiscal relief funds, and $50 million from the General Fund. As Industry Insider has previously reported, a key goal here is building out a middle-mile broadband network statewide.
- The California State University (CSU) budget proposed in the May revise would grow as well by nearly $174 million, from nearly $11.6 billion to more than $11.7 billion. And the updated state budget includes $67.5 million for a new “engineering and computer science innovation hub” at Cal State Fullerton, according to the summary.
- In the area of e-health, the governor’s revised budget also includes “an additional $290 million over three years to address the most urgent needs and emergent issues in children’s mental health.” A portion of that, though it’s not yet clear how much, will go toward establishing “a center for researching, evaluating, and applying innovative new technologies to improve youth mental health.” The goal, per the summary, is to help the state “maximize the positive impact of emerging technology” on children and youth and minimize the harm by “focusing on the use of emergent technologies to improve assessment, supports, and treatment,” particularly via the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative from the California Health and Human Services Agency.
